Children with Intellectual Disability Research Proposal

Children with Intellectual Disability - Research Proposal Example The apparent impression discerning from literature surveys is that of lack of consensus. Cuskelly puts it forthright; the research studies dealing with psychological adjustment of the siblings of individuals with disability, gives an impression of contradiction, or confusion (1999). Another methodical advance of recent origin emphasizes quantitative research. This approach seeks to narrow the disagreements referred above through meta-analysis. The strategy used herein is to assess factors that produce inconsistencies, stemming from both, substantive and methodological. One popular approach of quantitative research is that of vote-count meta-analysis, which presents a tabulation of studies by their outcomes. Using this technique, Howe reviewed 21 studies to show that there appears to be a negative psychological impact on siblings of intellectually challenged individual (1993). However, even here, conclusions vary. Summers et.al, reported both positive and negative consequences on the sibling of an individual with disability (1994). The research problem embodies the research study, both in its scope and depth, and unambiguously defined (Fouche, 2005). In this study, the research problem is centered around the psychosocial effects on the siblings of individuals subject to intellectual disability. The World H... The prevalence of intellectual disability is generally estimated to be between 1-3% of the population. People with intellectual disability (PWID) represent a heterogeneous group with a varied range of highly complex needs, yet they remain among the most vulnerable members of society (O'Hara, 2008). The underlying rationale and principles of care for PWID have undergone radical changes in countries such as, USA, Europe, Australia and Canada over the past four decades. The focus is now on civil and human rights, with social inclusion and citizenship free from discrimination (Bouras, 2002). The emphasis has shifted to the movement towards integration, participation and choice with the development of community based facilities, and growing empowerment and self advocacy for PWID and their families (Tsuda, 2006). The family is seen as the most appropriate living environment for PWID, which is a function both of cultural values and availability of services (Special Olympics, 2003). In this context, this study shall identify with recommendations, the counseling and support needs of siblings of individuals with intellectual disability. The study shall also seek to integrate the current efforts of agencies, organizations and support groups with the findings of this study. Research Theme: The researcher has selected the following main themes for focused study, research, and analysis with regard to siblings of children with intellectual disability: a) Psychosocial risks: kind, intensity, short and long term effects b) Coping strategies and family support systems c) Society and community empathy, sensitivity and support systems d) Cultural impact; gender impact; ageing factor; in adapting strategies e) Positive spin-offs, if

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay Example for Free

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay Introduction Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that presents in form of anxiety disorder, and it usually develops following exposure to an event or incident that is terrifying and mostly associated with an increased risk or actual occurrence of severe body harm. These events exceed the coping capabilities of the individual, resulting into psychological trauma. As a result of the trauma, the affected individual develops fear conditioning in their brain, possibly because of certain brain chemicals that are released. Some structures in the brain are also thought to undergo atrophy. The risk of developing post traumatic stress disorder is also influenced by genetics and personal characteristics, for example childhood experience, previous exposure and preexisting conditions such as depression, gender and degree of exposure to trauma (Fullerton Ursano, 2005). Most people who develop this condition are those who have been exposed to traumatic incidents in their childhood or adulthood, like natural disasters, manmade disasters, accidents, military combat, and violent physical abuse, as individuals or witnessing someone else undergo the incidents. About two thirds of the population worldwide becomes exposed to significant traumatic situations in the course of their lifetime. The level of exposure to or experience of a traumatic event is consistently associated with the likelihood of developing PSTD. The development of post traumatic stress disorder also shows significant correlation with poor socioeconomic settings, age, race, ethnicity, and employment status. The affected people undergo continuous frightening thoughts as they recall the terrifying experiences, often having sleep problems and feeling detached and becoming withdrawn. The patients develop psychological problems such as neuroticism, guilt, difficulties in concentration, poor coping skills, and obsessive symptoms. The level of social support available for the people who have been exposed to traumatic events is the strongest determinant of the risk of post traumatic stress disorder (Fullerton Ursano, 2005). Post traumatic stress disorder is classified as acute, chronic or delayed onset. Acute posttraumatic stress disorder presents with symptoms that do not persist beyond three months, while in the chronic form the symptoms last more than three months. Delayed onset post traumatic stress disorder is the one in which the symptoms start appearing about six months following exposure to the traumatic event. As compared to normal stress that is usually associated with acute reactions that rapidly return to the normal state, the biological and psychological mechanisms in post traumatic stress disorder are chronic and often become severe with time (Fullerto n Ursano, 2005). Current treatment of post traumatic stress disorder includes exposure therapies and anxiety management trainings as the first-line treatments. Pharmacological therapies such as the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have also been designed and shown to be effective, though intensive studies are in progress to develop other form of drugs. In spite of the possible efficacy of pharmaceutical interventions, psychological treatments still remain the preferred therapeutic approaches for this disorder (Keane, Marshall Taft, 2006). The outcome of the therapeutic interventions depends on the level of social support, and lack of symptoms such as avoidance, emotional numbing and hyperarousal. According to Keane, Marshall and Taft (2006), PSTD has been in existence for many centuries though it became recognized in the 1980. This condition was commonly linked to warfare, until studies demonstrated the occurrence of similar symptoms in the civilian population exposed to natural disasters, mass catastrophes and tragic accidents. Prior to this, post traumatic stress disorder was identified by different names such as, â€Å"shell shock, battle fatigue, accident neurosis, and post-rape syndrome† (Keane, Marshall Taft 2006, p.163). After the American Psychiatric Association classified post traumatic stress disorder, it was generally agreed that the condition resulted from traumatic events and not the previously perceived individual weakness. However, these traumatic events were taken to be stressors beyond the daily human experiences including war, natural calamities, manmade disasters, and rape among others. Symptoms of PSTD Symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder frequently alter the patient’s personal life and can affect one’s functional abilities. These symptoms mostly start immediately after the traumatic experience, but often they may appear several months or years since the exposure. These symptoms are classified into four types including reliving, avoidance, numbing and hyperarousal (Fletcher, 1996). Patients suffering from this disorder frequently relive memories of the traumatic incidents in form of flashback and nightmares. This reliving of traumatic events is often triggered by stimuli related to the event. Avoidance of scenes related to the traumatic event is also a common symptom presenting in individuals with post traumatic stress disorder. The patients show a tendency to avoid stimuli and triggers that are associated with the traumatic memories, and may engage in activities to keep them from thinking or discussing such events. Numbness may also manifest as a way of avoiding the traumatic memories. Hyperarousal is another common symptom in PSTD patients, whereby the victims become highly alert and lookout for threats. This makes the patients to become very irritable and have difficulties in concentrating. The patients may also develop sleeping disorders, exhibit violent behavior and startled responses (Rosen, 2004). Information processing in patients with PSTD Various models have been developed to explain the memory and concentration problems manifested by patients affected by post traumatic stress disorder. These models relate the cognitive problems with these patients with the changes in the brain structures that function in learning and memory. The first model is described as fear structure, whereby the brain of the affected individuals become programmed to process information associated with the threatening experience and subsequent physiological, physical and behavioral responses. Another information processing model is based on cognitive theory, with an assumption that the disorder progresses only if a person perceives the traumatic incident in a manner that makes the incident to become threatening after it has taken place. The perception of the trauma as being present results into intrusions and reliving symptoms, anxiety, and over alertness. Subsequently, the affected individual tries to decrease perceptions of the threat through behavioral and cognitive modifications, although these changes further perpetuate the symptoms (Rosen, 2004). Prevalence of PSTD Epidemiologic studies indicate that about 10 percent of the universal population experience PSTD at some point in their lifetime. Epidemiologic surveys also indicate that between a third and two-thirds of the world population experience or witness trauma at some point in life. The most common forms of traumatic events people get exposed to or experience in developed countries include grave harm or death, fire disasters, natural calamities, and life-threatening accidents. The most prevalent forms of trauma experienced by females are rape, sexual exploitation and abuse, physical assault, and neglect, while physical assault and military-related trauma are more prevalent in males (Fullerton Ursano, 2005). Post traumatic stress disorder can occur at any age, and the period it takes to develop following exposure or experiencing of a traumatic event ranges from hours to years. The prevalence of PSTD in the general population is higher in females as compared to males, with an estimated prevalence of 10 percent and 5 percent respectively. Among individuals exposed to trauma, the prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder in males is 8 percent, while in females it is about 20 percent. The prevalence differences across gender lines are thought to be related to the specific form of trauma experienced. For instance, it has been shown that females who experience physical assault or are threatened with a weapon are at a high risk of developing post traumatic stress disorder as compared to men subjected to the same trauma. Similarly, males who experience sexual abuse are at a higher risk of developing PSTD as compared to the females who also experience the same stressor. Additionally, exposure to interpersonal violence among women is positively associated with later development of post traumatic stress disorder. In general, exposure to interpersonal violence is s trongly associated with the development of PSTD as compared to traumatic events that occur without a human perpetrator. Further studies show that of the entire population that experience or witness severe trauma at some point in their life, it is less than 20 percent who develop post traumatic stress disorder, thus suggesting the existence of many risk factors (Fullerton Ursano, 2005). The prevalence is significantly increased in countries where rates of violence, crimes and war are high, and also in parts of the world that are more prone to natural catastrophes. Younger age appears to be associated with a higher risk of developing post traumatic stress disorder (Keanne, Marshall, Taft, 2006). Meta analysis studies have also shown that children and teenagers who get exposed to traumatic events are 1.5 times likely to develop post traumatic stress disorder than adults exposed to the same trauma. These findings suggest that the developmental process of the disorder in young individuals varies from that of the adults. Lower education achievement is also associated with increased risk for this disorder. Other factors associated with high prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder include pre-existing psychiatric problems, juvenile delinquency, childhood adversity, personality disorders, genetic factors, severity of the trauma, and lack of social support (Schnurr, Friedman Bernardy, 2002). Though findings on race are not consistent, a strong correlation has been shown to exist between the race of a person and the development of post traumatic disorder. Some studies have indicated that whites have a lower risk of developing post traumatic stress disorder as compared to nonwhites, even when other risk factors like exposure to traumatic events are held constant (Fullerton Ursano, 2005). Study findings have established that chronic PSTD is mostly associated with some psychiatric conditions and impaired psychosocial activities. Among these comorbid conditions include, â€Å"major depression, dysthemia, mania, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, simple phobia, agoraphobia, alcohol abuse/dependence, drug abuse, social phobia, and conduct disorder† (Schnurr, Friedman Bernardy 2002, p. 880). Despite these psychiatric conditions being risk factors for post traumatic stress disorder, the disorder itself can also be a predisposing factor for the psychiatric conditions. Etiology of PSTD The major etiologic factor in PSTD is the trauma. However, various studies have shown that not all individuals who get exposed to same traumatic events develop the disorder, thus indicating the existence of certain predisposing conditions. Recognition that trauma alone may not be the sole cause of post traumatic stress disorder and the observations that not all people who get exposed to traumatic events develop the disorder have led to identification of various aspects where individual differences may determine vulnerability. These aspects include appraisal tendencies, genetic makeup, and certain risk factors (Fullerton Ursano, 2005). Appraisal tendencies relate to the individual perceptions of situations or events, whereby some individuals are likely to consider situation or events as threatening or horrifying as compared to other individuals. Clinical studies have shown that many individuals who experience or witness traumatic events do not develop post traumatic stress disorder. This is attributed to the individual variations on the ability to cope with traumatic situations, thus different individuals possess differing psychological reactions to similar traumatic situations. It has, therefore, been recognized that exposure to traumatic events gets perceived through cognitive and emotional mechanisms involving appraisal (Vieweg et al., 2006). Whereas some individuals may perceive a situation or event as a huge threat, others may perceive the same situation as a challenge that demands them to evolve coping abilities. A number of risk factors that render some people more vulnerable to developing post traumatic stress disorder than others have been identified. These risk factors are classified as pre-traumatic, traumatic or post-traumatic (Vieweg et al., 2006). Pre-traumatic factors that may predict later development of post traumatic stress disorder as identified by various studies are childhood trauma, the existence of psychiatric problems, childhood maladaptive behaviors, poor family background, introversion, gender, and existence of physical health problems among others. Studies on early periods of development show an increasing relationship between early life trauma and a greater likelihood for the development of PSTD (Keanne, Marshall Taft, 2006; Edsall, Karnik Steiner, 2005). This hypothesis is, however, supported by few data obtained from small samples. But still, it is well established that childhood abuse and experience of other trauma early in life are partially responsible for the manifestation of post PSTD later in life in the general adult population. In a study carried out in the USA by MaCauley et al. (1997), it was shown that a significantly high number of women with a greater disposition to develop post traumatic stress disorder had undergone early life physical assault, sexual abuse or serious neglect. The study investigated about 2000 adult females drawn from different socioeconomic groups, and who were attending primary care internal medicine practices. McCauley and colleagues found that 22 percent of the study population experienced many physical symptoms with much higher levels of, â€Å"depression, anxiety, somatization and interpersonal sensitivity, a fivefold higher prevalence of drug abuse and a twofold higher level of alcohol abuse† (McCauley et al. 1997, p. 1367). In general, the data supports the established models of risk for the development of PSTD, whereby genetic predisposition, temperament and childhood or adulthood trauma are significant risks factors for PSTD development. Therefore, the recent trauma experienced by an individual also triggers the development of post traumatic stress disorder. This has been shown to arise from the effects of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), which is a hormone involved in regulating the autonomic, immune and behavioral reactions to any stress. Increased secretion of corticotropin releasing factor is associated with increased expression of psychiatric symptoms, including PSTD symptoms (Sapolsky, 1996). With regard to traumatic factors, many studies on post traumatic stress disorder have shown that there exists a direct relationship between severity of the trauma and subsequent development of the disorder. The severity of the trauma includes characteristics like the length of time the trauma took, the frequency of occurrence and the degree of harm or threat on life. Other aspects of the severity of trauma are the severity of the experience, whether somebody was harmed during the incident, whether the victim was involved directly or witnessed the trauma, and in case of sexual abuse, if the perpetrator of the atrocity was previously known to the victim. The severity of the trauma and PSTD are very consistent in the entire population, with high severity associated with increased risk for post traumatic stress disorder or severity of its symptoms (Edsall, Karnik Steiner, 2005). Studies have also shown that the post traumatic environment is also connected to later development of PSTD. Environments that are characterized by poor social support and disoriented social interaction patterns make people more vulnerable to develop post traumatic stress disorder (Ford, 2009). It has been shown that people who experience traumatic events such as rape victims and war veterans suffer from deleterious effects due to lack of post traumatic social support. Similarly, a number of studies have shown that post traumatic clinical interventions like debriefing are effective preventing later development of PSTD. Pathophysiology of PSTD Major psychobiologic processes that give human beings capabilities to effectively deal with stressful events have been shown to be impaired in individuals having PSTD. Among the affected processes include the fight and flight responses, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, the fear conditioning, appraisal and the acoustic startle reactions (Ford, 2009). The fight and flight responses are brought about by the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system. In normal persons, the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system by a traumatic event results into a sequence of autonomic and muscular responses, which provide the person with capabilities to cope with the possible threat. However in people who have PSTD, it has been established that sympathetic nervous system responses and adrenergic dysregulation are excessively elevated. Even minor trauma related stimuli have been observed to trigger autonomic hyperresponsiveness. It has also been found that the amount of catecholamine in the urine of the victim is significantly increased. Other sympathetic nervous system abnormalities observed include, â€Å"down regulation of beta-2 and alpha-2 adrenergic receptors and increased reactivity to the alpha-2 antagonist yohimbine† (Ford 2009, p. 37). Increased reactivity of yohimbine is associated with triggering of panic attacks and trauma-related memories in people suffering from PSTD. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system also acts to enhance the ability of people to cope effectively with stress. In patients who are experiencing post traumatic stress disorder, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system is poorly modulated and the victims exhibit abnormal features like decreased amounts of cortisol in urine, increased amounts of lymphocyte glucocorticoid receptor and excessively inhibited dexamethasone (Sapolsky, 1996). Another psychobiologic process that has been shown to be impaired in patients with PSTD is the acoustic startle response. In normal individuals, the acoustic startle system helps in creating awareness of any possible threat. However, in patients affected by the disorder, they exhibit a reduced latency and elevated amplitude in acoustic-startle-eyeblink reflex. Besides, the patients also show marginally reduced normal dysregulation of the startle reflex (Fullerton Ursano, 2005). Fear conditioning mechanisms have also been shown to be impaired in patients with PSTD. In normal individuals, fear conditioning mechanisms facilitate the storage of information relating to exposure or experience of aversive and threatening events, thus providing one with capabilities to cope with similar challenges in future (Fullerton Ursano, 2005). Studies have, however, shown that people who suffer from this disorder exhibit a characteristic progression of the fear conditioning, evoking excessive emotion al responses to perceived threats (Wisco, Marx Keanne, 2012). Appraisal process has also been shown to be diminished in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder. Appraisal is a psychological process through which people develop capabilities to determine the nature of an event or situation, whether it is pleasant, challenging or threatening. This in turn determines the coping, adapting and survival abilities of the individual. Patients with PSTD lack these abilities and often perceive the world as unsafe, leading to development of deleterious cognitive, emotional and behavioral effects. (Wisco, Marx Keanne, 2012) Another possible pathophysiologic mechanism involved in posttraumatic stress disorder relates to brain abnormalities in terms of structure and function (Ford, 2009). Various studies using magnetic resonance imaging techniques have demonstrated that the hippocampus volume in patients who suffer from PSTD who were previously exposed to traumatic events is significantly decreased (Fletcher, Creamer Forbes, 2010). These findings have been supported by animal studies, which have shown that continued stress causes hippocampus degeneration and loss of function of apical dendrite nerve cells. It has been hypothesized that this degeneration is as a result of secretion of neurotoxic amino acids by the increased quantities of glucocorticoids. Studies using positron emission tomography have also indicated some functional brain abnormalities in individuals who are affected by PSTD. These studies have suggested elevated regional cerebral circulatory around the limbic and paralimbic regions. These regions play a role in the recognition and processing of emotions and stimuli, thus signifying their possible functions in the regulation of fear conditioning and appraisal (Rosen, 2004). Neurobiological aspects of PSTD Traumatic events directly stimulate the catecholamine system, triggering fight and flight responses such as rates of cardiac activity, blood circulation, metabolism, and alertness. Subsequently, the hypothalamus is stimulated to release corticotropin-releasing hormone, thus activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis due to the resultant stimulation of the pituitary gland and subsequent release of adrenocorticotropin hormone (Fullerton Ursano, 2005) Furthermore, cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands, leading to increased stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system. All these responses serve to provide a person with coping and survival abilities when faced with a threatening or dangerous situation. However when the trauma experienced or witnessed is chronic, these fight and flight responses often become counterproductive. Regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis finally restores cortisol to normal levels through a negative feedback mechanism. In some instan ces, however, the catecholamine system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis may become poorly modulated, thus impeding normal trauma- and stress-related responses and leading to development of the deleterious effects of PSTD (Keanne, Marshall Taft, 2006). Various studies have shown that poor modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and increased amounts of catecholamine generated by trauma adversely impair neuronal development in the brain. This occurs through different mechanisms such as increased degeneration of the nerve cells, impairment of the myelination process, reduction of the quantity and size of dendritic processes, impairment in neural pruning, suppression of the synthesis of nerve cells, and a reduction in the synthesis of neutrophic factor by the brain cells (Schnurr, Friedman, Bernardy, 2002). Exposure to traumatic events has also been shown to cause certain structural changes in the nervous system, including â€Å"reduced corpus callosum size, attenuated development of the left neocortex, hippocampus and amygdala, enhanced electrical irritability in limbic structures, and reduced functional activity of the cerebellar vermis† (Edsall, Karnik Steiner 2005, p. 110). The parts of the brain that become impacted by traumatic events have been shown to exhibit postnatal development for long periods of time, possess increased levels of glucocorticoid receptors and some formation of the nerve cells in the postnatal period. The above damages to the regions of the brain may cause the affected person to develop socialization, attachment, bonding and cognitive problems. The Catecholamine system and Trauma Studies have shown that trauma may affect the catecholamine system, as demonstrated by the increased levels of noreadrenaline and dopamine excreted in urine in people with PSTD. It has also been shown that the concentration of the catecholamine in urine in the patients relates to the length of time one is exposed to the traumatic event, and also to the severity of the disorder cells (Schnurr, Friedman, Bernardy, 2002). The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis and Trauma Investigations on the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the development of post traumatic stress disorder have indicated that affected children have elevated basal amounts of cortisal, while the affected adults have reduced amounts. The reduced cortisol levels in adults who are suffering from chronic PSTD is thought to be caused by the down-regulation of the anterior pituitary corticotropin-releasing hormone binding sites following the increase in corticotropin-releasing hormone levels, in addition to the increased negative feedback suppression of cortisol amounts by the pituitary gland. The down regulation process is considered as an adaptation response against the chronically increased amounts of cortisol, which may cause neurotoxicity cells (Schnurr, Friedman, Bernardy, 2002). Other studies have hypothesized the decreased baseline cortisal amounts in adults to result from adrenal insufficiency and chronically reduced secretion of cortisal from the adrenal glands. This hypothesis is supported by findings that adults with post traumatic stress disorder show increased adrenocorticotropin hormonal response to corticotropin releasing factor than normal persons (Keanne, Marshall Taft, 2006). The observations that the baseline cortisal amounts are increased in children who have been exposed to traumatic situations have post traumatic disorder indicates different physiological impacts compared to adults, though similar studies have yielded contrasting results indicating the cortisal levels to be increased. The variations in baseline cortisol amounts among children may be related to factors such as developmental stage of the child during the trauma experience and the period of time that has passed since the trauma occurred (Wolfgang et al., 2012). It is generally suggested that corticotropin releasing hormone and cortisol amounts are increased acutely after exposure to trauma, while developmental effects of the traumatic experience result into reduced amounts of cortisol because of the consistently increased corticotropin releasing hormone and the raised hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis negative feedback mechanism (Keanne, Marshall Taft, 2006). Functional and structural changes in the brain due to traumatic stress A number of literatures continue to indicate that glucocorticoids have some effects on the hippocampus in individuals who are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. Most of these studies have demonstrated a reduction of the hippocampus in adult individuals with PSTD. The atrophy of the hippocampus is also reported in various conditions characterized by excessive secretion of glucocorticoid, such as the Cushing syndrome and recurrent major depressive disorder. Further, it has also been demonstrated that the neurotoxic effects of glucocorticoid may be due to chronically increased levels of excitatory amino acids like glutamate (Sapolsky, 1996). Studies using magnetic resonance imaging have shown that adults previously exposed to trauma and who have developed post traumatic stress disorder have significantly decreased hippocampus volumes. Hippocampal atrophy has, however, not been observed in children suffering from this disorder. Instead, these children have, â€Å"smaller intracranial, cerebral, and prefrontal cortex, prefrontal cortical white matter, right temporal lobe volumes, and smaller areas of the corpus callosum† (Edsall, Karnik Steiner 2005, p. 114). These neurobiological observations are possibly caused by reduced cortical hemispheres communication because of memory impairment and dissociative disorders associated with PSTD (Sapolsky, 1996). The differences in brain structure between adults and children suffering from PSTD has been hypothesized to arise from co-occurrence of other disorders such as those associated with drug and alcohol abuse in adults. It is also suggested that stress response tend to gradual, thus the neurobiological changes develop over time. Many brain structures, including the hippocampus are known to continue developing after birth. Studies have established that the hippocampus depicts increased formation of axons, dendrites, synapses and receptors, which become pruned after puberty (Vieweg et al., 2006). Generally, these studies indicate that traumatic experiences during the early years of life cause progressive developmental impacts on the brain, hence implying that the development of post traumatic stress disorder, to some extent, is determined by the stage of neural development of a person (Sapolsky, 1996). It is also suggested that hippocampus atrophy may be a risk factor for the development of PSTD. This is based on comparison studies of twins who have post traumatic stress disorder exposed and those who did not have the disorder with other normal individuals. The study demonstrated that both the twins exposed to trauma and those not exposed had reduced hippocampi volumes as compared to the control group (Sapolsky, 1996). As regards to metabolic alterations in the brain of people with PSTD, various studies using positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques have been carried mostly in adults. These studies have indicated higher activities in the amygdale and anterior paralimbic areas, and reduced activity around the anterior cingulated and orbitofrontal sections in patients with PSTD (Havard Women’s Health Watch, 2005). Assessment of Trauma and PSTD Assessment of trauma is the initial phase in the diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder. It involves assessing if a person has experienced a traumatic situation, and identifying the situations that the person has had exposure to. The event or situation has to be evaluated whether it is life threatening. This is a significant step since symptoms of the disorder like re-experiencing, avoidance, numbing, arousal, and concentration difficulties need to be examined against particular events. PSTD is assessed through a cluster of three symptoms including re-experiencing, avoidance and arousal. Appearance of the symptoms should be determined, whether they started immediately following exposure to the trauma and whether the symptoms are progressively increasing (Robertson, Humphreys Ray, 2004). Diagnosis of PSTD Diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder is based on certain set of criteria, which are six in number. The first criterion is the demonstration of the existence of a stressor. An individual must have been exposed to, experienced or threatened with a situation where death or physical harm was eminent or real. The second criterion is the existence of re-experiencing symptoms, whereby the affected individual persistently perceives imaginary threats witnessed or experienced before. This mostly occurs as flashbacks and the affected individual feels and behaves as if the trauma is repeating. Re-experiencing may also come in form of distressing memories and nightmares, particularly when the person faced with situations related to the trauma. In some cases, the patients may present with physiological or psychological stress reactions such as full-blown panic attacks. The third criterion for diagnosis is the existence of avoidance and numbing symptoms (Robertson, Humphreys Ray, 2004). Individuals presenting with this disorder often try to escape trauma-related thoughts and actions and regularly present with reduced capabilities to engage in pleasure activities, difficulty in recalling some dimensions of the trauma, withdrawal from social activities, and detachment. The forth criterion includes observation of symptoms related to hyperarousal and hypervigilance. In this criterion, persons affected by post traumatic stress disorder may exhibit features such as lack of concentration, irritability, and disturbed sleep patterns. The fifth criterion is the demonstration that re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance of actions and thoughts related to trauma, withdrawal, and irritability, and lack of concentration, disturbed sleep patterns, and irritability symptoms have occurred persistently for more than one month. The last criterion is the demonstration that the combined symptoms impairs with the functional and social abilities of the affected individual, coupled with significant distress. Under this criterion, the existence of PSTD is ruled out if the patient presents with mild symptoms or when the person exhibits competent functional abilities (Wolfgang et al., 2012). Treatment of PSTD The major treatment intervention measures for patients who have post traumatic stress disorder are, â€Å"cognitive behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy and individual and group dynamic therapy† (Wolfgang et al. 2012, p. 72). Cognitive-behavioral Therapy This is the most effective form of treatment currently available for PSTD. The main approaches to cognitive-behavioral therapy involve exposure therapy and anxiety management interventions. Exposure therapies mostly focus on the elimination of the strong effects caused by fear conditioning in people suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. These therapeutic approaches are based on the recognition that consistent exposure to perceived threats helps in decreasing the victim’s fear response to stimuli associated with trauma. Further, exposure therapy also helps in lessening the victim’s sympathetic nervous system and adrenergic hyperactivity triggered by trauma related stimuli (Wolfgang et al., 2012). Anxiety management interventions are usually geared towards equipping the patient with skills that can help in decreasing anxiety. These strategies, therefore, involve training the patient on areas like relaxation, social skills, stress management, and cognitive restructuring among others. Cognitive restructuring is the most preferred training since it helps patients to be able to correct the impaired appraisal mechanisms, thus lessening their tendency to perceive threats from unwarranted situations. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be provided on individual basis or in a group. In group psychotherapy, the patients are given trainings through psychoeducation, exposure and cognitive processing (Vieweg et al., 2006). Pharmacotherapy Based on the identified neurobiological abnormalities that accompany post traumatic stress disorder, pharmacotherapeutic interventions can help in the treatment of many associated symptoms such as anxiety, depression and insomnia. Pharmacotherapy is often essential before induction of the patient to other therapeutic approaches like cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy (Gibson, 2012). Many studies on the efficacy of antidepressants such as imipramine and fluoxetine have generated mixed results, often indicating that patients having severe and chronic PSTD show refractory responses towards these medications. Clinical trials on the effectiveness of anti-adrenergic drugs like propranolol and clonidine also yield promising results, indicating the possible benefits in treating this disorder (Wisco, Marx Keanne, 2012). Dynamic psychotherapy This form of therapy involves encouraging the patient to make free association of ideas and feelings, while allowing the psychotherapist to make interpretations of the implications of the associations. The psychotherapist also provides recommendations depending on the comprehension of the situations and the perceived causes of the symptoms. The main objective of this form of therapy is to unravel the exact nature of the patient’s psyche so as to help in managing the psychic tension (Wisco, Marx Keanne, 2012).This therapy approach, therefore, relies on the establishment of an interpersonal relationship between the patient and the psychotherapist. It can be applied in various contexts such as in individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, and family therapy among other areas. In dealing with PSTD patients, the dynamic psychotherapy approach mostly targets the creation of a trustworthy and safe environment so as to enable the patient reveal the hidden traumatic experiences. Once the traumatic content has been obtained, focus shifts to analysis of the trauma in detail and examinations of the re-experiences together with the avoidance symptoms. Patients are finally guided to disengage from the perceived threat and make appropriate reconnections in their social life (Wisco, Marx Keanne, 2012). Recommendations Because of the increased rates of traumatic experiences in the world nowadays, prevalence of PSTD is anticipated to increase with time. It is imperative that more research be carried out to develop appropriate prevention and early intervention measures to curb the disorder (Keanne, Marshall Taft, 2006). These measures should be based on the already established risk factors for the disorder and should mainly target individuals exhibiting acute stress symptoms so that early cognitive-behavioral interventions are given. It is also important that further research be carried out on the neurobiological aspect of posttraumatic stress disorder, particularly in children (Rosen, 2004). These studies will provide more information regarding functional and structural alterations in the brain associated with this disorder to enable designing of appropriate diagnosis tools. Conclusion Post traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder presumed to be caused by traumatic experiences. However, many individuals exposed to traumatic events do not develop the disorder. In addition, the prevalence of the disorder in people who have been traumatized is low, thus indicating the existence of other certain risk factors that predispose some individuals to develop the disorder. Intensive studies have helped in creating more understanding of the function of the risk factors in the development of the disorder, and subsequent development of treatment approaches. Despite various interventions such as CBT and pharmacotherapy aiding in management of PSTD, there is need to conduct more studies to establish measures that can be used as early interventions and proper diagnostic tools for PSTD. References Edsall, S., Karnik, N. Steiner, H. (2005). â€Å"Childhood trauma.† In, Clinical child psychiatry, 2nd ed, Eds. Klykylo, W. and Kay, J. London: John Wiley sons. Fletcher, K. (1996). Childhood posttraumatic stress disorder. New York, NY: Guildford Publications Inc. Fletcher, S., Creamer, M. Forbes, D. (2010). Preventing post traumatic stress disorder: Are drugs the answer? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 44, 1064-1071. Ford, J. D. (2009). Post traumatic stress disorder: Science and practice. New York, NY: Academic Press. Fullerton, C. S. Ursano, R. J. (2005). Posttraumatic stress disorder: Acute and long-term responses to trauma and disaster. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press. Gibson, C. (2012). Review of posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic pain: The path to integrated care. JRRD, 49(5), 753-776. Harvard Women’s Health Watch. (2005). Not getting over it: Post-traumatic stress disorder. Keanne, T. M., Marshall, A. D. Taft, C. T. (2006) . Posttraumatic stress disorder: Etiology, epidemiology, and treatment outcome. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2, 161-197. McCauley, J., Kern, D. E., Kolodner, K., Dill, L., Schroeder, A. F., DeChant, H. K., rydden, J., Derogatis, L. R. Bass, E. B. (1997). Clinical characteristics of women with a history of childhood abuse: Unhealed wounds. JAMA, 277, 1362-1368. Robertson, M., Humphreys, L. Ray, R. (2004). Psychological treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder: Recommendations for the clinician based on a review of literature. J Psychiatr Pract, 10(2): 106-18. Rosen, G. (2004). Posttraumatic stress disorder: Issues and controversies. West Sussex: John Wiley Sons. Sapolsky, R. M. (1996). Stress, glucocorticoids, and damage to the nervous system: The current state of confusion. Stress, 1(1), 1-19. Schnurr, P. P., Friedman, M. J. Bernardy, N. C. (2002). Research on posttraumatic stress disorder: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and assessment. Journal of Clinical Psycholog y, 58(8), 877-889. Vieweg, W. V., Julius, D. A., Fernandez, A., Beatty-Brooks, M., Hettema, J. M. Pandurangi, A. K. (2006). Posttraumatic stress disorder: Clinical features, pathophysiology, and treatment. Am J Med, 119(5), 383-390. Wisco, B. E., Marx, B. P. Keane, T. M. (2012). Screening, diagnosis, and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Military Medicine, 177(8), 7-13. Wolfgang, W., Falk, L., Frank, L. Johannes, K. (2012). Psychodynamic psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse- principles for a treatment manual. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 76(1), 69-93.

A Case Study Of Turner Hotel Tourism Essay

A Case Study Of Turner Hotel Tourism Essay Front desk job of any hotel is very important from hotel sales point of view. Marketing and sales department is called revenue generator. Front desk job is part of the marketing department so its directly linked with revenue generation activities of a hotel. An employee working as front desk employee is having direct interaction with the guests. So it becomes very important for that employee to have all the chief characteristics of a good salesperson. A good sales person can convert first time guest in to repeat business guest by make him or happy and achieve customer satisfaction. This is the hospitality and customer demand only that can be kept in mind while handling customers at front desk that will bring customer satisfaction. Desired hospitality and less cumbersome process of check in and checkout will bring customer satisfaction. Working as a Front office manager or staff, first of all he or she should consider the available resources of the hotel concerned which need to be foc used to the materialization of the business. Good salesmanship is all about selling own product with acceptance of the customers. Whatever product one have, a good salesperson will sale that product and make feel to the customers that this is the right product he/she was looking for. This is simply quality of a sales person that he or she will find out the budget of a customer while conversation and offer the product that give within the budget feel to the customer. While conversation it is the quality of a salesperson to explain the facilities of the product to the customer that will again give feel of the right product customer was looking for. ( Abbott, P and Lewry, S (1999)) Customer relationship management is new concept in the field of any business. So it is the quality of a good salesmanship that helps in effective implementation and management of customer relationship in the hotel organization. In this competitive world getting new business, is a big challenge, so hotel organization believes in repeated business from the same clientele. With the help of knowledge and smartness in work of a salesperson-customer relationship is possible. These days it is being managed by ecommerce so knowledge of ecommerce to the front desk employee can be added quality of a good salesmanship and it will bring the business from existing clientele. If an organization utilizes the available resources properly, Implementation of yield management will make major changes in the hotel. It will bring maximum market shares of the city concerned. Guest generally always looks for the comfortable stay and the luxury facilities for their money. It is the quality that always speaks better than any other advertisement. So if front desk employee gives proper feedback to the hotel, hotel can maintains the quality towards the tariff and the interiors which will bring the maximum revenue within a short period. So it is the benefits of the good salesmanship. So as conclusion author would like to say that good salesmanship is very important while performing duty of front office department of hotel industry because it helps hotel not only to get good business but maintaining relationship with customers and feedback to the hotel for up gradation of its quality of product and services as well. Q.1 (2) Explain, with examples what selling techniques you might use when checking in a guest. Overall selling technique depends upon salesmanship and kind of guest but in general a front desk person has to apply his or her selling skills keeping in mind normal procedure of check in. Selling techniques for checking guest is nothing but a quality of good salesperson. A salesperson should be very friendly and caring to the guest so that customer will be satisfied. Sales person should use up sell technique first while explaining price of the available rooms, followed by prestigious pricing and cut rate pricing. Along with this salesperson should explain how brilliant the facilities are within the room to justify the price of the room. There may be a case that same room can be sold at different price. It is the duty of a good salesperson to find out the level of desire of the customer for the product he or she is asking for and charge price accordingly. During heavy demand of the accommodation it totally depends upon front desk employee-salesperson to maximize the yield of accommodation by selling the same product at different prices as per the customer profile and need. Being a good salesman a front office employee can suggest various pricing techniques-top down pricing, prestigious pricing, cut rate pricing etc, to the hotel to maximize its yield. So it is the quality of a salesperson to identify and recognize the level of demand and ability of a customer to pay for the same accommodation and fixed the price accordingly. (Abbott, P and Lewry, S (1999)) For example if there is arrival of guest first of all front desk person should handle the guest with friendly approach, asking for the kind of room he/she is looking for then explain the kind of room available with its pricing. First of all salesperson should try to sell the room at higher price than depending upon the negotiation skill of the salesperson and the budget of customer price can be prestigious or if required and supported by the market sentiment it can be cut rate price be fixed. After this negotiation skill guest should be registered and room should be assigned promptly. As per the situation if needed guest will be assisted in completing registration process. Then there will be verification of method of payment to be made by the guest-whether cheque, cash, card or payment by company etc. and then guest will be escorted to the room Q.2. Discuss the type of check in system that you would expect to see at the turner Hotel. Hotel Turner is a big chain of Hotel with 297 rooms hotel located in Central London. It is part of a well reputed group of hotels with 12 hotels running successfully in London and other major European cities. 42% of its clientele is corporate. Only 8% and 14% amount to walk-ins and leisure guests respectively. For this type of hotel, front office system should enable reception staff to make sure of keeping record of all bookings, position of accommodations, detailed about guests and amount billed and received as well. Hotel Turner would also require a system that should provide way to communicate with all travel agents and activity operators linked to the online reservation system. Hospitality management systems are the applications/ modules that smoothens a hospitality business. From the room service system in a restaurant, to online reservation and an easy and fast check in procedure, it enables efficient communication and management of operation, eventually growing business and revenue. (www.wikianswers.com) Features that Hotel Turner should possessed are includes: Date wise arrival and departure reports. Details of reservation and Guest ledger which should contains notes on special activities etc. Feature should make sure the availability of printers to print the guest cards to provide to guest. Provision to arrange different room to the guest. There should be a perfect system to integrate the bill of different department like-restaurants, spa, gift shop, etc. While check out all the possible payment option should offer to the guest so that inconvenience could be avoided. Hotel Turner should have a system that can be efficiently used for online reservation system. This type of software package is essential as per the hotels cancellation and Guarantee policy. Q.3how would the check in procedures differ when dealing with? (a) A guest with a reservation Usually guest check in procedure for reserved guest and chance guest is same except for slight variations. Check in procedures for a guest with a reservation will be as follows: Receive the guest with a smile, and greet according to the time. Check if he/she is holding reservation Get the guest registration card and fill it up with all the necessary and required details of the guest. Fill up the key and the welcome card If the guest is a foreigner, get the C form and fill it up. Allot the accommodation Fill the arrival register Preparation of information slips and then the same has to be sent to the different departments like telephones, room service and housekeeping etc. Open guest folio In case of VIP,etc. inform all the departments Pre-registration also involves room and rate assignment and creation of guest folio apart from producing registration card. There are many steps of registration process, because its little differs from hotel to hotel but mainly these are the six steps common to all the hotels: Course of action that is to be done before registration. Formality of making registration record. Offering the room. Then payment options could offer and fixed as per the convenience of the guest. Once above has been done then room key can be given. (b) A chance guest In the case when guest is a chance guest the process of check in would almost be same except some cases. Like as guest is a chance guest so there will be no earlier reservation done for the guest so in this case first of all as process front desk person should check for availability of rooms and there will be efforts to create room for him or her. Rest of the process like fill up the key and allotting the accommodation escorting till the room will be similar. There may be a case that in case of a chance guest a front desk employee has to utilize his or her negotiation skill for the price of the room as per the level of need of the room by the guest. This is the skill of the employee to materialize the opportunities then and there. So overall the difference in check in procedures for a guest with a reservation and a chance guest is not much- the only thing is role of a front desk person becomes very important because while negotiation and first interaction a materialization of an oppo rtunity can happen. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Q.4. Explain the necessity of overbooking and its legal implications in relation to Turner Hotel. The term overbooking is concerned with a situation which shows booking of the room have done excessively than the actual available room with the hotel. In general hotel does this because of reaching 100% occupancies. Hotel books over rooms than the available one with historic information and trend which includes unexpected cancellation. It is the synonyms of over commitment and oversold. No show has been a major cause of concern for the hotels all over the world. It amounts to major loss of revenue. However, no-shows and the early departures of the guests still continue to cost hotel money. Although reservation guarantee through the credit cards compensates hotels for only one nights stay in the case of a no-show, but the hotel still needs to recover for a loss of revenue incase that no-show guest had a multiple-night reservation. (http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals) Because of this panorama of no-shows and early departures, the hotel turner must unavoidably engage in some level of overbooking to help ensure that those potentially unsold rooms are filled. As we all know, hoteliers who occasionally overbook might have to walk guests once hotel is full. (http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals) Overbooking is very important element of the yield management. Generally hotels overbook to create backup of cancellations and no-shows. It is a kind of compensating the unexpected loss of the hotel. For this very reason, it is mandatory to forecast cancellations and no-shows. Inefficient overbooking generally results in unsold and unutilized inventory (rooms) while on the other hand excessive overbooking results in penalty cost which includes both the financial and prospective loss of the future revenue from the same customer and others due to customer dissatisfaction and the subsequent bad word of mouth. The optimal level of overbooking is where the anticipated cost of overbooking for the next unit to be sold is equal to the expected marginal revenue from that unit. (http://www.decisioncraft.com/dmdirect/revenue_management.htm) While the hotel industry attempts to portray overbooking as an economic necessity and legitimizes the process by attempts to provide guests with alternative accommodations, the hotels have failed to address the true effect and implicit costs association with the practice. Primarily because it is left to the individual state authoritys to regulate the industry. (http://legaldefinition.us) As far as Turner Hotel is concerned from the view point of overbooking, it is advisable not to go for overbooking because there will be breach of contract between hotel and its guests. But from the view point of business and maximizing revenue, it the only way to proceed little aggressively to achieve 100% occupancy. This is because after advance booking there is chances of cancellation of reservation as well, even if payment has been made in advance hotel organization has to bear loss for the foregone opportunities in case of booking not done. So keeping in mind these things and profit maximization it can be done equal to the normal trend of cancellation. Hotel Turner must find a room for everyone who has a reservation and shows up on time to save themselves from any legal complications. Q.5 a) Explain the benefits to a hotel of accepting group bookings? Group booking is simply acceptance of bulk business. In group bookings both the parties-customers as well as hotel can be benefitted. Customer gets benefit of low rates of the rooms due to the bulk booking and on the other hand hotel gets bulk business at a time so even at a less room cost per person hotel welcomes this kind of deal to get instant business and achieves its 100% occupancies. A group reservation is for a block of rooms in a hotel. The block of rooms can be for a convention, a meeting, a special event, a tour group (as in present case of hotel turner), or various other reasons. A group reservation can be as small as 5 rooms to thousand rooms depending on the size of the hotel. Usually every hotel has different norms and parameters for considering a booking as group booking, which generally depends on the number of rooms booked. By booking rooms in large quantities, the group receives a lower rate. Hotel is benefitted in this as they get business in bulk and their occupancy percentage increases giving them a competitive edge over their competitors. Group booking also makes the reservation process easy and hassle free for both; the guest as well as the front office associates. Usually when a group reservation is made a code is generated which is specific to that group and each reservation should include this code. To ensure that reservations get coded to the proper group and that correct rates are offered, the person taking the reservation should always inquire if the guest is part of that particular group. Bulk booking is beneficial to the hotel that is similar to any other business organization where organization gets benefits of bulk business. It is the deal that gives instant cash but per head cost becomes cheaper for the customer and organization both. But from organization point of view it is the instant cash that attracts bulk business and so to the hotel organizations. Other benefit of bulk booking is that there will be less chances of cancellation. In case of individual business if there is cancellation of the booking it is completely loss to the hotel organization. Buta chance of this kind of loss due to cancellation is very less because of concrete plan of the entire group. In group bookings even if one or two persons are not coming there will be almost no impact to the business because of the compact deal for the entire group-this may depends upon case to case, bulk booking is definitely good for the hotel organization. Q.5 b) what factors should the turner Hotel Front Office manager consider when deciding whether to accept the reservation request from Excelsior Tours? Group revenue management is evolving quickly. Revenue managers typically set guidelines for size and rate objectives based upon projected demand for higher valued transient demand. These criterions should be regularly reviewed and revised in hotel Turner. Even if a group request falls outside the preset parameters of the hotel, managers should still evaluate the request. (http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-micro-price-discrimination.html) The basic objective of revenue management is to maximize yields. Acceptance of group bookings would be a great contribution towards achieving the basic objective of revenue management. So first of all Front office Manager of turner hotel should consider the objective of maximizing revenue of the hotel so keeping in mind this objective he or she should accept the offered group bookings. While deciding whether to accept the reservation request of 40 double occupancy rooms for 3 nights 4 days from Excelsior Tours, Hotel Turner should look into the room rate, which is currently GBP 300 on single occupancy. Among the major advances in Revenue Management technology is the incorporation of demand price- responsiveness for any property at any time period and for any market segment, including group. Other than the group being considered, front office manager must consider that this hotel might only have transient demand for these three days. Assuming that even if the forecasted demand shows that hotel can pick up 145 transient rooms each day at an average rate of GBP 320, which would give the 95% occupancy. Considering these assumed factors we can plot a line that shows incremental contribution at any given price point. From this hypothetical analysis, one can see that there will be break even (no profit no loss situation) with the group at a GBP 230 rate, and that one could generate an incremental contribution. This approach says all about the factors of accepting a group at a requested rate. Some more information is required to decide whether group booking should be accepted or not? This information is present occupancy level of the hotel. This information would have very helpful in deciding the acceptance of the deal. BIBLIOGRAPHY Abbott, P and lewry ,S (2002). Front Office Procedure, Social Skill, Yield and Management ,2nd edition , Burlington; Elsevier Hotel Front Office Management  By James A. Bardi Hotel Management and Operations by Michael J. OFallon, Denney G. Rutherford, International Encyclopedia of Hospitality Management by Abraham Pizam Robert. J, (1993), Marketing for the Hospitality Industry,kent,hodder Stoughton ltd. The Cornell School of Hotel Administration Handbook of Applied Hospitality Strategy by Cathy A. Enz, Sage 2010 Verginis, S. and c. wood R. (2002) Accommodation management perspective for the international hotel industry , London (U.K) ;Thomas Yeomand, I and ingold,A (1997) Yield Management Strategies for the service industries,great Britain. http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-micro-price-discrimination.html) accessed on 27/11/2010 http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals) accessed on 02/01/2011 www.wikianswers.com)accessed on 2/01/2011 HOUSE KEEPING Question Part B Question No. (1) Role, duties and importance of housekeeping department. Housekeeping department is the most important part of any hotel. Housekeeping is responsible for maintaining the cleanliness, maintenance and the up keeping of all the rooms and the common areas in a hotel. No one wants to live in a hotel which is dirty hence this function has great importance for generating business. Since the hotel industry is highly competitive hence excellent service and cleanliness has an ever lasting impact on the guests and determines whether they will come again. Housekeeping aims to keep the hotel clean and comfortable so that the guests keep coming back again and again. M.N.Ahmed (2005) A hotel guest spends about one third of his stay in the room. The design and layout of the room and the furniture in the room is very important in comfortable stay and a good impression. Cleanliness of the room, linen, room supplies, comfortable bedding etc. are the main functions of the department. Besides the room housekeeping also has to look after the other area like bathrooms and toilets, stairways, common rooms, floral arrangements, laundries and dry cleaning, maintaining gardens, hotel walls and boundaries and other public areas. Medlik Ingram (1980) The layout of the housekeeping department varies from hotel to hotel and it depends on the size and physical space. It also depends on the anticipated business. The largest workforce of the hotel belongs to the housekeeping department. The housekeeping department can have the following staff depending on the size of hotel, executive housekeeper, assistant housekeeper, uniform room supervisor, uniform room attendants, helpers, linen room supervisor, linen room attendant, floor supervisor, public area supervisor, Executive Housekeepers Assistant Housekeepers Linen keeper Florist Floor Housekeepers Assistants Linen maids House porters Valets Room maids Staff maids Cleaners www.city-of-hotels.com Executive Housekeeper manages the entire housekeeping function of a hotel. This is a very responsible position. An executive housekeeper has to cooperate with other department heads hence; the person must have a good rapport within the organization and must possess good organizing skills. An executive housekeeper must have an eye for detail and be committed to the various training and development needs of the people working under him. [www.city-of-hotels.com] The various duties that an executive housekeeper needs to perform are: Responsible for cleanliness and appearance of hotel rooms and common areas in the hotel. Neat and clean appearance of employees, facilities, corridors, linen, shopping area, gardens and the area outside of the hotels. Hiring and training of the employees. Maintaining discipline among the employees and motivating the employees so that they perform their job well. Having a good knowledge of labour relations so that the employees do not overburden with work as per the regulations. Proper training of the employees so that they follow all the guidelines and give the best service to the customers. Executive housekeeper is also responsible for developing the standard procedures which has to be followed in the hotel. A standard procedure helps to prevent confusion, maintain discipline among the employees and also helps in performing all the activities smoothly without error. Maintaining good relations with other departments. Housekeeping is dependent on other departments like sales to anticipate future demand, purchasing to get the equipment etc. Hence a good relation with other department heads will help in smooth functioning and prevent last minute surprises. Executive housekeeper is responsible for personally inspecting the entire facility. This inspection has to be on a regular basis withoutfailure. Surprise inspections are also required to keep things in order. He/she is responsible for inspecting all the areas, linen in the hotel. He/she has to pay special attention for maintaining a pest free and hygienic environment. Executive housekeeper has to work closely with the General Manager and update him on the day to day activities in the hotel and also on the plans for any special events in the hotel. Executive housekeeper also has to keep a track of the lost and found items in the hotel. These items can be normal to very expensive. These have to safely kept and also handed over to the owner in the best condition. Executive housekeeper is responsible for preparation of the annual housekeeping budget and then submits it to the general manager for approval. Executive housekeepers also need to manage the suppliers of the housekeeping items and recommend the good suppliers to the purchasing department. Apart from the above the executive housekeeper also needs to check the incoming orders, inventory of the items, quickly attend to complaints, having the preventive maintenance of all the housekeeping items, and always motivating his employees to give their best. [Hotel house Keeping training manual, Sudhir Andrews, TMH 2005 ] Question No. (2) Summary of the main requirements for- Honeymooners, Retired Couples, Disabled customers, Families, Business travellers. The needs of the guests in a hotel are very individualistic. They vary from each other. The hotels classify the guests in various segments so as to cater to their specific needs. The hotel must have a good knowledge about each segment and their special needs. This knowledge will help them to have the facilities in place to cater to the needs as and when they arise. Honeymooners This segment consist of the couples aged between 25 to 39 years. This segment has their own unique needs. This segment focuses more on the comfort solutions that can be enjoyed by them during their stay with the hotel. [www.tourism.australia.com]. the people in this segment look out for an unforgettable experience. Apart from the stay they also look forward to visiting places and sightseeing. The hotel has to specially plan for this segment like royal room accommodation arrangement, flower decoration, romantic dinner night, access to special recreational facilities, sightseeing city tours and most importantly; taking care that they have minimum disturbance from the housekeeping staffs during their stay. Apart for all these any special needs also have to be catered so that the people have a nice stay. (www.honeymooninindia.com. ) Retired Couples This segment consist of couples whose age is about 60 years. This segment has specific needs which vary widely from other segments. Although this segment has a good spending power still it is price sensible and wants value for money. They want a good place to stay with peaceful environment. They do not want nightlife instead prefer to have a walk in the morning and evening. The hotel has to take care of their food recreation requirements. They might need special food due to health reasons. They also might need a doctor during their stay. The housekeeping also has to regularly check with them so as to cater to their needs. The facilities also have to be arranged in a different way so that the usage is not a problem. Disabled customers This segment has very special needs. They need lot of care and attention. The hotel needs to understand their disability and give respect and great attention to their needs. They might need a wheelchair and a doctor. These customers generally come with family member or helper so the need to the assistant also has to be taken care. The devices like television, washing and toilet equipments might have to adjust so that the customers can use them without any difficulty. Families value for money and affordability are the needs of this segment. The customers in this segment consist of husband, wife and kids. The customer looks for good and healthy meal for them and their kids. Recreation facilities for the kids like games and various sports for kids. Business Travellers The business travellers represent a large chunk of customers for the hotel industry. This segment includes people who travel on business representing commercial, industrial and governmental organizations. In case of business travellers the peak business demand is experienced from Monday to Friday nights. The reasons for visiting is for conducting business with a local company or for recruiting, training, management meetings, and stopping over between destinations. This segment needs special food, beverage and desserts, nightlife and good facility for meetings and conferences. The hotel also needs to have facilities for video conferencing, Wi-Fi facilities with good bandwidth. Female business travellers The needs of female business travellers are similar to the male business travellers. The special need of this segment is around safety. The ladies might have to travel at night. The hotel has to provide a cab which takes them to their destination safely. The hotel staffs also need to have a good idea about the city so that they can guide the lady if she wants to see places. The hotel can also look at having lady staff for catering to these customers. It is generally observed that the housekeeping staffs are common for the hotel rooms. By keeping lady housekeeping staffs for female customers would help in proper differentiation of the hotel. This would help to showcase that the hotel tries to cater to even the smallest of the details. Question No. (3). Suggest some strategies which the hotel might use to identify the needs and wants of its customers. Todays business environment is very turbulent, aggressive and highly competitive. The hospitality industry is characteristized by intense competition, constant changes, and a relatively high incidence of failure. These factors not only decide the firms profitability but also decide its survival. There is intense competition in terms of quality, price and market share, and environmental factors. To increase the market share the hotels need additional expenditure. At times the business might need to look at mergers. The hotels have been forced to relook at their existing managerial techniques, assumptions and philosophies. The hotels are not only looking at innovative sales and marketing strategies but are also looking at improving the operational efficiency. During the growth stage the hotels might do well without investing properly in service quality and marketing. The second stage is the maturity stage where the hotels have to deal with intense competitive environment. In this stage the survival requires to deal with intense competition, acquiring customers and to become more effective and efficient. In addition to the increasing concentration, there seems to be a trend towards upgrading quality and maintaining market share, while divesting out of problematic properties. In 1979, Holiday Inns and Sheraton, both among the leaders of the industry, were less concerned with growth and more concerned with improving the quality of properties. (Wyckoff and Sasser, 1981). This proves that the hotels have to develop innovative strategies to gain market share and redefine competition in terms of brand image and quality. The few things that a hotel can do to identify the needs and wants of its customers are objective setting, environmental analysis, organizational analysis, assessment, GAP analysis, Strategic choice and implementation. The hotel apart from improving the operational efficiency and marketing also needs to understand the needs and wants of its customers so that it is easier to get these customers. The hotel experience for a customer starts right from the moment he attempts to do the booking for the stay. The booking can be online or physically at the hotel. In case of online booking there are few important things that must be considered. All the details related to the hotel must be available on the website so that the customer can plan better. The transaction must be safe and quick. The customer must also be acknowledged on confirmation of booking. Every hotel must have CRM enabled s

Hollywood and Nathaniel Wests The Day of the Locust Essay -- Nathanie

Hollywood and Nathaniel West's The Day of the Locust Works Cited Missing Although set in the 1930s, Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust ironically resembles contemporary Hollywood. Within the glamorous setting of Hollywood, West’s characters take on multiple roles instead of assuming individual personalities. They put on and remove these imaginary personality masks, similar to those in the Commedia dell’Arte, to exhibit a range of emotions that only their character type would exhibit. Consequently, West’s characters are trapped in this restrictive atmosphere, especially at the end of the novel when they become part of a collective mob. In these manners, the characters in The Day of the Locust exhibit qualities akin to modern actors, proving that they are nothing more than a cast of personages rather than individuals. Hollywood is not simply a point on a map; it is a representation of the human experience. As with any other location, though, Hollywood’s history can be traced and analyzed up to present day. In 1887, Harvey Henderson Wilcox established a 120-acre ranch in an area northwest of Los Angeles, naming it â€Å"Hollywood† (Basinger 15). From then on, Hollywood grew from one man’s family to over 5,000 people in 1910. By then, residents around the ranch incorporated it as a municipality, using the name Hollywood for their village. While they voted to become part of the Los Angeles district, their village was also attracting motion-picture companies drawn in by the diverse geography of the mountains and oceanside (15). The Los Angeles area continues to flourish, now containing over nine million people, an overwhelming statistic compared to Wilcox’s original, family unit (U.S. Census Bureau 1). However, these facts only s... ...ic category. Instead, they have the freedom to shift between different roles and characters. In West’s The Day of the Locust, the characters exhibit traits most closely linked to these new types of Hollywood actors. Although he introduces them as types, he develops them throughout the novel with variable personalities. Todd’s emotions, for example, towards Faye range from sweetly romantic to vindictively dangerous. Yet, these variable personalities do not prove individuality, as the characters can all be labeled as characters, just like all actors are just actors at the end of every movie no matter what role they play. Unfortunately, West’s characters can never escape their fixed roles and established places in the narrative despite how often they attempt to change. They are forever stuck as modern actors in a 1930s Hollywood setting, and therein lies their tragedy. Hollywood and Nathaniel West's The Day of the Locust Essay -- Nathanie Hollywood and Nathaniel West's The Day of the Locust Works Cited Missing Although set in the 1930s, Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust ironically resembles contemporary Hollywood. Within the glamorous setting of Hollywood, West’s characters take on multiple roles instead of assuming individual personalities. They put on and remove these imaginary personality masks, similar to those in the Commedia dell’Arte, to exhibit a range of emotions that only their character type would exhibit. Consequently, West’s characters are trapped in this restrictive atmosphere, especially at the end of the novel when they become part of a collective mob. In these manners, the characters in The Day of the Locust exhibit qualities akin to modern actors, proving that they are nothing more than a cast of personages rather than individuals. Hollywood is not simply a point on a map; it is a representation of the human experience. As with any other location, though, Hollywood’s history can be traced and analyzed up to present day. In 1887, Harvey Henderson Wilcox established a 120-acre ranch in an area northwest of Los Angeles, naming it â€Å"Hollywood† (Basinger 15). From then on, Hollywood grew from one man’s family to over 5,000 people in 1910. By then, residents around the ranch incorporated it as a municipality, using the name Hollywood for their village. While they voted to become part of the Los Angeles district, their village was also attracting motion-picture companies drawn in by the diverse geography of the mountains and oceanside (15). The Los Angeles area continues to flourish, now containing over nine million people, an overwhelming statistic compared to Wilcox’s original, family unit (U.S. Census Bureau 1). However, these facts only s... ...ic category. Instead, they have the freedom to shift between different roles and characters. In West’s The Day of the Locust, the characters exhibit traits most closely linked to these new types of Hollywood actors. Although he introduces them as types, he develops them throughout the novel with variable personalities. Todd’s emotions, for example, towards Faye range from sweetly romantic to vindictively dangerous. Yet, these variable personalities do not prove individuality, as the characters can all be labeled as characters, just like all actors are just actors at the end of every movie no matter what role they play. Unfortunately, West’s characters can never escape their fixed roles and established places in the narrative despite how often they attempt to change. They are forever stuck as modern actors in a 1930s Hollywood setting, and therein lies their tragedy.

Doll’s House Essay

Victorian England was marked by rapid industrial growth, resulted in changes in the society, organization and attitude of the people. It is the custom of a society to bring into play, its own rules and values, to satisfy their interests. The literary works of the Victorian Era were pictures of the contemporary society drawn by eminent writers of the time. Henrik Ibsen was one among them. The adverse aspects of the society were unraveled harshly by the author, in the play ‘Doll’s House’. Women were expected to surrender their life for the comfort of the family. This is well explicated in the play through the life of Nora, the principal female character. A thrash about maintaining their own self can be identified in the characters both male and female. The society of the era seemed to have coherent notions and concepts about masculinity and femininity. Deviation from such preconceived notions was not well accepted. Nora, the ‘doll wife’ of Torvald was confined in the comforts of her own home. She was denied the status of a wife. This was the fate of most of the woman characters of the period that appeared in the current literatures of the time. They had to struggle for the approval of the society they live in. What Ibsen wanted was to liberate woman from the conventional roles of bearer’s of children and their moral guides. The materialistic mentality of male characters of the time was revealed through Torvald,  Ã‚   an unsuccessful barrister who refused to take ‘unsavory cases’. This materialism was exhibited by his attitude towards his wife, that he considered her as an ‘asset’, not as his ‘partner’. The economic and social changes during nineteenth century made the people work for a place in the society based on money. The over powering morality is another major theme of the play. The heroic action of Nora to save her husband by forgery was a crime in the eyes of the society. Mrs. Linde betrayed her real lover and married another man only for money. All the characters of the play appear to be misleading and unreliable during their walks of life. This instability was true temperament of the period. Ibsen succeeded in gradually bringing out the real personality of the major characters of the play. Thus through a middle class family story, the author depicted the existing society and common life with power and precision. Reference Ibsen, Henrik. (1879). A Doll’s House. Capenhagen: Denmark.

How the Trucking Industry Can Help End Distracted Driving

How the Trucking Industry Can Help End Distracted Driving Distracted driving is an epidemic claiming far too many lives each year. One company, KRST (Keeping Roads Safe Technologies, Inc.) is ready to take that epidemic on, and is currently looking for partners within the trucking industry to help them fight it. The Halifax-based company proposes to monitor how, when, and why truckers use their mobile phones while driving. The company has designed two devices to be installed in any company vehicles that would collect and analyze this information. The first, CellAware, would give trucking companies precise data about their employees’ cell phone usage on the road. The second, KRSTI, would actually delay all calls and text messages on a driver’s phone until his or her vehicle’s engine had been turned off.The devices could also provide valuable information about mileage, fuel consumption, and location-tracking, as well as distance travelled without incident, all the while monitoring and reporting any attempted calls, texts, or tampering with the vehicle in motion.KRST plans to manufacture 5,000 of these devices and kick off the program- at no charge to the participating companies- in January 2016. Companies wanting to get involved should call +1 844-993-4357.

Sharon Pollocks Walsh Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Sharon Pollock's Walsh Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers Sharon Pollock's Walsh Progress is the elimination of the savage. These words of General Terry, a character in Sharon Pollock's Walsh, demonstrates how he and his fellow white men feel towards Native Indians. The indians see Canada as their homeland, but the Canadian government will not let them stay and will do anything in their power to make them leave to the United States. They are cheated against, lied to, and betrayed by their government, because of their ethnic background. Especially Sitting Bull, the head of the Sioux nation, who is being accused for the death of General Custer. Walsh, Sitting Bull, and General Terry contribute to this theme of prejudice towards the Sioux by the government and Walsh's struggle to keep his responsibility as an individual and his high principles. Major Walsh of the North West Mounted Police who attempts to prevent Sitting Bull and the Sioux from being sent back from Canada to the United States, apparently to stand trial for the death of General Custer and his men at the battle of Little Big Horn. Walsh has sympathy for Sitting Bull and the Sioux. He feels, as a member of the force he should do everything in his power to help them: An able and brilliant people have been crushed, held down, moved from place to place, cheated and lied to.....and now , they hold here in Canada, the remnants of a proud race, and they ask for some sort of justice....which is what I thought I swore on oath to serve! Walsh has a responsibility for Sitting Bull and the Sioux as a friend to help them in their struggle for justice and respect but Walsh was forced against his better judgment, to sacrifice his own high principles by his fellow police men and friends. The government, which Walsh represents lies and makes excuses to the Sioux of why the should be going to the United States. Walsh is a man who knows that there is a nobility to his struggle, but he surrenders responsibility as an individual. Walsh is a well-meaning but ultimately ineffectual white man whose potentially tragic status is undermined by his decision to go back on his promise of his responsibility to Sitting Bull and the Sioux. His moral dilemma is at a disaster when he agrees to his governments demands and sends Sitting Bull and the Sioux to his certain death in the United States. His mentality has totally been altered and he almost feels no sympathy for them anymore: And I can give you nothing! God knows, I've done my damnedest and nothing's changed. Do you hear that? Nothing's changed! Cross the line if you're so hungry, but don't, for Christ's sake, come begging food from me! Now Walsh is just like the rest of the men, careless and heartless. He has hardly no feelings towards Sitting Bull and the Sioux and he is trying to send Sitting Bull and the Sioux to the United States, thinking that they're going to get food and shelter. Sitting Bull, the head of the Sioux nation, and the Sioux are not blind to see what's really going on. They know the Canadian government is prejudice against them and that they don't want them on their land or in their country. They know the government is lying to them so they can go to the United States to be in an even worse situation then they are in, in Canada. Sitting Bull and the Sioux are being betrayed by their own government. Sitting Bull says that to Walsh: When I was a boy, the Sioux owned the world. The sun rose and set on our land. We sent 10,000 men to battle. Where are those warriors now? Who seen them? Where are our lands? Who owns them? Tell me...what law have I broken? Is it wrong for me to love my own? Is it wicked of me because my skin is red? Because I am a Sioux, because I was born where my fathers lived, because I would die for my people and my country? ....This white man would forgive me....and while he speaks to me of forgiveness, what do his people say in secret? 'Seize their guns and horses! Drive them

The novel progresses Essay Example

The novel progresses Essay Example The novel progresses Essay The novel progresses Essay The reader begins to realise that Fagin is an evil character as the novel progresses.  In chapter thirteen, Charles Dickens portrays Fagins determination to get Oliver back: Whats become of the boy? said the Jew, seizing the Dodger tightly by the collar, and threatening him with horrid imprecations. This brings about suspicion in the reader as Fagin is showing much determination to retrieve a little boy. But one consequence of Oliver not being under the control of Fagin is that he could snitch on Fagins criminal activities. But this is only a possibility, so why his Dickens illustrating this character with such determination? The reader begins to understand that Fagin is under the influence of Monks for which is why he shows such determination to retrieve Oliver. Dickens has portrayed Fagin as a self-obsessed character as he his only concerned about the consequences that would occur to him or benefit him with the retrieval of Oliver. Again, Dickens has depicted Fagin of his malicious human nature. The reader has clear understanding of how Fagins mind works; he is a character who has a strong attachment to materialism and he his self-absorbed. The reader begins to develop an understanding of Fagins character; he has much dexterity within the criminal world and is a sly, cunning, and resourceful man.  This is also portrayed through Alan Bleasdales interpretation; however this character has been expressed as more intelligent.  When Bumble is introduced back into the novel in chapter 17, he discovers an advertisement about Oliver and he immediately sets out to find more information. When Bumble meets Mr. Brownlow he attempts to destroy Olivers character. Dickens depicts the evil aspects of this character through the way he treats other people and this is mainly portrayed through how Oliver is treated: that Oliver was a foundling, born of low and vicious parents. That he had from his birth no better qualities than treachery, ingratitude, and Malice. Not only is this not true but Bumble has created a false background of Olivers history, which he tries to deceive Mr Brownlow with. Dickens has portrayed the evil characteristics of Bumble and he has depicted the evil aspects of human nature through this character. He is desperate to get his reward. In his greed he blackens the character of Oliver and describes him as a foul child. Mr. Bumble does not mind spoiling the reputation of Oliver as long as it would earn him five guineas. Once again Dickens reveals the corrupt parochial world through the character of Mr. Bumble.  The most amusing scene in the novel is the one in which Mr. Bumble is shown assessing the property of Mrs. Corney before proposing marriage to her. His exclamations of greed, his flirtatious manner, and his display of affection make Mr. Bumble into a rather comic character. Mr. Bumble is married for two months but he looks unhappy in his relationship. Mrs. Corney dominates and insults him, which causes unpleasantness between them. She does so in the same room in which both of them had expressed their love for each other. The woman, who had acted coy before, now behaves like a demon, hitting her husband and tearing his hair, which is Dickenss humor. Within the relationship Mr Bumble finds himself in a difficult position, he believes that he his in command of the relationship and the wife has to obey: The prerogative of man is too command. By Mr. Bumble saying this it caused Mrs. Bumble great unpleasantness and there is a rather comic moment where Mrs. Bumble attacks Mr. Bumble with success: clasping him tightly round the throat with one hand, inflicted a shower of blows. What Charles Dickens is trying to illustrate is that Mr. Bumble was so full of his own importance that he didnt care about others. Now, that Mrs. Bumble is present she can control Mr. Bumble to an extent and put things into perspective for Mr. Bumble. Charles Dickens is depicting Mr. Bumble and the reader feels that that is what he deserves. Dickens has depicted both Bumble and Fagin in the development of both characters. He has clearly expressed his concerns for the corruption of social conditions; how children are treated, the way law his administered and the consequences it leads to: crime. All of these factors are illustrated through how dickens has depicted the evil aspects of human nature through Bumble and Fagin.  The reader is expecting the evil characters of Bumble and Fagin to obviously have the ending that they deserve and this is what Dickens gives to the reader. Dickens builds up a great deal of tension to Fagins death and when Oliver and Mr. Brownlow go to meet Fagin, before his death, Dickens portrays him as a helpless animal: The condemned criminal was seating on his bed, rocking himself from side to side, with a countenance more like that of a snarled beast than a face of a man. Dickens has transformed this character, from the ruler of the criminal world to a powerless animal and he has gained the readers sympathy by doing this. But, because of his evil ways, death is his punishment, and that is what I personally think he deserves. When Fagin his approaching his death he his not even willing to share a prayer with Oliver and he his portrayed as a crazy criminal. He starts discussing an escape route with Oliver to help him and Dickens is still depicting this character; even in his last moments of life, he cannot even say a prayer, instead he plans an escape. Charles Dickens from start to finish has depicted this character of his evil human nature.  In Bumbles ending, Dickens clearly portrays that Mr. and Mrs. Bumbles relationship isnt going well and eventually they have split up. Not only did they split up but they became paupers in the very workhouse that they once ruled. Dickens has given the ending to these two characters for what they deserve. Overall, Bumble is portrayed as a character that is so full of his own importance and his marriage with Mrs. Corney becomes rather comic and we feel he has suffered at his own hands. Fagin is portrayed as a sinister character, who is attached to his materialism and who only cares about himself.  Charles Dickens has depicted the evil aspects of human nature through Bumble and Fagin. Dickens has criticized both these characters to express his concerns for the social conditions of his time such as law, authority, power and crime, and I believe he has clearly expressed these factors through depicting the characters of Bumble and Fagin.

Contemporary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Contemporary - Essay Example Psychologists and sociologists alike have been caught off guard by this young squad of activists. They have been studying this concept for long. In the United States alone, young people align themselves in the order of the side of the city they live in, the side of the street they live in, they side football teams, they cheer politically - in fact, they manifest our quest for sharing and caring and relate to the identity crises. The youth are on the constant outlook for idols to follow and adopt. This innocent psychological quest has often led to problems as well. Many a times, these gangs or group of like minded people are a law unto themselves. They run scare shows in the city and indulge in violent acts that lead to disruptions in civic life. The police department has always tried to view them as isolated incidents and have taken legal remedies to rectify the situation. But at the heart of the problem, lies the sociological influence of things. These incidents are not simply isola ted one-off kinds, but a growing social malice. In fact the problem is not even personal, its always the result of deep seated insecurity among the youth. In developing countries like India, China and much over Africa, these crowds form small islands of lawlessness who are patronized by the political community and take off to a career in crime.

Project Management Accounting(BBAC501) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project Management Accounting(BBAC501) - Essay Example To put this into lump light it would be good to know what constitute a cost in manufacturing process. Manufacturing Overhead Costs Stocks are normally classified as an asset in the financial statements, and it is very pertinent note that each product mentioned as en inventory includes the costs of the following: 1. Direct material 2. Direct labor 3. Manufacturing (or factory) overhead Direct material and labour costs are directly traceable to the product being produced. Manufacturing (or factory) overhead on the other hand consist of costs which indirectly relate to factory and on this regard they are divided and allocated to each unit of product. Accordingly this cost are reported in balance sheet inform of finished goods and work in progress (WIP) (GAAP). There are also other costs that would be treated as manufacturing overhead depending on the circumstances for instance, a loyalty or property tax imposed on a factory building. Although it will appear as fixed cost GAAP requires i t allocation and assignment to each unit of manufactured product during such period. Other manufacturing overheads; 1. Material handling e.g. fork lifting opera oration for moving materials and units. 2. Technical expertise for setting up manufacturing equipment which requires some specifications. 3. Work force who inspect and supervise products as they are being manufactured. In my estimates the following are the assumptions which hold in my review 1. There was virtually no beginning inventory of raw material, work in process and finished goods. 2. At the end of the month, 10% of the materials purchased remained on hand, work in process amounted to 20% of the manufacturing costs incurred during the month, and finished goods inventories were negligible. 3. The factory occupies 80% of the premises, the sales area 15% and administration 5%. 4. Most of the equipment is used for manufacturing, with only 5% of the book value being used for sales and administrative functions. 5. Almost al l of the electricity is consumed in the factory. 6. The truck is used to deliver finished goods to customers. 7. The manager spends about one-half of his time on factory management, one-third in the sales area and the rest on administration. Product Costing Cost ($) Cost ($) Â  Direct material 300,000 Direct labor 250,000 Prime Cost 550,000 550,000 Manufacturing (or factory) overhead Rent (80% of 80,000)Assp. No. 3 64,000 Production Supervisor's salary 35,000 Electricity (Assp. No. 5) 12,000 Manager's salary (80,000 x 1/2 Assp. No. 7) 40,000 Equipment depreciation (25,000x95% Assp. No. 4) 23,750 174,750 Total cost of production 724,750 Colonial Tap Company (CTC) Financial Statements for the month ended Cost ($) Cost ($) Sales 980,000 Less C.O.G. Total cost of production 724,750 Less Material at the end ( 10% of 300,000 Assp. No. 2) (30,000) Less Work in progress (20% of 174,750 Assp. No. 2 ) (34,950) 659,800 Gross Profit 320,200 Non Manufacturing Expenses Administrative Expenses Co uncil Rates 5,000 Rent (80,000 x 15% Assp. No. 3) 12,000 Manager's Salary (80,000x2/3 Assp. No. 7 ) 266,667 Equipment