Population Growth and Its Effect on Global Warming Research Paper

Population Growth and Its Effect on Global Warming - Research Paper Example , this brief essay will attempt to briefly analyze this monolithic problem in terms of the exponential growth in human population that has been evidenced over the past 200 years. Furthermore, a determination will be sought to be made with regards to the question of whether human action or natural causes best explain the climate fluctuations that planet earth has recently been chronicling. Lastly, as a function of the previous points of discussion and analysis, the author will attempt to proscribe a reasonable and performable set of steps and solutions which both the scientific community and the world at large could and should seek to employ as a function of ameliorating the stress on planet earth and the issues at hand. Furthermore, as a means of bringing such an understanding about, the analysis will also rely upon relevant scientific publications on the topic as well as verifiable statistics and charts concerning overall levels of climate change and corresponding increases in CO2 e missions by humans over the past several decades. However, noting the global climate change is an issue is not, in and of itself sufficient. As such, the analysis will also consider the rapidly increasing demand that fossil fuels have been projected to assume over the next several decades and posit a potential alternative to further environmental degredation at the hands of seemingly ever expanding human populations. Firstly, there is the point of view that strongly believes that the swings in climate change are the direct result of the presence of high amounts of human CO2 in the atmosphere that is causing a greenhouse effect on the planet and thereby causing world temperatures to rise. Prima fascia of this argument is the belief that human CO2 emissions are responsible for the changes to the global climate. It follows therefore that those which ascribe to this point of view are the most vehement that drastic and immediate changes to the manner in which human beings interact

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Assignment Example It also makes them aware of the expectations and challenges that they are likely to meet in a particular job environment and guide them how to tackle the difficult situations on their own. All this has made this field essential for the students and organizations. In this study, the researcher has observed that a positive application of career counseling is in the rehabilitation of the ex-felons. Ex-felons or ex-criminals are the people who are responsible for some murder, theft, fraud or such crimes in the past, and having completed their sentenced period they want to move in the right lawful directions. However, it is noted that, these ex-offenders face problems in re-entering the society, in finding jobs and even in getting settled somewhere easily. The society does not accept them, the employers do not trust them and people do not want to see them around (Patton, & McMahon, 2006). As a result they not only face psychological complications due to frustration and depression, but the y are also forced to cope with the financial problems by themselves. To help such people, halfway houses are established that not only provide them with monitored shelter and support, but also therapy and guidance, including career counseling. These residences act as 24 hours treatment lodgings that keep a complete record about the deeds of each individual, and keep an eye on each of them for further development. The researcher believes that the role of a career counselor in a halfway house is really challenging. He not only has to guide the persons for the right choice of the career, but he will have to assist them in achieving trust of their employers and in maintaining righteous behavior. Therefore the researcher is going to plan a counseling course for the ex-felons at a halfway house. OBJECTIVES The objective of this project is to map out such a course to career counsel the ex-felons at halfway houses that: 1. Is practical and applicable 2. Can ensure that the ex-law-breakers f eel obliged to continue on their righteous path after the sentence and get settled for a normal life 3. Provides the individuals in question with sense of security and satisfaction in their working environments For this purpose the researcher has selected a halfway house that is accommodating 23 ex-cons (all males) whose crimes range from illegal merchandise and fraudulent to murder in anger. LITERATURE REVIEW Career counseling revolves around three basic variables: Work, Worker and Working Environment (Chappell, Di, & Labour, 2000). The disturbance in any of these may cause imbalance in the whole work plan. Therefore the researcher has based his project around these three essential variables. The individual or worker is quite important as he proves to be an important factor in the failure of a particular working deal. According to Frank Parsons’ tripartite model (2008), the worker should know and understand his own self (his aptitude and potential), job requirement, and then he should select a particular career logically. Therefore, the researcher has made it his first priority to counsel the persons about their wants in accordance to their needs. These needs do not include only the basic needs of food, shelter and security, rather he has suggested his personal inclination too, so that to make work an attractive and interesting to do. The interaction between the worker and his working environment also triggers specific behaviors that lead to progress or destruction.

Techniques For Invitro Pharmacology Lab Report Biology Essay

Techniques For Invitro Pharmacology Lab Report Biology Essay Schild plot: Schild plot is defined as pharmacological method of receptor classification. By using schild plot dose-effect curve for an agonist is determined in the presence of various concentrations of a competitive antagonist for its receptor in the presence of agonist i.e. equilibrium dissociation constant is calculated. The experiment is carried out for series of dose ratios for a given effect. For example the ratio of the dose of agonist (A) to produce a specific effect (e.g.,  half maximal effect) in the presence of the antagonist (B) to the dose required in the absence of the antagonist (A) is calculated. This is determined for several doses of antagonist and then log ((A/A) -1) versus the negative log B is plotted.   If the regression of log ((A/A) -1) on -log B is linear with a slope of -1, then this indicates that the antagonism is competitive and by definition the agonist and antagonist act at the same recognition sites. If the slope of the regression is not -1, then b y definition the antagonist is not competitive or some other condition is in effect. This might include multiple binding sites or pharmacokinetic interactions. Agonist: Agonist is a drug which has both affinity and efficacy. Antagonist: Antagonist is a drug which has affinity and zero efficacy. Affinity:  Affinity is a property of a drug; it measures how tight a drug binds to a receptor. To bind to a receptor a functional group of the drug should bind to the complementary receptor. The binding capacity of the drug defines the action of the drug. Efficacy: Efficacy of a drug can be defined as ability of drug which activates the receptor to produce desired effect after binding. Affinity and efficacy are explained in the equation as: K+1 ÃŽ ± A + R AR* Response K-1 ÃŽ ² K+1 B + R BR No Response K-1 Where A is agonist, B is antagonist, K+1 is association rate constant for binding, K-1is dissociation rate constant for binding ÃŽ ±- Association rate constant for activation ÃŽ ²- Dissociation rate constant for activation By using law of mass action affinity is explained as B + R BR Drug free receptor drug-receptor complex At equilibrium KB = [R] [B] KB = Equilibrium dissociation constant [BR] Hill-Langmuir equation: this equation explains drug occupancy [RT] = [R] + [BR] If [RT] = Total number of receptors then by substituting this in law of mass action equation [RB] = [B] [RT] KB + [B] By this equation it is determined that drug occupancy (affinity) depends on drug concentration and equilibrium dissociation constant. Equilibrium dissosciation constant: EQUILIBRIUM DISSOCIATION CONSTANT (Kd) : It is the characteristic property of the drug and the receptors. It is defined as the concentration of the drug required to occupy 50 % of the receptors. The higher the affinity of the drug for the receptors lower is the Kd value. Mathematically Kd is k2/k1 where k2 is the rate of dissociation of the drug from the receptor and k1 is the rate of association of the drug for the receptor. Receptor (R) and Drug (D) interact in a reversible manner to form a drug-receptor (RD) complex.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Where R =   Receptor   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  D =   Drug (L for ligand is sometimes used in these equations)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  k1 = the association rate constant and has the units of M-1min-1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  k2 = the dissociation rate constant and has the units of min-1.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  k2 is sometimes written as k-1. If an agonist binds to the receptor, then the interaction of the agonist (D) and the receptor (R) results in a conformational change in the receptor leading to a response. If an antagonist binds to the receptor, then the interaction of antagonist (D) and receptor (R) does not result in the appropriate conformation change in the receptor and a response does not occur. For drugs that follow the law of simple mass action the rate of formation of the complex can be defined by the following equation d[RD]/dt refers to the change in the concentration of [RD] with time (t). Note: the square brackets refer to concentration. This equation indicates that the rate at which the drug receptor complex (RD) is formed is proportional to the concentration of both free receptor (R) and free drug (D). The proportionality constant is k1. The rate of dissociation can be defined by the following equation -d[RD]/dt is the decrease in drug-receptor complex with time This equation indicates that the rate at which the drug-receptor complex (RD) dissociates back to free drug and free receptor is proportional to the concentration of the drug receptor complex. The proportionality constant is k2. When the drug and the receptor are initially mixed together, the amount of drug-receptor complex formed will exceed the dissociation of the drug-receptor complex. If the reaction is allowed to go for a long enough, the amount of drug-receptor complex formed per unit time will be equal to the number of dissociations of drug-receptor complex per unit of time, and the system will be at equilibrium. That is equilibrium has occurred.    Equilibrium can be defined as or k1[R][D] = k2[RD] This equation can be rearranged to give By definition Kd is the dissociation equilibrium constant. Kd has units of concentration as shown in the following equation. Simple competitive antagonism: simple competitive antagonism is the most important type of the antagonism. In this type of antagonism the antagonist will compete with available agonist for same receptor site. Sufficient antagonist will displace agonist resulting in lower frequency of receptor activation. Presence of antagonist shifts agonist log dose response curve to right. A schild plot for a competitive antagonist will have a slope equal to 1 and the X-intercept and Y-intercept will each equal the  dissociation constant  of the antagonist. This can be explained in equation as: Occupancy for agonist [RA] = [A] OR [A]/ KA [RT] KA+ [A] [A]/ KA +1 In presence of competitive antagonist (B) [RA] = [A]/ KA [RT] [A]/ KA + [B]/ KB + 1 Occupancy reduced according to [B] and KB To obtain same occupancy, must increase [A] to [A`] r = [A] / [A] = [B] / [B] Schild equation: r = [B] / KB +1 Where r depends on [B] and KB Applying log on both sides log (r-1) = log[B] log KB Aim: The main aim of the experiment is to measure the equilibrium dissociation constant (KB) for atropine at acetylcholine muscuranic receptors and to determine the drug receptor interactions. Objectives The main objectives of the experiment are as follows To measure the equilibrium dissociation constant for atropine at acetylcholine muscuranic receptors To demonstrate the reversible competitive antagonism of atropine at acetylcholine muscuranic receptors To determine the equilibrium dissociation constant (KB) for atropine at acetylcholine muscuranic receptors by using schild plot. Method Isolation and mounting of Guinea-pig ileum in organ bath Guinea-pig was first sacrificed and then the ileum was collected and transferred into physiological salt solution maintained at 370C. The food particles present in the ileum was expelled out through running Krebs solution through the lumen. Then tissue was tied with a thread at both the ends where one was tied to the mounting hook and the other was attached to the transducer. Preparation of serial dilutions of drug The drugs used in the experiment were acetylcholine (Ach) and atropine. To determine the simple competitive antagonism of atropine at Ach muscuranic receptors serial dilutions of Ach were carried out. Ach was given as 110-2M and from the above concentration of the drug the following concentrations were prepared to the organ bath concentration such as 110-6M, 310-6M, 110-7M, 310-7M, 110-8M, 310-8M, 110-9M and 310-9M Ach. Then atropine was diluted to 110-8M (organ bath) from the given 110-2M concentration. Determination of Organ bath concentration The volume of physiological salt solution (pss) was 20 ml, and each time the volume of drug introduced into organ bath was 20 µl.Therefore if 20 µl of 110-2M drug was introduced into the organ bath then it gives 110-5M organ bath concentration. Mathematical calculation of organ bath concentration: In organ bath we have 20ml of pss which is equal to 20103  µl of pss, if 20  µl of 110-2 M Ach was introduced then the organ bath concentration 20 µl→XM 20ml→10-2M = 20  µl x 10-2 M 20x 103  µl = 110-5M (organ bath concentration). The isolated guinea- pig ileum was mounted onto the organ bath and set up for recording isometric tension of the tissue using chart software in a Mac book. Step-1 Calibration of the experimental apparatus: The chart 5 software was calibrated and the sampling rate was adjusted to 10 samples per second with a maximum input voltage to 10 mV. The baseline was set to zero and then trace was started from the baseline zero then the force transducer was calibrated by placing 1 gram weight and after the calibration the trace produced was stopped for the moment to convert the units of tension into grams by selecting the trace produced previously. Step-2 Sensitisation of preparation: To check the viability of the tissue a response of suitable height was obtained by adding a little high concentration of the drug. Here in the experiment an appreciable recording was noted at 110-7M Ach. Step-3 The time cycle followed to construct a concentration- response curve was 0 seconds to add the drug concentrations 30 seconds to empty the organ bath and refill with fresh physiological salt solution 180 seconds next drug concentration was added to the organ bath. Concentration Response Curve: By making use of the above drug concentrations a concentration response curve was constructed according to the provided time cycle. 20  µl of 110-9M Ach was added into the organ bath at zero seconds at is allowed to stand for 30 seconds, then after 30 seconds the organ bath was emptied and refilled with pss. Pss was allowed to stand for 180 seconds. During the wash period if the peak does not return to the base then it was washed twice or thrice to make sure that all the drug dissociates from the receptors before the next addition of the other drug concentration. Each concentration was repeated twice or thrice until the two consecutive responses were reported with the same peak height. By following the procedure and time cycle, the concentration response curve was constructed with different concentrations of acetyl choline such as 110-9M,310-9M, 110-8M, 310-8M, 110-7M, 310-7M, 110-6M and 310-6M Ach (organ bath concentration). Step-4 Equilibration of Acetylcholine receptors with acetylcholine After step-2 the preparation was washed several times until the peak returned to the base line. Then atropine (110-8M organ bath concentration) was added to the preparation and then set aside for 40 minutes to allow atropine to equilibrate with acetylcholine muscuranic receptors. Step-5 Concentration response curve in the presence of atropine The concentration response curve with acetylcholine was repeated again in the presence of atropine by following the time cycle and procedure, which was same as same step 2.Therefore in step 3 with each addition of acetylcholine concentration atropine was added simultaneously. Step-6 Analysis: The graph pad prism in the Mac book was used to plot concentration response curves in the absence and presence of atropine. Log concentration (acetylcholine) Vs response in grams From the above plot EC 50 values of acetylcholine in the presence and absence of atropine were obtained. Then the distance between the two curves control and response for the atropine presence was denoted by r, where r was called as shift. The shift was calculated mathematically as r= EC 50 of response in the presence of atropine EC 50 of Ach in the absence of atropine From the value of the shift, schild plot was plotted as log concentration of atropine presence against log(r-1). From the schild plot the dissociation constant KB for atropine at acetylcholine muscuranic receptors was determined. Results: As explained above in the procedure serial dilutions of acetylcholine was added to the organ bath, where Ach has produced concentration dependent contractions of the guinea pig ileum as shown in the fig 1. Figure: 1 Trace showing contractions produced by serial dilutions of acetylcholine at muscuranic receptors. As shown in Figure 1 the serial dilutions of acetylcholine are added into the organ bath from 110-7M to 310-6M Ach. Here in the trace it was clearly shown that contractions produced by the acetylcholine have been increased with respect to the concentrations. In step-2 the preparation was washed and added with 110-8M atropine and set aside for 40 minutes to equilibrate the acetylcholine receptors. Figure: 2 Trace showing contractions produced by serial dilutions of acetylcholine at muscuranic receptors in the presence of atropine. In the trace it is clearly shown that, the contractions produced by serial dilutions of Ach from 110-8M to 310-4M in the presence of 110-8M atropine. When Trace 1 and Trace 2 are compared it is evident that the contractions produced by Ach alone (trace 1) were greater than the contractions produced Ach in the presence of atropine (trace 2) which proves the simple competitive antagonism by atropine at muscuranic receptors. A graph is plotted to the log concentration response curve produced by Ach alone against Ach in the presence of atropine. (graph is attatched to the report) From the graph it is known that with the increase in the concentration of Ach, response have been increased when compared to Ach in the presence of atropine and also there is a shift towards right which shows the simple competitive antagonism produced by atropine. From the results produced by Ach alone against Ach in the presence of atropine the fractional difference which is called as shift can be obtained as follows Mathematical Calculation shift r = EC50 of response after atropine (or) in the presence of atropine EC50 of control (or) Ach in the absence of atropine = 2.5110-6 = 8.36 3.0 x10-7 r-1 =8.36 -1=7.36 log(r-1)=log (7.36) =0.86 Partial dissociation constant (PKB) or PA2 is measured to confirm the simple competitive antagonism, where pKB values play an important role in classifying receptors. Therefore PKB =log(r-1) -log [atropine] =0.86 -log (110-8) =0.86 (-8) =0.86+ 8 =8.86 From the above results log EC50 values for control (Ach alone) and Ach in the presence of atropine were given as 3.0e-007 and 2.51e-006 respectively. This shows the molar concentration of Ach which produces 50% of the maximal possible response is higher than the molar concentration response produced by Ach in the presence of atropine. Figure 5: (Graph2) Schild plot If the antagonist is competitive, the dose ratio equals one plus the ratio of the concentration of antagonist divided by its Kd for the receptor. (The dissociation constant of the antagonist is sometimes called Kb and sometimes called Kd) A simple rearrangement gives: Here we have plotted a graph with log (antagonist) on the X-axis and log (dose ratio -1) on the Y-axis. If the antagonist has shown simple competitive antagonism then the slope should be 1.0, X-intercept and Y-intercept values should be both equal the Kd of the antagonist obtained. If the agonist and antagonist are competitive, the Schild plot will have a slope of 1.0 and the X intercept will equal the logarithm of the Kd of the antagonist. If the X-axis of a Schild plot is plotted as log(molar), then minus one times the intercept is called the pA2 (p for logarithm, like pH; A for antagonist; 2 for the dose ratio when the concentration of antagonist equals the pA2). The pA2 (derived from functional experiments) will equal the Kd from binding experiments if antagonist and agonist compete for binding to a single class of receptor sites. Figure 6: (table 2) Results for Schild Plot. From Figure 5 and 6 it is evident that no concentrations of atropine have showed competitive antagonism perfectly. Therefore from the above results it is known that the concentrations of atropine has not shown simple competitive antagonism fairly. Discussion: Reversible competitive antagonism: The binding of drug to a receptor is fully reversible which produces a parallel shift of the dose response curve to the right in the presence of an antagonist. The mechanism of action of acetylcholine at muscuranic receptors: In various gastrointestinal smooth muscles, acetylcholine and its derivatives produce contractions by activating muscuranic receptors. It is generally assumed that the M3 muscuranic receptor plays a key role in mediating this activity. The M3 receptor is coupled preferentially to Gq-type G proteins, resulting in the activation of phospholipase C (PLC) and the formation of ionositiol trisphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG) which are likely to participate in muscuranic receptor-mediated smooth muscle contractions. IP3 causes Ca2+ release from intracellular store and can also mobilize Ca2+ secondarily through Ca2+-sensitive or store-dependent mechanisms. DAG, via activation of protein kinase C, phosphorylates various proteins and can directly activate non selective cationic channels. Figure 7: Diagrammatic representation of calcium and smooth muscle contraction. From the above results the value of shift obtained was 0.378 which denotes the simple competitive antagonism produced by the concentration of atropine used (110-8 M).From the value of shift the pKB value was calculated as 8.4.If atropine has shown simple competitive antagonism then the value of pKB should be equal to 1-X intercept. Therefore pKB=1-X intercept =1-(-8.86) =9.86 We got value of pKB as 8.86.Therefore pKB is not equal to 1-X intercept. Therefore the concentration of atropine (110-8M organ bath concentration) used by our group has not shown simple competitive antagonism effectively. The literature value of pKB is given as approximately 9 and we have obtained the value of pKB as 8.86 which does not fit with literature value. Therefore from the above observations and results i can conclude that a little more high concentration of atropine may serve to produce complete simple competitive antagonism by atropine at acetylcholine muscuranic receptors.

Defense Mechanisms :: Free Essays Online

Defense Mechanisms People use defense mechanisms so often that it is perhaps difficult to pick out individual cases to deal with. Additionally, it would be markedly easier for me to look for evidence of these mechanisms within myself. However, others do display such defenses against anxiety-inducing thoughts, memories, and impulses. In the healthy range of defense mechanisms, repression is key. Simply not thinking about something for a long period of time is often quite helpful. This particular mechanism can at times be rather obvious, as when, in a discussion, a person states that he or she would 'rather not talk about this.' Of course, repression is not always this aware, but in this case it is made manifest by a conscious effort to avoid the topic. Of the neurotic defense mechanisms, humor is perhaps most seen on this campus. Self-deprecating humor helps soften the glare of our shortcomings, especially when they surface in public. Sometimes, jokes are made specific to the situation (I tripped; I'm such a clutz!) but they are often generalized. These jokes are also often not very funny, on the order of "I'm a dumbass...hahaha!" Of the psychotic coping mechanisms, denial is much more obvious than reaction formation. I can think of one specific case, a friend who set his sights too high in sending out transfer applications. As rejections have come in, my notion that he was a non-starter for most of his choices because of grades was proven correct, but this is not something that he can seem to come to terms with. He claims not to understand why myself and several other friends, with near-4.0 GPAs have gotten into several prestigious schools, while he has not. Seems like denial: an inability to face his failings. Reaction formation also interests me a lot, because it is rather counter-intuitive as a defense mechanism. I can't really identify it in others very well, but I can see it in myself. In the case of a couple of failed friendships, in which I felt hurt by the actions of the other person, I compensate for my desire to get closer to them again (which produces anxiety because I am afraid of a repeat) by being very bitter towards them and going out of my way to avoid them.

James K. Baxter

James K Baxter expresses his thoughts and judgements using natural settings of his pasts. In Baxter’s poems, Rocket Show and Wild Bees, he comments about his boyhood, nature and how it taught him in life. In the poem wild bees, Baxter talks about a situation when he and his friends go out to smoke a beehive one evening to get the honey from it. The very simple language makes it easy for the reader to understand Baxter’s thoughts and judgements. The illusion of a ‘safe Ophelia ‘shows us knowledge of the great Shakespearean tragedy. Where Ophelia, Hamlets girlfriend, went mad before drowning in a lake. Then he describes the bees as they are working in ‘passionless industry’. The language features such as similes and metaphors put him on the same level as the reader so that it becomes easier for him to understand his thoughts and feelings. Similes like wild bees as â€Å"(swift as tigers)† embodies the way bees are known as being fast and dart about. Also included in this description is a comparison to tigers which gives the reader a feeling that the bees are fierce and hazardous. Powerful and meaningful metaphors such as ‘their sentries saw us’ and the ‘wounded sky’ also captures our imagination. The wounded sky creates the impression of the red sky and that he is waiting for dark, so they can smoke the bees out. After smoking the bees out of the hive, he realizes that it was a terrible thing to do and he believes that tragedies can exist on a small scale as well. But he lifts the scale high up when he talks about the destruction of Carthage by Rome and Troy by Greece. The poem Rocket Show is about a fireworks display held on an Otago beach. In many of Baxter’s poems he describes his inner feelings using natural settings around him. The simile ‘love grows like a crocus bulb in winter’ explains that love is very tender in its early stages and is very vulnerable to damage and therefore needs to be looked after and nurtured. The poem compares a rocket and a love relationship, the words expressed in the poem implying that just as a rocket dies out after its flight, a love relationship ends its cycle, and when one cycle ends another one begins and so the cycle continues. Baxter talks how the crowd has trampled the grass under their feet and there is no space to move around. Two examples of alliteration-‘Fireworks Flare†¦ ’strident surf’- fully describe the ambience of the beach. The simile ‘like self-destroying flowers on slender stems’ is taken from nature again along with the ‘ardent showers’. Then Baxter talks about the Rosetta stone being blind whereas it was the key to understanding a lost civilisation. The last simile ‘mad as the polar moon’ sums up the fact that the human heart is unpredictable just like the polar moon and cannot be understood, as it is illogical. Overall this essay has explained the meaning of the poems Wild Bees and Rocket show it has also given allusions to some of the many language techniques such as metaphors, similes and alliteration that Baxter has used in his surroundings around him in his poems which have enabled him to recount experiences of his youth and past.

Adventure Tourism Essay

Introduction Adventure tourism is an outdoor leisure activity that generally takes place in an unusual, exotic, remote or wilderness setting, sometimes involving some form of unconventional means of transportation and tending to be associated with low or high levels of physical activity. As the name suggests it entails an element of risk and can range from ‘getting wet’ to ‘getting high’ to ‘getting faster’. An Adventure Tourism business provider can arrange a single adventure or a combination of adventure pursuits for paying tourists. When considering an Adventure Business it is probably more cost effective to concentrate on the aspects that you are good at and have a specialised interest in. Unlike other tourism businesses an Adventure Tourism enterprise will rely heavily on the specialist interest, experience and skills. Therefore, the specialist understanding required for adventure activities, is a critical area of experience for a would-be adventure tourism entrepreneur. Requirements 1. Protection: Some adventure activities (for example quad bike racing) are, by their nature, dangerous and can cause injury, and even loss of life, to persons and damage to property. Any enterprise providing access to such activities must protect themselves against claims for loss or damage caused to persons who partake in the activities provided by the enterprise. While insurance costs may be high, return on investment may still be attractive. Health and safety requirements must be adhered to. 2. Training: The first line of protection is to ensure that owners and staff are properly trained and equipped to provide supervision and guidance to participants in the activities, ensuring that equipment is in excellent condition at all times. Ensure that all participants are properly trained in the use of equipment and in the rules of the activity that they plan to engage in. The rules should be designed to make the activity as safe as possible. 3. Legal Requirements: Before launching any adventure activity, find out what specific legal requirements pertaining to the sport or activity being pursued, must be complied with. This can be obtained from the relevant sport or activity coordinating body also check with your solicitor. 4. Insurance: Consult a reputable insurer or broker on the exposure to risk and, in particular, ensure that adequate public liability is in place. Before hosting groups of visitors or planning a public event, check with an insurance agent about adequacy of liability coverage. Be guided by the insurer in how to structure ones business and ensure to minimize exposure to risk to the maximum extent. 5. Land use zoning: Become familiar with all laws applicable to locating an office; licensing and registration; road transportation permits; public driving permits; regulations and by-laws. Consult with the local council and also a solicitor. 6. Grants: There are several different avenues that may help with funding. LEADER gives capital grants for the development of tourism activities and facilities. They also give marketing grants, which can help promote an adventure tourist venture. Contact your local LEADER company for more information. Planning and Marketing your Adventure Tourism Enterprise In depth market research should be carried out and a detailed business plan prepared before proceeding with such a venture. Your Local Regional Tourist Authority and Failte Ireland are only too willing to help you make the connection with the market place. Effective marketing is a key element in any business enterprise and is an ongoing process. Marketing can be as simple as word-of-mouth referral, or involve an intensive media campaign. Your marketing style and message must be directed to your identified audience. If providing quad bike racing activities for example, you could emphasise the experience of all weather crosscountry driving fun. Network with other tourism and adventure providers such as clay pigeon shooting, rifle target shooting and archery to provide interesting packages for the tourist. Useful web-sites for more information www.sac.ac.uk www.headwater.com www.itsadventuresouthwest.co.uk www.failte-ireland.ie

Whelps are Puppies

Whelps are Puppies Whelps are Puppies Whelps are Puppies By Maeve Maddox A lot of people use the word whelp informally in the sense of a raised place on the skin. On the left side [of my face] †¦ I had over 20 whelps (not bumps), and they were red and hot. Recently my 12 year old daughter has been breaking out in large whelps. I have red whelps on my arm my side and down my legs Both the OED and Merriam-Webster acknowledge the dialect use of whelp to mean welt, but seeing the nonstandard use in a formal context is jarring, as in this example from a news item written by a reporter for a state daily: [the husband] grabbed a broom and hit her on the back, leaving a large red whelp†¦ whelp: 1. The young of the dog. Now little used, superseded by puppy. welt: a raised area, ridge, or seam on the body surface (as from scarring or a blow) The word welt originated as a shoemaking term for a rolled over strip of leather. The meaning ridge on the skin from a wound is first recorded 1800. Whelp can also be used as a verb, either transitively or intransitively: Red Girl whelped a litter of seven puppies. Three of the fox hounds whelped on the same day. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Fly, Flew, (has) FlownFlied?Cannot or Can Not?Preposition Mistakes #3: Two Idioms

Manco Incas Rebellion (1536-1544)

Manco Incas Rebellion (1536-1544) Manco Inca’s Rebellion (1535-1544): Manco Inca (1516-1544) was one of the last native lords of the Inca Empire. Installed by the Spanish as a puppet leader, Manco grew increasingly angry at his masters, who treated him with disrespect and who were plundering his empire and enslaving his people. In 1536 he escaped from the Spanish and spent the next nine years on the run, organizing a guerrilla resistance against the hated Spanish until his assassination in 1544. Ascent of Manco Inca: In 1532, the Inca Empire was picking up the pieces after a long civil war between brothers Atahualpa and Huscar. Just as Atahualpa had defeated Huscar, a far greater threat approached: 160 Spanish conquistadors under Francisco Pizarro. Pizarro and his men captured Atahualpa at Cajamarca and held him for ransom. Atahualpa paid, but the Spanish killed him anyway in 1533. The Spaniards installed a puppet Emperor, Tupac Huallpa, upon Atahualpas death, but he died shortly thereafter of smallpox. The Spanish selected Manco, a brother of Atahualpa and Huscar, to be the next Inca: he was only about 19 years old. A supporter of the defeated Huscar, Manco was lucky to have survived the civil war and was thrilled to be offered the position of Emperor. Abuses of Manco: Manco soon found that serving as puppet emperor did not suit him. The Spaniards who controlled him were coarse, greedy men who did not respect Manco or any other native. Although nominally in charge of his people, he had little real power and mostly performed traditional ceremonial and religious duties. In private, the Spanish tortured him to make him reveal the location of more gold and silver (the invaders had already carted off a fortune in precious metals but wanted more). His worst tormentors were Juan and Gonzalo Pizarro: Gonzalo even forcibly stole Mancos noble Inca wife. Manco tried to escape in October of 1535, but was recaptured and jailed. Escape and Rebellion: In April of 1836 Manco tried to escape again. This time he had a clever plan: he told the Spanish that he had to go officiate at a religious ceremony in the Yucay Valley and that he would bring back a golden statue he knew of: the promise of gold worked like a charm, as he had known it would. Manco escaped and summoned his generals and called for his people to take up arms. In May, Manco led a massive army of 100,000 native warriors in a siege of Cuzco. The Spanish there only survived by capturing and occupying the nearby fortress of Sachsaywaman. The situation turned into a stalemate until a force of Spanish conquistadors under Diego de Almagro returned from an expedition to Chile and dispersed Mancos forces. Biding His Time: Manco and his officers retreated to the town of Vitcos in the remote Vilcabamba Valley. There, they fought off en expedition led by Rodrigo Orgoà ±ez. Meanwhile, a civil war had broken out in Peru between the supporters of Francisco Pizarro and those of Diego de Almagro. Manco waited patiently in Vitcos while his enemies made war on one another. The civil wars would eventually claim the lives of both Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro; Manco must have been pleased to see his old foes brought down. Manco’s Second Rebellion: In 1537, Manco decided it was time to strike again. Last time, he had led a massive army in the field and had been defeated: he decided to try new tactics this time. He sent out word to local chieftains to attack and wipe out any isolated Spanish garrisons or expeditions. The strategy worked, to an extent: some Spanish individuals and small groups were killed and travel through Peru became very unsafe. The Spanish responded by sending another expedition after Manco and traveling in larger groups. The natives did not succeed, however, in securing an important military victory or driving the hated Spanish out. The Spanish were furious with Manco: Francisco Pizarro even ordered the execution of Cura Ocllo, Manco’s wife and a captive of the Spanish, in 1539. By 1541 Manco was once again in hiding in the Vilcabamba Valley. Death of Manco Inca: In 1541 the civil wars broke out again as supporters of Diego de Almagros son assassinated Francisco Pizarro in Lima. For a few months, Almagro the Younger ruled in Peru, but he was defeated and executed. Seven of Almagros Spanish supporters, knowing they would be executed for treason if captured, showed up in Vilcabamba asking for sanctuary. Manco granted them entrance: he put them to work training his soldiers in horsemanship and the use of Spanish armor and weapons. These treacherous men murdered Manco sometime in mid-1544. They were hoping to gain a pardon for their support of Almagro, but instead they were quickly tracked down and killed by some of Mancos soldiers. Legacy of Manco’s Rebellions: Mancos first rebellion of 1536 represented the last, best chance the native Andeans had of kicking out the hated Spanish. When Manco failed to capture Cuzco and annihilate the Spanish presence in the highlands, any hope of ever returning to native Inca rule collapsed. Had he captured Cuzco, he could have tried to keep the Spanish to the coastal regions and maybe force them to negotiate. His second rebellion was well thought-out and did enjoy some success, but the guerrilla campaign did not last long enough to do any lasting damage. When he was treacherously murdered, Manco was training his troops and officers in Spanish methods of warfare: this suggests the intriguing possibility that had he survived he many have eventually used the Spanish weapons against them. With his death, however, this training was abandoned and future rogue Inca leaders such as Tà ºpac Amaru did not have Mancos vision. Manco was a good leader of his people. He initially sold out to become ruler, but swiftly saw that he had made a grave mistake. Once he escaped and rebelled, he did not look back and dedicated himself to removing the hated Spanish from his homeland. Source: Hemming, John. The Conquest of the Inca London: Pan Books, 2004 (original 1970).

Food Lesson for an ESL Learner

Food Lesson for an ESL Learner Learning about food is an important part of any ESL or EFL class. This food lesson provides some fresh approaches to help students practice speaking, writing and dealing with everything related to food. Before using this lesson, it is a good idea to have students learn some basic food vocabulary including vocabulary related to different names of food, measurements, and containers, ordering food in restaurants, and preparing food. Once students are comfortable with this vocabulary, you can move on to some more inventive activities such as writing recipes in English and having students describe their favorite meals to each other in class. Use this lesson as a way to review and expand all the various vocabulary and expressions related to food that youve explored with students in your class. The premise of this lesson is that students identify a new type of dish theyd like to prepare, research and write a recipe and make a list of ingredients. Finally, students make a trip to the supermarket - virtually or in the real world - to price items. Youll need access to computers to complete this lesson, or you can do the old fashioned way by actually going to the store with students. It makes a fun, if slightly chaotic, class excursion. Aim Researching a recipe from A to Z Activity Working in teams to identify, research, plan and shop for an exotic meal Level Beginner to intermediate English learners Outline As a class, begin the discussion by describing a delicious meal you have had. Go into as much detail as youd like, students will enjoy this unless its dinner time!Have students get in pairs or small groups of three or four. Each group should share their own experiences with great meals.Once students have shared their experiences, ask them to decide on one of the meals that have been discussed.Each group should then use a computer to find an image that fits one or more of the dishes in the chosen meal. Suggest students google the dish and click on images to find the image. Each group should print out their chosen image.Tape the image of each group to the wall.Ask students to take a piece of paper and circulate around the room to choose a dish that looks tasty. Once theyve chosen the dish, students should write down the ingredients they feel are necessary to make the dish.When students have made their choice and written down the necessary ingredients, group students by who has chosen w hich image. Students should then compare notes on the necessary ingredients. Note that students should be taking down the ingredients for a new dish based on an image that appealed to them from another group. Next, have students find a recipe for their chosen dish by using a cookbook (old school), or by choosing a recipe online.Ask students to compare their list of ingredients to the recipe and make any changes or additions necessary.Once students have created their list, its time to go shopping. As a class, you can visit an online grocer such as Safeway, or you can take the class on a field trip to a local supermarket.Students then go shopping. They take note of the products they need, the price, etc. I like to insist that students include the name of the container to help practice this type of vocabulary.As a class, have each group report back on how many containers, boxes, heads of a certain produce item, etc. were bought and how much they paid including the total.Optional: For truly adventurous classes - Ask students to actually go shopping and purchase, cook, and serve up the dish they have chosen. This would make a great pot-luck lesson for all to enjoy which would be tied into a sp ecific learning objective.

Soil machines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Soil machines - Essay Example The terrain of the ground can be described as flat since there was no any steepness was observed. On the east side of the site, walkway was present while buildings were not within the vicinity of the site as shown on the map. Before the excavation of trial pit the top soil was removed. The next step was to place all the layers of soil according to their extraction order. This was very important as the characteristics of the soil at different depth would be established. Tests such as Moisture Probe test, the Mackintosh test, shear vane test and the permeability test were conducted to establish the properties of various strata. The results of these tests revealed that; This test is aimed at measuring the ability of the soil to sustain structural load. This test is essence for the purpose of putting up a building in the site. The test first measure the un-drained shear strength by planting a shear vane into the ground and measures the level of pressure at the point where the soil shears as shown on table 3. We settled for the mackintosh probe because it is portable due to the fact that it is hand operated in addition it produces vivid and reliable results. The test used a 5Kg hammer to drive a number of connected 120cm-long steel rods into the ground at intervals of 100mm. The depth of the result was as in table 4. Reading from the table, it can be inferred that there is a distinct intensification in the quantity of blows between 400 and 500mm. The result affirm that the soil gets denser as the ones penetrates to the ground. Permeability (k) is the ease with which water passes through the soil. It is measured in ms-1.cylinders of 100mm in diameter and 150mm in height are planted into the ground and filled with water. Measurements are then taken every minute of the water level as it decreases with time (flow rate). On the matters of reliability the test is questionable as there might be some

Organizational Change Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organizational Change Theory - Research Paper Example In this paper, we will explore some key issues related to the theory of organizational change. Importance of Organizational Change Theory By understanding organizational change theory, managers can explore various external and internal forces of change. Two main external factors of change include competitive environment and technological development. Competitive environment is such a factor that forces an organization to ensure development of high quality products to increase customer base, as well as to improve customer satisfaction. Technological development, on the other hand, refers to the use of latest technology to remain competitive in the market. If we talk about the importance of organizational change theory with respect to internal forces of change, we can say that this theory helps managers understand changes in the working atmosphere, changes in employment rules and regulations, and required changes in employee retention strategies. As Rasing (2010) states, â€Å"the key to organizational change and development lies in the understanding of people's requirements and work towards it† (p. 1). ... 49). From employers’ perspective, the readiness to adapt to ongoing internal and external changes is the biggest thing that organizational change theory demands from employers. Moreover, managers also need to show willingness for organizational changes, as well as for developing strategies for implementing those changes. A higher level of organizational readiness for changes results in more effective implementation of required changes. The reason is that when the level of readiness is high, employers take quick actions to initiate the process of change, as well as display a highly cooperative behavior with all members of the organization. Organizational members need to be committed to towards implementing essential changes to organizational policies and functions in order to maximize the levels of productivity and efficiency. Employers also need to assess the key determinants of change implementation, which include situational factors, task demands, and availability of require d resources. These three determinants play a vital role in determining whether an organization is ready to implement required changes or not. Based on assessment, employers develop suitable strategies to put required changes into action. Demands of Organizational Change: From Employees’ Perspective If we talk about the requirements of organizational change from employees’ perspective, we can say that willingness to work according to modified policies and eagerness to get trained accordingly are the biggest requirements. Employees always play a critical role in bringing positive organizational changes. As Avey, Wernsing, and Luthans (2008) states, â€Å"one of the

Consumer experience and Luxury Branding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Consumer experience and Luxury Branding - Essay Example   There are various ways in which the consumers experience fashion retail on a global scale. These experiences can either be seen or felt. The first experience is psychological or emotional. Saprikis, Chouliara, and Broekhuizen (2010, p.2) observed that an individual’s purchasing choices are influenced by four major psychological factors, including perception, motivation, learning, beliefs, and attitude. Liu and Forsythe (2010, p.83) illustrate that the intention of the customer to shop is positively linked with the attitude towards purchasing, and affects their decision-making and purchasing behavior. Khitoliya (2014, p.18) argue that perceived usefulness, convenience, and perceived enjoyment are the dominant factors that affect consumer perceptions about a brand. Cao, Xu, and Douma add that enjoyment in intrinsic motivation. When a customer enjoys a product, it impacts positively on the sales of that particular brand. It is equally important to note that when the employees are motivated and satisfied with their job, it translates into a good feeling to the customer since they are able to interact well with the staff and get quality products that make them be satisfied. Schmitt claims that products and services that emerge from the brand’s real soul connect psychologically to the consumers. As a result, it generates emotionally positive experience from the customers. Zara uses emotional client experience of increased self-confidence, self-esteem, and happiness to meet the customer preferences.

Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi - Essay Example Anne’s life was devoid of the full-time love of her parents as they left for plantation work, early in the morning and returned late in the evening. They remained anxious about the safety and welfare of their children. In the absence of parental care and love, the children lived on day to day basis, worrying what calamity awaited them each day, as their caretaker was a rude individual. He often inflicted physical injuries on Anne particularly. Her father did love Anne but distress due to hard economic circumstances made him lose the temper and he punished her without rhyme or reason. She did not receive love to which a child was entitled to and craved for. The rounds of punishment by the caretaker bordered cruelty, and he indulged in it just for the heck of it. About the consequences of one such punishment Anne wrote, (2004, p.10) â€Å"I tried to sit down once. It was impossible. It was hurting so bad even standing was painful. An hour or so later, it was so knotty and swoll en I looked as if I had been stung by a hive of bees.† Race relations: Anne’s writings graphically revealed the history of African-Americans of the 1950s and 60s and details about the harsh realities of the black children growing up. Going by the provisions of the Constitution, all the citizens were equal. But the whites were unwilling to change. The habitation of the plantation laborers was of sub-human standard, whereas the plantation owner lived in a palatial building. The Christian principles of love thy neighbor did not work. The differences in the living standards of the plantation owners and plantation laborers were described by Anne poignantly. She wrote, â€Å"Most evenings, after Negroes had come from the fields, washed and eaten, they would sit on their porches, to look up toward Mr. Carter’s house and talk. Sometimes as we sat on our porch, Mama told me stories about what was going on in that big house.†(p.5) Next to parental love at home, the place where one could expect the growth of personality of children and get some affection was the school environment. The teachers played a decisive role in influencing the mindset of children. Anne and black children like her, did not carry the luck in that area also. Their teacher was harsh, inclined to give severe punishments that the children preferred to spend the time hiding in the toilets. The teaching style also made the students disinterested in the lessons. Anne described one such incident of her teacher rebuking her, and his tone was like the villain in stunt movies. She wrote about him, â€Å"One day he (teacher) caught me. ‘Moody, gal! If you don’t stop lookin’ out that window, I’ll make you go out in that graveyard and sit on the biggest tombstone out there all the day.’ Nobody laughed because they were all as scared of him as I was.†(p.15)The whites took the earliest opportunity to punish the Negroes. About one such grave incid ent Moody wrote, â€Å"Next thing we heard in the Negro community was that they had caught and nearly beaten to death a boy who, they said, had made the call to the white operator. All the Negroes went around saying, â€Å"Yall know that boy didn’t do that†¦.† ((p.139) Economic and educational options: Her childhood experiences shaped the bent of her mind like that of a trade-unionist. Fighting for her rights and that

Stress in Pushing Tin Film Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stress in Pushing Tin Film - Case Study Example Further, stress can also make reference to a part of life which is ubiquitous in which researchers have intimated that there are different types of stress. Essentially, acute stress is one type of stress, which denotes the one in which an individual is excited, hence becoming an exciting stress where this type of stress keeps a person alert and also active. Chronic stress is the other type of stress whereby it affects the body by causing health problems in which this reaction may result from the body experiencing tension or when it senses danger. Based on this, the process in which the body reacts to these stimuli is known as fight or flight where the hormones react to the surge all through the body. Drawing from this, the Pushing Tin film outlines stress at the workplace clearly as portrayed by the characters in the same (Dewe et. al 1). For one, Nick Falzone together with his colleagues, where their job is to ensure that there is no traffic in the air, become proud and start to brag about the way they are capable of coping with extreme stress found in their job. These workmates go to the extent of comparing themselves with half of the new employees who have quit the job because they lacked the ability to manage the work-related stress. However, it does not take long before Nick and his fellow colleagues are joined by a confident man known as Russell Bell, who challenges them with his ability for coping with the work-related stress despite him applying difficult and dangerous techniques. Therefore, Nick becomes very stressed and even stubs Russell at the back by making false claims to their director, that include Russells being a reckless cannon, by saying that he had seen him daring an aircraft to be propelled violently making Nick even more stressful. Work stress is also experienced by  the members of the Tracon when they are threatened that there would is a bomb scheduled to destroy them together with the facility hence leading to physiological stress.

Comprehensive care plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comprehensive care plan - Term Paper Example The medical examination conducted on the patient revealed significant degenerative changes in both hip joints, which were observed on the X-ray films. The surgeon recommended a total replacement of the right hip coupled with a total replacement of the left hip to follow in a period of 6 to 12 months. This article contains a comprehensive nursing care for a resident who has osteoarthritis and undergoes joint replacement surgery. The RN completed a nursing history and examination of Mr Powell on admission. The medical records indicate that the patient suffers from mild Parkinson’s disease. Mr Powell is currently taking carbidopa/levodopa (Sinemet 25-100) four times a day to control his symptoms. There have been no other reports of chronic medical conditions. The RN reported that the patient been essentially healthy his entire life. Moreover, Mr Powell has no known allergies to medications, has no history of smoking, and consumes small amounts of alcohol. The medical examination conducted by the RN notes that the patient is alert and oriented. Mr Powell’s medical examination reported vital signs at BP 116/64, P 68 regular, R 18, T 97.4Â °F (36.3Â °C) PO. Marginal pulses are strong and equal in the upper extremities and slightly weaker but equivalent in the lower extremities. The patient’s feet are cool to the touch but have an immediate capillary refill. Mr Powell’s shoulders, wr ists and elbows indicated full ROM. On the other hand, the ROM of both hips is significantly restricted. The pain on both sides in prompted by hip flexion beyond 90 degrees. Also, both flexion and extension of the knees are slightly limited. Mr Powell has a shuffling gait and walks with a limp, favouring his right hip. Preoperative laboratory studies and CBC were conducted on the patient. The coagulation studies and urinalysis show a serum creatinine of 1.7 mg/dL and BUN of 30 mg/dL, with no other noted abnormal values. His ECG and chest X-ray indicate

Stress in Pushing Tin Film Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stress in Pushing Tin Film - Case Study Example Further, stress can also make reference to a part of life which is ubiquitous in which researchers have intimated that there are different types of stress. Essentially, acute stress is one type of stress, which denotes the one in which an individual is excited, hence becoming an exciting stress where this type of stress keeps a person alert and also active. Chronic stress is the other type of stress whereby it affects the body by causing health problems in which this reaction may result from the body experiencing tension or when it senses danger. Based on this, the process in which the body reacts to these stimuli is known as fight or flight where the hormones react to the surge all through the body. Drawing from this, the Pushing Tin film outlines stress at the workplace clearly as portrayed by the characters in the same (Dewe et. al 1). For one, Nick Falzone together with his colleagues, where their job is to ensure that there is no traffic in the air, become proud and start to brag about the way they are capable of coping with extreme stress found in their job. These workmates go to the extent of comparing themselves with half of the new employees who have quit the job because they lacked the ability to manage the work-related stress. However, it does not take long before Nick and his fellow colleagues are joined by a confident man known as Russell Bell, who challenges them with his ability for coping with the work-related stress despite him applying difficult and dangerous techniques. Therefore, Nick becomes very stressed and even stubs Russell at the back by making false claims to their director, that include Russells being a reckless cannon, by saying that he had seen him daring an aircraft to be propelled violently making Nick even more stressful. Work stress is also experienced by  the members of the Tracon when they are threatened that there would is a bomb scheduled to destroy them together with the facility hence leading to physiological stress.

Article Critique on “Black Hair” Essay Example for Free

Article Critique on â€Å"Black Hair† Essay This story discussed the life of a sixteen year old man who wanted to become independent in his life but does not know how to start. The protagonist of the story was the narrator. He showed his life in a blurred path where he could not able how to distinguish the facts and fictions of life. It means that he is still incapable of being a productive individual in his society because he himself could not understand how his life works in the general perspective of human nature. Though he knows how things work, he could not manage these things in normal and proper way. Because of this, the protagonist still need to learn from what is true, right, and wrong from everything that is beyond his reach so that there would be greater knowledge and self-esteem that would grow in his identity. Based on my reading in the whole story, I can say that the whole setup of the story tackles the issues and personal identity of the persona. He pitied himself because he did not know what he is doing in his surroundings. He does not know how to look for a right job, right home, and right place to go in his everyday living. This became the conflict of the story. Everything was focused in his ways and perspectives as neophyte in his journey of life. At the end of the story, he remained clueless with those things that he encountered even the coke machine where he could not find one when he is thirsty. The implication of the story is that the author showed the angst of a young man who seeks independence in the world of real life. When we are with our family, we could not feel the pressure of having a life. We always think of the better things that we could manage but through this story, we tend to realize how things work when we are already alone. It shows that life is always a cycle and a chosen ground. When we choose to ignore the things that we encounter during our early days, it would not give us the privilege to know what true life is because we are incapable of living – to understand and to learn things around us. Reference Soto, G. Black Hair pp. 296-302

The Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases

The Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases Infectious diseases have always existed and have had a major impact on human development. It is widely believed that our immune systems and genetic makeup have evolved over many years under the selective pressure of potentially fatal diseases, such as malaria (Haldane 1948; Weatherall 1996). In addition, epidemics of infectious diseases have decimated entire communities, and have sometimes changed the course of history. Examples In Europe in the 14th Century, there were about 25 million deaths from bubonic plague out of a population of approximately 100 million. In 1520 the Aztecs lost about half of their population of 3.5 million from smallpox, introduced by the more immune invading Spaniards. This has been proposed as an important feature in the defeat of the Aztecs by the Spanish invaders. In 1919, after the First World War, the global epidemics of influenza killed an estimated 20 million people during one year more than died as a result of the war. During the 20th century, important advances in the prevention and control of many infectious diseases were achieved with the development of vaccines and antibiotic drugs. This has sometimes created the impression that infectious diseases are no longer a major threat to public health. However, this is far from being the case. The following is a quote from Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Director-General of the World Health Organization: Illness and death from infectious diseases can be, in most cases, avoided at an affordable cost. It is in everyones interest that these obstacles to development be removed. Because of drug resistance, increased travel and the emergence of new diseases, we may only have a limited time in which to make rapid progress. In the following, you will see some of the reasons why infectious diseases are still an important challenge to public health at the beginning of the 21st century. Mortality Infectious diseases are a leading cause of global mortality, causing more than 13 million deaths a year. They are still the main cause of death among children under 5 and the main single cause of premature death in persons under the age of 45. Morbidity Infectious diseases are also a major cause of global morbidity. They are responsible for a huge amount of disability and suffering in the world as measured in DALYs. DALY Disability Adjusted Life Years, a measure of disease burden. It includes years of life lost due to premature death, and years of healthy life lost due disability or illness. Recurring episodes of illness and long-term disability have a major economic impact on the developing countries most affected by infectious diseases. Role in chronic disease Infectious diseases are increasingly being implicated in the pathogenesis of many important diseases that were previously thought to have a non-infectious origin. Cervical cancer is now known to be associated with human papillomavirus infection. Cervical cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and the most common cancer in women in many developing countries. In the past two decades, evidence has grown on the role of Helicobacter pylori infection in gastritis, duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer, gastric cancer and gastric-mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Chronic infection with hepatitis B or C can cause primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC is among the most common cancers in many parts of Africa and Asia. Potential for epidemic spread A specific feature of infectious diseases is their ability to be transmitted between individuals. This can result in the occurrence of large outbreaks. Between 1997-2000 there were more than 600 outbreaks of disease considered by the WHO to be of international importance. Outbreak The term used to describe a localised epidemic, e.g. in a village, town or city. The term large outbreak is increasingly being used instead of epidemic, as it is less emotive. With increasing urbanisation and international travel, the world is becoming a smaller place, and the routes for transmission of infection are increasing. Aeroplane journeys enable individuals to travel within the incubation period of most infectious diseases. This allows infections to spread to distant places within very short periods of time. An example of this is the annual global dispersal of meningococcal meningitis by pilgrims returning from the Haj Muslim religious festival (Saudi Arabia). Newly emerging diseases Over the past three decades, over 30 new infectious diseases and pathogens have been identified for the first time in humans. These include diseases with a very high case-fatality rate, such as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (nvCJD) and Ebola haemorrhagic fever. Some of these new infections are highly prevalent, for example Hepatitis C and rotavirus. Other infections, such as HIV, have rapidly spread around the world. New variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (nvCJD) A new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was described in the United Kingdom in 1996. The agent is considered to be the same as that causing bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a disease that emerged in the 1980s and affected thousands of cattle in the United Kingdom and other, mainly European countries. Ebola The first outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever occurred in 1976 and the discovery of the virus was reported in 1977. Cases reported to WHO up to June 1997 indicated a case-fatality rate of over 70%. A major outbreak in Uganda in 2000 was thought to be associated with spread of the virus by soldiers moving across the country. Hepatitis C This virus was identified in 1989, and is now known to be the most common cause of post-transfusion hepatitis worldwide. So far, up to 3% of the world population are estimated to be infected, among whom 170 million are chronic carriers at risk of developing liver cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. Rotavirus First recognised in 1973, rotavirus is the most common cause of childhood diarrhoea worldwide. 20% of all diarrhoeal deaths and 5% of all deaths in under-5 year olds are due to rotavirus. HIV Although the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was recognised in 1981, the causal virus, HIV, was first isolated in 1983. It is estimated that, since the start of the epidemic, 30.6 million people worldwide have become HIV-infected and nearly 12 million have died from AIDS or AIDS-related diseases. Re-emerging diseases In addition to the emergence of new infectious diseases, many old diseases that had previously been under control are starting to appear in increased numbers or in previously unaffected populations. Resurgence of infectious diseases can occur because of any of the following reasons: changes in social or environmental conditions, failure to maintain immunisation programmes, increased drug resistance Drug resistance is currently an increasing problem for a number of diseases worldwide, and we are often in a race to develop new treatments faster than the pathogens can develop resistance. Example Since the mid-1980s there has been a major resurgence of diphtheria in several countries of Eastern Europe, which had previously been progressing towards elimination of the disease. In 1993, 15,211 diphtheria cases were reported in Russia and 2,987 cases in Ukraine. The main reason for the return of diphtheria in these countries was a decreased immunisation coverage due to an irregular supply of vaccines and large-scale population movements (Galazka et al 1995). Example Mortality and morbidity rates from tuberculosis (TB) in industrialised countries declined during most of the 20th century. However, from the mid-1980s onwards, many of these countries have seen an important increase in the incidence of TB. This is mainly due to a decline in TB control programmes, the increased incidence of multi-drug resistance TB and the effect of the HIV epidemic (Grange 1998). Potential for prevention and control The mechanisms involved in many infectious diseases are well understood, from the molecular aspects of the infectious agent to the demographic characteristics of host populations. This level of understanding has enabled potentially very effective prevention and control measures to be developed for some infectious diseases. With efficient intervention strategies and the advent of national public health agencies, elimination of specific infectious diseases has become feasible. In some cases, there has even been the possibility (or reality) of global eradication. Following the successful WHO programme for the global eradication of smallpox through vaccination, the last naturally acquired case of this disease occurred in October 1977 in Somalia. The countries of the Western Hemisphere have set a target for the elimination of measles by the end of the year 2005. Polio and guineaworm are now also on the verge of eradication, after intensive, globally co-ordinated programmes. Strategies to immunise millions of children on the same day have resulted in few countries now reporting cases due to wild poliovirus. Infectious disease epidemiology In epidemiology, we are interested in describing and explaining the distribution of diseases in populations. The distribution of an infectious disease depends on the transmission of the infectious agent within the host population. This is a dynamic process, which is influenced by characteristics of the specific infectious agent, characteristics of the host population and characteristics of the relationship between the infectious agent and the host.

The Physics Behind Parking :: physics science cars vehicles

Background: After a long day of cruising through town with your buddy, the two of you have grown quite an appetite. You spot a McDonalds at the top of a very steep hill. Unfornately a local biker gang must of had the same idea. Encredibly, the only available parking spot is on the street, uphill of nearly 15 Harleys. There are no other restaurants for 100 miles in all directions. Famished, your friend skillfully manuvers his car to the side of the road. The breaks shudder as the car comes to a stop on the hill. He holds the brake, puts it into first, and shuts off the car. Problem: Biker's don't take kindly to people messing with their bikes. Your friend is about to let off of the brake. Being the physics major you are, you have to decide whether it's safe to park or safer to go hungry. Your friends car is pretty old, and the e-brake hasn't worked for years. The car will be held in place solely by the moter. There are two mean looking bikers smoking outside entrance. They are watching you so there probably wouldn't be time to make a run for it. Known What You Know: Your buddy's car is classic, and I'm sure he would want to make more than an educated guess. I've done a little investigating to help you out a bit. I took a torque wrench to the motor, and resists it resists aproximately 46 ft*lbs of torque at the crankshaft. After the compression bleeds down this number is reduced to 38 ft*lbs. The cars rear differential has a 3.73 to 1 gear ratio and a manual transmission with a 3.35 to 1 ratio in first gear. The tires are 28 inches in diameter and the gross weight of the car is approximately 2100 lbs. The hill is often travelled by truckers, and on the way up you noticed a sign that said the hill was at a 26 degree angle with the horizontal. Summary: When the car is at rest this means it is in a system of static equilibrium. Gravity is pushing forward on the car, and the tires are pushing back on the car via the reaction force of friction in the motor. The steeper the hill, the greater the force of gravity acting on the car, the greater the reaction force in the motor must have. As stated before, the maximum torque that can be applied to the motor before it rotates is 38 ft*lbs.

Create A System That Simply Works! :: essays research papers

interest of reading this pocket book starts from the interesting book name ¡XE-Myth. What is it? Is that only for the people who already owned their business? How can I apply them into my work and improve my working performance in a big multinational company? Is that really relevant to me at my current stage since I am still working for someone else and do not have any business of myself? Those are the actual questions and doubts that I have secretly asked to myself before reading the book. However, having read through it, I found that the E-Myth is no limitation on the entrepreneurs and can perfectly work for me as a guidebook for every success of both my career and personal life. For me, E-Myth is really about lots of inspiring ideas that fundamentally change my way of thinking and working. Those ideas in reality make me to come to realize that the critical distinction of success and failure is, in fact, lying on the secret of working ON my business rather than working IN it. Th ose ideas push me to start to think about the roles that I should play in my company and the issue of balancing role-play among technician, manager and entrepreneur. Those ideas show me how commonplace assumptions can get in the way of successfully running a business and those ideas serves me as a guiding light to the success of every key steps in the life of a business ¡Xfrom infancy, adolescence to maturity. Those ideas also introduce to me the new way of thinking for business development process and demonstrate me how a good foolproof operating system and process can really free myself from my heavy daily workload but still better meet my customers ¡Ã‚ ¦ needs and expectations. Last but definitely not the least, those ideas inspire me to start to use the innovate-quantify-orchestrate approach to study how I can improve my own work by making such changes with the discipline it needs to succeed! Frankly, it is really my first time in my life to realize the existence of the three personalities and the significant difference and importance of the three roles that people played in our business arena. Before reading the book, I only know the three roles by job title and clearly I put myself as good Manager as my current position and seniority in my company suggested. However, now, I know that to be an effective businessman, I need to possess all the three personalities and well balance the three.

Philosophy And Modernity Essay

The conflict between Philosophy and Modernity is a never ending topic. Each of the terms is individually supported by the corresponding generations. But those who support modernity, at least at some point of life will surely support philosophy. That is the power of philosophy. Let us take a mishap as example that shows us how these two issues conflict with each other. The terrorist attacks of September 11 still haunt the minds of Americans unnerved by the enormity of the crime. We need to know what could have inspired someone to do such a thing. It is bad enough to experience such a monstrous event; to feel it is inexplicable, an act with no conceivable motive, only adds to the sense of unreality. What is the source of this hostility? What ideas, values, and attitudes give rise to it? Lewis’s observation contains the seeds of the two leading schools of thought about the answer to this question. Both schools place Islamist hatred of the USA in a larger cultural and historical context. Both are plausible, and in many respects they are compatible. But they differ in what they see as the essential terms of the ongoing conflict, and in their implications for the future. One school holds that the war on terror reflects an underlying conflict between Islam and the West as civilisations. Each is united, as a civilisation, by the loyalty of its people to a narrative of their past, a common religion, and shared ideas, values, and ways of life. The current tensions between Islam and the West are only the latest of the conflicts that have occurred over the centuries. The USA is a particular object of hostility now because it is the most powerful Western country. Those who reject modernity are to be found in every nation and civilization. The second school holds that terrorists’ hostility is directed at ‘the principles and values’ of the West. On this view, what they hate is not the West as a society or a civilisation per se, but rather the culture of modernity. Modernity was born in the West, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but it is not inherently tied to the history or customs of any one society. It is a constellation of universal values – the secular culture of reason, science, individualism, progress, democracy, and capitalism – that have spread worldwide in different forms and to varying degrees. By the same token, those who reject modernity, who fear and wish to destroy it, are to be found in every nation and civilisation. And invariably they hate the USA as the fullest, most persuasive, and thus most dangerous embodiment of that culture. There are as many battles within civilisations as between them. Muslims saw military success as a mark of Allah’s favour. As Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a prominent Iranian philosopher and historian, observes, ‘During the first twelve centuries of its historic existence, Islam lived with the full awareness of the truth and realisation of God’s promise to Muslims that they would be victorious if they followed His religion. Such verses as â€Å"There is no victor but God†, which adorns the walls of the Alhambra, also adorned the soul and mind of Muslims’. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, the tide turned. The scientific and industrial revolutions vastly increased the wealth and the military power of the West. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the Middle East was taken over by European nations and broken up into colonies and protectorates. Today, despite decolonisation, the countries of this region remain poor and backward by comparison not only with the West but also with the booming economies of East Asia. Oil revenue has showered wealth on the region, but economic growth has been held back by layers of regulations, wasteful government enterprises and investments, not to mention corruption. Because of their strategic location, Middle Eastern countries were pawns of the Cold War but were rarely true partners or friends of either power. Now, Muslims feel they are at the mercy of a global economy driven by Western capitalism. They feel invaded by Western popular culture, which they regard as morally decadent. Israel is the salt in all these wounds – a nation of people who came from the West, tore a patch of land from Islam, turned it into a vibrant, wealthy economy, and acquired the military prowess to defeat its Arab neighbours. The result of all this, is ‘a feeling of humiliation – a growing awareness, among the heirs of an old, proud, and long-dominant civilisation, of having been overtaken, overborne, and overwhelmed by those whom they regarded as their inferiors’. Having tried to take on Western ways, with dismal results, they are increasingly drawn to the idea that the solution is a return to the pure Islamic faith that reigned in the days of their former greatness. The clash-of-civilisations school doubtless represents part of the truth of the matter. But it is not the whole truth, and not the fundamental truth. Its chief shortcoming is that it exaggerates the extent of agreement in outlook, values, ideas, and loyalties among people who share the common history and culture that define a civilisation. In fact, there are as many battles over these issues within civilisations as between them – especially in the West. The hijackers’ target was a temple of modernity. At the level of fundamental philosophical principles, however, the Enlightenment period was much more important as a turning point in the West, and in a way created a new civilisation. Anti-modernism Modernity was born in the West in a radical transformation of its past. The world of the Middle Ages, built around the world-view of Christian Scholasticism, was a society of religious philosophy, feudal law, and an agricultural economy. Out of this soil, the Renaissance and Enlightenment produced a substantially new society of science, individualism, and industrial capitalism. When we examine the wider context of Islamic terrorism, it is clear that a hatred of modernity is its driving force. The cultural foundation of this new society, if we state it as a set of explicit theses, was the view that reason, not revelation, is the instrument of knowledge and arbiter of truth; that science, not religion, gives us the truth about nature; that the pursuit of happiness in this life, not suffering in preparation for the next, is the cardinal value; that reason can and should be used to increase human wellbeing through economic and technological progress; that the individual person is an end in himself with the capacity to direct his own life, not a slave or a child to be ruled by others; that individuals have equal rights to freedom of thought, speech, and action; that religious belief should be a private affair, tolerance a social virtue, and church and state kept separate; and that we should replace command economies with markets, warfare with trade, and rule by king or commissar with democracy. It is therefore misleading to call our civilisation Christian, even though that remains the largest religion in terms of adherents. The West may still be a culture of Christians, by and large, but it is not a Christian culture anymore. It is a secular culture. And that is what the Islamists hate most about us. The al-Qaeda hijackers did not target the Vatican, the capital of Western Christianity whose leaders launched the Crusades. They did not attack the British Foreign Office, which directed colonial policy in the Middle East after World War I. They attacked the World Trade Centre, the proud symbol of engineering audacity and global commerce, where businesses from scores of countries (including many Muslim countries) worked in freedom and peace, creating wealth and investing in material progress. Their target, in short, was a temple of modernity. The culture of modernity is not a Western good but a human good Modernity meant people changing their relationship with both the world and themselves. For the first time, through science, they realised that many things, such as certain weather patterns or illnesses, were not a matter of fate. The social order no longer seemed impossible to change either. Revolutions could sweep away despots and people could improve their living standards. The threat posed by the Islamist terrorists derives not from their Islamic background but from the ideas, values, and motivations they share with anti-modernists everywhere-including in the West. In that regard, they have not merely assaulted our civilisation. They have attacked civilisation as such. Civilisation is the condition a society attains when it emerges from prehistoric barbarism and begins to apply intelligence systematically to the problems of human life, by creating technologies of production like farming, technologies of cognition like writing, and technologies of social order like cities and law. The culture of modernity is one of these permanent contributions – the most important. Though Western in origin, it is not a Western good but a human good. It has vastly expanded our knowledge of the world; brought a vast increase in wealth, comfort, safety, and health; and created social institutions in which humans can flourish. Anti-modernism is not simply loyalty to pre-modern stages of civilisation on the part of people who have not yet discovered reason and individualism. It is a postmodern reaction by people who have seen modernity and turned against it, who hate and wish to destroy it. This is a profoundly anti-human outlook, and there can be no compromise with it. As we take aim at the terrorists who have attacked us, we must also take intellectual aim at the ideas that inspire them.

The Role of Strategic Groups in Understanding Strategic Human Resource Management

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0048-3486. htm The role of strategic groups in understanding strategic human resource management Judie M. Gannon Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK The role of strategic groups 513 Liz Doherty Business School, Shef? eld Hallam University, Shef? eld, UK, and Angela Roper School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK AbstractPurpose – This article aims to explore how understanding the challenges faced by companies’ attempts to create competitive advantage through their human resources and HRM practices can be enhanced by insights into the concept of strategic groups within industries. Based within the international hotel industry, this study identi? es how strategic groups emerge in the analysis of HRM practices and approaches. It sheds light on the value of strategic groups as a way of readdressing the focus on ? rm and industry level analyses.Design/methodology/approach – Senior human resource executives and their teams across eight international hotel companies (IHCs) were interviewed in corporate and regional headquarters, with observations and the collection of company documentation complementing the interviews. Findings – The ? ndings demonstrate that strategic groups emerge from analysis of the HRM practices and strategies used to develop hotel general managers (HGMs) as strategic human resources in the international hotel industry. The value of understanding industry structures and dynamics and intermediary levels of analysis are apparent where speci? industries place occupational constraints on their managerial resources and limit the range of strategies and expansion modes companies can adopt. Research limitations/implications – This study indicates that further research on strategic groups will enhance the theoretical underst anding of strategic human resource management and speci? cally the forces that act to constrain the achievement of competitive advantage through human resources. A limitation of this study is the dependence on the human resource divisions’ perspectives on realising international expansion ambitions in the hotel industry.Practical implications – This study has implications for companies’ engagement with their executives’ perceptions of opportunities and threats, and suggests companies will struggle to achieve competitive advantage where such perceptions are consistent with their competitors. Originality/value – Developments in strategic human resource management have relied on the conceptual and theoretical developments in strategic management, however, an understanding of the impact of strategic groups and their shaping of SHRM has not been previously explored.Keywords Strategic groups, Strategic human resources, Strategic human resource management , International human resource management, Hotel and catering industry, International business Paper type Research paper The authors would like to express their thanks to the organisations who participated in the research and the reviewers and Editors who provided insightful and excellent feedback on early drafts. Personnel Review Vol. 41 No. 4, 2012 pp. 513-546 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0048-3486 DOI 10. 1108/00483481211229401 PR 41,4 14 Introduction Most developments in strategic human resource management (SHRM) and international human resource management (IHRM) have drawn heavily on the strategic management literature (Becker and Huselid, 2006; Schuler and Jackson, 2007). Some of the earliest models associated with SHRM (such as Fombrun et al. , 1984; Beer et al. , 1984; Hendry and Pettigrew, 1986 and Guest’s (1989) model) provide insights into how leading HRM thinkers have approached the strategic dimensions of HRM. Such insights have focused on the links or ? be tween strategy and HRM, environmental analyses as the basis for strategic management informing (and in some cases informed by) HRM, and borrowing concepts and theories with their origins in the strategic management literature, such as organisational and product life cycles, and competitive strategies (Schuler and Jackson, 1987; Sanz-Valle et al. , 1999; Miles and Snow, 1984). Despite the advances made in both areas there has been minimal consideration of the ways that strategic groups, not only industries and ? rms, in? ence HRM strategies and practices in the pursuit of competitive advantage (Boxall, 2003). Strategic group research identi? es how groups of ? rms engage in similar strategies in order to compete effectively within industries and shape industry structure and competition. Panagiotou (2006 p. 440) de? nes strategic groups as: [. . . ] those groups of ? rms within an industry, which are characterised by similarities in their structure and competitive beliefs as well as t heir tendency to follow similar strategies along key strategic dimensions in a speci? operating environment. The performance differences between strategic groups are the focus for much of this research, but mobility between groups and the structural dimensions of industries have also received attention (Ferguson et al. , 2000; Leask and Parker, 2006; Porter, 1980; Reger and Huff, 1993). As such strategic group research has developed as a central research theme in strategic management. One of the most notable aspects of strategic groups research is that it highlights and reinforces the importance of particular industry contexts.This is an important consideration for the development of SHRM research as there is now growing recognition of the value of industry and sector speci? c SHRM research where the nuances and structural dimensions of industries are emphasized (Boselie et al. , 2009; Paauwe, 2008; Paauwe and Boselie, 2008; Tyson and Parry, 2008). The aim of this study is to explor e how the strategic group concept can inform SHRM approaches. Speci? cally it sets out to identify how strategic groups can help us understand why companies struggle to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.This aim is achieved by initially investigating the strategic group literature and evaluating where it adds insight and value to the SHRM approaches literature. Thereafter the ? ndings from an in-depth empirical study of the HRM practices and strategies deployed across a global industry are used to highlight the role of strategic groups in constraining companies’ capacities to differentiate their SHRM approaches and practices. Accordingly this article also satis? s the demand for more sector led SHRM research (Paauwe, 2008; Paauwe and Boselie, 2008; Tyson and Parry, 2008). This article unfolds as follows. Initially an evaluation of the strategic group literature is provided followed by an analysis of the contemporary debates in SHRM (Boxall and Purcell, 2000, 2003, 200 8; Boselie et al. , 2002, 2003). The limitations of the SHRM literature are re? ected on in light of the strategic group literature and the potential contribution this ? eld towards a more nuanced understanding of SIHRM approaches and practices.The research design for the study is subsequently outlined alongside an overview of the context of the research, the global hotel sector. The qualitative data analysis is then considered with the HRM practices and approaches which are found to be common across the whole industry, similar across particular strategic groups and distinctive to speci? c companies explored sequentially. The implications of these various layers of HRM practices and strategies, and speci? cally the strategic group dimension, are then discussed in relation to the extant research. Of speci? c note is the way such ? dings reinforce the challenges companies face when pursuing competitive advantage through human resources and how the national, industry and strategic grou p pressures for assimilation limit opportunities to develop idiosyncratic and integrated HRM interventions and strategic human resources. Literature review: building bridges between strategic groups and SHRM approaches Strategic groups The strategic group concept emerged within strategic management as an attempt to better understand the competitive backdrop and demands faced by companies operating in an industry (McGee et al. 1995; Porter, 1980; Short et al. , 2007). Strategic management analysis has typically taken place at the level of the ? rm and the industry, and has omitted the interface of ? rm and industry competitor behaviour. Originating from the broader ? eld of industrial organization economics in the 1970s, strategic groups were identi? ed as clusters of companies within industries (Porter, 1980). Such divisions arise because industries are not collections of heterogeneous companies but subsets of ? ms separated by mobility barriers limiting movement between groups (Fer guson et al. , 2000; McGee et al. , 1995). Strategic group research has facilitated a better understanding of how group structure can shape rivalry and ultimately performance, as well as group identities and reputations. It has also illustrated how strategic group reputations serve to reinforce mobility barriers to other industry competitors (Dranove et al. , 1998; Ferguson et al. , 2000; Leask and Parker, 2006; Peteraf and Shanley, 1997).The analysis of the business environment as an objective reality, achieved classically through cluster or factor analysis of company data (Reger and Huff, 1993), drives most investigations in this area. However, Panagiotou (2006, p. 441) summarises the problems of this prescriptive approach as leading to: [. . . ] a preoccupation by managers that strategic management is all about prescribing strategies for positioning a business in a particular industry structure, having ? rst carried out a thorough economic analysis based on the implicit notion th at industry structures are relatively stable and easily identi? ble. The role of strategic groups 515 More recently a cognitive approach to strategic group research has emerged based on the argument that managers’ simpli? cation of their complex competitive environments and perceptions of similarities and differences among their rivals will shape strategic decision-making (Panagiotou, 2006, 2007; Reger and Huff, 1993). Such managerial insights into competitive groupings offer clearer conceptions of the way decision-makers perceive their own organisations and their rivals and therefore how these determine and implement strategies.These arguments suggest that strategists’ PR 41,4 516 understand (and approach) their competitive environments in similar ways, and are related to the ideas of institutional assimilation and isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Powell and DiMaggio, 1991). Therefore, the capacity of ? rms to pursue distinctive practices for competitive advant age may be limited by constraints, such as organisational inertia and forms of isomorphism (Reger and Huff, 1993; Boon et al. , 2009). Strategic groups are then another important aspect of the structural dimensions which foster this organisational sluggishness.These are critical insights where the pursuit of competitive advantage through human resources, HRM practices and strategies has gained substantial support in recent years (Becker and Huselid, 2006; Boxall, 2003). However, this quest for distinctive or idiosyncratic HRM practices and strategies to attain competitive advantage needs to be resolved against the pressures to conform and achieve social legitimacy within sectors. The next section evaluates the contemporary SHRM approaches and highlights where the strategic group literature contributes to their enhanced understanding.The strategic HRM approaches Three main SHRM approaches have emerged as the keystone for understanding and achieving sustained corporate success through human resources (Purcell, 1999, 2001; Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). While the opportunities for simultaneously enacting these approaches are now well-rehearsed it is useful to revisit them brie? y as part of developing the theoretical connection with the strategic group literature. The best practice SHRM approach encourages companies to adopt sophisticated or â€Å"high performance† practices across their human resources in order to achieve competitive advantage (Pfeffer, 1998; Huselid, 1995).Considerable criticism of the best practice SHRM approach occurs in relation to what actually represents â€Å"sophisticated† HRM practices and the empirical basis on which these practices are suggested (Marchington and Grugulis, 2000; Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). Furthermore, the conventional best practice SHRM approach suggests that these superior HRM practices should be adopted regardless of different industrial and national boundaries (Marchington and Grugulis, 2000; B oxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008).Recent evaluations of the â€Å"best practice† SHRM approach have emerged recognising that within industries there may be certain HRM practices and approaches which are obligatory (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). The â€Å"table stake† concept suggests there are established (HRM) practices adopted by all businesses in an industry which serve to legitimise their position in that industry. This concept has thus been recognised as an adaptation of the â€Å"best practice† SHRM approach (Boon et al. , 2009; Bjorkman, 2006; Boxall and Purcell, 2003; Paauwe and Boselie, 2003).The â€Å"table stake† version of best practice SHRM approach is based on the institutional assimilation literature where organisations struggle to distinguish themselves from their industry associates while simultaneously achieving legitimacy (institutional ? t) in their sector (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Powell and DiMaggio, 1991; Oliver, 1997). Isomorphis m is the process which constrains organisations’ attempts to differentiate themselves within the same institutional context (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983).Isomorphism emerges in two broad variations; competitive isomorphism where market pressures and performance targets are emphasised and institutional isomorphism where institutional factors associated with socio-cultural, technological and economic parameters are highlighted. The adoption of best practice SHRM approach across an international setting has also been roundly critiqued (Brewster, 1999, 2006; Sparrow et al. , 2004) due to the ingrained national institutional and cultural conventions, which are seen to regulate the value of various high performance HRM practices in other countries (Brewster, 1991, 2006; Sorge, 2004).However, this does not mean that across a country all industries have the same HRM practices. Much of the IHRM literature could be seen as disproportionately focused on the parent and host country culture s and systems in light of the evidence on SHRM approaches and practices in hospitals, local government and hotels (Boselie et al. , 2002, 2003). Such studies indicate that institutional and competitive isomorphisms differ across industry contexts creating distinct table stake HRM practices in different industries within the same country (Boon et al. , 2009; DiMaggio and Powell, 1983).Furthermore, such evidence recognizes that national institutional dimensions may have less of an impact than competitive institutional dimensions on some industries and their resulting people management practices. This level of industry interplay on the best practice approach is valuable but in light of the strategic group insights it is clear that companies do not compete directly with every other company in their industry. Instead they are likely to have particularly close rivals whose practices, products, managers, innovations and initiatives will be of speci? interest to them (Panagiotou, 2006; Pete raf and Shanley, 1997). As such there may be another layer of consistency and similarity in HRM practices due to the close rivalry of strategic groups, in addition to those identi? ed by the â€Å"table stake† version of the best practice SHRM approach across an industry. The â€Å"best-? t† SHRM approach suggests a ? rm’s market position and strategies drive and shape its HRM policies and practices. Within the â€Å"best ? t† SHRM approach a range of theories have emerged from those that more simplistically link speci? strategy choices to HRM practices and policies (Delery and Doty, 1996; Miles and Snow, 1984; Schuler and Jackson, 1987) to more complex models (Fombrun et al. , 1984; Hendry and Pettigrew, 1986) which envision a range of corporate characteristics (strategies, positions, portfolio characteristics) determining people management practices. Within the IHRM area, much of the research has also focused on the in? uential nature of national differ ences as well as strategic models (Perlmutter, 1969; Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989, 2000; Edwards et al. , 1996).For example: the models of international orientation (Perlmutter, 1969; Heenan and Perlmutter, 1979); product life-cycle phases (Adler and Ghadar, 1990); and international responsiveness versus integration (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989, 2000; Edwards et al. , 1996) are all based on strategic choice arguments derived from the strategic management ? eld. The main thrust of the strategic dimension to IHRM has revolved around the question of whether HRM practices are determined by corporate or business strategies and customised or standardised across national boundaries with many authors providing detailed analyses of the contingency of speci? factors (Boselie et al. , 2002, 2003; Coller and Marginson, 1998; Easterby-Smith et al. , 1995; Ferner, 1994, 1997; Ferner and Quintanilla, 1998; Hannon et al. , 1995; Newman and Nollen, 1996; Rosenzweig and Nohria, 1994; Rosenzweig, 2006; T hompson et al. , 1998). The weaknesses of the â€Å"best ? t† SHRM approach are its distorted attention on the external context as determining strategies and practices based on market positioning, cultural and institutional factors; and its inability to secure competitive advantage where several companies within the same sector pursue similar strategies and marketThe role of strategic groups 517 PR 41,4 518 positions (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008; Kamoche, 2001; Wright and Snell, 1998). Such criticisms are similar to those voiced by contemporary strategic management researchers on the objective and prescriptive versions of strategic management being the primary in? uence on strategic thinking and decision-making at the expense of managers’ and executives perceptions of positions and rivalries (Reger and Huff, 1993).Indeed Panagiotou’s (2006, 2007) research on executives’ perceptions, as opposed to the economic analysis of the competitive terrains, compe titor strategies and industry dynamics shaping strategic groups, highlights that executives whose ? rms belong to the same strategic groups react to events and market factors in similar ways. This suggests, that not only are companies constrained by the suggested strategies and market positions they develop, but that there are limitations to the options they can take to distinguish themselves because of the added level of similarity strategic groups create.Finally, the resource based view (RBV) SHRM approach has been proffered as an alternative to the best practice and best-? t approaches due its internal focus based on creating competitive advantage through the leverage of valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable and rent achieving (human) resources (Morris et al. , 2006; Wright et al. , 1994, 2004). The empirical research supporting the RBV SHRM approach (Boxall and Steeneveld, 1999; Leonard-Barton, 1995; Marchington et al. , 2003) clearly highlights that human resources can ful? l the criteria of resources which deliver competitive advantage.The most valuable human resources are those identi? ed as the â€Å"strategic human resources† or â€Å"rainmakers† who ful? l the RBV criteria of adding exponential supplementary value to companies. By developing HRM practices, which are idiosyncratic and interdependent, the RBV approach argues that companies can capitalise on their proprietary knowledge and transfer it creatively and effectively across its workforce. Several authors (Bonache and Fernandez, 1999; Harvey et al. , 1999, 2000; Taylor et al. , 1996) have adopted this approach and identi? d that capitalising on internal resources to achieve competitive advantage is quite different from the best-? t SHRM approach because it surmounts the external views of the best-? t approach. This view is neatly outlined in the frustrations of Cappelli and Singh (1992 in Wright et al. , 2004 p. 11): [. . . ] many within strategy have implicitly assumed t hat it is easier to rearrange complementary assets/resources given a choice of strategy than it is to rearrange strategy given a set of assets/resources, even though the empirical research seems to imply the opposite.The RBV SHRM approach offers speci? c insights into the value of internal resources in securing successful international operations (Bonache and Fernandez, 1999; Harvey et al. , 2000). Speci? cally particular groups of human resources are seen to have an honoured position within companies where they transfer tacit knowledge to new markets and provide sustainable competitive advantage (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; Scullion and Starkey, 2000). Taylor et al. ’s (1996) study used the RBV approach to identify the critical role of HRM competence within international ? ms, the part senior management play in identifying the company’s potential to develop HRM competence and the different groups of human resources who constitute ? rm strategic human resources. However, the weaknesses of this SHRM approach are its omission to clearly depict the interplay between internal resources and environmental factors, and the recurring evidence that ? rms struggle with the challenges of their competitive sector to achieve distinctiveness and success through their human resources and HRM practices (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). Once again the strategic groups literature provides speci? insights here in querying whether the pursuit of competitive advantage through the leveraging of the ? rm’s distinctive resources is restrained by the in? uence of their closest strategic group (Panagiotou, 2006, 2007). Clearly each of the SHRM approaches (table stake best practice, best-? t and RBV) have some resonance and these perspectives are summarised in Table I in terms of their initial focus and the levels of context where their attention is directed. There is an overall tendency across the SHRM literature for tensions, contradictions and imbalance (Boselie et al. 2009) as evidenced in the overly prescriptive best practice approach, the highly contingent best ? t approach (focusing on speci? c market or national context factors) and the RBV’s spotlight on the internal resources of the organisation. Individual adoption of these approaches is unlikely to provide a meaningful depiction of how companies might pursue competitive advantage via their human resources or HRM practices. Instead it is argued that companies can use a combined and simultaneous version of the three SHRM approaches in an attempt to balance the external and internal perspectives adopted by the best-? and RBV approaches, while also recognising the important in? uence industry isomorphism (table stakes) has on the creation of a set of HRM practices (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). Even where such a combined and simultaneous model of SHRM has been advocated (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008) there appears insuf? cient understanding of, and insight into, the industry or sectoral level of analysis (Boselie et al. , 2009; Boxall, 2003; Paauwe, 2008; Paauwe and Boselie, 2008). By exploring SHRM practices and approaches across an industry, rather than across speci? national or company contexts, a better understanding of the internal and external challenges faced by competing organisations to achieving distinctive HRM strategies and practices becomes manifest. Alongside this evaluation of the SHRM approaches, the strategic groups literature highlights that these clusters of close rivals may compound the SIHRM approaches Primary focus Level Company/? rm The role of strategic groups 519 Resource based view (RBV) Competitive advantage achieved through developing resources Internal which are Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, Non-substitutable and Rent achieving Best ? Based on crafting HRM practices tied to strategic management External models – typically through strategic analyses tools of market position Based on aligning HRM practices to different in ternational and domestic cultural and institutional contexts and company demand for standardisation Best practice Originally identi? ed as sophisticated practices capable of External achieving competitive advantage Now associated with HRM practices which are â€Å"table stakes† essential for operating with social legitimacy within an industry Competitive market National contexts and competitive market Industry Table I.The initial focus of SIHRM approaches PR 41,4 challenges ? rms already face in realising differentiation through their human resources and HRM practices. Indeed where industry analyses highlight the importance of conformance of industry members, to particular HRM practices and systems, strategic groups suggest another layer of orthodoxy among closest rivals which limit the pursuit of distinctive competitive advantage by ? rms. Research design Analysis of strategic groups requires an industry focus and this research was undertaken within the context of the intern ational hotel sector.This sector has been identi? ed as international by nature (Litteljohn, 2003; Litteljohn et al. , 2007) with companies achieving growth through a range of market entry modes, typically engaging with different equity partners (Whitla et al. , 2007). Managing portfolios of hotels with diverse ownership arrangements (such as the asset light options of management contracts, franchises and part equity agreements) has created challenges for international hotel companies (IHCs) (Beals, 2006; Eyster, 1997; Gannon et al. , 2010; Guilding, 2006).Traditionally hotel general managers (HGMs) have been seen as strategic human resources (Boxall and Steeneveld, 1999; Marchington et al. , 2003) responsible for creating pro? table hotel units through their leadership and operational expertise in the hotel industry (Forte, 1986; Kriegl, 2000; Ladkin and Juwaheer, 2000). However, the asset light market entry modes developed more recently as a result of IHC portfolio expansion have resulted in managers and executives experiencing different challenges and requiring enhanced skills sets.At the heart of this study was the aim to explore how IHCs have developed IHRM strategies and practices to manage their international managerial resources within the broader context of the sector’s competitive forces, growing industry concentration and in the presence of strategic groups (Curry et al. , 2001; Litteljohn, 1999; Roper, 1995). Any attempt to capture people management strategies and practices across an industry, as well as at the ? rm level, involves the adoption of a comprehensive sample of organisations. This study used an industry de? nition of global operations based on companies operating hotels across ? e out of the six economically viable continents, as a purposive sample technique (Saunders et al. , 2000). This research stage comprised substantial secondary data collection on the broader international hotel industry with information on service levels, ownership modes, brands, portfolios and geographical penetration and the information is captured in Table II. Only nine companies met these global criteria and eight of these nine companies granted access to their senior human resource executives (typically Vice Presidents of Human Resources) and administrative teams, and HR systems and materials.The ? eldwork interviews took place at the European corporate headquarters, regional of? ces and in hotel units for the eight companies. Interviews with the senior HR executives for each of the eight companies form the main part of the data. These interviews lasted around four hours on average. In addition, time was also spent with administrative teams, reading documentation and observing meetings. A checklist was developed to complement the interview questions and data, and to systemise the collection of company documentation, observations and interactions with the administrative teams (Robson, 2002).Documentation included HRM policies, pe rformance appraisal forms, training manuals, organisational charts, company communications, job descriptions, succession plans and demonstrations and hard copies of HR databases. The interview 520 International hotel companies Suggested strategy and methods of growth Differentiation strategies – based on the power of the company’s hotel brand name. Expansion in prime city centre and resort locations and the development of hotel clusters in countries or regions achieved through management contracts and joint ventures Various strategies deployed at the different market levels.Budget brands operate on a no frills strategy. International luxury properties follow a differentiation (premium price) strategy. One third of properties are owned and two-thirds are management contract arrangements. Growth through management contracting, franchising or marketing agreements and some ownership Focused differentiation strategy based on distinctive design and architectural features ass ociated with properties and attention to detail service style. Grows solely by securing management contract agreements with select investors Differentiation strategy based on developing modern and ef? ient ? rst class hotels. Growth achieved through management contracting, rather than ownership, and a global partnership with one of America’s largest international hotel corporations Operates at different market levels – particularly concerned with distinctiveness and value for money and therefore a broad hybrid strategy is identi? ed Mixed type of operation is used across portfolio; approximately 46 per cent owned, 21 per cent leased, 22. 5 per cent management contracts and 10. 5 per cent franchised (continued) 150 ? Prestige international brand National UK mid-market brand 48 Number of hotelsBrands Number of countries Anglo-American Premium Britbuyer 900 Nine brands at international and domestic levels: Upscale Mid market Budget 50 Contractman International 200 Four lu xury or upscale brands 35 Euroalliance One upscale brand 16 50 * Euromultigrow 2,500 ? Seventeen brands split into: Upscale and midscale Economy and budget Leisure hotels 73 521 The role of strategic groups Table II. Pro? les of global hotel companies in sample PR 41,4 522 International hotel companies 2,300 ? Five brands: two at mid market Prestige brand Budget brand Holiday resorts 63 FranchiseKing GlobalallianceUSBonusbranda 700 Seven brands Two at both mid market and budget levels Prestige brand Suites Holiday resorts Prestige brand Mid-market brand – North America 63 35 USmixedeconomy Note: a This company did not participate in the ? nal stages of the research Table II. Number of hotels Brands Number of countries Suggested strategy and methods of growth Hybrid strategy based on presence across a range of market sectors but competitively priced in each sector. Company documentation states the aim as â€Å"To be the preferred hotel system, hotel management company, and lo dging franchise in the world.To build on the strength of the FranchiseKing name utilising quality and consistency as the vehicle to enhance it’s perceived ‘value for money’ position in the middle market. † Focused differentiation strategy based on international exposure and expertise in the luxury hotel market. Growth through management contracting, franchising or marketing agreements and some ownership Deploys several strategies including a hybrid strategy for its domestic units and a differentiation (with premium price) strategy for most of its international properties at the prestige level.Growth through management contracting and franchising, with limited ownership Adopts a variety of strategies including a hybrid strategy for its domestic units and a differentiation (with premium price) strategy for most of its international properties. Growth through management contracting some ownership and franchising 190 Prestige brand Mid-market brand – Nor th America 70 460 transcripts, ? eldwork notes and documentation allowed cases to be written for each company which were sense-checked by industry informants and against the research team’s notes and observations.Access was granted to the eight companies on the basis of offering con? dentiality to participants and organisations. Each company was protected through the allocation of pseudonyms and all data and notes collected removed company names and trademarks to provide con? dentiality. This is in keeping with the widely acknowledged dif? culties of gaining access within this industry (Litteljohn et al. , 2007; Ropeter and Kleiner, 1997). The cases built on the interview transcripts, observations and company documentation data meant that ualitative analysis was achieved through the tools and computer aided techniques recommended by key authors (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Silverman, 1997, 1999). The process of initial coding identi? ed HRM practices, management criteria and co mpany strategies and characteristics. Descriptive coding was then used to highlight speci? c activities and relationships between HRM practices and approaches, and company characteristics. Further interpretive coding and analytic coding were highlighted through the themes presented by the respondents and the theoretical relationships arising from the data and initial coding (Silverman, 1997, 1999).Of particular importance were the themes of similar and distinctive HRM practices deployed by the companies, strategic groups and across the sample. Results Across the sample of eight IHCs evidence of common HRM interventions deployed included: a reliance on strong internal labour markets for unit management positions; training programmes with universal components; the use of performance appraisal as a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating human resources talent, the deployment of speci? c contractual agreements and conventions; the recurrent use of corporate communications channels; and speci? HRM responses to cultural and international challenges. The shared aims of these practices indicated that the IHCs were adopting the table stake version of the best practice SHRM approach across their international portfolios (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008; Boselie et al. , 2003, 2009). The next stage of data examination involved the identi? cation of company speci? c HRM practices based on the best ? t and RBV SHRM approaches. However, subsequent analysis of the qualitative data began to identify another layer of similar HRM interventions centred on the appearance of strategic groups within the sample.There appeared to be similarities between the companies based on strategic variables such as parent company ownership, the scope of the hotels organisations’ activities (levels of internationalisation, geographical coverage, and market segments); resource commitments (including size, brands and market entry modes); and centric and transnational orientations. As a resul t the sample was demarcated into three strategic groups. These are labelled the Multi-branders, Mixed Portfolio Purchasers and Prestige Operators.Table III summarises the strategic similarities and differences between the three groups and their IHC members. Patterns of HRM interventions across the three strategic groups are apparent from the data supplied by the executives, their teams and the documentation. These patterns focus around six areas: The role of strategic groups 523 PR 41,4 Similarities Differences 524 Table III. International hotel company strategic groups Strategic Group 1 – The Multi-branders (two companies) National cultural origins FranchiseKing and Parent companies – related horizontally Euromultigrow diversi? d Mid-market brand dominates in Large size – 2,000 ? hotels one company while distinct High levels of internationalisation but brands used for different market strong domestic base (French and USA) segments by other Multiple brands (luxu ry to budget) Dif? culties aligning parent company, brand One company uses more names and operations franchising Hybrid strategies Range of market entry modes Ethnocentric orientation Global organisation Strategic Group 2 – The Mixed Portfolio Purchasers (two companies) Britbuyer and Similar size (between 400 and 1,000 hotels) Diversi? ation of parent companies is different USmixedeconomy Mid-position in internationalisation index Strong domestic presence and distinctive One company has more international operations ownership/partial ownership of Range of market entry modes hotels Acquisitive growth of European prestige brands One company has much smaller Brands offered at similar market levels Challenges of aligning disparate domestic budget brand domestic interests and international portfolios, corporate strategies and new acquisitions Ethnocentric orientation but with some geocentric aspirations Multinational rganisation Strategic Group 3 – The Prestige Operators (f our companies) Two companies have separate Parent companies – related diversi? ed Anglo-American domestic operations Similar size (between 50 and 202 hotels) Premium Similar levels of low internationalisation Contractman Two companies have grown Focus on luxury, ? st class hotel market International through strategic partnerships (resort and business) Euroalliance Strategies broadly differentiation and Globalalliance One company uses a broader focused differentiation range of market entry modes Growth primarily through management contracting Broadly geocentric but with some aspects of ethnocentrism Transnational organisation (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) the levels where HRM is focused; different views about management skills and transferability across brands; how international and domestic operations function; extent of owner in? ence and cultural differences; how and where managerial talent is found; and where speci? c career interventions emerge. Table IV captures some of the co mments from interviews across these six levels and the three strategic groups. The HRM interventions and features developed by the three strategic groups are outlined in Table V along with the strategic variables which distinguish the groups. Strategic group 1: Multi-branders The sheer size and scale of their multi-branded operations indicated parallels between the HRM approaches taken by the Multi-branders (see comments in Tables IV and V).Both companies boasted a critical mass of hotels in key countries or regions of the world resulting in more localised recruitment and development approaches. For example, they operated â€Å"UK only† management training schemes and then speci? c recruitment initiatives tailored to educational systems, notably the French training and German apprenticeship schemes. The size of these two companies also meant they allowed their distinct brands to develop individually which had apparently resulted in some speci? brand HRM practices. Both compan ies recognised there were few opportunities for managers to transfer between the different brands leading to bottlenecks in internal labour markets, where some brands grew more quickly and offered extensive transfer and promotion possibilities. The Multi-branders had attempted to deal with these issues in slightly different ways, though both now had structures, enabling moves between managerial levels across brands to achieve some overall parity across their company.In one company (Euromultigrow) there was a guide to the different positions within each brand to encourage internal brand transfers of human resources. This guide was based on extensive negotiations with managers across the company’s brands, although parent country nationals (PCNs) dominated among these managers and the company’s University was responsible for the roll-out training for this guide. Franchiseking had developed a competency-based HRM system designed to identify common areas of expertise across its brands and as one HR executive identi? d all managers with line responsibilities had to attend and use this framework. The competencies were developed in accordance with a HRM consultant ? rm and used existing and future â€Å"high potential† managers across the company’s portfolio to identify appropriate behaviours of successful managers. Competencies were heavily in? uenced by the company’s existing management team comprising mainly PCNs. The company then ran a series of training sessions for its senior managers so the competencies formed the basis for all selection, performance appraisal, promotion and training decisions and activities.These attempts to closely manage their large portfolios of standardised brands across geographically disparate locations meant the Multi-branders adopted an ethnocentric orientation to internationalisation with PCNs dominant in subsidiary management positions, which runs somewhat counter to their critical mass of units and attempts to localise too. The Multi-branders commented less extensively, compared with the members of the other two strategic groups, on the level of interference from property owners where management contracts were used.They argued this was probably because their highly standardised brands, even at full-service levels, meant owners knew what to expect, and they did not attempt to interfere in the day-to-day management of hotels. The selection of managers for managed properties was also less troublesome for the Multi-branders. In most cases executives could appoint whomever they wanted and The role of strategic groups 525 PR 41,4 526 The levels of focus for HRM Table IV.Responses from HR executives from the strategic groups Multibranders â€Å"Our area, regional human resource executives run national versions of our company University training and recruitment programmes to ? t with national vocational education. † Assistant HR director for Euromultigrow EAME â€Å"We have a critical mass of hotels in certain countries and have built real presence so we need to adopt some of their practices as long as they ? t now with our competences. † Corporate Training and Development Director FranchiseKing â€Å"In France, Germany, the UK and the Benelux and Scandinavian countries, where we have critical mass, they have some ? xibility for recruitment and training. It has been a bit of a struggle with our acquisition of M to get this right, though. † Britbuyer HR EAME director â€Å"Some areas, with more hotels, have a little bit more autonomy than others and we have them do their own management recruitment and training, based on our head-of? ce materials. † Vice President HR USmixedeconomy Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators â€Å"We run a graduate management programme to ensure we have our next crop of managers waiting in the wings. We also have an executive management programme which includes an MBA – both are designed to g et us the GMs of the future. Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance â€Å"Our graduate management programme is being revitalised for next year and we’ll be targeting the brightest from the hotel schools in Holland and Switzerland for EAME. All our graduates must have language skills and meet speci? c knowledge requirements. † Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs â€Å"I don’t think graduate management schemes per se work. Instead we recruit graduates, mainly from Switzerland and the Dutch schools, into real jobs and although they’re a hotel resource, we (headquarters) monitor their progress and target them with speci? courses to try and bring them on. † HR Vice President Euroalliance (continued) Multibranders â€Å"We had to respect what was there. The predominant national culture of the newly acquired company) meant that we had a lot of communicating and educating to do within our company and within theirs. We moved managers within (names the acquired company) between units to give them a fresh start and many of them are still with us. It worked out well really. † Regional HR director USmixedeconomy Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Views about management skills â€Å"No, not so many people transferred.It was and transferability across brands quite common between one brand and also quite common between (names two other company brands at the same market level) but not at all between the others. It was dif? cult, not good. Now we will have a stronger parent company from this new structure. † HR Vice President for Euromultigrow GMs skills needs â€Å"fall into four skill sets which†¦ one is managing myself based on the premise that if I can’t manage myself then I can’t really manage anybody else. Then managing others and then the third one is problem solving and decision making and the fourth one is pro-active achievement.Very dif? cult to measure, but the actu al achievement levels and the go for it and taking that extra risk, the entrepreneurial part. And then there is the languages and â€Å"We have been training them in the use of behavioural event interviewing to help them, â€Å"When we acquired company [M] there was cultural bit. † HR Vice President Euroalliance . . . to spot the competencies. This allows us a bit of a standoff basically because they to see where in the portfolio of brands they wanted to be acquired by somebody else†¦ It â€Å"It feels it is dif? ult to see where a young manager’s next move is in an international can move to† Corporate Training and didn’t help that the CEO of our company company without the right language skills Development Director FranchiseKing went ‘round their hotels saying ‘get rid of this’ or ‘do that’. Things have changed now, to allow widening of transfer options. †Anglo-American Premium Vice again. There’s more a ppreciation of what President of HRs [acquired company] does right on the international scene and we’re a lot more â€Å"There are core or critical parts to our open to learning from them.It’s now twobusiness; marketing and sales, managing way. † Britbuyer HR EAME director human resources, ? nancial management, creative decision –making and leadership. These need to be displayed across cultures across properties to make it as a GM. † Vice President HR Contractman International (continued) The role of strategic groups 527 Table IV. PR 41,4 528 How international and domestic operations function â€Å"For an international GM you need languages and international experience – that is why some managers from brands back home don’t make it. Vice President HR USmixedeconomy Table IV. Multibranders â€Å"Most of these potential GMs do tend still to be the same nationality as the company, but I don’t know why. We don’t necessarily want that, at all. † HR Vice President for Euromultigrow â€Å"All GMs are informed that the best way to read and become familiar with the (competency) guide is to read the English version ? rst – this is the authoritative version. † Corporate Training and Development Director FranchiseKing Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators â€Å"Why the four different parts of the world?Well each one has some strengths. I mean that States you take marketing and very different human resources. Asia you still have the luxury of being able to have a lot of employees and a far bigger budget because costs are lower. Japan because the way, the mentality of the Japanese market and customer is different, and Europe to do same thing but with a very tight budget because costs are so high. † Vice President HR EAME Contractman International â€Å"Our domestic brand managers aren’t our international mangers. There is no transfer, well ok I can think of one or two. You need international experience which creates a bit of a catch 22 – because it is the old thing of ‘you can’t get the job without the experience and you can’t get the experience without the job’. † Britbuyer HR EAME director â€Å"A future GM must have worked outside his or her home country before they can be promoted to this level. It is important for managers to have language skills not only to help them operate in particular locations but also because there are far more career opportunities for those individuals who can demonstrate language pro? ciency. Transfers are then an important aspect of developing a career. Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs (continued) Multibranders â€Å"Well most of the time, it depends on the case of course, most of the time, the shareholder of the hotel will be an investor but he will not be an operational actor. He is interested in the bottom line, not what goes on inside the hotel. † HR Vi ce President for Euromultigrow Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators â€Å"Usually owners interview the three candidates we put forward for each GM position and invariably, well they select the candidate preferred by the company, though Vice Presidents often have to use some powers of persuasion. Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs â€Å"We have to know our owners really well to give them the GMs they want and need. That’s a tough call when you’re growing so much. † Vice President HR Contractman International â€Å"Some owners are really dif? cult and have to be managed carefully. That’s where our Regional guys come in. Others are great and they are our business partners, with us for the long haul. â€Å" HR Vice President Euroalliance â€Å"Owners do have a lot of in? uence because if we give them somebody and they say ‘we don’t think this guy’s any good’, well!Although we could force them on them it isnâ⠂¬â„¢t a very sensible thing to do. So the owning company does have a big bearing on the GM slot. † Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance (continued) Extent of owner in? uence and cultural differences â€Å"We have owners, for example, . . . but we have owners who are very, very clear about the people who we are likely, or more often than not, we can’t employ. Usually it’s in terms of nationalities and colours, race and sexual preferences they don’t like.It is their hotel and if they say ‘I don’t want somebody with red hair’ then you don’t put somebody â€Å"Owner interference depends on our brands, with red hair in, it’s as simple as that. † Britbuyer HR EAME director the more exclusive the brand the more in? uence but mainly we propose people ‘this candidate has our ? rm support’. â€Å"The frequency of moves our managers Obviously the quality of the relationship make are also driven by how tightly an with the owner is very important and you owner wants to hang on to them.So we’re must respect their wishes pertaining to GMs constrained by hardship factors, and but it doesn’t cause us much trouble really. † owner’s predilections and preferences. † Vice President for HR FranchiseKing Regional HR director USmixedeconomy The role of strategic groups 529 Table IV. PR 41,4 530 How and where managerial talent is found Table IV. Multibranders â€Å"We have our area, regional human resource people help our GMs identify their managers who might one day make it, who have the potential to be GMs too. The area human resource people then run some courses and do the training we have developed through our company university. HR Vice President for Euromultigrow Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators â€Å"How do we manage our GMs? Well we include all managers here – well it’s a very integrated approach to career development , or management development and the annual appraisal and it all comes together with succession planning and the work we coordinate here (gestures to the corporate head-of? ce). † Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance â€Å"We’re [the executive team] in the hotels a lot, and the President was really great, yesterday he was saying ‘You know everybody whether you’re ? ance or business development or marketing, when you’re in the hotels and you spot people who are really good, notice it, you know get a note of the name, make sure that we’re also all talent spotting our own people. † HR Vice President Euroalliance â€Å"We must therefore nurture excellence in every one of our employees, especially our local nationals – the people who live in the countries where we operate hotels. † Vice President HR EAME Contractman International â€Å"At the Vice President and divisional director levels we’re always trav elling, listening to what are people are saying and telling them about what’s happening across the company.And spotting talent too. † Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs (continued) â€Å"I mean I am very conscious from this conversation we are not doing all we could to develop the next generation of GMs. It is partly because the number two position in some units has disappeared. So there aren’t enough opportunities for heads of departments to move on and develop their experience. We haven’t had a problem so far but as we increase (grow) we might be struggling for the right calibre of GMs in a â€Å"Some of our approach to identifying GM few years time. Britbuyer HR EAME potential is systematic, some is opportunistic. We’re trying to become more director systematic, through the new competencies process. We’ve recognised we have to have â€Å"You must realise that traditionally we have more local nationals and fewer expatriates. â €  consciously developed very good resident managers/EAMs (Executive Assistant Corporate Training and Development Managers) so when these individuals took Director FranchiseKing over their own units there was a very low risk of failure.Since our purchases and down-sizing, however, there are now some properties that no longer have a number 2 manager. Thus we have effectively stopped developing this ‘almost’ risk free human resource – it may cause us problems in the long term. † Vice President HR USmixedeconomy Multibranders â€Å"Our restructuring of brands and growth in franchising means we have to be clear about what managers do to make the hotels successful. Our company university is critical for training to our brands so all our managers know. † Assistant HR director for Euromultigrow EAME Potential GMs . . â€Å"It’s very intensive (the assessment centre) with personal counselling, tests to see where their stresses and strains are, and management skills across the board, running from 8 in the morning to 10 at night. It’s really very intensive and we have people â€Å"When we go outside, well we steal from the from across the world, with different â€Å"Performance of our business is crucial and competition and just rely on the grapevine or languages and cultures, the mix of people is seen to be the best element of these maybe on-spec applications.There’s some that is why so much investment and events. †Anglo-American Premium Vice development had been made in this area of use of executive search but that’s very President of HRs expensive. † Regional HR director competencies and performance management. There’s been a clear growth in USmixedeconomy â€Å"For the assessment centre a report is pro? ts since the competencies were ? rst written on them based on what we feel they developed. † Vice President for HR demonstrated, in the way they acted during FranchiseKing th e course.What is okay and the right way, what’s to be demonstrated and what’s to be discussed, where they feel they need development in, and from that we can more or less determine the time span its going to take so that they’ll be ready to be a GM, and what has to happen in-between so the individual development is planned. † Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance â€Å"In fact it is incredibly incestuous and people just seem to appear or materialise. We wouldn’t directly poach someone, well . . . , but if someone made it clear to us they’d be interested then we’d feel ? e about calling them up. † Britbuyer HR EAME director â€Å"They all go on a leadership development programme and I design and I teach those with a co-trainer, I like to see that I’m there with them for a full week and we run an assessment process with the leadership development programme. So they’re booked for tests and exercises ba sed on the four management skills areas and they have individual feedback during the brief to let them know how they’re doing. This sets them with an individual plan for the future. † HR Vice President EuroallianceMixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Where speci? c career interventions emerge The role of strategic groups 531 Table IV. PR 41,4 Strategic groups Strategic group variables HRM outcomes Brands and market segmentation Multi-branders Hard brands, serving several different market levels 532 Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Allows more localisation of management talent due to standardisation and clear criteria for operating brands Movement within and between brands facilitated to prevent career bottlenecks Some soft (international) and some Dif? ult to facilitate movement hard (domestic) brands between international brands due to recent purchases, no transfer between domestic and international brands due to skills mismatch Importance of comm unication to assimilate new acquisitions Softer brands Emphasis on transfers to develop managerial experience of different countries/markets, and types of hotels Encourages and facilitates employees at all levels to gain international experience Large diverse organisations, structured on the basis of brands and some geographical factors Critical mass of units in some locations Organised on International and domestic divisions.Slow assimilation of newly purchased international brand Some critical mass of units Companies have developed guides to articulate management positions and skills across brands Critical mass allows multi-unit UGMs and more local recruitment and selection activities Some local recruitment and selection, less development through strong internal labour market and more acquisition of management talent Critical mass allows more localisation of management talent but not co-ordinated effectively throughout the companies Regional of? es co-ordinate transfers and HRM pr actices but also learn from subsidiaries to pass experience, knowledge and expertise on across other regions. IT plays an important role here Across company recruitment and development schemes rather than localised versions. Provides single ports of entry at (sub) department management level to locals (continued) Structure and organisation Multi-branders Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige OperatorsSmaller portfolios organised on regional lines Limited critical mass of units Table V. The IHC strategic groups, their strategic variables and the HRM outcomes Strategic groups Centric orientation Multi-branders Strategic group variables Primarily ethnocentric HRM outcomes The role of strategic groups Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Highly standardised services seem to facilitate low reliance on PCNs at subsidiary level though they are prevalent at executive level Dif? ult to discern – bypassing of PCNs still mainly in place for acquired companies, some stages through acquisitions locations with HCNs (critical (McKiernan, 1992) mass) but dominated by Western nationals Aspiring geocentric Attempts to harness managerial talent from around the world regardless of nationality through co-ordinated and integrated HRM activities UGMs still primarily from Western (European and American) backgrounds, executives in particular 533 Methods of growth and market entry expertise Multi-branders Growth through hard brands and the development of suitable investors (master franchisees and owners)Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators UGMs have speci? c knowledge and skills in operating highly standardised hotel services and passing knowledge onto others (franchisees) HRM mechanisms de? ne performance and selection criteria for managers and employees Acquisition used alongside mixed UGMs are likely to have expertise methods of market entry (mainly in exploiting value from purchased properties management contracts) De-layering of organisational hierarchies (d isappearance of deputy UGM position) and local recruitment initiatives were seen to help realise returns on their acquisitions Managers demonstrate speci? Growth primarily through pro? ciency in managing more management contracting, some marketing agreements, and equity luxurious and culturally adapted hotels and their owners investment. Global but local More extensive and integrated outlook HRM interventions, which support extensive transfers and development opportunities, throughout human resources, not just managers Table V. PR 41,4 534 only in a few hotels or in speci? c countries and with speci? c types of owners (for example, governments) were there two or three managers presented to owners in a â€Å"beauty parade†.The Multi-branders were more concerned about the co-ordination of franchise operators and training and communication were seen to be vital mechanisms for managing these issues. These were the only companies who identi? ed mandatory training courses for manag ers and held speci? c courses that their franchise partners were obliged to attend. Constant travelling by corporate executives was seen to further reinforce company values and assist in harmonization between geographically disparate franchised, managed and owned units.Both companies showed evidence of strong similarities associated with managing their multi-branded, and multi-market entry strategies and large, diverse portfolios. Dividing their HRM interventions into areas or countries where there was a critical mass of units was appropriate given the scale of their operations. Strong values, often based on the origins of the company, ? were communicated through frequent communiques and training opportunities further reinforced the brand standards and achieved appropriate levels of corporate synergy in the face of competition from their smaller but potentially more nimble competitors.Strategic group 2: Mixed Portfolio Purchasers The Mixed Portfolio Purchasers had been through consi derable periods of change and growth prior to the researchers’ ? eldwork. In addition to acquiring smaller European hotel chains they had substantially expanded their domestic and international portfolios through other acquisitions and mixed market entry methods. Both had international and larger domestic sections which were managed almost completely separately, although