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Physical plant or mechanical plant engineers can be found in almost every business sector and industry and are responsible for maintaining large facilities. These individuals usually monitor their facility's heating, cooling and ventilation systems. Additionally, physical plant engineers must also service and repair their facility's plumbing and lighting. According to 2010 data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national annual mean salary for a stationary engineer was $52,620. These individuals earned a national mean hourly wage of $25. Physical plant engineers, stationary engineers and boiler operators have a strong background in mechanics. Individuals working in this field often receive formal apprenticeship training with the International Union of Operating Engineers or formal education through vocational or trade schools. Certain states may require licensing for positions in this field. Generally, employers prefer to hire people with at least a high school diploma or GED who have experience in the field.

"Physical plant or mechanical plant engineers can be found in almost every business sector and industry and are responsible for maintaining large facilities. These individuals usually monitor their facility's heating, cooling and ventilation systems. Additionally, physical plant engineers must also service and repair their facility's plumbing and lighting. Physical plant engineers are paid an average salary of at least $50,000 to make sure a plant's systems run safely. "

To briefly summarize, as mentioned in the section of the book, a physical plant of a hospitality operation compromises of the ground, exterior and interior finishes, building systems, FF&E, HVAC systems, and plumbing too. Protecting the physical plant ensures the hotel controls and minimizes energy. Maintenance cost is a big concern when overseeing the physical plant sense it is such a big portion of the hotel. Technical and managerial functions must be performed to ensure the hotel is running smoothly and all maintenance are being kept up and to check that energy is not being wasted.

The article discusses how the physical plant of a hotel is important to consider during the early phases of building the establishment because it can get much more expensive later on if it is not dealt with from the beginning. The author believed that this simple detail is what separates a prosperous hotel a part from a retired hotel company. They also noted that trying to take care of the physical plant during a remodeling phase or a major renovation project would be a good alternative to ensure that the physical plant is thought out appropriately.

In this article, the author has introduced how a hotel maintenance management software does good to a business in the hospitality industry. The physical plant software enables hotels to be more efficient to manage bookings, monitor utilities and sort finances, which helps ensure daily operations run smoothly. There are several benefits of the physical plant software mentioned in the article. Firstly, the software allows hotels to implement a scheduled maintenance plan. By regular maintenance, hotels can spot problems and fix the issues. In addition, the software enables hotels to track the amount of energy and water, which will help save money and decrease the costs. Moreover, the software allows hotels to track the levels of all of the supplies and allow the suppliers to have access to the amount of inventory the hotels have on hand. Next point, such software has the ability track and prioritize work orders. Not mention the software allows hotels to track all employees' information, which makes it easy to manage multiple employees. Lastly, the physical plant software helps hotels plan an annual budget by tracking all of the hotel's expenses.

Physical and cyber security must coexist at mass participation events as threats can be in both forms. Organizers must create strategies to identify, manage, and mitigate these threats that can devastate events. This can be done with a multi-disciplinary security team and clear visibility to build intelligence. Information sharing and private sector engagement are also important tools within this process.

It often happen in hotel that the physcial plant system has some problem.The plan resolves heacily around backup generators and battery power for electricity. Lota's plan contain every system, if hotel obey the plan I think they can operate better.Make sure every physical plants in a good working condition.

The duty engineer is also supposed to walk through all machinery spaces to check for any flooding or hazardous conditions. If the outage is of an unspecified "long duration," the duty engineer is also bound to continually check the fuel level of the emergency generator and request that the manager call the contractor for more fuel when the fuel level reaches half-full.

The Sheraton hotel in California is the place for business travelers in the high-tech and government sectors. And to avoid the potentially harmful effects that the utility service interruptions can have on the hotel's many operating systems, the manager came out with a detailed engineering contingency plan. This plan is originally intended in prat to address potential Y2K woes. The plan assumed that a new life as both a disaster prevention and action schematic for all physical plant systems. 

Recent advances in big data analysis and artificial intelligence create powerful incentives for companies to accumulate information about every measurable aspect of their business. Due to the huge amount of information, the company's demand for cost reduction is higher and higher. Research shows that the amount of data recorded is growing at an annual rate of 30% to 40%. At the same time, the capacity of modern hard disks used to store most hard disks is growing at less than half the rate. Most of this information does not need immediate access. For things like this, tape is the perfect solution. In fact, most of the world's data are still stored on magnetic tapes, including data from basic sciences, such as particle physics and radio astronomy, human heritage and national archives, major films, banking, insurance, oil exploration, etc. There is even a group of people (including me, trained in materials science, engineering or Physics) whose job is to constantly improve tape storage.

When learning about the role of a MIS manager, I feel it's very important to learn the Physical Structure of the MIS. This article explains that the MIS is combined of hardware, software, database, procedures and personnel. When using MIS, it will help with decision making with accurate information then send to managers. These systems are vital to the day to day operation of a hotel.

This is a great article that explains the basic physical structure of management information systems. Like other computer systems, the hardware and software components of MIS must work together for its use. While the hardware comprises of physical components such as the CPU and storage units, software provides a GUI. the article also discusses the personnel, procedures, and databases in MIS.

Virtual Reality is enhancing the way travelers can decide if they want to book their hotels, by allowing them to take virtual tours of the hotel or experience local attractions via virtual trials, some of these examples include checking out local beaches, even simulated scuba diving. Some of these 36o videos are truly remarkable and I can see how this can encourage guests into booking their trips because it certainly makes me want to try all of these activities.

Virtual reality is a computer technology, which utilizes images, sounds, and physical sensations to make users feel as though they are physically present in a virtual world. For those in the hospitality industry, virtual reality has particular appeal because it can transport potential customers to a hotel or travel destination. The full potential of virtual reality within the hotel industry is only just being recognized.

This article goes over how VR/AR is currently impacting the hospitality and tourism world. The main reasons for its big impact on the industry and how the technology is being applied. It mentions examples and touches a little bit on the metaverse topic. It also has a separate article that explains further on AR & AI in the hospitality industry.

Alex Canter, CEO of Nextbite and Ordermark explains the difference between virtual restaurants and ghost kitchens. Both exist online, with no physical storefront. A report by Statista predicted online food delivery revenue will reach over $324 billion in 2022. Virtual Restaurants - only exist online, work with existing restaurants and kitchens. Helps increase productivity of their kitchen and labor, increase revenue and margins. Ghost Kitchens - Physical kitchens designed off-premise (pick-up and delivery only). Some have 30 or more individual commercial kitchens for rent and one area for delivery drivers to pick up. These kitchens house many brands and new local restaurants for a rent fee. Virtual restaurants require great marketing strategies, such as digital marketing, SEO, social media, professional photography and menu design. Some of the strategies suggested for success are utilising and being part of apps, focusing on the reviews, setting up a website.

Physical plants are very important in the hospitality industry and it's one of the factors that determine customer satisfaction. We live in a world where sustainability and smart room technology start changing the guest's expectation. Along the fact that the hospitality facilities have to look great, the physical attractiveness, they also have to be safe and that's where sustainability and smart room technology come in. The maintenance of a facility depends on how sustainable and smart a building is.

Security is obviously very important in hospitality and technological advancements are helping to make hotel stays easier and more secure. The hotel industry is exploring options to that replaces the standard plastic keycards with new entry methods. One example is using smartcards or RFIDs, which stands for radio frequency identification. Smartcards and RFIDs work like a fast-pass at a gas station when quickly paying at the pump. The guest simply waves the card/key in front of a sensor granting entry. The guest doesn't have to worry about the card being deactivated by his or her cell phone and the hotel doesn't have to constantly spend on replacements. Another example is technology that allows us to enter our hotel rooms using our using our phones. Guests would download an app, receive a text message with an encrypted sound code and play it by the door to be granted entry. Using biometrics for entry is likely the ultimate level of technological security. Like in the movies, guests would have their physical attributes scanned including eyes, and/or thumbprint to identify a guest. Video cameras will always be a great form of security. Now that they're getting smaller and more vivid, surveillance makes the phrase "Big Brother is watching" all the more relevant by being a huge crime and incident deterrent. Technology is advancing rapidly and I can see some of these methods hitting mass markets sooner than we think.

This article talks about the new technologies applied in the hotel to keep safety. The first one is Smart cards/RFID that helps to open the door via sensor receiving. The next one is smartphone, personal belongings that help to open the door with encrypted sound code. Biometrics also can help by identifying personal physical traits. For hotels, security cameras is necessity. 

Planning to save resources, the physical plant management performs maintenance in hotels to repair equipment and other materials that are found in hotels. This paragraph describes the ways that a maintenance worker in the physical plant department of a hotel can repair and support his task in a daily basis using an HVAC system to keep track. Some examples are cleaning, repair any broken items, and install objects, do electrical work, control electricity, work with computer systems, assist when technical help is needed and so much more. This article specifically points out its physical plant system to make sure those hotels and other businesses use it in the right way.

"Plainly, the physical plant is nothing but the destination with sound and catchy architecture that enhances tourists' experience." But it doesn't stop there. The physical plant must have an interaction with other topics to complete the product, to make it appealing to our guests and lately to create a loyalty to the brand. Physical plant, service, hospitality, freedom of choice and involvement are the steps for developing a product.

This article describes with components of an MIS, specifically the physical ones. It explain what each component is used for and how they differ. I think this is important to understand first, to understand the purpose the hardware, software, database, personnel and procedures.

With the mobile marketing technology, hospitality companies focus on finding innovative ways to personalize communication with customers, and the one of solutions is LOCATION. Geofences, or virtual perimeters placed around physical locations, unlock the knowledge to consumers' physical whereabouts. Upon geofence entry or exit, hotels can send promotional, informational push notifications to app-holding customers. By offering personalized, contextually sensitive content, brands will increase buyer motivation and encourage customer loyalty.

Over the years, some businesses have controlled almost all factors of production and distribution (Ford in its early days) whereas others have outsourced almost everything (Dell). In the early days of industry, large enterprises controlled and owned most factors of production and businesses like Ford Motor Company in the USA had their own foundries, railroad, forestry and electricity generating plants, In the UK, Cadbury's and Lever Brothers went so far as to build villages and amenities for their workers. The motivation for this vertical integration was varied but included cost and quality control, worker loyalty and protection of proprietary processes. As well as control of production, resources and employees, businesses like Ford also controlled the retail sales and service network.

The virtual value chain, created by John Sviokla and Jeffrey Rayport, is a business model describing the dissemination of value-generating information services throughout an Extended Enterprise . This value chain begins with the content supplied by the provider, which is then distributed and supported by the information infrastructure; thereupon the context provider supplies actual customer interaction. It supports the physical value chain of procurement, manufacturing, distribution and sales of traditional companies. To illustrate the distinction between the two value chains consider the following: "when consumers use answering machines to leave a message, they are using an object that is both made and sold in the physical world, however when they buy electronic answering services from the phone company they are using the marketspace-a virtual realm where products and services are digital information and are delivered through information-based channels." (Rayport et al. 1996) Many businesses employ both value chains, including banks, which provide services to customers in the physical world at their branch offices and virtually online. The value chain is separated into two chains because the marketplace (physical) and the marketspace (virtual) need to be managed in different ways to be effective and efficient (Samuelson 1981). Nonetheless, the linkage between the two is critical for effective supply chain management.

The article highlights the top five risks and security challenges in the hospitality industry. The following are the top five security risks according to the article. 1. Identity theft leading to credit card fraud - compared to other industries, the hotel industry is at more risk for credit card fraud and identity theft. This is because hotels are highly targeted by hackers. Hotel properties for the most part have credit card information for each and every guest that has stayed at a specific property. Hotels must be ahead of the technology curve when it comes to security however this is not always the case. 2. Silent invasions - This consists of all the cyber attacks that can affect a business by infecting the network. As discussed during the first module, hotels run majority if not all of their business using technology. If a hotel were to have their networks hacked it would leave them in a very bad situation. Since hotels operate their entire business using technology and multiple different systems, they would not be able to operate if they experienced a network breach. 3. Longer or no security audit cycles - Most branded hotels are required by the franchise to have consistent security audits done for each property. Independent hotels are deemed greater at risk for a security attack because they are not mandated to have security audits. These hotels sometimes skip audit cycles to save money. 4. Physical crime - This ranges from professional robberies to drug laps in hotel rooms. Hotels are at risk for armed robbery due to to lower chance of security compared to other industries that operate overnight. 5. Reputation risk - Hotels that experience a security breach almost always will see some sort of loss in competitive advantage. Nowadays with social media and the news travelers are more aware with what is going on and they would be more inclined to book their reservation somewhere else if they heard of the property having a security breach.

The purpose of this article was to review the available literature on the subject of ensuring software integrity for IoT (Internet of Things) devices, focusing on detecting and preventing modification of the original software, so that the device cannot be used for unintended purposes. The literature reviewed; secure boot, trusted boot and runtime security. Concluding that no one single control is going to adequately protect a device the solution based upon 25 years of experience is to create a multi-layered approach to security that starts at the beginning when power is applied, establishes a trusted computing baseline, and anchors that trust in something immutable that cannot be tampered with. Additionally, because a device built today can become a major problem tomorrow, due to them having hardcore keys "set and forget", the internet will then have literally billions of obsolete hosts in the coming years. Therefore it is important for MIS Managers/ Consultants investigate how to change the game in order to mitigate the damage or economic value of new systems being breached and by asking questions such as 'Can we even in the presence of a malicious attacker offer some limited form of security for the most valuable transactions (such as e-banking) or assets?' and 'Can we make the 'business' of the attackers less attractive by applying security technologies that are particularly tailored towards destroying the business model of the attackers?'

This article is very interesting because it talks about how establishments like Sports Authority and Toys 'R' Us are out of business due to e-commerce sites like amazon, ebay, Jet.com and others. It explains how businesses can adapt to an era of e-commerce. The first thing a business can do is to consolidate inventory, in other words have all the inventory in one single pool instead of different channels like brands have done before. The second thing is to establish a two-day shipping network, here the article explains how consumers expect immediate gratification with online orders. We see grocery stores doing this but with faster shipping within hours. The third thing one can do is leverage from an existing e-commerce channels for visibility. A business can sell its products on networks that are already established such as amazon, Jet.com and ebay. The fourth thing a business can do is use brick-and-mortar channels to increase exposure, meaning using physical stores such as Sports Authority and Toys 'R' Us to help increase exposure. It explains that drop shipping to these companies will help sales, 0% of all retail purchases still happen in physical stores. The final thing a business can do is use its resources. It is important to have an e-commerce expert on your payroll to grow the business online which will help in sales and stay on top of the this era. The article finishes by explaining that adaptability is the future of retail, which I believe adaptability is the future for any business. It is important to adapt and keep making things easier and more convenient for consumers.