Annotated Bibliography

1.Barker, J. (2008, February 8). Power to the People: Reducing Turnover With Empowerment . Incentive Magazine .

The article talks about three major businesses; Ritz Carlton, Park Ridge, and Qualcomm. The article focuses on empowering their employees. They do this by allowing them to have power in decisions and ultimately creating their job descriptions. I found this article interesting and would like to incorporate they ideals into my paper's solution area and also to give examples on how this has increased the ability to keep employees.

2. Bolino, M. C., & Turnley, W. H. (2003). Going the extra mile: Cultivating and managing employee citizenship behavior. Academy of Management Excutive , 1-13.

This article is a broad example of what I am trying to focus on. They give many facts about keeping workers happy and keeping the turnover rates low. I liked this article because it will give information that is only focused on my industry. I feel that it is important to compare other industries when discussing the topic of high turnover rates and may pull from other industry ideas.

3. Prewitt, M. (1999, December 6). Purdue study: Low benefits boost turnover, increase net labor cost - Statistical Data Included. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from Bnet: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_49_33/ai_58185639/pg_2

Purdue University conducted a study on how benefits can help keep employees. This article was also focused on the accommodation and restaurant areas of my field. I felt this article was good to look at because of all the facts it contains but also because it is from our university. I plan to pull information from this article to not only support my solution but my problem also. I thought it was a well rounded article.

4.Strickland, T. a. (1997). Strategic Management. Irwin McGraw-Hill.

Strategic Management was another article that provided facts about other industries. This article provided different facts then the one above and also included my industry within its information. The article is actually from a text book that has been used in colleges to learn about these issues. I felt that it was informative and will help build on the support I will need.

5. Zuber, A. (1997, May 26). Low employee turnover rate gives Sugar Bowl sweet success - Sugar Bowl Restaurant, Gaylord, MI. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from Bnet: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n21_v31/ai_19448905

The article talks about an individual restaurant that has worked extra hard to keep it's employees. The article described the business and went on to discuss the benefits of keeping employees who were well trained for their tasks. I felt this article gave a good example of how this all could work and gave facts about the actual cost of training new employees often. I will share this story along with others to represent my idea clearly.

Megan Burner
English 106
April 2, 2008

Goal: My major is Hospitality and Tourism Management. I plan to address the high employee turnover rate within my field.

Thesis: The employee turnover rate within the tourism industry is one of the highest in our nation and could be solved by using beneficial incentive programs.

Main Point- The turnover rate is high and effecting the way hotels and restaurants are overall run.
• Compare to other industries.
• Talk about how much money is lost.
• Talk about the difficulty to provide decent customer service.

Main Point 2: Restaurants and hotels can set up incentive plans to keep employees.
• Describe incentive plan.
• Share examples on how it has work for other companies.
• Prove that initial cost is worth it.

Main Point 3: This plan will benefit everyone in the long run.
• Employers
• Insurance providers
• Employees
• Customers
• Etc.

Lodging in West Lafayette

One idea that I feel could be discussed is the lack of lodging here in West Lafayette. Lodging becomes a larger issue during the months that football is being played. Purdue really only has one hotel on campus and one within a short distance of the stadium. Our guests are often forced to find hotels within the Lafayette area. They then have to drive to the stadium to be able to watch the games. West Lafayette could definitely benefit from providing conveniently placed hotels to these visitors. The town would not only receive money from the lodging being used, but the guest would be more likely to use the restaurants and other businesses close to campus.

I am currently a junior in the Hospitality and Tourism Management program here at Purdue. I have been able to take many classes in my time here regarding lodging and other aspect of the tourism industry. I also feel that since I live in this area it would be easier to get the useful information needed and to develop a solution. I have heard others talk about this issue but I am not aware of any current actions to fix it. I plan on pulling information from surrounding hotels, people who have experienced lodging issues while coming to games, and I hope to find information about how other universities have handled their similar situations. Lodging should not be an issue here in West Lafayette. The town should be benefiting from the revenue brought in by these guests.

Link to Shivom's blog: Engl 106

Just in case you want to know what the weather is like today: Weather

Channing Tatum! :

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Destin, Florida: not just for old folks!

I spent spring break in Destin, Florida. I went with my best friend Jackie, our friend Angie, Jackie's boyfriend/my friend, and Angie's fiance. I have never felt so single in my life but other than that the trip was amazing. Once we finally made it on the road we took a nice little two and a half hour drive from Indy to Edinburg because of all the wonderful snow. When we hit Kentucky it was pretty much clear though.


While we were down there we spent quite a bit of time on the beach of course. We also went go cart racing, putt putting, to a night club, and to a few other places. We caught up on our Family Guy episodes, and practiced Rockband most nights. We are just that crazy!

I mostly feel bad for Ben because he managed to get a ticket in Alabama. Where we were also informed that certain beverages were not allowed to be brought across the border. He gave us some slack since we were "young college kids trying to just have some fun." I'm just just glad that Angie and I were not driving. We both 20, and that just wouldn't look good. Regardless, I had a great time in the sun and I am really missing my flip flop collection.

Andas Game: Comic vs Paper

The comic version of Andas Game was by far my favorite. I felt that it was much easier to get through and overall picture. I feel that most people would likely pick this version. I'm not saying that many people don't like to read but overall I think that the majority prefer pictures to help them get through a story. Comics are much easier to follow when you aren't exactly interested in the topic also.

The story was conveyed pretty well through the comic. There were parts cut out of course but that also helped to get through it. I felt that the paper was less efficient in capturing my attention. Therefore, I would recommend the comic to someone interested in this topic rather than the full written story.

The Blog Every Girl Should Read

What is more amusing than finding juicy details and gossip all in one place? I have found every middle school girls dream site. Well, every girls dream site but we may not want to admit it. This site is Popsugar.com. You can join for free and post drama after drama within the many different categories provided on this site.

There are numerous sections to this site. You can get fun details about love, celebrities, and fitness. That’s not all, say you’ve just moved and need some help decorating your home, or say you want to vote but need more details on the politicians this may be the site for you. You can even get help on how to take care of your dog Fluffy. The varieties of topics are definitely centered on what a typical girl may want to read but this isn’t only a site for us ladies. The information can give many eager to please boys that edge they may need. I don’t recommend going overboard on this site, but to get the general insight of the female’s brain and maybe a few tips. That could help save many countless nights of wondering what a girl actually wants from you.

The site does all this with fun vibrant colors. You may never see so many pinks, oranges, and greens in one place ever again. The font works perfectly for the audience, with tons of curves and the placement of different topics makes it so you’re not overwhelmed by too much text.

This site just screams sleepover entertainment. Overall, I find it to be fun and perfectly put together. The main way to keep an audience is to really grab their attention from the start and I am overly pleased. While I may have shown my deep down girlie side, I feel it’s worth it. We can all secretly spend our nights indulging in the excitement called Popsugar.