段开成旅游管理专业英语Lesson

GlobalizationGlobalization is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that are the result of dramatically increased trade and cultural exchange. In specifically economic contexts, it refers almost exclusively to the effects of trade, particularly trade liberalization or "free trade".Between 1910 and 1950, a series of political and economic upheavals dramatically reduced the volume and importance of international trade flows. In the post-World War II environment, fostered by international economic institutions and rebuilding programs, international trade dramatically expanded. With the 1970s, the effects of this trade became increasingly visible, both in terms of the benefits and the disruptive effects.Meanings of Globalization"Globalization" can mean:•The formation of a global village— closer contact between different parts of the world, with increasing possibilities of personal exchange, mutual understanding and friendship between "world citizens", and creation of a global civilization,•Economic globalization —"free trade" and increasing relations among members of an industry in different parts of the world (globalization of an industry), with a corresponding erosion of National Sovereignty in the economic sphere.•The negative effects of for-profit multinational corporations— the use of substantial and sophisticated legal and financial means to circumvent the bounds of local laws and standards, in order to leverage the labor and services of unequally-developed regions against each other.•The spread of capitalism from developed to developing nations.It shares a number of characteristics with internationalization and is used interchangeably, although some prefer to use globalization to emphasize the erosion of the nation-state or national boundaries.Globalism, if the concept is reduced to its economic aspects, can be said to contrast with economic nationalism and protectionism. It is related to laissez-faire capitalism and neoliberalism.History of globalizationSince the word has both technical and political meanings, different groups will have differing histories of "globalization". In general use within the field of economics and political economy, is, however, a history of increasing trade between nations based on stable institutions that allow individuals and firms in different nations to exchange goods with minimal friction.The term "liberalization" came to mean the combination of laissez-faire economic theory with the removal of barriers to the movement of goods. This led to the increasing specialization of nations in exports, and the pressure to end protective tariffs and other barriers to trade. The period of the gold standard and liberalization of the 19th century is often called "The First Era of Globalization". Based on the Pax Britannica and the exchange of goods in currencies pegged to specie, this era grew along with industrialization. The theoretical basis was Ricardo's work on Comparative advantage and Say's Law of General equilibrium. In essence, it was argued that nations would trade effectively, and that any temporary disruptions in supply or demand would correct themselves automatically. The institution of the gold standard came in steps in major industrialized nations between approximately 1850 and 1880, though exactly when various nations were truly on the gold standard is a matter of a great deal of contentious debate.The "First Era of Globalization" is said to have broken down in stages beginning with the first World War, and then collapsing with the crisis of the gold standard in the late 1920's and early 1930's.Globalization in the era since World War II has been driven by Trade Negotiation Rounds, originally under the auspices of GATT, which led to a series of agreements to remove restrictions on "free trade". The Uruguay round led to a treaty to create the World Trade Organization or WTO, to mediate trade disputes. Other bilateral trade agreements, including sections of Europe's Maastricht Treaty and the North American Free Trade Agreement have also been signed in pursuit of the goal of reducing tariffs and barriers to trade.Signs of globalizationGlobalization has become identified with a number of trends, most of which may have developed since World War II. These include greater international movement of commodities, money, information, and people; and the development of technology, organizations, legal systems, and infrastructures to allow this movement. The actual existence of some of these trends are debated.•Increase in international trade at a faster rate than the growth in the world economy•Increase in international flow of capital including foreign direct investment•Greater transborder data flow, using such technologies such as the Internet, communication satellites and telephones•Greater international cultural exchange, for example through the export of Hollywood and Bollywood movies.•Some argue that even terrorism has undergone globalization. Terrorists now have attacked places all over the world.•Spreading of multiculturalism and better individual access to cultural diversity, with on the other hand, some reduction in diversity through assimilation, hybridization, Westernization, Americanization or Sinosization of cultures.•Erosion of national sovereignty and national borders through international agreements leading to organizations like the WTO and OPEC•Greater international travel and tourism•Greater immigration, including illegal immigration•Development of global telecommunications infrastructure•Development of a global financial systems•Increase in the share of the world economy controlled by multinational corporations•Increased role of international organizations such as WTO, WIPO, IMF that deal with international transactions•Increase in the number of standards applied globally; e.g. copyright lawsBarriers to international trade have been considerably lowered since World War II through international agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Particular initiatives carried out as a result of GATT and the WTO, for which GATT is the foundation, have included:•Promotion of free tradeo Of goods: reduction or elimination of tariffs; construction of free trade zones with small or no tariffso Of capital: reduction or elimination of capital controlso Reduction, elimination, or harmonization of subsidies for local businesses •Intellectual Property Restrictionso Harmonization of intellectual property laws across nations (generally speaking, with more restrictions)o Supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions (e.g. patents granted by China would be recognized in the US)Anti-globalizationMain article: "Anti-globalization".Various aspects of globalization are seen as harmful by public-interest activists. This movement has no unified name. "Anti-globalization" is the media's preferred term. Activists themselves, for example Noam Chomsky, have said that this name is meaningless as the movement's aim is to globalize justice. Indeed, "the global justice movement" is a common name. Many activists also unite under the slogan "another world is possible", which has given rise to names such as altermondisme in French.There is a wide variety of different kinds of "anti-globalization". In general, critics claim that the results of globalization have not been what was predicted when the attempt to increase free trade began, and that many institutions involved in the system of globalization have not taken the interests of poorer nations and the working class into account.Economic arguments by fair trade theorists claim that unrestricted free trade benefits those with more financial leverage (i.e. the rich) at the expense of the poor.Many "anti-globalization" activists see globalization as the promotion of a corporatist agenda, which is intent on constricting the freedoms of individuals in the name of profit. They also claimthat increasing autonomy and strength of corporate entities increasingly shape the political policy of nation-states.Some "anti-globalization" groups argue that globalization is necessarily imperialistic, is one of the driving reasons behind the Iraq war and that it has forced savings to flow into the United States rather than developing nations.Some argue that globalization imposes credit-based economics, resulting in unsustainable growth of debt and debt crises.The main opposition is to unfettered globalization (neoliberal; laissez-faire capitalism), guided by governments and quasi-governments (such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) that are not held responsible to the populations that they govern and instead respond mostly to the interests of corporations. Many conferences between trade and finance ministers of the core globalizing nations have been met with large, and occasionally violent, protests from opponents of "corporate globalism".The movement is very broad, including church groups, national liberation factions, left-wing parties, environmentalists, peasant unionists, anti-racism groups, libertarian socialists and others. Most are reformist (arguing for a more humane form of capitalism) and a strong minority is revolutionary (arguing for a more humane system than capitalism). Many have decried the lack of unity and direction in the movement, but some such as Noam Chomsky have claimed that this lack of centralization may in fact be a strength.Protests by the global justice movement have now forced high-level international meetings away from the major cities where they used to be held, and off into remote locations where protest is impractical.Pro-globalization (globalism)Supporters of democratic globalization can be labelled pro-globalists. They consider that the first phase of globalization, which was market-oriented, should be completed by a phase of building global political institutions representing the will of World citizens. The difference with other globalists is that they do not define in advance any ideology to orientate this will, which should be left to the free choice of those citizens via a democratic process.Supporters of free trade point out that economic theories such as comparative advantage suggests that free trade leads to a more efficient allocation of resources, with all those involved in the trade benefitting. In general, they claim that this leads to lower prices, more employment and better allocation of resources.Libertarians and other proponents of laissez-faire capitalism say higher degrees of political and economic freedom in the form of democracy and capitalism in the developed world produce higher levels of material wealth. They see globalization as the beneficial spread of democracy and capitalism.Critics argue that the anti-globalization movement uses anecdotal evidence to support their view and that worldwide statistics instead strongly support globalization. One effect being that the percentage of people in developing countries living below $1 (adjusted for inflation) per day have halved in only twenty years [1] (). Life expectancy has almost doubled in the developing world since WWII and is starting to close the gap to the developed world where the improvement has been smaller. Child mortality has decreased in every developing region of the world [2] (). Income inequality for the world as a whole is diminishing [3] ().Many pro-capitalists are also critical of the World Bank and the IMF, arguing that they are corrupt bureaucracies controlled and financed by states, not corporations. Many loans have been given to dictators who never did any reforms, instead leaving the common people to pay the debts later. They thus see too little capitalism, not too much. They also note that some of the resistance to globalization come from special interest groups with conflicting interests like Western world unions.Globalization in questionThere is much academic discussion about whether globalization is a real phenomenon or only a myth. Although the term is widespread, many authors argue that the characteristics of the phenomenon have already been seen at other moments in history. Also, many note that those features that make people believe we are in the process of globalization, including the increase in international trade and the greater role of multinational corporations, are not as deeply established as they may appear. Thus, many authors prefer the use of the term internationalization rather than globalization. To put it simply, the role of the state and the importance of nations are greater in internationalization, while globalization in its complete form eliminates nation states. So, these authors see that the frontiers of countries, in a broad sense, are far from being dissolved, and therefore this radical globalization process is not yet happening, and probably won't happen, considering that in world history, internationalization never turned into globalization —(the European Union and NAFTA are yet to prove their case.)However, the world increasingly shares problems and challenges that do not obey nation state borders, most notably pollution of the natural environment, and as such the movement previously known as the anti-globalisation movement has transmogrified into a movement of movements for globalisation from below; seeking, through experimentation, forms of social organisation that transcend the nation state and representative democracy. So, whereas the original arguments of anti-global critique can be refuted with stories of internationalisation, as above, the emergence of a global movement is indisputable and therefore we can speak of a real process towards a global human society of societies.。

Broker and brokerageBroker is a person or company who does not trade as a principal, but puts buyers and sellers in touch with one another. Stockbrokers do this for stocks and shares; commodity brokers for commodities, insurance brokers for insurance policies, and shipping brokers for tramp and charters shipping. Brokers are able to charge commission for this service because of their specialized knowledge of the markets.broker acts as an intermediary in a sale or other business transaction between two parties. Such a person conducts individual transactions only, is given no general authority by the employers, discloses the names of the principals in the transaction to each other, and leaves to them the conclusion of the deal. The broker neither possesses the goods sold nor receives the goods procured; brokers take no market risks and transfer no title to goods or to anything else. A broker earns a commission, or brokerage, when the contract of sale has been made, regardless of whether the contract is satisfactorily executed. The broker is paid by the party that started the negotiation. In practice, merchants and other salespeople act as brokers at times.Brokers are most useful in establishing trade connections in those large industries where a great many relatively small producers (e.g., farmers) compete for a wide market. They operate in strategic cities and keep in active touch with the trade needs of their localities and with one another. They are important in determining prices, routing goods, and guiding production, and in those functions play a part similar to that of the highly organized exchanges. Brokers also negotiate trades in property not directly affecting production; examples are stockbrokers and real estate brokers.Types of BrokersEmployment agents are really brokers, as they bring together the buyers and sellers of labor. Merchandise brokers arrange sales between manufacturers and wholesalers or retailers, between producers and users of raw materials, and sometimes between two manufacturers. Small concerns use retail brokers instead of maintaining their own sales forces. Insurance brokers bring together insurance companies and those who want insurance. They are most useful to those needing several types of insurance protection and to those whose large risks must be divided among many companies. Real estate brokers negotiate sales and leases of farms, dwellings, and business property and are often also insurance brokers. Ship brokers keep informed of the movement of vessels, of cargo space available, and of rates for shipment and sell this information to shippers. They serve tramp carriers in the main, inasmuch as the larger ship lines have their own agents. Such brokers also serve as post agents, in which capacity they settle bills for stores and supplies, pay the wages of the crew, and negotiate insurance for the vessel and cargo. They also arrange the sale of ships. In the organized markets, such as grain and stock exchanges, commission merchants and straight selling displace brokerage in large part, but between cities and where there is no active exchange, brokers in grain and other commodities are active. Members of organized exchanges usually act as commission merchants or trade on their own account. However, in the New York Stock Exchang e a group of members called “floor brokers” perform the actual trading on the exchange floor for representatives of commission houses, taking no responsibility andreceiving a small fee. In the United States, note brokers buy promissory notes from businessmen and sell them to banks. Traders in acceptances and foreign bills of exchange are known in the United States as acceptance dealers. Customs brokers are not actually brokers; they act as agents for importers in estimating duties and clearing goods. The pawnbroker is a private money lender. Technology in the 1990s changed the nature and importance of some brokers, when the Internet allowed people to, for example, trade stocks and purchase insurance directly, without the aid (or with the minimum aid) of brokers.Brokerage is the fee, normally a small percentage of the price, charged by a broker for the service of putting buyer and seller in touch with one another.。

旅游管理专业英语（第二版）段开成练习及试题2套及参考答案考试试卷课程课程类别2005–2006学年第2学期旅游英语试题必修[ ]选修[?] 教考试方式师授课教师开卷[ ]闭卷[?] 填考试时间年月日姓名, 试卷类别(A、B、…) 写[ A ] 共13页考学院专业级生填姓名学号写试题号一二三四五六七八九十总分成绩Part I Reading Comprehension (10 points)Directions: Reading the following passage and choose the correct answersThe ways in which products are put together, that is product formulation, are the most important responses marketing managers make to what they know of their customers' needs and interests. Product decisions, with all their implications for the management of service operations and profitability, reflect all aspects of an organization'smanagement policies, including long-term growth strategy, investment, and personnel policy. They largely determine the corporate image an organization creates in the minds of its existing and prospective customers.To a great extent, the design of products determines what prices can be charged, what forms of promotion are needed, and what distribution channels are used. For all these reasons, customer-related product decisions are the basis of marketing strategy and tactics. As the most important of the four P's in the marketing mix (product, price, promotion and place), product formulation requires careful consideration in any branch of marketing. Because of the particular nature and characteristics of travel and tourism, the subject is especially complex in the tourism industry.Any visit to a tourism destination comprises a mix of several different components, including travel, accommodation, attractions and other facilities, such as catering and entertainment. Sometimes all the components are purchased from a commercial supplier, e.g. when a customer buys an inclusive holiday from a tour operator, or asks atravel agent to put the components together1for a business trip. Sometimes customers supply most of the components themselves, e.g. when a visitor drives his own car to stay with friends at a destination.Conveniently known as a "components' view", the conceptualization of travel and tourism products as a group of components or elements brought together in a 'bundle' selected to satisfy needs, is a vital requirement for marketing managers. It is central to this view that the components of the bundle may be designed, altered and fitted together in ways calculated to match identified customer needs.As far as the tourist is concerned, the product covers the complete experience from the time he leaves home to the time he returns to it. Thus the tourist product is to be considered as an amalgam of three main components of attractions, facilities at the destination, and accessibility of the destination. In other words, the tourist product is not an airline seat or a hotel bed, or relaxing on a sunny beach, but rather an amalgam of many components, or package. Airline seats and hotel beds, etc. are merely elements or components of a total tourist product which is a composite product. Without detracting in any way from the general validity and relevance of this overall view of tourism products, it has to be recognized that airlines, hotels, attractions, car rental and other producer organizations in the industry, generally take a much narrower view of the products they sell. They focusprimarily on their own services. Many large hotel groups and transport operators employ product managers in their marketing teams and handle product formulation and development entirely in terms of the operations they control. Hotels refer to 'conference products', for example, or'leisure products'; airlines to 'business class products'; and so on.For this reason, the overall product concept sets the context in which tourism marketing is conducted but it has only limited value in guiding the practical product design decisions that managers of individual producer organizations have to make. A components' view of productsstill holds good, however, because it is in the nature of service products that they can be divided into a series of specific service operations or elements, which combine to make up the particular products customers buy.It is usually highly instructive to analyze any service producer's operations in terms of the full sequence of contacts between customer and operator, from the time that they make initial inquiries, until they have used the product and left the premises. Even for a product such as that provided by a museum, there is ample scope to analyze all the stages of a visit and potential points of contact that occur from the moment the customer is in sight of the entrance until he leaves the building, say two hours later. Putting the components' view in slightly different terms, individual service producers designing products must define service concept in terms of the bundles of goods and services sold to the customer and the relative importance of each component to the customer.To bring the two distinctive aspects of tourist products together —the overall view and that ofindividual producer organizations — it is possible to consider them as two different dimensions.The overall view is a horizontal dimension in the sense that aseries of individual product components are included in it, and customers, or tour operators acting as manufacturers, can make2their selection to produce the total experience. By contrast, the producers' view is a vertical dimension of specific service operations organized around the identified needs and wants of target segments of customers. Producers typically have regard for their interactions with other organizations on the horizontal dimensions, but their principal concern is with the vertical dimension of their own operations.From the standpoint of a potential customer considering any form of tourist visit, the product may be defined as a bundle or package of tangible and intangible components, based on activity at a destination. The package is perceived by the tourist as the experience available at a price, and may include destination attractions and environment, destination facilities and services, accessibility of the destination, images of the destination, and price to the customer.Destination attractions and environment that largely determine customers' choice and influence prospective buyers' motivations include natural attractions, built attractions, cultural attractions and social attractions. Combined, these aspects of a destination comprises what is generically, if loosely, known as its environment. The number ofvisitors the environment can accommodate in a typical range ofactivities on a typical busy day without damage to its elements andwithout undermining its attractiveness to visitors is known as its capacity.Destination facilities and services are elements within the destination, or linked to it, which make it possible for visitors to stay and in other ways enjoy and participate in the attractions. These include accommodation units, restaurants, transport at the destination, sports activities, retail outlets, and other facilities and services.Accessibility of the destination refers to the elements that affect the cost, speed and the convenience with which a traveler may reach a destination, including infrastructure, equipment, operational factors and government regulations.The attitudes and images customers have towards products strongly influence their buying decisions. Destination images are not necessarily grounded in experience or facts, but they are powerful motivators in travel and tourism. Images and the expectations of travel experiences are closely linked in prospective customers' mind.Any visit to a destination carries a price, which is the sum of what it costs for travel, accommodation, and participation in a selected range of services at the available attractions. Because mostdestinations offer a range of products, and appeal to a range of segments, price in the travel and tourism industry covers a very wide range. Visitors traveling thousands of miles and using luxury hotels,for example, pay a very different price in New York than students sharing campus-style accommodation with friends. Yet the two groups maybuy adjacent seats in a Broadway theater. Price varies by season, by choice of activities, and internationally by exchange rates as well as by distance traveled, transport mode, and choice of facilities and services.With a little thought it will be clear that the elements comprising the five product components, although they are combined and integratedin the visitor's experience, are in fact capable of3extensive and more or less independent variation over time. Some of these variations are planned, as in the case of the Disney World developments in previously unused areas around Orlando, Florida, where massive engineering works have transformed the natural environment and created a major tourist destination. By contrast, in New York, London, or Paris, the city environments have not been much altered for travel and tourism purposes, although there have been massive planned changesin the services and facilities available to visitors. Many changes in destination attractions are not planned, and in northern Europe the decline in popularity of traditional seaside resorts since the 1960s has been largely the result of changes in the accessibility of competing destinations in the sunnier south of the Continent. Changes in the product components often occur in spite of, and not because of, the wishes of governments and destination planners. They occur becausetravel and tourism, especially at the international level, is arelatively free market, with customers able to pursue new attractions asthey become available. Changes in exchange rates, which alter the prices of destinations, are certainly not planned by the tourism industry, but have a massive effect on visitor numbers, as the movements between the UK and the USA since 1978 have demonstrated. It is in the promotional field of images and perceptions that some of the most interesting changes occur, and these are marketing decisions. The classic recent example of planned image engineering may be found in the "I Love New York" campaign, which, based on extensive preliminary market research, created a significant improvement to the "Big Apple's" appeal in the early 1980s.The view of the product taken by customers, whether or not they buy an inclusive package from a tour operator or travel wholesaler, is essentially the same view or standpoint as that adopted by tour operators. Tour operators act on behalf of the interests of tens or hundreds of thousands of customers, and their brochures are a practical illustration of blending the five product components.The overall view is also the standpoint of national, regional and local tourist organizations, whose responsibilities usually include the coordination and presentation of the product components in their areas. This responsibility is an important one even if the destination tourist organizations are engaged only in liaison and joint marketing, and not in the sale of specific product offers to travelers.In considering the product, we should note that there is no natural or automatic harmony between components, such as attractions andaccommodation, and they are seldom under any one organization's control. Even within component sectors such as accommodation there will usually be many different organizations, each with different, perhaps conflicting, objectives and interests. Indeed it is the diversity or fragmentation of overall control, and the relative freedom of producer organizations to act according to their perceived self-interests, at least in the short term, which makes it difficult for national, regional and even local tourist organizations to exert much coordinating influence, either in marketing or in planning. Part of this fragmentation simply reflects the fact that most developed destinations offer a wide range of tourism products and deal with a wide range of segments. In the long term, however, the future success of a destination must involve4coordination and recognition of mutual interests between all the components of the overall tourism product.The overall view of tourism products is highly relevant to the marketing decisions taken by individual producers, especially in establishing the interrelationships and scope for cooperation between suppliers in different sectors of the industry, e.g. between attractions and accommodation, or between transport and accommodation. But in order to design their product offers around specific service operations, there are internal dimensions of products for marketers to consider; these are common to all forms of consumer marketing and part of widely acceptedmarketing theory. Marketing managers need to think about the product on three levels:The core product, which is the essential service or benefit designed to satisfy the identified needs of target customer segments.The tangible product, which is the specific offer for sale stating what a customer will receive for his money.The augmented product, which comprises all the forms of added value producers may build into their tangible product offers to make them more attractive to their intended customers.The following example of an inclusive weekend break in a hotel will help to explain what the three levels mean in practice. The productoffer is a package comprising two night's accommodation and two breakfasts, which may be taken at any one of a chain of hotels located in several different destinations. Because of the bedroom design and facilities available at the hotels, the package is designed to appeal to professional couples with young children. The product is offered for sale at an inclusive price through a brochure, which is distributed at each of the hotels in the chain and through travel agents. The example reveals the three product levels.Core product is intangible but comprises the essential need orbenefit as perceived and sought by the customer, expressed in words and pictures designed to motivate purchase. In the example under discussion, the core product may be defined as relaxation, rest, fun and self-fulfillment in a family context. It should be noted that the coreproduct reflects characteristics of the target customer segments, not the hotel. The hotel may, and does aim to, design its core productbetter than its competitors, and to achieve better delivery of the sought benefits. But all its competitors are aiming at the same basic customer needs and offering virtually identical benefits. Customers' core needs usually tend not to change very quickly, although a hotel's ability to identify and better satisfy such needs can change considerable. Since customer perceptions are never precisely understood, there is ample scope for improvement in this area.Tangible product comprises the formal offer of the product as setout in a brochure, stating exactly what is to be provided at a specified time at a specified price. In the example under discussion, the tangible product is two nights and two breakfasts at a particular location, using rooms of a defined standard, with bathroom, TV, telephone, etc. The provision(if any) of elevators, coffee shops, air-conditioning and swimming pool are all within the formal product and the name of5the hotel is also included. In the case of hotel products generally, there is often very little to choose between competitors' tangible product offers, and price may become a principal reason for choice. Blindfolded and led to any one of, say, twenty competitors' premises, most hotel customers would not easily recognize the identity of their surroundings. The brochure description of the tangible product forms thebasic contract of sale, which would be legally enforceable in most countries.Both tangible and intangible, augmentation is harder to define with precision. It comprises the difference between the contractual essentials of the tangible product and the totality of all the benefits and services experienced in relation to the product by the customer from the moment of first contact in considering a booking to any follow-up contact after delivery and consumption of the product. The augmented product also expresses the idea of value added over and above the formal offer. It represents a vital opportunity for producers to differentiate their own products from those of competitors. In the example under discussion there may be up to twenty 'add ons', some fairly trivial, such as a complimentary box of chocolates on arrival, and some significant, such as entrance tickets to local attractions or entertainments. Some of the added benefits are tangible as indicated, but some are intangible, such as the quality of service provided and the friendliness of staff at reception, in bars and so on. Also intangibleis the image or 'position' the product occupies in customers' minds. In the case of a hotel group this will be closely related to the corporate image and branding of the group. In the example under discussion, the augmented elements would be purpose-designed and developed around the core product benefits in ways calculated to increase the appeal to the target segment's needs. There is, inevitably, an area of overlap betweenthe tangible and augmented elements of the product, which cannot be defined with any precision.1. Which of the following is not included in the four P's in the marketing mix?A. productB. priceC. promotionD. people2. According to the overall view, the tourism product is to be considered as an amalgam of the following elements except _______.A. attractionsB. facilities at the destinationC. touristsD. accessibility of the destination3. Which of the following is not considered part of the destination facilities?A. HotelsB. RestaurantsC. Sports activitiesD. Schools4. The carrying capacity of a destination is defined as _______.A. the number of visitors the environment can accommodate in a typical range of activities ona typical busy day without damage to its elements and without undermining itsattractiveness to its visitors.B. the number of travelers the destination can put up for its daily activities without damage toits facilities.C. the number of tourists a destination can contain in a typical range of daily activities withoutdamage to its surroundings.6D. the number of people a park can hold in a typical busy day forits entertainment activitieswithout damage to its installations and without harming its image. 5. The Big Apple refers to _________.A. New YorkB. Washington, D.C. C. Los AngelesD. Boston 6. Whichof the following is not one of the three levels on which marketing managers need to thinkabout the tourism product?A. The core productB. The tangible productC. The intangible productD. The augmented product 7. Accessibilityof a destination refers to the elements that affect the cost, speed, and theconvenience with which a tourist may _____ a destination.A. stay inB. get toC. leaveD. contact 8. The core product is_______.A. tangibleB. intangibleC. physicalD. invisible 9. The design of tourism products largely determines the following except ______.A. the priceB. the form of distributionC. the distribution channelD. the customers' buying decision 10.The augmented product is the difference between _________.A. the formal offer and the actual total experience of the touristsB. the contractual essentials and the totality of tourists' expectationsC. the add-on values and the real valuesD. the tangible product and the follow-up activitiesPart II Terms Used in Tourism Industry (30 points) Directions: Spell out the following initials and acronyms1. LBO2. MBO3. CRS4. ROI5. EDI6. ERP77. CNTA8. CEO9. ADR10. POSDirections: Define the following terms1. synergy2. Delphi Analysis3. Intellectual Property84. Seven-S Framework5. mission statementPart III Questions and Answers (20 points)Directions: Give a brief answer to each of the following questions 1. What is the significance of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 to the American tourismindustry?92. What are the differences between GDP and GNP?3. What are the key management functions?4. How does yield management work in hotel management?10Part IV Translation (30 points)Directions: Translate the following passage into Chinese.According to advance figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the national economy (as measured by gross domestic product) contracted at an inflation-adjusted 0.4 percent annual rate in the third quarter—the first quarter of negative growth in more than eight years. Most economists predict an even larger contraction in the fourth quarter of 2001. If there is negative growth in the fourth quarter of 2001, then the economy officially will be in a recession. Within the restaurant industry, the employment picture also looks bleak. On a seasonally adjusted basis, eating-and-drinking places cut 42,000 jobs in October, which followed a 43,000 job reduction in September. This marks the worst restaurant-industry employment performance on record for those two months.11Directions: Translate the following passage into English.管理从19世纪末才开始形成一门科学，但是管理的概念和实践已经存在了数千年。

Leverage is related to torque; leverage is a factor by which lever multiplies a force. The useful work done is the energy applied, which is force times distance. Therefore a small force applied over a long distance is the same amount of work as a large force applied over a small distance. The trick is converting the one into the other.The simplest device for creating leverage is the lever. A lever is a stick which rests on a fulcrum () near one end. When you push the long end of the stick down a long ways, the short end moves a small distance up with great force. With this device a man can easily lift several times his own weight.Other common devices that achieve leverage include the wrench, various pulley arrangements, a jack, and hydraulic brakes.For instance, in finance people think of money as "force." Given a relatively small initial amount of force (money), you can use that as collateral for a much larger loan, which gives you a larger amount of money (force) to throw around. Therefore in finance it is common to call debt "leverage."In accounting and finance, the amount of long-term debt that a company has in relation to its equity. The higher the ratio, the greater is the leverage. Leverage is generally measured by a variation of the debt-to-equity ratio, which is calculated as follows: Long-term liabilities/Total stockholders’ equity. A company’s optimal leverage depends on the stability of its earnings. A company with consistently high earnings can be more leveraged than a company with variable earnings, because it will consistently be more likely to make the required interest and principal payments.BusinessA profitable business with good credit and cash flow may be able to borrow at rates well below the rate at which they can earn money in their core business or other projects by utilizing the borrowed capital. Several methods are used to look at what rate of return a corporation can earn money. See return on assets and return on equity. Any time a business can earn more money than what they can borrow at, the corporation will be more profitable over the period of time in which they can do so.FinanceIn finance leverage takes the form of borrowing money and reinvesting it with the hope to earn a greater rate of return than the cost of interest. Leverage allows greater potential return to the investor than otherwise would have been available. The potential for loss is greater because if the investment becomes worthless, not only is that money lost, but the loan still needs to be repaid. A margin account is a common way of utilizing the concept of leverage in investing.Another form of creating leverage using financial instruments is through the use of options. The purchase of a call option on a security gives the buyer the right to purchase the underlying security at a given price in the future. If the price of the underlying security rises, the value of the call option will rise at a rate much greater than the value of the underlying security. However if the rate of the call option falls or does not rise, the call option may be worthless, involving a much greater loss than if the same money had been invested in the underlying instrument.Leverage and riskUtilizing leverage amplifies the potential gain from an investment or project, but also increases the potential loss. This increased risk may be perfectly acceptable or even necessary to reach the goals of the entity or person making the investment. In fact, precisely managing risk utilizing strategies including leverage and securities purchases, is the subject of a discipline known as financial engineering"Slippage"In a rising market, the compounding associated with a leveraged portfolio leads to greater gains; in a declining market, the compounding of a leveraged portfolio may lead to larger losses. However, in a flat market with volatility, the compounding of a leveraged portfolio will cause the portfolio to under perform an identical unleveraged portfolio. Because the percentage increase in a leveraged portfolio is higher by the same ratio as the decrease is higher.ExampleA 100 index going to 110 is a 10% increase. A 110 index going to 100 is a % decrease. In a 200% leveraged index it's a 20% increase, to 120, and a 18.17% (9.09*2) decrease to 98.2.If a target index gains 10% on one day before returning to the original level the next day, a 2.0 beta portfolio will lose 1.8% of its value, and a 1.25 beta portfolio will lose 0.3% of its value.Real worldDuring the 1970s the stock market were "flat". On 31-Dec-79 the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 838.74, on 19-Nov-69 it closed at 839.96 ([1] (/q/hp?s=%5EDJI&a=00&b=15&c=1969&d= 00&e=15&f=1980&g=d)). An unleveraged portfolio of DJIA would have ended with the same price as it began the decade (and would have lost value through inflation). A 200% leveraged portfolio holding the DJIA during that period would have lost all of its value.。

PrivatizationPrivatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or, especially in India, disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership and/or transferring the management of a service or activity from the government to the private sector. The opposite process is nationalization or municipalization.OverviewPrivatization is frequently associated with industrial or service-oriented enterprises, such as mining, manufacturing or power generation, but it can also apply to any asset, such as land, roads, or even rights to water. In recent years, government services such as health, sanitation, and education have been particularly targeted for privatization in many countries.In theory, privatization helps establish a "free market", as well as fostering capitalist competition, which its supporters argue will give the public greater choice at a competitive price. Conversely, socialists view privatization negatively, arguing that entrusting private businesses with control of essential services reduces the public's control over them and leads to excessive cost cutting in order to achieve profit and a resulting poor quality service.In general, nationalization was common during the immediate post-World War 2period, but privatization became a more dominant economic trend (especially within the United States and the United Kingdom) during the 1980s and '90s. This trend of privatization has often been characterized as part of a "global wave" of neoliberal policies, and some observers argue that this was greatly influenced by the policies of Reagan and Thatcher. The term "privatization" was coined in 1948 and is thought to have been popularized by The Economist during the '80s.Arguments for and againstSee also: arguments for and against public ownership and the welfare stateForAdvocates of privatization argue that governments run businesses poorly for the following reasons:•Performance. The government may only be interested in improving a company in cases when the performance of the company becomes politically sensitive.•Improvements. Conversely, the government may put off improvements due to political sensitivity — even in cases of companies that are run well.•Corruption. The company may become prone to corruption; company employees may be selected for political reasons rather than business ones.•Goals. The government may seek to run a company for social goals rather than business ones (this is conversely seen as a negative effect by critics of privatization).•Capital. It is claimed by supporters of privatization, that privately-held companies can more easily raise capital in the financial markets than publicly-owned ones.•Unprofitable companies survive. Governments may "bail out" poorly run businesses with money when, economically, it may be better to let the business fold.•Unprofitable units survive. Parts of a business which persistently lose money are more likely to be shut down in a private business.•Political influence. Nationalized industries can be prone to interference from politicians for political or populist reasons. Such as, for example, making an industry buy supplies from local producers, when that may be more expensive than buying from abroad, forcing an industry to freeze its prices/fares to satisfy the electorate or control inflation, increasing its staffing to reduce unemployment, or moving its operations to marginal constituencies; it is argued that such measures can cause nationalized industries to become uneconomic and uncompetitive.In particular, the Performance, Goals, and Unprofitable companies survive reasons are held to be the most important because money is a scarce resource: if government-run companies are losing money, or if they are not as profitable as possible, this money is unavailable to other, more efficient firms. Thus, the efficient firms will have a harder time finding capital, which makes it difficult for them to raise production and create more employment.The basic argument given for privatization is that governments have few incentives to ensure that the enterprises they own are well run. On the other hand, private owners, it is said, do have such an incentive: they will lose money if businesses are poorly run. The theory holds that, not only will the enterprise's clients see benefits, but as the privatized enterprise becomes more efficient, the whole economy will benefit. Ideally, privatization propels the establishment of social, organizational and legal infrastructures and institutions that are essential for an effective market economy.Another argument for privatization is, that to privatize a company which was non-profitable (or even generated severe losses) when state-owned means taking the burden of financing it off the shoulders and pockets of taxpayers, as well as free some national budget resources which may be subsequently used for something else. Especially, proponents of the laissez-faire capitalism will argue, that it is both unethical and inefficient for the state to force taxpayers to fund the business that can't work for itself. Also, they hold that even if the privatized company happens to be worse off, it is due to the normal market process of penalizing businesses that fail to cope with the market reality or that simply are not preferred by the customers.Many privatization plans are organized as auctions where bidders compete to offer the state the highest price, creating monetary income that can be used by the state.AgainstOpponents of privatization dispute the claims made by proponents of privatization, especially the ones concerning the alleged lack of incentive for governments to ensure that the enterprises they own are well run, on the basis of the idea that governments must answer to the people. It is arguedthat a government which runs nationalized enterprises poorly will lose public support and votes, while a government which runs those enterprises well will gain public support and votes. Thus, democratic governments, under this argument, do have an incentive to maximize efficiency in nationalized companies, due to the pressure of future elections.Furthermore, opponents of privatization argue that it is undesirable to let private entrepreneurs own public institutions for the following reasons:•Profiteering. Private companies do not have any goal other than to maximize profit.•Corruption. Buyers of public property have often, most notably in Russia, used insider positions to enrich themselves - and civil servants in the selling positions - grossly.•No public accountability. The public does not have any control or oversight of private companies.•Cuts in essential services. If a government-owned company providing an essential service (such as water supply) to all citizens is privatized, its new owner(s) could stop providing this service to those who are too poor to pay, or to regions where this service is unprofitable.•Inefficiency. A centralized enterprise is generally more cost effective than multiple smaller ones. Therefore splitting up a public company into smaller private chunks will reduce efficiency.•Natural monopolies. Privatization will not result in true competition if a natural monopoly exists.•Concentration of wealth. Profits from successful enterprises end up in private pockets instead of being available for the common good.•Insecurity. Nationalized industries are usually guaranteed against bankruptcy by the state.They can therefore borrow money at a lower interest rate to reflect the lower risk of loan default to the lender. This does not apply to private industries.•Downsizing. In cases where public services or utilities are privatized, this can create a conflict of interest between profit and maintaining a sufficient service. A private company may be tempted to cut back on maintenance or staff training etc, to maximize profits.•Waste of risk capital. Public services are per definition low-risk ventures that don't need scarce risk capital that is needed better elsewhere.•Not all good things are profitable. A public service may provide public goods that, while important, are of little market value, such as the cultural goods produced by public television and radio.In practical terms, there are many pitfalls to privatization. Privatization has rarely worked out ideally because it is so intertwined with political concerns, especially in post-communist economies or in developing nations where corruption is endemic. Even in nations with advanced market economies like Britain, where privatization has been popular with governments (if not all of the public) since the Thatcher era, problems center on the fact that privatization programs are very politically sensitive, raising many legitimate political debates. Who decides how to set values on state enterprises? Does the state accept cash or for government-provided coupons? Should the state allow the workers or managers of the enterprise to gain control over their own workplace?Should the state allow foreigners to buy privatized enterprises? Which levels of government can privatize which assets and in what quantities?In the short-term, privatization can potentially cause tremendous social upheaval, as privatizations are often always accompanied by large layoffs. If a small firm is privatized in a large economy, the effect may be negligible. If a single large firm or many small firms are privatized at once and upheaval results, particularly if the state mishandles the privatization process, a whole nation's economy may plunge into despair. For example, in the Soviet Union, many state industries were not profitable under the new system, with the cost of inputs exceeding the cost of outputs. After privatization, sixteen percent of the workforce became unemployed in both East Germany and Poland. The social consequences of this process have been staggering, impoverishing millions, but to little social benefit in many post-Communist countries. In the process, Russia has gone from having one of the world's most equal distributions of wealth in the Soviet era to one of the least today. There has been a dearth of large-scale investment to modernize Soviet industries and businesses still trade with each other by means of barter.In speaking about the transformations in the post-communist countries, however, one must take into account the specifics of the communist and socialist regime which ruled those countries for decades. There are no easy answers regarding those issues. Some argue that it was the cumulation of mismanagement and inattention to the market realities that lead to such fatal consequences, given that most of the assets of those companies had not renovated for decades and their technology was outdated. Further, opening of the markets for import of the products which, in many cases, offered higher quality or lower prices, has given the consumers new array of choices to compete with the old national industries.Privatization in the absence of a transparent market system may lead to assets being held by a few very wealthy people, a so-called oligarchy, at the expense of the general population. This may discredit the process of economic reform in the opinion of the public and outside observers. This has occurred notably in Russia, Mexico, and Brazil.Moreover, where free-market economics are rapidly imposed, a country may not have the bureaucratic tools necessary to regulate it. This has been a pertinent problem in Russia and in many South American countries, although some other Eastern European countries, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, fared better in this respect, partly through the support of the European Union. Paradoxically, while Britain has long had a market economy, it also faced this issue after it privatized utilities in the Thatcher era; Britain's utilities regulator was often criticized as being ineffective.Most economists argue that if a privatized company is a natural monopoly, or exists in a market which is prone to serious market failures, consumers may be worse off when the company is in private hands. This seems to have been the case with rail privatization in the UK and in New Zealand; in both countries, public disaffection has led to government intervention. In cases where privatization has been successful, it is because genuine competition has arisen. A good example of this is long-distance telecommunications in Europe, where the former state-owned enterprises losttheir monopolies, competitors entered the market, and tariffs for international calls fell dramatically.British Rail is an example of privatization program that has been deemed a failure and largely abandoned. The track-owning company has been effectively repossessed by the British government, and many of the train-running companies are at risk of having their concession removed on the grounds that they fail to provide adequate services. One of them, Connex, actually had its franchise cut short in June 2003 by the government for what the Strategic Rail Authority called "poor financial management." However, in other cases, particularly in poor countries, privatized enterprises cannot be renationalized so easily. These governments do not have the political will to do it, and there is strong pressure exerted by international lending agencies to maintain the privatization.If the privatization does not fully transfer property rights to the newly private firm, there may be disincentives for the firm to make capital investments. This was a particular problem in the case of the privatized rail track-leasing company in the United Kingdom.Many have argued that the strategy of privatization in Russia differed from those seen in more successful post-communist economies such as Hungary and Poland. The defects of the process in Russia, combined with capital market liberalization and failure to establish institutional infrastructure, have led to incentives for capital flight, contributing to post-communist economic contraction in Russia.Likewise, countries such as Argentina, which embarked upon far-reaching privatization programs, selling off valuable, profitable industries such as energy companies, have seen the rapid impoverishment of their governments. Revenue streams which could previously be directed towards public spending suddenly dried up, resulting in a severe drop in government services.Privatization can also have a ripple effect on local economies. State-owned enterprises are often required by law to patronize national or local suppliers. Privatized companies, in general, do not have that restriction, and hence will shift purchasing elsewhere. Bolivia underwent a rigorous privatization program in the mid 1990s, with disastrous impact on the local economy.The Wall Street Journal has reported that the World Bank, historically a supporter of denationalization in developing countries, has also begun to voice concerns over privatization. It no longer believes that privatization should be recommended in all cases. Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz has written a book on the subject called Globalization and its Discontents. Mexico's President Vicente Fox has come under criticism for his plans to privatize Mexico's electrical power generating industry.Finally, it has been argued that the Chinese economic reform has illustrated that economic reform can take place in the absence of large-scale privatization.The above arguments have centered on whether or not it is practical to apply privatization in the real world, but some reject the profit incentive, the theoretical basis for privatization, itself. Someopponents of privatization argue that because the driving motive of a private company is profit, not public service, the public welfare may be sacrificed to the demands of profitability. There is no definitive answer, but it is very often argued that essential services, such as water, electricity, health, primary education, and so forth, should be left in public hands. This argument, of course, relies on the view on state one holds, regarding what it should or should not be obligated to do. What is seen as desirable by a socialist may not be by a supporter of capitalism, and vice versa.OutcomesAcademic studies show that in competitive industries with well-informed consumers, privatization consistently improves efficiency. Such efficiency gains mean a one-off increase in GDP, but through improved incentives to innovate and reduce costs also tend to raise the rate of economic growth. The type of industries to which this generally applies include manufacturing and retailing. Although typically there are social costs associated with these efficiency gains, these can be dealt with by appropriate government support through redistribution and perhaps retraining.In sectors that are natural monopolies or public services, the results of privatization are much more mixed. In general, if the performance of the existing public sector operation is sufficiently bad, privatization will tend to improve matters. However, much of this may be due to the imposition of related reforms such as improved accounting systems, regulatory systems, and increased financing, rather than privatization itself. Indeed, some studies show that the greatest gains from privatization are achieved in the pre-privatization period as reforms are made to prepare for the transfer to private hands. In economic theory, a private monopoly behaves much the same as a public one.Alternatives to privatizationCorporatizationMain article: corporatizationNew Zealand has experienced the privatization of its telecommunication industry, its railway system and part of its electricity market. The process of privatization was halted in 1999 when the New Zealand Labour Party won the election. Although most of the electricity generation and the electricity transmission system remain state owned, the government has corporatized this sector as well as New Zealand Post, the Airways Corporation and other smaller state-owned enterprises (SOEs).The effect of corporatization has been to convert the state departments into public companies and interpose commercial boards of directors between the shareholding ministers and the management of the enterprises. To some extent, this model has enabled efficiencies to be gained without ownership of strategic organizations being transferred. This has been the policy of the People's Republic of China.Notable privatizationsSee also: List of privatizationsPrivatization programmes have been undertaken in many countries across the world, falling into three major groups. The first is privatization programmes conducted by transition economies in eastern Europe after 1989in the process of instituting a market economy. The second is privatization programmes carried out in developing countries under the influence of international financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF. The third is privatization programmes carried out by developed country governments, the most comprehensive probably being those of New Zealand and the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s.Anti-privatization campaignsPrivatization proposals in key public service sectors such as water and electricity are in many cases strongly opposed by opposition political parties and civil society groups. Usually campaigns involve demonstrations and political means; sometimes they may become violent (eg Cochabamba Riots of 2000 in Bolivia; Arequipa, Peru, June 2002). Opposition is often strongly supported by trade unions. Opposition is usually strongest to water privatization- as well as Cochabamba (2000), recent examples include Ghana and Uruguay(2004). In the latter case a civil-society-initiated referendum banning water privatization was passed in October 2004.See also。

Definition of power (sociology)Sociologists usually define power as the ability to impose one's will on others, even if those others resist in some way."By power is meant that opportunity existing within a social relationship which permitsone to carry out one's own will even against resistance and regardless of the basis onwhich this opportunity rests."Max Weber, Basic Concepts in SociologyThe imposition need not involve coercion (force or threat of force). Thus "power" in the sociological sense subsumes both physical power and political power, including many of the types listed at power. In some ways it more closely resembles what everyday English-speakers call "influence".More generally, one could define "power" as the more or less unilateral ability (real or perceived) or potential to bring about significant change, usua lly in people’s lives, through the actions of oneself or of others.The exercise of power seems endemic to humans as social and gregarious beings.Analysis and operation of powerPower manifests itself in a relational manner: one cannot meaningfully say (pace advocates of empowerment) that a particular social actor "has power" without also specifying the other parties to the social relationship.Power almost always operates reciprocally, but usually not equally reciprocally. To control others, one must have control over things that they desire or need, but one can rarely exercise that control without a measure of reverse control - larger, smaller or equal - also existing. For example, an employer usually wields considerable power over his workers because he has control over wages, working conditions, hiring and firing. The workers, however, hold some reciprocal power: they may leave, work more or less diligently, group together to form a union, and so on.Because power operates both relationally and reciprocally, sociologists speak of the balance of power between parties to a relationship: all parties to all relationships have some power: the sociological examination of power concerns itself with discovering and describing the relative strengths: equal or unequal, stable or subject to periodic change. Sociologists usually analyse relationships in which the parties have relatively equal or nearly equal power in terms of constraint rather than of power. Thus 'power' has a connotation of unilateralism. If this were not so, then all relationships could be described in terms of 'power', and its meaning would be lost.Even in structuralist social theory, power appears as a process, an aspect to an ongoing social relationship, not as a fixed part of social structure.One can sometimes distinguish primary power: the direct and personal use of force for coercion; and secondary power, which may involve the threat of force or social constraint, most likely involving third-party exercisers of delegated power.Types and sources of powerPower may be held through:•Delegated authority (for example in the democratic process)•Personal or group charisma•Ascribed power (acting on perceived or assumed abilities, whether these bear testing or not)•Expertise (Ability, Skills) (the power of medicine to bring about health, another famous example would be "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king) •Persuasion•Knowledge (granted or withheld, shared or kept secret)•Money (financial influence, control of labour, control through ownership, etc)•Force (violence, military might, coercion).•Moral suasion•Application of non-violence•Operation of group dynamics•Social influence of tradition (compare ascribed power)Theories of powerThe thought of Friedrich Nietzsche underlies much 20th century analysis of power. Nietzsche disseminated ideas on the "will to power," which he saw as the domination of other humans as much as the exercise of control over one's environment.Some schools of psychology, notably that associated with Alfred Adler, place power dynamics at the core of their theory (where orthodox Freudians might place sexuality).MarxismIn the Marxist tradition, Antonio Gramsci elaborated the role of cultural hegemony in ideology as a means of bolstering the power of capitalism and of the nation-state. Gramsci saw power as something exercised in a direct, overt manner, and the power of the bourgeois as keeping the proletariat in their place.FeminismFeminist analysis of the patriarchy often concentrates on issues of power: note the "Rape Mantra": Rape is about power, not sex.Some feminists distinguish "power-over" (influence on other people) from "power-to" (ability to perform).FoucaultOne of the broader modern views of the importance of power in human activity comes from the work of Michel Foucault, who has said, "Power is everywhere...because it comes from everywhere." (Aldrich, Robert and Wotherspoon, Gary (Eds.), 2001)Foucault's works analyze the link between power and knowledge. He outlines a form of covert power that works through people rather than only on them. Foucault claims belief systems gain momentum (and hence power) as more people come to accept the particular views associated with that belief system as common knowledge. Such belief systems define their figures of authority, such as medical doctors or priests in a church. Within such a belief system -- or discourse -- ideas crystallize as to what is right and what is wrong, what is normal and what is deviant. Within a particular belief system certain views, thoughts or actions become unthinkable. These ideas, being considered undeniable "truths", come to define a particular way of seeing the world, and the particular way of life associated with such "truths" becomes normalized. This subtle form of power lacks rigidity, and other discourses can contest it. Indeed, power itself lacks any concrete form, occurring as a locus of struggle. Resistance, through defiance, defines power and hence becomes possible through power. Without resistance, power is absent. This view 'grants' individuality to people and other agencies, even if it is assumed a given agency is part of what power works in or upon. Still, in practice Foucault often seems to deny individuals this agency, which is contrasted with sovereignty (the old model of power as efficacious and rigid).Deconstruction often works to reveal hidden power structures and relationships."One needs to be nominalistic, no doubt: power is not an institution, and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategical situation in a particular society." (History of Sexuality, p.93)"Domination" is not "that solid and global kind of domination that one person exercises over others, or one group over another, but the manifold forms of domination that can be exercised within society." (ibid, p.96)"One should try to locate power at the extreme of its exercise, where it is always less legal in character." (ibid, p.97)"The analysis [of power] should not attempt to consider power from its internal point of view and...should refrain from posing the labyrinthine and unanswerable question: 'Who then has power and what has he in mind? What is the aim of someone who possesses power?' Instead, it is a case of studying power at the point where its intention, if it has one, is completely invested in its real and effective practices." (ibid, p.97)"Let us ask...how things work at the level of on-going subjugation, at the level of those continous and uninterrupted processes which subject our bodies, govern our gestures, dictate our behaviours, etc....we should try to discover how it is that subjects are gradually, progressively, really and materially constituted through a multiplicity of organisms, forces, energies, materials, desires, thoughts, etc. We should try to grasp subjection in its material instance as a constitution of subjects." (ibid, p.97)TofflerAlvin Toffler's Powershift argues that the three main kinds of power are violence, wealth, and knowledge with other kinds of power being variations of these three (typically knowledge).Each successive kind of power represents a more flexible kind of power. Violence can only be used negatively, to punish. Wealth can be used both negatively (by withholding money) and positively (by advancing/spending money). Knowledge can be used in these ways but, additionally, can be used in a transformative way. For example, one can share knowledge on agriculture to ensure that everyone is capable of supplying himself and his family of food. Also, allied nations with a shared identity form with the spread of religious or political philosophies.Toffler argues that the very nature of power is currently shifting. Throughout history, power has often shifted from one group to another; however, at this time, the dominant form of power is changing. During the Industrial Revolution, power shifted from a nobility acting primarily through violence to industrialists and financiers acting through wealth. Of course, the nobility used wealth just as the industrial elite used violence, but the dominant form of power shifted from violence to wealth. Today, a Third Wave of shifting power is taking place with wealth being overtaken by knowledge.Unmarked CategoriesThe idea of unmarked categories originated in feminism. The theory analyses the culture of the powerful. The powerful comprise those people in society with easy access to resources, those who can exercise power without considering their actions. For the powerful, their culture seems obvious; for the powerless, on the other hand, it remains out of reach, élite and expensive.The unmarked category can form the identifying mark of the powerful. The unmarked category becomes the standard against which to measure everything else. For most American readers, it is posited that if a protagonist's race is not indicated, it will be assumed by the reader that the protagonist is Caucasian; if a sexual identity is not indicated, it will be assumed by the reader that the protagonist is heterosexual; if the gender of a body is not indicated, will be assumed by the reader that it is male; if a disability is not indicated, it will be assumed by the reader that the protagonist is able bodied, just as a set of examples.One can often overlook unmarked categories. Whiteness forms an unmarked category not commonly visible to the powerful, as they often fall within this category. The unmarked category becomes the norm, with the other categories relegated to deviant status. Social groups can applythis view of power to race, gender, and disability without modification: the able body is the neutral body; the man is the normal status.Representation/CounterpowerGilles Deleuze, a French theorist, compared voting for political representation with being taken hostage. A representational government assumes that people can be divided into categories with distinct shared interests. The representative is regarded as embodying the interests of the group. Many social movements have been successful in gaining access to governments: the working class, women, young people and ethnic minorities are part of the government in many nation-states. However, there is no government where the government represents the population along the characteristics of the categories.The problem of finding suitable representatives relates to an individual's membership of different categories at the same time. The only truly representative government for a population is the population itself. These ideas have become popular in social movements for global justice. The logic of government open to all underpins the social forums (such as the World Social Forum) that have developed in contradistinction to the forums of the powerful. These alternative forms are sometimes called counter-power.Participation/LiberationThis view appears in many projects of social change, but its founder Paulo Freire is largely unknown. Freire assumes that people carry archives of knowledge within them. In particular he rejects the idea that people remain ignorant unless they have learned to communicate using the culture of the powerful. The person is seen as part of a culture circle with its own view of reality, based on the circumstances of everyday living.Dialogue can bring about social change. Such dialogue directly opposes the monologue of the culture of the powerful. Dialogue expands the understanding of the world rather than teaching a correct understanding. The process of social change starts with action, on which the group then reflects. Commonly, more action of some kind then results...See also•authority•charisma and charismatic authority•domination•oppression and hierarchy of oppression•power (international)•social class•social statusSource•Aldrich, Robert and Wotherspoon, Gary (Eds.) (2001). Who's Who in Contemporary Gay & Lesbian History: From World War II to the Present Day. New York: Routledge. ISBN 041522974X.。

EuroThe euro (€; ISO 4217 code EUR) is the currency of twelve of the twenty-five European Union member states. These twelve states, which form the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), are: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. It is the result of the most significant monetary reform in Europe since the Roman Empire. Though the introduction of the euro can be seen simply as a mechanism for perfecting the Single European Market, facilitating free trade between the members of the Eurozone, the euro is also a key part of the European project of political integration.The euro is administered by the European System of Central Banks(ESCB), composed of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurozone central banks operating in member states. The ECB (headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany) has sole authority to set monetary policy; the other members of the ESCB participate in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins, and the operation of the Eurozone payment system.CharacteristicsMain articles: Euro coins, Euro banknotesThe euro sign is a stylised letter "E" resembling the letter "C" with a doubled middle bar, following the convention of many other currency signs.(geometry) ()The euro is divided into 100 cents, but the actual name can vary with the country: in Greece, the name leptó, plural leptá is used instead, and in Italy the original word "centesimo", from which "cent" ultimately derived, is used currently. In France, people tend to keep using "centime", the subdivision of their former money (French franc). The form "cent" is officially used in the singular and in the plural (see the relevant section below).All euro coins have a common obverse showing the worth and a national reverse showing an image particular to the country it was issued in; the monarchies have a picture of their reigning monarch, other countries usually have their national symbols. All the different coins can be used in all the participating member states: for example, a euro coin bearing an image of the Spanish king is legal tender not only in Spain, but also in all the other nations where the euro is in use. There are two-euro, one-euro, fifty-cent, twenty-cent, ten-cent, five-cent, two-cent and one-cent coins, though the latter two are not generally used in Finland (but are still legal tender).Euro banknotes have a common design for each denomination on both sides. Notes are issued in the following amounts: €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, and €5. Some higher denominations are not issued in some countries, though again, are legal tender.TransitionThe euro was established by the provisions in the 1992Maastricht Treaty on European Union relating to establishing an economic and monetary union. In order to participate in the new currency, member states had to meet strict criteria such as a budget deficit of less than three per cent of GDP, a debt ratio of less than sixty per cent of GDP, combined with low inflation and interest rates close to the EU average.Due to differences in national conventions for rounding and significant digits, all conversion between the national currencies had to be carried out using the process of triangulation via the euro. The definitive values in euros of these subdivisions (which represent the exchange rate at which the currency entered the euro) are as follows:•13.7603 Austrian schilling (ATS)•40.3399 Belgian franc (BEF)• 2.20371 Dutch guilder (NLG)• 5.94573 Finnish markka (FIM)• 6.55957 French franc (FRF)• 1.95583 German mark (DEM)•0.787564 Irish pound (IEP)•1936.27 Italian lira (ITL)•40.3399 Luxembourg franc (LUF)•200.482 Portuguese escudo (PTE)•166.386 Spanish peseta (ESP)The above rates were determined by the Council of the European Union, based on a recommendation from the European Commission, on the basis of the market rates on 31December, 1998, so that one ECU (European Currency Unit) would equal one euro. (The European Currency Unit was an accounting unit used by the EU, based on the currencies of the member states; it was not a currency in its own right.) These rates were set by Council Regulation 2866/98 (EC), of 31 December1998. They could not be set earlier, because the ECU depended on the closing exchange rate of the non-euro currencies (principally the pound sterling) that day.Greece failed to meet the criteria for joining initially, so it did not join the common currency on 1 January, 1999. It was admitted two years later, on 1 January2001, at the following exchange rate:•340.750 Greek drachma (GRD)The procedure used to fix the irrevocable conversion rate between the drachma and the euro was different, since the euro by then was already two years old. While the conversion rates for the initial eleven currencies were determined only hours before the euro was introduced, the conversion rate for the Greek drachma was fixed several months beforehand, in Council Regulation 1478/2000 (EC), of 19 June2000.The currency was introduced in non-physical form (travellers' cheques, electronic transfers, banking, etc.) at midnight on 1 January, 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the Eurozone) ceased to exist independently in that their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other, effectively making them mere non-decimal subdivisions of the euro; the euro thus became the successor to the older European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new notes and coins were introduced on 1 January2002.The changeover period during which the former currencies' notes and coins were exchanged for those of the euro generally lasted two months, until 28 February, 2002. The official date on which the national currencies ceased to be legal tender varied from member state to member state. The earliest date was in Germany, where the mark officially ceased to be legal tender on 31 December, 2001, though the exchange period lasted two months. The final date was 28 February2002, by which all national currencies ceased to be legal tender in their respective member states. (Note that some of these dates were earlier than was originally planned.) However, even after the official date, they continued to be accepted by national central banks for several years, and in some states for several decades hence. The earliest coins to become non-convertible were the Portuguese escudos, which ceased to have monetary value after 31 December2002, although banknotes do remain exchangeable until 2022.Alt hough some countries are not printing the €500 and €200 banknotes, all banknotes are legal tender throughout the Eurozone. Finland decided not to mint or circulate one-cent and two-cent coins, except in small numbers for collectors. All cash transactions in Finland ending in one or two cents are rounded down and three or four cents are rounded up. Despite this convention, the one-cent and two-cent coins are still legal tender in Finland.Participation in the Economic and Monetary UnionMain article: EurozoneCountries using the euroAt present the member states officially using the euro are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France (except Pacific territories using the CFP franc), Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Overseas territories of some Eurozone countries, such as French Guiana, Réunion, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, and Martinique, also use the euro. These countries together are frequently referred to as the "Eurozone", "Euroland" or more rarely as "Eurogroup".Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City previously used currencies that were replaced by the euro, and now mint their own euro coins by virtue of agreements () concluded with EU member states (Italy in the case of San Marino and Vatican City, and France in the case of Monaco), on behalf of the European Community.Andorra, Montenegro, and Kosovo also used currencies that were replaced by the euro (the French franc and Spanish peseta in the case of Andorra, and the German mark in the case of Montenegro and Kosovo). They have now adopted the euro as their de facto currencies, without having entered into any legal arrangements with the EU that explicitly permit them to do so. In October 2004, Andorra began negotiating a monetary agreement with the European Union that would allow the country to issue euro coins as Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City do.Many of the foreign currencies that were pegged to European currencies are now pegged to the euro. For example, the escudo of Cape Verde used to be pegged to the Portuguese escudo, but is now pegged to the euro. Bosnia-Herzogovina uses a convertible mark which was pegged to the Deutsche mark but is now pegged to the Euro. Similarly the CFP franc, CFA franc and Comoros franc, all once pegged to the French franc, are now pegged to the euro. In November 2004, during a meeting in Portugal, the prime minister of Cape Verde considered adopting the Euro as his country's currency, today the currency is commonly accepted in the archipelago.EU-members outside the EurozoneThe ten newest European Union members should eventually use the euro, as EMU membership was part of their accession agreements. Estonia, Lithuania, and Slovenia have already joined Denmark in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM II. The dates these ten states hope to join the EMU vary: 1 January, 2007for Estonia, Slovenia and Lithuania 1 (http://www.lb.lt/news/pg.dll?lng=EN&did=1014)(since they are already part of ERM II); 2007 for Cyprus; 2008 for Latvia, Malta and Slovakia; 2009 for the Czech Republic and Poland; and finally 2010 for Hungary. Estonia finalized the design for the country's coins' reverse side in late 2004. 1 () 2 ()The United Kingdom and Sweden have no plans at present to adopt the euro—however Sweden (unlike the UK and Denmark) does not have a formal opt-out from the monetary union and therefore must (in theory at least) convert to the euro at some point. Notwithstanding this, on the 14 September, 2003, a Swedish referendum was held on the euro, the result of which was arejection of the common currency. The Swedish government has argued that such a line of action is possible since one of the requirements for Eurozone membership is a prior two-year membership of the ERM II. By simply choosing to stay outside the exchange rate mechanism, the Swedish government is provided a formal loophole avoiding the theoretical requirement of adopting the euro. Sweden's major parties continued to believe that it would be in the national interest to join.UK Eurosceptics believe that the single currency is merely a stepping stone to the formation of a unified European superstate. The contrary view is that, since intra-European exports make up 60% of the UK's total, it eases the Single Market by removing currency risk. An interesting parallel can be seen in the 19th century discussions concerning the possibility of the UK joining the Latin Monetary Union[1] (). The UK government has set five economic tests that must be passed before it can recommend that the UK join the euro. It assessed these tests in October 1997 and June 2003, and decided on both occasions that they had not all been passed. Both main political parties in the UK have promised to hold a referendum before joining the Euro, and opinion polls consistently report a majority of the public to be opposed to doing so.Denmark negotiated a number of opt-out clauses from the Maastricht treaty after it had been rejected in a first referendum (namely, Denmark attained an opt-out from joint defence, common currency, judicial cooperation, and European citizenship). The modified treaty was then accepted in another referendum one year after the first one. In 2000, another referendum was held in Denmark regarding the euro; once more, the population decided to stay outside the eurozone for now. However, Danish politicians have suggested that debate on abolishing the four opt-out clauses may be re-opened in late 2005 or early 2006. In addition, Denmark has pegged its krone to the euro (€1 = DKr7.43), something which Sweden has not done.Bulgaria and RomaniaAlthough Bulgaria is not a member state yet (member as of January 12007), the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) and the Bulgarian government have agreed on the introduction of the euro in mid 2009, when the Bulgarian National Bank is expected to become part of the EMU and will receive the right to issue Bulgarian Euro coins. The early accession to the EMU is due to the extremely tight monetary policy currently in use, which is the result of Bulgaria's agreement with the Monetary Board. In 1999 the Bulgarian currency was re-denominated (1 New Lev = 1000 Old Levs) and the value of the lev was fixed to one German Mark, therefore its value has since been fixed in relation to the euro. Even at this point of time Bulgaria has fulfilled the great majority of the EMU membership critiria.As for Romania (member as of January 12007), it is likely to join the Eurozone in the 2012-2013 period. However, there is no clear strategy of the Romanian government at this point, so the actual date depends on the future development in the Romanian fiscal and monetary policies.Effects of a single currencyHaving a single currency is expected to increase the economic interdependency of and the ease of trade between the EU members that have adopted the euro. This, in theory, should be beneficial for citizens of the euro area, as increases in trade are historically one of the main driving forces of economic growth. Moreover, this would fit with the long-term purpose of a unified market within the European Union.A major benefit is the removal of bank currency transaction charges that previously was a significant cost to both individuals and businesses when changing from one currency to another. Conversely, banks will suffer a significant reduction in profits with the loss of this income.A second effect of the common European currency is that differences in prices—in particular in price levels—will decrease. Differences in prices can trigger arbitrage, e.g. trade between countries, which will equalise prices across the euro area. Often this will also result in increased competition between companies, which should help to contain inflation and which therefore will be beneficial to consumers.Some economists are concerned about the possible dangers of adopting a single currency for a large and diverse area. Because the Eurozone has a single monetary policy (and so a single interest rate), set by the ECB, it cannot be fine-tuned for the economic situation in each individual country. Public investment and fiscal policy in each country is thus the only way in which economic changes can be introduced specific to each region or nation. Eurozone members are experiencing large variations in inflation and unemployment, though not yet great enough to cause significant economic damage.Others point out that the Eurozone is similar in size and population to the United States, which has a single currency and a single monetary policy set by the Federal Reserve. However, the individual states that make up the USA have less regional autonomy and a more homogeneous economy than the nations of the EU. Of particular concern is the notion that the economies of the EU may not all be 'in sync'—each may be at a different stage in the boom and bust cycle, or just be experiencing different inflationary pressures. Labour mobility is also higher in the United States than across the Eurozone.It can also be argued that the single currency works for the USA because the US dollar is a hegemonic currency. Before the euro, eighty per cent of the world's currency reserves were held in US dollars. This gives the US economy a huge subsidy in that reserve dollars are invested in US institutions or foreign institutions under US control. This subsidy helps cushion the effects of a possible strong dollar hurting certain regions of the USA.If the euro were to become either a hegemonic currency replacing the dollar or a co-hegemonic currency equal in reserve status to the dollar, some of the subsidy the USA gains would be transferred to the EU and help balance out some of the problems of the present heterogeneous economic structure still in place.It has been said that the euro would add great liquidity to the financial markets in Europe. Governments and companies can now borrow money in euros instead of their local currency, andthis would allow access to many more sources of funds. Other economists consider that the potential strength of the Eurozone would be in the coherent efforts of a virtual greater super-economy, in which it is now potentially easier to create stronger financial associations, rather than in the mere sum of single liquidities.The euro and oilA final and possibly decisive effect is on the pricing of oil. The Eurozone consumes more imported oil than the United States. This would mean that more euros than US dollars would flow into the OPEC nations, except that oil is priced by those nations in US dollars only. There have been frequent discussions at OPEC about pricing oil in euros, which would have various effects, among them, requiring nations to hold stores of euros to buy oil, rather than the US dollars that they hold now. Venezuela under Hugo Chávez has been a vocal proponent of this scheme, despite selling most of its own oil to the United States. If implemented, this would be a transfer of a 'float' that presently subsidises the United States to subsidise the European Union instead. Another effect would be that the price of oil in the Eurozone would more closely follow the world price. When oil prices skyrocketed to almost 50 US dollars in August2004, the oil price in euros didn't change nearly as much because of the concurrent rise in the exchange rate of the euro to the US dollar (to an exchange rate of EUR 1.00 = USD 1.33 in December 2004). Similarly, should oil prices lower significantly, together with the USD/EUR exchange rate, the oil price in the Eurozone would not fall as much. On the other hand, if the exchange rate and the oil price move in different directions, oil price changes are magnified. Pricing oil in euros would nullify this dependancy of European oil prices on the USD/EUR exchange rate.The deficit structure of the US economy relies heavily on the dollar's hegemonic reserve status as a means of securing US debts and deficits. Without this status, the dollar and the US economy might experience what many Latin American countries experienced during the 1980s. As long as the US dollar was not threatened, the US economy was in no danger of collapse. The individual European currencies offered no threat to the dollar's hegemonic position. In the opinion of some economists the euro may pose a threat to US dollar hegemony, and could under certain circumstances result in a US economic collapse.Euro exchange rateAgainst the US DollarAfter the introduction of the euro, its exchange rate against other currencies, especially the US dollar, declined heavily. At its introduction in 1999, the euro was worth USD $1.18; by late 2000 it had fallen to below $0.85. It then began what at the time was thought to be a recovery; by the beginning of 2001 it had risen to $0.95. It declined again, finally reaching a low of below $0.84 in July 2001. The currency then began to recover against the U.S. dollar. In the wake of U.S. corporate scandals, the two currencies reached parity on 15 July, 2002, and by the end of 2002 the euro had reached $1.04 as it climbed further.On 23 May, 2003, the euro surpassed its initial trading value for the first time as it again hit $1.18, and broke the $1.35 barrier (€0.74 = $1) on 24 December, 2004. On 30 December, 2004 it reached a peak of $1.3668. Some analysts expect the euro to continue to strengthen against the dollar, possibly even to as much as $1.60 by the end of 2005.For information on currencies pegged to euro, see: Currencies related to the euroDriversPart of the euro's strength is thought to be due to more attractive interest rates in Europe than in the United States. The US Federal Reserve has maintained lower rates than the ECB for some years, despite key European economies, notably Germany, growing relatively slowly or not at all. This is attributed in part to the ECB's duty to check inflation across the Eurozone, which in high-performing countries such as Republic of Ireland is above the ECB's target.However, although the interest rate differential forms part of the backdrop, the main reason for the euro's continuing ascent against the dollar is the concern over the huge unsustainable US current account deficits. The market has been awash with concerns about the US twin deficits, which have been a key driver of dollar weakness. The US budget deficit is about $427 billion, or 3.7% of gross domestic product(GDP), while the current account—the broadest trade measure since it adds investment flows—hit a record $166.18bn shortfall in the second quarter of 2004.A key factor is that a number of Asian currencies are rising less against the dollar than the euro is. In the case of China, the renminbi is pegged against the dollar, whilst the Japanese yen is supported by intervention (and the threat of it) by the Bank of Japan. This means much of the pressure from a falling dollar is translated into a rising euro.The euro's climb from its lows began shortly after it was introduced as a cash currency. In the time between 1999and 2002, eurosceptics tried to imply the weak euro was a sign that the euro experiment was doomed to fail. But it can also be said that its weakness in this period was due to low confidence in a currency that did not exist in "real" form. Once the euro became "real" in the sense of existing in the form of cash, the confidence in the euro rose and the increasing perception that it was here to stay helped increase its value. This effect was probably significant in the euro's decline and recovery between 1999 and 2002, but other factors are more significant since then.ConsequencesDespite the euro's rise in value, as well as the value of other major and minor currencies, the US trade deficits continue to rise. Economic theory would suggest that a fall in the dollar and a rise in the euro should lead to an improvement in US exports and a decline in US imports, as the former becomes cheaper and the latter more expensive. However, this depends to some extent on how currency costs are passed down the supply chain. Furthermore, the declining dollar makes foreign investment in the US cheaper (although also reducing the return), so that continuing foreign investment may underpin the dollar to some extent.The role of the dollar as the world's de facto reserve currency helps support both the dollar and the US budget deficit - but it depends on the continued willingness of foreigners to finance both. Central banks and others finance the budget by acquiring newly-issued, dollar-denominated US government bonds, which they need to acquire dollars for. If at some point foreigners become unwilling to accept new bonds at the prevailing interest rate (perhaps because the falling dollar is reducing the bonds' value too much), the dollar will fall even more - or the US will have to raise interest rates, which would reduce economic growth.There is speculation that the strength of the euro relative to the dollar might encourage the use of the euro as an alternative reserve currency; Saddam Hussein's Iraq switched its currency reserves from dollars to euros in 2000. Moves by central banks with major reserve currency holdings such as those of India or China to switch some of their reserves from dollars to euros, or even of OPEC countries to switch the currency they trade in from dollars to euros, will further reinforce the dollar's decline. In 2004, the Bank for International Settlements reported the proportion of bank deposits held in euros rising to 20%, from 12% in 2001, and it is continuously rising. The falling dollar also raises returns for US investors from investing in foreign stocks, encouraging a switch which further depresses the dollar.[2] (/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/20041220/ts_latimes/shifttofore ignstockssappingthedollar)The rise in the euro should dampen Eurozone exports, but there is little sign of this happening yet. The main reason is that the currencies of Euroland's major world-wide customers are also seeing their currencies rise relative to the dollar. As the current account deficits continue to rise and the US plans no austerity measures to curb foreign imports and increase exports, the situation may cause the US dollar to lose its position as a hegemonic currency replaced by either the euro or the euro and a basket of currencies.•Current dollar/euro exchange rates (BBC) ()•Current and historical exchange rates against 29 other currencies (European Central Bank) ()•Historical exchange rate from 1971 till now ()Plural formation and grammarMain article: Linguistic issues concerning the euroSeveral linguistic issues have arisen in relation to the spelling of the words euro and cent in the many languages of the member states of the European Union, as well as in relation to grammar and the formation of plurals. Immutable word formations have been encouraged by the European Commission in usage with official EU legislation (originally in order to ensure uniform presentation on the banknotes), but the "unofficial" practice concerning the mutability (or not) of the words differs between the member states.The (misnomer) "euro-cent" is sometimes used in countries (such as USA, Canada, Australia) that also have "cent" as a subcurrency, to distinguish them from the local coin. The term "Eurodollar",which commonly refers to US dollar deposits in European banks, has occasionally been used incorrectly to refer to the Euro by some US sources.The euro signThe international three-letter code (according to ISO standard ISO 4217) for the euro is EUR. A special euro currency sign (€) was also designed. After a public survey had narrowed the original ten proposals down to just two, it was then up to the European Commission to choose the final design. The eventual winner had been designed by Arthur Eisenmenger and was inspired by the Greek letter epsilon(ε), as well as being a stylised version of the letter "E".The euro is represented in the Unicode character set with the character name EURO SIGN and the code position U+20AC (decimal 8364) as well as in updated versions of the traditional Latin character sets. Western nations should switch from ISO 8859-1 (Latin 1) to ISO 8859-15 (Latin 9) or Unicode in order to represent this character. ISO 8859-16represents this character also. In HTML"€" can also be used. The HTML masking was only introduced with HTML 4.0; shortly after the introduction of the euro, many browsers were unable to render it.A selection of the euro signs in various fonts: standard, Arial, Times New Roman, Comic Sans, Courier New, Lucida Console, Microsoft Sans Serif, Verdana.The European Commission originally specified the euro sign to have exact proportions, not varying from font to font. By this specification, the euro sign would have effectively been a logo, unlike designable characters such as the letters or other currency signs like the dollar and pound signs. Keeping it to exact measurements would have made it rather broad in comparison to other symbols and digits in most fonts and would sometimes have resulted in layout problems. For these reasons, most type designers have ignored the commission and designed their own variants for each font instead, often based upon the capital letter C in the respective font. The illustration at the top of this article is of the official, invariant euro sign.On many computer keyboards, the euro sign often appears as secondary function to the letter E, which can be reached by the Alt or Alt Gr key (Ctrl+Alt on US PC keyboards). On modern Irish and British keyboards (where that position was already in use for é), the euro sign appears as a secondary function to the digit 4 (digit 2 on Macintosh keyboards). Some mobile phone companies did an interim software update on their special SMS character set, replacing the rarely used symbol for the Japanese yen with the euro sign: modern phones have both currency signs.No "official" recommendation is made with regard to the use of a cent sign, and sums are often expressed as fractions of the euro (for example €0.05 rather than 5¢ or 5c). The small letter c is often used (as it was for the guilder subdivision cent). In Ireland, the small letter c is often seen (for instance on postage stamps) but in shops the cent sign ¢ makes an appearance from time to。

TourismTourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. A tourist is someone who travels at least fifty miles from home, as defined by the World Tourism Organization (a United Nations body).A more comprehensive definition would be that tourism is a service industry, comprising a number of tangible and intangible components.✧The tangible elements include➢transport systems - air, rail, road, water and now, space;➢hospitality services - accommodation, foods and beverages, tours, souvenirs; and related services such as banking, insurance and safety & security.✧The intangible elements include: rest and relaxation, culture, escape, adventure, new anddifferent experiences.Many sovereignties, along with their respective countries and states, depend heavily upon travel expenditures by foreigners as a source of taxation and income for the enterprises that sell (export) services to these travellers. Consequently the development of tourism is often a strategy employed either by a Non-governmental organization(NGO) or a governmental agency to promote a particular region for the purpose of increasing commerce through exporting goods and services to non-locals.Sometimes Tourism and Travel are used interchangeably. In this context travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey.The term tourism is sometimes used pejoratively, implying a shallow interest in the societies and natural wonders that the tourist visits.Prerequisite factors"Travel", as an economic activity, occurs when the essential parameters come together to make it happen. In this case there are three such parameters:1.Disposable income, i.e. money to spend on non-essentials2.Time in which to do so.3.Infrastructure in the form of accommodation facilities and means of transport.Individually, sufficient health is also a condition, and of course the inclination to travel. Furthermore, in some countries there are legal restrictions on travelling, especially abroad.HistoryWealthy people have always travelled to distant parts of the world to see great buildings or other works of art; to learn new languages; or to taste new cuisine. As long ago as the time of the Roman Republic places such as Baiae were popular coastal resorts for the rich.The terms tourist and tourism were first used as official terms in 1937 by the League of Nations. Tourism was defined as people travelling abroad for periods of over 24 hours.The Grand TourThe word tour gained acceptance in the 18th century, when the Grand Tour of Europe became part of the upbringing of the educated and wealthy British nobleman or cultured gentleman. Grand tours were taken in particular by young people to "complete" their education. They travelled all over Europe, but notably to places of cultural and aesthetic interest, such as Rome, Tuscany and the Alps.The British aristocracy were particularly keen on the Grand Tour, using the occasion to gather art treasures from Europe to add to their collections. The volume of art treasures being moved to Britain in this way was unequalled anywhere else in Europe, and explains the richness of many private and public collections in Britain today. Yet tourism in those days, aimed essentially at the very top of the social ladder and at the well educated, was fundamentally a cultural activity. These first tourists, though undertaking their Grand Tour, were more travellers than tourists.Most major British artists of the eighteenth century did the "Grand Tour", as did their great European contemporaries such as Claude Lorrain. Classical architecture, literature and art have always drawn visitors to Rome, Naples, Florence.The Romantic movement (inspired throughout Europe by the English poets William Blake and Lord Byron, among others), extended this to Gothic countryside, the Alps, fast flowing rivers, mountain gorges, etc.Health tourism & leisure travelIt was not until the 19th century that cultural tourism developed into leisure and health tourism. Some English travellers, after visiting the warm lands of the South of Europe, decided to stay there either for the cold season or for the rest of their lives. Others began to visit places with health-giving mineral waters, in order to relieve a whole variety of diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis.Leisure Travel was a British invention due to sociological factors. Britain was the first European country to industrialize, and the industrial society was the first society to offer time for leisure to a growing number of people. Not initially the working masses, but the owners of the machinery of production, the economic oligarchy, the factory owners, the traders, the new middle class.The British origin of this new industry is reflected in many place names. At Nice, one of the first and most well established holiday resorts on the French Riviera, the long esplanade along the sea front is known to this day as the Promenade des Anglais; and in many other historic resorts in continental Europe, old well-established palace hotels have names like the Hotel Bristol, Hotel Carlton or Hotel Majestic - reflecting the dominance of English customers to whom these resorts catered in the early years.Winter tourismEven winter sports were largely invented by the British leisured classes initially at the Swiss village of Zermatt (Valais) (year?) and St Moritz in 1864.Until the first tourists appeared, the Swiss thought of the long snowy winter as being a time when the best thing to do was to stay indoors and make cuckoo clocks or other small mechanical items.The first packaged winter sports holidays (vacations) followed in 1903, to Adelboden, also in Switzerland.Organized sport was well established in Britain before it reached other countries. The vocabulary of sport bears witness to this: rugby, football, and boxing all originated in Britain, and even Tennis, originally a French sport, was formalized and codified by the British, who hosted the first national championship in the nineteenth century, at Wimbledon. Winter sports were a natural answer for a leisured class looking for amusement during the coldest season.Mass travelMass travel could not really begin to develop until two things occurred.a) improvements in technology allowed the transport of large numbers of people in a shortspace of time to places of leisure interest, andb) greater numbers of people began to enjoy the benefits of leisure time. A major developmentwas the invention of the railways, which brought many of Britain's seaside towns within easy distance of Britain's urban centres.The father of modern mass tourism was Thomas Cook who, on 5 July1841, organized the first package tour in history, by chartering a train to take a group of temperance campaigners from Leicester to a rally in Loughborough, some twenty miles away. Cook immediately saw the potential for business development in the sector, and became the world's first tour operator.He was soon followed by others, with the result that the tourist industry developed rapidly in early Victorian Britain. Initially it was supported by the growing middle classes, who had time off from their work, and who could afford the luxury of travel and possibly even staying for periods of time in boarding houses.However, the Bank Holiday Act 1871 introduced a statutory right for workers to take holidays, even if they were not paid at the time. (As an aside, in the UK there is still no obligation to pay staff who do not work on public holidays.)The combination of short holiday periods, travel facilities and distances meant that the first holiday resorts to develop in Britain were towns on the seaside, situated as close as possible to the growing industrial conurbations.For those in the industrial north, there were Blackpool in Lancashire, and Scarborough in Yorkshire. For those in the Midlands, there were Weston-super-Mare in Somerset and Skegness in Lincolnshire, for those in London there were Southend-on-Sea, Broadstairs, Brighton, Eastbourne, and a whole collection of other places.In travelling to the coast, the population was following in the steps of Royalty. King George III is widely acknowledged as popularising the seaside holiday, due to his regular visits to Weymouth when in poor health.For a century, domestic tourism was the norm, with foreign travel being reserved, as before, for the rich or the culturally curious. A minority of resorts, such as Bath, Harrogate and Matlock, emerged inland. After World War II holiday villages such as Butlins and Pontins emerged, but their popularity waned with the rise of package tours and the increasing comforts to which visitors became accustomed at home. Towards the end of the 20th century the market was revived by the upmarket inland resorts of Dutch company Centre Parcs.Other phenomena that helped develop the travel industry were paid holidays:• 1.5 million manual workers in Britain had paid holidays by 1925•11 million by 1939 (30% of the population in families with paid holidays)Outside BritainSimilar processes occurred in other countries, though at a slower rate, given that nineteenth century Britain was far ahead of any other nation in the world in the process of industrialisation.In the USA, the first great seaside resort, in the European style, was Atlantic City, New Jersey.In Continental Europe, early resorts included Ostend(for the people of Brussels), and Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) and Deauville (Calvados) (for Parisians).International mass tourismIncreasing speed on railways meant that the tourist industry could develop internationally. By 1901, the number of people crossing the English Channel from England to France or Belgium had passed 0.5 million per year.However it was with cheap air travel in combination with the package tour that international mass tourism developed after 1963. For the worker living in greater London, Brindisi today is almost as accessible as Brighton was 100 years ago.Recent developmentsThere have been a few temporary setbacks in tourism, the latest being related to the September 11, 2001 attacks and terrorist threats to tourist destinations such as Bali and European cities. Some of the tourist destinations, including the Costa del Sol, the Baleares and Cancun have lost popularitydue to shifting tastes and perceptions among tourists. In this context, the excessive building and environmental destruction often associated with traditional "sun and beach" tourism may contribute to a destination's saturation and subsequent decline. This appears to be the case with Spain's Costa Brava, a byword for this kind of tourism in the 1960s and 1970s. With only 11% of the Costa Brava now unblemished by low-quality development (Greenpeace Spain's figure), the destination now faces a crisis in its tourist industry. Belated attempts to move towards "quality tourism" are difficult given competition from cheaper, unspoilt holiday destinations on the one hand and the legacy of decades of over-exploitation on the other. In many respects, Tenerife provides a paradigm of the negative impact of mass tourism. Organizations like Greenpeace and ATAN () are particularly critical of development on the island, arguing that Tenerife's current tourism industry is both economically and environmentally unsustainable.Receptive tourism is now growing at a very rapid rate in many developing countries, where it is often the most important economic activity in local GDP.In recent years, second holidays or vacations have become more popular as people's disposable income increases. Typical combinations are a package to the typical mass tourist resort, with a winter skiing holiday or weekend break to a city or national park.On 26 December2004 a tsunami 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake hit Asian countries bordering the Indian Ocean, and also the Maldives. Tens of thousands of lives were lost, and many tourists died. This, together with the vast clean-up operation in place, has stopped or severely hampered tourism to the area.Special forms of tourismFor the past few decades other forms of tourism, also known as niche tourism, have been becoming more popular, particularly:•Adventure tourism: Tourism involving travel in rugged regions, or adventurous sports such as mountaineering and hiking (tramping).•Agritourism: Farm based tourism, helping to support the local agricultural economy.•Armchair tourism and virtual tourism: not travelling physically, but exploring the world through internet, books, TV, etc.•Cultural tourism: Includes urban tourism, visiting historical or interesting cities, such as London, Paris, Prague, Rome, Cairo, Beijing, Kyoto, and experiencing their cultural heritages. May also consist of specialized cultural experiences, such as art museum tourism where one visits many art museums during the tour, or opera tourism where one sees many operas or concerts during the tour.•Disaster tourism: travelling to a disaster scene not primarily for helping, but because one finds it interesting to see. It can be a problem if it hinders rescue, relief and repair work.•Drug tourism (for use in that country, or, legally often extremely risky, for taking home) •Ecotourism: Sustainable tourism which has minimal impact on the environment, such as safaris (Kenya) and Rainforests (Belize), or national parks.•Educational tourism: May involve travelling to an education institution, a wooded retreat or some other destination in order to take personal-interest classes, such as cooking classes with a famous chef or crafts classes.•Gambling tourism, e.g. to Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Macau or Monte Carlo for the purpose of gambling at the casinos there.•Gay tourism: Tourism marketed to gays who wish to travel to gay-friendly destinations which feature a gay infrastructure (bars, businesses, restaurants, hotels, nightlife, etc.), the opportunity to socialize with other gays, and the feeling that one can relax safely among other gay people.•Heritage tourism: Visiting historical or industrial sites, such as old canals, railways, battlegrounds, etc.•Health tourism: Usually to escape from cities or relieve stress, perhaps for some 'fun in the sun', etc. Often to "health spas".•Hobby tourism: Tourism alone or with groups to participate in hobby interests, to meet others with similar interests, or to experience something pertinent to the hobby. Examples might be garden tours, or square dance cruises.•Medical tourism, e.g.:o for what is illegal in one's own country, e.g. abortion, euthanasia; for instance, euthanasia for non-citizens is provided by Dignitas in Switzerland.o for advanced care that is not available in one's own countryo in the case that there are long waiting lists in one's own countryo for use of free or cheap health care organisations•Perpetual tourism: Wealthy individuals always on holiday, some of them, for tax purposes, to avoid being resident in any country.•Regional tourism Tourism bundle of few country in the region, using one of the country as the transit point. The country of transit point is usually a country with good transport infrastructure. e.g. Singapore is the base for tourism for South East Asia due to its strategic location and good transport infrastructure.•Sex tourism: mostly men from First World countries visiting Third World countries for purpose of engaging in sexual acts, usually with inexpensive local prostitutes. This form of tourism is often cited the principal way that paedophiles can hire child prostitutes.•Sport tourism: Skiing, golf and scuba diving are popular ways to spend a vacation. Also in this category is vacationing at the winter home of one's favorite baseball team, and seeing them play everyday.•Space tourismTrendsThe World Tourism Organization forecasts that international tourism will continue growing at the average annual rate of 4 percent. By 2020 Europe will remain the most popular destination, but its share will drop from 60 percent in 1995 to 46 percent. Long-haul will grow slightly faster than intraregional travel and by 2020 its share will increase from 18 percent in 1995 to 24 percent.✧Space tourism is expected to "take off" in the first quarter of the 21st century, althoughcompared with traditional destinations the number of tourists in orbit will remain low until technlogies such as space elevator make space travel cheap.✧Technological improvement is likely to make possible air-ship hotels, based either onsolar-powered airplanes or large dirigibles. Underwater hotels, such as Hydropolis, slated to open in Dubai in 2006, will be built. On the surface of the ocean tourists will be welcomed by ever larger cruise ships and perhaps floating cities.✧Some futurists expect that movable hotel "pods" will be created that could be temporarilyerected anywhere on the planet, where building a permanent resort would be unacceptable politically, economically or environmentally.See also•Backpacking•Hospitality Services•Hotel•Passport•Pilgrimage•Tourism in literature•Transport•World Tourism Organization•World Tourism Rankings•List of popular tourist regions•List of types of lodging•List of international travel guides and web sites。

Frequent flyer programA Frequent Flyer Program is a service offered by many airlines to reward customer loyalty. Typically, airline customers enrolled in the program accrue points corresponding to the distance flown on that airline. Accrued points (also known as frequent flyer miles) can be redeemed for free air travel and other products or services, as well as allowing passengers to have increased benefits - such as airport lounge access, or priority bookings.With the introduction of airline alliances and code-share flights, frequent flyer programs are often extended to allow benefits to be used across partner airlines.Points accrualThe primary method of obtaining points in a frequent flyer program is to fly with the associated airline. Most systems reward travellers with a specific number of points based on the distance travelled (such as 1 point per mile flown), although systems vary. In Europe, for example, a number of airlines offer a fixed number of points per flight regardless of the distance. The calculation method can become complicated, with additional points given for flying first or business class, and often less points given when flying on discounted tickets.Many programs allow points to be obtained not just through flying, but by staying at participating hotels, or renting a vehicle from a participating company. Other methods include credit cards that offer points for charges made to the card, and systems which allow restaurant diners to earn miles by eating at participating restaurants.Programs differ on the expiry of points - some expire after a fixed time, and others expire if the account is inactive for an extended period (for example, three years.)Customer StatusMany frequent flyer programs identify travellers who fly more than a few times per year by awarding them different status levels, which in turn give a number of benefits that can not otherwise be purchased.Status levels vary from scheme to scheme, but benefits can include:•Access to business and first class lounges with an economy ticket•Access to other airline's lounges•Increased mileage accumulation (such as doubled or trebled)•Reserving an unoccupied adjacent seat•The ability to reserve specific seats, such as exit-row seats with more legroom•Free or discounted upgrades a higher travel class•Priority in waitlisting or flying standby•Preference in not being bumped if a flight is oversoldSome programs even permit élite members to reserve space on sold-out flights, giving members the ability of bumping regular passengers.Customer status is based on the number of miles actually flown with the airline, and points accrued through other methods such as credit cards purchase are not considered. Some airlines will recognise a customer's status with a competing airline, and grant them the same benefits.Some airlines offer accelerated admission to their élite programs through special promotions, such as flying 25,000 miles within one month and attains a top-tier membership normally reserved for passengers flying 100,000 miles per year.BankruptcyIn the wake of the September 11 attacks, some airlines have faced financial difficulties and there is concern frequent flyer's points could be wiped-out in a bankruptcy court proceeding. Historically, some programs have been bought out (such as TWA's acquisition by American Airlines), whilst others have lost all benefits and points with no compensation.See also•Loyalty card•Sales promotionExternal links•FlyerTalk () - an online travel community primarily focused on miles, points, and privileges•Airline Mile Guide ()•Travel4Miles () - a site comparing many Frequent Flyer Programs•WebFlyer () - a nire extensive comparison of FF programs。

Jack WelchJohn Francis (Jack) Welch Jr., born November 19, 1935, was CEO of General Electric, a multinational technology and services company between 1981 and 2001.Jack Welch may be the most talked about and widely emulated manager in business history. He has used his own uncanny instincts and unique leadership strategies to run GE, the most complex organization in the world, increasing its market value by more than $400 billion over two decades.Welch was born in Peabody, Massachusetts to Irish-Catholic parents John, a Boston & Maine Railroad conductor and Grace, a housewife. He attended Salem High School and later the University of Massachusetts , graduating in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering. He went on to receive his M.S. and , at the University of Illinois in 1960.Welch joined General Electric in 1960. He worked as a junior engineer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts , at a salary of $10,500. Welch was displeased with the $1000 raise he was offered after his first year, as well as the strict bureaucracy within GE. He planned to leave the company to work with International Minerals & Chemicals in Skokie, Illinois .However, Reuben Gutoff, a young executive one level higher than Welch, decided that the man was too valuable a resource for the company to lose. He took Welch and Welch's former wife Carolyn out to dinner at the Yellow Aster in Pittsfield, and spent four hours trying to convince Welch to stay. Gutoff vowed to work to change the bureaucracy to create a small-company environment."Trust me," Gutoff remembers pleading. "As long as I am here, you are going to get a shot to operate with the best of the big company and the worst part of it pushed aside.""Well, you are on trial," retorted Welch."I'm glad to be on trial," Gutoff said. "To try to keep you here is important."At daybreak, Welch gave him his answer. "It was one of my better marketing jobs in life," recalls Gutoff. "But then he said to me--and this is vintage Jack--'I'm still going to have the party because I like parties, and besides, I think they have some little presents for me.'" Some 12 years later, Welch would audaciously write in his annual performance review that his long-term goal was to become CEO.Welch was named vice president of GE in 1972. He moved up the ranks to become senior vice president in 1977 and vice chairman in 1979. Welch became GE's youngest chairman and CEO in 1981, succeeding Reginald H. Jones.Through the 1980s , Welch worked to streamline GE and make it a more competitive company. He shut down factories, reduced payrolls, cut lackluster old-line units. He also pushed the managers of the businesses he kept to become ever more productive. Welch worked to eradicate inefficiency by trimming inventories and dismantling the bureaucracy that had almost led him to leave GE in the past. Although he was initially treated with contempt by those under him for his policies, they eventually grew to respect him. Welch's strategy was later adopted by other CEOs across corporate America .Each year, Welch would fire the bottom 10% of his managers. He earned a reputation for brutal candor in his meetings with executives. He would push his managers to perform, but he would reward those in the top 20% with bonuses and stock options. He also expanded the broadness of the stock options program at GE from just top executives to nearly one third of all employees. Welch is also known for destroying the nine-layer management hierarchy and bringing a sense of informality to the company.In the early 1980s he was dubbed "Neutron Jack" (in reference to the neutron bomb ) for wiping out the employees while leaving the buildings intact. The chapter "the neutron years" in his book says that GE had 411,000 emplyees at the end of 1980, and 299,000 at the end of 1985. Of the 112,000 that left the payroll, 37,000 were in sold businesses, and 81,000 was reduced in continuing businesses.In 1986, GE acquired NBC. During the 90s , Welch helped to modernize GE by emphasizing a shift from manufacturing to services. He also made hundreds of acquisitions and made a push to dominate markets abroad. Welch adopted the Six Sigma (Six Sigma is a quality management program to achieve "six sigma" levels of quality) quality program in late 1995.In 1999 he was named "Manager of the Century" by Fortune magazine. Notable is his record salary of $94 million a year, followed by his record retirement-plan of $8 million a year.Some people believe that Welch is given too much credit for GE's success. They contend that individual managers are responsible for the company's success. For example, Gary C. Wendt led GE Capital, the financial services unit of general electric, to contribute nearly 40% of the company's total earnings and Robert C. Wright . television businessman worked to effect a turnaround at NBC, leading it to five years of double-digit earnings and the No.1 position in prime time ratings. (Prime time refers to the hours between 7 and 11 p.m. when the largest TV audience is available) Also, Welch did not rescue GE from great losses; indeed, the company had 16% annual earnings growth during the tenure of his predecessor, Reginald H. Jones. Critics also say that the pressure Welch imposes leads some employees to cut corners, possibly contributing to some of the defense-contracting scandals that have plagued GE, or to the humiliating Kidder, Peabody & Co. bond-trading scheme of the early 1990s that generated bogus profits".Nevertheless, Welch has led the company to massive revenues. In 1980, the year before Welch became CEO, GE recorded revenues of roughly $26.8 billion; in 2000, the year before he left, they were nearly $130 billion. Through its strong earnings and future growth estimates it was valued at $400 billion at the end of 2004, the world's largest corporation, up from America's tenth largest by market capitalization in 1981.A careful analysis of what results were simply from the increased values due to the rise of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) from 500 in 1980 to 12,500 in 2001 and today 10,500 ... would show that 95 % ++ of the results as GE were simply due to the market going up.During this period 1980-2000 (of Jack Welch being GE Chairman) GE revenues increases similarly were almost all due to inflation increases (which increased prices 100-200 % during this 1980-2000 period). So that a more clear analysis of the cause of GE market value and revenue increases would overwhelmingly credit the market going up and inflation.Welch has had a slight stutter since childhood. He had four children with his first wife, Carolyn. They divorced amicably in April 1987 after 28 years of marriage. His second wife, Jane Beasley, was a former mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer. She married Jack in April 1989 and they divorced in 2003. The second marriage is widely known as Jane cleverly included a provision to neutralize a prenuptial agreement that would have protected Welch's wealth in case of a divorce.Welch underwent triple bypass surgery in May 1995. He returned to work full time in September of the same year and also adopted an exercise schedule. Jack enjoys playing golf, a sport at which he has become quite good.。

Positioning (marketing)In marketing, positioning is the technique by which marketers try to create an image or identity for a product, brand, or organization. It is the 'place' a product occupies in a given market as perceived by the target market. Positioning is something that is done in the minds of the target market. A product's position is how potential buyers see the product. Positioning is expressed relative to the position of competitors. The term was coined in 1969 by Jack Trout in his paper, ""Positioning" is a game people play in today’s me-too market place" in the publication, Industrial Marketing.Re-positioning involves changing the identity of a product, relative to the identity of competing products, in the collective minds of the target market.Product positioning strategyThe ability to spot a positioning opportunity is a sure test of a person's marketing ability. Successful positioning strategies are usually rooted in a product's sustainable competitive advantage. The most common basis for constructing a product positioning strategy are:•positioning on specific product features•positioning on specific benefits, needs, or solutions•positioning on specific use categories•positioning on specific usage occasions•positioning against another product•positioning through product class dissociation•positioning by cultural symbolsProduct positioning processGenerally, the product positioning process involves:1.identifying competing products2.identifying the attributes (also called dimensions) that define the product 'space'3.collecting information from a sample of customers about their perceptions of eachproduct on the relevant attributes4.determine each products' share of mind5.determine each products' current location in the product space6.determine the target market's preferred combination of attributes (referred to as an idealvector)7.examine the fit between:a)the positions of competing productsb)the position of your productc)the position of the ideal vector8.select optimum positionThe process is similar for positioning your company's services. Services, however, don't have the physical attributes of products - that is, we can't feel them or touch them or show nice product pictures. So you need to ask first your customers and then yourself, what value do clients get from my services? How are they better off from doing business with me? Also ask: is there a characteristic that makes my services different?Write out the value customers derive and the attributes your services offer to create the first draft of your positioning. Test it on people who don't really know what you do or what you sell, watch their facial expressions and listen for their response. When they want to know more because you've piqued their interest and started a conversation, you'll know you're on the right track.For a free article on simple techniques for writing clearly about what you do and the products or services you sell, visit .Positioning conceptsMore generally, there are three types of positioning concepts:1.functional positionsa)solve problemsb)provide benefits to customers2.symbolic positionsa)self-image enhancementb)ego identificationc)belongingness and social meaningfulnessd)affective fulfillment3.experiential positionsa)provide sensory stimulationb)provide cognitive stimulationMeasuring the positioningPositioning is facilitated by a graphical technique called perceptual mapping, various survey techniques, and statistical techniques like multi dimensional scaling, factor analysis, conjoint analysis, and logit analysis.。