Decreasing Child Abuse with Nurse Partnership Essay

Child abuse in America is not a new epidemic; our country’s history has been tainted with it since its inception. Children are abused at all ages, indiscriminate of gender, race, or culture. While the abuse of any child is appalling, the abuse of an infant is especially heinous. Dr. John Leventhal, a professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine completed a recent study which highlighted the fact that â€Å"serious abuse-related hospitalizations are more common in infants under the age of one year old and tend to disproportionately affect families on Medicaid,† (Mann, 2012). These incidents occur because parents are ill-prepared for parenthood and lack the resources necessary to appropriately manage the stress of a new infant. A Nurse Partnership Program (NPP) is the answer to our nation’s call to significantly decrease the amount of child abuse cases for infants under the age of 1 year. If appropriately executed and managed, this program could also improve the quality of life for participating families as well as potentially decrease the number of families who receive aid from public welfare and assistance programs. Needs Assessment Child Abuse Statistics According the United States Department of Health & Human Services (USDHSS) (2011), Nevada is tied with Tennessee as the state with the third highest rate of child abuse per capita for children under the age of one year; 16. 9% of Nevada’s infants were abused in 2010, 47. 7% of those cases resulted in fatalities, and 81. 3% of the perpetrators were parents of the victim. The USDHSS (2011) also reports that the federal government’s Fourth National Incident Study of Child Abuse found that abuse is three times more common in poor families and neglect is seven times more common in poor families as well (poor as defined by national poverty line). Poverty Statistics The U. S. Census Bureau reports that 16. 4% of Nevada residents live in poverty, which places Nevada as 38th in the nation (2010). In terms of pure numbers, 306K people receive Medicaid in the state of Nevada (Haynes, Vogel, and Tetreault, 2012). Nevada has a large target population for this program and as the third worst state in the union for child abuse of infants, Nevada has demonstrated a dire need for action. Specific Target Population The target population for the Nurse Partnership Program would be expectant mothers who are Medicaid recipients. The Nevada State Department of Human and Health Services and the Prevent Child Abuse Nevada organization would serve as supporting agencies since both organizations already work to prevent and control child abuse in Nevada. The NPP would also benefit from the participation of dedicated social workers. Community Level Nursing Diagnosis Nursing Diagnosis One The target population is at risk for impaired parenting related to situational characteristics that precipitate child abuse. Previously mentioned statistics prove that a disproportional amount of child abuse cases for children under one year of age occur in families who receive Medicaid. Child abuse, neglect, and maltreatment are classified as impaired parenting. According to the USDHHS (2012), research has uncovered a number of risk factors or situational characteristics that create a higher probability of child abuse within families. These situational characteristics of parents or caretakers include previous trauma history, altered mental health, and an unhealthy or negative response to stress. Research also indicates a link between substance abuse and child maltreatment. There is also an increased risk when children are raised by a single parent, when one parent is already to victim of domestic violence, and when parents are socially isolated. Nursing Diagnosis Two Many young or teenage parents receive public aid and Medicaid, which places them in the target population. These young and teenage parents are at risk for ineffective coping related to lack of social and emotional support, lower economic status, high stress levels, and inadequate education. Brownridge and Douglas found that lack of or inadequate employment, education, social and emotional support, and self-esteem are associated with child abuse among children of adolescent mothers (2008, pp. 9-42). Without a sufficient support system or education to prepare young parents for the monumental task of caring for infants, they are rendered inadequately prepared to cope with the stresses of early parenthood. Cancain, Slack, and Yang (2012) state that researchers and policy makers have long recognized that children living in families with limited economic resources are at a higher risk for maltreatment than children from higher socioeconomic strata. Nursing Diagnosis T hree The children of the target population are risk for trauma related to their dependent role in the parent child relationship. Infants are especially susceptible to maltreatment due to their early developmental status and need for constant care. As Dr. Leventhal (2012) stated, when abuse occurs in children under the age of one year abused, they are more likely to incur serious injuries that require hospitalization than abused children over the age of one year. Project Goals, Objectives, and Interventions  A Nurse Partnership Program would match a registered nurse with an expectant mother, who would in turn provide education and mentorship throughout the pregnancy and first year of the child’s life. The nurse would perform home visits and help the mother prepare the home as well as herself for the safe arrival of the infant. The nurse would advocate for a healthy pregnancy and assist the mother in finding the resources she would need to facilitate that healthy pregnancy. While evaluation of the goals would include comparing the rate of child abuse cases among those enrolled in the NPP with those in the ontrol group, the overall evaluation of the program would include the rate of families who set and meet educational and professional goals as well as achieve and maintain economic independence of government aid programs. Project Goal One The first goal of this program is to improve pregnancy outcomes of the targeted population. This would start with matching an expectant mother with a registered nurse early in the pregnancy. This initial relationship builds the foundation for a successful therapeutic relationship and the overall success of this program. The nurse would educate the woman on preventative practices during pregnancy to include prenatal care, appropriate diets, and any behavior modifications that may need to occur such as the use of cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. The success of interventions and determination of meeting this goal would be evaluated by comparing the rate of healthy births by mothers enrolled in the program with the rate of healthy births by mothers in a control group not participating in the NPP. Project Goal Two The second goal of this program would be to create a safe home environment for children to reduce the likelihood of accidental injuries. This process would also create confidence in young parents as they take control and responsibility for the safety of their child. Duva & Metzger (2010) found that a lack of confidence and self-esteem increase the risk of children suffering from abuse. Ongoing evaluation of this goal would occur during the home visits and overall evaluation of this goal would include the comparison of accidental injuries to children whose family is enrolled in the NPP to the control group. Project Goal Three Project goal three would include teaching the young parents how to build an appropriate support system. Young parents need to be able to communicate to others what their needs are. Something as simple as asking someone to watch their child so they can have a break could benefit the parents and child, providing a stress management tool which can decrease the likelihood of child abuse. Support systems include families, friends, and community networks (such as other parents, churches, etc. ). Evaluation consists of comparing the rate of child abuse cases among those enrolled in the NPP with those in the control group. Child abuse cases among the participants would be screened to determine if they were successful at building that special support system. Nurses can evaluate the progress of this goal during their home visits throughout the first year of the child’s life. Project Goal Four Project goal four includes improving child health and development. Nurses would work hand in hand with a licensed social worker to help parents provide responsible and competent care. This goal revolves around the main intervention of education. Their education would include stress management techniques, effective parenting skills, early childhood development, and the development of realistic expectations for themselves as parents and their children. This goal would include home visits by both the social worker and nurse throughout the first year of the infant’s life. Participants in this program are both students and parents. This unique compilation creates a situation ideal for the involvement of social workers. According to the Illinois Association of School Social Workers (2012), social workers help people understand themselves and others, cope with stress, develop decision making skills, help parents to meet and understand the needs of their children’s social and emotional needs, how to identify and utilize resources effectively, provide counseling services, and advocate for patients. They are a valued partner in the proposed program as the collaboration between the social worker, nurse, and parents are fundamental to the success of the NPP. Evaluation of this goal outcome includes comparing the rate of child abuse cases among those enrolled in the NPP with those in the control group. Project Goal Five Project goal five is the lynchpin for the overall success of the program. The final goal is to improve the economic self-sufficiency of parents. This would include the nurse and the social worker collaborating with the participants to develop goals for their own futures by completing their education, developing employable skills, finding employment, and planning future pregnancies. The success of this goal would be determined by the umber of cases who achieve economic independence, no longer utilize government aid programs, and have no unplanned pregnancies within two years of the child’s birth. That number would then be compared to the control group. Estimated Cost Discussing the cost of the program would by an injustice without discussing the possible savings the program could also produce. Child abuse and neglect costs the U. S. $124 billion from just one year of confirmed cases of child maltreatment and the lifetime cost for each victim of child maltreatment who lived was $210,012 (Fang, X. , Brown, D. , Florence, C. , & Mercy, J. 2012). The Nurse-Family Partnership organization reports that a recent cost-benefit update by Washington State Institute for Public Policy (2012) determined that long term benefits could equal as much as $23,000 per participant of a NPP. As families gain economic independence of government aid programs, the government saves money. This program would also decrease the amount of Medicaid dollars spent as children are expected to be born within a healthy birth weight and generally healthy overall when compared to the control group. In comparison, the cost of the program would be significantly less per family. The supporting agencies are already in place in the targeted community. The Nevada State Department of Human and Health Services and the Prevent Child Abuse Nevada organization both work to prevent and control child abuse in Nevada; the infrastructure is already established. The cost would be allocated to initiate a new program within the Prevent Child Abuse Nevada organization with the oversight of the Nevada State Department of Human and Health Services. The Nurse-Family Partnership organization has estimated the cost of such a program to be approximately $5,000 per family per year. Ideally, in order to establish and maintain continuity and oversight throughout the program, it would be managed by a single entity such as the Prevent Child Abuse Nevada organization. This is different than other programs which are managed individually by hospitals and smaller organizations. Some may balk at utilizing government funds, but funding this program is more economical than paying the price of child abuse. Fang et al. (2012) determined the lifetime cost for each victim of child maltreatment who lived was $210,012, which includes medical and legal costs, as well as other costs associated with child abuse (social services, etc. . It is definitely cheaper to teach them than it is to treat them. Collaboration With a Licensed Social Worker This program proposal was discussed with a licensed social worker, Mandy S. , in the state of Nevada. This licensed social worker stated individual programs exist through hospitals and smaller organizations, but agreed that a larger program w ith a single point of managerial oversight in the county would be the most beneficial. I proposed the ideal situation would include State Legislature mandating Medicaid recipients to participate in such a program in order to receive benefits of Medicaid and other public assistance programs such as welfare, food stamps, and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). WIC â€Å"provides Federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk† (Food & Nutrition Service, 2012). Mandy S. stated that this legislative push would be a goal to pursue after the success rate of the NPP could be established. Implementation The program would be administered and managed by the Prevent Child Abuse Nevada organization. The Nevada State Department of Human and Health Services would maintain oversight and monitor outcomes of the program. It also requires the cooperation of hospitals and physician offices as they will be the initial referral source for patients to the program. Ideally, if successful, patients would refer their friends and family to the program as well. There are only two qualification standards for participation in the program. First, the woman must be less than 24 weeks pregnant to ensure adequate time for prenatal care to maximize the success rate of project goal one. Second, the family must be at or below the government established poverty line. A registered nurse and licensed social worker would be assigned to the woman to complete the project goals and planning with the patient in her home. The same registered nurse and licensed social worker would complete home visits ever one or two weeks throughout the pregnancy and first year of the infant’s life. The frequency of visits would be determined during the initial assessment and re-evaluated as required to ensure participants are receiving the interventions they need to ensure success in the program. Each goal is monitored by the nurse and social worker throughout the family’s participation in the program and changes or new interventions are developed as required. The participation would continue during the pregnancy thru the child’s first birthday. During that year participants are armed with the knowledge and resources to ensure safe and healthy environments for their children, healthy support networks, reduce or eliminate negative behaviors, provide responsible and competent care to their children, and to be economically independent of government aid programs. If patients are determined to not be safely discharged from the program, they may be determined eligible for additional assistance. Evaluation of Project Overall evaluation of the program is difficult to ascertain as this program would take over a year to achieve results. However, nurse partnership programs have begun to gain popularity throughout our country and have achieved wonderful results. So much so, that the Centers for Disease Control have named these programs as effective with a great potential to reduce economic burden of child maltreatment. Further collaboration with the licensed social worker, Mandy S. , determined a weakness in this program. While the original goal was to decrease the number of child abuse cases in children under the age of one year, it was determined by the social worker that many of her clients had children under the age of two and required much assistance from her. My initial plan to provide services thought the first year of the child’s life was inadequate. Together, we determined participation through the second year of the child’s life would be most beneficial to participants. Mandy S. was a great resource as she stated that the majority of child abuse cases she personally supervises are due to a lack of support, resources, and most importantly, education. This program provides those things to participants, thus decreasing the risk of child abuse and trauma, increasing positive parenting skills, and developing positive coping skills. Interviews with young mothers proved positive. When asked if they would be interested in participating in a NPP program or would have liked to have a program available when they were expecting, 22 of the 25 polled stated yes, they would have been excited to participate. Those 22 mothers unanimously stated they felt they would benefit from such a program. Although the original program did not include support groups of participants, the polled mothers stated they would enjoy the social benefits of participating in support group comprised of participants. This would be a great resource for those participants who do not have a family or other social circle to rely on for support. The community overall benefits from a program that decreases the rate of child abuse. It breaks a cycle that research has proven exists. Many times people who have been abused continue the cycle of abuse; Clark County has the opportunity to stop that cycle. Children who are subject to abuse are at a higher risk of developing mental health issues, substance abuse problems, and overall negative health behaviors (Herrenkohl, R. Harrenkohl, T. , Moylan, C. , & Sousa, C. , Tajima, E. 2008). The community not only saves money with this program, but it builds a strong community where healthy families thrive and prosper. Summary Parenting can be a challenging and lonely experience. The course of this project has taught me that preparation is the key to success. The more we can prepare young mothers for the challenges of parenthood, the more we are likely to decrease the rate of child abuse among children under the age of one year. Young parents are often faced with the stress of financial dependence on others and government programs; the NPP provides resources to set and meet goals to complete education and achieve employment to maximize financial independence. This is not a lifelong program. The intention of the program is to provide parents the mental tool box and resources they need in order to provide a healthy life and economical independent life for their children. The concept is relatively new, and I am excited to see the proven long term effects in the years to come.

Comparing poems Essay

Salome turns out to be an evil and very disturbed character; she gets pleasure by beheading people. In this poem it turns out that Salome has removed few other heads previously and she would doubtlessly do it again. She does not even know who’s head it is that is next to her, but it seems like that she does not care at all. This makes her sound like a whore. As the maid walk’s in this makes her feel more comfortable and better for some reason. Hitcher: The man seems really stressed and tired, and when he receives the phone call from his boss that is his final straw. He seems very jealous of the hitcher this is because he is free of stress and is a free spirit. He seems very frustrated. The Man He Killed: This poem is very interesting. It turns out that they don’t want to kill each other but because they are at war with each other’s country. One of them says â€Å"you’d treat if met where any bar is or help to half-a-crown. He is saying if I met you in any other circumstances I would take you to a bar and buy you a pint. My Last Duchess: She is very very jealous, in fact she is so jealous that she wants to poison he and watch he die very slowly. She makes the poison sound like something that is rich and luxurious. Salome: There is some alliteration on line 18-19 where the sound of maid’s clanging makes Salome happy. Throughout the poem the tone of it makes the poem sound like a young girl who is spoiled and self-indulgent. In this poem there are quite a few clichi s e. g. â€Å"and ain’t life a bitch†. Hitcher: In this poem the first stanza has some typical rhymes which bind’s the poem together – â€Å"tired†, â€Å"fired†, â€Å"hired†. Can you see the effect of this? He is tired and then his boss threatens to fire him then he hires a Vauxhall Astra. A lot of clichi ‘s are used in this poems here are some examples â€Å"The truth he said was blowin’ in the wind, or around the next bend†. â€Å"he’d said he liked the breeze to run its fingers/ through his hair†. The Man He Killed: There are colloquialisms such as â€Å"off-hand like† which provide an earthy realism along with the rough sounding meter. The Laboratory: This poem uses consolation irony. It also uses some alliteration here is an example â€Å"Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste† and here is another example â€Å"Brand, burn up, bite into its grace-â€Å". It also has some ambiguity in it here is an example â€Å"If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me? â€Å". Salome: The first verse describes how she is trying to figure out whose head is on the pillow next to here. The second verse describes how she started to feel less â€Å"hangover† when the maid rough in her breakfast. The third verse discusses how she is trying to dissolve the life of â€Å"†¦ the booze and the fags and the sex†. Then she decides to â€Å"turf out the blighter from her bed†. Hitcher: This poem has five stanzas and a regular five line shape with the third line being the longest in all of them. If you look at each third line you will see some sort of a pattern occurring. The shape of the stanza is very interesting. The Man He Killed: This poem has a simple but formal structure of five short stanzas all rhyming ABAB. The last tow stanzas remind the men that they could be friends if they met in any other situation. Stanza’s two and three: set out the qualifying circumstances that change everything for the men’s fate: they are soldiers in opposing armies and therefore enemies. The laboratory: The title in this poem gives us a big hint on where the scene takes place. The speaker is a woman; she takes a lot of pleasure watching the procedure. In the second verse we cab see why the woman wanted revenge, she wanted revenge because the speaker has been betrayed by her lover. In verse three she watches the apothecary at work and is fascinated by what he is doing. She is in no hurry. She takes pleasure in the preparation. This is better than dancing in the kings palace.

Every Father’s Dream Essay

Parents play an important role in the fulfillment of their children’s dreams. Often, before a child can even start to dream, parents have already made a mental picture of what they want their children to be in the future. In Barack Obama’s (2004) â€Å"Dreams from My Father,† we see the important role a father plays in the success of the incumbent president. On the contrary, in Arthur Miller’s (1949) â€Å"Death of Salesman,† the author illustrates how a father’s dream and example can sometimes destroy a son’s future. Look more:  perseverance example essay In this paper, we compare and contrast the dreams of the fathers in the two works in order to derive a lesson every parent and child should know. Published in 2004, â€Å"Dreams from My Father† narrates the life of the 44th president of the United States. The novel is told by the president himself, who was then elected for the senate. In his story, Obama describes how his father’s ambition and examples helped shape and made him realize his own dreams. The story narrates the young Barack Obama Sr. as a clever and intelligent yet mischievous student during his early years. Unable to finish college in his homeland, he lands a clerical job until two female missionaries help him find scholarship to a university in Hawaii. His perseverance to finish his studies later provides inspiration to his son, Barry. In his letter to his son, the father says, â€Å"Like water finding its level, you will arrive at a career that suits you† (45). This expresses the father’s wish for his son to find his own destiny, his own place in society. Finding one’s place in society is possible through education. Although Barack Sr. does not emphasize to Barry the importance of education, the boy realizes this through his parents’ examples. Specifically, the father’s own perseverance to gain further studies serves as example for the son to follow. Likewise, his words during their last meeting echo and translate in Barry’s mind as, â€Å"You do not work hard enough, Barry. You must help in your people’s struggle. Wake up, black man (126)! † These words serve as Barry’s motivation to persevere in all the struggles and responsibilities he has to face. In the play, â€Å"Death of a Salesman,† the father, Willy Loman has the same dreams for his son, Biff. He wishes for him to find his place in society, to be the best he can be. However, since Biff relies too much on his father’s examples, he becomes disappointed when he finds out that all the while, his father has not been true to his mother. The scene in the hotel where Biff finds out about Willy’s other woman devastates him, and ruins his life later on. Due to this, he decides not to attend the summer school and finish his studies. Considering his actions, Willy can be blamed for Biff’s inability to reach his dreams. The boy’s mindset is very much affected by his father’s actions. In contrast to Obama Sr. who serves his country and continues his studies, Willy shares in the disappointment of his son. These examples show us the important role of the father in giving advice to their sons, and in setting a good example. Despite the fact that Obama leaves his son to his wife, the good memory he leaves the boy serves as a good foundation for the child. Moreover, as the older Obama expresses in one of his letters to his son, for one to realize his place in society, one has to know one’s people, where he belongs (66). To do this, Barry searches for his roots and listens to what his grandmother’s story. From this, he finds out the struggles of his grandfather and his father, and finds strength in their sacrifices and dreams. The dreams of his father to be fully educated and to serve his country are enough to inspire Barry to move on and be the best he can be. In contrast, the theme of knowing oneself in order to realize one’s dreams is expressed differently in â€Å"Death of a Salesman. † In the play, Willy’s high expectations of Biff disappoint the son more. Biff insists to his father, â€Å"Pop, I’m nothing! I’m nothing, Pop. Can’t you understand that? There’s no spite in it any more (99)† Despite this, Willy still believes in Biff. He believes that if given a chance and a big sum to start on his own, his son can be successful. This is the reason why Willy sacrifices his life at the end, so that his sons can have what it takes to start on their own. The legacies of the two fathers are totally different. Obama leaves to his son an identity and reputation he can live with, while Loman bequeathes a good sum, which he is unable to provide his sons during his lifetime. Either way, the examples of the two fathers imply a general truth about fathers, that every one of them desires the best for their children. References Miller, Arthur. (1949). Death of a salesman. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from http://www. franklang. ru/download/Miller_Death_of_a_Salesman__pdf. pdf Obama, Barack. (2004). Dreams from my father. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from http://cephas17507. multiply. com/journal/item/20/Dreams_from_My_Father_Barack_Obama_2004_. pdf

Cyber security Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Cyber security - Coursework Example edge of previous intrusions and other organizations’ reaction or solutions will be ready to lend a hand in outlining the business case for intrusion detection products. Additionally, they should also be aware of the advantages and opportunities offered by intrusion detection with a wide-ranging awareness with the intrusion detection solutions and products presently available in the market. In addition, they should also recognize the basic objectives and goals of the intrusion detection products. In view of the fact that Intrusion detection will be a costly activity or investment, even though they make use of an open source solution hence they need to spend an adequate amount of time to investigate, get, build up and put into practice to be far less than the in the general routine management of the information (Bandy, Money, & Worstell, Intrusion Detection FAQ: Getting Started, 2013). A "honeypot" is a very useful tool for protecting networks from not permitted access. In fact, the honeypot does not encompass applications or data that is vital to the business organization but it contains an adequate amount of attractive data to attract a hacker (SANS, 2013). In view of the fact that a honeypot is only a system tool or application or file that has entirely no reason in production hence it can be assumed that if the honeypot is accessed, there might be some reason that is not linked to a specific business corporation on purpose (Bandy, Money, & Worstell, Intrusion Detection FAQ: What is a honeypot? Why do I need one?, 2013). It is an admitted fact that the honeypots can be very helpful to business corporations that have considerable resources to maintain them. However, if an organization does not have a security expert to strictly keep an eye on a honeypot the organizations has, at finest, built a susceptible platform that is not checked regularly as well as at wor st, a platform that can be occupied and employed by any hacker to attack other systems. Moreover,

Infectious Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Infectious Disease - Essay Example So if the transition happens they move into infectious group. Consequently infectious group is the one that spreads it back to susceptible for certain period of time, which is known as ‘infectious period’ after that period they are a considered to be immune for life if recovered. The following picture depicts a basic SIR model used analyzing an infectious disease Using notation from our SIR model there are some equations that can be formed in order to find answer to my IA question. When modelling SIR models it is very important to identify the independent and dependant variables. As in majority of the mathematical models time ‘t’ is going to be independent variable and it is going to be measured in days. More people are getting infected when there is a contact between infected people and susceptible. In our equations represents number of contacts infective person has each day. If we decided that I represents number of all infected people than represents number for all infected contacts per day. But infected people come in contact only with susceptible ones therefore we need to multiply (susceptible fraction of the population) we get: This expression looks like first differential equation, but in our equation of change in susceptible class is negative. It is negative because people from that class are getting removed into the infected class. In order to represent those equations as a derivation they should be expressed with relation to our dependant and independent variables. In order to represent the rate of change as a derivation every dependant variable such as S, I, R should be represented with relation to time. When talking about infectious disease such function of time as ‘next day’ can be represented as: S(t+t) – S(t). Applying those changes to our equations we get: Following the same principle as we used explaining ‘Equation 1’ next day increase in I can be represented by finding all the cases that can happen tomorrow

History 5 questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History 5 questions - Essay Example I agree that the only thing that made them human was the Christmas festivity which propelled them to enjoy the occasion. Despite hostility and even in the battle ground, Christmas spirit overtook the rigors of war. The repercussions of war are always bad and strip nations of not only wealth but also diminish their military and financial powers over the rest of the nations. The First World War was highly expensive in terms of technology driven warfare and much extended period of its ongoing battles that increasing covered all Europe. The industrialized nations like Germany, France and England had lost much of their accumulated wealth and had ultimately become indebted to United States. Moreover, war invariably leads to breaking of nations. As revealed, Germany had lost large region to France and Turkey had emerged as new nation from the ruin of Ottoman Empire. Thus, I believe that in the long run, war has no advantage and only leads to huge socio-economic loss and reduced political dominance. (words:

Research Proposal on 'Development Aid and Governance' Essay

Research Proposal on 'Development Aid and Governance' - Essay Example Bibliography Background/Problem Statement The effectiveness or lack of aid has been a rather recurring issue/terminology in the glossary of the development aid industry in recent times. Contrastingly, two decades ago, development donors or aid donors would not hesitate to provide funding to governments and organisations for developmental purposes (De Haan, 2009). Among those who benefitted during this past period of improved donor and aid activities were third world and developing countries in regions such as Africa and Asia in which countries such as Zaire under Mobutu and Philippines under Marcos benefitted. With this level of funding, these beneficiary regimes started to mismanage these aids to hitherto unseen corruption levels. These high levels of bad governance and corruption have made donors such as financial institutions and industrial powers to refrain from funding development projects in excessively corrupt governments, countries, and groups (De Haan, 2009). Aid donors have since recognized and established that giving aids to governments with ineffective policies is a practice that is rather wasteful. Instead, more efforts and emphasis have been directed at countries and regions with sound domestic reform policies. Nonetheless, donors’ narrow political objectives still feature in most of the aid decisions in the contemporary society. There is, thus, the need for the official donor aid community to commit to the improvement of aid effectiveness by establishing more proficient and standardized coordination mechanisms. Fortunately, some forums such as the Aid Effectiveness High Level Forum (HLF) in Rome in 2003 and the Paris Declaration in the second HLF in 2005 were moves in the right direction for aid governance. Although these forums focused on donor coordination and harmonisation, the issues of governance, public management, and corruption also featured prominently during the deliberations (Stokke, 2009). In regard to aid management, the suppl y side featured prominently in relation to public finance management and country procurement systems. It was not only corruption, which was mentioned as a problem, but commitments were also made on transparency and accountability by both donors and recipients. Poor governance, corruption, and bad public management of finance and procurement are thus among the major challenges that the aid industry has encountered for quite some time and mechanisms and strategies to counter their influence are in order (Lancaster, 2006). Research Objectives This research, therefore, sets forth several objectives, including the need to address the rampant corruption and mismanagement that hamper the successful implementation and realization of donor aid projects. The research seeks solution to the derailing progress in realising mutual accountability by both donors and recipients in aid-project implementation. Addressing the issue of commitment by donors and recipients in the aid effectiveness agenda is the other objective of this research. An improvement on the wanting coordination capacity of recipient governments is the other objective of this research. Moreover, this research also seeks to emphasize the central role that commitment on transparency, in conjunction with sound governance and anticorruption, plays in the aid industry. Finally, this research aims at highlighting the effects of the failure by stakeholders to address the developmental aid problems associated with bad governance and corruption on aid management.

Marketing News Journal #1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing News Journal #1 - Essay Example Before looking into the reactions of consumers, it is important to understand market trends in the mobile phone industry. Competitors in this industry engage in fierce advertising and marketing following the development of new and improved phones. A close competitor to Apple is Samsung. Even though there are other major players in the industry, these two firms are known to try to outperform each other in phone technology. A clear example is evident through Samsung’s Galaxy phones and Apple’s iPhones. Ultimately, the consumer is the final decision maker as to which phone better meets one’s tastes, preferences, or interests. As earlier mentioned, iPhone 6 pre-sale bookings were available before the product hit the market. The underlying marketing practices explored consumer interests and anticipations for the product. One major improvement observed in the new product is the size of its screen. Chen (2014) maintains that smartphone users increasingly prefer bigger screens to small ones. In response, Apple would ultimately meet this need alongside Samsung. A comparison of screen sizes show that Apple has had to follow Samsung’s path to try to recapture lost markets that opt for bigger screens (Chen, 2014). In light of the above discussion, it is evident that consumers interests or needs changes from time to time. There are certain consumers who stick to iPhones regardless of their screen size, while others prefer a big size screen regardless of the brand. The common denominator, however, is that business enterprises respond to such scenarios in diverse and dynamic ways. IPhone 6 enthusiasts look forward to an enhanced phone whenever a new one is launched. For others, there is prestige in owning the phone through booking before sale or buying it when it is launched. Whatever the case, consumer behavior plays an influential role in that regard. The market

Organisation and Management Different Perspectives Essay

Organisation and Management Different Perspectives - Essay Example Also, with such technologies the customers are more highly informed, like never before. Marketing is the principal undertaking by which links are forged between the customers and the industry. Therefore, it is evident that the marketing industry is constantly changing. Retail marketing has emerged as the need of the hour. The recent trends in marketing suggest that companies have greater accessibility to the end-consumer, eliminating the need for layers of middlemen. Consequently, retail marketing has been one of the fastest growing segments of the marketing industry. Recent developments in retail marketing in the hospitability sector suggest a very interesting trend. It is increasingly evident that many of the designer companies are seeking to penetrate the hospitality sector and to establish hotels in the commercial hubs like Dubai and London. Innovations in the business have led to increasing need for strategic planning for the purpose of effective assessment and monitoring of the business (Phillips & Moutinho, 1999). Among many of the major trends, it has been observed that the affluent society is becoming more sensitive about choosing the products that they purchase. This is primarily because today’s customers are deluged with a variety of products and a massive amount of information. Customers can easily gain access to information about the products that they are interested in. Also, the number of firms have grown which compete for the same markets in the same industry. With such a wide choice of alternatives, customers tend to look for establishments that would provide the service with the greatest value added at the most reasonable cost. (Escalera, 2007). With such trends prevailing in the industry it was inevitable that the designer companies like Missoni and Armani would attempt entry into the hospitality sector to create optimum value for the affluent society. The Varese

Stem cell research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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English Lit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English Lit - Essay Example Book IX of Paradise Lost presents Adam and Eve in their prelapsarian state and gradually develops to the theme of temptation and the original sin. The signs of self-will are shown by Eve, as she suggests to Adam that they can divide their work and go separate ways in the garden of Eden. As Adam is apprehensive of the enemy lurking in the garden, and shows his reluctance to separate from her, Eve protests, â€Å"How are we happy, still in fear of harm?†. To Adam’s fears about the Tree of Knowledge and the chances of Eve getting tempted, Eve declares that the very concept of heaven is false if there is suspicion among the two and a lack of confidence in each other: Eve’s sagacity to question the idea of a perfect state of bliss in heaven where differences and fear exist, though presented as part of a grand design, can in the contemporary scenario interpreted as a woman’s attempt to break herself free from the numerous norms set by the patriarchal society. The element of humanness that Milton attributes to Eve is capable of endearing her to the readers and to see her words and actions in a sympathetic light, even as the arguments that ensue after the original sin is capable of confirming the traditional Christian concept of seeing the woman as the eternal seductress who takes away the heavenly bliss man is capable of reaching, if not for her presence in his life. Adam’s words, â€Å"Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more;† hints at the paradoxical proposition of God trusting the free will of man and at the same time forbidding him and his companion from at least one thing in the Garden of Eden. The presence of a power relation which is deemed inappropriate in the eternal bliss and native innocence of the prelapsarian state of Adam and Eve is first recognized and contested by Eve. When Satan, in the form of an enlightened snake first flatters her and then reasons to her in a sophisticated manner, she does not try to

Pre and Post M&a Performance in Accounting Ratio Essay Example for Free

Pre and Post Ma Performance in Accounting Ratio Essay There are loads of tools to measure the performance of a financial performance of an entity but financial ratios is probably the best known tool which is mainly to analyze the performance of an entity by comparing the present to the past relative figures taken or composed from the financial statement . The few categories of ratios are liquidity ratios, profitability ratios, efficiency ratios, debt ratios and market ratios which will be able to describe the entity’s characteristics. Ratios show the true performance and position of the entity. In order for investors to determine their choices of entity to invest in, financial ratios play an important role in providing sufficient information to users about the entity’s characteristic. We predict that companies are performing better after merger and acquisition and there will be an increase in profit of companies pre merger and acquisition compare to post merger and acquisition activities. However, the global merger and acquisition (MA) market is expected to experience a modest increase this year following significant revisions in earnings expectation for 2009. Studies relatively prove that ratios are important but which ratios, among the loads of ratios which can be computed easily from the available financial statement, should be used to analyze to obtain a wise decision (Kung Thomas, 1981); (Maretno Howard, 1996). Problem statement Accounting ratios usage in merger acquisition are not understood very well as to whether companies or investors are using accounting ratios to analyze performance pre and post decision making for MA. Therefore, this study will try to find out as to whether merger and acquisition activities are caused by the use of accounting ratio when management tries to expand a company’s operation. Accounting ratios is wide in variety and is known for its diversities in calculating different ratios, which makes selecting the right ratio to do analysis on is difficult. Every company when making merger and acquisition decisions will have to go through different decision making process in their organization and not based solely on accounting ratios when taking actions. Things such as relationship of merging companies, financing matter or management efficiency are often overlooked in previous studies, therefore, apart from addressing the use of accounting ratio in making merger and acquisition , we will also address on other matters that are affecting merger and acquisition decision making. Companies that have made merger and acquisition in the few years will be analyzed whether merger and acquisition has benefitted the company. This analysis will have to be based on companies that have made merger and acquisition for few years so that analysis could be made to ascertain whether merger and acquisition has improved the company’s performance. The data that is collected could be redundant as the data collected could only be analyzed from the past. Apart from that, companies that are engaged in merger and acquisition will tend to keep their methods in acquiring companies as a secret; therefore, there is no information that will be disclosed to us when we are doing research. We will only be able to get information based on announcement on the Bursa Saham Malaysia and also annual report analysis on the companies that we will base our study on. Based solely on the annual report, we will have to analyze companies that have been engaged in merger and acquisition is perfor ming better as a company before merger and acquisition or after merger and acquisition. Studies that have addressed the problem Several past studies have shown several findings. There were significant improvements in the liquidity, leverage and profitability position of most studied companies. Normally, total assets consist of equity, debt and retained earnings to finance the corporation. In the study, it was found that total assets were always less than the debt plus equity for pre acquisition period, but after acquisition, it is positive. All the units selected for the study were sick, but after takeover five out of eight revived (Rao Sanker, 1997). The acquiring firms had performed above the industry average and the acquired firms were below the industry average in term of size and profitability (Cosh et al., 1998). The firms recorded meaningful increase in their net earnings, and those with the successful merger of the firms, the return on capital employed and return on total assets, increased substantially with a significant percentage. The variability in the earnings (risk) of the pre-merger firms was significantly higher than that of post-merger firms (Agundu Karibo, 1999). Pilloff (1996) finds no significant change in post merger ROE, however, when he utilizes operating income before provision instead of net income to calculate ROE, there is a significant increase in post-merger returns. Deficiencies in studies Unfortunately, most studies do not distinguish between healthy and troubled companies due to the relative scarcity of outright failures as an indicator of the latter. Data are not readily available to every person and critical data is only available to top level management, which causes analysis on company performance not accurate. Accounting ratios usage in studies are not standardized for number of ratios used and types of ratios used, making comparisons of this study to previous studies almost impossible. Some of the studies only find out accounting ratio performance before and after merger and acquisition, but they did not take into account the management performance improvement. Importance of the study Basically, the compelling reason for merger and acquisition is to make more money. This study analyses the pre and post performance in accounting ratio of various entities in Malaysia which involved in merger and acquisition. Therefore, it seeks to contribute to entities which look forward to expand their businesses by merging and acquiring entities in order to broaden their sources and to increase their performance as well as position of the entity. This study also justifies the importance of financial ratios as a tool in decision making for most users to merge and acquire entities. Besides that, this study further proves that financial ratios could be used to speculate and estimate the future of the entity’s development and growth by developing ratio values to be compared with the normal or regular value. Furthermore, the global merger and acquisition market is expected to experience a modest increase this year following significant revisions in earnings expectation for 2009. According to KPMG International’s Global merger and acquisition Predictor, modest increases are expected in both deal-making appetite and capacity globally. Therefore, it is hoped that the result of this study is valuable to entities for the purpose of merging and acquiring. Purpose statement The purpose of this study is to determine whether financial ratios contribute to the decision in merging and acquiring another entity. For this purpose, we analyze the performance of the entity before and after merging or acquisition of the holding or parent entity across industries to identify the status of the performance and position of the entity currently. We would have to identify the entity’s characteristics in terms of their operating and accounting performance by comparing to their values before the merger and acquisition. In our analysis, we also focus on the use financial ratios as a mechanism to compare the pre and post-acquisition performance. Furthermore, we also use financial ratio to predict the performance of the acquired entity as well as the growth of the entity. Organization of the study The rest of the research is organized into chapters as follows. Chapter 2 review about the literature regarding the accounting ratio performance before and after merger and acquisition would be provided. The topic and the arguments from researchers will be discussed. Justification of the research objectives would be provided with all the relevant literatures. Chapter 3 describes and provides detailed explanation on the method used in collecting the relevant data, the desired sample design, appropriate methodology employed in this study and also the data analysis method. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction In this chapter, further discussion on the topic will be done based on prior empirical studies and a derivation of hypothesis will be done. To be able to evaluate the post and pre merger and acquisition deal by companies in Malaysia, a concept is to be conceived with prior literature that is related to the performance of firms that has been acquiring other firms. 2.1 Theory/Concept Foundation Shareholders of a corporation that is involved in Merger Acquisition activity would like to see their value of stock in the acquiring corporation to rise post-MA compared to pre-MA. Therefore, it is important that an MA transaction done with the shareholders in mind, this theory of maximizing shareholder value is fairly new as it is introduced by William Lazonick and Mary O’Sullivan in year 2000. Shareholder value should be used regularly when decisions are made to be able to regulate how a company operates for the sake of the shareholders. For a shareholder to have his value increased, all the activities from the factory workers to top level management should work together to find the best way to increase the value of the company. To increase shareholder value, restructuring of companies are needed to be able to sustain the changing economic climate according to time development. Evaluation of companies performance will be done to ensure shareholders value do increase post-M A. From the theory we could derive that performance of a company depends on the value that they would like to preserve for their shareholders. For every shareholder that would like to expand the company operation and size, they will have to be able to provide funds for the company in the form of investment. Apart from that, trend evolution plays a part in a merging or acquisition decision. An acquirer may look at the performance of the company that they are trying to takeover. The acquirers look at the financial feasibility of acquiring the company on the share price and value for money. If a value is low, they will be able to takeover the company at a lower price. And it is known that MA deals are done so that a company could expand into a new market segment or improve their current segment. Apart from that, it should be noted that there are several types of mergers and acquisition. It should be noted that firms that are acquiring are larger if not significantly larger than the acquired firms. 2.2 Review of Prior Empirical Studies Life cycle of a firm will accelerate the need for MA deals as firms grew older, they could be expanding their size and because of this, and MA will be done to be able to involve themselves into different segments of businesses. According to (Sian Owen Alfred Yawson, 2008), they propose that in certain life cycle of a company, they will engage in some kind of MA activities. This is because there is a need to grow their company or to decrease the involvement of the owner by giving up the power of the company to another firm. Therefore, it should be noted that companies will go through MA at different life cycle to develop their performance even further or simply to pull out of the company ownership. The data that they use to examine this is based in the US, therefore, it may be not practical to be used here, but this is an opportunity for us to examine the life cycle factor in the pre and post MA performance figure. The main objective for merger and acquisition activities is to increase the return of the equity shareholders who are considered real owners of the company. Shareholders are also takes the responsibilities to bear maximum risk of the company. Different impact (positive, negative and mix) either success or failure will occur for different MA deals. Since we cannot make any conclusion based on only one ratio. So, different ratio are using in this article to measure the company performance in term of liquidity position, operating efficiency, overall efficiency, return to equity shareholders and financial composition. By looking at single ratio, it is hard for researcher to determine whether acquirer company success or failure to make MA deals? Because a high rate of return showed on acquiree company such as consulting firms doesn’t means they make a good investments, since they require no assets. There are more than half of the 74 merger and acquisition cases showed an improvement in the financial performance in post time period of this article. However, 15% out of these cases had increase their working capital and debt to equity, which means that the company suffer long term financial burden of current assets and long terms funds which use to finance current assets. Small sample size was used by this researcher. Although there are 200 deals of MA in India but only 74 companies can provide the available financial data which require by researcher. So, there was reliable issue of this research outcome. Except ratio, there are many issues must be takes into consideration by making MA decision such as by predicting future prospects, company past performance, law and regulations of the country which can help to reach a better conclusion. So researcher can’t make exact and absolute conclusion by only interpret financial ratio of company (Kumar and Bansal, 2008). Those are significant difference between merger and acquisition. Misleading conclusions may be made by those researchers who combined these two different terms. Acquisitions is a more successful way to bring positive effects to the company compared with mergers in term of generate greater profitability, return on investment or equity, increased in operating performance, etc. This might due to the way the merger or acquire. Acquirer may acquire a small division, patent or the company which use for the purpose of strategic alliances and value added to current business. In contrary, merges activities become less attractive to the potential shareholder due to reduce return or shareholder wealth or even negative return and decrease in profitability or even suffer losses of the company (Hassan, Patro, Tuckman Wang, 2007). The theoretical models of liquidity stresses the degree of trading stock, adverse selection, stock volatility, and competitiveness of market making (Lipson Mortal, 2007). According to the prior review, the degree of trading interest in a stock has a positive relationship with the level of trading activity. Therefore, the fixed trading costs can be spread out over a larger number of trades. The adverse selection cost incurs when negative action is taken to counter an adverse situation of trades. For example, if stock traders have relatively more information compare to the liquidity providers, liquidity providers will recover their losses from trading with better informed counterparts by increasing their average revenue. Stock volatility affects the trading cost positively as well. When stocks are more volatile, the holding cost of the stock would be relatively higher and the cost would be passed on to buyers when being traded. The competitiveness of market making affects the trading cost negatively. When the market makers are less competitive, the increase in competition will reduce the trading cost. Besides that, the firm’s characteristics also affect the accounting ratio after MA. Prior studies noted that MA increases the liquidity of firms on average but the improvements are fully explained by the accompanying changes in firm characteristics (Lipson Mortal, 2007). Firm characteristics such as sizes of the firm, volume and number of shareholders are taken into consideration in prior studies. Relatively larger firms will have greater trading interest since more positions are offered in the firm. Benston and Hangerman (1974) also acknowledge the effect of firm size and volume to MA. Therefore, the sizes of the firm are expected to affect the decision MA of a firm. The increase in adverse selection can be seen in Heflin and Shaw (2000) where they argue that the effect of a blockholder ownership is a result of superior blockholder information. The results are consistent with the results in Lipson and Mortal (2007). Past studies document that larger firms tend to be followed by a greater number of market makers (Wahal, 1997), which he attributes to increased compe tition among market makers. Also derived in Lipson and Mortal (2007), the increased in market making reduces order processing cost, hence reducing trading cost. According to (Arturo Bris, Neil Brisley, Christos Cabolis 2008), MA is done following the corporate governance decision as legal rules or accounting standard. The countries difference in degree of investor protection as well as firm value, ownership structure. When we are merger and acquisition usually adopts the accounting standards. This implies that, the corporate in a country can adopt difference level of investor protect. If corporate governance have set the legal rules then the corporate follow it. Therefore, the corporate investments losses or change operation performance. The legal rule can protect shareholder and investors so that they will not have legal liabilities. The corporate governance quality is follow shareholder protection and accounting standard when we are merger and acquisition can test corporate worsening and preserving acquisitions. If we are test pre merger and acquisition performance not efficiency then corporate governance quality also will not good. The corporation will easy give large corporate takeover or the corporation will bankrupt. However, the corporation operation quality good will not let large corporate takeover the firm. The corporate governance quality well can enhance merger and acquisition value and good performance. According to Holger Breinlich (2008), merger and acquisition become industrial restructuring after trade liberalization. It is can increase merger and acquisition activities and merger and acquisition transferred resource from less to more productive firms. It is because pre corporation not efficiency performance source make it loss. Therefore, after merger and acquisition the corporate efficiency performance source make it earning profit and improvement the corporate. Merger and acquisition not just to transfer source, it is also can qualitatively difference from other adjust form. Before merger and acquisition is not well make the workers becoming unemployed and also will make economic recession. When new ownership takeover the corporate then worker has working already and economic also will slowly become good. However, the larger corporate takeovers corporate better the corporate bankrupt and as such no need face unnecessary legal restriction. From the past studies, Letho and Lehtoranta (2004) study that MA synergies can be realized by owing unique technology and knowledge and then transferring these intangibles to the target firm. The industrial organization (IO) literature states that both horizaontal and industry-diversifying acquisitions might affect RD. When firms are active in the line of business, economies of scale in RD input can be occurred because of MAs. Besides, value can created also by MAs from uniting complementary know-how (Cassiman B, Colombo M, Garrone P, Veugelers R, 2003). Similarly, intangibles could matter in domestic as well as cross-border takeover (Kang and Johansson, 2000). The ratio of intangible assets (goodwill paid in earlier MAs has to be minus first) to total assets is used to examine these ideas. The financial synergies are realized by looking at the capital structure of potential acquirers. The idea is that when firms relying heavily on bank loans, it is risky to the firm and also acquirers will have less interest on the firm. Therefore, firms that relying heavily on bank loans will quickly seek to reduce their overall risk and recognize a lower cost of capital by engaging in industry-diversifying and in cross-border MAs. Indeed, cost of capital can be reduced when cash flows from target and bidders are not highly correlated. Besides, additional borrowing capacity post-MA can be created and this is a good performance for a firm after MA. If stock prices of a firm are down, the takeover of a firm can constitute a bargain relative to investing in new facilities in order to recover from scratch. Furthermore, the valuation of private targets is lower once stock market sentiment is down, through the use of a lower multiples or higher risk premium when valuing target stock. This under-valuation hypothesis suggests that stock prices and MA decisions are negatively related. In contrast, soaring stock prices can facilitate the financing of MAs in which they using bidder stock to pay for these deals. When firms consider that their stock to be over-valued, they tend to issue new shares (Shleifer and Vishny, 2003). There will be positive relationship between stock prices and external growth. However, the positive relationship may be difficult to observe when a sample is dominated by private enterprises. This is also because of those non-listed bidder stock is unwilling to be accepted by target investors. The average market-wide price earnings (P/E) ratio at the MA announcement date is used to capture stock market conditions, given that private firms dominate the sample. 2.3 Hypothesis Development The first hypothesis comes from our own assumption to examine how does a company perform post-MA compared to pre-MA. The assumption is that a company could perform better in the form of ratios because their capital has increased due to increase in non current assets. If a company obtains another company through MA, it is expected that they have certain amount of capital available to expand their firm size; therefore, there will be increase in capital in the form of ROE and ROA ratios once a firm is engaged in MA activities. H º =After MA, there will be increase in ratios of ROE and ROA H ¹=Before MA, asset ROA and ROE are higher From previous study of (Moeller, Schlingemann Stulz, 2004), it is known that they examined for the below hypothesis in their research. And this hypothesis will be tested in Malaysia context so that we will be able to measure the level of performance compared to the size of the firm. H º=Small firm perform better after MA H ¹=Acquirer’s firm perform worse after MA 2.4 Model/Framework Negative relationship Positive Relationship As proposed, the relationship between pre-MA is a negative relationship to the ratio. And it should be lower than post-MA ratio as after MA activities, the ratio should increase and higher. Positive relationship Negative relationship As proposed, the larger firm will adapt less well after MA compared to smaller firm. Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Design The research will be carried out as an explanatory study. This study method is used for our research because this study will explain how MA affects performance of a company. The design will be carried out by using pair sample T-Test testing the relationship of the variables of performance of the company and the pre and post MA activities. The research will be carried out to test whether an MA activity does increase the performance of a company or it does not accelerate the activity of the company. Archival research will be used thoroughly to understand the improvement or deterioration in the firms post-MA compared to pre-MA. 3.2 Population, Sample and Sampling Procedure For our research for MA companies in Malaysia, a census will be conducted as it is expected that there are only several hundreds of companies that have conducted MA locally. The census data will be collected by using the Bursa Malaysia website via manual search and the usage of Osiris database. Therefore, the data will be collected through these 2 ways. 3.3 Data Collection Method As it is said, the data to be used will be secondary data. Documentary secondary data will be collected and used throughout this research. The data will be consisted of written materials which are companies’ annual reports. The annual report will be compiled based on the activities that are involved by the respective companies with a view that MA deals are conducted by the company within the years of investigation which range from year 2001 to 2005. References Rao, K.V., Sanker, K.R. (1997). Takeover as a Strategy of Turnaround. UTI edited book. Cosh, A., Hughes, A., Lee, K., Singh, A. (1998). â€Å"Takeovers, institutional investment and the persistence of profits†, in Begg, I. and Henry, S.G.B. (Eds), Applied Economics and Public Policy, Department of Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Agundu, P.C., Karibo, N.O. (1999). â€Å"Risk analysis in corporate mergers decisions in developing economies†. Journal of Financial Management and Analysis, 12(2), 13-17. Moeller, S.B., Schlingemann, F.P., Stulz, R.M. (2004). â€Å"Firm size and the gains from acquisitions†. Journal of Financial Economics, 73, 201-28. Pilloff, S.J. (1996). Performance changes and stockholder wealth creation associated with mergers of publicly traded banking institutions. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 28, 294-310. Bris, A., Brisley, N., Cabolis, C. (2008). Adopting better corporate governance: Evidence from cross-border mergers. Journal of Corporate Finance, 14, 224-240. Breinlich, H. (2008). Trade liberalization and industrial restructuring through mergers and acquisitions. Journal of International Economics, 76, 254–266. Kumar, S., Bansal, L.K.(2008). The impact of mergers and acquisitions on corporate performance in India. Management Decision, 46 (10), 1531-1543. Hassan, M., Patro, D.K., Tuckman, H., Wang, X.L. (2007). Do mergers and acquisitions create shareholder wealth in the pharmaceutical industry? International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 1 (1), 58-78.

What Makes Como Hotels And Resort Different Tourism Essay

What Makes Como Hotels And Resort Different Tourism Essay An Asian lady-Mrs Ong, the owner of the COMO group, dedicated and curious business woman who traveled a lot around the world was not really satisfied with the Londons most popular hotels. By 1991 Mrs Ong had already had well established fashion business because of which she traveled quite often to London. In 1991, in one of her visits to London she discovers that a building in Central London with perfect location is on sale. Immediately she decides to buy this building and turns into fantastic hotel and this Halkin Hotel consequently becomes an access for the COMO hotels and Resorts (Group Handbook, 2009). Thus starting her business to satisfy her expectations on her visits to London she builds a new business which fulfils the needs of higher expectations. According to COMO statistics of 2010 COMO hotels and resorts consists of three hotels (and 18 aprtments in Metropolitan Hotel), two resorts, two umas and one shambala estate. Two of the hotels are located in London and one in Bangkok. Parrot Cay (TurksCaicos) and Coco Irelands (The Maldives) are very unique resorts of COMO. But the main differentiator of COMO from any other hotels and resorts is its Umas(Uma Ubud(Bali) and Uma Paro(Bhutan)) and COMO Shambala Estate at Bagawan Giri(Bali) (Market share statistics 2010). With its distinguishing business approach COMO hotel resorts has been able to achieve uniqueness among its competitors over the past few years. Three hotels which are located in busy cities are developed to attract guest who travel to big cities for businesses. Because of this Sales and Marketing department of COMO hotels and resorts is located in London and correspondent office in Bangkok. These three five star hotels which are located in hart of the busy cities is the way how COMO attracts its customers. The main strategy of COMO is to build Resorts in the most rural, wild and unusual places of the world (COMO hotels and resorts, 2010). Focused differentiation strategies in Hotel industry seeks to provide high perceived service benefits justifying a substantial price premium product and are usually heavily branded and offer benefits different from those of its competitors and that are widely valued by buyers (Gerry et al, 2006). Implying this fact, because of its unique strategy and approach to its customers COMO can be named as a differentiator in Hotel and resort industry. Each COMO hotel and resort is very different, but it is not difficult to identify the most common aspect. As an owner of the group Mrs Ong pays a huge attention to the well being and health, as well as style. For instance in Vital statistics of COMO hotels and resorts (2010), Shambhala described as a health concept that has been built as centers of wellbeing at all estates. These include COMOs city hotel spas, known as COMO Shambhala Urban Escapes, as well as COMO Shambhala Retreats at the companys private islands and Uma resorts. Shambhala Yoga Centre in Singapore trains yoga teachers and therapists in order to create personalized, holistic solutions for the specific needs of different guests. It is a consultative rather than prescriptive approach, allowing consultants to respond to clients on a one-by-one, day-by-day basis. They demonstrate the best of ancient Asian traditions and, where it is appropriate, older techniques are combined with Western enhancements. Bodywork is also an other essential element of the COMO Shambhala experience. At all properties, yoga facilities are available. In addition, COMO Shambhala maintains on-going relationships with key health professionals, including nutritionists. COMO Shambhala cuisine, available at nearly all properties, focuses on energizing and organic products. The difference of these products is the emphasis paid on raw ingredients (more easily digested as well as richer in vitamins and sea minerals) is combined with old Asian influences. COMO Shambhala also generates a range of skin and body care products, which is made from all-natural ingredients (available in-room at every property), together with an Active Living clothing collection (COMO hotels and resorts Vital statistics, 2010). COMO Hotels and Resorts is developed by a unique Asian spirit: a peaceful commitment to servicing customers in order to ensure their break with pleasure. In contrary to many hotels COMO tries not to make a hotel like their home, instead it strives to bring the culture, along with all the aspects of the country to make sure that guests will remember the lodge as unforgettable. This aspect, passion and reliability makes each stay exclusive by defining not just the service norms but the hart of each property. All of this described by the essence of the destination which can be found in food, architecture, and the way COMO helps guests to explore and experience the sightseeings of the place. Because of these facts whether its a private island in the ocean or a hotel at the heart of UK, COMO Hotels and Resorts    an award winning, a private company    knows how to make memories of the guests last forever (COMO hotels and resorts, 2010). Internal and External analysis Chart 1: Source: Gerry J, Kevan S, Richard W, Exploring Corporate Strategy, texts and cases, (2006), pp. 64. The Chart 1 gives a clear view of frameworks for understanding the environment of COMO hotels and resorts with the aim of assisting to identify the key issues and ways of overcoming the challengers and complications. There are a lot of factors which influence COMO hotels and resorts, but mainly for the right assumptions and good analysis it is necessary to analyze those aspects by dividing them into internal and external factors. External- in other words environmental and competitive analysis-aim to identify opportunities and threats which affects the company. On the other hand internal analyses seek to identify strengths and weaknesses a COMO is facing in current competitive and challenging business environment. Environmental (PESTEL) Analysis. COMO Hotels and Resorts is competing in the hospitality industry, which has been effected enormously by the impact of war, terrorism attacks, political instability and visa regulations as well as economic crisis like 2009th credit crunch. It is also affected by technological innovations and globalization as well as environment. By using PESTEL framework COMO Hotels and Resorts can categorize environmental influences into six main forms: political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal. PESTEL provides a comprehensive list of influences on the possible success or failure of the strategy of COMO Hotels and resorts. Many of these factors are linked together which is why it is crucial to identify the key drivers for change. And these key drivers for change are the high-impact factors likely to affect significantly the success or failure of strategy(Gerry et al, 2006). COMO Hotels and Resorts approach considers the impact on the economies, cultures, environment and communities of each destination in which it operates. Promise to sustainability is embedded in the fundamental COMO commitment to passion, creativity and style. Creating unforgettable journey experiences for guests go together with rewarding employees to maximize their prospective, targeted stewardship and contributing to the local economy (COMO hotels and resorts, 2010). Political/Legal Factors As a Global Industry COMO is hugely affected by political factors of the country where it operates. It is comprehensible that visa regulations effect dramatically on COMOs sales. For example it is more difficult to obtain visa to Bali which makes Uma less attractive for its guests. Nowadays people do not really want to fill extra paperwork and wait for results. All the Resorts and Umas as well as estate is located either in higher mountains or in islands which narrows its customer segmentation to a luxury holiday and leisure seeking guests. For example to travel Coco Irelands where one of the famous resorts is located a guest will need to feel extra paperwork proposed by the governments which affects the guest decision to visit the resort. As COMO operates in different countries it is very important to invest into the governmentally stable country. Another reason for that is the cost of closure of the business; this is due to costly assets. Taxation is another aspect of consideration for any global company. According to the experiences of some guests, some complaint that they were charged higher tax on their third visit to Uma Ubud, but this is due to the governmental taxation policies which does not necessarily affect COMO but discourages the trust of the customers (Trip Advisor, 2009). Economical Last year has been especially difficult for the tourism, hospitality and travel industry. War in Iraq, the rise of oil prices, the outbreak of different flu viruses because of which traveling was limited or dangerous to some destinations has had a devastating effect on the global hospitality industry. Those factors combined with the domestic situation in the UK, such as credit crunch, a declination in consumer spending, the weak job and closure of many businesses made the last year very challenging for businesses. As the economic downturn is slightly picking up, the hospitality and travel industry gains from increased business travels. And expectations for a more favorable hospitality and travel industries are in sight and are proclaimed by various sources for the 2010. According to the Profit and Loss statement of COMO Hotels and Resorts for 2009 RevPAR has generally declined for 2.3% but predicted Profit and Loss statement for 2010 looks much healthier than last year with 1,2% increase in RevPAR. Merrill Lynch analysts (10/30/2009) believe that the hotel industry has hit the lowest figures of present lodging cycle and is disillusioned for a huge rebound due to increasing demand, as a result of a strengthen economy, together with very low supply growth over the next a few years. These results consequently should translate into strong RevPAR. And followed by the improvement of RevPAR, RC(return on capital), ROCE and overall hotel evaluation is often followed. According to the Ghassan Aidi, President of International Hotels Restaurant Association, notes on U.N. World Tourism Organization Resilience Committee meeting in Berlin on September 2008, nearly in parallel with stock market turmoil, occupancy at luxury hotels start to go down 6% then 14% in October. Furthermore he mentioned RevPAR in 2009 fell by 17% for luxury market while as it was mentioned above COMO Hotels and Resorts was able to keep its business in -2.3%. Moreover Mr Ghassan Aidi (2009) concludes his speech mentioning that in general 2009 and early part of 2010 will be challenging for hotel industry, but he also believes that hospitality industry as a whole needs to become positive and explore unlimited opportunities. Please remember that our industry is the largest employer in the history and employ more than 950 million of workers and we are the last barrier and the major fighter against global poverty says Mr Ghassan Aidi on his report. Social and Environmental COMO has been investing and paying huge attention to the environmental factors such as global warming, poverty and discrimination. For example COMO foundation is specially designed program to support nonprofit organizations that tries to improve lives of women and girls. Without any geographical limitations to the foundation portfolio COMO was able to grant projects such as healthcare, skill development and education (COMO hotels and resorts, 2010). COMO has implemented different recycling projects in its hotels and resorts. Metropolitan Hotel in London was awarded as the best environmental caring hotel of 2009 (Employee handbook, 2010). Technological Factors To obtain bigger market share and to increase customer satisfaction, hotels and resorts are continuously trying to offer high-tech technology. In the past few years have shown huge effects on telephone revenues and an increased demand for high speed Internet access throughout hotels and resorts (Phillip et.al, 20/11/2003). The overall change in customer booking patterns was affected by the way customers are searching, reviewing and choosing hotels and resorts. Travel agents such as Travelodge have increased their large market share and are continuing to change the current status of the market. It is not difficult to observe how travel agents who offer vocational packages which include accommodation, airfare and transportation are growing over the past few years, but at the same time this affected negatively on revenues in the hospitality. Moreover Internet review web-sites such as interdependent hotel review web pages like www.cntraveller.com has impacted on customers choice and decisions. Online booking is rapidly increasing because of the customers behavioral changes. Moreover economical changes persuaded Hotels and Resorts to implement cost cutting techniques. On the second part of this report technological changes which are effecting COMO hotels and resorts will be discussed more briefly. SWOT analysis The key strategic messages from business environment and strategic capability can be summarized in the form of SWOT analysis. According to Mintzberg (1998, p.406) SWOT analysis summarizes the key issues from the business environment and the strategic capability of an organization that are most likely to impact on strategy development. The aim of these analyses is to identify the extent to which the current strengths and weaknesses are applicable to, and capable of, simultaneously dealing with the threats and capitalizing on the opportunities in the hospitality industry. COMO business structure and development as SWOT analysis important strengths and weaknesses within the industry and illustrates valuable opportunities and threats the hotel is facing currently: Strengths   COMO has gain a good reputation from its existing customers There is constant upgrading of COMO management Perfect and unique hotel locations Differentiating facilities Great hotel service and high customer value Cultural staff/personnel relations with guests Very popular restaurants located in each hotels and resorts COMO shambala health treatments Small chain which means better and easier management COMO Foundation Weaknesses Lack of profit maximization from other sources like for example, conferences and wedding venues revenues Low employment overhead revenue Lack of differentiation of reception from other hotels Difficulties to reach target customers Tough visa regulations in some locations of the resorts Lack of self owned online sales channels   Opportunities   The presence of enough basic facilities to improve quality Technological innovation   Refresh of hotel operators   The increase in sales due to customer loyalty   The ability to be efficient as knowledge curve is changing   Customer Growth Enhancement of Brand Name Threats Presence of better market positioning by hotel rivals Constantly raising and tough competition because all the Hotels are located in big cities Economic slowdown that may obstruct hotel development Implementation of newer technology tools by other hotels Unsuitable environment for keeping loyal customers Change in Technology Changes happen all over the world, every single minute there is something invented or improved and this lead to the fact that nowadays life cannot be imagined without technology. Some companies use technology in some part of the production procedure, while others consist whole from technology and hugely depend on it. One of the hugely dependant on technology and changes within technological industry is hospitality industry. Starting from reaching and making reservations for guests, all the way till making the customers loyal requires technology. The following paragraphs of this report highlight most important innovations and installations of technology in the COMO hotels and resorts. Technological influences on policies and decision making Starting from 1980s, strategy management scholars began to recognize technology as an important element of business definition and competitive strategy. (Robert Burgelman, 2004). For example Porter observes that technology is among the most prominent factors that determine the rules of competition. But according to one prescriptive school of strategy is that general managers need not have backgrounds in science or IT, but they do need to invest significant effort in learning to understand the technologies important to their business. But the most important fact for CEOs in todays constantly changing technological world is their ability to frame the key strategic questions in relation to technology (Robert Burgelman, 2004). The link between generic competitive strategies and technological strategies is described in details below in Chart 1. Chart 1 Technological Policies and Generic Competitive Strategy Generic Strategy Product technological change Overall cost leadership Overall differentiation Focus segment Cost leadership Focus segment differentiation Technological Policies COMOs new product offer to reduce product/service cost by lowering materials content. COMOs product development to enhance product quality COMOs product development to design enough performance for the segments needs COMOs new product offer to meet exactly the needs of the particular business segment application. Process technological change COMOs process development to enhance economies of scale COMOs process development to support greater quality control, faster response COMOs process development to tune production to segment needs in order to lower cost COMOs process development to tune the production to segment needs in order to improve performance. Source: Burgelman R., Christensen C., Wheelwright S., 2004, Strategic management of technology and innovation Being global means a lot of communication and quick respond to the changes. Having properties in different parts of the world is very difficult to manage without standardized property operating systems. The finance department in all of the properties of COMO uses the same system which in its turn enables head office to better control the finance of the company. All COMO hotels and resorts bank transactions exceeding 10.000 pounds are being processed by head office in UK. Due to technology this procedure is reached high outcomes, as a result of the availability of the internet any resorts or Umas at any time can scan the copy of the invoice and send to the head office. After this head office analyses the invoice and processes payment to the beneficiary on behalf of the resort or hotel. Effectiveness of COMOs response to change in technology COMO is constantly striving to be the first of new technological advances in the industry. According to Mr Orchard-regional general manager-a companys strength and competitive advantage is its ability to constantly update and keep up with technology. Mr orchared says: We were able to differentiate ourselves because of our passion, creativity and style. But the key behind this theory is our ability to be first in introducing new technological changes to our guests. COMO hotels and resorts have implemented different technological advances and those are being explored to increase its facilities within the lodge. For example, Metropolitan was the first hotel in London who offered free wireless internet within the hotel. Moreover it is the first hotel in London who installed 42 and 32 flat screen TV in all its bedrooms. Also it offers vary products such as iPod docking station, electronic do not disturb button in all its bedrooms. Due to change in technology COMO is able to offers more services to its customers than ever before, for example: IT Butler Limousines Foreign exchange Business Centre with high speed broadband internet service Secretarial service Laundry, dry cleaning and pressing services Express check-out Mobile phone rental Flat screen TV with 67 channels Extensive on demand music jukebox and movie selection WiFi and high speed internet access iPod docking station (in Studios and Suites) CD and DVD player Dual line, direct dial telephone with voice mail Air conditioning Electronic do not disturb sign Private fax machine with designated number UK and US modem points Video recorders, mobile phones and printers (on request) Sony widescreen TV Wall mounted plasma screen DVD player Hairdryer Iron and ironing board Mini bar In recent years the emerging of the internet as a new channel of distribution has presented some challenges to the lodging industry. In respond to this COMO partnered with e-commerce company which enabled better online reservation systems. With the installation of these new systems COMO was able to offer international customers use the local language to make a reservation. Of course internet is a great tool to reach customers globally but aim of the COMO is to tailor that distribution method to suit to each guest. And this recently developed e-commerce has and will further enable COMO to reduce the distribution costs, while promoting the brand name around the world. The main objective behind this is to make COMOs web site and online sales channels to reach more customers and to promote the brand name (Employee handbook, 2009). Areas for improvement as a response to the change in technology COMO is constantly looking and investigating for new technological improvements and advancements to satisfy the needs of its guests. But as it can be seen in any business because of the rapid change in technology it is too difficult to keep up with changes in technology all the time. There is always a gap or neglected part of the business which can be improved to turn weaknesses and threats in opportunities and strengths. For example to improve the distribution and increase customer loyalty COMO uses online sales channels. But in order to better compete, to have a better and stronger brand COMO needs to have its own online sales channels. COMO Hotels and Resorts needs to insure all its customers to get the best value by accessing the different distribution channels available. As an advertiser of COMO hotels and resorts it co-operates with Design Hotels Inc, this kind of companies advertise hundreds hotels and resorts. As some of its competitors are already aware and became ahead COMO by designing their own advertising web browser, COMO needs to keep up with this as well. Biometric clock in and clock out system allowed organizations to automate payroll processing, eliminate unauthorized overtime and accurately reports employee time/ attendance to HR. Right now COMO is implementing a time card which needs to be swiped to record the attendance. But biometric attendance recorder can help to eliminate early punch ins and hours of payroll calculation. It helps and eliminates the effort and time required by the HR to monitor the time-clock activity and reduces the manual involvement of payroll consequently leading to a cost savings and improved productivity. COMO hotels and resorts is very narrowly targeted to a very rich guests, but is not COMO distancing itself from other guest demographics? The effort to keep up with changing technology is working, but can COMO stay in line with further changes of technology and competition? Conclusion COMO hotels and resorts seems to be very well positioned and has made significant achievements and was able to expend very quickly by integrating of its brand name by accomplishing its strategic trend in such turbulent economic situation. Its culture, brand and global strategy are the key part of their success. While there are still huge opportunities, such as technological innovation, reinvigoration of hotel operators, the increase in sales due to customer loyalty, customer growth and enhancement of brand name these opportunities are also accessible over the period of time. Nevertheless, COMO has been able to accomplish huge success in less than 20 years by nurturing a culture and reputation based on style, creativity and passion to navigate though challenging markets and prosperous times. Thus the strength of COMO became a synonym of luxury.

Ecology and the Biosphere

Ecology and the Biosphere Ch. 50 (Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere) I. Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment. Events that occur in the framework of ecological time translate into effects over the longer scale of evolutionary time. The environment of any organism includes two components. Abiotic, or nonliving, components chemical and physical factors such as temperature, light, water, and nutrients. Biotic, or living, components all the organisms, or the biota, that are part of the individuals environment. Ecology can be divided into areas of study ranging from the ecology of individual organisms to the dynamics of ecosystems and landscapes. Organismal ecology: Can be subdivided into the disciplines of physiological ecology, evolutionary ecology, and behavioral ecology. Concerns how an organisms structure, physiology, and behavior meet the challenges posed by the environment Population ecology: Concentrates mainly on factors that affect how many individuals of a particular species live in an area. Population group of individuals of the same species living in a particular geographic area. Community ecology: Deals with the whole array of interacting species in a community. Community all the organisms of all the species that inhabit a particular area Ecosystem ecology: The emphasis in this ecology is on energy flow and chemical cycling among the various biotic and abiotic components. Ecosystem all the abiotic factors in addition to the entire community of species that exist in a certain area. Landscape ecology: Deals with arrays of ecosystems and how they are arranged in a geographic region. Patchiness is an environmental characteristic where a landscape or seascape consists of a mosaic of different types of patches. Focuses on the factors controlling exchanges of energy, materials, and organisms among the ecosystem patches. The biosphere is the global ecosystem, the sum of all the planets ecosystems. II. Interactions between organisms and the environment limit the distribution of species Biogeography is the study of the past and present distribution of individual species, in the context of evolutionary theory It provides a good starting point for understanding what limits the geographic distribution of a species. Factors limiting a species distribution may include: Dispersal. Behavior. Biotic factors. Abiotic factors. Dispersal is the movement of individuals away from centers of high population density or from their area of origin One way to determine if dispersal is a key factor limiting distribution is to observe the results of transplants of a species For a transplant to be considered successful, organisms must survive and reproduce in the new area If it is successful, the potential range of the species is larger than its actual range. Behavior and habitat selection may limit distribution. Plants may select their habitats by producing seeds that germinate only under a restricted set of environmental conditions Female mosquitoes select specific habitats for oviposition, or the depositing of eggs Biotic factors that limit the distribution of a species may include: Predation Disease Parasitism Competition Abiotic factors may also limit distribution. Environmental temperature is an important factor in the distribution of organisms because of its effect on biological processes Cells may rupture if the water they contain freezes Proteins of most organisms denature at temperatures above 45 degrees C. Water availability is another important factor. Freshwater and marine organisms live submerged in aquatic environments. Terrestrial organisms face a nearly constant threat of desiccation Sunlight provides the energy that drives all ecosystems, although only plants and other photosynthetic organisms use this energy source directly Wind amplifies the effects of environmental temperature on organisms by increasing heat loss due to evaporation and convection It also contributes to water loss in organisms by increasing the rate of evaporative cooling and transpiration The physical structure, pH, and mineral composition of rocks and soil limit the distribution of plants Temperature, water, sunlight, and wind are the major components of climate Global climate patterns: Earths curved shape causes latitudinal variation in the intensity of sunlight Sunlight strikes the tropics most directly, and the most heat and light are delivered there Earths tilt causes seasonal variation in the intensity of solar radiation. June solstice Northern Hemisphere tilts toward sun; summer begins March equinox equator faces sun directly; 12 hours of daylight and darkness December solstice Northern Hemisphere tilts away from sun; winter begins September equinox equator faces sun directly Intense solar radiation near the equator initiates a global pattern of air circulation and precipitation Air flowing close to Earths surface creates predictable global wind patterns Macroclimate are patterns on the global, regional, and local level Ocean currents influence climate along the coasts of continents by heating or cooling overlying air masses, which may then pass across the land. Mountains have a significant effect on the amount of sunlight reaching an area, as well as on local temperature and rainfall. In addition to the global changes in day length, solar radiation, and temperature, the changing angle of the sun affects local environments During the summer and winter, many lakes in temperate regions are thermally stratified, or layered vertically according to temperature Lakes undergo a semiannual mixing of their waters as a result of changing temperature profiles, a process called turnover. Microclimate are very fine patterns, such as those encountered by a community underneath a log Many features in the environment influence microclimates by casting shade, affecting evaporation from soil, and changing wind patterns. III. Abiotic and biotic factors influence the structure and dynamics of aquatic biomes Biomes are major types of ecological associations that occupy broad geographic regions of land or water Aquatic biomes account of the largest part of the biosphere. These biomes are physically and chemically stratified There is sufficient light for photosynthesis in the upper photic zone Little light penetrates in the lower aphotic zone At the bottom, the subtrate is called the benthic zone It is made up of sand and organic and inorganic sediments It is occupied by communities of organisms collectively called benthos A major source of food for the benthos is dead organic matter called detritus Thermal energy from sunlight warms surface waters to whatever depth the sunlight penetrates. In the ocean and in most lakes, a narrow stratum of rapid temperature change called a thermocline separates the more uniformly warm upper layer from more uniformly cold deeper waters Major aquatic biomes: Lakes are standing bodies of water covering thousands of square kilometers Oligotrophic lakes are nutrient poor and generally oxygen rich Eutrophic lakes are nutrient rich and often depleted of oxygen if ice-covered in winter and in the deepest zone during summer The littoral zone is the shallow, well-lighted waters close to shore The limnetic zone is further away from shore and is too deep to support rooted aquatic plants A wetland is an area covered with water for a long enough period to support aquatic plants The most prominent physical characteristic of streams and rivers is current Headwater streams are generally cold, clear, turbulent, and swift Rivers are generally warmer and more turbid, since they carry more sediment than their headwaters. An estuary is a transition area between river and sea They have very complex flow patterns An intertidal zone is periodically submerged and exposed by the tides, twice daily on most marine shores The oceanic pelagic biome is a vast realm of open blue water, constantly mixed by wind-driven oceanic currents Reef building corals are limited to the photic zone of relatively stable tropical marine environments with high water clarity A coral reef, which is formed largely from the calcium carbonate skeletons of corals, develops over a long time on oceanic islands The marine benthic zone consists of the seafloor below the surface waters of the costal, or neritic, zone and the offshore, pelagic zone. Organisms in the very deep benthic or abyssal, zone are adapted to continuous cold and extremely high water pressure IV. Climate largely determines the distribution and structure of terrestrial biomes A climograph is a plot of the temperature and precipitation in a particular region Vertical stratification is an important feature of terrestrial biomes In many forests, the layers consist of the upper canopy, the low-tree stratum, the shrub understory, the ground layer of herbaceous plants, the forest floor, and the root layer Terrestrial biomes usually grade into each other, without sharp boundaries The area of intergradation is called an ecotone and may be wide or narrow Major terrestrial biomes: In tropical rain forests, rainfall is relatively constant, and in tropical dry forests, precipitation is highly seasonal Tropical forests are stratified Deserts occur in a band near 30 degrees north and south latitude or at other latitudes in the interior of continents Precipitation is low and highly variable Temperature is variable seasonally and daily The savanna is warm year-round, but with somewhat more seasonal variation than in tropical forests Chaparral occurs in midlatitude coastal regions on several continents It is dominated by shrubs and small trees, along with a high diversity of grasses and herbs Temperate grasslands cover parts of South Africa, Hungary, Argentina, Uruguay, Russia, and North America. The dominant plants are grasses and forbs The northern coniferous forest, or taiga, is the largest terrestrial biome on earth Precipitation ranges from 30 to 70 cm, and periodic droughts are common Cone-bearing trees dominate these forests A mature temperate broadleaf forest has distinct, highly diverse, vertical layers. Tundra covers expansive areas of the Arctic, amounting to 20% of Earths land surface A permanently frozen layer of soil called permafrost generally prevents water infiltration. Ch. 51 (Behavioral Ecology) I. Behavioral ecology extends observations of animal behavior by studying how such behavior is controlled and how it develops, evolves, and contributes to survival and reproductive success. II. Behavioral ecologists distinguish between proximate and ultimate causes of behavior. Behavior traits are also a part of an animals phenotype It includes muscular as well as nonmuscular activity Is everything that an animal does and how it does it. Learning is also considered a behavioral process. Proximate questions focus on the environmental stimuli that trigger a behavior, as well as the genetic, physiological, and anatomical mechanisms underlying a behavioral act These are how questions Ultimate questions address the evolutionary significance of a behavior These are why questions Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, particularly in natural environments. Tindenbergen suggested four questions that must be answered to fully understand any behavior What is the mechanistic basis of the behavior, including chemical, anatomical, and physiological mechanisms? How does development of the animal, from zygote to mature individual, influence behavior? What is the evolutionary history of the behavior? How does the behavior contribute to survival and reproduction? The fixed action pattern is a sequence of unlearned behavioral acts that Is essentially unchangeable and is carried to completion A FAP is triggered by an external sensory stimulus known as a sign stimulus Imprinting is a type of behavior that includes both learning and innate components and is generally irreversible A sensitive period is a limited phase in an animals development that is the only time when certain behaviors can be learned III. Many behaviors have a strong genetic component. Biologists study the ways both genes and the environment influence development of behavioral phenotypes. Nature and nurture Innate behaviors are behavior that is developmentally fixed and are under strong genetic influence Kinesis is a simple change in activity or turning rate Taxis is an oriented movement toward or away from some stimulus. Trout automatically swim or orient themselves in an upstream direction, exhibiting rheotaxis Bird migration is partly under genetic control. Animal communication consists of the transmission of, reception of, and response to signals A signal is a behavior that causes a change in another animals behavior It is an essential element of interactions between individuals Many animals that communicate through odors emit chemical substances called pheromones They are typically very concentrated Many animals also communicate by auditory communication A variety of mammalian behaviors are under relatively strong genetic control. Research has revealed the genetic and neural basis for the mating and parental behavior of male prairie voles. IV. Environment, interacting with an animals genetic makeup, influences the development of behaviors. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that the type of food eaten during larval development strongly influences later mate selection by Drosophila mojavensis females Cross-fostering studies of California mice and white-footed mice have uncovered an influence of social environment on the aggressive and parental behaviors of mice. Learning is the modification of behavior based on specific experiences. Special learning is the modification of behavior based on experience with the special structure of the environment This makes use of landmarks, or location indicators A cognitive map is an internal representation or code of the spatial relationships between objects in an animals surroundings Associative learning is the ability of many animals to associate one feature of the environment with another Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning in which an arbitrary stimulus is associated with a reward or punishment operant conditioning is called trial-and-error learning Cognition is the ability of an animals nervous system to perceive, store, process, and use information gathered by sensory receptors. The study of animal cognition, called cognitive ethology, examines the connection between an animals nervous system and its behavior. Habituation is a loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information V. Behavioral traits can evolve by natural selection. When behavioral variation within a species corresponds to variation in environmental conditions, it may be evidence of past evolution An example of genetically based variation in behavior within a species is pretty selection by the garter snake Thamnophis elegans Foraging is behavior associated with recognizing, searching for, capture, and consuming food Laboratory studies of Drosophila populations raised in high and low density conditions show a clear divergence in behavior linked to specific genes D. melangogaster living at low population density followed a foraging path shorter than that of D. melanogaster living at high population density VI. Natural selection favors behaviors that increase survival and reproductive success. Optimal foraging theory states that natural selection should favor foraging behavior that minimizes the costs of foraging and maximizing the benefits. How mate choice enhances reproductive success varies, depending on the species mating system. In promiscuous mating, there are no strong pair bonds or lasting relationships In monogamous mating, one male mates with one female In polygamous mating, an individual of one sex mates with several of the other In polygyny, one males mates with many females In polyandry, one female mates with several males Males competition for mates is a source of intrasexual selection that can reduce variation among males agonistic behavior is an often ritualized contest that determines which competitor gains access to a resource, such as food or mates Game theory provides a way of thinking about evolution in situations where the fitness of a particular behavioral phenotype is influenced by other behavioral phenotypes in the population. VII. The concept of inclusive fitness can account for most altruistic social behavior. On occasion, animals behave in altruistic ways that reduce their individual fitness but increase the fitness of the recipient of the behavior. For example, if a squirrel sees a predator approach, the squirrel gives off an alarm, alerting unaware individuals but increasing the risk to itself This behavior can be explained by the concept of inclusive fitness It is the total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring and by providing aid that enables other close relatives to produce offspring The three key variables in an act of altruism are the benefit to the recipient (B), the cost to the altruist (C), and the coefficient of relatedness (r). Hamiltons rule states that rB > C Kin selection favors altruistic behavior by enhancing the reproductive success of relatives Altruistic behavior toward unrelated individuals can be adaptive if the aided individual returns the favor in the future, an exchange of aid called reciprocal altruism. Social learning forms the roots of culture, which can be defined as a system of information transfer through observation or teaching that influences the behavior of individuals in a population. Male choice copying is a behavior in which individuals in a population copy the mate choice of others Human culture is related to evolutionary theory in the discipline of sociobiology, whose main premise is that certain behavior characteristics exist because they are expressions of genes that have been perpetuated by natural selection. Ch. 52 I. Population ecology is the study of populations in relation to the environment, including environmental influences on population density and distribution. A population is a group of individuals of a single species living in the same general area II. Dynamic biological processes influence population density, dispersion, and demography. Population density, the number of individuals per area or volume, results from the combination of births, deaths, immigration, and emigration. Dispersion is the pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of the population Environmental and social factors influence the spacing of individuals In clumped patterns, individuals are aggregated in patches In uniform patterns, individuals are evenly spaced Animals often exhibit uniform dispersion as a result of antagonistic social interactions, such as territoriality, the defense of a bounded physical space against encroachment by other individuals In random dispersion, individuals are unpredictably spaced, and the position of each individual is independent of others This occurs in the absence of strong attraction or repulsions among individuals of a population Populations grow from births and immigration and shrink from deaths and emigration Immigration is the influx of new individuals from other areas Emigration is the movement of individuals out of a population Demography is the study of the vital statistics of populations and how they change over time Of particularly interest to demographers are birth rates and how they vary among individuals and death rates Life tables are age-specific summaries of the survival pattern of a population the best way to construct one is to follow the fate of a cohort, a group of individuals of the same age, from birth until all are dead A survivorship curve is a plot of the proportion or numbers in a cohort still alive at each age Idealized survivorship curves: Type I curve is flat at the start, reflecting low death rates during early and middle life, then drops steeply as death rates increase among older age groups Type II curves are intermediate, with a constant death rate over the organisms life span Type III curve drops sharply at the start, reflecting very high death rates for the young, but the flattens out as death rates decline for those individuals that have survived to a critical age Reproductive tables, or fertility schedules, are age specific summaries of the reproductive rates in a population III. The traits that affect an organisms schedule of reproduction and survival from birth through reproduction to death make up its life history. They are evolutionary outcomes reflected in the development, physiology, and behavior of an organism. Semelparous organisms reproduce a single time and die. When the survival rate of offspring is low, as in highly variable or unpredictable environments, this is favored Iteroparous organisms produce offspring repeatedly. When environments are dependable and where competition for resources may be intense, this is favored. Life history traits such as brood size, age at maturity, and parental caregiving represent trade-offs between conflicting demands for limited time, energy, and nutrients. IV. The exponential model describes population growth in an idealized, unlimited environment. The per capita birth rate (b) is the number of offspring produced per unit time by an average member of the population The per capita death rate (m) is the number of individuals of a population that die per unit time The per capita rate of increase (r), or a populations growth rate, equals birth rate minus death rate. R = b m Growth occurs when r>0 and decline occurs when r C Kin selection favors altruistic behavior by enhancing the reproductive success of relatives Altruistic behavior toward unrelated individuals can be adaptive if the aided individual returns the favor in the future, an exchange of aid called reciprocal altruism. Social learning forms the roots of culture, which can be defined as a system of information transfer through observation or teaching that influences the behavior of individuals in a population. Male choice copying is a behavior in which individuals in a population copy the mate choice of others Human culture is related to evolutionary theory in the discipline of sociobiology, whose main premise is that certain behavior characteristics exist because they are expressions of genes that have been perpetuated by natural selection. Ch. 52 I. Population ecology is the study of populations in relation to the environment, including environmental influences on population density and distribution. A population is a group of individuals of a single species living in the same general area II. Dynamic biological processes influence population density, dispersion, and demography. Population density, the number of individuals per area or volume, results from the combination of births, deaths, immigration, and emigration. Dispersion is the pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of the population Environmental and social factors influence the spacing of individuals In clumped patterns, individuals are aggregated in patches In uniform patterns, individuals are evenly spaced Animals often exhibit uniform dispersion as a result of antagonistic social interactions, such as territoriality, the defense of a bounded physical space against encroachment by other individuals In random dispersion, individuals are unpredictably spaced, and the position of each individual is independent of others This occurs in the absence of strong attraction or repulsions among individuals of a population Populations grow from births and immigration and shrink from deaths and emigration Immigration is the influx of new individuals from other areas Emigration is the movement of individuals out of a population Demography is the study of the vital statistics of populations and how they change over time Of particularly interest to demographers are birth rates and how they vary among individuals and death rates Life tables are age-specific summaries of the survival pattern of a population the best way to construct one is to follow the fate of a cohort, a group of individuals of the same age, from birth until all are dead A survivorship curve is a plot of the proportion or numbers in a cohort still alive at each age Idealized survivorship curves: Type I curve is flat at the start, reflecting low death rates during early and middle life, then drops steeply as death rates increase among older age groups Type II curves are intermediate, with a constant death rate over the organisms life span Type III curve drops sharply at the start, reflecting very high death rates for the young, but the flattens out as death rates decline for those individuals that have survived to a critical age Reproductive tables, or fertility schedules, are age specific summaries of the reproductive rates in a population III. The traits that affect an organisms schedule of reproduction and survival from birth through reproduction to death make up its life history. They are evolutionary outcomes reflected in the development, physiology, and behavior of an organism. Semelparous organisms reproduce a single time and die. When the survival rate of offspring is low, as in highly variable or unpredictable environments, this is favored Iteroparous organisms produce offspring repeatedly. When environments are dependable and where competition for resources may be intense, this is favored. Life history traits such as brood size, age at maturity, and parental caregiving represent trade-offs between conflicting demands for limited time, energy, and nutrients. IV. The exponential model describes population growth in an idealized, unlimited environment. The per capita birth rate (b) is the number of offspring produced per unit time by an average member of the population The per capita death rate (m) is the number of individuals of a population that die per unit time The per capita rate of increase (r), or a populations growth rate, equals birth rate minus death rate. R = b m Growth occurs when r>0 and decline occurs when r