A Review of the Communication and Leadership in Jusco Essay

The relationship is set up when the company regular operation. With the company growing, it will have more and more employees. So communication and leadership is really important. The relationship is harmony so that the employees will more effective, communication is fully reflected whether good or bad of the relationship between employees and employers. Leadership has a big role in here. We define leadership as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals. Organizations need strong leadership and strong management for optimal effectiveness. We need leaders today to challenge the status quo, create visions of the future, and inspire organizational members to want to achieve the visions. (Stephen P. Robbins, 1998). Leadership is a management which manage staff to do the business, and make it clearly and more effective. 2. 1 Background of Jusco With Diaoyu Dao event came out, the relationship between Japan and China is become worse and worse. China even occur boycott Japanese goods last year. Many of Chinese people became mob to destroy Japanese enterprise. Most of patriotic personages were held the demonstration in different city in China. They boycotted Japanese goods so that all of Japanese companies were going down in China. Jusco is Japanese company; Jusco is short for Japan United Stores Company. The various of Jusco companies are subsidiaries of AEON CO. Ltd. There was a JUSCO in Shanghai before, but it was dropped down finally because of poor management. In Guangdong, Guangdong JUSCO Co. , Ltd used the name â€Å"JUSCO† to operate the first JUSCO at 1996. Now, there are 13 shops in Guangdong. It took the lead in the introduction of foreign advanced GMS (department store the supermarket) format mode, and in 2010 launched the SM (Food supermarket) formats. Guangdong JUSCO has a sound management system and in 2005 obtained the ISO9001: 2000 quality management system certification; national â€Å"green market† certification in 2007, was one of the first to obtain the certification of retail enterprises; 2010, ISO14001: 2004 environmental management system certification, the retail business is the first to pass the certification. Adhering to the â€Å"everything for customers† business philosophy, Guangdong JUSCO has been thought to provide customers with security, peace of mind and trust of goods, services and a comfortable shopping environment for the mission, so that customers enjoy shopping. Guangdong JUSCO business goods include: fashion clothing, household goods, sporting goods, home decorations, food, Japanese cuisine, fast food and other necessities. 2. 2 Research objectives 1. 2. 1 Definition of communication and leadership Communication is a slippery concept, and while we may casually use the word with some frequency, it is difficult to arrive at a precise definition that is agreeable to most of those who consider themselves communication scholars. Communication is so deeply rooted in human behaviors and the structures of society that it is difficult to think of social or behavioral events that are absent communication. Halavais, 2006). More and more countries open up their market in this modern world. Communication become very important to Jusco, due to relationship between Japan and China is getting worse. Leadership has been described as â€Å"a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a c ommon task. † (Chemers M. 1997). Leadership is easy to understand that organize a group of people to achieve a common goal. Under this global world, every organization is need cross-culture leadership. Cross-cultural psychology attempts to understand how individuals of different cultures interact with each other (Abbe, Gulick, & Herman, 2007). 1. 2. 2 To investigate the component for communications and leadership. Communications is a big problem in Jusco. This is common problem in China. AEON has been set up 18 Jusco in Guangdong, naturally, managers, leaders and employees all are Chinese. Otherwise, they must do the job under the working mode of AEON management. So communication sometimes is a big problem. Direction of communication is deciding how to communicate to each other. We further subdivide the vertical dimension into downward and upward directions. (R. L. Simpson, 1999) sometimes, most of sales do not will to talk to Jusco’s managers. And I know, Jusco managers also do not want to communicate to Japanese employers. It is even more badly when the DIAOYU DAO event happened. Japan and China are in stalemate. Leadership is mainly cross-culture leadership. 1. 2. 3 Further problem To find out further research opportunities for current problem. With the Japan and China become more and more hostility. We have to find out how does Japanese organization do in China. So we can research other Japanese company to have some more opportunities to compare Jusco. 1. 3 Research rationale I choose this topic because I was worked in Jusco as a red wine salesman last year, and I know this is Cross Culture Company, and its communication and leadership must be changed after the relation between China and Japan get worse. So I decide to use my MO knowledge to how it will be changed. Or keep the old style to manage. 2. Literature review 3. 3 Introduction Communication and leadership have a big role in management forever. Communication is decided whether make the company stay in the harmony situation. This makes the organization more effective and standard. Verbal communication is important to Jusco, but non-verbal communication is also important to it. Jusco is cross-culture organization; Chinese managers need to talk to Japanese senior management. After DIAOYU DAO event, the relation between Japan and China is getting worse, Japanese and Chinese cannot have a nice conversation. So I want to find out the difference of two stages. Leadership is an ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals. However, not all the leaders are managers. Organizations need strong leadership and strong management for optimal effectiveness. So Jusco is the same. Jusco is customer-focused service operation. They have a lot of leaders in Jusco. Different apartment has different leader. However, a good leader can make it more effective. It also make customer more comfortable when customers shopping in Jusco. 3. 4 Main issue—communications Communication represents one of the most important tools that the leaders have at their disposal to perform their influencing of tasks. Its significance is such that some authors consider it as the â€Å"blood† that brings life to the organization. Paulo Nunes, 2011) In Jusco, communication is important thing, no matter employers or employees, they need to communicate to each other. Due to power distance is stay in the high level. Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed un equally. (Gert Jan Hofstede, 1965) Japan is in the high level of Power distance index. So do Jusco, senior managers have some power to manage and ask employees to do the job. However, Jusco is customer-focused service operation. Sometimes, senior managers will ask others to serve customers not himself. They have their own duties. But they need to put customers at the first position. So this is the main problem in Jusco. And the communication is has the big usage for employers to avoid this situation happening. Communication has the general process. The key parts of this model are the sender, encoding, the message, the channel, decoding, the receiver, noise, and feedback. The sender starts a message by encoding a thought. The message is the real thing of the sender’s encoding. When we speak, the speech is message. Our writing is the message. The movements of our acting and the expressions on our face are the message when we gesture. One of the suitablekinds of communications is organizational communication. In organizational communication, there is one kind of mode for Jusco: Formal small-group networks. Formal organizational networks can be very complicated. There are three kinds in this mode, chain, wheel and all channel. The more effective criteria are the networks wheel and all channel. Jusco is wheel mode. For example, one manager is managing drink, wine and so on. 3. Main issue—Leadership Leadership has main two kinds of theories. One is trait theories of leadership, and it is focus on personal qualities and characteristics. By 1990s, after research, studies and analyses, the best leader is unlike the normal people. They are special. But the particular traits that characterized them varied a great deal from review to review. (S. A. Kirkpatrick, 1991) Significant relationships exis t between leadership and such individual traits as: intelligence, adjustment, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience and general self-efficacy. While the trait theory of leadership has arisen again, its reemergence has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in sophisticated conceptual frameworks. (Zaccaro, S. J. 2007). The other is behavioral theories. In response to the early criticisms of the trait approach, theorists began to research leadership as a set of behaviors, evaluating the behavior of successful leaders, determining behavior taxonomy, and identifying broad leadership styles. (Spillane, James P, 2004) The managerial grid model is also based on a behavioral theory. According to three styles: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire. Lewin, Kurt, 1939). Normally, some leaders may compare traits and behaviors to manage; however, they are still failing to manage. As important as traits and behaviors are in identifying effective or ineffective leaders and they do not promises to success. 3. 6 Theories used in Jusco While the communication model used in Jusco, if managers can use this kind of skills, empl oyees can be pleased to accept the order and finish the job in a short time. Formal small-group networks is the normal communications mode exist in Jusco. I ever was a wine sales in Jusco, my group all are sales of wine. The wheel relies on a central figure out to act as the conduct for the entire group’s communication; it simulates the communication network you would find on a team with a strong leader. 2. 5 Conclusion Above the literature review, we can understand the theories of communication and leadership. And figure out which kind of model can be used in Jusco. However, something I can know more in the Jusco senior management. So Ican not ensure the how the solve the problem just by this simplified concepts. 3. Research methodology. 4. 7 overall research design Step 1 Select Jusco as the object of study. | Step 2 Use communication and leadership theories to clarify the usage of management system. | Step 3 Find materials about communication and leadership in Jusco. | Step 4 Organize the materials found before. | Step 5 Combine the viewpoints that have same directions. | Step 6 Add personal views in research paper. | Step 7 Come out the final research paper. | At first, you have to set up your research title. In this modern world, people pay attention to personal benefits from work, so how to make the communications effective and in a proper way can be a key element to achieve success for companies. And leadership is making the company keep the direction keep on the right way. And make the company get more effective and achieve the goals as fast as possible. This is why I choose communication and leadership in Jusco, especially in the specific stage, after the DIAOYU DAO event. After deciding what title is, I begin to search information about communication and leadership which can support my research, and then finding opinions about the communication and leadership system in Jusco. With collection of all the materials that I need in this paper, the step four is to organize them and find out what the authors’ opinions about communication and leadership in Jusco, even in Japanese organization. When clarifying the points from some experts. Communication has some usage for making the whole company staff harmony, and let the managersto know more about employees. Let the whole company become the one big thing, and stay in the high effective. At the end, you read all the references, and link the knowledge and make it to the net. Figuring out why the communication and leadership in Jusco is so important and which kinds of mode are fit for Jusco. 3. 2 Ways to conduct literature search Key words| Source| Finding | Cross-cultural competence in Army leaders| From library books| Abbe, A. , Gulick, L. M. V. , & Herman, J. L. | An integrative theory of leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates| From library books| Chemers M. (1997)| The process of communication| From library books| D. K. Berlo,| Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. | From library books| Empirical foundation. (Study Report 2008-01). | WIKIBOOKS CONTRIBUTORS. | From library books| Halavais, Joe Petrick, Ashley Anker(2006)| Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind| From library books| Hofstede, Geert, Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minkov. | Great Motivation Secrets of Great Leaders. | UCD library| John Baldoni(2005)| Journal of Social Psychology| From library books| 8. Lewin, Kurt; Lippitt, Ronald; White, Ralph (1939). | Communications| Google research | Paulo Nunes, 2011| Vertical and Horizontal Communication in Formal Organizations| From library books| R. L. Simpson, 1986| Employment Relations| From library books| Rose, 2001. Acadermy of Management Executive| UCD library| S. A. Kirkpatrick and E. A. Locke,| Towards a theory of leadership practice| From library books| Spillane, James P. ; et al. , Richard; Diamond, John (2004)| Essentials of Organizational Behavior| Text book | Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge(1998)| Trait-based perspectives of leadership| From library books| Zaccaro, S. J. (2007). | 3. 3 Rese arch Approach Q1: Is it communication is important in Jusco between all the staff? A: YES B: NO Q2: In communication, which thing do you think is important? A: trust B: honest C: honor Q3: Which thing will affecttheresult of the communication? A: skills of communication. B: parties of communications. C: place when having communication. Q4: Do Jusco do the research to know more about what the employees want? Write down your opinion. Q5: Do all the staff will have courage to communicate to the managers? Write down your opinion. Q6: If some problem happens between two apartments, how do you communicate under this question? Write down your opinion. Q7: How do you think the level of effective during working in the Jusco? A: high. B: normal. C: low. Q8: How do you identify superior/subordinate relationship? A: very clear, I will report to superior. B: Superior sometimes will interpose my work. C: Often several superiors give the order at the same time. D: When I facing the problem, I do not know who I can ask. Q9: How do your manager to order your work? A: manager will show me the detail. B: manager will discuss with me when I am in trouble. C: manager normally do not discuss with us. D: I often confused when I get the order from my manager. E: other:______________ Q10:Do you often find nobody will be responsible for the job, how do Jusco take charge? Write down your opinion. Question no. 1 to question no. 3 are identify is communication important to the employers or sales in Jusco. I want to know is it some problem in communication in Jusco staff. It helps to clear my thoughts that whether communication is barriers in Jusco between the employees. Due to superior/subordinate relationship is really complicated. At the same time, according to the communication process, I want to find out which process is something wrong. Like question no. 1, it will give all the staff a shake. They maybe will suddenly realize we are lack of communication during the work. Question no. 2 is the same to question 1, just want to notice staff to think about the communication. The usage of question 3 is wanted to ask them whether communication will affect their work. What is the problem will come out if communication in a low level. Give something to them to think. And this serious of problems are more valuable after the DIAOYU DAO event come out. Due to Jusco is in embarrassing situation in China. Question no. 3 and question no. 4 are the same direction. After give 3 questions to wake you up and think about the communication in Jusco. Comparing their real situation in Jusco, and research the information about the communication is it works out. And does it effective or not. These two questions both need to write down your own opinion, your own thoughts. These are staff real thoughts. According to it, maybe the management in human behavior of Jusco can change the structure to make the whole Jusco has more effective. Question no. 5 and question no. 6 are transition question; it is from communication questions to leadership questions. Questions no. 5 and question no. 6 are concern about communication and leadership. It is not only asking staff the situation of communication, but also checks the leadership in Jusco. We can see the superficial current situation of leadership in Jusco. After I get the superficial information about the leadership, we will collect the information about evaluation of the effective. With the question no. 7, we check the standard of their effective. By this collection, we get this information and find out whether leadership in Jusco is good to use. Question no. 8 is mainly to check the sales and employees how to treat with their superior. Hence, it also evaluates harmony of communication between superior and subordinate. If the relation is harmony, it has a lot of effect to affect the leadership exercise power. Question no. 9 has connection with question no. 9; question no. 8 is mainly collecting the information from employers and sales in Jusco. We can see the truth about the real working situation by opinions of employees and sales. According to their view, we have to do some evaluations to check the leadershipeffective or not. Question no. 10 is helps Jusco to improve their situation. Jusco is customers first company, if this situation coming up, all of employers and managers have to serve customers first. This is vision of Jusco. If they all pass the job to others, no one serve customers. Customer will go away with his dissatisfaction and blame Jusco has the bad service. What the worse, he will complain or tell every friend he knows so that the bad image of Jusco has been set up. 3. 4 Sampling For sampling, I need to contact with Jusco. Each observation measures one or more targets, sampling have too methods and everyone should to be used in the proper way. They all are unique. They are demanded to suitable different situation become the characteristics difference. Jusco as the biggest retail corporation in Asia, in Guangdong, it also the Top 3 of retail corporation. So Jusco is a big corporation, I think Simple random sampling is fit for Jusco. In general, I put one Jusco as the whole, Equal to the probability of each individual to be able to get through one by one extraction method to extract a sample of each extract this sampling method is simple random sampling. Why I choose simple random sampling? Due to Jusco have 26 stores in Guangdong province. Their cope is too big, so I have pretended their probability is equal. Hence, I choose the random one store has regular scale to do this research. Even though, each Jusco has different sales, employees and managers. The mode of management in Jusco do not change, each Jusco is the same administrative mode, Advanced GMS – comprehensive department store supermarket retail business model. Normally, one GMS mode of Jusco has five hundred to one thousand staff. They divided into different departments. Each department I will find the 20 people to do this research. When they done their research, I gathering all the information, and continue to analysis. When I finished that, I will finish my goals and finish my all objective. 3. Data access and collection To do this research and make the sampling, I have to go to Jusco investigation in Guangdong province. However, you cannot go in the Jusco working area easily. It is lucky I was worked there before, I know the managers. With the top managers in supermarket agreement, I finally go into and do some survey. My main contact person is my friend who sells the red wine inside it. Conta ct people: Wang Hong 3. 6 Methods of data analysis After I finish my survey, I will use my organization behavior management and cross culture management to analysis Jusco. How to communication and leadership will happen in it. The further I will analysis is what will affect them after the DIAOYU DAO events. 3. 7 Research limitation As a full time student in Singapore, we have little time to do the research. Due to the time is too short, I do not have enough time to make the scope large, and make is simplified. At the same time, I still have another course; my time will become shorter and shorter. Under this reason, maybe my point of view will short for one side. Maybe leadership will gather more information than communications. In China many things are cannot show in the newspaper so the information collection is a big problem, and Chinese people do not say anything so clearly, especially in the relationship, during the research. The superior/subordinate relationship cannot record faithfully. Maybe subordinates are too afraid to answer the truth. And even more, English is not my first English, many words we need to figure out how to express my view of points. 4. Conclusion 5. 8 summary This essay is mainly to show that how communication and leadershipwill affect the work in the organization. Different organization has their ownmanagement mode and their own culture. These are affecting the staff how to act in the company. According to the first part of communication, communication is basis skills in the human behavior. Communication process will show us the flow during two people communicates. Make the communication more effective is lead to the whole working flow more effective. However, there are some barriers to effective communication. Like filtering, selective perception. Emotions, information overload and so on. The next objective is leadership. Due to there is a big problem, about the relations. Due to in China, the employee will very afraid of the boss, so if the employers want to get the feedback is a very difficult thing. So the communication skill is necessary, but without the communication skill, what can the employer get the information from is also consider in this part. And what’s effect will the relationship come up with. Managers must not be a leadership, everyone can do. However, Jusco in China, most of people are Chinese. Leadership means that you are my boss, you are my superior, I need to receive you order to do the job. So leadership in this, there is a lot of value to have this research. The last part is how communication and leadership actually do in Jusco. How managers are good usage of these theories to manage Jusco working. 4. 2 Implications With the company growth up, and more and more employee will join with the company to help a company to give produce, and there will be one day the company become a global company then it will face the east and west different culture, and the relationship is not as simple as before, how can the employer deal with it. They need to use the tool of communication, and even developing their leadership to make he reach their personal goal. China is depending on relations, this is a marvel country. Communication is a good weapon to flight during in this society. Leadership is one person who cans good use at communications and he has the ability to gather some people to achieve the goals. This is difference to order people to do the job. 4. 3 Further research opportunities Actually in China, relation is important thing. This is not only communication nor does leadership make it success. Every foreign company, need to do some research about relations. If you control this, you can live really well in China. Reference 1. Abbe, A. , Gulick, L. M. V. & Herman, J. L. (2007). Cross-cultural competence in Army leaders. 2. Chemers M. (1997) An integrative theory of leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers 3. D. K. Berlo, The process of communication (NEW YORK: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1960), pp. 30-32. 4. Empirical foundation. (Study Report 2008-01). Arlington, VA: U. S. Army Research Institute for the Behavio ral and Social Sciences. 5. Halavais, Joe Petrick, Ashley Anker(2006): WIKIBOOKS CONTRIBUTORS. Free software Foundation, Inc. 6. Hofstede, Geert, Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minkov. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2010. 7. John Baldoni(2005): Great Motivation Secrets of Great Leaders. McGraw- Hill. P1-24 8. Lewin, Kurt; Lippitt, Ronald; White, Ralph (1939). â€Å"Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates†. Journal of Social Psychology: 271–301. 9. Paulo Nunes, Communications, 2011,rehttp://www. knoow. net/en/sceconent/management/communication. htmretrieved 2013-1-20. 10. R. L. Simpson, â€Å"Vertical and Horizontal Communication in Formal Organizations,† Administrative Science Quarterly, September 1989, pp. 188-196. 11. Rose,2001. Employment Relations. UK: Pearcon Edmcati Ltd. 2. S. A. Kirkpatrick and E. A. Locke, â€Å"leadership:Do traits matter? † Acadermy of Management Executive, May 1991, pp. 48-60 13. Spillane, James P. ; et al. , Richard; Diamond, John (2004). â€Å"Towards a theory of leadership practice†. Journal of Curriculum Studies 36 (1): 3–34. 14. Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Jud ge(1998): Essentials of Organizational Behavior. Eleventh edition. Pearson Educated Ltd. 15. Zaccaro, S. J. (2007). Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American Psychologist, 62, 6-16. Confirmation Certificate Congratulations! You have successfully completed the Library Plagiarism Quiz. Student Name: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Chen Zhiying†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Student Number: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11211905†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Date: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2012-10-18†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT (signature)†¦chen zhiying†¦.. HAS COMPLETED THE PLAGIARISM QUIZ Remember that the confirmation certificate is a statement by you that you understand plagiarism and know how to avoid it. If you think that you do not understand plagiarism and how to avoid it after working through this tutorial, you should confer with your module coordinator, no matter what score you have obtained on the test.

Tqm in Starwood

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide In partial fulfilment Of the requirements in Total Quality Management 12 October, 2010 I. INTRODUCTION Being one of the of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. already has nearly 1000 properties in some 100 countries and approximately 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels and Resorts is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with different internationally renowned brands of St.Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W, Le Meridien, Aloft and Element. It also owns one of the premier developers and operators of high-quality vacation interval ownership resorts, Starwood Vacation Ownership Resorts, Inc. The company began as a small investment firm and then became a real estate investment trust (REIT). In 1998, Starwood acquired ITT Corporation, a company seven times its size, in which during tha t time, the world's largest lodging and gaming company.Founded by Barry Sternlicht, Starwood Hotels and Resorts has been acquiring many other hotels and companies, at the same time, unloading some of its own properties to make room and money for new ones. Starwood Hotels and Resorts still face challenges in their worldwide operations. This led to a decision of adapting Six Sigma in the year 2000. The roll out of Six Sigma in the company started in the first quarter of 2001and was targeted to end in the year 2002 – also the time they say they will reap the fruits of their efforts. According to the founder, and previous chairman and chief executive officer of Starwood, Barry Sternlicht he launch of Six Sigma is one of the most important strategic initiatives since the formation of the company. It will be a multiyear effort encompassing thousands of associates. It will also sustain and build new momentum, strengthen their global brands, enhance their ability to share best practi ces globally, speed the adoption of new technologies, prepare them for the challenges of constant change, provide critical focus on the customer and overtime help them derive a dramatic improvement in the bottom line. All these will happen only with the successful implementation of the strategy.Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worlwide, Inc. was the first hospitality chain to adapt Six Sigma in its global operations. The company continuously improves with the Mission: â€Å"To our shareholders, our goal is to grow EBITDA at least 8-10% per year and EPS at least 15% per year. To our customers, we want Starwood to be the easiest company with which to do business. And to our employees, our commitment is to make Starwood a great place to work. † â€Å"At Starwood, we don’t just ‘do’ Six Sigma, we ‘use’ Six Sigma,† wrote one Starwood employee in iSixSigma’s Best Places survey. That means that we use it every day in our daily work to solve problems, regardless of their size. We follow the DMAIC and Lean Six Sigma principles and use tools daily (VOC translation tables, Pugh matrices, SIPOC†¦DOE, etc. ), but don’t necessarily have to make every problem into a project. We just get it done here. † This made Starwood the top best place to work in according to isixsigma. com’s Top 10 companies Best Places to Work list. To sum it up, Starwood Hotels and Resorts was able to pull off great opportunities of development and growth in the company through Six Sigma.II. COMPANY PROFILE A. Brief Description about the company: As a top company in the Hotels, Casinos, Resorts industry, Starwood Hotels ; Resorts specialize in the operation and management of hotels, resorts, casinos and spas. Starwood is now one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 925 properties in more than 95 countries. Starwood Hotels ; Resorts Worldwide, Inc. , incorporated in 1980, is a hotel and leisu re company. The Company conducts its hotel and leisure business both directly and through its subsidiaries. Its brand names include St.Regis (luxury full-service hotels, resorts and residences), The Luxury Collection (luxury full-service hotels and resorts), W (luxury and upscale full service hotels, retreats and residences), Westin (luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences), Le Meridien (luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences), Sheraton (luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences), Four Points (select-service hotels), Aloft (select-service hotels), and Element (extended stay hotels). The Company is organized into two business segments: hotels and vacation ownership and residential.In January 2010, the Company announced that it has completed the disposal of Bliss World Holdings, Inc. to Steiner Leisure Limited. History of the company: Starwood Hotels ; Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the top hotel companies in the w orld. The company owns and operates hotels under leading brands such as Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, Four Points, and its recently developed W brand. The majority of Starwood's hotels are owned by franchisees, and the company directly owns or leases about 170 of its approximately 750 hotels worldwide.Close to 500 of the company's hotels are in North America. Starwood also runs hotels in some 80 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America, including a chain of prestigious European palaces called the Ciga Group. The company began as a small investment firm and then became a real estate investment trust (REIT). In 1998 Starwood purchased ITT Corporation, a company seven times its size and at the time the world's largest lodging and gaming company. Starwood beat out the Hilton Hotels Corporation to get ITT, in what was one of the most dramatic takeover battles of the 1990s.Starwood is run by Barry Sternlicht, whose consummate dealsmanship parlayed the small trust into a global lodging company. B. Different Scope of the Company: a. Starwood’s Managed Hotels The Company manages hotels worldwide, usually under a long-term agreement with the hotel owner (including entities in which it has a minority equity interest). Its responsibilities under hotel management contracts typically include hiring, training and supervising the managers and employees that operate these facilities.For additional fees, it provides centralized reservation services and coordinates national advertising and certain marketing and promotional services. It prepares and implements annual budgets for the hotels it manages and is responsible for allocating property-owner funds for periodic maintenance and repair of buildings and furnishings. In addition to its owned and leased hotels, at December 31, 2009, it managed 440 hotels with approximately 153,800 rooms worldwide. b. The Brand Franchising and LicensingThe Company franchises its Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, Luxury Collection, Le Meridien, Aloft and Element brand names and generally derive licensing and other fees from franchisees based on a fixed percentage of the franchised hotel’s room revenue, as well as fees for other services, including centralized reservations, sales and marketing, public relations and national and international media advertising. In addition, a franchisee may also purchase hotel supplies, including brand-specific products, from certain Starwood-approved vendors.It approves certain plans for, and the location of, franchised hotels and reviews their design. At December 31, 2009, there were 476 franchised properties with approximately 116,300 rooms. c. Vacation Ownership and Residential Business The Company develops, owns and operates vacation ownership resorts, market and sell the vacation ownership interests (VOIs) in the resorts and, in many cases, provide financing to customers who purchase such ownership interests.Owners of VOIs can trade their interval for in tervals at other Starwood vacation ownership resorts, for intervals at certain vacation ownership resorts not otherwise sponsored by Starwood through an exchange company, or for hotel stays at Starwood properties. From time to time, it securitizes or sells the receivables generated from its sale of VOIs. At December 31, 2009, it had 22 residential and vacation ownership resorts and sites in its portfolio with 16 actively selling VOIs and residences, and two that have sold all existing inventory. C. Business Industry:The general business activity and principal products or commercial enterprise of Starwood Hotels & Resorts are categorized as being part of the Hotels, Casinos, Resorts Industry. D. The Company Values: â€Å"Go the Extra Step by taking actions that build lasting connections and loyalty ; Play as a Team by working globally and across all teams in the company; Do the Right Thing by using good judgment, respecting our communities, associates, owners, partners and the envir onment† E. Principal Subsidiaries: Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. F. Principal Competitors: Marriott International, Inc. Hilton Hotels Corporation; Four Seasons Hotels Inc. G. Key Dates of the company’s operations a. 1991: Starwood Capital Group is founded. b. 1993: Starwood begins buying hotels. c. 1994: Starwood buys Hotel Investors Trust; gains special REIT status. d. 1998: Starwood acquires ITT Corporation. e. 2001: Implementation of Six Sigma Strategy for the company’s overall operations III. BEFORE HAVING SIX-SIGMA IN THE COMPANY Starwood Hotels and Resorts did not follow a particular Total Quality Management program. Although they do have goals, such as: Starwood is entering a new stage in its development,† said Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. â€Å"The world is changing rapidly. While we own superb physical assets around the world, it is our 30 million customers who represent the critical and unrecognized asset of our com pany in this internet age. We are determined to build a customer-centric organization, a company that will take advantage of unprecedented advances in technology to improve nearly every facet of its core operations while increasing brand loyalty in an effort to create significant long-term shareholder value,† Mr.Sternlicht said. Starwood, though were very successful before their implementation of the Six Sigma also encounter several problems. One of which was when the Congress acted to change the law governing Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). This made Starwood lose its tax advantage thus converting itself to the traditional corporate structure. The change made accounting difficult, particularly in comparing financial results from before and after the restructuring. In addition, there seemed to be trouble in the top echelons of management.Starwood's stock price fell, and in December 1998 the company announced that fourth quarter earnings would be less than estimated. Oth er lodging stocks did badly as well, but Starwood was clearly struggling to integrate its vast new holdings. IV. THE COMPANY’S ADAPTATION †¢ The slowing economy hurt Starwood and other hotel companies in 2001. The September 11 terrorist attacks were a huge blow to the industry. Starwood's North American business fell drastically immediately after the attacks, and two weeks later the company announced that it would lay off 23 percent of its North American workforce.Revenue fell in 2001 and 2002 as the global economy remained weak and business travel was less than robust. The company's European operations did better than its North American business, and Asia became the company's next frontier. Less than 10 percent of Starwood's operating profit came from its Asian operations in 2002, but the company aimed to increase that to 25 percent by 2007. †¢ â€Å"We have spent $1 billion in our ongoing effort to bring consistency to our branded hotels around the world,† says Bob Cotter, chief operating officer, Starwood Hotels ; Resorts. It is time and we are ready to complement this effort with a global focus on the delivery of consistent and exemplary service to our guests. From the reservation and check-in process, to room standards and cleanliness, it is our goal for every Westin, Sheraton, W, Four Points by Sheraton, Starwood Vacation Ownership and St. Regis/Luxury Collection guest to have a flawless experience during each and every visit. Six Sigma will help us reach that goal. † V. THE SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION AT STARWOOD In 2001 Starwood Hotels & Resorts became the first hospitality company in the world to embrace Six Sigma, an internationally recognized approach that enables Starwood associates to develop innovative customer focused solutions and to transfer these solutions across the global organization. Six Sigma is a customer-focused, fact-based, analytical system (approach and tools) for improving processes so that customers are more satisfied and Associates’ time is spent more on value-added activities, leading to increased profitably.The Six Sigma tools enable Starwood hotels to transfer solutions and innovations across their properties and offices globally. This gives the company a competitive advantage on speed to market in implementing Best Practices and Brand Standards. †¢ By launching Six Sigma, Starwood made a long-term commitment to radically improving the way it does business. For Starwood Six Sigma is a powerful business system that focuses on consistently delivering superior value to existing and potential customers. Six Sigma will roll out across Starwood Hotels & Resorts starting in the first quarter of 2001, completing implementation through the entire company by the end of 2002. While the company has budgeted a net cost for the program in 2001, as training and process reengineering begins, the company expects the program to begin delivering benefits in 2002 and beyond. Pioneered by Motorola and made famous by GE, Six Sigma has helped some of the world’s leading companies greatly improve customer service and increase financial returns.Starwood expects to save millions of dollars through improved efficiencies and maximized targeting of employed capital. Further, Starwood expects to generate significant incremental revenue and profit due to enhanced  loyalty and additional products and services. Former GE executive James Hyman has been named executive vice president, Six Sigma, for Starwood and will have global responsibility for executing the strategy, designing the tools and overseeing the implementation of Starwood’s Six Sigma initiative. Before joining Starwood, Hyman served as President of Europe for GE Capital Modular Space.Hyman will report directly to Bob Cotter. Starwood has also enlisted the expertise of renowned Six Sigma specialists Peter S. Pande, co-author of â€Å"The Six Sigma Way† and president of Pivotal Consulting, and the George Group to assist with the launch. During the first five quarters of implementation, Starwood will primarily redeploy current Starwood associates to fill approximately 450 Six Sigma specialist roles. Starwood will fill these roles with many of the company’s highest performing associates, in addition to some external candidates from all fields.These Six Sigma specialists will have strong analytical and organizational skills, and most will hold the title of â€Å"black belt† or â€Å"master black belt. †Ã‚   Each â€Å"black belt† is expected to drive EBITDA gains of $200,000 or more per year. †¢ Instead of hiring the usual ethnographers or consultants, Westin owner Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. turned to Six Sigma, a management process known for reducing defects and increasing efficiency. It was a surprising move given Six Sigma's rap as a creativity killer. But under Geoffrey A.Ballotti, president of Starwood's North America Div. , the company is using Six Sigma's strengths to promote innovation–and generate tens of millions in new revenue. Combining creativity and efficiency is a delicate managerial manoeuvre that few service companies can pull off. Starwood succeeded, in large part, because it began with a culture of creativity before introducing the management tool. Design has long played a major role in the company, with noted architect David Rockwell designing its hip W Hotels brand back in the '90s.Starwood gets a boost out of Six Sigma by using its techniques to dream up projects across the company. Massage is just one of hundreds of ventures done this way. This year's food and beverage engineering program, which rejiggers the choices on room-service and catering menus based on their popularity, has generated $20 million in extra revenue. In 2006, programs developed under Six Sigma delivered more than $100 million in profit to its bottom line. As a result, the White Plains (N. Y. company is on e of the world's most profitable hotel operators: Its net margin is nearly 15%, higher than those of rivals Hilton Hotels Corp. (HLT ) and Marriott International Inc. (MAR ) â€Å"We have been driving our margin growth faster than our competitors,† says Ballotti. â€Å"When people ask why, I point to Six Sigma. † The group that runs the effort is headed by Brian Mayer, who claims the quirky title of vice-president for Six Sigma, operation innovation, and room support. â€Å"I grew up in the hospitality industry,† says Mayer, whose grandfather and father ran catering businesses. The joke is that I was born in a chafing dish. † Since the program launched in 2001, Mayer's crew has trained 150 employees as â€Å"black belts† and more than 2,700 as â€Å"green belts† in the arts of Six Sigma. Based mostly at the hotels, black belts oversee the projects while green belts hammer out the details. The key to their success, says Mayer, is that instead of acting like â€Å"suits† imposing their will from â€Å"corporate,† the Six Sigma specialists operate more like partners who help local hotels meet their own objectives. Indeed, almost 100% of the creative concepts come from in-house staff.And every project must be overseen by a hotel employee. â€Å"By focusing on their goals and budgets it enables us to become a partner in the operation,† says Mayer. †¢ The SWAT Team: The innovation process begins when hotel teams pitch Mayer's group on a new idea. â€Å"They fight for our resources,† says Mayer. A Six Sigma Council composed of Ballotti and his 13 direct reports, including his senior vice-president for sales and marketing, then evaluates an idea's merit based on the division's priorities and the project's expected payoff.If the council approves a project, black belts and green belts are deployed like SWAT teams to the hotels to carry it out. †¢ London, 14 July 2004: A sign of the growing im portance of SIX SIGMA at Starwood Hotels & Resorts is that by 1 August this year, the hotel company, with over 740 properties globally, will have trained over 1000 associates from all over the world to become SIX SIGMA Green Belts the first training stage in the SIX SIGMA development program.The latest group of 12 associates from the Europe, Middle East and Africa region are heading to Warsaw on 19 July for a week of intensive Six Sigma tuition. This innovative project has re-designed all the individual reservation channels for hotel, golf, spa, transport, restaurant and outdoor activities into one single point of contact – a multi-purpose, multi skilled Resort Sales team that immediately can confirm and cross sell any request received by the hotel. The benefits for this project to Turnberry were immediate. To date there has been an 11. 5% increase in incremental spend by customers and  increase in rooms revenue of more than 19%. In addition, The Spa revenues have increased from GBP 91 per booking to GBP 141 per booking as a result of the newly centralized  reservation  group, which enables the maximum utilization of treatment rooms and therapists. †¢ Energy Summit for Starwood Hotels and Resorts: Starwood Hotels & Resorts has taken a leaf out of the recent G8 Summit by implementing an awareness program which focuses on Climate Change and Carbon Management across its 400 hotels in Europe, Middle East & Africa.The hotel group, whose brands include Sheraton, Westin, St Regis and Luxury Collection, has over the past few years been committed to becoming a ‘green’ operator at all levels. In the UK Starwood is part of the Hospitality Energy Consortium (HEC)*, a group of hotel companies who partner together in the procurement of energy. Lead by Chairperson, Angela Tomlinson, Director of Purchasing UK and Ireland, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the Consortium has partnered with the Carbon Trust, an independent company set up by Government to help the UK meet its climate change obligations.In partnership with the Carbon Trust, Starwood has recently taken part in a scoping study by Enviros, environmental consultants. The initial results, which will be available in August 2005, will enable Starwood and the other consortium members to review their energy consumption/carbon footprint, and provide better ways of working to achieve reductions in volumes used.In addition to this, as a huge element of energy management is dependent on buy-in from the associates in the hotels, a comprehensive energy toolkit and training program has been distributed to every Head of Department in every Starwood hotel in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. This is part of a wider awareness program with a focus on protecting the environment. As well as associate and corporate activity, Starwood has been active with guest energy conservation initiatives for a number of years already.In 1999 the company was the first in the hotel industry to introduc e a Green Room Program, to reduce water and electricity use for laundering guest towels and linen. Guests place a card on their bed each day if they wish to have their bed linen and towels changed. If guests do not put this card on their bed, their bed will be made without changing the linens and their towels will be hung up but not changed. A green card would be left for the guest as a thank-you for ‘going green'.Since then the Green Room Program has been fully incorporated into the ABCs of House-keeping in the Sheraton, Westin and Four Points by Sheraton EAME Brand Standards. As a result of this ongoing focus on Energy, Starwood has also created a North West Europe Energy Champions team, a group of associates who are responsible for driving support for this project. Starwood’s change management process, Six Sigma, is being used to drive this commitment and the implementation of the Energy Conservation Toolkit is now a required best practice at all hotels owned and man aged throughout EAME.This project is the result of Six Sigma Methodology delivering tools that will in turn deliver energy and carbon reduction, to the benefit of future generations but also the associates and hotel guests of today. †¢ Six Sigma at Starwood has helped improve the financial performance of the group by ushering in the quality and consistency of the customers' experiences. Six Sigma has also provided the guidelines and tools to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties, and simultaneously improve the bottom line.The Six Sigma organization in the group reports to divisional leadership and is aligned with the division’s goals and priorities. VI. AFTER SIX-SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION A. COMPANY IMPROVEMENTS: o While Starwood incurred $17 million in training costs to launch Six Sigma in 2001, the company reaped tangible EBITDA increases of more than $17 million. Training costs will be significantly reduced in 2002 and Starwood expects a substan tial increase (perhaps double) in the EBIDTA improvement achieved by Six Sigma-related programs. † o Six Sigma at Starwood has helped improve the financial performance of he group by ushering in the quality and consistency of the customers' experiences. Six Sigma has also provided the guidelines and tools to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties, and simultaneously improve the bottom line. The Six Sigma organization in the group reports to divisional leadership and is aligned with the division’s goals and priorities. o Higher net margin than its key competitors – but also with helping spark and act on innovative ideas. The impact is based on global culture: most ideas and solutions come from hotel staff throughout the world. Last year, according to Starwood management, programs developed under the famed management technique delivered more than $100 million in profit to its bottom line. As a result, the White Plains (N. Y. ) company is one of the world's most profitable hotel operators: Its net margin is nearly 15%, higher than those of rivals Hilton Hotels (HLT) and Marriott International (MAR), as well as the industry average of 9%. â€Å"We have been driving our margin growth faster than our competitors,† says Ballotti. â€Å"When people ask why, I point to Six Sigma. o Growth of their hotels (See Appendix 1) Starwood Hotel and Resorts Ranks Number 1on iSixSigma’s Best Places to Work list. (See Appendix 2) o Starwood Hotels and Resorts top ranked â€Å"The Top Best Places to Work List† because of adopting 6 Sigma in their operations. They use 6 Sigma every day in their daily work to solve problems, regardless of their size. They follow the DMAIC and Lean Six Sigma principles and use tools daily. Starwood requires that its full-time Six Sigma practitioners learn firsthand about the inner workings of all the various departments (housekeeping, food and beverage, sales and marketing, etc. in o rder to develop large-scale initiatives. At the same time, the Belts are also expected to lead process improvement projects at the individual hotel level. o The company measures quality with a three-pronged approach: improving the Guest Satisfaction Index (an independently determined numerical value based on guest surveys), increasing revenue and controlling costs. The last one – cost reduction – is where they had the most success so far, given the economy. They continue to go after revenue, but they try to take a balanced approach.If they’re too heavy on the cost side, they get some snap-back in other areas like customer satisfaction. They can’t take their eyes off the ball in any area. They are committed to all three prongs. One example of this three-pronged approach is â€Å"Make a Green Choice,† which was launched at Starwood’s Sheraton and Westin brands in September 2009. To help save on water, chemicals and detergents, the hotel gives guests the option of not having linens changed or the room cleaned altogether for up to three days. Those who participate can receive gift cards or points to be redeemed for food service. Starwood’s commitment to providing challenging cross-departmental opportunities for continuous improvement personnel, along with its policy of promoting Black Belts from within, truly makes it one of the premier companies for Six Sigma practitioners. Companies on the Top 10 list, announced in December 2009, had to meet the highest standards for providing an outstanding Six Sigma program, culture, training, compensation, and recognition and job satisfaction for employees. B. ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION: From Indonesia to Malta, Six Sigma is a welcome guest at Starwood hotels. Launched early in 2001, Six Sigma is entering its sixth year at the hotel, which still holds the acclaim of being the only hotel with a corporate-wide Six Sigma initiative. o Starwood properties each have a Six Sigma Council that organize and prioritize projects. Successful projects are then leveraged across additional properties. Six Sigma is emphasized in Career Paths at Starwood as reporting to divisional leadership and aligned with that division’s goals and priorities. A Starwood Six Sigma team received recognition at the IQPC 2004 European Six Sigma Excellence Awards with the Best DFSS Project. o Six Sigma at Starwood has helped increase our financial performance by improving the quality and consistency of our guests’ experiences as well as those of our internal customers. It provides the framework and tools we need to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties while dramatically improving the bottom line.The Six Sigma organization reports to divisional leadership and is aligned with the division’s goals and priorities. o Six Sigma professionals make decisions based on data, not emotions, share responsibility and know how to generate results . They are enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. These are the skills and qualities that make Six Sigma professionals most successful and that Six Sigma helps build in future leaders. o Starwood’s has been resourcing the firm with workers who are mainly divided into three work categories: Green Belts (GBs) have full-time positions with a portion of their time dedicated to being the Six Sigma point person and transfer project champion and manager. o Black Belts (BBs) are full-time resources who typically work on new projects. They are a resource to GBs in their property or area. They are a member of the property’s Executive Committee. o Master Black Belts are a full-time resource dedicated to overseeing/creating a portfolio of Six Sigma projects in a given division, area or region. They are a resource to BBs, GBs and Six Sigma Council members in their area. Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide Inc is the first hospitality company in the world to embrace Six S igma since 2001 and extends this best practice to all properties worldwide, including the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Tower. o Barry S. Sternlicht, chairman and CEO, Starwood Hotels and Resorts had stated, â€Å"The launch of Six Sigma is one of the most important strategic initiatives since the formation of our company,† he continued. â€Å"It is our goal for every Westin, Sheraton, W, Four Points by Sheraton, Starwood Vacation Ownership and St. Regis /Luxury Collection guests to have a flawless experience during each and every visit.Six Sigma will help us reach that goal. † o Starwood Hotels & Resorts is a leader in the Hospitality industry in technology innovation. Smart Rooms, Wireless Internet Access, Self Check-in Kiosk, and state-of-the-art ERP systems are only a few technologies in place to improve our guest and associate experience. C. SERVICE-BASED ACHIEVEMENTS: †¢ For several years now Starwood has had an edge on its competitors because of its strong bra nd awareness amongst its target markets and the way in which it has developed a range of differentiated experiences. The company’s key asset is the associated diversification of the variety of brands, and the different market segments they serve, provide a broad base from which to enhance revenue. It aggressively attracts and cultivates new customers and maintains loyalty among the world’s most active travellers: As one example, Starwood Preferred Guest, its award-winning frequent guest program, first made headlines when it launched with a breakthrough policy of no blackout dates and no capacity controls, allowing members to redeem free nights anytime, anywhere.Since then, it has grown to include more than 33m members and is cited for its hassle-free award redemption, outstanding customer service, dedicated member website and innovative promotions and benefits for elite members. †¢ Although smaller than some of its peers, Starwood uses its scale to support its cor e marketing and reservation functions across its brands and reduce costs in areas such as insurance, energy, telecommunications, food and beverage, furniture, fixtures and operating supplies. Its size also limits exposure to any particular type of lodging, brand or geographic region. Strategically Starwood has also moved away from investment in owned real estate and increased its focus on its management and franchise business. In furtherance of this strategy, it has been selling some of the older hotels in its portfolio to, in turn, release capital to fund its ambitious international and branded growth plans. Simultaneously the company has retained one of the world’s most profitable hotel net margins of around 15%, higher than many larger rivals. †¢ Starwood has made a great success of its growing product innovation prowess.Having identified the bed as the key area for innovation opportunity in its mid-range Westin brand, Starwood designed the ‘Heavenly Bed’ providing the best night’s sleep by far of any comparable brand. Not only did this well-targeted development improve the all important occupancy rates in Westin properties, it also created a new business line as customers started to buy the Heavenly Bed for their homes. This has now been extended into the W chain where whotelsthestore. com now enables anyone to buy the key ingredients of the unique W experience.From the W bed, pillows and towels to books and an increasing range of male and female apparel, this is the latest incarnation of high-impact product innovation from this service sector pioneer. D. COMPANY ACTIVITIES DONE: o In January, 2006, the Westin Chicago River North hotel was picked to pilot a project, dubbed Unwind, for the upscale hotel chain. The purpose: to think up a set of nightly activities that would draw guests out of their rooms and into the lobby where they could mingle, develop a greater loyalty to the hotel group, and maybe spend a little more mone y.Westin spied an opportunity after a study found that 34% of frequent travellers feel lonely away from home. The Unwind project led the Westin to develop dozens of activities, including massages, at the Chicago hotel. o Starwood Preferred Guest: it is Starwood’s award-winning frequent guest program which first made headlines when it launched with a breakthrough policy of no blackout dates and no capacity controls, allowing members to redeem free nights anytime, anywhere. VII. SOLUTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONSUpon seeing all of their achievements, Starwood Hotels and Resorts should definitely continue using the Six Sigma method in order to maintain meeting their company goals and also to retain all of their company’s success. Aside from increasing profit, using the Six Sigma method really helped Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide improve the service that they are giving to both their customers and their employees. They should conduct more training regarding it so that their employees would know how the Six Sigma method works and not only the top management. Such employees of the companies consist of the Black Belts and the Green belts.The Black Belts should have trainings that will hone their knowledge about different creative ways on how to do a strategy for the whole company which will serve the changing needs and preferences of the company’s target market. Moreover, the green belts must have trainings in which they will be more knowledgeable about Six Sigma approach to different strategies that will be deployed by the company, these people are mainly responsible in delving into the little and detailed concepts of each strategy done by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. These greenbelts should also be trained to know and put into their heart the DMAIC Methodology.This DMAIC Methodology will help the Greenbelts solve a certain problem of the company, reducing the defects done by the company and improving, leveraging the customer’s e xperience to a higher value. The DMAIC Methodology should train the Greenbelts in defining the problem or what is specifically called the Project Scoping, Measure the relationships between the occurring problem and symptoms, analyze the nature of the problem, improving the operations by resolving the problem and control, which is mainly focused on maintaining the improvements through the use of different tools and instruments.As Starwood Company have different branches scattered all over the world, there must be one Six-Sigma team for each branch wherein they will be mainly responsible for their assigned branch so as to increase effectivity of the business operations and to better serve the target markets in those hotel and resorts location.The Six Sigma teams will be doing information-gathering processes wherein they will ask for comments and feedbacks from the existing customers and those who are the potential ones. Doing such, Starwood can think of strategies and tactics that sho uld be done to capture the potential market and by making things more attractive to the existing customers and make them more loyal to avail the services offered by the company.In times when the company faces visible losses from declining service consumption from the market, Starwood Company must achieve solutions through the use of the Six Sigma Problem Solving wherein it involves redefining and analyzing the problem, generating ideas from the team and the management, evaluating each idea and selecting the most appropriate one and implementing the chosen idea. Through the Six Sigma Problem Solving, the company will have a more systematic way of thinking solutions for a certain problem by delving first into the details, symptoms and underlying assumptions of such matter.Using such method, the employees who are in the Six Sigma team will be trained and honed to be more effective in decision-making and examining all the things that causes the problem to exist. Furthermore, through the problem solving method, the company will be more united as each one of them will have a voice in the company’s operations and they are also responsible for the strategy implementation as all of them make the final decision of how to address the certain problem.By having such cooperation and teamwork within the workers in the company, there will be higher satisfaction for the employees which will in turn affect the quality service experience of the customers when they avail the offered service of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Moreover, to improve the service of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, the teams of the company must focus on examining and sustaining four key measures of organization performance which includes Accuracy, Cycle time, Cost and Customer satisfaction.In Accuracy, the team should measure if the company is giving correct financial figures, completeness of information, or freedom from data errors; applying the accuracy concept to Starwood Hotels and Resort s, the company must make sure that each branch located at different locations should be visible and transparent in terms of their prices for each distinct service, and also information about the whole service experience, like the service transactions and process that the customers must go through should be made known to them to give them ease in availing the service of the Hotels and Resorts.Next is Cycle time which is a measure of how long it takes to do something; with such thing, Starwood company working in the hotel industries must maximize well their service time so as to not waste the limited resources of their customers, it can be further applied to the company’s operations in terms of efficient availment of the different services through optimal number of employees assigned to different work divisions that will make the customers not wait for their turn for such service consumption.Thirdly, Cost should be measured in terms of the internal cost of the company’s process activities; to have lower costs, Starwood Hotels must have effective workers who are focused and motivated to work and communicate well to the customers so as to decrease the time needed for the service process that should be done by each one of them. As the employees of each hotel and resort become more productive with their assigned work, the cost of the company in sustaining each service process will decrease and will definitely have a greater impact on the company’s profitability.Lastly, the team must measure the Customer Satisfaction, which is typically the measure of the company’s success and will give a view of how the company will be in the near future years of business operations in the industry. The Customer Satisfaction can be measured by getting the direct feedback from the customers after they experience the service form Starwood Hotels and Resorts.Also, the company can do personalization and customization wherein the existing customers will alread y have their service ready after they booked a reservation, making all the things like foods, drinks, kind of bed sheets, store maintenance customized to their needs which in turn make them more satisfied to the service that will make them also more loyal to the company. Furthermore, as the world goes by, the market have acquired higher buying power and have ore sophisticated and changing needs as before; the company can focus on improving its service adapting form the customers’ needs and preferences so as to give higher value proposition to them in relation to the direct competitors of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Appendix 1: Different Branches of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide [pic] North America United States Arizona Phoenix The Westin Phoenix Downtown  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 10, 2011 Tucson Four Points by Sheraton Tucson Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 14, 2010 [pic] California Modesto Four Points by Sheraton Modesto – Opening October 30, 2010 F loridaBal Harbour The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 Jacksonville Aloft Jacksonville Tapestry Park  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 13, 2011 Jacksonville Beach Four Points by Sheraton Jacksonville Beach  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  Nov. 30, 2011 Miami Element Miami International Airport – Opening May 5, 2011 Georgia Atlanta Aloft Atlanta Buckhead  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Element Atlanta Buckhead  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Kennesaw Four Points by Sheraton Atlanta Kennesaw – Opening June 30, 2011 Illinois Chicago Aloft Chicago City Center  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Kentucky Louisville Michigan KalamazooFour Points by Sheraton Kalamazoo – Opening September 2, 2011 Mississippi Biloxi Four Points by Sheraton Biloxi Beach Boulevard  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  Jul 01, 2010 Nebraska Omaha Element Omaha Midtown Crossing  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 11, 2010 New Jersey Fort Lee Sheraton Fort Lee Hotel †“ Opened September 1, 2010 New Mexico Albuquerque Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 11, 2010 New York Aloft Harlem  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 21, 2010 Element New York Times Square West  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 09, 2010 Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 14, 2010 W New York – Downtown  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 09, 2010Brooklyn Aloft New York Brooklyn  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 21, 2010 Long Island City Four Points by Sheraton Long Island City/Queensboro Bridge – Opening January 13, 2011 Niagara Falls Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Falls  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 07, 2011 North Carolina Asheville Aloft Asheville Downtown  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2012 Chapel Hill Aloft Chapel Hill  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 29, 2010 Oklahoma Oklahoma City Four Points by Sheraton Oklahoma City Quail Springs  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 22, 2010 Tulsa Aloft Tulsa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  A ugust 19, 2010 Pennsylvania Philadelphia Le Meridien Philadelphia  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 06, 2010 Puerto RicoRio Grande The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 04, 2010 Tennessee Memphis Four Points by Sheraton Memphis East – Opening December 9, 2010 Texas Austin W Austin  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 09, 2010 Galveston Four Points by Sheraton Galveston  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  September 24, 2010 Houston Four Points by Sheraton Houston Hobby Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2010 Houston The Westin Houston, Memorial City  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 03, 2011 Virginia Winchester Aloft Winchester  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  June 04, 2010 Canada Alberta Calgary Four Points by Sheraton Calgary Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 06, 2010 EdmontonFour Points by Sheraton Edmonton West – Opening December 1, 2011 Red Deer Sheraton Red Deer Hotel – Opening January 27, 2011 Ontario Niagara Falls Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Fal ls Fallsview  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 22, 2010 Saskatchewan Saskatoon Four Points by Sheraton Saskatoon  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  July 22, 2010 Mexico Campeche Campeche The Westin Campeche Resort & Spa, Campeche – Opening June 1, 2011 Chihuahua Chihuahua Aloft Chihuahua – Opening January 1, 2011 Federal District Mexico City The Westin Santa Fe, Mexico City  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 05, 2010 Santa Fe W Santa Fe, Mexico – Opening March 31, 2013 Jalisco GuadalajaraThe Westin Hotel Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico – Opening June 1, 2011 Quintana Roo Puerto Juarez The St. Regis Kanai Resort, Riviera Maya – Opening March 31, 2014 Riviera Maya W Kanai Retreat, Riviera Maya, Mexico – Opening March 31, 2014 Africa Algeria Oran Le Meridien Oran Hotel & Convention Centre  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2011 Egypt Cairo Le Meridien Cairo Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 31, 2012 St. Regis Hotel Cairo  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2014 W Ca iro – Opening January 1, 2016 Libya Tripoli Four Points by Sheraton Tripoli  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 15, 2010 Sheraton Tripoli Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Mauritius Le MorneThe St. Regis Mauritius Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2011 Morocco Marrakech W Marrakech Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2011 Nigeria Lagos Lagos Four Points by Sheraton Lagos  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  September 15, 2010 Le Meridien Ikoyi Towers – Opening January 1, 2013 [pic] Asia Pacific China Anhui Hefei Four Points by Sheraton Hefei, Shushan – Opening January 1, 2014 The Westin Hefei Baohe  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 23, 2010 Beijing Beijing Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2011 W Beijing – Chang'an – Opening January 1, 2014 Chongqing Chongqing The Westin Chongqing Liberation Square  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 FujianFuzhou The Westin Fuzhou Minjiang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 22, 20 10 Xiamen The Westin Xiamen  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 30, 2011 Guangdong Foshan Aloft Nanhai-Foshan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2011 Guangzhou Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2011 Sheraton Huadu Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2011 The Westin Pazhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 28, 2011 W Guangzhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Aloft Guangzhou University Park  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Heshan Four Points by Sheraton Guangdong, Heshan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 Huizhou Sheraton Bailuhu Resort, Huizhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 QingyuanSheraton Qingyuan Lion Lake Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Zhanjiang Sheraton Zhanjiang Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Zhongshan Sheraton Zhongshan Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 10, 2010 Zhuhai Sheraton Zhuhai Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2015 Zhuhai The St. Regis Zhuhai – Opening June 30, 2015 Hainan Haikou Th e Westin Haikou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Sanya Sheraton Sanya Haitang Bay Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 30, 2012 Sheraton Sanya Tufu Bay Resort  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2013 The Malus Resort, Sanya  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 30, 2012 The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2011 Wanning CityFour Points by Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 31, 2010 Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 31, 2010 Heilongjiang Daqing Sheraton Daqing Hotel  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Henan Kaifeng Four Points by Sheraton Kaifeng  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Luohe Four Points by Sheraton Luohe  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Zhengzhou Aloft Zhengzhou Shangjie  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Aloft Zhengzhou Zhengdong New District – Opening January 1, 2014 Le Meridien Zhengzhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Sheraton Zhengzhou H otel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 HubeiWuhan The Westin Wuhan Wuchang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Jiangsu Changzhou Sheraton Changzhou Wujin Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 Jiangyin Sheraton Jiangyin Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2010 Lianyungang Four Points by Sheraton Lianyungang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 28, 2010 Nanjing The Westin Nanjing  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 28, 2011 Suzhou Four Points by Sheraton Taicang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  June 30, 2010 Wuxi Sheraton Wuxi Binhu Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 27, 2010 Yancheng Aloft Yancheng  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Yangzhou Four Points by Sheraton Yangzhou Hanjiang – Opening July 1, 2013 ZhenjiangSheraton Zhenjiang Hotel  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Jiangxi Nanchang Sheraton Nanchang Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Liaoning Dalian Aloft Dalian  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2013 Sheraton Dalian Xinghai Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 31, 2011 The Chengbao Hotel, Dalian  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2014 Macau Cotai Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Strip  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2011 Shaanxi Xian Sheraton Xian Da Ming Gong Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 31, 2011 The Westin Xian  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 Shandong Qingdao Four Points by Sheraton Qingdao, Chengyang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012Four Points by Sheraton Qingdao, Jiaonan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Sheraton Qingdao Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2012 Tai'an Four Points by Sheraton Tai’an  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 10, 2010 Weifang Four Points by Sheraton Weifang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 30, 2013 Yantai Aloft Haiyang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Sheraton Yantai Golden Beach Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Shanghai Shanghai Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2010 Twelve at Hengshan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 0 1, 2012 W Shanghai – The Bund  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2014 Shanxi Taiyuan The Westin Taiyuan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012Sichuan Chengdu The St. Regis Chengdu  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2014 Tianjin Tianjin Sheraton Tianjin Binhai Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 15, 2010 The Astor Hotel, Tianjin  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 28, 2010 The St. Regis Tianjin  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 Tibet (Xizang) Lhasa The St. Regis Lhasa Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 15, 2010 Yunnan Jinghong Sheraton Xishuangbanna Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Zhejiang Hangzhou Sheraton Hangzhou Wetland Park Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 31, 2011 Huzhou Sheraton Huzhou South Tai Lake Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Ningbo The Westin Ningbo  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011Pinghu The Westin Nine Dragon Hill Resort, Zhejiang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 31, 2012 Taizhou Four Points by Sheraton Yuhuan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Openingà ‚  July 01, 2012 Wenzhou Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 18, 2010 Wenzhou The Westin Wenzhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 India Andhra Pradesh Visakhapatnam Four Points by Sheraton Visakhapatnam  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Sheraton Visakhapatnam Seaview Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Gujarat Ahmedabad Aloft Ahmedabad, SG Road  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2011 Haryana Gurgaon The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  October 01, 2010 Karnataka BangaloreSheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Bengaluru Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Aloft Bengaluru Whitefield  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 15, 2010 Mysore Sheraton Mysore Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 Maharashtra Lonavala Le Meridien Lonavala Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2013 Mahabaleshwar Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  Januar y 01, 2013 Pune Four Points by Sheraton Pune, Nagar Road  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2010 Punjab Amritsar Sheraton Amritsar Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2013 Chandigarh Aloft Chandigarh Zirakpur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2011Sheraton Chandigarh Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Rajasthan Jaipur The Westin Jaipur Infotech City  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2012 Udaipur Sheraton Udaipur Palace Resort & Spa  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 01, 2010 Tamil Nadu Chennai Aloft Chennai, OMR – IT Expressway  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  July 01, 2010 Coimbatore Aloft Coimbatore Singanallur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 West Bengal Kolkata The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2012 Indonesia Bali Bali Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Seminyak W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 15, 2010 Japan Miyagi SendaiThe Westin Sendai  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  Au gust 01, 2010 Osaka Osaka The St. Regis Osaka  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  October 01, 2010 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2014 Sandakan Four Points by Sheraton Sandakan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 15, 2011 New Caledonia Bourail Sheraton New Caledonia Bourail Resort & Spa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 13, 2013 Singapore Singapore W Singapore – Sentosa Cove  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 30, 2012 South Korea Seoul Sheraton Seoul D-Cube City Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2011 Taiwan Taipei Le Meridien Taipei  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2010 W Taipei  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 14, 2011 ThailandAmphur Koh Samui Bangkok Aloft Bangkok – Sukhumvit 11  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2011 Bangkok Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok, Sathorn  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2011 Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok, Sukhumvit 15  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 15, 2010 Le Meridien Suvarnabhumi Golf Resort & Sp a  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2011 The St. Regis Bangkok  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 15, 2011 W Bangkok  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Koh Samui W Retreat Koh Samui  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2010 Phuket Four Points by Sheraton Phuket, Panwa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, Phuket  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 01, 2010 VietnamCam Ranh Bay The Westin Cam Ranh Resort & Spa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Ho Chi Minh City Le Meridien Saigon  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 [pic] Central & South America Argentina Buenos Aires Buenos Aires The St. Regis Buenos Aires – Opening June 30, 2014 Chile Villarrica Villarrica Park Lake Hotel & Spa, Villarrica – Opening December 1, 2010 Colombia Bogota Aloft Bogota Airport – Opening January 1, 2012 Cartagena Sheraton Cartagena – Opening March 31, 2012 Panama, Republic of Panama City The Westin Panama – Opening September 1, 2012 The Westin Pl aya Bonita, Panama  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 Peru CuscoPalacio del Inka  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2011 Lima The Westin Libertador Lima  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2011 Urubamba Tambo del Inka Resort & Spa, Valle Sagrado  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 04, 2010 [pic] Europe Zaporozhye Four Points by Sheraton Zaporozhye – Opening June 1, 2011 Austria Hof bei Salzburg Schloss Fuschl Resort & Spa, Fuschlsee-Salzburg  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 05, 2010 Belgium Brussels Aloft Brussels Schuman  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  September 01, 2010 France Paris W Paris – Opera  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Germany Hamburg The Westin Hamburg  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 Greece Athens W Athens Astir Palace Beach  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2012 Costa NavarinoThe Romanos, Costa Navarino  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 20, 2010 The Westin Resort, Costa Navarino  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  July 01, 2010 Italy Malpensa Sheraton Milan Malpensa Airport Hotel & Conference Cen tre  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  October 01, 2010 Milan W Milan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Latvia Riga Sheraton Riga Hotel – Opening December 1, 2013 Poland Mikolajki Sheraton Mazury Lakes Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2013 Portugal Algarve The Westin Verdelago Beach, Spa & Golf Resort, Algarve – Opening January 1, 2013 Russia Rostov-on-Don Sheraton Rostov-On-Don Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 SochiSheraton Sochi Hotel – Opening June 1, 2013 St. Petersburg W St. Petersburg  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Switzerland Verbier W Verbier Retreat – Opening January 1, 2013 Turkey Ankara The Luxury Collection Hotel, Ankara – Opening January 1, 2011 United Kingdom England London Aloft London ExCeL – Opening January 1, 2012 W London – Leicester Square  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 14, 2011 Middle East Jordan Amman W Amman Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2013 Aqaba Al Manara, Aqaba  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 The Westin Saraya Aqaba  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 Pakistan Islamabad Sheraton Islamabad – Opening January 1, 2012Sheraton Islamabad Golf City Resort – Opening January 1, 2012 [pic] Qatar Doha Le Meridien Doha – Opening January 1, 2012 The St. Regis Doha  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2011 [pic] United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi The St. Regis Abu Dhabi – Opening January 1, 2013 The St. Regis Saadiyat Island – Opening October 1, 2011 The Westin Hotel & Spa, Abu Dhabi – Opening October 1, 2011 W Abu Dhabi – Opening January 1, 2012 Ajman The Ajman Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel – Opening October 1, 2012 Appendix 2: Article Starwood Hotels and Resorts Ranks No. 1 on iSixSigma's Best Places to Work ListStarwood Hotels and Resorts Ranks No. 1 on iSixSigma's Best Places to Work List FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information, contact: |  Jessica Harper, Editor in Chief | |  206-774-3685 | |  editor ial. com (at) isixsigma. com | Miami, Florida (February 3, 2010) –  Starwood Hotels and Resorts, a global hospitality company with nearly 1,000 upscale properties worldwide, earned the No. 1 spot on the list of iSixSigma's Top 10 Best Places to Work for Six Sigma professionals at the iSixSigma Live!Summit today in Miami. â€Å"Starwood’s commitment to providing challenging cross-departmental opportunities for continuous improvement personnel, along with its policy of promoting Black Belts from within, truly makes it one of the premier companies for Six Sigma practitioners,† said Jessica Harper, editor of iSixSigma. Katie Barry, associate publisher of iSixSigma, presented the award to Brian McGuire, senior director of Hotel Operations and Six Sigma for Starwood’s North America Division. Starwood – which owns some of the most recognizable hotel brands in the world, including Sheraton, Westin, W, St.Regis, The Luxury Collection and Le Meridien †“ was the first hospitality chain to launch a formal Six Sigma program, back in 2001. Today, Starwood is in the process of rolling out a Lean Six Sigma program to all of its properties worldwide. Companies on the Top 10 list, announced in December 2009, had to meet the highest standards for providing an outstanding Six Sigma program, culture, training, compensation, recognition and job satisfaction for employees. Making a repeat showing on iSixSigma’s second-annual Top 10 list was 2008’s overall winner McKesson Corp. , which earned the No. 2 spot for 2009.Other returning companies included Xerox Corp. (No. 3) and Vought Aircraft Industries (No. 5). Reflecting the growth of Six Sigma in healthcare systems, half of the companies on the list are involved in the pharmaceutical or healthcare provider industries (McKesson, Pfizer, Merck, Piramal Healthcare and Cardinal Health). Highlights of Starwood's top-rated Six Sigma program, as well as short profiles of the other nin e finalists, will be published in the March/April 2010 issue of iSixSigma Magazine. Here are the rankings of the Top 10 list of iSixSigma's 2009 Best Places to Work: 1. Starwood Hotels and Resorts (North America Division) . McKesson Corp. 3. Xerox Corp. 4. Ecolab Inc. 5. Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. 6. Pfizer Inc. 7. Merck & Co. Inc. 8. Piramal Healthcare Ltd. 9. Cardinal Health Inc. 10. Computacenter AG & Co. oHG iSixSigma will be accepting nominations later this year for the 2010 Best Places to Work list. Last modified on Sunday, 28 February 2010 04:49 REFERENCES: o http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/history2/82/Starwood-Hotels-Resorts-Worldwide-Inc. html o http://www. isixsigma. com/index. php? option=com_k2&view=item&id=802:starwood-hotels-and-resorts-ranks-no-1-on-isixsigmas-best-places-to-work-list&Itemid=157 o http://www. ospitalitynet. org/news/4007061. html o http://www. corporate-ir. net/ireye/ir_site. zhtml? ticker=hot&script=410&layout=6&item_id=149848 o http://www . starwoodhotels. com/corporate/directory/new-hotels/all/map. html? sortType=region o http://www. businessweek. com/innovate/content/aug2007/id20070830_103596. htm o http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/07_41/b4053096. htm o http://www. sixsigmacompanies. com/archive/six_sigma_at_starwood_hotels_amp_resorts. html o http://www. starwoodhotels. com/sheraton/careers/paths/description. html? category=200000304

Art History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 13

Art History - Essay Example Van Gogh has preference of painting outdoors coupled with the fascination of the night sky as part of the favourite subjects. One outstanding element of the painting ‘Starry Night over the Rhone’ is gas lighting that reflect off the elements of water through several strolls nearby. All this is neatly done in the painting’s foreground. The work is a revelation of the sky’s marvellous colours coupled with the scene’s reflections as well as the striking contrast of the artificial stars and the gas natural beauty lights. Street lanterns across the edge of the Rhone in the watershed provide sufficient lighting enabling Van Gogh fully to paint from observation direct. Van Gogh manipulated such reality into certain levels as a way of creating an impressive firmament. Through this view, the Arles town lay in the southwest while the Great Bear constellation painted within the sky is in the north. The media used by the artist include oil on canvas as well as the technique of weeping and broad brush strokes. In various letters to Wilhelmina, his sister, Gogh observed that this was aimed at painting starry sky. The display appears to be that the night is still richly coloured as compared to the day. It has hues from the intense greens, violets, and blues. If one pays attention to the painting, it is easy to see that a number of stars are lemon-yellow while others are blue or pink and green brilliance. Without expatiating on the theme, it becomes clearer that the little white dots put on blue-black are not sufficient in painting starry skies. Some hold the belief that there are hidden images that depict the Gate to Heaven while two coffins in its front seem relevant to his religious foundations. Van Gogh engaged the expressive and symbolic colour values to express emotions within the scope of reproduction for visual light, atmosphere, or appearances. Van Gogh also went on to paint the night sky immensely hanging on

Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Business Strategy - Essay Example ndeavor of individuals, groups or organizations; for survival and includes policies, plans and frameworks structured to survive and reach the desired goals / destinations. According to Mintzberg & Quinn (1996), strategy could be termed as efficient if it has the ability to accentuate the consequences of managerial decision making by appropriately channelizing its resources, considers probable outcomes, and combat the competitive forces within the industry. According to Vijeon & Dan (2003), â€Å"Strategy is the management of the interface between the activities of the organization and the changing environment in which it operates. This process involves too much uncertainty, novel situations and lack of firm information to be automated†. This school of thought perceives the process of strategy formation as a process of conception. The basic underlying approach in this school of thought perceives strategy formulation as a deliberate process whereby the internal organizational factors are often associated with its external environment. The basic feature of this school of thought lies in its simplicity and the ability to reduce ambiguity. However, overtly simple process is often associated with high degree of risk in distorting reality. The Planning School perceives the process of strategy formulation as a formal process whereby stringent steps are taken to ensure an appropriate analysis of the situation right from the conception stage to the final execution of the proposed strategy. It helps in providing a better understanding of the process of resource allocation and helps the strategists in exercising control over the strategy planning process. Although it might sometimes become too static and activities like group thinking and predicting might become cumbersome and difficult. This school of thought assumes strategic planning as an analytical process and places the business within the context of an industry in order to ascertain the manner in which organizations

Teaching Health and Physical Education in Australian School Article

Teaching Health and Physical Education in Australian School - Article Example From the essay it is clear that  teachers do not have an understanding of the current HPE methods that can have positive impacts in integrating physical education. On the contrary, they hold dear the past methods of teaching HPE while neglecting the new methodologies. Methods such as teaching the games for student understanding and sports education require the teachers to be versed and have the capacity to deliver.   If such methods do not get integrated into the teachers’ learning platforms through continued learning, the children will never have the benefits that come with HPE. Thence, it is crucial to review the curriculum and incorporate the new teaching methods that can foster the teaching of HPE among the children. In so doing, the children will reap the best out of HPE including good health and academic performances.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the paper highlights physical education is imperative among the young school-going children due t o its significant contributions regarding their development. For instance, physical education prevents lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure and obesity. Further, it has numerous psychological and social benefits where it modifies depression and anxiety. Moreover, it contributes to advanced mental and intellectual capacities. For example, there is a significant relationship between academic achievement and the children’s physical activities. Similarly, physical education bolsters the kids’ recreational skills while enhancing a positive attitude towards exercise.

What parts of Catholicism did Martin Luther keep after the Reformation Essay

What parts of Catholicism did Martin Luther keep after the Reformation - Essay Example The Catholics and those who protested mutually demanded reforms; however, the manner that they struggled for the reforms differed in a great manner. The reformation commenced at the end of October in the year 1517, when Martin Luther who was a German monk inadvertently ignited an uprising (McGrath 11). With the aid of the Ignatius, Metto and associates of the Trent Council, the Catholic Church established a rather flourishing response. Nevertheless, the splitting up of the entire Catholic Church would be the definitive hardship that the original Catholics had to tolerate because of this development of novel ideas. The scuffle to dominate populace’s values and belief’s would generate a civilization of religious pluralism, as it is currently recognized (Ferguson 57). The protestant way was centered at diminishing the Catholic religion economically, opinionated and publicly, while pressure from those protesting made the Catholics into frequent fights to boost their own acc usations and develop their corrupt nature. Faith and trust are the means of grace and god himself is the Supreme Being who awards this to human beings. The Lutheran Church and the Catholic Church have similarities that are the basis of both religions. The conventional Catholic Church was selling lenience for the aim of getting money, corrupt funds that were employed to perform endeavors that interested them (Baker, Robert and John 199). For instance, they sold Jubilee lenience just next to the Witten burg Castle with the aim of generating money for Saint Peter’s situated in Rome. Martin Luther became perplexed and angry at the Church’s activity of selling the indulgences. Thus, he retorted to his individual loathing of this observation by posting a directory of complaints opposing the Catholic Church. The list of complaints was termed as The Ninety-Five Theses (Luther and Stephen 47). Therefore, he began a religious upheaval that was later recognized as the

SS310 Final Project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

SS310 Final Project - Research Paper Example Assassination To begin with, some of the events that took place during this era were the assassination of many leaders in the U.S. For example, it was during this period that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by two gunmen who short him several times (Anson, 1975). Findings upon investigation revealed that Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 due to political rivalry. Investigations regarding his murder revealed that senior people in government including the Vice president at the time and the former Cuban president conspired with the CIA, KBG, and the FBI to kill Kennedy (Maga, 2009). We discovered that the murder was a conspiracy when after digging several meters underground, we came across a report book by the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassination (HSCA) detailing the identities of those who conspired to assassinate Kennedy in a cold blood shooting. At the same time, we discovered an item detailing how Malcolm X, a religious leader, and American nationalist was assassin ated on stage by a rival Black Muslims group. The item reveals that, on 21 February 1965 while Malcolm X was addressing his Afro-American Unity organization at Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York, three men drawn from the Nation of Islam entered the room and immediately shot him while he was just about to start addressing the gathering (Breitman, Porter & Smith, 1991). He was pronounced dead on arrival to the nearby Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. In addition, the capsule reveals that the assassinations of Malcolm soon triggered revenge attacks from his followers against the Black Muslims that saw several Mosques belonging to the Black Muslims torched in San Francisco and Harlem (Maga, 2009). In fact, one of the items discovered and resembled are the remains of a Dome of a Mosque thought to have been buried underground after the incident. Another item found in relation to assassinations during the 1960s relates to how Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in the evening of April 4, 1968. King was a vocal civil rights activist and leader. He was very vocal in fighting for equality for the black Americans and other races that were being discriminated against in the U.S. (Maga, 2009). Because of his stand, he was assassinated by a stray bullet. Archeologists’ findings of his skull reveal that the bullet hit him on the right cheek before traveling through his neck and finally rested on this shoulder. Analysis of the bullet casket found buried underground reveals that it was a 0.30-caliber rifle bullet. Significance of Assassinations in Defining the 1960s The assassinations witnessed during this era are of great significance because it reminds many of the struggles that leaders such as Martin Luther King Junior, John F. Kennedy and Malcolm went through in an attempt to ensure that America becomes a good country to live in - one without discrimination based on color, race, nationality, religion or language. As a result, the assassinations of these le aders signify how insecure America was during the 1960. People risked their lives by voicing out their concerns. It also shows the extent to which impunity and racism was the order of the day during this period (Maga, 2009). Feminist Movement History tells us that American women in the 1960s were limited in almost everything. As such, they were only