Romantic Metaphysical Poetry Flashcard

Romantic Metaphysical Poetry

Newspaper report The fire in Carries war Essays

Newspaper report The fire in Carries war Essays Newspaper report The fire in Carries war Paper Newspaper report The fire in Carries war Paper Essay Topic: Literature Last night as the family slept, a ferocious blaze swept through their home destroying everything in its path. Druids Bottom, set in the picturesque village of Druids Grove, was engulfed in flames reducing this beautiful family home to ashes. Fire-fighters were quick on the scene and were quoted as saying This is one of the fiercest fires we have seen in a long time and the residents were lucky to get out alive. We have seen a lot of fires in our time, however none as bad as this, its a miracle everyone survived. A fire like this could have quite easily taken many innocent lives. The inhabitants of the house are naturally deeply saddened by this catastrophe, but they remain positive and are trying to make the most out of this extremely bad situation. Hepzibah Green, a resident at the house stated the fire took everything, but we will always have our memories, the good and the bad. They will stay with us forever and no fire will ever change that. It is important that no one blames themselves; it was an accident and could have happened at any time, and could have been lot worse. We all have each other to get us through this difficult time in our lives, we must stick together from now on Investigators have concluded that the fire started upstairs and most likely by someone playing carelessly with matches. Hepzibah Green has confirmed that another resident at the house Mister Johnny had been playing with matches and it was likely that he started the fire. However she also added that Yes Mister Johnny may have started the fire, but no one blames him. After all is it thanks to him that we all made it out alive. Mister Johnny is special, you see and so no blame can rest on his shoulders. If anyone is to blame, it is me. I should have kept a closer watch on Mister Johnny then thins would never have happened. As it turns out it was in fact Mister Johnny who raised the alarm and led the rest of the family to safety. Albert Sandwich, an evacuee who was temporarily living at Druids Bottom has simply remarked, no one was killed no one was hurt, thats all that matters. All of the inhabitants of Druids Bottom are devastated at the lost of their home, apart from the owner of the house, Mr Evans, who had just recently inherited the house from his late sister Dilys Gotobed. Mr Evans stated its all that Hepzibahs fault, she looked after my sister for years thinking that in the end she would get something out of it, but when the old girl died and left Druids Bottom to me, Hepzibah obviously thought if she couldnt have the house then no one could, so she burnt it to the ground out of spite I know thats what happened. Only time will tell what really happened so for now, we should watch this space.

UAE AND GCC SOCIETY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

UAE AND GCC SOCIETY - Essay Example Government of several countries is developing various environmental policies in order to reduce the threat of global warming through the reduction of carbon emission level. Moreover, the governments are motivating the organizations to conduct sustainable business practices. Gulf countries are trying to introduce non-carbon energy sources in order to control the level of carbon emission. The study will focus on the alternative energy sources of oil and sustainable development of Gulf countries in future. Discussion GCC countries are the incremental suppliers of oil and gas for entire globe. First of all, day-by-day the price of oil and gas are increasing dramatically. Secondly, higher consumption of fossil fuels is increasing the level of carbon emission. Therefore, government of all the developed and developing countries is motivating industries and communities to reduce the consumption of oil and gas. Moreover, people are trying to use substitute of oil and gas as their energy resou rces. These substitutes are solar energy, wind energy and electric energy. Looking into these factors, GCC countries are trying to develop several environmental policies to reduce the consumption of oil and gas. ... Rapid energy demand growth can be attributed to three several affiliated causes. Due to several demographic changes, industrialization and low price level are motivating people to consume electricity as major energy resources. The GCC countries are manufacturing and distribution oil as the form of a cartel the name of this cartel is OPEC. They are maintaining the price of oil in global countries. Moreover, due to total control over oil and gas, OPEC is increasing the price of oil and gas on regular basis. In addition, burning of fossil fuel is increasing the level of carbon emission that is resulting rapid global climate change. Looking into these factors, several organizations and industries within all the GCC countries are trying to reduce the consumption of oil and gas. They are trying to implement substitute energy resources of oil and gas in their business process. Demand for solar energy and electrical energy is significantly increasing in UAE. It is true that, people now-a-day s are trying to avoid the consumption of fossil fuel cars. Petrol or diesel vehicles are more costly comparing to other substitute vehicles. Leading organizations around the globe are trying to capitalize on the opportunities that have been developed due to globalization and advanced technologies. Several vehicle manufacturing organizations are trying to provide energy efficient cars and electric cars to reduce the consumption of oil and gas. These organizations are making profit through this strategy and this strategy is bringing sustainability in the economy, environment and society of a country. Wind, solar and water energy are considered as the renewable energy sources. Economic growth of a country highly depends on the

Investing For Retirement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Investing For Retirement - Research Paper Example Investing For Retirement In the Family Finance section of Financial Post, there is an article entitled "Retirement Transition All About Expectations." This article is about a couple, Julius ,60, and Emma, 58, in Alberta, Canada who are both retirees, who's been worrying about how they can protect themselves financially if ever there would be a sudden change in the economy. According to Julius, "it might be difficult to make the transition from employment to retirement". Exposure to inflation is their main threat being a retiree. Don Forbes, head of Associates/Armstrong & Quaile gave them an advice on how they are going to utilize their financial plans to protect themselves against any threats. Forbes gave the couple a five year plan scenario on the pension plan they availed, stating what they should do, and explains its corresponding effects in the long run.. This article has been on the news because there are more other Julius and Emma who have been worrying the same thing once they are about to retire. Starting January 1, 2011, the Baby Boomers turned 65. These Baby Boomers are those generations in American history who were born between January 1, 1946 and December 31, 1964. This has been an issue for so many years and now it’s 2011, the Baby Boomers have reached their retirement age. People, especially in the U.S., were already in panic that for the next 19 years these Baby Boomers will push the national government into bankruptcy. This generation has been on a wrong timing since the economy until now is still on the verge of losing everything. (â€Å"In 2011 the baby boomers,† 2010). I chose this article because Canada is not an exception in this crisis. It is significant for the Canadian families because just like Julius and Emma, most of the retirees now are having lots of questions about the reliability of the government and other company pension plans to fund their necessary needs and other expenses in the future. 2. SCOPE OF CANADA PENSION PLAN Canada Pension Plan (CCP) is one of the retirement income systems in Canada that has been mentioned in the article. The CPP is a national pension plan that was established by the government in 1966. This program is a monthly national defined benefit pension plan that is paid to contributors who are at least 65 years old or between 60 and 64 years old who met the earnings and contributions requirements (Monk & Sass, 2009). It is an independent financial institution wherein no political strings attached; its obligations are not government obligations as well as with its a ssets. The governance structure of this pension plan lies in the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act. It has a disclosure policy in which all quarterly and annual financial statements report and its public portfolio holdings must be disclosed to the public in the CPPIB website. Furthermore, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is an organization established to monitor and invest the funds held by the CPP. Independent from the government, the CPPIB was incorporated in 1997 as a federal Crown corporation by an Act of Parliament. In 1999, it made its first investment whose purpose is to maximize returns without undue risk of loss. Usually, the risks associated in applying a defined-benefit pension type of plan are funding risk and insolvency risk. In the first risk, members are concerned whether the employers can fulfill their promised benefits by assuring them adequate assets in the pension fund. On the report of Financial Services Commission of Ontario 2010, there had been a n increase of underfunded plans by 79% in 2009 from 76% in 2008 out of 1,539 defined-benefit plans (cited in Davis, 2011, p. 6). The concern related on the latter risk goes on the employer's insolvency, in which the business assets of the employer would serve as the ultimate guarantee of the pension promises (Davis, 2011, p. 7). Sponsoring employers should avoid being insolvent as possibly as they

Management Responsibilites with regards to Forensic Accounting Research Paper

Management Responsibilites with regards to Forensic Accounting - Research Paper Example Moreover, they offer litigation assistance to attorneys and agencies of regulations enforcement investigating financial crimes (Abdolmohammadi, pp 13). The management responsibilities can, therefore, be done in regard to forensic accounting. One key management responsibility involves the strategic planning for the business. For the business to succeed, the management should guarantee that they embark on the strategic planning of the affairs of the business. Strategic planning enables a business to formulate the objectives of the business (Emerald Journal). In strategic planning forensic accounting is also included so that the capital invested in the business is correctly used. In case of a mismanagement of the capital then it is noticed at an earlier stage before it creates a severe problem to the management and business. The supervising and evaluation of the overall performance of the business is also a chief management responsibility. The operation of a business includes many performances, which are carried out by different departments of a business. The management does the evaluation of the activities of each branch and management through the supervisors does the monitoring of the operations of the each department. This is to ensure that the operations of the business are done in accordance to the strategic plans. The management further ensures that evaluation is effective through using forensic accounting to make sure that no fund from each department is embezzled. The forensic accounting is majorly used in evaluation at the financial department because this department is responsible for all the assets of the business (Arokiasamy, Koh and Suat, pp 146). The management responsibility is also to ensure that all the employees uphold high conduct standards. The conduct of the employees determines the image that the public has about a business. It is, therefore, significant for the administration to

Analysis of Holiday Tour Operators

Analysis of Holiday Tour Operators Chapter 1: Introduction Outline This research focuses on three UK holiday companies Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel and their marketing strategies. This research is comprised of following chapters: Rationale This study highlights many issues related to marketing of tourism companies; more specifically it will be looking at the three companies mentioned above and will be giving a broad analysis to marketing strategy as a marketing tool. The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct a detailed analysis on three different UK holiday companies which are Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel, who target different segments of the market. I believe that this investigation will broaden my understanding of the tourism marketing as well as the techniques and strategies that they use as a key factor to their success. (Morgan, 2001)Overall I believe that it is an interesting area to study because I can use and demonstrate while conducting this investigation the skills and knowledge that I had obtained while studying my degree. In addition, I have chosen to carry out my dissertation on the following three companies, because I believe that they differ in their market segmentation, however they have a common goal and they are competitors. I would like to introduce the companies that I will be focusing on and provide some brief introduction for each of them. But first of all let us talk about the role of tour operators. (Wang, 2002) Tour operators today play a very important role in creating the images of destinations. In this global capacity, they can significantly influence international tourism flows towards a country hit by safety and security risks. Even decisions of individual tourists on where to spend a holiday very often depend on the attitude and practice of tour operators towards a particular destination. But people have their own choices and preferences. In this paper we are going to analyse Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel tourism and travelling services as this is one of the best tour operator agencies world wide and the first choice of tourists. (Buhalis, 2001) From 1950 to 1998 the number of international tourist arrivals in the world increased from 25 million to 635 million (WTO 1999b), with an average annual increase of 6.97%. Over the past 15 years, international tourism receipts have grown 1.5 times faster than world GDP, with no signs of slowing down. In 1998 international tourism accounted for an estimated 8% of the worlds total earnings and 37% of exports in the service sector (WTO 1999a). According to data from the International Monetary Fund, in 1998 international tourism receipts and passenger transport amounted to more than $504 billion, putting it ahead of all other categories of international trade (automotive products, chemicals, food, petroleum and other fuels, computer and office equipment, textiles and clothing, mining products, etc.). (Driver, 1999) This rapid development of international tourism can partly be explained by the xxpackage holidays promoted nationally and internationally. Indeed, tour operators represent one of the most powerful and most influential entities in the tourism industry. They have a strong influence on international flows from main generating markets to various destinations. According to World Tourism Organization estimates, tour operators nowadays have a share of about 25% in the total international tourism market. This means that in 2000 tour operators organized at least 175 million international tourism trips. Therefore, the success of many destinations depends on whether foreign tour operators include them in their programs. (Buhalis, 1998) Travel Industry As the travel industry consists of numerous sectors and divisions, companies within the industry vary greatly in their activities and the segments of the market they are involved in. Three of them Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel leaders in their respective field and I would like to commence with Kuoni in the following segment. (Riege, 2000) Introduction to Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel Companies Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. oversees one of Europes top five travel and tour groups. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, the company is particularly strong in both its domestic and U.K. markets, but is also present throughout Europe, especially in Scandinavia, with a rising presence in the United States and Asian markets. Kuoni Travel operates in three primary areas of business: Leisure Travel, which accounts for more than 85 percent of the companys sales; Business Travel, through its BTI unit, which handles travel coordination activities for the small and mid-sized and large-scale corporation markets; and Incoming Services, which provides travel destination services, such as touring and sightseeing packages. (Morrison, 1994)The company markets it high-end tours and travel packages under the Kuoni name. Discount travel packages are offered under the Helvetica brand name. Switzerland remains the companys single largest market, representing slightly less than one-third of its total sales. The U.K. and North American markets together provide less than one-third of sales. The European continent, including Scandinavia, added another roughly 30 percent to Kuonis total sales, which topped SFr 4 billion in 1996. (Schonland and Williams, 1996) Kuoni has been stepping up the pace of its acquisitions at the turn of the century. After being disapponited in its attempt to merge with the United Kingdoms First Choice Holidays Plc, which would have helped the company create a counterweight to Europes market-leading Preussag-Thomson alliance announced in early 1999, Kuoni has changed direction, targeting the Scandinavian, Indian, and North American markets for its future growth. (Weber and Roehl, 1999)Listed on the Swiss stock exchange, Kuoni is led by Chairman Daniel Affolter and President and CEO Hans Lerch. (Bonn and Furr, 1999) A native of Chur, Switzerland, Alfred Kuoni moved to Zurich to open a travel agency in 1906. If the companys nameTravel Bureauwas not all that original, Kuoni quickly established itself as a pioneer in exotic travel destinations. One of the companys first organized tour packages took Swiss citizens on a guided tour to far-off Egypt. (Hu, 1996) In 1925, Kuoni reincorporated as a joint-stock company, with shares remaining within the Kuoni family. Through the years leading up to World War II, Kuoni expanded from its original location to include a number of sales offices throughout Switzerland. Despite its success in its home market, the company recognized early on that Switzerland was too small for its growing ambitions. The company also opened its first international office, in Nice, in the south of France. Further international moves were not realised due to the buildup to and outbreak of World War II. (Baker and Hozier, 1994) Kuonis international expansion began almost immediately after the end of the war. In 1948, the company opened its first international subsidiaries, in Italy and France. Kuoni also continued to venture to new and exotic travel destinations, such as the organization of the first charter flights to Africa. (Pizam and Mansfeld, 1999)In 1957, the Kuoni family established the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation under which to group their holding; much later, with Kuonis public listing, the foundation would became the companys primary shareholder. (Dev and Olsen, 2000) Thomas Cook AG is an international leisure group, created in 2000 by CN Touristics purchase of Britains Thomas Cook Holdings Ltd., with roots tracing back to 1841. (Bitner and Booms, 1982 )The company is represented in the sales markets of Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Egypt, India and Canada, providing products and services in most market segments, including airlines, hotels, tour operators, travel and incoming agencies. Thomas Cook AG is the third largest integrated tourism group in the world, serving some 14 million customers. Thomas Cook AG, encompasses 32 tour operators and around 3,600 travel agencies, selling the groups products worldwide, as well as a portfolio of 76,000 controlled hotel beds, a fleet of 87 aircraft and a workforce numbering some 28,000. Its services also include travel shops and charter airlines. (Koh, 1995) Evidently, the scale of operations of Thomas Cook AG in his respective market, has allowed him to realize economy of scale, affording a strong advantage over competition and in turn benefiting his clients. Because of the large volume of business provided to many resorts by Cook, he currently have excellent buying power, enabling him to negotiate the best possible airfare, hotel rates and transfer rates, which are translated into attractive selling prices, better rooms and overall greater value for his clients. Numerically, Cook has realized triumphs and broken records in his area. In 1993, Thomas Cook AG excels, as it achieved sales of some eight billion Euros and served more that 13 million customers in the 2001-2002 financial year alone. (Ioannides and Debbage, 1997)In appreciation of his expertise and as an acknowledgement of his proficiency in his operations, Thomas Cook AG has both received numerous awards and tributes over the years for a variety of enterprises. For example, th e Mexican government awarded the Best Tour Operator Worldwide Award in 1998. Thomas Cook AG is nominated every year in several categories in the World Travel Awards, as well as having its various subsidiaries and companies receive numerous awards worldwide. (Riege and Perry, 2000) STA Travel, a subsidiary of privately held Diethelm Keller Holding Ltd., markets itself as â€Å"the world’s largest student travel organization helping students travel in over 90 countries.† STA Travel specializes in student travel, a market niche accounting for approximately 20% of all travel bookings. In 2005 STA Travel reported revenues of 215 Million CHF (Swiss Francs) on total transactions of 1,542 CHF, down from 241 on 1539 the previous year. That same year, the firms 2,358 employees working from 375 travel agency offices in 17 countries and through franchises in 83 others, provided travel advice and booking services to approximately 6 million travelers. (Fick and Ritchie, 1991) Founded in 1979, STA Travel had grown and expanded its global reach through a series of mergers and acquisitions. While the brand well known in parts of Europe and Australia, where it had operated for many years, STA Travel’s US brand, born with the acquisition in 2003 of Council Travel, was still less well known. Historically, STA Travel reached its customers through retail travel agencies, many located near or on college campuses. Beginning in the 1990’s, however, the internet brought new online competitors. Among these were Student Universe and Student City as well as less focused on line providers of travel services including Travelocity and Expedia. By 2007 the internet was predicted to account for more bookings than offline alternatives. Aims and Objectives Following are the aims and objectives of this study: Introduction to Kuoni Holiday Company Introduction to Thomas Cook Holiday Company Introduction to STA Travel Holiday Company Marketing strategy of these companies Research Questions The study seeks to answer the following questions: â€Å"An investigation into the marketing strategy of three UK holiday companies who target the different sections of society with reference to their marketing strategy.† (Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel) Chapter 2: Literature Review Role of Tour Operators The role of tour operators unlike the travel agencies who sell holiday and a range of other travel products tour operators actually assemble the component parts of a holiday, package holidays i.e. the means of travel, accommodation, facilities, transfers, excursion and other services. The famous name which comes into my minds is Thomas Cook for their packages and services. (Field, 1999) If we consider that the travel agents are the retailer arm of the travel business, then the tour operators can be linked to wholesalers, since they buy in bulk from the providers of travel services, such as the hoteliers and airlines, break the bulk into manageable packages and offer the finished product the inclusive tour for sale to the travel agencies or direct to the consumer. (Kaynama and Black, 2000) Peace, safety, and security are the primary conditions for the normal tourism development of a destination, region, or country and thus are the basic determinants of its growth. Without them, destinations cannot successfully compete on the generating markets, even if they present in their marketing campaigns the most attractive and best quality natural and built attractions. Tourism contributes to peace as much as it benefits from it (Savignac 1994). According to Pizam (1999), every minute of every day a crime or a violent act occurs at a destination somewhere in the world. At the same time, it would be difficult to deny that many types of safety risks co-exist in everyones daily lives, and within tourism as well. However, an important difference exists: People are rarely in a position to change their place of living, but nothing can force them to spend a holiday in a place that they perceive as insecure. (Kaynama and Black, 2000)The basic requirement of contemporary demand is higher quality supply and services, and that quality has become the most important factor in the existing climate and development of that demand. But usually do not mention factors which are the condition sine qua non—peace, safety, and security, now generally taken for granted. Any threats to the safety of tourists causes a decrease or total absence of activity, not only in a particular destination, but also very often in neighbouring regions or countries as well. Consequently, since tourism is an important contributor to national economies, host countries will find it necessary to take substantial measures to bring the country hit by crisis back onto the market as quickly as possible. Taking the example of three companies discussed below we further try to explore their role and business strategy. (Medlik and Wang, 2002) Kuoni, Holiday Company Kuoni began looking farther afield in the 1960s. In 1963, the company made its first entry into the Asian markets with the opening of a branch office in Japan. (Medlik and Wang, 2002 )Two years later, Kuoni entered what was later to become one of its most important single markets when it acquired the United Kingdoms Challis Benson Ltd. The importance of the U.K. market to Kuoni was seen at the beginning of the 1970s when the company changed its nameand its U.K. operations nameto Kuoni Travel Ltd. (Buhalis, 1998) The companys listing on the Swiss stock exchange provided fuel for new growth, while opening up the companys shares to new partners, including SwissAir, which built up a 30 percent share in Kuoni. The public listing enabled the company to step up its international growth. After opening a subsidiary in Austria at the beginning of the decade, Kuoni now launched subsidiaries in Germany and Spain, both in 1973, and a subsidiary in Greece the following year. The year 1974 also saw Kuoni step up its position in the U.K. market, when it acquired Houlders World Holidays, based in England. (Buhalis, 1998) While building up its international network, Kuoni also was launching new products. In 1977, the company began marketing its first around-the-world tour. In the 1980s, Kuoni began to acquire properties in many of its most popular destinations, adding a number of hotels, including the Hawksbill Beach Hotel in Antigua in 1981 and the Discovery Bay Beach Hotel in Barbados, bought in 1984. In 1986, Kuoni became the first tour operator to offer around-the-world charter flights on the Concorde supersonic jet. (Morrison, 1996)Although this latter product catered to the companys strong high-end and high-margin clientele, Kuoni also launched a new brand name, Helvetica, to encompass its discount tour and travel operations. The worldwide travel industry remained highly fragmented in the 1990s, with numerous small-scale operators competing against a smaller number of quickly growing industry heavyweights. Kuoni, which had already captured the lead in the Swiss market, was determined to maintain a leadership position as the travel industry headed into a drawn-out consolidation drive leading up to the turn of the century. The company acquired Reiseburo NUR Neckermann in 1987, boosting its position in the Austrian market. Three years later, the company regrouped its Austrian activities, launching the NUR Neckermann Reisen AG joint venture with Germanys Neckermann Touristic. Kuonis part of the joint venture remained at 49 percent. (Morrison, 1996) Back home, the company continued to consolidate its dominance of the Swiss market, acquiring Privat Safaris, the countrys leading operator of tours to eastern Africa, and Reiseburo Popularis, which combined retail offices with direct sales operations marketing discount tour and travel packages. Yet Kuonis strong position in the Swiss market and its growing share internationally soon led it to become the target of a takeover attempt. The sale of SwissAirs 30 percent holding created the opening for Germanys Krauthof AG department store group to acquire a 50.1 percent majority of Kuoni in 1992. (Middleton, Clarke, 2001) Kuoni, through the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation, nonetheless retained majority control of the companys voting rightswhich provided the leverage to the resolution of the takeover attempt. In 1995, the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation bought out Krauthofs stake in the company. The company then changed its name to Kuoni Travel Holding, a move that also reflected a new diversification drive: in 1995 the company acquired Danzas Reisen AG, a Switzerland-based specialist in business travel services. The Danzas acquisition led Kuoni to create a dedicated business travel unit. The company also acquired retailer Kewi Reisen, while integrating its majority share of Railtour Suiss SA, acquired the year before. With its independence assured, Kuoni launched its own acquisition drive in the late 1990s. In 1996, Kuoni added Frances Voice SA, and Scanditours, focused on the Nordic region. (Middleton, Clarke, 2001)The company moved into The Netherlands with the acquisition of Special Traffic that same year. Kuoni also looked to the potentially huge market of India for the first time, acquiring SOTC Holiday Tours, which provided the basis for its Kuoni India Ltd. subsidiary. Two other acquisitions completed the companys busy years, those of Rotunda Tours, expanding Kuoni into South Africa, and CIS Intersport, a Swiss company catering to the growing demand for sports-oriented holiday packages. In 1996, also, the companys Edelweiss Air launched its charter flight operations. (Walle, 1996) Kuonis expansion campaign continued strongly through the end of the century, including the launch of the P O Travel Ltd. joint venture with Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, based in Hong Kong, with offices in Bangkok and Singapore. The 1997 joint venture strengthened Kuonis position in the Asian market, which, despite the austere economic climate in the region at the end of the decade, promised to become one of the worlds stronger holiday markets. Closer to home, Kuoni continued lining up acquisitions, especially Voyages Jules Verne, a U.K. upscale tour operator, and Switzerlands Manta Reisen, which specialized in scuba and other deep-sea holidays. The company also acquired German business travel specialist Euro Lloyd Reisenburo, which it combined with its other German operations into the new subsidiary BTI Euro Lloyd, one of that markets top five business travel companies. Also in 1998, Kuoni launched a joint venture with Italys Gastaldi Tours. The next year Kuoni face a major setback. At the beginning of 1999, the company announced its agreement to merge with the United Kingdoms number three travel operator, First Choice Holidays. The merger, agreed to by both sides, was thwarted by a surprise takeover attempt from rival U.K. operator Airtours Plc, which offered a higher per-share price. When the majority of First Choices shareholders chose to back the Airtours offerwhich itself was blocked by the European monopolies commissionKuoni pulled out of the merger talks. The First Choice merger might have allowed Kuoni to become not only a major player in the U.K. travel market but to boost its position to the top ranks in all of Europe. After the collapse of the merger, however, Kuoni redirected its strategy to other markets. Three markets in particular were to receive its attention: the United States, Scandinavia, and India. In 1999, Kuoni acquired upscale travel company Intrav, based in St. Louis, Missouri; the Intrav acquisition, which cost Kuoni $115 million, gave it a strong opening into the booming U.S. market for luxury vacations. The following year, the company acquired T Pro, an incoming services specialist based in New York and the number three incoming services provider to the U.S. market. The year 2000 saw Kuoni not only strengthen its hold on the Swiss travel markettaking a 49 percent share in ITV, Switzerlands third largest tour group and subsidiary of Germanys Preussagbut also expand its presence in its new target markets of Scandinavia and India. The first was served by the acquisition of 49 percent of Apollo Resor, based in Stockholm, Sweden, and then boosted by the acquisition of Denmarks Dane Tours. In March 2001, the company announced its decision to restructure most of its Scandinavian holdings into a single subsidiary. Thomas Cook Holiday Company Thomascook.com has pledged to bring in a quarter of sales through its website in 2006 and appointed a new digital agency to plan and buy all online media.The move will include an increase in online advertising spend of around 50% and will see an integration between traditional campaigns in print and outdoor with online marketing. Harvest Digital will take on all online media planning and buying through existing travel portals, plus drive a new strategy with the likes of Metro.co.uk, GM.TV and the Lonely Planet websites.Head of online marketing at Thomas Cook, Manuel Mascarenhas, said: â€Å"We selected Harvest Digital because they have delivered on an imaginative plan, using competitions, contextual advertising and sponsorships against tight CPA targets. They have a core audience of repeat bookers and want to ensure we continue to acquire new customers online. The new marketing strategy will target what has been labelled the lucrative and web-savvy audience of 35 to 45 year olds that several holidays a year, including packages, flights, ski holidays and cruises. Harvest Digital partner Emma Wilson added that Thomas Cook is the oldest name in travel but has a very contemporary approach within its sales channels. Also Thomas Cook Signature has won the award for Best Long Haul Operator at last years British Travel Awards, receiving 31% of the vote, while in 2002 Thomas Cook India Ltd has been awarded the Institute of Directors prestigious Golden Peacock National Award for excellence in corporate governance, awarded for transparency, excellence in conducting business at various levels of management, social and environmental responsibility, ethical business practice and consistent creation of value for all the stake holders. Thomas Cook Group has acquired Elegant Resorts, the Chester-based luxury travel firm with 160 staff and gross assets of  £22m. Thomas Cook acquired Hotels4U.com from Centurion Holiday Group for an initial  £22m. This company closed 150 travel shops and six offices throughout the country with the loss of up to 2,800 jobs, affecting sites in Rochdale, Manchester, Rawtenstall and Denton; not only this but Thomas Cook based 40 head office jobs in London following its merger with Mytravel, but this is not expected to affect the jobs at its existing headquarters in Peterborough. Apart from this, Thomas Cook of Peterborough merged with MyTravel of Rochdale to form a combined holidays business with more than 32,000 staff, Thomas Cook is to conduct a strategic review of its UK tour operating business, prompting speculation that it will seek buyers for Club 18-30, Style villa holidays, Neilson skiing and Sun World. Accenture has won a  £110m 10-year contract from Thomas Cook to set up an IT and finance service centre, which will involve the transfer of about 400 Thomas Cook staff. Thomas Cook has launched a branded digital TV channel, which features its full range of holidays and other travel products; also reduced costs in its European travel business by shedding 2,600 jobs, closing 100 shops and grounding four aircraft. Today, Thomas Cook is a leading travel company and one of the most widely recognised and respected brands in the world. Employing over 11,000 staff, Thomas Cook operates throughout a network of 616 locations in the UK and overseas. The company is wholly owned by Thomas Cook AG (formerly CN Touristic AG), which announced its acquisition of Thomas Cook in December 2004 and was granted EC approval in March 2005. (Marvell, 2005) Thomas Cook AG is now the second largest travel group in Europe and the third largest in the world. One reason for the companys longevity and continued success is its commitment to providing exceptional service. Thomas Cook once described himself as the willing and devoted servant of the travelling public. Today, 160 years after his pioneering excursion, these words remain a fitting epithet to the company he founded. (Bloch and Segev, 1997) Thomas Cook, a major UK Tour Operator, has signed an agreement to pilot AXS-Ones new AXSPoint(R) electronic invoice delivery service to travel agents. The new AXSPoint service, which has been approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), a UK regulatory body for use by tour operators holding an Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL), will eliminate the need for tour operators to issue hard copy invoices to travel agents, thereby providing tour operators such as Thomas Cook Holidays with potential savings of up to 80 percent on their annual invoice distribution costs. For travel agents involved in the Pilot program, invoices will now arrive electronically on the same day as dispatch. The AXSPoint service will offer travel agents the ability to automatically match and reconcile invoices to bookings, thereby reducing administration costs and allowing quicker turn-around of invoices to the agents customer. (Richer and James, 1998) The AXSPoint service will significantly enhance the service we provide to our travel agent customers and the service they provide their customers in turn, commented Manny Fontenla Novoa, Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Cook (UK). The speed and efficiency of electronic distribution will reduce our costs considerably while benefiting agents and customers alike. Commenting on the development, Mark Donkersley, Managing Director, AXS-One UK, said: While Thomas Cook is the first tour operator to pilot this system, we are receiving strong interest from other tour operators and travel agents. The issuing of paper invoices has been expensive to tour operators and agents alike in terms of money, time and customer service. Today, this activity costs the regulated tour industry over $25 million per year and we are currently working with the leaders of this sector to bring them on board our system. By providing these services electronically, and securely, we save them a considerable amount of money, while at the same time adding value to each part of the distribution chain and generating recurring revenue streams for AXS-One. (Richer and James, 1998) Superficially, the differences between Thomas Cook AG and other agencies are evident, as one is a national tour operator, while the others are global travel conglomerates. Nevertheless, if we examine deeper below the surface and truly analyze other companies, we can appreciate the great difference between Cook and others’ services. All the agencies have become trusted and highly respected in their markets, as well as being among the best-known names in them, but Cook’s services is most appreciated by his customers. This is the reasons his company is the most preferred one. Thus, we can infer that Cook has the same presence and effect in his comparative market, it being tour operation in the U.S. for other companies and the world for Thomas Cook AG. (Trochim, 2001) STA Travel Company To be responsive to their globally dispersed and culturally diverse customer base STA Travel sought to â€Å"delegate as much autonomy, responsibility and authority as close to the action as possible,† while using a single integrated information system â€Å"to provide global support and solutions when that can improve their experience.† They described this philosophy, ‘as local as possible, as global as necessary’. An evolving business strategy called One Company sought to â€Å"align business operations with customer needs across the world†. Global teams were charged with developing and delivering â€Å"a single supplier strategy, one service standard, one set of operating standards and guidelines for management of our corporate identity†. To support that model the company was providing BLUEe, â€Å"a single sales and booking system to every STA Travel point of purchase backed by a single network, infrastructure, finance, and reporting syst em.† (Trochim, 2001) To ensure they remained â€Å"as local as possible,† each major country maintained its own sales and marketing arms. While most country’s home web page was consistent in look and feel, country marketers were each free to design their marketing campaigns including methods to harness the internet. The US office, for instance had run a successful viral marketing campaign called â€Å"body shots,† intended to promote spring break in the U.S. They had also initiated advertising on Facebook and Myspace, two sites popular with the demographics desirable by the firm. The STA Travel U.S. website, itself was a popular destination, registering some 600,000 unique visitors each month. Over 400,000 customers and prospective customers also contact the U.S. Division each month by email. The STA Travel’s North American division’s had initiated development of STATRAVEL193.COM, a highly interactive web site featuring video reports from STA customers about travel destinations. (Gall Borg, 2003)They had also been the first division to explore the possibilities of Second Life as a marketing tool. The idea had received a welcome endorsement, and a matching investment, from STA Travels headquarters in the U.K. Craig Hepburn, STA Travels Global Webmaster, was responsible for the content management system that fed the various country websites and that was being rolled out throughout the world. His team had also supported development of personalized travel blogs, that allowed STA Travel customers to document their travel. Hepburn was enthusiastic about SL as a marketing channel, but knew it would be met with resistance by the marketing departments in other countries. The initial strategy STA Travel had conceived for their web presence had two prongs. The first element was to create several destination islands to attract prospective travelers. For instance, one idea was to create an island featuring the great wall of China. The second element of the plan was to hold a machinima competition among current Second Life residents. Machinima, a style of movie making, uses avatars as members of the cast; the movie is then filmed in the context of a virtual wor Analysis of Holiday Tour Operators Analysis of Holiday Tour Operators Chapter 1: Introduction Outline This research focuses on three UK holiday companies Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel and their marketing strategies. This research is comprised of following chapters: Rationale This study highlights many issues related to marketing of tourism companies; more specifically it will be looking at the three companies mentioned above and will be giving a broad analysis to marketing strategy as a marketing tool. The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct a detailed analysis on three different UK holiday companies which are Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel, who target different segments of the market. I believe that this investigation will broaden my understanding of the tourism marketing as well as the techniques and strategies that they use as a key factor to their success. (Morgan, 2001)Overall I believe that it is an interesting area to study because I can use and demonstrate while conducting this investigation the skills and knowledge that I had obtained while studying my degree. In addition, I have chosen to carry out my dissertation on the following three companies, because I believe that they differ in their market segmentation, however they have a common goal and they are competitors. I would like to introduce the companies that I will be focusing on and provide some brief introduction for each of them. But first of all let us talk about the role of tour operators. (Wang, 2002) Tour operators today play a very important role in creating the images of destinations. In this global capacity, they can significantly influence international tourism flows towards a country hit by safety and security risks. Even decisions of individual tourists on where to spend a holiday very often depend on the attitude and practice of tour operators towards a particular destination. But people have their own choices and preferences. In this paper we are going to analyse Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel tourism and travelling services as this is one of the best tour operator agencies world wide and the first choice of tourists. (Buhalis, 2001) From 1950 to 1998 the number of international tourist arrivals in the world increased from 25 million to 635 million (WTO 1999b), with an average annual increase of 6.97%. Over the past 15 years, international tourism receipts have grown 1.5 times faster than world GDP, with no signs of slowing down. In 1998 international tourism accounted for an estimated 8% of the worlds total earnings and 37% of exports in the service sector (WTO 1999a). According to data from the International Monetary Fund, in 1998 international tourism receipts and passenger transport amounted to more than $504 billion, putting it ahead of all other categories of international trade (automotive products, chemicals, food, petroleum and other fuels, computer and office equipment, textiles and clothing, mining products, etc.). (Driver, 1999) This rapid development of international tourism can partly be explained by the xxpackage holidays promoted nationally and internationally. Indeed, tour operators represent one of the most powerful and most influential entities in the tourism industry. They have a strong influence on international flows from main generating markets to various destinations. According to World Tourism Organization estimates, tour operators nowadays have a share of about 25% in the total international tourism market. This means that in 2000 tour operators organized at least 175 million international tourism trips. Therefore, the success of many destinations depends on whether foreign tour operators include them in their programs. (Buhalis, 1998) Travel Industry As the travel industry consists of numerous sectors and divisions, companies within the industry vary greatly in their activities and the segments of the market they are involved in. Three of them Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel leaders in their respective field and I would like to commence with Kuoni in the following segment. (Riege, 2000) Introduction to Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel Companies Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. oversees one of Europes top five travel and tour groups. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, the company is particularly strong in both its domestic and U.K. markets, but is also present throughout Europe, especially in Scandinavia, with a rising presence in the United States and Asian markets. Kuoni Travel operates in three primary areas of business: Leisure Travel, which accounts for more than 85 percent of the companys sales; Business Travel, through its BTI unit, which handles travel coordination activities for the small and mid-sized and large-scale corporation markets; and Incoming Services, which provides travel destination services, such as touring and sightseeing packages. (Morrison, 1994)The company markets it high-end tours and travel packages under the Kuoni name. Discount travel packages are offered under the Helvetica brand name. Switzerland remains the companys single largest market, representing slightly less than one-third of its total sales. The U.K. and North American markets together provide less than one-third of sales. The European continent, including Scandinavia, added another roughly 30 percent to Kuonis total sales, which topped SFr 4 billion in 1996. (Schonland and Williams, 1996) Kuoni has been stepping up the pace of its acquisitions at the turn of the century. After being disapponited in its attempt to merge with the United Kingdoms First Choice Holidays Plc, which would have helped the company create a counterweight to Europes market-leading Preussag-Thomson alliance announced in early 1999, Kuoni has changed direction, targeting the Scandinavian, Indian, and North American markets for its future growth. (Weber and Roehl, 1999)Listed on the Swiss stock exchange, Kuoni is led by Chairman Daniel Affolter and President and CEO Hans Lerch. (Bonn and Furr, 1999) A native of Chur, Switzerland, Alfred Kuoni moved to Zurich to open a travel agency in 1906. If the companys nameTravel Bureauwas not all that original, Kuoni quickly established itself as a pioneer in exotic travel destinations. One of the companys first organized tour packages took Swiss citizens on a guided tour to far-off Egypt. (Hu, 1996) In 1925, Kuoni reincorporated as a joint-stock company, with shares remaining within the Kuoni family. Through the years leading up to World War II, Kuoni expanded from its original location to include a number of sales offices throughout Switzerland. Despite its success in its home market, the company recognized early on that Switzerland was too small for its growing ambitions. The company also opened its first international office, in Nice, in the south of France. Further international moves were not realised due to the buildup to and outbreak of World War II. (Baker and Hozier, 1994) Kuonis international expansion began almost immediately after the end of the war. In 1948, the company opened its first international subsidiaries, in Italy and France. Kuoni also continued to venture to new and exotic travel destinations, such as the organization of the first charter flights to Africa. (Pizam and Mansfeld, 1999)In 1957, the Kuoni family established the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation under which to group their holding; much later, with Kuonis public listing, the foundation would became the companys primary shareholder. (Dev and Olsen, 2000) Thomas Cook AG is an international leisure group, created in 2000 by CN Touristics purchase of Britains Thomas Cook Holdings Ltd., with roots tracing back to 1841. (Bitner and Booms, 1982 )The company is represented in the sales markets of Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Egypt, India and Canada, providing products and services in most market segments, including airlines, hotels, tour operators, travel and incoming agencies. Thomas Cook AG is the third largest integrated tourism group in the world, serving some 14 million customers. Thomas Cook AG, encompasses 32 tour operators and around 3,600 travel agencies, selling the groups products worldwide, as well as a portfolio of 76,000 controlled hotel beds, a fleet of 87 aircraft and a workforce numbering some 28,000. Its services also include travel shops and charter airlines. (Koh, 1995) Evidently, the scale of operations of Thomas Cook AG in his respective market, has allowed him to realize economy of scale, affording a strong advantage over competition and in turn benefiting his clients. Because of the large volume of business provided to many resorts by Cook, he currently have excellent buying power, enabling him to negotiate the best possible airfare, hotel rates and transfer rates, which are translated into attractive selling prices, better rooms and overall greater value for his clients. Numerically, Cook has realized triumphs and broken records in his area. In 1993, Thomas Cook AG excels, as it achieved sales of some eight billion Euros and served more that 13 million customers in the 2001-2002 financial year alone. (Ioannides and Debbage, 1997)In appreciation of his expertise and as an acknowledgement of his proficiency in his operations, Thomas Cook AG has both received numerous awards and tributes over the years for a variety of enterprises. For example, th e Mexican government awarded the Best Tour Operator Worldwide Award in 1998. Thomas Cook AG is nominated every year in several categories in the World Travel Awards, as well as having its various subsidiaries and companies receive numerous awards worldwide. (Riege and Perry, 2000) STA Travel, a subsidiary of privately held Diethelm Keller Holding Ltd., markets itself as â€Å"the world’s largest student travel organization helping students travel in over 90 countries.† STA Travel specializes in student travel, a market niche accounting for approximately 20% of all travel bookings. In 2005 STA Travel reported revenues of 215 Million CHF (Swiss Francs) on total transactions of 1,542 CHF, down from 241 on 1539 the previous year. That same year, the firms 2,358 employees working from 375 travel agency offices in 17 countries and through franchises in 83 others, provided travel advice and booking services to approximately 6 million travelers. (Fick and Ritchie, 1991) Founded in 1979, STA Travel had grown and expanded its global reach through a series of mergers and acquisitions. While the brand well known in parts of Europe and Australia, where it had operated for many years, STA Travel’s US brand, born with the acquisition in 2003 of Council Travel, was still less well known. Historically, STA Travel reached its customers through retail travel agencies, many located near or on college campuses. Beginning in the 1990’s, however, the internet brought new online competitors. Among these were Student Universe and Student City as well as less focused on line providers of travel services including Travelocity and Expedia. By 2007 the internet was predicted to account for more bookings than offline alternatives. Aims and Objectives Following are the aims and objectives of this study: Introduction to Kuoni Holiday Company Introduction to Thomas Cook Holiday Company Introduction to STA Travel Holiday Company Marketing strategy of these companies Research Questions The study seeks to answer the following questions: â€Å"An investigation into the marketing strategy of three UK holiday companies who target the different sections of society with reference to their marketing strategy.† (Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel) Chapter 2: Literature Review Role of Tour Operators The role of tour operators unlike the travel agencies who sell holiday and a range of other travel products tour operators actually assemble the component parts of a holiday, package holidays i.e. the means of travel, accommodation, facilities, transfers, excursion and other services. The famous name which comes into my minds is Thomas Cook for their packages and services. (Field, 1999) If we consider that the travel agents are the retailer arm of the travel business, then the tour operators can be linked to wholesalers, since they buy in bulk from the providers of travel services, such as the hoteliers and airlines, break the bulk into manageable packages and offer the finished product the inclusive tour for sale to the travel agencies or direct to the consumer. (Kaynama and Black, 2000) Peace, safety, and security are the primary conditions for the normal tourism development of a destination, region, or country and thus are the basic determinants of its growth. Without them, destinations cannot successfully compete on the generating markets, even if they present in their marketing campaigns the most attractive and best quality natural and built attractions. Tourism contributes to peace as much as it benefits from it (Savignac 1994). According to Pizam (1999), every minute of every day a crime or a violent act occurs at a destination somewhere in the world. At the same time, it would be difficult to deny that many types of safety risks co-exist in everyones daily lives, and within tourism as well. However, an important difference exists: People are rarely in a position to change their place of living, but nothing can force them to spend a holiday in a place that they perceive as insecure. (Kaynama and Black, 2000)The basic requirement of contemporary demand is higher quality supply and services, and that quality has become the most important factor in the existing climate and development of that demand. But usually do not mention factors which are the condition sine qua non—peace, safety, and security, now generally taken for granted. Any threats to the safety of tourists causes a decrease or total absence of activity, not only in a particular destination, but also very often in neighbouring regions or countries as well. Consequently, since tourism is an important contributor to national economies, host countries will find it necessary to take substantial measures to bring the country hit by crisis back onto the market as quickly as possible. Taking the example of three companies discussed below we further try to explore their role and business strategy. (Medlik and Wang, 2002) Kuoni, Holiday Company Kuoni began looking farther afield in the 1960s. In 1963, the company made its first entry into the Asian markets with the opening of a branch office in Japan. (Medlik and Wang, 2002 )Two years later, Kuoni entered what was later to become one of its most important single markets when it acquired the United Kingdoms Challis Benson Ltd. The importance of the U.K. market to Kuoni was seen at the beginning of the 1970s when the company changed its nameand its U.K. operations nameto Kuoni Travel Ltd. (Buhalis, 1998) The companys listing on the Swiss stock exchange provided fuel for new growth, while opening up the companys shares to new partners, including SwissAir, which built up a 30 percent share in Kuoni. The public listing enabled the company to step up its international growth. After opening a subsidiary in Austria at the beginning of the decade, Kuoni now launched subsidiaries in Germany and Spain, both in 1973, and a subsidiary in Greece the following year. The year 1974 also saw Kuoni step up its position in the U.K. market, when it acquired Houlders World Holidays, based in England. (Buhalis, 1998) While building up its international network, Kuoni also was launching new products. In 1977, the company began marketing its first around-the-world tour. In the 1980s, Kuoni began to acquire properties in many of its most popular destinations, adding a number of hotels, including the Hawksbill Beach Hotel in Antigua in 1981 and the Discovery Bay Beach Hotel in Barbados, bought in 1984. In 1986, Kuoni became the first tour operator to offer around-the-world charter flights on the Concorde supersonic jet. (Morrison, 1996)Although this latter product catered to the companys strong high-end and high-margin clientele, Kuoni also launched a new brand name, Helvetica, to encompass its discount tour and travel operations. The worldwide travel industry remained highly fragmented in the 1990s, with numerous small-scale operators competing against a smaller number of quickly growing industry heavyweights. Kuoni, which had already captured the lead in the Swiss market, was determined to maintain a leadership position as the travel industry headed into a drawn-out consolidation drive leading up to the turn of the century. The company acquired Reiseburo NUR Neckermann in 1987, boosting its position in the Austrian market. Three years later, the company regrouped its Austrian activities, launching the NUR Neckermann Reisen AG joint venture with Germanys Neckermann Touristic. Kuonis part of the joint venture remained at 49 percent. (Morrison, 1996) Back home, the company continued to consolidate its dominance of the Swiss market, acquiring Privat Safaris, the countrys leading operator of tours to eastern Africa, and Reiseburo Popularis, which combined retail offices with direct sales operations marketing discount tour and travel packages. Yet Kuonis strong position in the Swiss market and its growing share internationally soon led it to become the target of a takeover attempt. The sale of SwissAirs 30 percent holding created the opening for Germanys Krauthof AG department store group to acquire a 50.1 percent majority of Kuoni in 1992. (Middleton, Clarke, 2001) Kuoni, through the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation, nonetheless retained majority control of the companys voting rightswhich provided the leverage to the resolution of the takeover attempt. In 1995, the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation bought out Krauthofs stake in the company. The company then changed its name to Kuoni Travel Holding, a move that also reflected a new diversification drive: in 1995 the company acquired Danzas Reisen AG, a Switzerland-based specialist in business travel services. The Danzas acquisition led Kuoni to create a dedicated business travel unit. The company also acquired retailer Kewi Reisen, while integrating its majority share of Railtour Suiss SA, acquired the year before. With its independence assured, Kuoni launched its own acquisition drive in the late 1990s. In 1996, Kuoni added Frances Voice SA, and Scanditours, focused on the Nordic region. (Middleton, Clarke, 2001)The company moved into The Netherlands with the acquisition of Special Traffic that same year. Kuoni also looked to the potentially huge market of India for the first time, acquiring SOTC Holiday Tours, which provided the basis for its Kuoni India Ltd. subsidiary. Two other acquisitions completed the companys busy years, those of Rotunda Tours, expanding Kuoni into South Africa, and CIS Intersport, a Swiss company catering to the growing demand for sports-oriented holiday packages. In 1996, also, the companys Edelweiss Air launched its charter flight operations. (Walle, 1996) Kuonis expansion campaign continued strongly through the end of the century, including the launch of the P O Travel Ltd. joint venture with Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, based in Hong Kong, with offices in Bangkok and Singapore. The 1997 joint venture strengthened Kuonis position in the Asian market, which, despite the austere economic climate in the region at the end of the decade, promised to become one of the worlds stronger holiday markets. Closer to home, Kuoni continued lining up acquisitions, especially Voyages Jules Verne, a U.K. upscale tour operator, and Switzerlands Manta Reisen, which specialized in scuba and other deep-sea holidays. The company also acquired German business travel specialist Euro Lloyd Reisenburo, which it combined with its other German operations into the new subsidiary BTI Euro Lloyd, one of that markets top five business travel companies. Also in 1998, Kuoni launched a joint venture with Italys Gastaldi Tours. The next year Kuoni face a major setback. At the beginning of 1999, the company announced its agreement to merge with the United Kingdoms number three travel operator, First Choice Holidays. The merger, agreed to by both sides, was thwarted by a surprise takeover attempt from rival U.K. operator Airtours Plc, which offered a higher per-share price. When the majority of First Choices shareholders chose to back the Airtours offerwhich itself was blocked by the European monopolies commissionKuoni pulled out of the merger talks. The First Choice merger might have allowed Kuoni to become not only a major player in the U.K. travel market but to boost its position to the top ranks in all of Europe. After the collapse of the merger, however, Kuoni redirected its strategy to other markets. Three markets in particular were to receive its attention: the United States, Scandinavia, and India. In 1999, Kuoni acquired upscale travel company Intrav, based in St. Louis, Missouri; the Intrav acquisition, which cost Kuoni $115 million, gave it a strong opening into the booming U.S. market for luxury vacations. The following year, the company acquired T Pro, an incoming services specialist based in New York and the number three incoming services provider to the U.S. market. The year 2000 saw Kuoni not only strengthen its hold on the Swiss travel markettaking a 49 percent share in ITV, Switzerlands third largest tour group and subsidiary of Germanys Preussagbut also expand its presence in its new target markets of Scandinavia and India. The first was served by the acquisition of 49 percent of Apollo Resor, based in Stockholm, Sweden, and then boosted by the acquisition of Denmarks Dane Tours. In March 2001, the company announced its decision to restructure most of its Scandinavian holdings into a single subsidiary. Thomas Cook Holiday Company Thomascook.com has pledged to bring in a quarter of sales through its website in 2006 and appointed a new digital agency to plan and buy all online media.The move will include an increase in online advertising spend of around 50% and will see an integration between traditional campaigns in print and outdoor with online marketing. Harvest Digital will take on all online media planning and buying through existing travel portals, plus drive a new strategy with the likes of Metro.co.uk, GM.TV and the Lonely Planet websites.Head of online marketing at Thomas Cook, Manuel Mascarenhas, said: â€Å"We selected Harvest Digital because they have delivered on an imaginative plan, using competitions, contextual advertising and sponsorships against tight CPA targets. They have a core audience of repeat bookers and want to ensure we continue to acquire new customers online. The new marketing strategy will target what has been labelled the lucrative and web-savvy audience of 35 to 45 year olds that several holidays a year, including packages, flights, ski holidays and cruises. Harvest Digital partner Emma Wilson added that Thomas Cook is the oldest name in travel but has a very contemporary approach within its sales channels. Also Thomas Cook Signature has won the award for Best Long Haul Operator at last years British Travel Awards, receiving 31% of the vote, while in 2002 Thomas Cook India Ltd has been awarded the Institute of Directors prestigious Golden Peacock National Award for excellence in corporate governance, awarded for transparency, excellence in conducting business at various levels of management, social and environmental responsibility, ethical business practice and consistent creation of value for all the stake holders. Thomas Cook Group has acquired Elegant Resorts, the Chester-based luxury travel firm with 160 staff and gross assets of  £22m. Thomas Cook acquired Hotels4U.com from Centurion Holiday Group for an initial  £22m. This company closed 150 travel shops and six offices throughout the country with the loss of up to 2,800 jobs, affecting sites in Rochdale, Manchester, Rawtenstall and Denton; not only this but Thomas Cook based 40 head office jobs in London following its merger with Mytravel, but this is not expected to affect the jobs at its existing headquarters in Peterborough. Apart from this, Thomas Cook of Peterborough merged with MyTravel of Rochdale to form a combined holidays business with more than 32,000 staff, Thomas Cook is to conduct a strategic review of its UK tour operating business, prompting speculation that it will seek buyers for Club 18-30, Style villa holidays, Neilson skiing and Sun World. Accenture has won a  £110m 10-year contract from Thomas Cook to set up an IT and finance service centre, which will involve the transfer of about 400 Thomas Cook staff. Thomas Cook has launched a branded digital TV channel, which features its full range of holidays and other travel products; also reduced costs in its European travel business by shedding 2,600 jobs, closing 100 shops and grounding four aircraft. Today, Thomas Cook is a leading travel company and one of the most widely recognised and respected brands in the world. Employing over 11,000 staff, Thomas Cook operates throughout a network of 616 locations in the UK and overseas. The company is wholly owned by Thomas Cook AG (formerly CN Touristic AG), which announced its acquisition of Thomas Cook in December 2004 and was granted EC approval in March 2005. (Marvell, 2005) Thomas Cook AG is now the second largest travel group in Europe and the third largest in the world. One reason for the companys longevity and continued success is its commitment to providing exceptional service. Thomas Cook once described himself as the willing and devoted servant of the travelling public. Today, 160 years after his pioneering excursion, these words remain a fitting epithet to the company he founded. (Bloch and Segev, 1997) Thomas Cook, a major UK Tour Operator, has signed an agreement to pilot AXS-Ones new AXSPoint(R) electronic invoice delivery service to travel agents. The new AXSPoint service, which has been approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), a UK regulatory body for use by tour operators holding an Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL), will eliminate the need for tour operators to issue hard copy invoices to travel agents, thereby providing tour operators such as Thomas Cook Holidays with potential savings of up to 80 percent on their annual invoice distribution costs. For travel agents involved in the Pilot program, invoices will now arrive electronically on the same day as dispatch. The AXSPoint service will offer travel agents the ability to automatically match and reconcile invoices to bookings, thereby reducing administration costs and allowing quicker turn-around of invoices to the agents customer. (Richer and James, 1998) The AXSPoint service will significantly enhance the service we provide to our travel agent customers and the service they provide their customers in turn, commented Manny Fontenla Novoa, Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Cook (UK). The speed and efficiency of electronic distribution will reduce our costs considerably while benefiting agents and customers alike. Commenting on the development, Mark Donkersley, Managing Director, AXS-One UK, said: While Thomas Cook is the first tour operator to pilot this system, we are receiving strong interest from other tour operators and travel agents. The issuing of paper invoices has been expensive to tour operators and agents alike in terms of money, time and customer service. Today, this activity costs the regulated tour industry over $25 million per year and we are currently working with the leaders of this sector to bring them on board our system. By providing these services electronically, and securely, we save them a considerable amount of money, while at the same time adding value to each part of the distribution chain and generating recurring revenue streams for AXS-One. (Richer and James, 1998) Superficially, the differences between Thomas Cook AG and other agencies are evident, as one is a national tour operator, while the others are global travel conglomerates. Nevertheless, if we examine deeper below the surface and truly analyze other companies, we can appreciate the great difference between Cook and others’ services. All the agencies have become trusted and highly respected in their markets, as well as being among the best-known names in them, but Cook’s services is most appreciated by his customers. This is the reasons his company is the most preferred one. Thus, we can infer that Cook has the same presence and effect in his comparative market, it being tour operation in the U.S. for other companies and the world for Thomas Cook AG. (Trochim, 2001) STA Travel Company To be responsive to their globally dispersed and culturally diverse customer base STA Travel sought to â€Å"delegate as much autonomy, responsibility and authority as close to the action as possible,† while using a single integrated information system â€Å"to provide global support and solutions when that can improve their experience.† They described this philosophy, ‘as local as possible, as global as necessary’. An evolving business strategy called One Company sought to â€Å"align business operations with customer needs across the world†. Global teams were charged with developing and delivering â€Å"a single supplier strategy, one service standard, one set of operating standards and guidelines for management of our corporate identity†. To support that model the company was providing BLUEe, â€Å"a single sales and booking system to every STA Travel point of purchase backed by a single network, infrastructure, finance, and reporting syst em.† (Trochim, 2001) To ensure they remained â€Å"as local as possible,† each major country maintained its own sales and marketing arms. While most country’s home web page was consistent in look and feel, country marketers were each free to design their marketing campaigns including methods to harness the internet. The US office, for instance had run a successful viral marketing campaign called â€Å"body shots,† intended to promote spring break in the U.S. They had also initiated advertising on Facebook and Myspace, two sites popular with the demographics desirable by the firm. The STA Travel U.S. website, itself was a popular destination, registering some 600,000 unique visitors each month. Over 400,000 customers and prospective customers also contact the U.S. Division each month by email. The STA Travel’s North American division’s had initiated development of STATRAVEL193.COM, a highly interactive web site featuring video reports from STA customers about travel destinations. (Gall Borg, 2003)They had also been the first division to explore the possibilities of Second Life as a marketing tool. The idea had received a welcome endorsement, and a matching investment, from STA Travels headquarters in the U.K. Craig Hepburn, STA Travels Global Webmaster, was responsible for the content management system that fed the various country websites and that was being rolled out throughout the world. His team had also supported development of personalized travel blogs, that allowed STA Travel customers to document their travel. Hepburn was enthusiastic about SL as a marketing channel, but knew it would be met with resistance by the marketing departments in other countries. The initial strategy STA Travel had conceived for their web presence had two prongs. The first element was to create several destination islands to attract prospective travelers. For instance, one idea was to create an island featuring the great wall of China. The second element of the plan was to hold a machinima competition among current Second Life residents. Machinima, a style of movie making, uses avatars as members of the cast; the movie is then filmed in the context of a virtual wor

Prison Food Chain

Michella Abel ANTH4113-001 10/16/12 Professor Dowell & Hirschfeld Capstone Anthropology Prison Food Chain The United States has had reform after reform of their prison systems in an attempt to better them and in hopes of making them not only a punishment, but a rehabilitating system. The prisons of today are not what these reforms hoped to achieve, they are over populated, dangerous, and under-funded. Gangs have taken over the positions that wardens are supposed to fill and they rule by survival of the fittest or at least survival of the better connections.In order to achieve the reforms’ goals, data collected from ethnographic and statistical studies must be put to better use. Prison gangs have become a huge contributing factor to the overcrowding within the prisons due to its positive correlation to repeat offending and high recruitment efforts. The word Penitentiary comes from the Greek word that means to be penitent. The reality of what it is like to be in a prison may not be what most people believe it to be. There are different levels in the prison system that offenders, pending on their crime and record, will be assigned to. Marchese,45) Super-max Prisons are for the worst of the worst offenders. Maximum security houses a variety of violent offenders. Minimum security and halfway houses restrict the comings and goings of the lowest menace threat in the system and help to make an offender ready to rejoin the outside world. The prison society is based upon a set of social rules and boundaries built and based upon respect and fear. Each kind of prisoner has a different way of obtaining this respect and attempting to claim the prison food chain.A prisoner that was transferred would need to fight another prisoner to establish his place among the hierarchy. Prisons are a society unto themselves and outsiders are not welcome as scientists and journalist have discovered. (Fleisher,1989) To be a prisoner and be at the top of the hierarchy has multiple mean ing for that individual, how he got there and how he keeps that position varies from one inmate to the next. Every inmate at the top of the food chain in the prison system has his or her own story as to how they got where they are, and how long it took them to get there, but he common thread is their gang connections and affixations. The top of the hierarchical system however are the guards. The guards are one of the prisoners’ only interactions with the outside world that is guaranteed and occurs on a regular basis. The Stanford Experiment in (1971) showed how guards and prisoners interact on the bases of who has the authority and who doesn’t. Stanford students played the role of guards and some as prisoners. It didn’t take long before the students started to really believe they were guards or prisoners.The student guards became more forceful in their commands, and showed less respect for the students that were prisoners. The student prisoners showed more compl iance for the guards and submissive, even thou they were just role playing. The experiment was forced to release all of the participants after the students playing the role of the prisoners started to riot and entrench themselves within the cells. Their ability to separate reality from their roles was so greatly diminished they actually started attacking each other.There are theories that this diminishing started when they were all very publically arrested for show, but to them it felt very real. (Zimbardo) Fleisher attempted to study the prison society by becoming a guard at a prison, but soon discovered that even he could not separate himself from the role of a guard, â€Å"I began to think of myself as a correctional worker†¦ I was becoming lost†¦ What hacks did was right what convicts did was wrong†. (Fleischer,1989,112) There are federal cases in which inmates claim that guards either go to far to prevent gang activity or don’t do anything at all to prot ect them.Babock vs. White and Doe vvs. Welborn are both 8th amendment violation cases in which the guard knowingly put an inmate in harm’s way with a gang, but with the overpopulation some do not have an option of where an inmate is housed despite the danger. (Eckhart,61) A prison guard is not a police officer and cannot arrest anyone. They are babysitters for some of the most dangerous people in the world. Prisoners can and do hurt or even kill guards every year; however, there have been documented cases of guards beating and killing prisoners who attack guards.If an inmate gets away with something like killing or attacking a fellow inmate, it was because one or more of the guards protected him. Inmates cannot be prosecuted if the guards do not speak up and turn in the inmate committing the acts. That is a system that gives the guards a great deal of power over the men in their custody. (Marchese,1) Someone looking at a penitentiary from the outside couldn’t ever imag ine the set of circumstances that an inmate faces the moment they step foot behind the gates. The single biggest threat to a new inmate is the gang affiliation and if the guards recognize you as gang member.Gangs are stronger in the prison systems than anywhere on earth. They can quickly tell a new inmate from a repeat by talking to you for a few minutes and by the confidence level the inmate portrays. Then the recruitment begins. If the new inmate wasn’t part of a gang on the outside, he is very vulnerable and has to make some fast decisions. He can attempt to remain gang free, which is very dangerous since that means you have no one looking out for you, or you have to join a gang and they choose you, you don’t choose them. (National Geogrpahic,2007) Race is the gang of choose in prison.Whites stick together and blacks with blacks and so on. Most sections of the prisons facilities are divided up into the race sections for each race. Whites use these three showers and these three stales and so on. White, African American, Mexican, and Other (Native American or Asian) are the more commonly used terms when prisoners are dividing the prison into race. If you get rejected from that gang you will not be allowed to join any other white gang, and a prisoner without a gang is typically beaten, raped, or killed by the enemies you acquired while in the gangs.If you fail to join a gang from the start you are more likely to be in danger from your own race. Mostly because they have asked you to join their gang and you have refused. When you have so many dangers threatening you every day of what is now your life, joining a race gang and fighting becomes the only way to stay alive in the current prison system. Think about who is in prison. Most inmates are killers and rapist and burglars already, so the things that go on in prison isn’t new to them, but the ones that are in prison for something non-violent have to share the same space as those who have c ommitted murder and rape.Inmates who are not violent are targets for the life term inmates just because they want to have the power over someone, just as the guards have power over all inmates. The control issues don’t stop there. To be in the gang you have to prove yourself to be worthy to be in the gang. Most acts of worth involve you beating someone up, and sometimes killing someone who has disrespected the gang recently. You can move up in the ranks very quickly in the prison gang hierarchy pending on the nature of your sentence. Lifers† are known as inmates that will never see the outside world again, meaning they will die in the prison system. They know that a â€Å"lifer† is more likely to kill, then someone who has only a few years to serve. â€Å"Lifers† become some of the most powerful people in the prison hierarchies because they are more willing to kill you because they will never see freedom anyway. (Yost,2010) Incidentally women prisons do no t necessarily work the same as men. Many do have gang ties outside of prison, the same gangs as the men, but the connections that make while in prison are tighter than the gangs.They set up family like groups and the longer term inmates adopt children and watch out for them. They do have to follow their gang rules while in prison. If fellow gang member is attacked or disrespected you better do something about it. (Yost,2010) The guards will automatically segregate gang members from the general population in small prisons, but the larger prisons are overcrowded and do not have space available to segregate them all. They have everyone from drug addicts with no violent recorded to murder’s and rapist in the same common areas and cells.Guards in the super-max facilities automatically place gang members in the SHU or Security Housing Unit. The super-max facilities are where known gang members and violent inmates are sent because they have been deemed too large of a security threat to be housed in minimum security prisons. The guards will take the tiniest connection of gang affiliation and run with it. (Tachiki,1118) However, these super-max and segregation cells are not doing the job that are meant to do. The leaders of these gangs are able to carry on gang business from within these cells.For example, the Mexican Mafia can extort drug dealers because they pose a threat to the people in system and drug dealers know that are likely to end up in prison and with individuals only in segregation for a few days or weeks at a time notes can be passed containing hit lists. (Skorbek,714) Prison gangs started back in the 1950’s with the Gypsy Jokers in Washington State Prison. The Mexican Mafia emerged in 1957 in California and was the first gang to have nationwide ties consisted of Northern California Mexicans.These gangs started out just as a way of protecting themselves from the other races, but they soon started using their numbers and influence to run the black market within the prisons. The Aryan Brotherhood is a white supremacist gang that started in California in 1967 at San Quentin. The Black Guerilla Family combined all the black rights groups of 1966 in San Quentin. La Nuestra Family was established in the 1960s in California’s Soledad for the southern California Mexicans. The Texas Syndicate emerged in 1958 at Deuel Vocation Institute in California to protect the Texan Mexicans and native Texans.The Mexikanemi is the fastes growing established in 1984 and also known as the Texas Mexican Mafia. The Newest gangs being the Nortenos, The Surenos, and the Crips and Bloods from LA. (Fleisher,2001,#1)(Morningstar,1-4) The reasons for joining a gang are many, but all very similar. Individuals join gangs for protection from other gangs or from the gang itself. This situation lends to the old phrase â€Å"If you can’t beat them join them. † There is also the very human variable: the need to fit in and feel wanted.In dividuals will join a gang because even though it is a bad identity it is still more than what they had before and even though the company is bad and dangerous they feel like they belong. The rules that the gangs enforce are all slightly different but are based on the same basics and this does supply these individuals with structure that their lacking. The basic rules are always bare your allegiance, always respect other members, always protect other members, always support the gang, always obey the gang, secrecy, and the most known blood in, blood out.In other words, you are a gang member for life and the only escape is death and most of the time a young one. (Fleisher,2001,#1,3) The process of joining a street gang is very different than joining a prison gang. A street gang the individual is mostly likely jumped in and that in tells letting all the members beat up on them for a certain amount of time a few minutes at a time. Whereas a prison gang the individual would be asked to f ight a certain individual or a guard. It also might be as simple as smuggling a note out or crafting a leader a shank and hiding it for them.In many cases, they are required to take out a member of a rival gang either by getting them locked up in segregation for a few weeks and hurting their operation or simply killing them. (National Geographic,2007) The newer gangs are based on more criminal organizations than a true sense of word gang. They are in it for the profit and run the black markets. Only 15-20% are hard core members the rest are foot soldiers that are expendable. The reasons for defecting from a gang seems more like a cheesy movie scene where the character is debating between going against their own moral code and killing a child.If they don’t kill the mark then they are next on the list and are hunted down. There are a few that go to the state for protection for exchange for the testimony and witness protection. The most common reason for defecting from a gang is that the individual broke a rule and are scarred of retribution so they go to the state. They either stole gang money/product or they slept with wrong person’s wife/girlfriend. (Fleisher,2001,#1,3) There are prison programs that force the inmate to renounce their gang affiliations and sign a written contract affirming their defection.These programs allow the prisoners to be released earlier, but they also force many inmates to become serious targets. (National Geogrpahic,2007) Inmates fear these programs because in order to graduate from the programs they are forced to relinquish the only identity they know. Prisons are their own culture in and of themselves. They vary from prison to prison and have been described as small city with all the intricacies that come with one. They use their own form of language when communicating to each other and with those on the outside. The breaking of gang code is its own department within the FBI.They have even started using texting abbrev iations within their codes. (Klivans,1) There are whole alphabets to the prison gang code and they also utilize their own form of sign language. Most of them use their tattoos to tell their stories and to inform other gang members of just where they belong within the hierarchy. They also most bare their gangs sign. Most prison gangs use tattoos simply because they look menacing and the guards can’t remove them. The street gangs use bandanas or colors, which is near impossible to replicate within a prison. National Geographic,2007) We have implemented multiple prison programs from education to religion. One of the interesting ones described in the documentary The Dhamma Brothers is a 10 day program that a group of inmates many of which that are on death row are secluded from the rest of prison population and are instructed in the practices of Buddhism. They were not so much instructed on the religious practices and beliefs, but on the deep meditating practices that help them f ocus and deal with emotions. The prisons showed a remarkable difference in both attitude and behavior after they experienced 10 days of complete silence and meditation. Kaikum,2008) Another program started in Luther Luckett Correctional complex has focused on rehabilitating their inmates through education. One of their programs is called Shakespeare Behind Bars. This program was designed to get the inmates interested in classics and possibly keep them out of trouble during the production of the plays. A group of inmates are allowed to produce plays by Shakespeare and perform them for the prison. They have an instructor that helps them learn to act and memorize their lines.The interviews reveal that although the individuals within the program are minimum security that they feel a sense of accomplishment and wish continue their education. One in particular graduated from college and was paroled in 2006. (Rogerson,2005) What we have to realize though for these individuals to graduate t hey first had to overcome their gang ties, rules, and culture. Also, survive any hits if their exit causes bad blood. They will still bare the gang tattoos and scars mental and physical. A backward step in prison system programs is the re-institution of chain gangs. Alabama re-instituted chain gangs in 1990.There are not as bad as the ones that were shut down and out lawed in many states, but there is still the humiliation of walking around in public with chains binding your feet. The males are less cumbersome since their feet are chained together with about 2 feet of slack, but females in Arizona are literary chained together with about 5 to 6 in a group. Arizona re-institutionalized chain gangs in 1996 in Estrella Correctional Facility near Phoenix. The Alabama chain gangs are forced to work in fields and clean-up crews. While working they are surrounded by guards and dogs watching for any sign of escape.Many of the inmates feel that the chains are not necessary that no one can es cape between the dogs and guards. The cruelest of the punishments given out within the chain gang system was the hitching post. If an inmate refused to work they would be hand cuffed to a metal pole in the middle of the front lawn of the prison for 24 hours. This practice was considered to be a violation of the inmates civil rights and terminated in 1997. Because of the lack of results from this program Alabama quietly discontinued use of chain gangs in 1999. However in 2004, Maricopa County started a chain gang for juvenile offenders.Arizona was the first female chain gang and is still in use and has not had much as far as results either. They clean the streets of Phoenix and trim trees. They very in offenses but the most dominate seems to be drug abuse or trafficking. Of the 6 people the documentary interviewed 3 returned to prison within a few months. (Irving,1999) Another form of punishment within the prison systems besides chain gangs and probably the most common is solitary co nfinement. This practice is being challenged as inhumane because of the possible psychological damage it can create within the inmates.Humans are social creatures and being locked up in a small cell with on human contact for possibly years is destructive to their psyche. A study done with mice shows that mice, who are locked up with no contact with other mice for just 2 weeks, show considerably different behavior. They will avoid open areas and become paranoid around other mice. (Yost,2010) Most inmates released from solitary confinement will return for bad behavior and almost immediately lash out at the guards or other inmates. They believe that solitary confinement decreases the inmate’s ability to control themselves. Yost,2010) Drug addiction, emotional damage, low education, and poor employment skills define the inmates and these disabilities endanger the community upon release, because they retreat to what will support them instead of that minimum wage job. That minimum wage job like flipping burgers at McDonalds is the only type of job an ex-con can get most of the time. They are going to look down at that job just as much a law-abiding citizens and the only difference is they won’t stoop to that level, they will go back to the gang to support themselves and their family.They are also behind on the technology in some cases. Inmates that have been locked up for more than 5 years won’t know how to run the newer computers and the idea of cell phone always in their pocket is completely foreign to them. (Fleisher,2001,#1,2)(Fleisher,2001,#2,70) Fleisher and his colleagues have ideas of integrating the x-cons into the community upon release. He notes that the men who are sent to prison are individuals who were never fully integrated into our law-abiding society and upon release they simply go back to what they know, criminal behavior.He believes that some things could be done within the community. If the community didn’t hold their gang affiliations against the individuals when they are not active members then maybe they would not return to the gang. Forcing the individual to cut his ties to the only family he has ever known or to the only identity he has ever had makes them very uncertain of their place and makes it difficult for them to form a new one from scratch. Also, the implement of in-town treatment centers for them would also increase their ability and willingness to attend their sessions.Most treatment centers are too far for them to get to and having to pay to ride a bus clear across town is something they won’t be willing to do, especially if they are working that minimum paying job. (Fleisher,2001,#2,66-71) â€Å"We have little hard data on the demographics of today’s prison gangs and the nature and levels of prions gang-related disorder in American prisons. This lack of data is a serious impediment to making progress against a serious and growing problem. †(Fleisher,2001,#1,8 ) There has been a increase in both repeat offending, parole violators, sentence length, and lifers since the emergence of prison gangs.Most of the increases are above 30% during the 90s and have only averaged out instead of decreasing since. As of 1998 California and Texas had the largest prions populations even above the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Oklahoma was just behind Louisiana and Texas for highest incarceration rates per 100,000 state residents. (Fleisher,2001,#2,67) There is a connection between gangs and violence. A study conducted by John Worrall and Robert Morris found that individuals who are members of a gang have more reports of misconduct, violence toward inmates, and violence towards guards. Worrall,430) To understand a gang or just a gang member, one would have to live where they live and grow up in the types of neighborhoods they grew up in. They join gangs for reasons and those reasons are logical to them even though they are not to us. Joining a gang for them is probably much like joining the cheer squad, football team, or academic team would be to us. It is just what you do to be involved with a group that understands you and makes you feel wanted. Most of these kids probably just want the attention, which is why gangs are now using them to traffic their drugs.They don’t receive the harder sentences as an adult would and are less suspect. (Morningstar,8) For the adults that are released from prison, there needs to be more than chain gang experience on their resume. They need the vocational and college classes to make it as well as a strong community support system that is not going to judge them. (Krienert,57) How do we get to the point that society doesn’t judge an ex-con for his past crimes? I don’t believe as a society we will ever make that change.A business owner will not take a chance on a gang or even a former gang member for fear that he / she will use that position to take advantage of the business and all it s assets. As far as the rest of society is concerned about ex-cons in general is that it doesn’t matter why you went to prison, you will never be trusted being a member of the community or the work force again. That being true for the thousands of ex-cons that can’t get a job, or find livable housing, it’s a wonder why they go back to doing the only thing they are good at.Gang membership and repeat offenders go hand in hand when you put those two elements together, and force those people to live in the life of a career criminal. 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