Critical Social Work And Its Values Analysis Social Work Essay

Critical Social Work And Its Values Analysis Social Work Essay The essay analyses theories underpinning and key elements of critical social work and its values. An exploration of counselling as a form of social work practice and how it is influenced by the critical social work approach will be included. Examples from practice experience/ literature and the influence of inequalities, power and social divisions will be discussed. The views of service users and their contribution towards the practice will also be take into account in the essay. Payne (2005) traces social work in the UK back to the 19th century as a community and charitable activity to support the disadvantaged and poor. From the charitable and community origins it developed into a broader field. Jordan (2004) cited in Collins (2009) believes social work owes its origins to Christian morality than a commitment to social problems affecting individuals. Following the economic crisis in the UK in the 1970s due to escalating oil prices social issues like poor housing, unemployment, and poverty and homelessness social work shifted and broadened its focus and tried to address social issues and problems. Adams et al (2005). Adams et al (2009) mentions that in attempting to address social problems, disadvantage and inequalities social work practitioners have drawn knowledge and ideas from various disciplines such as sociology, psychology, philosophy and politics. From this multi-disciplinary knowledge base the underpinning ideology was anti oppressive principle which provides theoretical tools to understand intervene and respond to the complex experience of oppression. This means social work practitioners have a moral, ethical and legal responsibility to challenge inequalities and disadvantage (Payne 2005). Fook (2002) claims that critical practice can be traced and associated with radical social work in the 1960s-70s deriving ideas from Marxist theory. Marx analysed the capital society he lived in Germany and argued that the structures within society derived from the economy and the changes in the industrial revolution influenced some people to be more powerful and others not. Individuals were restrained by the demands of capitalism. Marx highlighted issues of class and class struggle where there is a struggle between powerful and powerless resulting in different societal classes. Those in power will seek to retain it mostly by exploitation of the powerless. Thompson (2006) affirms that society comprises of a diverse range of people in which social divisions emerge which in turn forms the societal structures which networks relationships, institutions and groupings. These groupings determine, control and regulate the distribution of power, privilege, status and opportunities resulting in social stratification and dimensions. From these groupings however it is important to mention that unfairness, inequality and oppression is witnessed in the group of people who are vulnerable and marginalised. Radical social work upheld the following themes: structural analysis of personal problems, ongoing social critique mainly focusing on oppressive ideas/practice and goals of self emancipation and social change. Parallel to these traditions empowering and anti-oppressive practice to participation in research and community work Adams et al (2005). Several key principles were shared from radical critiques to present critical social work which are: challenging dominant forces and oppression in all forms, a critique of positivist ideas and the need to challenge dominant constructed ways of knowing by developing other ways of knowing. This would be achieved through recognising that knowledge may reflect reality but may also be socially constructed through language and ideology. In order to create more/new knowledge self reflection and interaction are essential tools using communication processes Allan et al (2009). Moya et al (2009) believes that critical thinking was further enhanced by Marxism through academics from the Frankfurt School of Sociologists (Horkeimer (1979), Adorno and Horkeimer, (1979) and Marcuse (1964) from the 1920s/30s and Habermas (1984, 1987)s writing in the late twentieth century. The sociologists held that social interpretation was based on assumptions of a fixed social order mainly derived from religion, politics and social beliefs. When this order is rejected and challenged, sociologists believed that this would enhance knowledge of the environment which makes individuals more effective. Gerth and Mills (1948) and Durkeim (1972) cited in Harrington (2005) established that if we understand how social relationships work we would be able to achieve our objectives in society. This is how critical thinking in modernist way is about and it was termed modernism but has expanded and embraced other theories concerned with transformation and social change. Gray and Webb (2008) argue that critical theory is shifting from the Frankfurt school but at the same time it has not defined its critical base. Allan et al (2003); Fook (2002); Healey (2000) acknowledge that there is tension in defining critical theory as it comprises different theories, some argue that it is an umbrella term that encompasses a range of theories and approaches including Marxist, radical, feminist, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory, post colonial, critical constructivist and structural perspectives. This suggests that there are many theories although different they all try to understand the r elationship between an individual and society. Thus critical practice involves ones judgement in a reflective and diverse manner Adams et al (2009). Critical practice involves exploring different options in a situation or actions in judging the best way to address issues. The practitioner would review their ideas, perspectives and options of others before deciding a best way forward. This is underpinned by the fact of accepting change and continuity as practitioners encounter different situations and ideas. Payne et al (2005) further mentions that in order to fulfil the requirements of critical practice which include liberation and empowerment social workers need an open mind, reflective stance that encompasses diverse perspectives, experience and assumptions. This would result in acknowledging individual differences, equal opportunity and respect. Fook and Garner (2007) further identify three aspects of critical practice which are critical thinking, critical action and reflexivity as essential tools to apply when seeking social justice and change. From these theories we can trace the ideas of critical perspective and acknowledge that the powerless can influence policy, societal views and self emancipation from the oppressors. An example of theoretical development implemented by service users was the theorising of disability from the medicalised interpretation to social model of disability. This shift was championed by disabled peoples movements to express how they felt and were treated for more than a century. This shift and theory influenced societal attitudes, influenced policies and to some extent changed societal attitudes in UK and abroad. Abberley (1998); Barnes, (1998). Morris, (1993) supports this by mentioning that the disability movement has overhauled societal perceptions and upheld disabled peoples rights to live independently, promote anti discriminatory practice, fairness and equal opportunities. Systems theory is another major theoretical source underpinning social work. The theory emphasised that peoples existence is determined by the environment they live or grow in. It highlighted that peoples problems are a result of how they interact with their resource systems which are either formal or informal. The informal include friends, neighbours and colleagues. The formal include support groups/ social clubs and associations. The public/ societal include housing, hospitals, work and school which provide certain structure or particular function in society. The system theory encourages growth and provides a wider range of solutions to problems by identifying areas of improvement or needing improvement. However it is said not to be acknowledging power differences within society and with different roles Adams et al (2009). Coulshed and Orme, (1998) clarifies that the nature of diversity in society makes it difficult to be entirely dependent on one theory or approach. Different situ ations and different circumstances entail different approaches through reflective practices and perspectives. Harris and White (2009) further explored events and changes within the welfare state from administering to managing the welfare state. They observed that the Conservative 1979 -1997 and Labour 1997-2010 were influenced by neo-liberalist ideas. This idea upheld the belief that market was superior to the state and as such professionals including social workers were meant to implement competitive government policy and approaches to meet global standards. These changes affected the vulnerable people in society as well because managers had been given the powers to speak on their behalf. These changes, debates and contradictions have put social work practice into a contested dilemma profession although this definition states that Social work is a profession that promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. (International Federation of Social Workers, 2000 p1). Parton (1998) points out that the present political environment is dominantly global, modernized and authoritarian. As such policies are informed and regulated by market principles which prescribes and narrows professional boundaries which affects the rights of service users. In order to achieve their objectives social workers need to challenge and resist the authoritarian elements by employing critical practice. Fook (2002) articulate that critical social work practice should be concerned with promoting a society without domination, exploitation and oppression. In order to achieve these practitioners need to reflect, reconstruct, deconstruct and unpack more processes for change through careful negotiation within the dominant framework. Many critical social theorists have challenged the existence of a social order and have questioned social order as evidenced in the work of Habermas (1984, 1987) who distinguishes between the system and the life world which interact and sometimes conflict with each other. The system represents the structures like the government departments, transnational companies emerging from globalisation, ideas promoted by communicative reasoning, education and media. All these structures are relaying a world view through different reasoning. As such social work is not excluded as an agent of systematic managerialism in agencies Pease (2005). Fook (2002) and Gardner (2007) proposed alternative forms of critical theory which are feminism and post modernism. They focus on the understanding that the world reflects personal experience and social historical context. They argue that personal experience constructs and is constructed by the world we live in. They advocate to listening to peoples experiences (narratives) seriously and from these we can hear how they view and experience the world in different ways. Powell (2001) suggests that feminists maintain that the narration of experiences by individuals gives us a clue on how they construct the world and how they want to engage with their problems and situations. Thus postmodernists say there is an alternative way of viewing the world than what it seems to be. Post-modernity argue there is a different way of viewing the world and different ways to deal with societal problems hence critical social work seeks for different options and take the best way forward. Adams et al (2009) suggests that in order to seek the best way forward social workers are encouraged to adopt the eclectic approach which entails selecting crucial aspects from different theories and blend them together as one approach. Alternatively they can use different theories for different cases. This has an advantage of addressing inadequacies in particular theories as they compensate one another. However there are also limitations as to master different theories and selecting crucial aspects may be difficult. It might as well be difficult to select the appropriate theory to use in the first place. To overcome these limitations Epstein (1992) suggested that continuous reflection, agreement, debate and teamwork would encourage flexibility in complex issues. Milner and Obyrne (1998) propose that in trying to address social injustices and inequality social work uses a variety of skills and knowledge based on theory perspective and methodology. This empowers social workers to put in place intervention which is appropriate to individual circumstances. This intervention empowers social workers with skills to engage service users to bring positive outcomes. Banks (2001) holds that values are diverse, may overlap, can conflict and socially constructed. Traditional social work and critical social work values overlap and are based on Biestek 1961 and consist of the following: Individualism, non judgemental, self determination, purposeful expression and controlled emotional development. In post modernity terms these can be interpreted to promotion of social justice, emancipation, anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory, empowerment, non judgemental and respect and dignity. Above all the language used may affect the way we interpret the world resulting in assumptions, overrepresentation or misrepresentation of issues and ideas, Adam et al (2009). Critical social work as discussed explores the best way forward to individuals problems and seeks to listen and engage with the individual to tell their story and work in partnership to find the best way forward. The limitation is critical social work is surrounded by external forces which are beyond it control, for example resources in the current economic climate globally and at home. It is also criticised as its values and origins are Eurocentric and do not represent universal circumstances as what seems to work in UK might not necessarily work in Afro/ Asian communities. For example the issue of confidentiality is valued and essential in UK and Europe whereas in Afro Asian cultures they value kinship support in times of distress. However they would not want anyone else outside the kinship clique to know about their situation. This brings interpretation problems to confidentiality Morley (2003). In order for all these theories to be implemented there should be contact with individuals in society who experience inequality and disadvantage. Furthermore it is also important to mention at this point that social work intervention and practice is broad and spreads into other disciplines. Group work, Counselling, Advocacy and Assessment are examples of different forms of practising social work. I will not focus on the broadness of disciplines but will focus on the aims of the essay which are to explore how the critical social work approach influences counselling. Counselling requires a lot of skills and approaches as it seeks to address and resolve individual dilemmas, decision making and resolving issues. According to Dryden (2004:40) cited in Adams et al (2009) counselling is described as principled relationship characteristics by the application of one or more psychological theories and a recognised set of communication skills, modified by experience, intuition and other interpersonal factors, to clients intimate concerns, problems or aspirations. Its predominant ethos is one of facilitation rather than of advice-giving or coercion. It may be of very brief or long duration, take place in an organisational or private practice setting and may or may not overlap with practical, medical and other matters of personal welfare. The Barclay report in the early 1980s mentioned that it was essential for social workers to engage in counselling as it helped to engage with individuals to help them manage their problems, worries and anxieties, Barclay Committee,(1982). This is no longer the situation today as noted by Brearley (1995) when he states that political, administrative, legislative changes and ideologies have affected the relationship between counselling and social work. Some social work practitioners are in dilemma as to whether they can do counselling or not and where to start with counselling and when to stop. Because social workers operate in a legislative, organisational, ideological, value and ethical context it is becoming increasingly difficult to engage in counselling without pushing boundaries, Furthermore the economic environment, budget cuts and lack of resources makes it difficult to manoeuvre and employ uncontested interventions McLeod (2009). However despite the above constraints social workers at some point carry out counselling as not carrying it out would render their job inadequate and inefficient. McLeod (1998) identified a number of counselling theories which are Person centred, Existential, Cognitive Behavioural (CBT), Motivational, Humanistic, Psychodynamic, Karpmans (1969) Drama triangle and Eclectic or Integrative approaches. Some of the theories have been criticised as inadequate and resource straining. One approach that is complimentary to social work is the eclectic/ integrative approach. Integrative theory is adaptable to the needs presented by the client or specific circumstances which is flexible and adoptable to client needs. McLeod (2003) supports this statement when he maintains that eclectic approach enables the counsellor to choose the best option and techniques from a range of theories to meet the client needs. It can mean employing different elements from different theories to blend them into a new suitable model or theory. These compliments with one of the social work theory of eclecticism which seeks to integrate different theories to intervene (Adams, 2009). It can be argued that the aims of social work and the aims of counselling are both focusing on individuals and their interaction with the society, problems they face and how they solve them. As Egan (2006) puts it and complimented by Coulshed and Orme (2006) social workers adopt skills that compliment counselling skills such as empathy or understanding, respect, self knowledge and acceptance and honest. Although there are criticisms on Egans work as being ignorant of psychodynamic ideas meaning it has limited application and effectiveness. A reflective practitioner would seek to promote social justice, anti -oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice based on knowledge to promote inclusive practice. Both professions are being challenged by increasing literature developing and need to engage in best, critical and anti discriminatory practice to reach all individuals and communities Morley (2003). My privilege in practice working with clients is that I have acquired knowledge and on values of social work issues and intervention. I also have a black African background which has some conflicting values to social work. I will focus on the social work values to overcome any prejudices and biases which may jeopardise my work. I also have the law on my side which would give me power to intervene and practice. In my experience as a caseworker at Refugee Action (RA) I used counselling as a technique to working with clients. Clients from different background accessed the service to resolve their immigration matters. Mostly the approach we used was the integrative approach which meant that the outcomes met the needs of individual circumstances. I did not allow my own values and prejudices to influence my practice. The advantage of having my own values and knowledge made it easy for me to overcome any prejudices and stereotypes towards my clients. As a person from an African background with different values from those of the British society, it was easy for me to understand how it is to be in the clients shoes. I also observed that Muslim women preferred to work with female caseworkers and male Muslims preferred male caseworkers. They appeared not comfortable working with people from the opposite sex and tended to withhold information if that was the case. I therefore ensured Muslim clients were assisted by a person of preferred gender. Above all I applied the Narrative approach which solicits encouragement to clients to tell their stories. This enabled me to explore clients situation at their own pace and actively listened to assess and establish the real problem in the situation. Carniola (2005) observed that social workers are in the right direction of developing critical consciousness about the psychological impact of oppression on individuals. He further expressed that there is concern on the degree of awareness among social workers on the impact of privilege or dominant status on individuals subjectivities and world views. Rossitter (2000) concurs that the position/ impact and ways in which professionals engage with clients is overlooked and underestimated as they possess a certain class in the form of gender, race, and sexual privilege. Having explored critical social work practice and theories underpinning it, it is important to acknowledge that there is continuous transformation and contest within the academic field and socio-political arena. This is greatly impacting on vulnerable people and how they are treated and marginalised in issues affecting their lives. If the values of critical social work could be fulfilled and the theories underpinning it are integrated social work and counselling would be forces for change to promote social justice.

Ecofeminist Analysis of Militarism and the War on Terrorism :: Feminism Feminist Women Criticism

Ecofeminist Analysis of Militarism and the War on Terrorism      Ã‚   Since the start of our retaliation against terrorism, war, and the military-industrial complex used to support war, have become extremely important topics. While accomplishing its primary objective, war also destroys the innocent. War hits the young, old, women and children. The environment is partially destroyed in the country in which the war is fought. Both a feminist and environmentalist perspective are useful when analyzing militarism and its policies of domination and oppression.    Feminists see the military system as another patriarchal institution of domination that values the masculine over the feminine. War usually exploits women and other marginalized groups.    Environmentalists proclaim that the military-industrial complex is the nation’s largest industry responsible for the most pollution and mass destruction in the world.   Janis Birkland, a well-known ecofeminist and author of the essay entitled "Ecofeminism: Linking Theory and Practice", argues that this discussion would force us to accept that the enemy is not "out there" but also within us (36).    Militarism becomes an environmental issue and a feminist issue. To combine the two ideologies, ecofeminism creates a more complex thorough analysis of the destructive nature of militarism. Ecofeminism creates a new understanding and a new vision of criticizing the established military culture that exists in our world today. Ecofeminism links the oppression of women and nature as one in the same. The same system that exploits and oppresses women also turns and degrades the environment. The military destroys the environment and perpetuates the patriarchal culture by reinforcing the masculine is dominant over the feminine. Ecofeminist analysis allows citizens to become more aware and informed about the destructive nature of the military.    Militarism, a policy or principle of supporting the maintenance of a large military establishment, is more than just war and destruction of life notes James A. Donovan, a retired military general and author of Militarism, U.S.A. (25). The military is involved in nearly every aspect of our daily lives. Economic, social, cultural, and our natural world are immensely affected. Stephen E. Ambrose and James Barber, editors of The Military and American Society, assert that the military dictates our foreign policies, economic policies, allocation of natural resources, college and university programs and funding, degradation of the environment, and the education of millions of non-highschool graduates (4).    When analyzing militarism and all the social and environmental consequences, ecofeminism creates a comprehensive holistic perspective.

The Woods Essay -- Descriptive Essay Examples, Observation

I am sitting in the passenger side as my dad is driving, and we are on our way to my grandpa's land which is located about 25 minutes east of Dubuque. First thing we do when we get there is to finish putting on our coats, and then to grab our bows out of the back, then I close my door softly. Walking through the open field I have dead weeds and tall grass crunching under my boots, and at the end of the field we reach a barbed wire fence that we crawl under. Then we cross under a bunch of pine trees and go about 30 yards into the woods to where my tree stand sits. Then my dad tells me good luck and he heads down into the gully where his stand is located. So I then climb the 12 foot ladder and sit on the seat and put on my safety belt and get my arrow ready on the bow string. I survey the land and look for any movement, so I look to the left where there is another set of pine trees, then I look in front of me into the first set of pine trees don't see anything yet. Then I hear a sound of crunching leaves and immediately look to my right and sure enough there is a big doe getting ready to cross the fence 15 yards away. Â   Being out in the woods is meaningful to me because, of the excitement I get out of observing deer in their habitat and the challenges that are presented by the sport of hunting. Once that deer is close enough that I can see it my adrenaline starts to pump and my heart starts to beat a little faster. The excitement that comes with seeing a deer is great, but it is even better if the deer is in shooting range. I have been bow hunting for two years and am already hooked on it because of the anticipation of getting a shot off at a big buck, but watching the deer and how they react in their own habitat is ne... ... shared experience to talk about and to enjoy helping each other with our techniques. Â   To a beginner in this sport it may not seem as relaxing as I said it is because, I know that when a person starts at something it may get frustrating. As a person goes along and gets better at these activities, it gets to be more fun and more relaxing. Two years ago when I first started I really was bored the first couple of days because I didn't see any deer, and didn't really talk to my dad a whole lot. Then as the next week came I saw my first deer, and it was out of my shooting range but it still got my heart pumping, and ever since then I have been hooked on it. That also gave me the chance to tell my dad what it was like, and he said the same thing happened to him when he first started out, and now we make the best out of that time and talk together. Â  

Machiavelli’s The Prince Essay

In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he plunged into how a prince could bulwark his position once he reaches the top. One of the many ways of how to secure a prince’s position is conquest by criminal virtue. In conquest by criminal virtue, Michiavelli said that a prince secures his position when he reaches the top because it takes a long time and a lot of hard work to prosper. So to make sure no one takes away their position, the prince crushes his opponents and earns obeisance from the people as much as possible. The prince also makes fewer compromises with their allies, trying to stand alone because he believes he is more sufficient and stronger than the others. A prince must also know how to reform orders. This may cause havoc because people who benefited the old order might oppose the prince but he must have the power to force the people to continue supporting him even though they are already having second thoughts. So why does this persist even though every politician and every citizen who thinks rationally knows that this is immoral. We humans are naturally driven by our hunger for power, fame and fortune. We set aside moral values and ethical values just to quench our self-interests. Politicians act on it because they know this is the easiest way to eliminate a threat. This is a permanent thing so when an enemy ceases to exist, he’s permanently gone from the competition and this gives the other politician a peace of mind because he knows that he will win for sure if he has no opponent. Citizens do not act upon this because first, citizens that belong to the lower class are afraid. How could they go against someone so powerful that this person could end their life with just a snap of their fingers? The span and extent of power of this kind of politician is vague that it might extend to having the upper hand and control over criminals and we never know what he will do just to preserve his power, fame and fortune. Second, most citizens who know about the wrong doings of this politician is paid and given a lot of consolations for their support and silence. As I said, we humans are naturally driven by our hunger by fortune. For people who do not work and believe in gaining money from a real job, this is the most convenient way of earning money because they don’t have to do anything but tay silent, run a few errands for the politician and write the politician’s name on their ballot every time he runs for a seat. There is also the fact that when local citizens support this politician, they are more secured and well protected. People who try to clash with these local citizens would already feel threaten beforehand because the politician will back them up in part of their deal for the secrecy of the politician’s dirty work. This is one of the most immoral acts performed in politics, but one that somehow we can never get rid of.

Our Relationship with Others.. Essay

â€Å"Our relationships with others help define who we are† In trying to make sense of ourselves we often look to others and our relationships with them to help us. Our first relationships are with our family. Their influence is often vital to our self- definition. These relationships can give us a sense of who we are and where we have come from and it is often comforting to know we are part of something bigger. Often these relationships are positive, but they can also be negative. Being rejected by our family is not wanted but it can have a big impact on who we are and how we live our lives. It can test our strength of character. As we move through to adulthood and start to gain a greater insight into who we are, we often look to others outside the family and they too can have a lasting influence on us. The people we meet and the experiences we share with them are crucial to our development as individuals. We need to cross these relationships carefully as we balance our uniqueness with conforming to keep those around us happy. Our family strongly influence the sense of who we are and our behavior, family is a part of who we are. What we first connect with is our parents and our family. What our parents said and what they did will influence our behaviour. In the film Skin, Sandra’s father Abraham told Sandra ‘Never give up’ and he never gave up reclassifying Sandra to be white. All of these influence Sandra, even though she left him for nearly 30 years, Sandra still remembered and did as what he said. It made her try to connect with her mother even though she never get her mother write back and Petrus was angry about this, but she never gave up. In the end of the film when Sandra’s children question why she bothers to look for her white family, Sandra said ‘You never stop needing your parents, they are party of who you are.’ For me, my parents influenced me a lot. For example, my mum had always played sport as a young girl and teenager and even now she still plays, an d this has influenced me because I now play or have played every sport that she has, and she is now the coach of my netball team. Where we find happiness is where we belong. Sometimes we need to try to find where we really belong, where people accept us and care for us. In the film  Skin, Sandra was rejected by her father because of her falling in love with Petrus. When she was rejected by her family she felt sad and confused, but she felt she did not belong in the white group and that she will never accepted by the white people, she felt happy when she stayed with Petrus, she had asked Petus ‘how could you make me feel better’ what Petrus did is he just accepted her. When she was rejected by her family Sandra chose to live with Petrus and found out that she was belonging to black community. What Sandra did is try to find where she really did belong, where she will be treated equality and be accepted. When Petrus found out that Sandra keep in touch with her mother, he got angry with Sandra he suspected her loyalty, he rejected her, and Sandra had to take her two children and left Petrus, to try t o find other places where she will have her happiness and make her felt like she belonged. Our sense identity also is influenced by other people, what other people say to us, say about us and how they act around us will change our sense of identity. When we move through to adulthood and start to gain a greater insight into who we are, we usually change our sense of identity by some outside influence. In the film Skin, when Abraham tried to put Sandra into a white school, what happened to her in the school changes herself identity. Sandra did not even know she was coloured unstill she started school where she was the target of prejudice, racism and abuse because the staff and students questioned her status as ‘white ’. When Sandra lived in the boarding, one of a little girl said to Sandra ‘They said you are black.’ When Sandra had maths class the teacher hit her and said she was ‘disgusting’, etc. What happened to her let Sandra know that she is not white, she is coloured and she will never got in the white community. All of these chan ged Sandra, when we can see that even at nearly 30 years old Sandra still feels inadequate, when she talks with people and she’s afraid look at others eye to eye.

Woodstock Music and Art Festival

Woodstock started out as just a big bash and ended as a once-in-a-life-time occurrence. The original Woodstock-goers share a bond and uniqueness that will be hard, if not impossible, for anyone to ever reproduce. Who started such a party? Why was it started? Did the promoters believe it would turn out quite like it did? What was the real Woodstock experience actually like? Four very young and very different men sponsored Woodstock: John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield, and Michael Lang. John Roberts was the oldest, at age twenty-six. Being heir to a drugstore and toothpaste manufacturing company, he supplied most of the money. In 1966 he met Joel Rosenman, who had just graduated from Yale Law School and was playing guitar for motel lounge bands in the Long Island area. By 1967 they shared an apartment and an idea for a screwball comedy show about two guys with unlimited resources who are always getting involved with crazy innovations. While looking for new ideas to help the show, they essentially became the characters of it. Artie Kornfield was the vice president of Capital Records and had written at least thirty hit singles. Michael Lang was the youngest in the group, at age twenty-three, and was the manager of a rock group called Train. In December of 1968 he met with Kornfield to discuss a record deal. They hit it off immediately and ended up sharing some similar ideas. One for a cultural exposition/rock concert/extravaganza and another for a recording studio set one hundred miles from Manhattan in a town called Woodstock. Their only problem was getting the money to finance it. Their lawyer recommended they talk to Roberts and Rosenman. In March of 1969, after a written proposal and a discussed budget of about half a million dollars, the four partners formed a corporation called Woodstock Ventures. The Woodstock Ventures team planned to create the world's largest rock n' roll show ever. They wanted it to include the back-to-the-land spirit, yet still be easily accessible. They ended up leasing an industrial park in Wallkill, New York (about twenty miles from Woodstock, NY), from a man named Howard Mills, for ten thousand dollars. They planned the music and art festival to take place on August 15, 16, and 17, 1969. Over seventeen major acts were planned including Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Blood Sweat and Tears, and the Grateful Dead.2 The slogan, â€Å"Three Days of Peace and Music†, and the symbol, a catbird perched on a guitar, were agreed on by the four because they thought it would help break the hype about the concert creating violence. They hired Allan Markoff to be in charge of setting up the sound system, which at the amplifier's lowest setting would cause pain to anyone within ten feet of a speaker. Since they couldn 't entice a big movie studio to film the weekend, they got Michael Wadleigh, who had a strong reputation as a cameraman and director, to do the job. The planning was not easy and Woodstock Ventures ran into a lot of problems. Wallkill residents found out about the festival, which was estimating an attendance of about two hundred thousand people, and got scared. They did not want hippies and rioters disrupting town life. They held a meeting on July 15, 1969 and passed a town ordinance, which prohibited all events that would draw a crowd of more than three thousand people.4 Joseph Owen, the assistant town attorney of Wallkill, made clear the penalty to such a violation, a fifty-dollar fine and/or six months in prison for each officer of the corporation for each day.5 Since Woodstock Ventures had already collected nearly three hundred thousand dollars worth of tickets (the cost for a one day ticket was seven dollars, a weekend ticket cost eighteen dollars), they had no choice but to find an alternative location for the festival. Elliot Tiber, owner of El Monaco (a resort on White Lake), read about Woodstock getting tossed out of Wallkill and realized that he had what Woodstock Ventures needed, a permit to hold a music festival in Bethel, New York. He contacted Lang who immediately came out to El Monaco. However, the resort was only about fifteen acres and they needed a lot more land than that. Tiber then thought of his friend, Max Yasgur, who owned a massive dairy farm right outside of Bethel. On July 20, 1969, Woodstock Ventures agreed to rent six hundred acres of the farm for seventy-five thousand dollars. Bethel residents started to read about Wallkill's worries about the festival and they started to feel like the concert was pushed on them. George Cobb and other small landowners advised Bethel town attorney, Fredrick Schadt, and building inspector, Donald Clark, not to approve their permits.7 The landowners pressed charges against Woodstock Ventures to get them to increase security and sanitation levels. After several meetings and payoffs the court released a statement saying, â€Å"The differences between the parties have been resolved. The motion is withdrawn.† At last Woodstock was really going to happen. By Thursday, August 14, 1969 there were already about twenty-five thousand people at the site and more coming. The main highway, Route 17B, was backed up nearly ten miles. Hippie groups like the Pranksters, the Hog Farmers and Wavy Gravy set up side stages, kitchens and shelters to set a precedent for people who had never camped before and to help keep things in order.9 On the morning of Friday, August 15, 1969 several hundred New York police officers, hand-picked by Woodstock Ventures and promised fifty dollars a day, showed up to help keep order throughout the weekend. However, when they arrived they received a message stating that if they participated they may be subject to departmental censure. Several stayed to work under fake names and the agreement of being paid ninety dollars a day.10 Woodstock Ventures turned to the hippie groups to help with security and handed out passwords and symbols to the most fit. Around noon the ticket-ta kers showed up and wanted everyone to walk out and comeback in with their tickets ready. But security found this to be ridiculous and saw the only solution to be to take down the fence so everyone could enjoy. Drugs were as uncontrollable as the weather. The smell of burning marijuana filled the air. Acid was being passed out in Kool-Aid and other edible forms. Drugs such as heroin, opium, and mescaline were also being distributed throughout the festival. By midnight on Friday it started to rain and hardly let up the whole weekend. Nearly four hundred and fifty thousand people were packed together camping in the mud and sharing their love with each other. By Saturday morning there was already a food crisis. Local groups set up free kitchens and the National Guard had food and medical supplies flown in by helicopter. Three main medical tents were also setup to help organize the patients. There was one for people experiencing bad drug symptoms, another for people with bad cuts and abrasions (especially on the feet) and the last one was for people who burned their eyes from staring at the sun too long. A total of thirty two groups performed during the three day Woodstock event. On Friday, August 15, 1969 at 5:07pm Richie Havens entered the stage and started the music. Following his act was Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Bert Sommer, Tim Hardin, Ravi Shankar, Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, and Joan Baez. On Saturday, August 16, 1969, around 12:15pm, Quill came on, followed by Keef Hartly, Santana, Mountain, Canned Heat, The Incredible String Band, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, The Who, and Jefferson Airplane. On Sunday, August 17, 1969, Joe Crocker took the stage around 2:00pm, due to a huge storm the music had to cease and did not continue until about 7:00pm. At that time Country Joe and the Fish came on, followed by Ten Years After, The Band, Blood Sweat and Tears, Johnny Winter, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Sha-Na-Na. Last but not least, on Monday, August 18, 1969, around 8:30am Jimi Hendr ix walked on stage for an unforgettable ending. He played to a mere forty thousand people and officially ended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair at 10:30am. Woodstock was more than just an art and music festival; it was the capstone of an era and a cultural jungle. People of all sorts attended; Vietnam vets, black militants, anti-war protestors, rednecks, anti-gays, ban drug advocates, pro-government advocates, legalize drug advocates, gays/lesbians, and anti-government advocates. Although it might have seemed to be the start of a civilization collapse, it actually became the site of a mini-nation, in which minds were open and love was free. The people who came together on August of 1969 created an unforgettable landmark of the twentieth century, which changed the world forever. Gary Proud, an original Woodstock attendee, said, â€Å"You can shake off the mud, the music will fade, but you can never forget the emotions.†

Online Reservation and Information System Essay

Today people are living in a society which is called a technologically civilized society. Ultimately, the researchers can say that, â€Å"living without technology is like living without air† in this technical world of today. Most people are using Internet to easily search what they need especially information. The Internet is a global network connecting millions of computers. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions. With the advancement in technology, the researchers decided to develop an Online Reservation and Information System for Fortune Seafood Restaurant. The Fortune Seafood Restaurant is a well known fine-dining restaurant in Pampanga. It is located strategically in between the heart of City of San Fernando and Olongapo-Gapan Road, Pampanga. Fortune Seafood Restaurant is one of the upscale Chinese restaurants in Pampanga. It serves prominent personalities and provides venue for important events. The restaurant accepts reservation fo r various events such as wedding, birthday and others. The company is using manual process when it comes to managing reservation. The customer must go to the restaurant in order to make a reservation. It causes hassle for the customer to go to the venue to just inquire for the reservation information and make a reservation. Sometimes the customers are being disappointed since the date and time that they like to reserve is not available and already occupied by other event. The company promotes and advertises the restaurant using fliers and tarpaulin. The process of the restaurant in requesting feedback to the customers is only verbally by asking them about the food. The Online Reservation and Information System for Fortune Seafood Restaurant is a system that will provide information about the company like the different dishes they serve including the prices, promos, and services that they offer. With this feature the company will be promoted well. It also has photo sharing and allows creation of blogs for the customer to express their thoughts about the food and services or their â€Å"Fortune† experiences. It includes a reservation system that supports the customers who want to make a reservation for occasions like birthday, family reunion, wedding and even a special date. The system shows all the schedule of the events so that the  customer will know if the date and time that they plan to reserve is available or not. It also has a feedback form which may contain discussion of the opinion or suggestion of the customer about the company. Review of Related Literature The following reviews are discussed to support the reasons why the problem exists. It serves as the researcher’s basis in conducting the study. In the book Restaurant and Cafeteria Management Service (2010), the very first restaurant in the world was opened in Paris in 1765. A tavern keeper, Monsieur Boulanger, served a single dish sheep’s feet simmered in a white sauce. The world restaurant is derived from the French word â€Å"restorer† meaning to â€Å"restore†. The first restaurant the dining rooms of the inns and as towns, cities, grew in population, several eating places were established serving lunch and dinner at fixed price. Boulanger’s business was different from other food businesses, like cafes and inns, because Boulanger’s business was centered on food, not alcohol (like taverns) or coffee and tea (like cafes). Customers came to Boulanger’s establishment primarily to eat, and this was a novelty in the late 18th Century, wh ere the population ate their meals at home or, if they were away from home overnight on business, at an inn. In French, the word restorative is restaurant. A local food guild (a union monopoly) sued Boulanger in court for infringing on its monopoly on the sale of cooked foods, but Boulanger won and was allowed to continue. This victory led to the rapid spread of these new restaurants across France. The researchers included this review to be familiar with the first restaurant in the world, in distinguishing when and where it started, what the processes of a restaurant are, and how it became successful. In the book entitled Basic Restaurant Service (2007), Restaurant Service demands an extensive knowledge of international cooking, of beverages and bar services. The wait staff or Restaurant Service Staff are most important contact persons in attending to the guests. It is therefore necessary to have a complete command of serving rules and to know the preparation of special dishes and drinks at the guests table. The wait staff or Restaurant Service Staff, seat the guests, take table orders correctly, prepare special tasks at the table side, serve food and beverages and present the bill and send the guests off. They are the central figures  who create a good impression of restaurant by warmly welcoming gu ests, ensuring that service is prompt and courteous and that the meal meets expectations. These qualities and professional competitiveness, practical work and theoretical knowledge are deemed necessary to carry out job. The researchers included this to know and discuss the importance of effective restaurant service staff since they are one of the keys to the success of the company. In implementing the proposed system the staff who will be assigned must be good technically to easily learn the system and to avoid facing difficulties in operating the system. According to the book Food Service Management in the Philippines (2009), Engracia â€Å"Aling Aciang† Cruz-Reyes, the matriarch founder of Aristocrat Restaurant, discussed that she believes that to find the customers, one has to go where the people are and find ways to keep them coming back. She opened a rolling store in Luneta Park an accomodating thousand of people at one time. She prepared Filipino dishes like arroz caldo, and pancit that were freshly prepared in front of the customers. Later on, to meet the changing needs of the customers she added to her line of menu items a selection of sandwiches and softdrinks. People kept coming bac k for their comfort food from Aling Aciang. Before World war II Mrs. Reyes sought out new market opportunities by locating her food business in a prime property at the Dewey Blvd, Manila. Today, the Aristocrat Restaurant has more than ten additional branches in different location all over the country. The researchers include this review for the reason that it discussed, â€Å"to find the customers, one has to go where the people are and find ways to keep them coming back†. By analyzing the quotation, nowadays many people are using Internet. The proposed system will be where people are to acquire a lot of customers and easily interact with them. In the proposed system the customer also has the privilege to make a blog and share photos so that they can share their Fortune experiences. The researchers provide the blog in finding ways to keep the customer back. The book entitled Fundamentals of Food Service Management (2009) said that, Foodservice is becoming a way of family entertainment and a source of family income for those who are engaged in food service operation. The growing number of people patronizing restaurant, cafeteria and fast food center defends largely on these for their food intake, in schools, for example, many students depend on the school food service for th eir lunch and stocks. As such better and more nutritious foods should be offered in these food services. Based on the book Food Service Management in the Philippines (2009), one of the successful company in the Philippines is the Barrio Fiesta. It is novelty and good taste are the primary reasons that keep Barrio Fiesta afloat in local food business. The restaurant was established in 1960 when Mr. Rod Ongpauco’s recipe on pig’s feet, better known as crispy pata, became sucessful. Being the first to offer the special menu item, customers flocked in and its sales rose from 20 persons per table to 300 persons per table. It is the first to feature the singing cooks and waiters to entertain guests while they are dining. A unique manner of incorporating local customs with foodservice professional setup is considered an excellent marketing strategy. From mentioned that â€Å" the chain restaurants, specially the Barrio Fiesta chain, are sucessful because of aggressive advertising, affordable price s compared to upscale restaurant and availability and accessibility. In this book, the researchers acquired knowledge about the system in restaurant and how to make it successful. One of the important aspects in a restaurant is the food service. The restaurant must have unique strategies in providing service that is why the researchers decided to develop an Online Reservation System for Fortune Seafood Restaurant. In the book Restaurant Service Basics 2nd edition (Sondra J. Dahmer and Kurt W. Kahl, 2008) Restaurant Reservation and Table Management Software has the functionality to track reservation as well as control seating and optimize server performance. It can centralize the dining reservation process, eliminate over bookings, or maximize table utilization with walk-in and wait list functionality. Reservation can be entered and modified guest phone numbers, email, mailing addresses, and preferences ca be captured. Table management software has a display of currently available and occupied tables. This system provides the host with the status of occupied tables and the approximate time when each table will again be open to seating. It can also show reserved and confirmed tables, tables to be joined by more guests in a par ty, tables needing to be cleaned, tables approaching or exceeding assigned departure times, and tables that are not to be utilized. From this information, waiting guests can be quoted realistic wait times, and servers can be given new parties of guests can be quoted realistic wait times, and servers can be given new parties of guests at a manageable pace in their  situations. Guests can even make their own reservation online over the restaurants Web site. The host can then send the guests an email confirming the reservation they made. The researchers included the literature above to know better the processes of different restaurants. The Restaurant Reservation and Table Management Software is very useful and lessens the effort in operating a restaurant. In this review the researchers obtain some ideas of the features that can be adopted for the proposed system. The book Quick Books for the Restaurant (Stephanie Murphy and Alisa Robertson Neunerker, 2010) discuss the importance of the Accounting Process to the Restaurant Manager, it is imperative for successful restaurant operators to understand financial report s, use the information to enable better decisions and take ownership of the financial performance of the operation. Restaurant operators focus on menu items, controlling costs, customer attraction and retention, supplier relationship, and employee relations issues. Each of these challenges, and a restaurant operators response to the, is affected by or has an impact on the financial structure of the business. Menu items drive inventory cost; the restaurant affects the rent or lease expenses of the operation; and turnover drivers recruiting and training costs. Restaurants operators can be overwhelmed by the complexity and details of finance, and as a result they do not give this critical issue the time and attention it deserves and requires. Business operators may focus on things they know best and ignore things with which they are less familiar. An easy to use, accurate, and current set of financial and operational reports form Quick Books will enable a restaurant operator to confidently adopt the universal language of an accounting. It can turn the mystery and overwhelming process of accounting and financial reporting into the most valuable resource for the restaurant. The review above is included by the researchers for the reason that accounti ng in a restaurant is very important and the financial report or transaction must be secured. In the proposed system the researchers make sure that it secures all the transactions especially in reservation. In the book entitled â€Å"How to Improve Dining Room Service†, Richard Saporito stated that for more than 20 years now, he is a restaurant consultant for a variety of profitable establishments. As a noted author and keynote speaker, he helped hundreds of operations around the world ranging from small independent start-ups to large scale corporate  operations with seating capacities of over 1500. In that time, he became part of some extremely successful restaurants, but also witnessed many that struggled unnecessarily. In his experience, the primary factor that separates successful restaurants from those that struggle is the level of service that is provided to the customer. He make sure, the location, menu and marketing play a part, but the most successful restaurants all have one thing in common. They provide customer service which exceeds their customer’s expectations! In the website squidoo.com Just Be Nice (J.B.N) 2009, it is stated that word of mouth is the most effective promotional method. So if your restaurant is nice, the food is good and the wait staffs are friendly and efficient, people will tell their friends. And their friends will tell their friends a nd the list goes on and on. The most effective way is on special occasion like birthdays, anniversaries and so on. According to the book entitled â€Å"A Modern Approach to Restaurant Profitability† by Lloyd M. Gordon, The Restaurant Industry is still growing in gross revenue for the twelfth straight year; first reason is that the numbers of operating facilities are increasing annually. Another factor is that each restaurant enterprise is succeeding in upgrading its revenues from the previous year. As a part of this Industry trend, you are shown how to receive your healthy share of the Industry’s rewards as you become alert to serving and satisfying patrons with the foods, beverages, service, ambiance, and hospitality they require. The researchers include the reviews to be familiarized with some restaurant techniques in terms of serving people. The company must provide customer services which go beyond their customers’ expectations, satisfying customers, and must have effective promotional method. The following studies are written work and concepts adopted by the researchers. These reviews will also help acquaint the readers with the details of arrangement among the previous studies, as well the relation of each to the present study. A study entitled â€Å"Philippines Empowers Guests through Direct Online Reservation via Own Website in Egi Club in Cebu†, reserving rooms at EGI Club in Mactan Island has just been made easier and more convenient with an  innovative booking system that was recently launched on the resort’s website (http://www.egiclubceburesort.com).EGI Club Cebu Resort’s new reservation system shows potential guests two weeks’ worth of real-time room availability matched with the lowest possible rates. This feature allows selection of accommodations based on tastes, and more importantly, budget. A 10% deposit payment, which is deducted from the total room charge, ensures the availability of the chosen room type upon the guest’s arrival at the hotel. An automatic e-mail is immediately sent after the transaction to serve as confirmation. For clarifications and concerns, a reliable customer service team is ready to address reservation issues, including modification of bookings.EGI Club Cebu Resort can be found in Lapu-Lapu City, which is a first class highly-urbanized city in the province of Cebu. The resort hotel is well known for its hospitality and high customer satisfaction brought about by its dedicated hotel staff. It is the perfect getaway because of its myriad of amenities that offer relaxation and rejuvenation. Guests may choose from a total of 120 guest rooms, which all have Internet access and comes with a double bed, IDD phone, mini-bar, and refrigerator. For sports enthusiasts, beach volleyball, jet skiing, diving and other water sports may be enjoyed at Mactan Beach. The company, through its innovative technology, helps accommodation providers maximize the business potential and performance of their websites. In the study entitled â€Å"An Online Hotel Reservation of Palazzo de Laoag† conducted by Rajzle G. Ingles of St. Paul University, Tuguegarao City, a system that will help the hotel to automatically make a reservation online is developed. The system is shown superiority in the aspects of usefulness and functionality for the following reasons: the design has been tailored-made according to the identified needs of the personnel; among its standard features are used of access keys and shortcuts that endow the system with an ease of handling and user-friendliness; structured rather than hard-coded programming was used; the system boast of error-free that can be relief to effectively handle and process data and generate reports for the customers and personnel’s. The graphical user interface is both appealing and friendly. There is a unity and consistency in the grouping of functions and objects. A screen design simulates windows application and  overall is pleasant and shows the virtue of taste in special effects. Benefiting the staff and personnel of Palazzo de Laoag Hotel as a whole, it also stands to benefits the customers who take reservations. Reservation was simplified and personnel and customer do not have to work hard for making the reservation. Repetitive routines are eliminated and customers do not have to go to the hotel. There is no question as to the acceptability of the system. For one, Palazzo de Laoag Hotel has long depended on the manual system in its reservation routines. This system offers superior alternative that makes for ease, efficiency as well accuracy. Bayani et al. (2011) in a study Computerized Table Reservation and Billing System for Kenny Rogers’s Roasters SM Pampanga discussed that the purpose of their study is to provide more efficient and helpful process of reservation and billing for Kenny Rogers’s Roasters SM Pampanga branch. This system concerning computation of bills can help KRR to easily compute bills for their customers in just a few minutes rather that computing it manually. It is easy to use because it will not require manual counting of the number of tables occupied or reserved. It can generate reports of the previous bills and customer information. The system will provide the manager of Kenny Rogers Roasters the authority to see the complete records of their customers and what they availed. It has a search feature integrated to make the process of checking faster and to check if a customer has an existing account. The study covers the development of a table reservation and billing system for Kenny Ro gers Roasters SM City Pampanga. The system of table reservation and billing is composed of two users the guest and administrator. The administrator account has the privilege of verifying, accepting or rejecting and saving the records of the customers. The employee with this type of account is the manager. Reservation through phone call will not be acceptable if the customer is not regular customer, the customer should be a member or it has an existing account. The system will prompt the user when and what time is the arrival of their customer and what table has been booked A 2011 study by Angeles et al. which is a Computer Based System for Function Hall and Catering Reservation for St. Paul Reception Garden is concerned primarily with the process of function hall and catering reservation through computer, recording of data and providing the billing  statement for the clients. This study will provide security of data through the use of username and password and can only be operated by the legal employees. Using the system will only take a few clicks to add, save, edit and retrieve the client’s information and show the billing statement afterwards. The study can also print receipts and quotations. It is also monitors the re servation of the customer by the use of sorting by date. At the end of the reservation transaction, the system provides an official receipt for the customer. The system does not support any discount cards or any credit cards. An Online Reservation System for Cattleya Garden Villas study conducted by Alfonso (2012) is a system that provides an effective online reservation system that will benefit the Cattleya Garden Villas employees and customers, educationally, economically and technologically. The study will greatly help the owner and employees, to make the procedure more streamline thus creating a hassle free and time efficient reservation process. The website will also boost online presence of Cattleya Garden Villas, making its marketing grasp larger network that what it is now.It aims to improve the Villa’s relationship to its customer by means of having a system which is more focus on their reservation needs. The system’s importance, effectiveness and speed of the processing to accommodate the customer request will save time. It will give more opportunity to serve other customers through the help of the system the clients and employees can easily interact with each other. Through the use of the system, Cattleya Garden Villas will save much time, effort and resources such as papers, registration form and portfolios in processing guest’s reservations. It will provide a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that will handle the customer inquiry and manage the 24/7 operations. The system administrator can add, edit or change username and password and his personal information. The administrator is the one responsible for adding of new rooms, changing the room status, updating room availability and approval or cancellation of reservations. The various studies above are included by the researchers for the reason that the studies will help in identifying the requirements in the proposed system. The researchers can alter the system by comparing it to the previous study and can adopt similar features that will fit in the needs of the Fortune Seafood Restaurant. According to an article entitled â€Å"Learn How to Build a Profitable Business Online†, Mr. Ken Hubener, the writer of the  article said that â€Å"starting and operating an internet business is surprisingly similar to operating any other business. Good business practices, like building the confidence of customers through truthful advertising, providing products and services at a fair price, and developing long-term business relationships are as applicable to the Internet business as they are to any other businesses†. An increasing number are building their own websites to allow them to market their business and it has been very effective and successful to use Internet as their source of income with businesses and to try to go where the people are. The researchers include this study to differentiate an d distinguish that there is more effective way in promoting the company. The manual process of advertising the Fortune Restaurant is only in fliers and tarpaulin that is why the researchers will develop an online system to promote it on the web. In the article entitled â€Å"Online Hotel Reservation on Kerala Tourism Website, a Big Hit†, the 1888 PressRelease said that â€Å"The online accommodation reservation system offers travelers a wide range of choices from five-star hotels to home stays in remote corners of the State. With this facility, rooms can be booked online any time by visiting www.keralatourism.org. The booking can be done by using major credit cards, debit cards, net banking and other facilities like Pay Pal. The specialty of the online reservation platform is that the payment made for reservation goes directly to the account of the property owner.† Based in the article entitled, â€Å"The Suites Niagara Falls† it requested assistance for new hotel website which will launch the site within days to high exposure in the top search engines. Consequently, the management was extremely pleased and requested details of other services. They spoke their challenge managing inventory and reservations, in tracking campaigns and in promoting to past guest. Today, the embassy Suites Niagara Falls provides online reservations, reservation tracking and mass mailing services. These three key services arouse from the development of three products that have been designed to complement each othe r to meet the online goals of compatible tourism entities. It has two parts: the admin (back-end) area where staff controls rates, availability packages and the public (front-end) area where content is projected and reservations are made. In admin dashboard screens, staffs have ability to create and control room types, rates, availability, taxes, automated messages, packages and reservation  enhancers. Whether a regular room booking or package selection, the system displays content from the admin area in real-time, enabling guests to book rooms with ease. At the time of a reservation, the system takes the guest through the booking process: selection of room type, package costs and details, contact and payment information. After all details are stored in, for processing, dual confirmation/notification messages are sent to both guests and hotel staff. According to a Corporate Reservation System (CRS) an independent agency that books approximately 100,000 hotels room each year on behalf of its corporate clients. CRS pre-negotiates special rates with some 15,000 hotels worldwide, offers these discontented rates to their clients than organizes all the bookings and the paperwork. CRS do not change for this service but ins tead receives a commission from the hotels. In addition to accommodation they also organize conferences and special events. CRS was using an old DOS FoxPro system to take bookings. This performed well in the past is now creaking at the seams and needs to be replaced with a new Windows system designed to handle the increased needs of the now larger and more sophisticated organization. The overall brief was to develop a more efficient Windows based replacement to take hotel bookings, conference bookings and to organize special events. The article â€Å"A Study of Airlines’ Online Reservation Services†, stated reports on a study about examining airlines’ Web-based online reservation services. Thirty airlines from three regions (North America, Europe and Middle East, and Asia and Australia) were assessed to determine whether there were any significant differences between the three regions, in terms of the Web site attributes and services provided to travelers. In this research, the attributes selected for examination included (1) components of online reservation services, (2) provision of extra benefits, (3) factors affecting reservation time, and (4) provision of additional services/facilities. Empirical results indicated that some airlines did not provide all components in the chosen attributes and that airlines in these three regions differed significantly in certain dimensions of the chosen attributes. In particular, airlines in North America were found to have the most comprehensive Web-based reservation services. The studies are included by the researchers to have more knowledge about different online reservation systems and prove that online reservation is very effective. Having websites will allow marketing of the business online  and it has been very valuable and successful to use Internet as a source of income with businesses.