Real Beef!

Real beef?

Taco Bell lovers: I have good news for you. As we knew, taco bell had a lawsuit last week for using "fake beef" they clarify the situation. The beef is at least : 88% beef and the rest are spices, herbs, and condiments they use to make those products last more and give customers the quality they deserve. They were just trying to get us the best of their products, taking care of their food and beverages.

They were just "trying to give us (customers) the best. That's why Greg Creed who is the president of Taco Bell chain makes a public explanation of all the misunderstanding because they are kind of upset of what media has told about their services. I'm totally agree with Taco Bell personal because media can ruin a restaurant reputation and is in their hands to take care of that reputation in order to maintain their jobs.

this is the link I read the article : http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/01/28/taco-bell-the-beef-its-real/?KEYWORDS=taco+bell

Posted by: Coral Israel

Abu Dhabi Hotel Sets Green Example

At a time when the environment and global warming are pressing issues for the entire world, going green is a priority for many industries. Not only does going green do one’s part in slowing greenhouse gases and preserving resources, it provides a favorable image for the industry due to their commitment to social responsibility. The Cristal Hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE has been making remarkable investments into recycling programs as part of a ‘Clean Up UAE’ campaign. It now recycles six products, namely paper, plastics, aluminum cans, glass, Tetra Pak packaging, cartridges and toners. The hotel’s effort in keeping environmentally friendly has not gone unnoticed in the Middle East as the Cristal Hotel Abu Dhabi was short-listed for the Arabian Corporate Social Responsibility Awards 2010 by Emirates Environmental Group. Specific actions the management has taken is switching to compact fluorescent lamps in all of its rooms, turning off heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment when not required, adjusting chilled water temperature for air conditioning according to atmospheric temperature, and regulating domestic water temperature to reduce compressor load. The need for this was specifically addressed my manager Immanuel Williams who said, “The hotel industry is often considered as one of the most waste-producing businesses in the world. We aim to change that perception here in Abu Dhabi by adopting sustainable strategies to complement our local growth.” This effort no doubt will prompt hotels in the Middle East to adopt the same policies and give the Cristal Hotel the reputation of luxurious accommodations that meet the highest environmental standards.

Hotels and the crisis

As Alexandra mentioned, not only restaurants have been hit by the economic crisis, but also hotels and especially luxury hotels. However, even the recession not every hotel market was affected. Hotels for leisure travelers were much less affected.

In 2009 the majority of people said that the crisis did not affect their intentions to travel. However, we see business companies cancelling meetings to avoid traveling. The reason why the business travel suffers more is that leisure travelers are more sensitive to worsen the economic condition than business travelers. Hotels needed to cut down the cost, but many hotels by this attend did not manage to survive and shuted down.

As demand fell, the number of hotels and bed spaces declined as many small independent hotels were forced out of the market. The consumer started putting more pressure on room rates and started expecting more 'value for money' from the hotel industry.

Recession kept hitting hotels not only throughout 2009 but also 2010. It took five years for average room rates to reach pre-recession levels.

POSTED BY: Katerina Argyrou

Corporate Social Responsibility in a Recession?

Over the past year, chain restaurants have been hit hard by the economic recession. Many have been trying to find way to cut costs in order to save money and still keep customers coming. Chili's Grill and Bar has been implementing new labor strategies to cut costs in response to the impending health-care law, which mandates expanded employee coverage. They have removed expensive kitchen equipment and will be replacing it with higher-efficiency models. They have also had to condense certain job positions in order to expedite tables faster. After reading this article, it made me wonder if this was having any effect on Chili's reputation. One of, if not, the most important benefit of corporate social responsibility is having a positive reputation in the marketplace. Chili's is known for having their "hand-mashed potatoes" and "authentically smoked ribs". But, if they do away with their giant rib smokers and switch to instant potatoes in an effort to save time and money, there are customers that will notice and dislike it. That is one of the most difficult issues that restaurants have to deal with; quantity vs. quality. In these tough economic times, restaurants have really had to tighten their belts. However, how far are they willing to go? At what cost is it actually worth to "skimp out" so that they can save a few bucks? Restaurants need to make sure they keep expenditures low, but they must also keep a listening ear to the public so they don't make any crucial mistakes they might regret.

For more information, visit: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704307404576080340742759346.html?KEYWORDS=restaurants

--Alexandra Ladas

Hotel Porn

Running a hotel is like trying to keep all the pieces of an antique clock working smoothly together. Within a hotel, there are countless functions that need to be carried in perfect synchronization if the customer is to be 100% satisfied. Rooms need to be cleaned, breakfast is to be served on time, and the valet should return a guest’s car promptly. These various functions give hotels opportunities to make a quick buck by charging for everything. Couple hundred a night is one thing, but meals, room service, entertainment, and other services quickly add to the bill. An ethical issue that this industry faces is deciding what services to provide to customers.

This week Marriott International, one of the nation’s leading hotel groups announced that it would no longer be allowing access to pornographic movies from their entertainment system. The decision comes hand-in-hand with the Marriott’s upgrade to new on-demand entertainment technology to compete with Netflix, iTunes, and Springbox in the battle of in-home entertainment. Along with Omni, which went porn-free in 1999, Marriott has committed to a family-friendly image in exchange for the revenue received from adult movies. This is a decision aimed to protect children from viewing immoral content and to maintain the reputation of the Marriott’s hotels. The company could have chosen to allow porn, but in this case the ethical decision outweighed the potential revenue. As spokeswomen for the company Caryn Kboudi said, "The ownership decided that it was not a way that we wanted to make money,"

Posted by Oscar Jacob

For the entire story go to http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2011-01-21-hotelporn21_ST_N.htm?csp=webslice

Hotel Ethics

To start with, what is ethics concerning a business company? Ethics is a moral perspective of what is wrong or right. As our guest speaker said in his speech, a company has to make sure that everyone’s basic liberties are equal and equally protected. Businesses have to look the perspective of the whole (meaning people who interact in or with a company) and not of individuals. Hotels have ethics as every company does.

When the hotel management decides to hire employees they have to follow different criteria, such as: integrity, responsibility, understanding of the field and unity, while keeping in mind the main goal of being excellent at their profession and helping the hotel be better (http://www.foodreference.com/html/artethics.html). Promises made by a hotel’s manager must be fulfilled. Both quality and price must correspond to what a client will face once getting in the hotel. For example, a hotel near the beach that promises a 5 minute walk to get there and is actually 20 minute walk fails to meet this promise and has acted unethically. Once the code of ethics is decided by the directors of a hotel, it must be available to all employees.

In a world with millions of hotels, the hotel market place is certainly very competitive. There are hotels where someone needs to pay $1000 a night, and others that cost $ 100 per night. There are successful hotels and hotels that wait for a miracle to happen and receive more clients. In our world both wealthy and not so wealthy people exist thus these hotels have to focus on their ethic code and be sure to meet all of their promises.   

Some examples of ethics that hotels face are: stealing, attitude of employees (polite or impolite), employees that are not enjoying their work, discrimination etc.

Posted by: Katerina Argyrou

The Ethical Restaurant

In the restaurant business, if the customer is the most important person, then the next most important would have to be the employees. I mean, without employees, there would be no actual business for customers to go to. Finding employees for a restaurant is a 24/7 job. Whether it's students in need of summer money or seniors just looking for a way to pass the time, there is always a demand for an entry-level restaurant position. Sometimes, there are employees that stick around for years and make very close ties with their managers; the business becomes a second family for them. But no matter how long a person has been employed at a restaurant for, there is always a possibility of a dishonesty in a company. Just this past December, Chipotle Mexican Grill had to fire a number of workers between their 50 Minnesota locations after an audit by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). Many of the documents that Chipotle provided the ICE were suspected to be illegitimate, and if the employees in question could not clarify or come up with new documents, they were let go. This puts the restaurant owners in a difficult position. They want to hire the best workers they can find, but they don't want to be discriminatory. The managers of these restaurants weren't doing anything wrong; they hired employees who needed these positions and because they needed to fill jobs. So what do they do when a situation like this arises again? A young woman who may not be a legal immigrant of this country, but has a family to provide for? Should the restaurant owner turn her away, or allow her to work as long as they don't get caught? Is this owner dishonest, or simply a helping hand? It's all about ethics, and what is ranked higher on each individual's list of what is right and what is wrong.

More information about this blog on:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704754304576096343224264206.html?KEYWORDS=restaurants

--Alexandra Ladas

Article by Coral Israel

 this is the article i read: http://hotel-management.bestmanagementarticles.com/a-18101-hotels-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.aspx
Jan. 24^th – Business Ethics

• What are key ethical issues this industry faces?
• What are some examples of ethics challenges that industry players have experienced?

• What are key ethical issues this industry faces?

We all want our business to succeed on the best way talking about morality and about the best for our business . But when there are challenges on our path some people tend to forget what ethic means. For example some employes tends to mistreat other employees. When they abused from other’s services they are violating ethical issues.

People can lose their jobs for doing this.  As we can see with the title of this articles, we have the good, the bad, and the ugly and when it comes we have to face them. The key ethical issues this industry faces could be : theft, abuse of trust, abuse of work, betrayal of laws. Even if someone is abusing of time (tardiness) this person is abusing ethical issues.If we don't have an ethical base to follow we forget about moral issues. We as human beings have to respect ethics to be treated the way we want to be treated.

  What are some examples of ethics challenges that industry players have experienced?

• dealing with employees issues (misunderstandings) 
• theft
• drugs or alcohol issues
• non motivated employees
• gossips between employees 
• Racial conflict
• gender conflict

Those are ethics challenges that industry players have to experience day by day and they have to find a solution to solve the problem for the sake of the company and employees. To work with professionalism and to encourage other companies to follow an organized structure. If those problem are solved then our Hotel, Restaurant or Leisure would be able to work better. Without disagreements and peacefully as a real company. We have to be tolerant and to accept others without making any discrimination.