Gastronomic Issues and Perspectives

Question: Discuss about the Gastronomic Issues and Perspectives. Answer: Introduction: Globalization is a process in which there is increased global connectivity and integration between the states-nations, individuals-households, corporations and organizations. It is the increased interdependence in the social, economic, cultural, technological, ecological and political spheres. Due to an interchange of ideas, views, products and aspects of culture, the international integration process is taking place. Homogenization and heterogenization are the two aspects of cultural globalization that have transformed the food production and consumption (Beck 2015). Homogenization is an aspect of globalization that involves the mixing of different cultural practices blended into one uniform cultural practice that does not allow the easy characterization of the different cultures (van den Broek 2015). It is the intermingling and interaction of the peoples cultures in such a manner that there is no identification of an individual culture due to merging into one single culture. A single culture is assimilated and there is a breakdown of the cultural barriers as a result of homogenization. It has a great impact on our culture and national identity overpowered by global industries and multinational organizations. Due to mixing of different cultures, people lose their own cultural identity and recognize and adopt others elements (Pieterse 2015). The things are getting standardized due to globalization and everything is same everywhere. For example, the brands like Mc Donalds, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks and Pizza Hut are popular food icons that are found everywhere and they are acting as universal solvents dissolving the homogenous food cultures into one common culture throughout the world. This is cultural homogenization where people are moving towards one culture homogeneity and losing their own culture. Due to the advent of globalization, the homogenization is taking place. Every country has their own culture and that makes a nation unique and different from other countries. However, due to homogenization, is establishing a single powerful culture-flattening a nations own cultural diversity especially of the developing countries. The introduction of Westernized cultures in terms of eating, living and working habits have made the US culture as the supreme power termed as modernization or Americanization that are posing a threat to the notion of development of a nation. The homogenization of the global diet is resulting in the loss of unique crops and indigenous delicacies (Benyon and Dunkerley 2014). Macdonalization is a popular term used by sociologist George Ritzer who explained the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant and the manifestations of a society while adopting these characteristics. It is the set of principles adopted by a fast food restaurant dominating the American society and other nations as a whole (Grace and Palmer 2015). The efficiency, calculability, predictability and control are the four principles that a fast food industry adopts. When a country adopts Macdonalization, it changes the consumer patterns and cultural hybridization takes place. The efficiency is explained in terms of minimization of time from a customers perspective from being hungry to getting full. Calculability is explained in terms of quantification. Macdonalization has developed the notion that a large amount of product should be delivered to the customer in a short span of time and should equalize a product of high quality. Predictability in McDonaldized organization is the delivery o f same quality and services of the products to the customers irrespective of the location. The fourth principle is the control that has uniform and standardized employees and replaced by non-human technologies (Soron 2013). The standardized menus of McDonalds are served with great quality, great tasting and keeping in mind the considerations and needs of the customers who are choosing eatables outside their homes. They serve burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, side snacks like fries, desserts, drinks like shakes and coffees. They serve quality foods with no preservatives, additives or fillers. The foods served are high in calories and protein content. Similarly, Starbucks deliver foods and drinks like coffee, bakery items, sandwiches, yoghurts, burgers and items with grilled cheese. Pizza Hut delivers pizzas, garlic bread, pasta, drinks and desserts. Macdonalization has both positive and negative effects on the society. People can get food instantly and there is an availability of services at large proportions. There is uniform quality and people can enjoy food and services even in the middle of the night. It has negative impacts like dehumanization, environmental and health hazards, irrationality of r ationality, low wages to the workers and have negative effects on the health due to consumption of fast foods (Dustin 2016). Disneyfication is the internationalization of US mass cultural entertainment values. It is the bigger, better and faster entertainment with a uniformity worldwide. The Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland offers entertainment and is transforming the society into theme parks that resemble Walt Disney Corporation. The aspects of Disneyfication includes the theming, hybrid consumption, merchandising and performative labor (Matusitz and Palermo 2014). The theming is related to the infusion of a place or object with a particular idea. The introduction of multiple consumer opportunities in a location is called hybrid-consumption. The promotion of services or goods with objects that bear promotion with logos or images is merchandising. It is the imaginary presentation that makes people believe that rest is real depicted in theme parks of Disneyland. People find Disney films as a form of entertainment and a way to alleviate boredom. People are cut from anxieties and stre ss of life and the theme parks have become a dominant model for consumerism and escapism (Benedict, M.A. and McMahon 2014). Cultural heterogenization in globalization is another aspect where there is dissemination of region culture and being accepted by other cultures and societies and enhances the cultural diversity of local society (Pfau, Kirley and Kashima 2013). There is interaction of different cultures influencing each other to form new cultural settings and change cultural forms while moving through time and space. It is the process of global cultural adaptation to local cultures defining cultural heterogenization. There are various manifestations of heterogenization in our daily life. The introduction of hybrid cultures like popularization of prominent icons like Starbucks, McDonaldss, Puma, and Walmart among people shows the incorporation of western culture in our life. The African and Eastern beats incorporation in American rap, use of Indian curry in English recipes and popularity of Buddhism in modern psychology are some of the examples of cultural heterogenization prevailing due to globalizat ion. It is an ambivalent process in which there is emerging of discrete cultural, national or civilization blocks occurring at the same time and spurred on by global flows (Chen and Ritzer 2015). Heterogenization occurs in order to preserve the indigenous cultures and regional sentiments of a country. It is called Slow Food movement which is a promotion to reduce fast food consumption to preserve the regional and traditional cuisine. It also strives to encourage the farming and livestock of the local ecosystem (Lindholm and Lie 2013). For example, McDonalds in India adopted the slow food movement as they serve chicken and fish burgers as in Indian culture, cow is regarded sacred and so there is no selling of burgers filled with beef. The Mc Donalds in Hong Kong serve Mac rice burgers in order to preserve the local culinary of Chinese rice dishes. It is an inexpensive and quick meal served in Hong Kong style rice dishes in order to preserve the traditional culinary and introduce heterogenization. Globalization cannot be stopped but in order to save our traditional culture we have to introduce the local culinary in our standardized foods. The homogenization has led to the failure to recognize our own cultural diversity and become modernized by adopting western culture. However, in the face of globalization, people should construct their own identities and help to defend the concept of homogenization and strive for the survival of local cultures. Macdonalization and Disneyfication also impose threats to the notions of a culture. Therefore, we have to adopt the good aspects of the globalization and should develop a sense of preserving the indigenous culture and eliminating the deleterious influences by introducing concepts of heterogeneity and slow food movement. Culinary tourism defined as the uniqueness in terms of memorable eating and drinking experiences. When the edible experiences are combined with travel, culinary tourism is introduced that provides the locals and tourists an authentic taste of food of that place. It is the exploration of the food through tourism (Long 2015). The culinary tourism is now a vital component along with the scenery, accommodation and climate that are important for the tourists. Gastronomy is the study of the food and culture relationship, the art of preparing and serving the delicate, rich and appetizing food (Cambourne et al. 2003). The culinary tourism also influences gastronomy as the style of cooking of a particular region and the art of good food eating attracts tourists to a particular place. The Slow Food Movement is one of the major driving forces that attract food tourism. It has major principles that envision the world in which people should have access and enjoy good food. It also aims to provide foods that are good for people, good for production and also good for the planet (Petrini 2013). Moreover, there are three interconnected principles of Slow Food Movement that defines their approach. The concept of Good, Clean and Fair is the philosophy of the Slow Food Movement. The healthy, flavored and quality food defines the concept of Good. The Clean is defined by the production of the food that is not harmful to the people who grow them as well as for the environment. The accessible prices for the customers, fair conditions for the producers to pay define the concept of Fair. The Slow Food Movement helps people to enjoy meat that is grass fed, free-range poultry, abstaining processed foods, preparation of natural ingredients from the scratch, raising own crops and creating awareness among the people about the food sources (Adams, Burke and Whitmarsh 2014). It also encourages people to support and follow the principles of Slow Food Movement. The concept of slow food is considered as a quiet revolution that helped to change the attitude of American food. The organization has helped to gather presence in the food worlds at international level and bringing people together from across the globe to share their common passion for food (Pookulangara and Shephard 2013). The experiences of food and wine in tourism are vital and are increasing being noticed as the prime motivators in travelling for tourists. They are the integral parts of tourism and are a major part for analysis. The introduction of food in tourism is an important instrument that promotes regional development and enhances visitor experience. The food and wine also encourage new visitors and increases the destination appeal. The gastronomy is an important aspect of tourism that helps to draw people to visit and experience the food and place. The type of foods, eating habits, style of cooking, trends in food consumption helps to attract tourists in a particular place enhancing the economy of that particular place. The gastronomy in tourism links the regional and local economies and as a result helps to enrich the rural economics, regenerate the local identity and re-value the natural tradition and heritage (Hall and Sharples 2003). Moreover, gastronomy with tourism is an important tool and strategy adopted by a region for the development of tourism and increase chances of development. The hospitality sector benefits and contributes to the growth of this sector along with increasing job opportunities. The gastronomic tourism is also beneficial in improving the local economic framework by promoting the locally made raw material producers an in supporting the sustainable and strong food and agricultural indu stry that can compete globally (Diaconescu, Moraru and St?nciulescu 2016). The food culture includes the art of cooking food, the local cuisine, traditions and beliefs in developing food. The food culture is dependent on the traditions and beliefs of the country or nation. The food culture also depicted in the activities like food festivals, food expo and other festivals celebrating the food culture of that particular region (Hall 2013). For example, Hong Kong organizes food festival every year like wine and dine festival and the celebrity chefs cooking shows that helps to promote the indigenous flavors and ingredients of a particular place. The tourists get attracted to the local food, their ingredients like the kinds of herbs and spices giving them unique and new experiences. In the process of doing this, the local cultures are being highlighted and marketed attracting a pool of tourists. Gastronomic tourism has now become an indispensable element that helps to know the lifestyle and culture of a particular region (Bjrk and Kauppinen-Risnen 2014). Therefo re, the trends of gastronomic tourism advocate the tradition, culture and food lifestyles of a region. Long 2004 first coined the term culinary tourism that defines the experiences of different cultures through the food and wine. The gastronomic tourism comprises of travelling and enjoying food and drinks and share memorable and unique memorable gastronomic experiences. The culinary tourism includes any travelling experience of a person in terms of appreciating and enjoying the local cuisine and drink that reflects the culture and heritage of that place. It is about the authentic, uniqueness and memorable experiences of food and local delicacies. The gastronomic tourism helps to regenerate and re-value the local traditions and food cultures that have lost its importance during the course of time. Moreover, it also helps to enhance the economy of that particular place. It also includes the local farmers, local drinks, and the traditions and beliefs in making the food. Therefore, combining food with tourism is an important tool in developing the food and economy of a particular region. References Adams, V., Burke, N.J. and Whitmarsh, I., 2014. Slow research: Thoughts for a movement in global health.Medical Anthropology,33(3), pp.179-197. Beck, U., 2015.What is globalization?. John Wiley Sons. Benedict, M.A. and McMahon, E.T., 2014. From Parks to Green Infrastructures.The Leisure Commons: A Spatial History of Web 2.0, p.165. Benyon, J. and Dunkerley, D., 2014.Globalization: the reader. Routledge. Bjrk, P. and Kauppinen-Risnen, H., 2014. Culinary-gastronomic tourisma search for local food experiences.Nutrition Food Science,44(4), pp.294-309. Cambourne, B., Mitchell, R., Hall, C.M., Sharples, L. and Macionis, N., 2003.Food tourism around the world: Development, management and markets. Elsevier Ltd. Chen, C.C. and Ritzer, G., 2015. Globalization and Consumption.The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Consumption and Consumer Studies. Diaconescu, D.M., Moraru, R. and St?nciulescu, G., 2016. Considerations on gastronomic tourism as a component of sustainable local development.Amfiteatru Economic, (Special 10). Dustin, D., 2016.The McDonaldization of social work. Routledge. Grace, A.R. and Palmer, J.E., 2015. The Homogeneity of Society: The Role of Franchising in the Health and Food Sectors.Sociology and Anthropology,3(12), pp.661-664. Hall, C.M. and Sharples, L., 2003. The consumption of experiences or the experience of consumption? An introduction to the tourism of taste.Food tourism around the world: Development, management and markets, pp.1-24. Hall, C.M., 2013.Wine, food, and tourism marketing. Routledge. Lindholm, C. and Lie, S.B., 2013. You Eat What You Are: Cultivated Taste and the Pursuit of Authenticity in the Slow Food Movement. InCulture of the Slow(pp. 52-70). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Long, L.M., 2015. Culinary tourism: A folkloristic perspective on eating and otherness.Food and Folklore Reader, p.437. Matusitz, J. and Palermo, L., 2014. The Disneyfication of the World: A Grobalisation Perspective.Journal of Organisational Transformation Social Change,11(2), pp.91-107. Petrini, C., 2013.Slow food nation: Why our food should be good, clean, and fair. Rizzoli Publications. Pfau, J., Kirley, M. and Kashima, Y., 2013. The co-evolution of cultures, social network communities, and agent locations in an extension of Axelrods model of cultural dissemination.Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications,392(2), pp.381-391. Pieterse, J.N., 2015.Globalization and culture: Global mlange. Rowman Littlefield. Pookulangara, S. and Shephard, A., 2013. Slow fashion movement: Understanding consumer perceptionsAn exploratory study.Journal of retailing and consumer services,20(2), pp.200-206. Soron, D.E., 2013. George Ritzer, The McDonaldization of Society.Canadian Journal of Sociology,38(3), pp.447-449. van den Broek, L., 2015.Globalization Leads to Homogenization: A Case Study about Authenticity and Globalization in Antwerp(Doctoral dissertation, NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences). Xu, Q.I.U., 2014. The Research on the Orientation of Modern World Culture in the Context of Cultural Globalization: Retrospect and Prospect.Journal of Anhui Agricultural University (Social Sciences Edition),5, p.026.

Impact on Sustainable Consumption-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Marketers are not doing enough in directing their target Markets toward Sustainable Consumptions You are required to respond to the statement above and write the responses in an essay format. Answer: Introduction Consumer policy think-tanks may make a more meaningful impact on sustainable consumption patterns from the environmental and social angles. The UN now embody programs focusing on extensive research on the topic of sustainable consumption, promoting institutional practices based on sustainability and recycling, inspiring life cycle thought processes that have the emphasis on formulating eco-products, and creating benchmarks in the domain of controlling and checking any relevant environmental norms. According to Defila (2014, p. 121), sustainable consumption programs can enhance unity and win synergies across the board of policies: consumer, economic, education, environmental, social, etc. Countries famous for upholding comprehensive strategies in alignment with sustainable consumption are Czech Republic, Austria, Norway, Finland, Poland, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Germany and Hungary, along with Greece are found in conflict for improving local policies focusing on sustain able consumption and production (In Genus, 2016, pp. 98-103). UK and Sweden are amongst the OECD countries that have end to end sustainable consumption modules or action plans. Discussion As stated by In Cohen, In Brown In Vergragt (2014, p. 341), the UK sustainable consumption agenda highlights on an effective policy mix in the domains of waste and recycling, energy efficiency, food and water usage. The year 2004 marked the construction of the Sustainable Consumption Roundtable by the UK, which was collaboration between the National Consumer Council and the Sustainable Development Commission, to formulate strategies. The Czech Republic Model of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production came up after the implementation of the idea of equivalent set of people led by the Minister of Environment. The National Council for Sustainable Development in France, a citizens unit and regulator creates strategies on sustainable consumption actions (Reisch Thgersen, 2017, p. 191), in Germany, the Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) formulates policies on sustainable consumption and production in the year 2004 by which the stakeholders were found to be satisfied. Certain n ations focus on sustainable consumption in holistic strategies (Belgium, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Norway). As per Davies, Fahy Rau (2016, pp. 34-52), out of all the OECD countries, most of them are known to have consumption indicators in their overall strategies that include: household products, share of overweight or obese people; water and electricity consumption; extent of green public procurement; generation of household waste and eco-label awards by product group. As stated by Jones (2016, p. 90), most of the OECD countries across the globe are considering holding public communications campaigns for the purpose of enhancing sustainable consumption. Previously, the campaigns were elaborated in nature, to assist environment-friendly purchases, i.e. Consumption and Environment in Demark, Education for Consumption in Mexico, Green Purchasing Network in Japan, EcoBuyer Campaign in Finland. Recent communications campaigns are engaging when it comes to providing advice on practical actions, and strategies of tackling of multi-media. Government campaigns are often targeted in inspiring eco-friendly consumption habits. One such country is Japan that is creating diversified and multidimensional cultural traditions to enhance sustainable packaging and recycling through the 3R campaign (Erdog?du, Arun Ahmad, 2016, pp. 190-212). In the United States, local authorities lent money to the advertising campaign on Water, to promote a wise use of it, which brin gs into focus efficient ways by which water can be saved in the immediate surroundings. One interesting fact is that in France, a government-sponsored television and radio campaign in 2006 spread awareness among the common mass on the different strategies that can be applied to improve conditions related to climate change and biodiversity loss. According to McEachern Carrigan (2015, p. 231), communications campaigns are becoming more and more popular in sensitizing socially-conscious consumption. Initiatives have place emphasis on people to quit smoking and on the anti-obesity campaigns in the United States, Germany and United Kingdom, targeted at lessening intake of junk foods by children (Li, 2016, pp. 101-123). The German Development Co-operation Ministry carried out a large scale campaign with the amount of 3.3 million to promote and spread awareness on the utilization of fair trade goods under the theme Fair Feels Good. According to Armstrong et al., (2015, pp. 141-167), there are a number of tools that have made a significant impact on sustainable consumer choices. One such tool is voluntary labeling. Research indicates that this tool has led to an increase of consumption of more products in the different countries when reviewed for the last few years. The labels that have been indicated as feasible are those where verification of environmental or social claims are done by a third party, such as governments as well as private organizations. These labels might be multi-criteria in nature that do relative views of their products or might be single issue labels which point to particular environmental or social characteristics of a product, like organic cotton, dolphin-safe tuna, or sustainable forestry. These labels are most effective when they generate information to large scale consumers on sustainability in a lucid manner (Kahle Gurel-Atay, 2015, p. 412). The most popular environmental or eco-labe ls with high levels of consumer recognition and impact on producers are the Nordic Swan (introduced in 1989) and the German Blue Angel (introduced in 1977). The latter is applied to some 3 800 products of about 710 companies, while the former includes high numbers of products and has consumer recognition of up to 90%. According to Jones (2016, p. 90), names of other countries that have national eco-label schemes encompass the European Union (the Flower), Canada (Environmental Choice), the Czech Republic, Austria, Japan (Eco Mark), France (NF Environnement), Netherlands, United States 30 (Green Seal) and the Sweden (Environmental Choice). Countries such as Austria, Czech Republic have their eco-labeling programs approved by governments while the others have non-governmental agencies or organizations to look after them, such as Germany, Japan. Marks Spencers is UKs leading retailer, dealing with food, clothing, and homeware. It was in the year 2006 that the company decided to place the concept of sustainability at the centre stage of all business processes. It transformed all the facets of the company, such as sales and customer relationships (Defila, 2014, p. 121). The pillars of the retailers plan on sustainable consumption were: Climate change: to transform MSs operations as carbon-neutral, Reducing waste: to have zero waste moving to landfill by recycling bags and packaging, Sustainable raw materials: to purchase the resources that are sustainable and renewable, Being a fair partner: to bring improvements in the lifestyles of millions of people and their families, Health: to aid thousands of employees and customers take up a healthier lifestyle (Reisch Thgersen, 2017, p. 191). It is noted that the success of the retailer companys sustainability plan was significant as so much of tangible change was highlighted like: lessening 10,000 tons of packaging, moving 20,000 tons of waste from landfill, stopped emitting 40,000 tons of CO2, stopped using 387 million food carrier bags (an 83% reduction), handled 1,500 tons of recycled polyester (equal to 37 million bottles), organic food sales in 2008 higher by 40% relative to 2006, created 100 million liters of water by bettering its use (Li, 2016, pp. 101-123). Conclusion Public communications campaigns are common in the OECD countries that have the objective of enhancing sustainable consumption. Recent communications campaigns are engaging regarding suggestions and piece of recommendations on practical actions, and tackling effectively the multi-media. Government campaigns are often targeted in inspiring eco-friendly consumption habits. Among the different tools for impacting sustainable consumer choices, voluntary labeling increased to use of more products and countries in recent years. These can be multi-criteria labels or single issue labels. It can be concluded that marketers are not enough to promote sustainable consumption. References Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Trifts, V., Buchwitz, L. A., Gaudet, D. (2015). Marketing: An introduction. Toronto : Pearson, pp. 141-167. Davies, A., Fahy, F., Rau, H. (2016).Challenging consumption: Pathways to a more sustainable future. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge,pp. 34-52. Defila, R. (2014).Sustainable consumption. Munich: Oekom-Verl, p. 121. Erdog?du, M. M., Arun, T., Ahmad, I. H. (2016).Handbook of research on green economic development initiatives and strategies. Hershey, PA, USA: Business Science Reference, pp. 190-212. In Cohen, M. J., In Brown, H. S., In Vergragt, P. (2014).Innovations in sustainable consumption: New economics, socio-technical transitions and social practices. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar,p. 341. In Genus, A. (2016).Sustainable consumption: Design, innovation and practice. Cham: Springer, pp. 98-103. Jones, A. (2016).Services and the Green Economy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 90. Kahle, L. R., Gurel-Atay, E. (2015).Communicating sustainability for the green economy. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, p. 412. Li, X. (2016).Environmental advertising in China and the USA: The desire to go green. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor Francis Group,pp. 101-123. McEachern, M. G., Carrigan, M. (2015).Contemporary issues in green and ethical marketing. Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge, Taylor Francis Group, p. 231. Reisch, L. A., Thgersen, J. (2017).Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 191.

Marriott International

History Marriott International was established in 1927 by Willard Marriot and his bride, Alice. The two started by putting a beer stand in Washington D.C. The beer stand could only accommodate nine people at the start of its operations. It was named â€Å"Hot Shoppe† where they prepared hot food substances like tacos, tamales and chili.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Marriott International specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These food items were mainly served to clients during the period of winter months. In 1929, Marriott International was officially incorporated as Hot Shoppes, inc. It experienced fast growth. In 1953, the company was listed as a public company. It laid its competitive advantage in world markets on product diversification (Hoover 2002). The company opened Twin Bridges Marriott located in Arlington, Virginia; this was the first hotel opened by the company. With its fast growing pace, Twin Bridges Marriott went international in 1966; this happened after the company took over the running of an airline catering kitchen in Venezuela. It later changed name to Marriott Corporation in 1967. The company later engaged in series of takeovers which enabled it to grow into a billion dollar corporation. In the year 1998, Marriott International was listed in the stock market as an independent public company after which it started to focus its attention on business and leisure lodging. To ensure success in such a new venture, the company sold its superior living facilities in 2002. Marriott International continues to diversify its operations. Nonetheless, leadership of Marriott International started with the two founders, Marriot and Alice. Today, the company’s top management entails six executives operating at senior level; it has also thirty six corporate officers (Hoover 2002). Vision and Mission of Marriott International Company The vision of the Marriott International Company is to be the leader in the global lodging industry; it aspires to be the world leader in providing excellent services in the hospitality industry. In order to achieve this vision, the company strives to provide the best services in the world within the hotel and lodging industry. The mission statement of the company affirms that company’s commitment in being the best and provider of excellent lodging and food services. It achieves this by treating its workers in the best way ever so that they can offer extra-ordinary services to the company’s customers (Brotherton and Wood, 2008).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Competition The hotel is exceedingly disjointed. The competition is mainly based on the quality of the available rooms, service provision among others. Other factors that determine competition level include the presence of global distribution s ystem, prices charged on various products and facilities and any other innovation that may come into the industry. It is important to note that Marriott International already operates in sixty eight nation of the world. This makes it possible for the company to offer its services to a large number of customers across the globe. However, it must be acknowledged that the company faces stiff competition from similar companies operating in the same industry both locally and abroad. Many of the company’s competitors are already spread across eight or more countries. This means that the competitors are enjoying a wider customer base than Marriott International. The main competitors to Marriott International include: Starwood Hotels: this group of hotels provides similar services to clients. The hotel already has 297 hotels in Europe alone. Besides, it operates in countries found in the American continent, Middle East and parts of Africa. It is therefore evident that the Starwood Ho tels get more revenues than the Marriott International due to its large base of operation spread across the continent (Abrahams 2007). Choice Hotels International: this is a group of hotels with international franchises totaling right over five thousand hotels. These franchises operate under different brands such as Comfort Inn, Sleep Inn and Cambria Suite amongst others. This company is also bigger than the Marriott International and definitely enjoys higher level of revenues than Marriott International. Intercontinental Hotels: this is deemed the largest hotel in the world judging by the number of rooms it has. It operates in more than a hundred countries across the world. This therefore implies that it is the largest competitor to the Marriott International (Yu 1999). Strategies used by Marriott International â€Å" Marriott International has put in place sales structure that will ensure it remains top in the provision of hotel products in the industry. The sales initiative is c ustomer-centered and it aims at making sales simply, effective and efficient; this also helps the company to establish its roots deeper into the untapped market segments.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Marriott International specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The strategy enables the customers to operate at one principal contact where he or she can get all product brands. In this way, the Marriott International has managed to meet all the customer needs within a centralized point of purchase. Beside, Marriott International relies on research to establish real customer needs. The company realized the rising level of complexity and number of channels through which customers in the industry secure rooms and accommodation or meetings; to solve these challenges, the Marriott International have come up with ways, through research, to improve the efficiency of its services to customers. It is important to note that the company does research by involving those who are either directly or indirectly in contact with customers or clients. This includes interviewing sales leaders who have one-on-one engagement with clients, travel managers, meeting planners and sales associates. Moreover, the research is undertaken both internally and externally (Reid and Bojanic, 2009). The Marriott International also uses the strategy of evaluating its strengths and weaknesses. This is by obtaining data from various facets of the company and doing accurate evaluation. As a result of both internal and external research the company has established more clear roles for its employees and staff members so that customers get specific services and or assistances from specific company employees or staff members. Furthermore, Marriott International has come up with strategic idea of establishing regional sales offices to offer more effective services to its customers by organizing individual accounts. Internal audit and exter nal audits Businesses are affected by both internal and external factors; the effect is either negative or positive. Internal factors are factors that a business can control while external factors are factors beyond the control of a single business. Internal audits To gather as much information as possible, the management undertakes the process with as many competent employees as possible. It should also analyze both published and unpublished data which will assist it in appreciating the need the prevailing conditions. The following process is followed;Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Gathering of information Testing data validity Interpolating and analyzing information gotten Making strategic decision based on the information gotten The following are some of the parameters found by internal audits; The company has a pool of experienced human resource who is employed on a track record. It has employed a high level of technology in all its processes where it ensures that efficiency is facilitated. Corporate customers require fast and effective services since they are busy; to attain this company has embarked on an efficient technology. Financial Ratio Analysis Ratio Status Gross Profit Margin 17.2% EBIT Margin -1.4% EBITDA Margin 11.3% Pre-Tax Profit Margin -2.6% Current Ratio 1.3 Quick Ratio 0.5 Leverage Ratio 8.2 Receivables Turnover 13.0 Inventory Turnover 5.5 Asset Turnover 1.3 Revenue to Assets 1.3 Return on Invested Capital -5.8% Return on Assets -2.8% Debt/Common Equity Ratio 2.93 Price/Book Ratio (Price/Equity) 10.70 Bo ok Value per Share $2.95 Total Debt/ Equity 3.06 Long-Term Debt to Total Capital 0.75 SGA as % of Revenue 5.9% RD as % of Revenue 0.0% Receivables per Day Sales $29.49 Days CGS in Inventory 66 Working Capital per Share $1.95 Cash per Share $0.33 Cash Flow per Share $-0.17 Free Cash Flow per Share $-1.73 Tangible Book Value per Share $-1.53 Price/Cash Flow Ratio -190.7 Price/Free Cash Flow Ratio 18.4 Price/Tangible Book Ratio -20.88 Internal factor evaluation matrix Internal factor evaluation matrix is a strategic management instrument used in auditing major strengths weaknesses of a company in major operational areas of a business entity. This instrument also provides away of linking the operations areas. Internal strengths Weight Rating Weighted score Largest product provider in the industry 5% 3 0.15 Supplies main airline customers 15% 2 0.30 Good image and reputation 5% 3 0.15 Easily accessible by customers 10% 3 0.30 Strength of manage ment team 6% 4 0.24 Account of limited customer complaints 4% 3 0.12 Rising cash flow 4% 1 0.04 Loyalty of employees and staff 4% 3 0.12 Financial ratios 5% 4 0.20 Internal weaknesses Flooded market 10% 1 0.10 diminutive diversification 8% 2 0.16 Sensitive to raw material prices 15% 2 0.30 Nonexistence f strategic partner 4% 1 0.04 Limited access to global market 5% 1 0.04 Total 100% 2.26 1-major weakness 2-Minor weakness 3-minor strength 4-major strength External Audit CPM-Competitive Matrix Competitive Matrix for the Marriott Company is an array of major competitors of the company. An external audit addresses five area, they are; Economic factors Social and cultural factors Political/governmental structures Technology and innovations and Competitive forces The world is experiencing a rapid technological change; this is brought about by the use of computers in different sectors of a business. Marriot has benefited from the changes; for example the compan y has a website where a customer can log in and communicate directly to the company. These services are available for 24 hours in seven days. In line with the same, the company has embraced computerized marketing and advertisement where it sells its products all over the world through the internet. Internal processes are also facilitated†¦ The model of management has changed with increased enlightened people; customers are continuously demanding for better treatments form companies in the way they are served and the production processes involved. Currently social corporate responsibility management, ethical business products and customer care services have taken center stage. The company has embarked on corporate social responsibilities, it practices in environmental management exercises like tree planting, engage in clean technology among others. In the times of global financial crisis, the government of United States is increasingly adopting laws and regulation aimed at ensur ing that business are conducted effectively, standards have been reviewed and compliance with the treads is important. Factors Marriott International Accor Hilton Hotels Intercontinental Hotels Low product prices 5 3 3 2 Superior quality 3 4 4 4 Flexible products 5 3 3 3 exclusive features 5 2 2 3 Timely product delivery 4 5 4 5 Total 22 17 16 17 External Factor Evaluation Matrix Opportunities Weight Rating Weighted score Industry consolidation 10% 4 0.04 Increased in clients 12% 3 0.36 Expansion opportunities 13% 4 0.52 Reduced operation cost 10% 3 0.30 Asset acquisition 14% 4 0.64 Threats Waning margins 10% 1 0.10 Government supervision 5% 3 0.15 Rising prices of crucial input 6% 2 0.16 Taxes and tariffs 10% 2 0.10 Economic slump 10% 1 0.01 Total 100% 2.38 1-poor 2-below average 3-superior 4-very superior SWOT Analysis for Marriott International Company Marriott International SWOT analysis (Research and Marketing n.d) Strengths High quality brand within the industry International operations with large customer base Prompt delivery of services to customers Low debt liability and strong financial base Well coordinated management team Weaknesses Weak functional performance Vulnerability to economic slowdown Difficulty in accessing credit market Ineffective cost structure management Fluctuating profit margins Opportunities Expansion to other foreign nations/market More asset acquisitions due to high level of privatization Initiatives for transformations Product diversification Recruitment of highly experienced personnel Threats Economic slowdown due to credit crunch Increase in government taxes Entry of new players in the industry Expansion of competitors Political instability inflations Space matrix The space matrix is an instrument used to determine whether aggressive, defensive, competitive or conservative techniques are appropriate for the company. In this case, SPACE matrix is used to dete rmine the appropriate strategy that the Marriott International should adopt for its growth and development. It helps the company to favorably compete with other companies within the industry. When plotted on an X-Y axis, the statistics appears as follows: For Marriott International, it is important that aggressive strategy be adopted. This owes to the fact that the company lags much behind its competitors. By adopting the aggressive strategy, the company will be seeking to catch up and probably outweigh its major competitors. The strategy will be used in new acquisition of assets which are necessary for the company’s expansion to other foreign countries and other regions where it has the potential of creating more market opportunities. Furthermore, the strategy is very appropriate in terms of attracting more clients. With the large number of operators in the industry and the potential entrance of new players, aggressive strategy is most appropriate in grabbing customers and even establishing loyal clients. Grand strategy matrix Internal (Redirecting resource within the company) retrenching unproductive labor force divesture winding up of the company or liquidation reducing operation costs within the company Overcome weakness doing vertical integration improve on cost structure management strengthen functional performance reduce debt burden Maximize strength ensuring determined growth development of new market establishing innovations development of products attracting more qualified and experienced personnel to improve operations of the company External (acquisition or merger for resource ability) Getting into joint venture with other companies Doing concentric product diversification Pursuing horizontal integration Hiring consultants with varied necessary expertise The Internal-External (IE) Matrix This matrix places the company into a nine cell matrix. For the company, the Internal-External Matrix looks as follows: Quantitative S trategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) for Marriott International Company First alternative-acquire competitor Second alternative-expand internally Key factors Weight Attractive-ness Score Total attractive- ness score weight Attractive-ness Score Total attractive- ness score Strengths Exclusive product 0.11 2 0.22 0.08 1 0.08 Location 0.09 4 0.36 0.06 2 0.12 Employees unique skills 0.15 1 0.15 0.13 4 0.52 Product quality 0.11 4 0.44 0.15 4 0.60 Increased productivity 0.09 0 0.00 0.12 3 0.36 Weaknesses Low quality service to customers 0.10 4 0.04 0.13 3 0.39 Poor sales and marketing 0.15 2 0.30 0.10 1 0.10 Product diversification 0.08 3 0.24 0.17 0 0.00 Pessimistic to globalization 0.12 1 0.12 0.06 1 0.06 Total weight 100% 100% Opportunities New market 0.09 4 0.36 0.12 0 0.00 Acquisition of competitors 0.14 4 0.56 0.08 2 0.16 Joining trade alliances 0.16 0 0.00 0.10 1 0.10 Threats Rising competition 0.08 4 0.32 0.12 1 0.32 Price conflict 0.10 3 0.30 0.14 0 0.00 Competitor dominance 0.18 2 0.36 0.09 1 0.09 Forex (US$) 0.09 0 0.00 0.20 0 0.00 Bad tax policies 0.16 0 0.00 0.15 0 0.00 Total attractiveness score 4.08 2.90 The price of a commodity is an element of total cost plus a profit margin. When a target market has been established, there is need to determine the price affordable to the customers. A marketer should be aware of consumer’s trends and their potential. The social class that the product is targeted will influence the price of the products. Recommendations to Marriot International Company A customer is the backbone of a company; the main decision that a marketing manager should make determining his company’s market segment. One of the ways to enter in the target market is marketing mix. The 4Ps represent Price, product/service, promotion, and place. An effective marketing ensures that goods are available to the target customer, when they need them at and they are affordable. Since the Marriott International Company is fast growing, and with the current challenges it faces, it is important that certain recommendations be proposed. The recommendations should be adopted with the sole reason of advancing the company’s global operations. To achieve this, the following recommendations are important: Performance evaluation: the Board of Directors is the top organ of the company. It is therefore crucial that the performance of the board be evaluated with respect to the company’s goals and objectives. Besides, it will also be important to come up with appropriate instruments to be used in evaluating the performance employees and other junior staff members. This can be done through performance management; Restructure marketing techniques: the company is facing stiff international competition and is likely to lose out in case it remains with the same old marketing strategies; the company should consider drawing new market communication strategies that wil l reposition its products in the market. In addition, the company should re-brand its products through careful and skillful innovation in order to attract new customers. To ensure that the operations of the company are successful, it is important that the company defines its operation principles of internal control. Moreover, the company should also establish ways of monitoring and evaluating the internal controls. The company should establish proper criteria according to which the process of risk management will be taking place. the criteria should be in such a way that potential risks are identified as early as the initial warning signs can be spotted and appropriate actions be taken promptly. Financial strength is one of the most important core businesses of the company. To ensure that the company’s financial resource are well managed and utilize, it is recommended that the company gives a clear description on how the internal audit should function to avoid any form of Fra ud or misappropriation of financial resource It will also be important for the company to enhance the flow of information from the top level to bottom level. The flow of information on crucial and sensitive matters should be effective and efficient. This should utilize the most current communication technology. The strengths and weaknesses of the company should be evaluated on a periodic basis in order to identify potential challenges that can affect the normal operations of the company. It is important to note that new challenges arise and can contribute to the company’s already existing weaknesses. Again, the company is likely to gain more strength areas which, if well utilized, can help enhance the competitive advantage of the company. A definite period should therefore be set to be used in monitoring and evaluating the internal weaknesses and strengths of the company. Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the company is important since the company will be able to uti lize the available opportunities and cope with threats brought about by the system. Domestic market growth vs. Overseas Expansion of Marriot International The Marriott International Company started as s mall hotel firm in the United States of America; during the following periods, it embarked on aggressive expansion within the local industry. Its growth in the domestic market earned it a lot of revenues that enabled it to start its expansion outside the home market. It expanded its operations to several countries worldwide. The domestic market is getting saturated by new entrants into the industry; this poses threat to the company at local level. However, looking at the international market, there is still great opportunity to access new market segments. This implies that, the company stands a chance to gain more from overseas expansion than domestic market growth. In the process of overseas expansion, the company also stands a great chance of acquiring other companies and new asset s. The most probable candidates for acquisition are the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Hilton Hotels. The most important thing is that Marriott International should focus on acquiring assets of the most performing companies as this will bolster its financial performance and also increase its presence in the market. The two presented takeover candidates are well positioned to ensure the Marriott International achieves its growth objectives and both domestic and international expansion. Reference List Abrahams, J., 2007, 101 Mission Statements from Top Companies: Plus Guidelines for Writing Your Own Mission Statement, New York, Ten Speed Press. Brotherton, B. and Wood, CR 2008, The SAGE Handbook of Hospitality Management, New York, SAGE Publications Ltd. Hoover, G., 2002, Hoover’s Handbook of American Business 2003, New York, Hoover’s, Incorporated. Reid, DR and Bojanic, CD 2009, Hospitality Marketing Management, New Jersey, John Wiley and Sons. Research And Marketing n. d, Marriott International, Inc., Research and Markets, Ireland. Yu, L., 1999, The international hospitality business: management and operations, New York, Routledge. This report on Marriott International was written and submitted by user Yamileth Flores to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. Marriott International

Free Essays on Rising Tide

In the book, â€Å"Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America, â€Å" shows many different aspects of engineers and their lives. The stories that are told help the reader to better understand the practice of civil engineering. During the time period of the story, there are two engineers who contribute to a main part in controlling the Mississippi River, Eads and Humphreys. As the two race and compete to see who can better the Mississippi River, many important details about civil engineering come about. The author explains how a river flows and floods in way that most can understand. He helps show ways to help prevent flooding on the Mississippi. Eads and Humphreys are always striving to out do one another and in doing so comes many ideas to better the river. A levee is one in particular that is spoken of quite often. The â€Å"levees only† policy was debated between these two engineers. This policy discussed how a system of levees wou ld control floodwaters not only by damming the banks but also by increasing the velocity of the river’s flow and its tendency to scour the bottom. The theory provided that when the river is flooded, it could be made to dig its own channel out. This was not the only idea expressed by the engineers. Another was the idea of producing outlets and reservoirs. With outlets and reservoirs, the water level of the river would stay below a flood range. Another idea discussed is a system of jetties. The jetties would help increase the speed of the current even at low water. These ideas all help to teach the reader what civil engineers may attempt to better a river with potential to flood. With all of these ideas being pursued, not all would have the chance to use them. Those who were more powerful got the chance to actually take a stab at their proposals while others were left behind. Humphreys had power because he went to a U.S. Military Academy, which was made possible by his ... Free Essays on Rising Tide Free Essays on Rising Tide In the book, â€Å"Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America, â€Å" shows many different aspects of engineers and their lives. The stories that are told help the reader to better understand the practice of civil engineering. During the time period of the story, there are two engineers who contribute to a main part in controlling the Mississippi River, Eads and Humphreys. As the two race and compete to see who can better the Mississippi River, many important details about civil engineering come about. The author explains how a river flows and floods in way that most can understand. He helps show ways to help prevent flooding on the Mississippi. Eads and Humphreys are always striving to out do one another and in doing so comes many ideas to better the river. A levee is one in particular that is spoken of quite often. The â€Å"levees only† policy was debated between these two engineers. This policy discussed how a system of levees wou ld control floodwaters not only by damming the banks but also by increasing the velocity of the river’s flow and its tendency to scour the bottom. The theory provided that when the river is flooded, it could be made to dig its own channel out. This was not the only idea expressed by the engineers. Another was the idea of producing outlets and reservoirs. With outlets and reservoirs, the water level of the river would stay below a flood range. Another idea discussed is a system of jetties. The jetties would help increase the speed of the current even at low water. These ideas all help to teach the reader what civil engineers may attempt to better a river with potential to flood. With all of these ideas being pursued, not all would have the chance to use them. Those who were more powerful got the chance to actually take a stab at their proposals while others were left behind. Humphreys had power because he went to a U.S. Military Academy, which was made possible by his ...

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The Education Sector of Tanzania - Dissertation Example The creation of the MIS model will serve the purposes of empowering decision makers and the creation of capacity to deliver better education services across the sector. In the area of requirements analysis, the creation of the specification for the MIS model was executed through the incorporation of national and international standards of education, regarding the needs of the users of the Tanzanian education sector. Communication with the users was executed through interviews, as this model offered unbiased information on the viewpoints of the user population. Feedback surveys were also helpful towards reaching the desired information base, as collected from social networking and other ICT-related data sites. Areas of constraints included the vague knowledge of the specifications desired by the user population, the unreasonable timelines of the end-users, and the communication gap between implementation teams and the end-user population. The rationales for the choices made were based on rationale capture and rationale representation, which were verified using argument-based choices. The software requirements specification was designed to emphasize on and foster the usage of management information systems throughout the creation, processing, and consumption of information. Performance indicators revolved around the service delivery of service personnel to the documentation of students and offering a complete picture of the educations sector. The features of the model under implementation include capturing baseline statistics like the demography of users to school performance capacities. Data flow across the sector was created to improve the practice and quality of management across the different user groups. INTRODUCTION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE MIS MODEL UNDER CREATION The education sector at Tanzania has historically faced numerous challenges, including the lack of basic infrastructure like electricity at local schools, and the in-availabili ty of national funding to foster the educational management standards of these schools. One area that has been redundant in the Tanzanian education sector is the level of access to data and the infrastructure required to manage these databases. Following these areas of deficiency, the Tanzanian sector, just like the case of other Eastern Africa countries, the respective education sectors have not been run and managed in a proper manner. The case is worse among the publicly funded schools, which fully depend on the input of the government – this happens in the area of implementations of technological infrastructure, steered towards educational improvement.

Evidence from International Stock Markets

Evidence from International Stock Markets Portfolio Selection with Four Moments: Evidence from International Stock Markets Despite the international diversification suggested by several researchers (e.g. Grulbel, 1968; Levy and Sarnat, 1970; Solnik, 1974) and the increased integration of capital markets, the home bias has not decreased (Thomas et. al., 2004 and Coeurdacier and Rey, 2013) and there is no complete explanation of this puzzle. Furthermore, there are the fastgrowing concerns of investor for extreme risks[1] and the investors preference toward odd moments (e.g. mean and skewness) and an aversion toward even moments (e.g. variance and kurtosis) considered by numerous studies (e.g. Levy, 1969; Arditti, 1967 and 1971; Jurczenko and Maillet, 2006). According to these reasons, this paper propose to investigate whether the incorporation of investor preferences in the higher moments into the international asset allocation problem can help explain the home bias puzzle. The study will allow investor preferences to depend not only the first two moments (i.e. mean and variance) but also on the higher moments, such as skewness and kurtosis, by using the polynomial goal programming (PGP) approach and then generate the three-dimensional efficient frontier. The main objective of the proposed study is to investigate whether the incorporation of skewness and kurtosis into the international stock portfolio selection causes these issues: The changes in the construction of optimal portfolios, the patterns of relationships between moments, and the less diversification compared to the mean-variance model. Since several researchers (e.g. Grulbel, 1968; Levy and Sarnat, 1970; Solnik, 1974) suggest that investment in a portfolio of equities across foreign markets provide great diversification opportunities, then investors should rebalance there portfolio away from domestic toward foreign equities. However, US investors continue to hold equity portfolios that are largely dominated by domestic assets. Thomas et. al. (2004) reported that by the end of 2003 US investors held only 14 percent of their equity portfolios in foreign stocks. Furthermore, Coeurdacier and Rey (2013) also reported that in 2007, US investors hold more than 80 percent of domestic equities. Many explanations have been recommended in the literature to explain this home bias puzzle include direct barriers such as capital controls and transaction costs (e.g. Stulz, 1981; Black, 1990; Chaieb and Errunza, 2007), and indirect barriers such as information costs and higher estimation uncertainty for foreign than domestic equities (e.g. Brennan and Cao, 1997; Guidolin, 2005; Ahearne et. al., 2004). Nevertheless, several studies (e.g. Karolyi and Stulz, 1996; Lewis, 1999) suggests that these explanations are weakened since the direct costs to international investment have come down significantly overtime and the financial globalization by electronic trading increases exchanges of information and decreases uncertainty across markets. Since the modern portfolio theory of Markowitz (1952) indicates how risk-averse investors can construct optimal portfolios based upon mean-variance trade-off, there are numerous studies on portfolio selection in the framework of the first two moments of the return distributions. However, as many researchers (e.g., Kendall and Hill, 1953; Mandelbrot, 1963a and 1963b; Fama, 1965) discovered that the presence of significant skewness and excess kurtosis in asset return distributions, there is a great concern that highermoments than the variance should be accounted in portfolio selection. The motivation for the generalization to higher moments arises from the theoretical work of Levy (1969) provided the cubic utility function depending on the first three moments. Later, the empirical works of Arditti (1967 and 1971) documented the investors preference for positive skewness and aversion negative skewness in return distributions of individual stocks and mutual funds, respectively. Even Markowitz (1959) himself also supports this aspect by suggesting that a mean-semi-variance trade-off [2], which gives priority to avoiding downside risk, would be superior to the original mean-variance approach. While the importance of the first three moments was recognized, there were some arguments on the incorporation of higher moments than the third into the analysis. First, Arditti (1967) suggested that most of the information about any probability distribution is contained in its first three moments. Later, Levy (1969) argued that even the higher moments are approximately functions of the first moments, but not that they are small in magnitude. Several authors (Levy, 1969; Samuelson, 1970; Rubinstein, 1973) also recommend that in general the higher moments than the variance cannot be neglected, except when at least one of the following conditions must be true: All the higher moments beyond the first are zero. The derivatives of utility function are zero for the higher moments beyond the second. The distributions of asset returns are normal or the utility functions are quadratic. However, ample evidence (e.g., Kendall and Hill, 1953; Mandelbrot, 1963a and 1963b; Fama, 1965) presented not only the higher moments beyond the first and their derivatives of the utility function are not zero, but also the asset returns are not normally distributed. Furthermore, several researchers (Tobin, 1958; Pratt, 1964; Samuelson, 1970; Levy and Sarnat, 1972) indicate that the assumption of quadratic utility function is appropriate only when return distributions are compact. Therefore, the higher moments of return distributions, such as skewness, are relevant to the investors decision on portfolio selection and cannot be ignored. In the field of portfolio theory with higher moments, Samuelson (1970) was the first author who recommends the importance of higher moments than the second for portfolio analysis. He shows that when the investment decision restrict to the finite time horizon, the use of mean-variance analysis becomes insufficient and the higher moments than the variance become more relevant in portfolio selection. Therefore, he developed three-moment model based on the cubic utility function which expressed by Levy (1969)3. Following Samuelson (1970), number of studies (e.g. Jean, 1971, 1972 and 1973; Ingersoll, 1975; and Schweser, 1978) explained the importance of skewness in security returns, derived the risk premium as functions of the first three moments, and generated the three-dimensional efficient frontier with a risk-free asset. Later, Diacogiannis (1994) proposed the multi-moment portfolio optimization programme by minimizing variance at any given level of expected return and skewness. Consequently, Athayde and Flores (1997) developed portfolio theory taking the higher moments than the variance into consideration in a utility maximizing context. The expressions in this paper greatly simplified the numerical solutions of the multi-moment portfolio optimal asset allocation problems4. 23 Levy (1969) defines the cubic utility function as U(x) which has the form: U(x) = ax + bx + cx , where x is a random variable and a,b,c are coefficients. This function is concave in a certain range but convex in another. Jurczenko, E. and Maillet, B. (2006) Multi-Moment Asset Allocation and Pricing Models, Wiley Finance, p. xxii. Different approaches have been developed to incorporate the individual preferences for higher-order moments into portfolio optimization. These approaches can be divided into two main groups, the primal and dual approaches. The dual approach starts from a specification of the higher-moment utility function by using the Taylors series expansion to link between the utility function and the moments of the return distribution. Then, the dual approaches will determine the optimal portfolio via its parameters reflecting preferences for the moments of asset return distribution. Harvey et. al. (2004) uses this approach to construct the set of the three-moment efficient frontier by using two sets of returns[3]. The results show that as the investors preference in skewness increases, there are sudden change points in the expected utility that lead to dramatically modifications in the allocation of the optimal portfolio. Jondeau and Rockinger (2003 and 2006) and Guidolin and Timmermann (2008) extend the dual approach in portfolio selection from three- to four-moment framework. A shortcoming of this dual approach is that the Taylor series expansion may converge to the expected utility under restrictive conditions. That is for some utility functions (e.g. the exponential function), the expansion converges for all possible levels of return, whereas for some types of utility function (e.g. the logarithm-power function), the convergence of Taylor series expansion to the expected utility is ensured only over a restricted range6. Furthermore, since Taylor series expansion have an infinite number of terms, then using a finite number of terms creates the truncation error. To circumvent these problems, the primal approach parameters that used to weight the moment deviations are not relate precisely to the utility function. Tayi and Leonard (1988) introduced the Polynomial Goal Programming (PGP), which is a primal approach to solve the goal in portfolio optimization by trade-off between competing and conflicting objectives. Later, Lai (1991) is the first researcher who proposed this method to solve the multiple objectives determining the set of the mean-variance-skewness efficient portfolios. He illustrated the three-moment portfolio selection with three objectives, which are maximizing both the expected return and the skewness, and minimizing the variance of asset returns. Follows Lai (1991) who uses a sample of five stocks and a risk-free asset, Chunhachinda et. al. (1997) and Prakash et. al. (2003) examines three-moment portfolio selection by using international stock indices. Regarding the under-diversification, many studies (e.g. Simkowitz and Beedles, 1978; Mitton and Vorkink, 2004; and Briec et. al., 2007) suggested that incorporation of the higher moments in the investors objective functions can explain portfolio under-diversification. Home bias puzzle is one of the under-diversification. It is a tendency to invest in a large proportion in domestic securities, even there are potential gains from diversification of investment portfolios across national markets. Guidolin and Timmermann (2008)[4] indicate that home bias in US can be explained by incorporate the higher moments (i.e. skewness and kurtosis) with distinct bull and bear regimes in the investors objective functions. Several researchers use the primal and the dual approaches to examine the  international portfolio selection. Jondeau and Rockinger (2003 and 2006) and Guidolin and Timmermann (2008) applied the dual approaches using a higher-order Taylor expansion of the utility function. They provide the empirical evidence that under large departure from normality of the return distribution, the higher-moment optimization is more efficient than the mean-variance framework. Chunhachinda et. al. (1997) and Prakash (2003) applied the Polynomial Goal Programming (PGP), which is a primal approach, to determine the optimal portfolios of international stock indices. Their results indicated that the incorporation of skewness into the portfolio selection problem causes a major change in the allocation of the optimal portfolio and the trade-off between expected return and skewness of the efficient portfolio. Appendix 1 presents methodology and data of the previous papers that study international portfolio selection with higher moments. In the proposed study, I will extend PGP approach to the mean-variance-skewnesskurtosis framework and investigate the international asset allocation problem that whether the incorporation of investor preferences in the higher moments of stock return distributions returns can help explain the home bias puzzle. Since previous research (e.g. Levy, 1972; Singleton and Wingerder, 1986) points out that the estimated values of the moments of the asset return distribution sensitive to the choices of an investment horizon, I will examine daily, weekly, and monthly data sets in the study[5]. The sample data will consist of daily, weekly, and monthly rates of return of five international indices for all available data from January 1975 to December 2016. These five indices cover the stock markets in the main geographical areas, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Pacific region (excluding Japan), and Europe (excluding United Kingdom)[6]. Moreover, the study also use three-month US Treasury bill rates as the existence of the risk-free asset in order that the investor is not restricted to invest only in risky assets. The data source of these indices is the Morgan Stanley Capital International Index (MSCI) who reports these international price indices as converted into US dollar at the spot foreign exchange rate. The MSCI stock price indices and T-bill rates are available in Datastream. The methodology proposed in the study consists of two parts. First, the rate of return distribution of each international index will be tested for normality by using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Then, the PGP approach will be utilized to determine the optimal portfolio in the fourmoment framework. 4.1 Testing for normality of return distribution At the beginning of the empirical work, I will test the normality of return distributions of international stock indices and the US T-bill rates. This test provides the foundation for examine the portfolio selection problem in the mean-variance-skewness-kurtosis framework. Although several methods are developed, there is an ample evidence that the ShapiroWilk is the best choice for evaluating normality of data under various specifications of the probability distribution. Shapiro et. al. (1968) provide an empirical sampling study of the sensitivities of nine normality-testing procedures and concluded that among those procedures, the Shapiro-Wilk statistic is a generally superior measure of non-normality. More recently, Razali and Wah (2011) compared the power of four statistical tests of normality via Monte Carlo simulation of sample data generated from various alternation distributions. Their results support that Shapiro-Wilk test is the most powerful normality test for all types of the distributions and sample sizes. The Shapiro-Wilk statistic is defined as where is the i th order statistic (rate of returns), à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ ¯ . à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ ¯ / is the sample mean, are the expected values of the order statistics of independent and identically distributed random variables sampled from the standard normal, and V is the covariance matrix of those order statistics. Note that the values of are provided in Shapiro-Wilk (1965) table based on the order i. The Shapiro-Wilk tests the null hypothesis of normality: H0: The population is normally distributed. H1: The population is not normally distributed.    If the p-value is less than the significant level (i.e. 1%, 5%, or 10%), then the null hypothesis of normal distribution is rejected. Thus, there is statistical evidence that the sample return distribution does not came from a normally distributed population. On the other hand, if the p-value is greater than the chosen alpha level, then the null hypothesis that the return distribution came from a normally distributed population cannot be rejected. 4.2 Solving for the multi-objective portfolio problem Following Lai (1991) and Chunhachinda et. al. (1997), the multi-objective portfolio selection with higher momentscan be examined based on the following assumptions: Investors are risk-averse individuals who maximize the expected utility of their end-ofperiod wealth. There are n + 1 assets and the (n + 1)th asset is the risk-free asset. All assets are marketable, perfectly divisible, and have limited liability. The borrowing and lending rates are equal to the rate of return r on the risk-free asset. The capital market is perfect, there are no taxes and transaction costs. Unlimited short sales of all assets with full use of the proceeds are allowed. The mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis of the rate of return on asset are assumed to exist for all risky assets for 1,2, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ . Then, I define the variables in the analysis as = ,, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ , be the transpose of portfolio component , where is the percentage of wealth invested in the th risky asset, = ,, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ , be the transpose of whose mean denoted by , = the rate of return on the th risky asset, = the rate of return on the risk-free asset, = a (n x 1) vector of expected excess rates of return, = the expectation operator, = the (n x 1) vector of ones, = the variance-covariance (n x n) matrix of , = the skewness-coskewness (n x n2) matrix of ,= the kurtosis-cokurtosis (n x n3) matrix of . Then, the mean, the variance, the skewness, and the kurtosis of the portfolio returns can be defined as:[7] , , à ¢Ã…  -,[8] Kurtosis = = à ¢Ã…  - à ¢Ã…  - . Note that because of certain symmetries, only ((n+1)*n)/2 elements of the skewnesscoskewness matrix and ((n+2)*(n+1)*n)/6 elements of the kurtosis-cokurtosis matrix must be computed. The components of the variance-covariance matrix, the skewness-coskewness matrix, and the kurtosis-cokurtosis matrix can be computed as follows: à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ, à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ, à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ, à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ, à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ, à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ. Therefore, the optimal solution is to select a portfolio component . The portfolio selection can be determined by solving the following multiple objectives, which are maximizing the expected return and the skewness while minimizing the variance and the kurtosis: , , à ¢Ã…  -, = à ¢Ã…  - à ¢Ã…  - . subject to 1. Since the percentage invested in each asset is the main concern of the portfolio decision, Lai (1991) suggests that the portfolio choice can be rescaled and restricted on the unit variance space (i.e. | 1 ). Under the condition of unit variance, the portfolio selection problem with skewness and kurtosis (P1) can be formulated as follows: , à ¢Ã…  -, (P1) = à ¢Ã…  - à ¢Ã…  - , subject to 1 , 1 . Usually, the solution of the problem (P1) does not satisfy three objectives (, , ) simultaneously. As a result, the above multi-objective problem (P1) involves a two-step procedure. First, a set of non-dominated solutions independent of investors preferences is developed. Then, the next step can be accomplished by incorporating investors preferences for objectives into the construction of a polynomial goal programming (PGP). Consequently, portfolio selection by satisfying the multiple objectives that is the solution of PGP can be achieved. In PGP the objective function ( ) does not contain a portfolio component , it contains deviational variables ( , , ) which represent deviations between goals and what can be achieved, given a set of constrains. Therefore, the objective function ( ) is minimization of the deviation variables ( , , ) to determine the portfolio component . Moreover, if the goals are at the same priority level, the deviations from the goals ( , , ) are non-negative variables. Given an investors preferences among mean, skewness, and kurtosis ( , , ), a PGP model can be expressed as: . subject to à ¢Ã‹â€ - , à ¢Ã…  -à ¢Ã‹â€ - , (P2) à ¢Ã…  - à ¢Ã…  - = à ¢Ã‹â€ - , 1 , 1 , ,, 0 . where à ¢Ã‹â€ - = the extreme value of objective when they are optimized individually, then à ¢Ã‹â€ - |1 , à ¢Ã‹â€ - |1 , and à ¢Ã‹â€ - |1 , = the non-negative variables which represent the deviation of and à ¢Ã‹â€ -, = the non-negative parameters representing the investors subjective degree of preferences between objectives, The combinations of represent different preferences of the mean, the skewness, and the kurtosis of a portfolio return. For example, the higher , the more important the mean (skewness or kurtosis) of the portfolio return is to the investor. Thus, the efficient portfolios are the solutions of problem (P2) for various combinations of preferences . The expected results provided in this section refer to two parts of methodology, the normality test and the international portfolio optimization in four-moment framework. 5.1 The expected results of the normality test Many researches examine the international stock indices and found that most of the stock return distributions exhibit skewness and their excess kurtosis are far from zero. For instance, in the work of Chunhachinda et. al. (1997), the Shapiro-Wilk statistics indicate 5 markets and 11 markets reject the null hypothesis of normal distribution at ten percent significant level, for weekly and monthly data, respectively. Prakash et. al. (2003) use the Jarque-Bera test to trial the normality of each international stock index, their results indicate that for 17 markets for weekly returns and 10 markets for monthly returns reject the null hypothesis of normal distribution five percent significant level. Therefore, I expected that the Shapiro-Wilk tests in the proposed study will be significant and reject the null hypothesis of normality. In other words, the return distributions of international stock markets during the period under study are expected to be non-normal. 5.2 The expected results of the multi-objective portfolio selection 5.2.1 The changes in the allocation of optimal portfolios Chunhachinda et. al. (1997) and Prakash et. al. (2003) both indicated that the incorporation of skewness into the portfolio selection problem causes a major change in the allocation of the optimal portfolio. However, their definitions of a major change are different. Chunhachinda et. al. (1997) found that there is a modification in the allocation when they compare between the mean-variance and the mean-variance-skewness efficient portfolios. However, both types of portfolios are dominated by the investment components of only four markets[9]. On the other hand, Prakash (2003) results show that the structural weights of the mean-variance and the mean-variance-skewness optimal portfolios are dominated by different markets. Therefore, I expected that when I compare between of the mean-variance efficient portfolios, the three-moment efficient portfolios, and the mean-variance efficient portfolios, the percentage invested in each asset will be different in magnitude and ranking. 5.2.2 The trade-off between expected return and skewness Most of the studies of international portfolio selection with higher moments (e.g. Chunhachinda et. al., 1997; Prakash et. al., 2003; Jondeau and Rockinger, 2003 and 2006) reported that the mean-variance efficient portfolios have the higher expected return while the three-moment efficient portfolios have greater skewness. Thus, they indicated that after incorporation of skewness into portfolio selection problem, the investor will trade the expected return of the portfolio for the skewness. More recently, Davies et. al. (2005) applied PGP to determine the set of the four-moment efficient funds of hedge funds and found not only the trade-off between the mean and the skewness, but also the trade-off between the variance and the kurtosis. Thus, I expected to discover the trade-off between the expected return and the skewness and the trade-off between the variance and the kurtosis. In addition, I will also investigate other relationships between the moments of return distribution and report them in both numerical and graphical ways. 5.2.3 The less diversification compared to the mean-variance model. To investigate whether the incorporation of higher moments than the second (i.e. skewness and kurtosis) can help explain the home bias puzzle, I will examine the hypothesis: H0: ZMV à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ ZMVSK. H1: ZMV > ZMVSK. where ZMV and ZMVSK are the number of nonzero weights of the mean-variance efficient portfolios and the four-moment efficient portfolios, respectively. If the number of nonzero weights of the mean-variance efficient portfolios (ZMV) is greater than the number of nonzero weights of the four-moment efficient portfolios (ZMVSK), then I will rejected the null hypothesis. This implies that the incorporation of the higher moments into the portfolio decision can help explain the home bias puzzle. However, the results from the literature are mixed. On one hand, several researchers (e.g. Prakash et. al., 2003; Briec et. al., 2007; Guidolin and Timmermann, 2008) provided the evidence that the incorporation of skewness into the portfolio selection causes the less diversification in the efficient portfolio. On the other hand, the results of some studies (e.g. Chunhachinda et. al., 1997; Jondeau and Rockinger, 2003 and 2006) found that when compare with the mean-variance efficient portfolios, the diversification of the higher-moment efficient portfolios seem to be same or even became more diversify. I expected the results to show that the four-moment efficient portfolio is less diversified than the mean-variance one. In other words, the incorporation of the skewness and the kurtosis into the international portfolio selection can help explain the home bias. [1] Jurczenko, E. and Maillet, B. (2006) Multi-Moment Asset Allocation and Pricing Models, Wiley Finance, p. xxii. [2] Semi-variance is a measure of the dispersion of all observations that fall below the average or target value of a data set. [3] The first set consists of four stocks and the second set consists of four equity indices, two commodities, and a risk-free asset. 6 Jurczenko, E. Maillet, B., and Merlin, P. (2006) Multi-Moment Asset Allocation and Pricing Models, Wiley Finance, p. 52. [4] Guidolin and Timmermann (2008) analyze the portfolio selection problem by using the dual approach. [5] Chunhachinda et. al. (1997) and Prakash et. al. (2003) studied the portfolio selection across national stock markets by using two data sets, weekly and monthly data. [6] Guidolin and Timmermann (2008) reported that these markets represent roughly 97% of the world equity market capitalization. [7] I use the derivations of skewness and kurtosis as provided in the textbook Multi-Moment Asset Allocation and Pricing Models of Jurczenko and Maillet (2006) to transform the expectation operators into the matrix terms. [8] Let A be an (nÃÆ'-p) matrix and B an (mÃÆ'-q) matrix. The (mnÃÆ'-pq) matrix Aà ¢Ã…  -B is called the of matrix A and matrix B: [9] The four markets are Hong Kong, Netherlands, Singapore, and Switzerland. These markets have high rankings of the coefficient of variation under the sample period.