Advancement in Technology: How it has Lead to a Decrease in Writing Sk

Advancement in Technology: How it has Lead to a Decrease in Writing Skills It’s the 21st century, and technology is rapidly moving more into people's everyday lives, especially as the interest in computers grow. The advancement with computers alone has increased drastically, faster than some would have ever imagined. For the most part, this advancement in computer technology has skyrocketed businesses and eased our lives as a whole in society. However, technology doesn’t always have a positive influence on our lives. In fact, it has the potential to harm a major area of our communication skills if not used carefully. It has been shown that technology is one of the factors as to why writing skills have decreased in the past years. With our nation’s writing skills in a slump, it’s important to note the reasons as to why this trend has started and put an end to it as soon as possible. Computers should be used as a language-learning tool in the classroom, just as any other piece of equipment like a tape recorder or VCR. No one can argue that the computer is one of the most influential tools developed in education. However, in school especially, it seems as if the use of computers has become the center of attention in class lessons, which is where the problem comes in. If for instance, there is a situation when activities at the computer could become the center of attention, teachers should be using more discretion in this area than they currently are today. Relying on computers for every aspect of a lesson will greatly have an effect on a student’s writing capabilities, and it isn’t a positive one. When students are interacting with a computer, they are also using motor skills as well. These motor sk... ... 3e/students/rcd/rcd_ch05.html Haney, W. & Russell, M. (1997). Testing writing on computers. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 5(3), Retrieved October 17, 2004, from Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Electronic Journal database. Jones, Rebecca (Oct1995). Education Digest. Writing Wrongs, Volume 61, page 63. Poor Writing Blamed on Little Practice, Poor Instruction (July 10,2003). Retrieved October 17, 2004, from http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_ourschools_071003writing.html Toner, Erin (1997). Graduates lack computer, writing skills. Resources from state news staff. Retrieved October 17, 2004 from http://www.statenews.com/editionsfall97/082997/p1_study.html Using Technology to Enhance the Writing Processes of Students with Learning Disabilities (1996, July). Retrieved October 17, 2004, from http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/technology/tech_writing.html

Internet gambling Essay

Gambling online is growing exponentially, without the protection of reliable regulatory structures that ensure age and identity verification, the integrity/fairness of the games, or that responsible gaming features are included on a site. In a poorly regulated Internet environment, this study investigates gambling on twenty online sites. Content analysis was utilised to evaluate whether the sample displayed responsible gambling features. In the absence of established, agreed, regulatory evaluation criteria, the researchers constructed their own, based on examples of good practice on available websites and following the recommendations of the Gambling Review Report 2001 and the Gambling Act 2005. The primary findings suggest that most online gambling sites are responsible and most show elements of good practice, which is of interest given the unregulated environment and absence of policing. While some features are derived from conventional gambling policies and regulatory influences, some are unique to the special ethical risks of gambling on line. Web designers and commissioning organisations appear to have anticipated social criticisms by incorporating guards against unethical outcomes before regulatory controls have been imposed. As the impossibility of regulating/controlling the Internet is a common cliche in many commentators’ analysis, this self regulation and willingness to refrain from taking revenue from vulnerable punters, is intriguing. The authors recommend further research to establish an accurate picture, including the size and characteristics of the UK online gambling market. Secondly, to study and compare online gambling with more traditional forms of gambling in terms of underage and problem gambling. More studies need to investigate which forms of responsible gambling are most effective in reducing underage and problem gambling. Lastly, the response of the industry to legislation and micro regulation would be a guide for policy makers and responsible industry practitioners. Introduction Since the increased popularity of Internet access into homes and workplaces in the early nineties, Internet gambling opportunities have expanded at a surprisingly swift pace and more people are gambling online (Wood, Williams and Lawton, 2007). The unregulated nature and uncontrollability of the Internet, with low or no tax gambling, have created a perfect environment for the proliferation of gambling (Crist and Yeager, 1998). Anyone, anytime, anywhere with a computer, a connection, and a credit card can gamble at hundreds of different online gambling websites. Recent statistics state there are as many as 2,500 gambling websites currently operating; consisting of 1,083 online casinos, 592 sports and race-books, 532 poker rooms, 224 online bingo sites, 49 skill game sites, 30 betting exchanges, 25 lottery sites and 17 backgammon sites (Casino City, 2006). Gamcare (2008) state that the number of Internet gambling websites is approximately 3,000. By 12 September 2007, the Gambling Commission had received only 146 applications for operating licences that include provision for online gambling, a minute proportion of the 2,500 sites worldwide. Internet gambling revenues in a single year were $651 million in 1998, more than double the estimated $300 million from 1997 (Sinclair,1999). Further, the global Internet gambling industry is forecast to grow from about $9,000 million in 2004 to $25,000 million in 2010 (European Commission, 2006). If the estimated figures are accurate, then the importance of Internet gambling will continue to rise. Gambling presents a large set of negative social consequences and online gambling has its own challenges beyond those of gambling in general; introducing many new potential problems and rekindling many old ones (Griffiths,1999). Internet and land based casinos have problems detecting and deterring addicted gamblers. Even with the opportunity presented to physically verify age in conventional gambling outlets, no gambling jurisdiction is 100% effective in keeping out underage gambling (Gambling Online Magazine, 2004). It is feared that the anonymity offered by the Internet will exacerbate this problem. Computer-based systems allow gamblers to self-exclude or establish loss limits and may stand a better chance of being effective than the current systems in most conventional casinos. Whilst a determined gambler can move from site to site, reports of players’ activities can be made readily available with contact details for bodies that aim to assist those with problem gambling issues. However, offline and online operators other than those regulated in the UK, do not collect information about a customer’s financial situation, spending or habits, for both practical and protection of privacy reasons. A person who has developed a problem must identify it themselves and take their own constructive steps to deal with it. Operators only train staff to help those who believe they have a problem and approach customer services. Presently there is no comprehensive research or definitive standard as to how to identify someone who has developed a gambling problem. The prevailing view is that it is the minority of players who develop gambling problems. The current regulatory response to this issue is influenced by this perspective (EGBA, 2007). The Growth of Internet Gambling Several factors have contributed to the growth of online gambling. †¢ Internet access has increased globally and technologies that drive the Internet have improved. Confidence in conducting financial transactions online has increased and some governments have licensed online operators within their borders. †¢ The personal computer extends the range of choice. Land-based casinos dictate which games are available to players. Online gambling lets players move through cyberspace to play the games they prefer. †¢ The Internet provides the highest level of anonymity for conducting gambling. The more pervasive concern has been that the Internet attracts people away from person-to-person contact, fostering alienation and real-world disconnection (Boase, 2006). †¢ The costs of establishing online sites are considerably less than those of land-based gambling operations. Flatt (1998) has estimated as little as $135,000. Problem Gambling The ability to gamble anonymously provides problem gamblers with a safe haven without physical scrutiny or surveillance (Scharf and Corrin, 2002). Problem gambling is categorised as an addiction. A severe disorder characterised by obsessive thoughts of gambling, a loss of control, often involving lying and stealing in order to recover gambling losses. As well as other negative consequences (Netemeyer,1998). Specific to Internet Gambling is the role that technology contributes to alteration in gambling habits (Griffiths, 1999). There are no regulated opening times, as exercised by terrestrial operations. It has been argued that there is an ‘exodus from reality’, in the sense that gambling online does not involve ‘real cash’. A gambler may lose control as he or she cannot see a money balance and does not suffer a physical loss. Online gambling loses the social aspect of gambling creating the disadvantage that there are no friends or peers to discourage a gambler from going too far (Griffiths, 1999). Underage Gambling. There is a high priority of protecting children from online gambling, considered more addictive than conventional forms of gambling, because of young people’s familiarity with and access to computer-based technologies (Conway and Koehler, 2000). They have a perception of control resulting from their skills honed playing PlayStation or interactive video games, and may have a false sense of security boosted by their fluency (Mackay, 2004). Another concern is that underage gamblers have easy access to sites and to forms of gambling, from which they otherwise would be excluded by conventional outlets. Many sites offer a ‘demo’ mode, i.e. play without wagering money. It is suspected that ‘demo’ games may give very good odds. Adolescents who are successful on these games could develop a habit which continues when they reach adulthood and are legally permitted to gamble for money, when the odds are no longer so favourable (Mackay, 2004). Regulation Gambling in its various forms is often seen as a deeply-rooted trait of the human activity, which although a source of gratification for many and not innately immoral, can cause harm to individuals. Gambling has long been subject to regulation by governments, reflecting moral, religious and political mores. A pragmatic motivation for such regulation is to generate revenue, which might result in a conflict of interest in regulatory regimes, as the industry grows. The objective of regulation can vary from protecting consumers by ensuring the probity and integrity of the gambling operators and the purging of fraud and abuse of criminal activities, such as money laundering, to reduction of the social cost of problem gambling. There is a gap in the literature concerning the efficacy of regulation. Regulation of online gambling is a comparatively new phenomenon and it is too early to measure its effectiveness. There are debates about appropriate licensing frameworks, legal and technical standards for operators and cover issues, such as protection of customer funds, continuous and repetitive play and intervention to tackle problem gambling. Methodology Content analysis, adopted for this study, has been defined as a systematic, replicable technique for compressing many words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding (Krippendorff, 1980). Content analysis has four key advantages: †¢ it is unobtrusive †¢ it is flexible and applicable to unstructured materials †¢ it is context sensitive. †¢ it can be applied to large amounts of data. The lack of research applying content analysis to websites is partially a result of the complexity of Internet information, in particular; the definition of a website, the unit of analysis and the method of sampling. A major problem in conducting Internet content analysis is related to defining the term ‘website. ’ With a large volume of information on a website, it becomes unworkable to analyse the whole website. Therefore, parts of the website, the units of analysis, must be chosen for evaluation. In addition to size, websites differ in purpose, structure and content, therefore selecting a unit of analysis consistently across all samples is highly problematic (Ha and James, 1998). Coding an entire website is difficult and can introduce bias based on size. Selecting the unit of analysis is not an easy task as the volume of data can overwhelm the researcher. In this study the first step was to decide on the sample. The sample consisted of the top twenty most popular online gambling sites visited in Britain, according to: †¢ www. gambling. com, †¢ www. cam-orl. co. uk. Internet-betting-online. html and †¢ www. ukcasinoguide.org. uk . The sites were accessed and coded during a period of three days, in February 2006. The term website was applied on a general level, defined as a collection of pages or files linked together and available online. The unit of analysis was the homepage, plus drill downs. The study attempted to limit the analysis to the homepage. However, it was decided that the content available on a homepage was too limited and did not necessarily reflect the breadth and scope of content available on the whole website. The study experimented with gambling sites. A commonality of approaches indicated prima facie industry norms. The study observed evidence of good practice. The content of the websites was evaluated by characteristics providing factual information and of responsible gambling. The coding template was based on possible features associated with each of the two categories and was used to record the content of each website, within the unit of analysis. Ratings were based on how difficult it was to locate information. More drill downs meant the information was harder to find and scored a lower rating. It was believed that the more easily located and extensive the information, the more an online gambling operator was committed to responsible gambling. Reliability and Validity The reliability of a study involving content analysis refers to the stability and reproducibility of the results (Stemler, 2001). Stability requires researchers to code the data consistently. According to Weber (1990), concerns regarding reliability often stem from the ambiguity of word meanings, category definitions, or other coding rules. The validity of a study involving content analysis is determined by the extent to which the definitions (included in the tool) reflect the sub-categories. The validity of categories is enhanced by the inclusion of many words to arrive at the same judgment. For example, the words gambling and betting were considered interchangeable. One of the primary reasons to conduct content analysis is to collect objective information. Therefore, the study ensured that the procedure was clearly laid out and defined. It was consistently applied to the sample. The following three steps were taken to enhance the reliability and validity of the study’s findings and to ensure that the information gathered was objective. First, to enhance the reliability of the results, after the tool was applied to the website, the coder re-coded the website on the same day to ensure accuracy. Second, the coding scheme was tested to ensure the suitability of the categories and the overall reliability of the tool. It was important that the list of variables was exhaustive and mutually exclusive in order to avoid any confusion. Lastly, to improve the validity of the results, the definitions were reviewed and expanded to ensure that there was an exhaustive list of words for each sub-category where applicable. For example, for the sub-category ‘Addiction Help,’ words such as ‘problem gambling,’ ‘concerns about gambling,’ were included in the coding guidelines to broaden the category, allowing the coder to capture the data. Findings Considering the large amount of data collected, only the criteria of responsible gambling were analysed intensively. These are illustrated in Table 1. The key areas of concern, underage gambling and problem gambling are expanded in Tables 2 and 3 respectively. Sample characteristics Security Online gambling security is as good as most other e-commerce sites. There are no reported any security-related fraud (Turner, 2002). Online gambling sites know that cheating their customers is bad for business and therefore tend to be honest. The market is so competitive that the reputation of market leaders is paramount. Players are likely to switch to rival sites if practices are questionable. Payment systems are critical to the success of any online business and online gambling operators have their own particular challenges to face. The integrity of systems must be assured. [pic] Table 1 Voluntary Initiatives Systems must be secure from hackers and crackers, from both outside and from within. There are readily available codes to ensure security such as the use of encryption and digital signatures. These technologies are already in use. All sites accessed displayed secure transaction information. The ‘dot com boom’ followed by the ‘dot com crash’ has had Internet gambling casualties. Several Internet gambling operators have gone bankrupt. For example Netbetsports and Luvbet folded owing their customers money (Barker, 2007). These firms had a relatively high profile within the industry. Luvbet was one of the first bookmakers to promote an Internet site offering tax free betting. Netbetsports offered Internet customers high bet limits and tax free betting, when UK tax rates were still nine per cent. Internet gambling is expanding in ever-changing and unregulated websites (Hartman, 2007; Holahan, 2006). It is uncertain whether as an unintended consequence of domestic regulation; risk taking clients might be challenged to gamble with unscrupulous vendors. This could represent an extra excitement factor, perhaps generating worse personal consequences, than in an unregulated environment. Responsible gambling The concern with responsible gambling is the rationale of this study. It was intended to measure how online sites recognise that gambling can cause problems for customers and to investigate and record the measures to offer checks. The websites were evaluated according to how helpful responsible gambling information was. The study found no consistency in the responsible gambling information. British legislation requires mandatory procedures promoting socially responsible gambling. This should be clear and prominent on their homepage, if it is to be effective. Eleven sites displayed responsible features on the home page or easily accessible links. Most of the remaining sites contained these features, but access was difficult, hence their lower rating. Fair Gaming and Independent Audits Fair gaming refers to sites operating honestly and responsibly, ensuring monetary deposit safety and winning bets paid in a timely manner. Fifty-five per cent of sites accessed contained information stating that they were independently audited. Independent audits confirm the percentage of payouts of games, review the output and validity of the software, that it consistently produces random results and fair outcomes of games. For example Price Coopers Waterhouse at www. roxypalace. com. The Gambling Review Report (2001) recommends that online gambling software systems must be random-operated and tested by the Gambling Commission. Online sites must make payments only to the credit card used to make deposits or by cheque to the player. The study looked for evidence of these recommended features. Security and honesty of transactions are as important to the supplier as the customer. A bad reputation for online gambling sites could be commercially crippling (Griffiths, 2003). Therefore the responsible features recorded here do have an economic payoff. Ethical Statement An ethical code was a key criterion to be assessed when visiting each site. Only one ‘ethical code’ which covered policies on compliance and data protection, measures restricting minors and the risks of compulsive gambling, was observed. This might be seen as a ‘narrow’ interpretation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) focussing on legal/rule based elements. Legal safeguards are problematic, since any Internet relationship questions which law should be complied with. Smeaton and Griffiths (2004) found two-thirds of the sites they visited displayed no evidence of social responsibility and concluded that social responsibility was a low priority for online sites. Problem Gambling Social responsibility can be evidenced by attempts to offer services in a way that does not encourage repetitive play or by supporting a client with a problem. Sixty per cent of the websites provided problem gambling information. InterCasino UK |Ethics drill down finds the website is committed to detecting and reducing compulsive gambling with |Med | | |procedures including monthly deposit limits and analysis of gambling patterns (this information was not | | | |verifable for the study). | | |Coral Casino |Link to GamCare and facilities for daily/weekly deposit limits, self exclusion periods and access to customer|High | | |accounts. | | |Platinum Play Casino |Link to gambling support agencies and facilities for self-assessment tests, daily/weekly deposit limits, self|High | | |exclusion periods, access to customer accounts and filtering programmes. | | |Spin Palace Casino |Link to gambling support agencies and facility self exclusion periods. |Med | |City Club Casino |Link to a statement of encouraging sensible gambling and link to Gamblers Anonymous. |Low | |Roxy Palace Online Casino |Link to Gamblers Anonymous website. |Low | |32 Vegas Red |Link to Gamblers Anonymous website. |Low | |Victor Chandler |No link or message to be found. |Nil | |Crazy Vegas Casino |Link to gambling support agencies and facilities for self-assessment tests, daily/weekly deposit limits, self|High | | |exclusion periods and filtering programmes. | | |English Harbour |Link to Gamblers Anonymous website. |Low | |Casino Tropez |No link or message to be found. |Nil | |Vegas Red Casino |No link or message to be found. |Nil | |Ruby Fortune Casino |Link to gambling support agencies and facilities for self-assessment tests, daily/weekly deposit limits, self|High | | |exclusion periods, access to customer accounts and filtering programmes. | | |Eurobet Casino |Link to GamCare and facilities for daily/weekly deposit limits, self exclusion periods and access to customer|Med | | |accounts. | | |UK Casino Club |About Us’ link leads to a ‘Responsible Gaming Policy’ which offers a self-assessment test, cooling off |Med | | |periods and exclusion options. | | |Golden Riviera |Link to Gamblers Anonymous website. |Low | |William Hill Casino |Link to GamCare and facilities for daily/weekly deposit limits, self exclusion periods and access to customer|Med | | |accounts. | | |Hammers Casino |No link or message to be found. |Nil | |King Solomons Casino |No link or message to be found. |Nil | |www. 888. com |Link to Gamblers Anonymous website. |Low | Table 3 Problem Gambling Information UK legislation requires training of gambling operators’ employees to identify problems and to have procedures to sensitively deal with these. Fifteen sites had problem gambling information. Five linked to the Gamblers Anonymous website. Four sites offered assessment tests. It was not within the parameters of this study, to determine if online gambling sites follow up on tests, when a result indicated a problem. Three of the sites accessed provided information relating to filtering programmes, which can block underage users. These could be found through links to other sites and there was a free trial download facility available. Self-exclusion and Deposit Limits A player who feels that he or she is losing control of play and requires help in restricting access to online gambling were served by eight sites in this study that provided the facility for self-exclusion. This option was never located on the homepage and accessed only through drill downs. The study could not determine if applications were processed immediately or if self-exclusion from one site meant exclusion from multiple sites. It was unclear if these schemes required the gambler to undergo counseling assessments prior to re-admission, or if after the self-exclusion period had lapsed; the player automatically was included again. The study was also not able to clarify if players who request self-exclusion were given information about problem gambling counseling services. Computer-based systems can allow gamblers to self-exclude or establish loss limits and may stand a better chance of being effective than the current systems in most conventional casinos today. Whilst a determined gambler can move from site to site, reports of a player’s activities can be made readily available, with contact details for bodies that aim to assist those with problem gambling issues. Internet gambling operators are equipped to collect adequate data and information to be able to identify patterns of problem gambling (DCMS, 2006). There is the technological ability for operators to collect enough data to be able to identify patterns of problem gambling. This is a requirement of the 2005 Act. However, this is a prescription only for operators with a British licence and the position of the European Gambling and Betting Association (EGBA, 2007) is that it is extremely difficult to monitor and identify when someone has begun to gamble irresponsibly. Therefore according to EGBA, offline and online gambling operators should not collect information about a customer’s financial situation, spending or habits, for both practical and privacy issues. Operators that act on this aim to establish a responsible reputation and may see it as a competitive advantage factor. Yet they may infringe the principle of privacy. An issue for regulators is whether to acquire the power to compel operators to intervene in the event of identifying a problem gambler. The technical provisions in Britain for socially responsible Internet gambling have been drafted and are in the process are being applied. Assessment of the effectiveness of regulations in curbing problem gambling has yet to be done. Some sites permit customers to limit the amount of money that they are able to deposit into their account on both a daily and/or a weekly basis. It was noted that amounts may be revised downwards at any time, but increases are implemented after twenty-four hours. The online gambling operators are unable to override limits set by customers. Some sites allow access to a player’s full history of transactions, withdrawals and deposits. The Gambling Review Report (2001) recommends online sites should be required to set up facilities that enable players to set maximum stakes, limits and to self-ban. Protection of Underage Gamblers In order to ensure child safety online sites were evaluated for identity verification and exclusion facilities, such as the use of filtering software. The Gambling Review Report (2001) offers guidelines to ensure that identification standards are comparable to those of off-line casinos. It asserts that all players who register to play online should be properly identified before they are permitted to play. Age Verification Most sites studied required a prospective gambler to only complete a registration form in order to play. These sites rely on the player to disclose their correct age and do not verify the accuracy of the information. Underage gamblers can use their parents’ credit cards or even their own to register and set up accounts (Schroeder and Versch, 1998). The Gambling Review Report (2001) recommends that players who register online should be properly identified, before they are permitted to play. All sites displayed an age warning on their homepage. 32 Vegas Red alone stated it had taken steps to ensure that their site did not attract young people and used software that stops the underage from joining. Smeaton and Griffiths (2004) have investigated underage gambling and found poor standards of verification. The concern is that many sites are not employing identity verifications systems to check the age of players and therefore allow underage play. Verification systems work by searching available government and financial databases, to find evidence to support the personal information supplied by the player. For example, credit ratings or inclusion on the electoral roll can verify that the player is of the required age. However such searching again might threaten individual privacy. InterCasino UK |Logo displayed on homepage. Ethics drill down reveals site requires customers to declare that |Low | | |they are of legal age. | | |Coral Casino |Logo linked to statement that the company reserves the right to request proof of age. |Med | |Platinum Play Casino |Logo linked to statement defining the customer as adult and sane as per laws of country of |Med | | |residence. | | |Spin Palace Casino |Logo linked to statement relying on responsible parenting. |Med | |City Club Casino |Terms of Use’ drill down states customer must be adult as per country of residence. |Low | |Roxy Palace Online Casino |Terms & Conditions’ drill down states customer must be of legal age. |Low | |32 Vegas Red |About Us’ drill down leads to ‘Responsible Gaming’ drill down stating it is illegal for anyone |High | | |under 18 to open an account or to play and that they have taken steps to ensure that the website| | | |does not attract young people and our website uses software that stops under 18’s joining (this | | | |could not be verified by the study). Also requests responsible parenting. | | |Victor Chandler |Logo linked to statement defining the customer as adult as per laws of country of residence. |Med | |Crazy Vegas Casino |Logo linked to statement relying on responsible parenting. |Med | |English Harbour |Terms & Conditions’ drill down states customer must be of legal age. |Low | |Casino Tropez |Terms of Use’ drill down states customer must be of legal age. |Low | |Vegas Red Casino |Terms of Use’ drill down states customer must be of legal age. |Low | |Ruby Fortune Casino |Logo linked to statement relying on responsible parenting. |Med | |Eurobet Casino |Logo linked to statement stating the company reserves the right to request proof of age. |Med | |UK Casino Club |Responsible Gaming’ drill down leads to downloadable Children Protection Software and urges |High | | |responsible parenting. | | |Golden Riviera |Terms & Conditions’ drill down states customer must be of legal age. |Low | |William Hill Casino |Responsible Gaming’ drill down leads to statement that the company reserves the right to request|Med | | |proof of age. | | |Hammers Casino |Terms of Use’ drill down states customer must be adult as per country of residence. |Low | |King Solomons Casino |Logo linked to statement defining the customer as adult and sane as per laws of country of |Low | | |residence. | | |www. 888. com |Link leads to statement that it is illegal for anyone under 18 to play and that they have taken |High | | |steps to discourage and track young people (this could not be verified by the study). Website | | | |recommends software supporting responsible parenting. | | Table 2 Age Verification Telephone Betting The Gambling Review Report (2001) states that aspects of online gambling should be more heavily regulated than conventional gambling. However, the Internet’s characteristics make it more difficult to regulate. This study looked for evidence of telephone betting and considered implications of this facility. The three sites that offer the player the facility of telephone betting have a UK High Street presence. It could be argued that the reason why these organisations have added online sites to their operations is to expand opportunities. Using the BCG Matrix, the shops could be considered ‘cash cows,’ well-established with high market share. The new online sites could be ‘stars. ’ The prospect of growth is exciting as are the opportunities (McDonald, 2002). Land-based operators provide an online presence, giving extra services for the player, the anonymity of play compared to their shops, higher levels of usibility, and possibly even more security, simply to grow their businesses, rather than to offer player protection in this feature (Johnson, 1997). Ultimately this criterion failed to help evaluate the concept of responsible on line gambling, given the ‘virtual’ existence of most sites. Technical Support All sites provide ‘24-7’ telephone and technical support, with free numbers, player-to-technician online chatroom and email support. Every channel of communication is available to guarantee full access for a player. This measure is clearly very important to the site operators and customers. The sites are very competent in not losing customers through technical problems and offer very many points of contact. Yet the same form of in house supportive ‘counseling’ service is not offered to problem gamblers. Licenses It is not illegal for British residents to gamble online, nor is it illegal for overseas operators to offer online gambling to British residents. However, the Gambling Act 2005 requires an operator to obtain a licence if they site any piece of equipment, for example a database, presentation device, or determining device in the UK, regardless of whether other devices are outside the country (DCMS, 2005). Gibraltar |Canada |Caribbean |UK |Unknown | |5 |7 |6 |1 |1 |. Table 4 Sources of Licenses As an example the City Club Casino is licensed by the Island of Curacao, but displays US and UK freefone numbers, in prominent positions on their website, which may mislead the player into thinking that the site is American or British. Another disingenuous feature is when ‘UK’ appears.

Fueling Insecurity Americas Race to Perfection - 1351 Words

Throughout time, people have sought out admiration and acceptance from their peers, especially based off of their physical appearance. For decades, they have spent millions of dollars on beauty products and surgical procedures to achieve what they perceive as beauty. The American Media has assured them that they will never be beautiful enough. Young girls have grown obsessed with their images and, as a result, have gone to extremes to achieve model-like appearances. Americans will always attempt to chase perfection- an impossible task. The media has had a vast influence on our lives. Everywhere we go, we are bombarded with a plethora of advertisements, screeching out at us to purchase their products. The medias peak demographic to target†¦show more content†¦These symptoms are due to â€Å"electrolyte and chemical imbalances in the body that affect the heart and other major organ functions† (NEDA). These extremes prove that â€Å"Today’s aesthetic idea is extr emely thin. . . [and] the need to be physically fit† (Brownell). How far will we go to achieve perfection? Literature is one source in which we are able to view motifs and ideals of a culture. One such example of this is in the play The Glass Menagerie. Through the play, the mother, Amanda yearns for her daughter Laura to receive a gentleman caller. One day Amanda recalls a memory of her days of courting gentleman: â€Å"One Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain- your mother received- seventeen! - gentleman callers! . . . the parish house† (Williams). Amanda’s statement shows how important she believes it is to be beautiful. Without such beauty, she would not have so many young men visiting her home, hoping for her hand in marriage. Later on in the play, she purchases various new items for their home, as well as a new outfit for Laura. In this way, Amanda is altering Laura’s appearance to have her look suitable to her potential future husband. Jim, her gentlem an caller, also calls her pretty, which Laura is extremely surprised by. She is an extremely timid girl with low self-esteem. Laura can symbolize many women, who feel as though they are not good enough to ever foster someone’s attention. The standards of beauty were not always so impossible toShow MoreRelatedDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pagesappear on appropriate page within text. Copyright  © 2011, 2007, 2005, 2002, 1998 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopyingRead MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 Pages Third Edition Reed−Lajoux and others . . . This book was printed on recycled paper. Management http://www.mhhe.com/primis/online/ Copyright  ©2005 by The McGraw−Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher

What Is Electron Pair Repulsion

Electron pair repulsion is a theory that informs a wide variety of scientific disciplines. Physics, engineering, and chemistry use this principle especially often. Electron Pair Repulsion Definition The principle that electron pairs around a central atom tend to orient themselves as far apart as possible. Electron pair repulsion is used to predict the geometry of a molecule or a polyatomic ion.

Is Cheating At School Getting Out Of Control - 872 Words

Nhi Pham Professor Genetti ENGL 1101 3 December 2015 Is Cheating At School Getting Out of Control? The clock is ticking at 1:00am and Joe is sitting in front of his computer trying to study for his Math test. â€Å"The test will be tomorrow at 7am. I don t understand any of this. I can’t even remember the formulas. What should I do?† Joe thought. But, why is he doing this at the last minute? Was it because of the addicting game â€Å"Battle Front† that he could not get enough of? Or, was it maybe because his girlfriend wanted to hangout yesterday? No matter how much he tried to makeup excuses for his actions, he knew that he was going to fail the test tomorrow. â€Å"There is only one way right now,† Joe said in determination. He started cutting out small pieces of paper and wrote down formulas in tiny handwriting. Yes, he is going to cheat. Cheating has become a serious and growing problem in school nowadays, especially in high schools. According to a survey in 1998, of 20,829 middle and high school student s conducted by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, 70% of high school students and 54% of middle school students have admitted to cheating. The same survey was conducted in 1996 and the number was 64%. The percentage increased by 6% in just two years. How about now? Is there any improvement of this problem? According to the article â€Å"Academic Dishonesty: Are More Students Cheating?† by Dorothy Jones in 2011, 92% of students said to have or know someone who had cheated. Why hasShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Cheating In My Life1519 Words   |  7 Pagesand no one seems to care – I do. Although people succeed every day by bending or breaking the rules, that does not make it a valuable victory. The sad fact is that sometimes cheaters do prosper. Cheating is the new norm in many facets of our lives, from sports to taxes. People who are good at cheating gain prestige and respect for working smarter not harder, but that is immoral and a fallacy. Cheaters devalue th e efforts of those who came before and those who will follow them in any particularRead MoreThe World Of Economy, By Steven Levitt And Stephen Dubner1517 Words   |  7 Pagesconnected by personal motivations or incentives. In the first chapter of Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner focus on that the reaction of cheating is that humans demonstrate in response to incentives. The basics of economics are that positive and negative implications of incentives that people respond to throughout their entire lives (Levitt, Dubner, 2005). Cheating or acts of dishonesty will always be prominent, and humans will always aim to get more for less, which in terms of economics, maximizeRead MoreAnalysis Of The Overachievers : The Secret Lives Of Driven Kids Essay1173 Words   |  5 PagesRobbins ventures back to her old high school to examine the competitive efforts students are having to take to compete on the battlefield that is the education system in her book, The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids. Robbins explores the lives of multiple students who are stressed and pressured to maintain good grades and get into an Ivy League college. This text allows for intriguing insight on how the educational syste m has â€Å"spiraled out of control† and displays the different measuresRead MoreThe Influence Of Technology Essay1207 Words   |  5 Pagespass his classes. Hes plagiarized, taken illegal prescription drugs to improve his focus, obtained exam questions in advance and text-messaged his friends via cell phone to find quick answers to tough questions. Still, he doesnt see any of that as out of the ordinary. Sure, Ive used test banks, study drugs, text buddies, cyber-essays and picture messaging, he says. But so does everyone. (Vencat 2006) The problem about this trend is that it is becoming more and more acceptable within the academicRead MoreDomestic Violence : The Problem And Its Setting854 Words   |  4 Pagespurpose of gaining and maintaining control in a relationship. By gaining and maintaining control the abuser exerts their power by using dominance, humiliation, isolation, threats, intimidation and denial, and blame. Domestic violence can be physical, emotional and sexual or it can be a mixture of the three. Domestic violence not only affects the one getting abused but also any and all children that are in the household. Some female children that witness a mother getting abused grow up to believe thatRead MoreThesis Of Freakonomics1352 Words   |  6 Pagescomes late. The study finds out that the number of parents coming late increased as they put a $3 of fine. He explains that the incentive of $3 was too small, and the fine made the parents to not feel the moral guilt for showing up late, resulting in more parents being late. Levitt next examines the incentives that cause people to cheat. The first example of cheating is a story of teachers cheating in Chicago public schools. To avoid the risk of getting fired or getting penalty by the government forRead MoreMeet Ed Elephant Essay855 Words   |  4 PagesMeet Ed Elephant. Ed is still young, but is already getting big. An elephant can eat up to 600 pounds of food, every day! That s a lot! Ed is jumbo sized. So Ed has to eat a lot to fill up. Ed s always hungry. Just like Ed has to eat a lot, you have to remember huge amounts of schoolwork. Sometimes schoolwork can seem hard. Other times, it may just seem boring. Some people remember what they learned one day and forget it the next. Has this ever happened to you? The Educational Elephant, or EdRead MoreAcademic Integrity : The Moral Code Or Ethical Policy Of Academia1487 Words   |  6 Pages12, 2017 Q-course Section I Academic integrity is the moral code or ethical policy of academia. This includes values such as avoidance of cheating or plagiarism; maintenance of academic standards; honesty and rigor in research and academic publishing (Wikipedia). Academic integrity reminds students to work honestly without any type of cheating. Plagiarism is one way that breaks academic integrity. Plagiarism is when you take someone’s else’s work or idea without giving them credit or takingRead More My Educational Philosophy Essay1196 Words   |  5 Pagesthese aspects in my classroom alone. I am an education major at the present time; however, I am not aware of exactly which content area I want to set my mind on for the rest of my life. If I had my choice, I would teach in elementary or middle school. This is because I want to feel as though I have the maximum impact on my students, and I feel children of those grade levels are the most easily influenced by their teachers and peers. I do want to be a teacher, but I would also like to be a positiveRead More Television and Media - Daytime Talk TV is Immoral Essay1152 Words   |  5 Pagespublic. Daily, viewers turn on their televisions and many are bombarded with images of sex, drugs, and violence on the talk shows. Unfortunately, many people are either disturbed or affected by what they see. As Vicki Abt and Leonardo Mustazza point out in their article, â€Å"Coming After Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV Talk Show,† â€Å"Surely long-term exposure to this genre has consequences for the way we j udge ideas, behaviors, and ‘values’† . . .† (Abt and Mustazza 26). Despite many people’s

American Indian Women and Community Issues Free Essays

America, where representations of Indian men and women perform stereotyped Noble/Savage or Princess/Squaw functions, depending on their relationships with whites. The â€Å"princess† figure is a â€Å"convert† who rejects or is rejected by her own people for her transgressive attraction to white culture or white individuals, and who may die as a result. The â€Å"squaw† denotes a shameful sexuality that taints the men she associates with (hence the derogatory term â€Å"squaw man†). We will write a custom essay sample on American Indian Women and Community Issues or any similar topic only for you Order Now Mixed-race relationships, especially those between Indian women and white men, are one way in which the landscape and resources of the American West were represented cinematically as available for sexual, economic, and sociopolitical exploitation. Silent Westerns and†Indian dramas† from 1908 to 1916 provide a remarkable window on Euro-American popular culture representations of the encounter between tribal peoples and the United States military and educational establishments. These early Westerns, many of them now unknown or unavailable outside of archives, provide a composite narrative that depicts the white â€Å"family on the land† emerging from the â€Å"broken home† of a previous mixed-race marriage, and that equates children, land, and gold as the spoils of failed romance, not of war. The ordeal of separating children from their families and cultures through the Indian boarding school policy and the trauma of their return home as outsiders is fully recognized in silent Westerns, which were produced during a time when federal Indian policy encouraged both assimilation and removal from the land. In these tales of interracial romance, captivity, and adoption, defining narrative features include doubling, mistaken identity, and the social and geographic displacement and replacement of persons. Such narrative strategies reflected the physical acts of displacement and replacement that have been hallmarks of U. S. American Indian policy, from Indian Removal and the Indian Wars through the slow erosion of reservation lands in the twentieth century. Indian men and women ultimately choose to return to their tribes, depicting a latent, racially based â€Å"call of the wild† that could reclaim eastern-educated Indian and mixed-blood children from their new lives. Another turn-of-the-century catch-phrase for this idea that the assimilated or educated Indian would simply return to the reservation and abandon white teachings was â€Å"back to the blanket,† again emphasizing clothing as an indicator of racial and cultural allegiance. The Derelict, emphasize the strength of Indian women and moral weakness of white men in cross-racial relationships. Hollywood’s silent era did not change the prevailing negative cultural stereotypes about Native Americans, but it did produce a large number of Westerns and documentaries that offered alternative viewpoints influenced by the indigenous writers and filmmakers, reform movements, and racial theories that were widespread at the time. Films about mixed-race romance and mixed-race children in the first and second decades of the twentieth century articulated and influenced public opinion about Native American assimilation (particularly about the taking of land and children through the Dawes Act and the boarding-school system), as well as public and academic speculation about the nature of race and culture. The films consistently contrast the acquisition of land and export of gold, oil, and children from the West with the importance and value of family and even tribal obligations WORKS CITED Aleiss, Angela. 1995. †Native Americans. The Surprising Silents. † Cineaste . Allred, Christine Edwards. 2001. Harper’s Indians: Representing Native America in Popular Magazine Culture: Los Angeles, Babcock, Barbara. 1996. †First Families: Gender, Reproduction and the Mythic Southwest. † The Great Southwest of the Fred Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railway. Ed. Barbara Babcock and Marta Weigle. Phoenix: Heard Museum. 207-17. Bataille, Gretchen M. , and Charles P. Silet, Eds. 1980. The Pretend Indians: Images of Native Americans in the Movies. Ames: Iowa State UP, Bergland, Renee L. The National Uncanny: Indian Ghosts and American Subjects. Hanover: UP of New England, 2000. Berkhofer, Robert F The White Man’s Indian: Images of the American Indian from Columbus to the Present. New York: Random House, 1979. Bernardi, Daniel, Ed. The Birth of Whiteness: Race and the Emergence of U. S. Cinema. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1996. Bhabha, Homi. 1994. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. Bolt, Christine. 1987. American Indian Policy and American Reform: Case Studies of the Campaign to Assimilate the American Indians. London: Allen Unwin. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1990. The Logic of Practice. Trans. Richard Nice. Cambridge: Polity. Brownlow, Kevin. 1979. The War, the West, and the Wilderness. New York: Knopf. Butler, Judith. 1990. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York and London: Routledge. How to cite American Indian Women and Community Issues, Papers

Marriott Hotels Marketing Strategy & Recommendations - Free Sample

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Strategy of Marriott Hotels. Answer: Marketing Strategy Marriott Hotels believes that the hotel and hospitality industries must focus on the social media strategy. They use twitter a lot to solve the queries of customers and share the new and data about their hotel sing many other social networking sites. In each country, the Marriott Hotels focus on the marketing depending on the customers and culture of the country. The marketing approach for this hotel industry is, one size fits all in which they conduct this approach to all the operations (Ritchie, Sun Tung, Ritchie, 2011). There are various types of marketing activities takes place in Marriott Hotels like advertising, marketing, branding, etc. on a national or international level. This hotel industry uses flexible techniques for the management of the customers depending on the nature and demand of them. According to the competition and change in the needs and wants of the customers, they also use to change their strategies and policies. The uniqueness of Marriott Hotels is that they use distinct and customized services to attract customers and to create a competitive advantage over the competitors (Agarwal, 2003). In todays business world, marketing is the relevant strategy. It is one of the first strategies that are adopted by all the organizations. It helps to make the product and service known to the target customers as well as other customers. In order to be successful in the hospitality industry, the marketing team of the Marriott hotels should understands the economic, social, legal, political, technology, demography, etc. (Brown, Dev, Lee, 2000) In order to develop on an international and global scale, they had created a portal of the customers with the partners of Pica9 and the Excella consulting. These companies are the automated portal for the marketing that helps to make the marketing materials customization in easy and cost effective manner. With the use of these portals, the managers are allowed to view the strategies of the brand, downloading of the templates of marketing, sharing of materials, and also the creation of collateral of customization marketing (Carroll, Siguaw, 2003). Marriott Hotels use latest technology and implement these technologies in all over the organization of Marriott. These technologies help to update the entire marketing strategies of the various targeted audience. The management of the hotel is done through the latest technological applications that allow the hotel to create a positive customized piece that can be supported in different types of languages (Dief, Font, 2010). Marriott Hotels is also concentrating on the various types of social media foe the unique branding and advertisement of the brand and brand positioning. It will help Marriott Hotels to research the destinations, travelling plans for the tourist, lodging options, etc. there are many other application used by Marriott Hotels for the brand works. They have also improved the methods through which the information is shared, collaboration of the corporate teams and also the global locations. It will allow the management of the marketing of Marriott Hotels to change the brand in according to the customers and the market need. Latest Marketing Strategy of Marriott Hotels Idea + Strategy + Marketing = Success Marriott Hotels is very choosy while picking up the strategies for their organization. First of all, they identify the business plan of the company. They also look forward to the plan and the process through which they analyze the requirement and demands of the customers and the market. They also perform the activities related to the business audit of the company to identify the finance required for the business and its operations. Audit provides the information regarding the internal and external environment of the company. It also helps to find the business opportunities for the company. This process is done of the basis of qualitative and quantitative basis to measure and to examine the performance of the business. It considers time if the strategy of the hotel are not effectively implemented on the organization. Market Segmentation, Targeting and Brand Positioning Strategies of Marriott Hotels Segmentation The process of segmentation refers to the division of the customers according to the needs and wants of the customers, their purchasing power and the expectations of them. They believe in providing hosting services to their customers and to cater all sorts of segments of the market. This is the reason the policies and strategies are flexible and comfortable. The first segment is the customers who want luxury and demand for high comfort. They have rich expectations and the policies framed for this segment is the most expensive services. The second segment is also the extremely rich and luxurious customers who want luxurious suites, private portions, exotic food, beautiful views, etc. the third segment is the customers who belong to the local communities who are the customers who do not look for the accommodation. Instead of accommodation, they look forward to the other types f services provide by Marriott hotel. Targeting There is a particular criterion according to which Marriott hotels to target the audience of them. They use certain criterion to identify and target their audience. These criteria may include accessible, measurable, actionable, substantial, and many types of personal and demographic characteristics of the population. They find it suitable to group their target customers according to the geographical and personal characters. There are two groups of customers who belong to Marriott hotel that are the potential customers and current customers. The current customers are the one who are already taking services from Marriott hotel and the potential customers who may or may not take services from this hotel. Positioning According to the each segment and targeted customers, there is a requirement to position the brand image in the mind of customers. It takes place through identifying the demand and desires of the customers and adds the features and characteristics to each of the segment. The example for this is for the business meetings, Marriott hotel target business people and the professionals. For the travelers and tourist, they positioned the sites, locations, etc. (Enz, Canina, and Walsh, 2001) Marketing mix and 4 Ps of Marriott hotels Marketing mix of Marriott hotels is very complex as we know that this hotel industry is dealing are many countries like USA, Argentina, Thailand, and many more countries. The hotels of Marriott are located in all kind of places like near airports, highways, centers of the city, etc. Marriott use different marketing strategies to attract more customers. This study will help us to create a better understanding about the marketing policies and strategies framed by the Marriott so that they can over a large part of the market. The hotel and tourism industry is one of the most developing sectors of the world (Gummesson, 2002). Product/Services There are various types of services provided by Marriott hotel to the groups of people across the world. It can be lodging services, resorts, spas, salons, facilitating services, hotels, check in and checkout services, hospitality services, boutique hotels, banquet halls, marriage halls, etc. these all are the core services of Marriott hotel that can be provided by almost every hotel industry. he additional services like FB services, leisure services, accommodation services, food and beverages services, management, etc. the extra and the main brands that are offered by Marriott hotel are full-service lodging, extended- service lodging, select-service lodging, grate Americas park, time shares, etc. (Karlsson, Kuttainen, Pitt, Spyropoulou, 2005). The main product of Marriott hotel and industry is in the form of services provided by them. There are different types of service provided by Marriott hotel. They can be tangible and intangible in nature which collectively form the products offered by the Marriott hotel. The core services of the Marriott hotel is the lodging services element with many other facilities like valet, reception, rooms, auxiliary service, restaurants, gardens, play rooms, gym, etc. the other supporting services includes check in services and facilitating service. Facilitating services are the services that are needed by the customers to effectively consume the core services. These services are not included in the core services but help to add value and create distinction in the core services. They are mandatory and compulsory and they have more importance than core services now days. The expansion of the services comprises of three basic characters that are accessibility, participation and interaction with the services orgnaistaion like Marriott hotels. These services are combining with the core product (Choi, Kimes, 2002). Pricing Strategies of Marriott hotels The pricing strategies of this hotel are to increase the sale of the product and service produced in the company. Their motive is to sell the right goods and services to the right customers at a right time. There are few guidelines and principles according to which the pricing of the goods and services takes place that is related to the Marriott hotel management and its matched properties. The guidelines for the pricing is benchmarking and standardized rate positioning, the single image inventory, a good amount of discount rates to the customers, and also the routine performance tracking of the customers. The strategy and policies of the pricing is takes place is a way that it provides revenues to the company and benefits to the customers also (Vallen, Vallen, 2009). Marriott hotel tries to use their full potential in determining the final price of their services for the customers. The prices are decided so that they can earn more profits and revenue in the company along with the brand image for the company. the strategy for pricing helps to determine the sales and purchases done by Marriott hotel and it is depend on various types of variable like promotion takes place for the sale campaign, fixed amount of investment, budget of the company, quantity break, a particular vendor quote, the prices prevailing for the entry in the hotel, combination of various types of orders, lines, shipments, invoice data and information gathered from shipment, etc. the maintenance and pricing management of Marriott hotels always tries to prevent the pricing errors by automating the system and setup for the pricing (Wernick, Von Glinow, 2012). Marriott hotel generally determines the pricing according to demand curve and estimating the price with the possible amount of the goods and services that Marriott hotel have sold within each possible price. It is estimated by the managers that at different level of cost, the different level of output is incurred. Many times, Marriott hotels cut and raise their benchmarked and standardized prices at times that depend on the possible conditions and situations. The pricing strategy of Marriott hotel I flexible and changeable that can be change according to the duration and also depending on the intent to change and competitors in the market (Myung, McClaren, Li, 2012). Promotional mix of Marriott hotels In order to remain in the competition, Marriott hotels are also using technology and internet in the promotion and advertisement of their hotels. As we know that the technology is changing and the advancement is coming in the technology every day. So this hotel industry has launched their own sites and extensive that provides clear information and details about the hotel and its management, the product and services available n the hotel for the customers, etc. the websites help and guide customers to make bookings online using internet for the rooms and any there services. The potential customers and the customers who are already dealing with Marriott hotels cover and pave the ways for the promotion campaign conducted by the Marriott hotels. The strategy for the promotion is generally formed to target the mass communication using publications of trade, print advertisements, and using internet, social websites, etc. They found direct mail campaigns as the most cost effective and easiest way to communicate about the promotional campaigns to reach to current and potential customers of Marriott hotels. It is way through which company can build long term and direct relationships with the customers, its local community. It helps Marriott hotels to have growth in the organization as the corporate activities will be generated in the organization (Li, 2008). With the promotion mix, the activities related to public relations which play a relevant role. The activities of promotion mix for Marriott hotels comprise of public relations, direct marketing and advertisement activities. The strategy of promotion mix is to target the customers through internet, advertisements, branding, etc. there are various types of brand workshops that help Marriott hotels to publish the advertisements, offers, deals, to the corporate, brand websites, property sites, etc. (Svensson, Svaeri, Einarsen, 2009). In this way, Marriott hotels indentifies that what tool is relevant to which group of customers, which tool is more effective and which one is not, how to deliver the tools in the most effective way. It also determines the better experiences of the customers that provide assurance of the consistency, marketing information and value. The promotional techniques are used for the attraction purpose and reminders for the customers. The promotion mix activities help to create awareness for the services offered by the Marriott hotels. So Marriott hotels globally utilized the promotional mix policies to attract a huge amount of customers and increase the revenue of the company (Line, Runyan, (2012). Place and Distribution mix for Marriott hotels The distribution process and channels in Marriott hotels go about via the connections along with the central reservation systems by leveraging the distribution electronic channels of communication. The support systems are the operations of the Marriott hotels. In this hotel, the central reserve system is simple connected directly to the direct connect for external channels. In the new and current markets of hotel industry, Marriott hotels is growing and developing just because of the enhancements in the inventory system of the distribution of infrastructure. There are may other additional activities and abilities that helps Marriott hotels to increase the speed of sales in the markets and side by side to lower the overall cost of the company (Okumus, 2002). Marriott hotels use a channel mix as it is relevant for h hospitality organization. There should be a mix of third party channel and direct channels. Each and every chain has its own pros and cons and different costs. It is very relevant for all the organizations to choose a distribution channel that helps to favor the stream of the sales and revenues in the organization. The revenues are not only important part but also to have a sustainable growth in the business organizations. So Marriott hotels firstly analyze the best distribution channels for their organization and then apply it to the entire Marriott Company on the world (Yoo, Lee, Bai, 2011). The other relevancy is to provide a reasonable and right price to their customers. The prices and services should remain uniform in all the Marriott hotels. It helps to earn more profits and revenues as compared to any other competitors. Marriott hotels must identify the right approach to determine the prices, monitoring of productions, and also benchmarking the results. If we observe, Marriott hotels use both direct and indirect methods of distribution. The indirect business is run though the online parties, the wholesalers, travel agencies, etc who are available throough internet. They also help to form the revenue for the company and for the leisure and provision for the customers. At last we can say that distribution channels play a vital role in the business mix and profitability of Marriott hotel and all other organizations whether they are in hospitality industry or any other industry (Kotler, 2006). References Agarwal, S., Krishna Erramilli, M., Dev, C. S. (2003). Market orientation and performance in service firms: role of innovation. Journal of services marketing, 17(1), 68-82. Brent Ritchie, J. R., Wing Sun Tung, V., JB Ritchie, R. (2011). Tourism experience management research: Emergence, evolution and future directions. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23(4), 419-438. Brown, J. R., Dev, C. S., Lee, D. J. (2000). Managing marketing channel opportunism: the efficacy of alternative governance mechanisms. Journal of Marketing, 64(2), 51-65. Carroll, B., Siguaw, J. (2003). Evolution in electronic distribution: Effects on hotels and intermediaries. Choi, S., Kimes, S. E. (2002). Electronic distribution channels effect on hotel revenue management. Dief, M. E., Font, X. (2010). The determinants of hotels' marketing managers' green marketing behavior. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 18(2), 157-174. Enz, C.A., Canina, L. and Walsh, K., 2001. Hotel-industry averages: An inaccurate tool for measuring performance. Gummesson, E. (2002). Practical value of adequate marketing management theory. European journal of marketing, 36(3), 325-349. Karlsson, T., Kuttainen, C., Pitt, L., Spyropoulou, S. (2005). Price as a variable in online consumer trade-offs. Marketing Intelligence Planning, 23(4), 350-358. Kayaman, R., Arasli, H. (2007). Customer based brand equity: evidence from the hotel industry. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 17(1), 92-109. Keh, H. T., Chu, S., Xu, J. (2006). Efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of marketing in services. European Journal of Operational Research, 170(1), 265-276. Kotler, P., Bowen, J. T., Makens, J. C., Xie, Y., Liang, C. (2006). Marketing for hospitality and tourism (Vol. 893). New Jersey: Prentice hall. Li, L. (2008). A review of entrepreneurship research published in the hospitality and tourism management journals. Tourism management, 29(5), 1013-1022. Line, N. D., Runyan, R. C. (2012). Hospitality marketing research: Recent trends and future directions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(2), 477-488. Myung, E., McClaren, A., Li, L. (2012). Environmentally related research in scholarly hospitality journals: Current status and future opportunities. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(4), 1264-1275. Okumus, F. (2002). Can hospitality researchers contribute to the strategic management literature?. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 21(2), 105-110. Svensson, G., Svaeri, S., Einarsen, K. (2009). Empirical characteristics of scholarly journals in hospitality and tourism research: An assessment. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(3), 479-483. Vallen, G. K., Vallen, J. J. (2009). Check-in check-out: Managing hotel operations. Wernick, D. A., Von Glinow, M. A. (2012). Reflections on the evolving terrorist threat to luxury hotels: A case study on Marriott International. Thunderbird International Business Review, 54(5), 729-746. Yoo, M., Lee, S., Bai, B. (2011). Hospitality marketing research from 2000 to 2009: topics, methods, and trends. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23(4), 517-532.