MARY DOUGLAS' NATURAL SYMBOLS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

MARY DOUGLAS' NATURAL SYMBOLS - Research Paper Example According to Douglas, natural symbols are an important determinant of the nature of social and religious rituals practiced by all cultures worldwide. These natural symbols could be derived from â€Å"blood, breath or excrement† and each one of them has a social meaning and implication. Using these bodily symbols, the choices, preferences and perceptions of every culture can be studied. According to Mary Douglas, the way a person treats his/her body explains his/her perception of the society. The hierarchies existing in a society are very much similar to how a human treats his various organs. She explains: According to one, the body will tend to be conceived as an organ of communication. The major preoccupations will be with its functioning effectively; the relation of head to subordinate members will be a model of the central control system, the favorite metaphors of statecraft will harp upon the flow of blood in the arteries, sustenance and the restoration of strength. Accord ing to another, though the body will also be seen as a vehicle of life, it will be vulnerable in different ways. The dangers to it will come†¦ from failure to control the quality of what it absorbs through the orifices; fear of poisoning, protection of boundaries, aversion to bodily waste products and medical theory that enjoins frequent purging. Another again will be very practical about the possible uses of bodily rejects, very cool about recycling waste matter and about the pay-off from such practices. The distinction between the life within the body and the body that carries it will hold no interest. In the control, areas of these society controversies about spirit and matter will scarcely arise. But at the other end of the spectrum †¦ a different attitude will be seen. Here the body is not primarily the vehicle of life, for life will be seen as purely spiritual and the body as irrelevant matter. Here we can locate millennial tendencies from our early history to the pr esent day. For these people society appears as a system that does not work. (Douglas 1996, 16-17) The Body, Religion and Anthropology In her book, Douglas explains how the ritualistic patterns of a culture can be derived through their body symbolism. This book examines religion from an anthropological perspective, explaining the ritualistic and socialistic norms existent in all cultures. Thus, in order to understand a culture truly, a thorough study of the natural symbols occurring in the society is mandatory. Sarah Coakley writes in Religion and the body: Anthropologists have long been interested in ideas about the body. Thus, in the nineteenth-century anthropology, the centrality of the notion of ‘race’ involved detailed studies of the bodies of ‘primitives’. European imperialism made possible, and evolutionary theories of progress encouraged and fed on, the detailed description and classification of types of European and non- European bodies.1 As is evid ent, the body forms an important element of all anthropological studies that aim at a proper analysis of a given culture. According to Coakley, by the end of the nineteenth century, studies focusing on the â€Å"symbolic aspects of the body in primitive cultures† became increasingly prevalent. It was believed that such a study would tell us â€Å"something profound of the human mind†2. Mary Douglas is not the only one to have elaborated on the significance of bodily symbols in anthropology. Many other works, like those of Benthall and Pohemus, Blacking etc. have brought out the importance of the â€Å"Anthropology of the Body†. However, Douglas’ work remains the most popular in terms of both its academic value and interesting notions. Harries (1993) interprets natural symbols as follows, By natural symbols, I

Ritz carlton hotel company case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ritz carlton hotel company - Case Study Example However, for the success of the hotel, Mene emphasized on the issue of the importance of human resource and specifically on hiring new employees that would blend new competences and diversified ways of doing things. According to, Mene, this would make clients to experience new different things that caters for their needs. Indeed, barely two years after focusing on integrating new employees with new training, Ritz-Carlton won the Baldrige Award in 1992 for its outstanding standards in the hospitality industry. In this regard, it is evident that subjecting new employees to a longer training could be termed as one of the strategies of ensuring quality of services in the hospitality industry (Pandey 239). An elaborate training especially for a new hotel would enable the hotel to identify and target the required skills by the employees that would enable the hotel to meet the needs of the customers of the newly found market. In addition, studies have documented that subjecting employees in extensive training helps employees acquire better customer service skills and productivity improvements (Adegoke 10). In fact, subjecting employees to extensive training assures the employees that you value their contribution to the hotel. Such a training schedule builds employees’ self esteem. When employees are well and extensively trained, they tend to feel up-skilled to execute new and complex tasks, which make them feel motivated. Disadvantages of extending the seven days training for the Ritz Carlton hotel company On the other hand, in a way, subjecting employees to a long training session can make them feel threatened or make them feel not competent enough to take up the task. This may make them bored and lose interest in working for the hotel. In addition, overtraining employees can be a costly exercise especially for a new hotel. It is also apparent that such an extensive training even before employees start working can make them focus much on theory than applicatio n, which is necessary and part of training (Wentland 7). With these deliberations, I would not advocate for lengthening the 7- day training. Instead, I would keep the 7- day training schedule and concentrate on subjecting employees to further training sessions after the hotel opens. This of course would ensure that different employees would be subjected to training programs that they appear weak in and enroll them to improvement programs of the areas they are good in. Qn. 2 It is apparent that opening a new hotel is different from managing an already existing one. This is arguably true because a new hotel opening process involves bringing every department into operational right from the scratch. First, McBride should consider development of the new site. The hotel should be in a secure location and as attractive as possible (Wild 69). Tourists and hotel customers need to have a hotel that is in a secure location. Besides, the facility should be of distinct quality. It should be attr active and fitted with modern facilities. In addition, McBride should also consider putting a proficient workforce in place. The newly established hotel should be in a position to attract customers as quick as possible (Salver 72). The workforce should be well trained and with required skills and competent enough