Role Of The Public Sphere Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Role Of The Public Sphere - Essay Example While there are people who argue that there has been widespread commodification of leisure thus leading to an extension of the same phenomena to media considering it is a medium used by majority of the people to escape from the drudgery of daily lives, there is a strong consensus that with many early surveys used to study people's patterns, there have been empirical problems in distinguishing the opinion leading to consumer and political behaviour. The question of opinion in the public sphere arises due to the fact that many changes are based on the degree of personal contact which is more often than not, dependant on the mass media. These changes have been widely distributed among people ready to change their opinion. In this way, the public sphere and the media have a mutually strong hold over each other where ushering an era of modernity are concerned. It may be added that the public sphere is a dimension where space and geography are conceptualised to signify the factors that lead to modernism. Without the support of the media, transporting such changes to the public sphere would be next to impossible. In a similar fashion, it may be seen that the recent explosion of the information age has transported our lives to that place in time where keeping abreast with the latest on goings has become a matter of utmost and unparalleled importance. With the development of capitalism, a new kind of public sphere consisting of enhanced institutional forms of political power has emergedFurther, a new bourgeois public sphere grew simultaneously to negotiate between these two, consisting of groups of individuals who would debate and discuss and regulate the civil society through constructive criticism. (Hamilton et al, 2002. p 12 to 16) 1 Chapter 2: Features of Public Sphere and its Importance To find fitting answers to the question posed in the above chapter, one will have to delve deeper into the concept itself apart from to the general consensus as far as its meaning is concerned. A public sphere seems to be characterized by three main features where the first has to do with communication in a broad sense. Thus coffee shops, public hearings, town meetings, and other places where people interact with one another face-to-face are included under this criterion. Newer forms such as newspapers, broadcast media, and new venues on the Internet can also be a part of the same where the spread of awareness to garner consensus on an issue is involved. It was in the year 1962 that the philosopher Jrgen Habermas of the renowned "Frankfurt School" in Germany, coined the expression Offentlichkeit, or "public sphere" in English. As explained by Habermans (1989)2, this concept has existed in its true sense in the UK since the 18th century where London society's coffee houses had become the centres of art and literary criticism. This had led to a gradual inclusion of the economic and the political disputes as matters of discussion. In French

Management and Leadership (Coursework - Report) Essay

Management and Leadership (Coursework - Report) - Essay Example An institution’s success largely depends on how decisions are made and the structure that govern employee relationship and customer service (Simon 2006, pp.44). The company has maintains high standards by employing a very capable management team. They include the Chairman of the chain, Bill Marriot; The Chief Executive Officer; Arne Sorenson; the President and Chief Operating officer, Hurve Humler and the Chief Financial Officer, Peter Cole (Ritz-Carlton 2010). The company however achieved its high position in global hospitality under the leadership of President Horst Schulze. Schulze introduced focus on both the data-driven and personal sides of hospitality. The hotel chain has accomplished a lot since its inception and is the only company in the world to have won the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards twice both in 1992 and 1998 (Bono & Heijden 2011, pp.221). It has placed in top positions in various notable hospitality surveys such as the Zagat Survey. Mis sion and Goals The motto of the Ritz-Carlton hotel is â€Å"Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen†. This motto describes the general operations of the company and defines its corporate strategy. Since its inception, the company’s goal has been to provide exemplary service to their consumers while ensuring that elegance and luxury is of high quality. The company is dedicated to ensuring that their consumers feel like loyalty from the moment the step through the doors till the moment they depart. Customer Relations According to Storey, Emberson and Reade (2005, pp.248), customer responsiveness largely depends on the management model used and can make or break a company. The Ritz-Carlton group has ensured that their customer service if exemplary and worthy to compete in the global hospitality market. The previous president Horst Schulze instituted certain quality service control that catapulted the hotel chain into the top. Apart from the three levels of servi ce employed to make guests feel welcome, employees in the company are given the authority to handle any complaints from customers on the spot and can spend $2000 in the process as necessitated (Bono & Heijden 2011, pp.223). The employees can also request immediate aid from other employees. Furthermore, the employees are also required to gain feedback from the customers within a twenty minute period on the progress of problem resolution. Analysis of the Corporate Strategy of the Ritz-Carlton Hofstede demonstrated that there are several dimensions of culture that determine the operations of a company. The dimensions define how a company interacts both with its employees and its consumers. The first dimension is whether a company is means oriented or goal oriented (Hofstede 1980, pp.74). The Ritz-Carlton company is goal oriented such that the structure commencing from its credo to internal operations are all geared to providing the exemplary customer service and maintaining the Ritz-Ca rlton mystique. The second dimension is whether a company is internal driven or externally driven (Bono & Heijden 2011, pp.212). In an internally driven company, employees perceive that honesty and business ethics are vital and that they better understand what the customer needs. In an externally driven system however, emphasis is on meeting the requirements and needs of the customer (Aaker 2007, pp.59). The Ritz is an externally dri