The Development of an Ethical Strategy for Managers of International Hotels in Third World Countries

This article discusses some of the dilemmas of conscience that greet the international hotel manager in the Third World. It offers realistic and ethical guidelines for decision-making and problem-solving. Some of these guidelines require only common sense and good will to implement; others require a great deal of creativity, sensitivity, effort, and care; and a few will demand the courage to stand up for what is right in the face of competitive pressure.

A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach to Compare and Contrast the Websites of China-based and U.S-based Hotels

The improvement in living standards and the development of telecommunications have led to a large increase in the number of Internet users in China. It has been reported by China National Network Information Center that the number of Internet users in China has reached 33.7 million in 2001, ranting the country third in the world. This figure also shows that more and more Chinese residents have accepted the Internet and use it to obtain information and compete their travel planning. Milne and Ateljevic stated that the integration of computing and telecommunications would create a global information network based mostly on the Internet. The Internet, especially the World Wide Web, has had a great impact on the hospitality and tourism industry in recent years. The WWW plays an important role in mediating between customers and hotel companies as a place to acquire information acquisition and transact business.

Trading democracy for security? The effects of the international drug war on the quality of democracy in the Dominican Republic, 1996–2008

The purpose of the research is to study the relationship between international drug interdiction policies and domestic politics in fragile democracies, and to demonstrate how international drug control policies and the use of force fit the rhetoric of war, are legitimized by the principles of a just war, but may also cause collateral damage and negative unintended consequences. The method used is a case study of the Dominican Republic. The research has found that international drug control regimes, primarily led by the U.S. and narrowly focused on interdiction, have influenced an increasingly militarized approach to domestic law enforcement in the Dominican Republic. The collateral damage caused by militarized enforcement comes in the form of negative perceptions of citizen security, loss of respect for the rule of law and due process, and low levels of civil society development. The drug war has exposed the need for significant reform of the institutions charged with carrying out enforcement, the police force and the judicial system in particular. The dissertation concludes that the extent of drug trafficking in the Dominican Republic is beyond the scope of domestic reform efforts alone, but that the programs implemented do show some potential for future success. The dissertation also concludes that the framework of warfare is not the most appropriate for the international problems of drug traffic and abuse. A broader, multipronged approach should be considered by world policy makers in order to address all conditions that allow drugs to flourish without infringing upon democratic and civil rights in the process.

A Q-Methodology approach to investigating the relationship between level of reflection and typologies among prospective teachers in the physics learning assistant program at Florida International University

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand physics Learning Assistants' (LAs) views on reflective teaching, expertise in teaching, and LA program teaching experience and to determine if views predicted level of reflection evident in writing. Interviews were conducted in Phase One, Q methodology was used in Phase Two, and level of reflection in participants' writing was assessed using a rubric based on Hatton and Smith's (1995) "Criteria for the Recognition of Evidence for Different Types of Reflective Writing" in Phase Three. Interview analysis revealed varying perspectives on content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and experience in relation to expertise in teaching. Participants revealed that they engaged in reflection on their teaching, believed reflection helps teachers improve, and found peer reflection beneficial. Participants believed teaching experience in the LA program provided preparation for teaching, but that more preparation was needed to teach. Three typologies emerged in Phase Two. Type One LAs found participation in the LA program rewarding and believed expertise in teaching does not require expertise in content or pedagogy, but it develops over time from reflection. Type Two LAs valued reflection, but not writing reflections, felt the LA program teaching experience helped them decide on non-teaching careers and helped them confront gaps in their physics knowledge. Type Three LAs valued reflection, believed expertise in content and pedagogy are necessary for expert teaching, and felt LA program teaching experience increased their likelihood of becoming teachers, but did not prepare them for teaching. Writing assignments submitted in Phase Three were categorized as 19% descriptive writing, 60% descriptive reflections, and 21% dialogic reflections. No assignments were categorized as critical reflection. Using ordinal logistic regression, typologies that emerged in Phase Two were not found to be predictors for the level of reflection evident in the writing assignments. In conclusion, viewpoints of physics LAs were revealed, typologies among them were discovered, and their writing gave evidence of their ability to reflect on teaching. These findings may benefit faculty and staff in the LA program by helping them better understand the views of physics LAs and how to assess their various forms of reflection.

Trading Democracy for Security? The Effects of the International Drug War on the Quality of Democracy in the Dominican Republic, 1996 -2008

The purpose of the research is to study the relationship between international drug interdiction policies and domestic politics in fragile democracies, and to demonstrate how international drug control policies and the use of force fit the rhetoric of war, are legitimized by the principles of a just war, but may also cause collateral damage and negative unintended consequences. The method used is a case study of the Dominican Republic. The research has found that international drug control regimes, primarily led by the U.S. and narrowly focused on interdiction, have influenced an increasingly militarized approach to domestic law enforcement in the Dominican Republic. The collateral damage caused by militarized enforcement comes in the form of negative perceptions of citizen security, loss of respect for the rule of law and due process, and low levels of civil society development. The drug war has exposed the need for significant reform of the institutions charged with carrying out enforcement, the police force and the judicial system in particular. The dissertation concludes that the extent of drug trafficking in the Dominican Republic is beyond the scope of domestic reform efforts alone, but that the programs implemented do show some potential for future success. The dissertation also concludes that the framework of warfare is not the most appropriate for the international problems of drug traffic and abuse. A broader, multipronged approach should be considered by world policy makers in order to address all conditions that allow drugs to flourish without infringing upon democratic and civil rights in the process.

The Central European initiative : an approach to regional stabilization and democratic consolidation

This thesis examines how multilateral institutions can contribute to democratization and regional stability. It is a case study of the Central European Initiative (CEI), a regional intergovernmental organization founded by Italy and Austria in 1989 to undertake a regional integration process, and of its role in stabilizing post-communist democracies. Documents were collected at the CEI offices in Trieste, Italy, and interviews conducted with CEI officers, and data obtained from the websites of related organizations and of CEI member countries. The thesis probes the relevance of concepts derived from theories of international regimes and social constructivism. It shows that the CEI diffuses norms and institutional rules conducive to consolidating democracies, including the development of a free civil society, a relatively autonomous political society, rule of law, state bureaucracies that are usable by the new democratic governments, and functioning free market economies, addition, and fosters habits of dialogue, socializes participants, and supports the creation of supra-national identities.

An organizational learning approach to expatriate cross-cultural adjustment, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational learning and expatriation in overseas subsidiaries as well as in organizations as a whole. In doing so, two issues were addressed--(i) the use of expatriation as firms internationalize, and (ii) the significance of various factors to expatriate success as firms gain international experience. The sample of companies for this study was drawn from U.S. Fortune 500 multinational corporations (MNCs) in two sets of related industries--computers/electronics and petroleum/chemicals. Based on the learning that takes place within organizations as they increase their involvement overseas, a positive relationship was expected between international experience and expatriation when internationalization was low, and a negative relationship was expected when internationalization was high. Results indicate a significant positive relationship between country experience and the proportion of expatriates in that subsidiary when subsidiaries were relatively young, and a negative relationship, however not significant, for more mature subsidiaries. The relationship between overall firm degree of internationalization (DOI) and the proportion of expatriates in the firm as a whole was negative regardless of stage of internationalization, but this relationship was significant only for highly internationalized firms. It was further suspected that individual, environmental, and family-related characteristics would have a significant effect on the success of expatriates whose firms were low on internationalization, and that organizational characteristics would play a significant role in highly internationalized firms. Support for these hypotheses was received with respect to certain outcomes and some determinants of success. The preponderance of support was found for those addressing the effects of both environmental and family-related characteristics on the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates in firms with little international experience. Considerable support was also found for those hypotheses addressing the impact of organizational characteristics on the job satisfaction levels of expatriates assigned to mature subsidiaries. The relevant literatures on organizational learning and expatriation are reviewed, and a model is developed underlying the logic of the hypotheses. Research methods are then described in full detail, results are reported, and implications for theory and for management are discussed. ^

The exploration enhancement workshop: An exploration-based approach to facilitating identity formation in young adults

This dissertation reports an investigation of the utility of two intervention programs to facilitate identity formation by way of exploration, one designed from an explicitly self-construction point of view and the other designed from an explicitly self-discovery point of view. The self-construction program was implemented using cognitive skills and orientations derived from Berzonsky (1989), Grotevant (1987), and Kurtines (1999). The self-discovery program was implemented using affective insight development strategies derived from Csikszentmihalyi (1990), Maslow (1968), and Waterman (1990). Three sets of measures were used: (a) cognitive identity measures, (b) affective identity measures, and (c) overall identity measures. Ninety undergraduates from Florida International University completed the intervention. Participants were assigned to one of three intervention conditions (Cognitive, Affective, and Control) and were pretested and posttested on cognitive, affective, and overall identity measures. Intervention strategies were introduced and discussed in the context of specific goals and choices that participants brought to group. Intervention results were then analyzed in terms of the effectiveness of the intervention conditions in promoting their respective developmental domains. The intervention was effective in promoting identity development in comparison to the control condition, with the cognitive condition facilitating cognitive competence and the affective condition facilitating affective insight. Results are discussed in the context of the constructivist and discovery perspectives, as well as in light of the broadened view of exploration offered in this paper. ^

Global Learning and the Human Capability Approach: Florida International University Case Study

This case study traced the process in which Florida International University engaged to determine what students want and need from their undergraduate education. Using grounded theory, the authors discovered that the process was reflective of the human capability approach in the development of its global learning student learning outcomes.

Strategic Approach to Smoking Bans: Delaware Gaming Industry

A study of Delaware’s statewide smoking ban suggests that it may have had a significant negative economic impact on the state’s gaming industry. However, such impact may vary in different segments of the hospitality industry, and therefore, must be examined strategically and on a case-by-case basis. The specific market environment, including both demand and competition of each state or each municipality, should be carefully analyzed by both governmental decision makers and by hospitality operators who influence these decision makers.

An ethnopharmacological approach to multidrug -resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Evaluation of Italian plants used in the traditional healing of skin disease

One-third of botanical remedies from southern Italy are used to treat skin and soft tissue infections (SST's). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a common cause of SSTIs, is responsible for increased morbidity and mortality from infections. Therapeutic options are limited by antibiotic resistance. Many plants possess potent antimicrobial compounds for these disorders. Validation of traditional medical practices is important for the people who rely on medicinal plants. Moreover, identification of novel antibiotics and anti-pathogenic agents for MRSA is important to global healthcare.^ I took an ethnopharmacological approach to understand how Italian medicinal plants used for the treatment of SSTIs affect MRSA growth and virulence. My hypothesis was that plants used in folk remedies for SSTI would exhibit lower cytotoxicity and greater inhibition of bacterial growth, biofilm formation and toxin production in MRSA than plants used for remedies unrelated to the skin or for plants with no ethnomedical application. The field portion of my research was conducted in the Vulture-Alto Bradano area of southern Italy. I collected 104 plant species and created 168 crude extracts. In the lab, I screened samples for activity against MRSA in a battery of bioassays. Growth inhibition was analyzed using broth microtiter assays for determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration. Interference with quorum-sensing (QS) processes, which mediate pathogenicity, was quantified through RP-HPLC of δ-toxin production. Interference with biofilm formation and adherence was assessed using staining methods. The mammalian cytotoxicity of natural products was analyzed using MTT cell proliferation assay techniques.^ Although bacteriostatic activity was limited, extracts from six plants used in Italian folk medicine (Arundo donax, Ballota nigra, Juglans regia, Leopoldia comosa, Marrubium vulgare, and Rubus ulmifolius ) significantly inhibited biofilm formation and adherence. Moreover, plants used to treat SSTI demonstrated significantly greater anti-biofilm activity when compared to plants with no ethnomedical application. QSI activity was evident in 90% of the extracts tested and extracts from four plants ( Ballota nigra, Castanea saliva, Rosmarinus officinalis, and Sambucus ebulus) exhibited a significant dose-dependent response. Some of the plant remedies for SSTI identified in this study can be validated due to anti-MRSA activity.^

Ballots for Equality: An Approach to the Radical Tradition in U.S. Electoral Politics

Posing radical challenges to structural inequality is the defining quality of the Left. What role electoral politics might play in such processes is a dilemma of radical politics, the contours of which vary by historical and national contexts. For the U.S. Left there is a distinctive aspect of the dilemma directly related to the failure of a "Left" party of even the most moderate social democratic type to take root, creating a seemingly never ending debate over the value if any of "third party" progressive organizing. This debate is current, as illustrated by three divergent approaches; independent left electoral politics (Socialist Alternative), organizing within the less conservative of the dominant parties (Progressive Democrats of America), and a social movement focus outside the electoral process (Occupy Movement). The present day examples of alternative Left strategies noted here in passing are but three of many such specific organizational options for progressive politics. This article does not seek to advocate for any one of these options to the exclusion of the others but rather seeks to provide historical perspective.