Biophysical Interactions on the Reef

Ecosystems At Risk Reefs are important ecosystems as the are home to an immense amount of biodiversity and are essential in the cycle of life The Role of the Atmosphere Many reefs are located in the cyclone zone due to the necessary conditions they require to grow. For as long as reefs have existed they have been shaped by cyclones and intense storms. The severity of the storms and cyclones is determined by the length and intensity of the storms, which determines how much damage will be inflicted onto the reefs. The cyclones and storms generate large waves and strong winds, which do most of the damage to the reefs.The waves have the power to rip apart soft coral and chip and damage the harder coral. Sometimes cyclones may result in large amounts of the reefs systems being buried by sediment. Reefs are very delicate and need very precise conditions to live and grow, the amount of rain that is associated with intense low systems can flood the reef with fresh water and reduce the salini ty levels. During the storms the turbidly of the water also increases so the sunlight cannot reach the coral reducing its ability to produce food.Tropical cyclone Larry (2006) showed that reefs could benefit from storms. The waves that were produced by Larry removed sediment that had accumulated and reduce the water temperature to the ideal level. The Role of the Lithosphere The role of the lithosphere in forming and transforming the reef ecosystem is very important. The reefs build themselves, this works because when the coral dies it produces limestone which the new coral grows on. The limestone is also weathered down and redistributed to other parts of the ecosystem to create a range of other landforms.Through the production of limestone coral reefs are able to withstand the erosive power of waves. Overtime individual corals will of course die but this will allow the growth of new coral on the stable limestone structures the leave behind. Sediment is also an important influence o n the reef. Sediment such as sand and mud can cloud the water creating high turbidity. High levels of turbidity can reduce the suns ability to penetrate the water and thus effecting zooxanthellae’s photosynthesis. Coral reefs may also be smothered by sediment especially were the possibility of high runoff is likely.This is why in monsoonal areas and areas with high precipitation levels there are not many fringing reefs as they would struggle to cope with the change in salinity levels from the fresh water and the sediment increasing the turbidity levels. The Role of the Hydrosphere Coral reefs grow best in high wave energy areas. Reefs are very effective at interfering with wave energy. The structure of the reef is such that the seaward part of the reef absorbs much of the energy leaving an area of calm water behind it.The amount of water that flows across the reefs is so enormous that it is measured in cubic kilometres. The flow of the currents is very important to the reef e cosystem. When the currents flow in a direction that they bring warm waters, high saline levels and high levels of nutrition that is a huge contributor to the biodiversity that makes the reefs so important and unique. The Role of the Biosphere There are more then 330 species of coral that can be found in any one reef. The coral is a living animal called Polyps.Polyps are primitive organisms that consist of little more then a digestive sac and an out skeleton made from limestone. The Polyps feed by pulling food into its mouth through tentacles. Within the polyps lives an alga called zooxanthellae, the algae produces sugars and oxygen through photosynthesis. The polyps provide shelter for the algae and in return receive nutrients and the alga is also what gives the coral the distinct colours. Each coral reef begins as a single polyp, which reproduces itself to create a colony.Apart from coral reefs are highly diverse systems made up of thousands of species. The amount of nutrients cre ated by the plants and algae on the reef is several times that made in the open ocean. Because of the high levels of nutrients available on the reef there are thousands of fish species that feed on the nutrients produced and even the coral. Due to the abundance of fish some top order predators such as sharks and dolphins come to the reef. There are many different species living on reefs that work to keep the balance of life on the reef.

The organisational change of a packaged manufacturing company of Essay

The organisational change of a packaged manufacturing company of Australia named Amcor - Essay Example The paper tells that in present day’s dynamic and competitive business context, organisations need to adjust with the fluctuating environmental situations by constantly introducing changes so that they can stay competitive and cost-effective. Substantial transformations take place when an organisation carry out changes, for instance, apply new technology, develop union, make acquisition, reduce tasks, reorganise operations, or introduce new programs. Organisational changes are generally encouraged by a requirement to maintain or develop organisations’ efficiency. The efficiency relates to the organisations’ capability to utilise resources competently, to accomplish immediate objectives as well as to embrace the prerequisite to changing business condition. Thus, organisational changes help organisations to stay competent for longer period of time. According to Ackerman, there are three kinds of organisational change which are developmental change, transitional cha nge and transformational change. Developmental change refers to the change for augmenting and developing the present situation of an organisation. It often emphasises on developing the abilities and the procedures. The transitional change denotes shifting from present condition to anticipated condition where provisional shift happens over an organised time period. The transformational change is fundamental in nature and necessitates an alteration in expectations on the part of organisation and the employees. (Ramanathan, 2009). Organisational Development Organisational development is a procedure and activity which helps to bring transformations and accomplish greater efficiencies such as augmented financial performance, improved customer satisfaction and better employee participation among others. The focus of organisational development is to assess the present functioning of organisation and accomplish the objectives by increasing the ability. Organisational change is a wider conce ption than organisational development and can be used in managing the organisational transformation (Cummings & Worley, 2008). The nature of change in Amcor is developmental change because it had applied change across numerous locations, divisions and business units in order to develop the safety measures and improve the performance through reduction of time and cost. Amcor had used the constant improvement approach of change which empowers the employees to lead towards alteration from bottom-up stage. The strategic objective of change for Amcor is to maintain accountability in packaging experience (Manufacturing Skills, 2007). Context and Background Amcor is a manufacturing organisation based in Melbourne (Australia), which produces varieties of plastic, string, copper and glass wrapping products and delivers packaging oriented services. Its business has spread in 24 nations and almost half of the income is derived from outside of Australia. It is known as one of the most significa nt organisations on the basis of market capitalisation, sales and profit in the international market (Charles Sturt University, 2011). With the increased competition in the global market, Amcor had faced the challenges of high raw material price and the need for improving customer and market competences. These aspects had resulted in the requirement of organisational change in Amcor. Amcor operates in a progressively competitive business environment where only the fittest and capable organisation can survive and prosper. Thus, in order to survive in the market, Amcor had transformed the organisational culture and behaviour by implementing lean manufacturing in their

The Relevance of Strategic Management Accounting Essay

The Relevance of Strategic Management Accounting - Essay Example Strategic management can be defined as the process of analyzing various initiatives taken by an organization, involving the resources available to them and performance within their external environments. This is in a bid to realize the mission and vision of the company and its objectives through developing modes of approach that will allow the organization to realize these aspects of its business (Friedl, Hans-Ulrich, & Burkhard, 2005). Management accounting can be described as the use of various accounting information by managers of an organization to assist them in making proper decisions in situations that they may be faced with. Therefore, strategic management accounting can be considered to be a combination of these two ideas whereby management accounting is used to enhance the strategic decision making that takes place in an organization, in a bid to increase the chances of success in a business (Mulcaster, 2009). ... The management processes that take place here deal with handling the organization as a whole, including the various enterprises that it may be involved with. Corporate strategic management accounting involves the handling of all businesses to ensure that there is no enterprise that may be causing the organization to suffer a loss (Friedl, Hans-Ulrich, & Burkhard, 2005). This level of management accounting is handled by the top brass of the organization, and decisions are made by top officials within the organization, such as members of the board of directors with assistance of advisors familiar with the situation that they are facing. Business strategic management accounting – This level of strategic management accounting deals with businesses belonging to an organization on a personal level. This is to say that it handles the management (Mulcaster, 2009) of the various businesses that an organization may be involved with according to the particular needs and situations that t he business may be faced with. This level of strategic management accounting is also handled by top level management, but in this case management is of that particular business such as the company CEO and heads of departments (Armstrong & Greene, 2007). This level of management allows the organization to concentrate on their various enterprises in a manner that allows them to address the various problems that they may face on a one-on-one level that allows the involved parties to figure out the proper solutions needed to take care of the complications that may have arisen (Clinton & Van der Merwe, 2006). This is an essential practice in any organization as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and thus all the enterprises of an

E-commerce Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

E-commerce Operations Management - Essay Example Since the first trimester of 2001 when the US e-commerce sales were $7931 million the overall sales increase by 242% six years later for a total $27,092 million online sales in the 1st quarter of 2007 (Plunkett Research, 2007). The largest retail firm in the world, Wal-Mart, caught on to this trend early and set up an internal and external ecommerce business infrastructure. This paper discusses e-commerce solution for customers and for internal business transaction by showcasing the capabilities of the multinational firm Wal-Mart Corporation. An electronic platform that allows business to interact with each other is a business to business network (B2B). A business to business application or e-biz is the exchange of products, information and services among business entities through electronic medium to achieve ecommerce transactions (Searchcio, 2001). The early emphasis of e-commerce was targeting business to customer transaction which has grown tremendously, but B2B have surprisingly become on the biggest forces driving the world ecommerce growth. B2B is a way to achieve significant savings in supply chain activities such as purchases and sales of product and services to other business partners. One of the simplest ways for other businesses to gain entrance into B2B networks is by utilizing the company home page as a portal for users to access a secured system to perform B2B transactions. Walt-Mart decided five years ago to convert their information system into a full B2B network to achieve greater efficiency in their relationships with suppliers and other vendors. The move was rapidly accepted by the business who are involve in business with Wal-Mart which enabled Wal-Mart to perform B2B transaction within a one year time span with 98% of its vendors (Zimmerman, 2003). Wal-Mart created its B2B application with the assistance of a software company called Coty. This firm provided the retail giant with the assistance

Global Sustainability And Key Needs In Future Of Automobile Industry Research Paper

Global Sustainability And Key Needs In Future Of Automobile Industry - Research Paper Example The financial concerns do impact the sustainability of the future of the automobile industry, but another factor that has more impact is the increasing environmental concerns surrounding the industry. The global growth in vehicle use has significantly increased fuel demand, materials and air emissions (Mcauley, 2003). According to the statics provided by Euromonitor International (2007), the global oil consumption for transport was approximately 16.8 billion barrels. In terms of PESTEL analysis for the automobile industry, the use of oil is causing environmental concerns all around the world. As a result of the environmental threat, the automobile industry faces the challenge of reducing the vehicle impact on the environment so that it can be sustainable in terms of the environment over the next 50 years (Mcauley, 2003). This emphasizes the importance of innovation in terms of technology to achieve greater sustainability in the future. This research will focus on the future of automobile industry by evaluating the present conditions the industry is in and the achievement towards sustainable development while assessing the potential challenges and problems that are causing a hindrance in this regard. The research will take into account two automobile manufacturers: Toyota and General Motors and evaluate its sustainable development goals and assess if they are successful or not. The reason for doing so is to identify the problems and solutions based on the experience of Toyota and General Motors. According to the Toyota European Sustainability Report (2009), the UK automotive industry is at present facing huge challenges which are becoming more complex given the economic downturn in the region and globally.

All Philosophical Problems Caused by Sloppy Reasoning Essay

All Philosophical Problems Caused by Sloppy Reasoning - Essay Example Clearly, philosophical problems remain, though Wittgenstein had felt that he had solved them finally enough to retire after publishing the Tractatus (Richter, 2004). But by solving the issue of language, one can make sure that one is not making a mountain out of a molehill, asking absurd issues or creating issues where there are none. Anyone who has had the unpleasant experience of talking at cross-purposes with someone else knows that many problems are simply caused by poor assumptions as to what terms mean. Kripke suggests that Wittgenstein's work boils down to a â€Å"sceptical challenge†. The terms of this challenge doubt that anything said can be unequivocally meaningful. The strongest case against the sceptical position would be mathematics. Philosophers since the sceptical revolution of epistemology that Hume led have largely agreed that complete, rigorous knowledge of the empirical world is impossible. But math and logic are sometimes held to be beyond this. Yet Wittge nstein's work, being semantical and semiotic, actually impugns even math. 2 + 2 = 4 is straight forward enough, but to be sensible, one has to assume that it is meant that the symbol 2 matches the concept of â€Å"two†, that the plus sign means an addition, and that the equals sign indicates an equation (Kusch). Strictly speaking, in Kripke's view, one cannot make those assumptions. â€Å"The 'sceptical challenge' is thus ontological rather than epistemic; the sceptic seeks to show not that you are somehow unable to track the facts of what you mean, but that there are no facts for you track†. To decode 2 + 2 = 4 requires more than the rules of mathematics, no matter how rigorous: It requires socially agreed-upon assertability conditions, like â€Å"2 is two, + indicates the mathematical function of addition and = means the equal function†. In strict Chinese or any non-Arabic numeral language, 2 + 2 = 4 is gibberish; in Roman, the closest one would get would be I I + II = IV.

PP0126 Learning Arena As A Learning E Essay Example for Free

PP0126 Learning Arena As A Learning E Essay Medical Assistant profession is only known in Malaysia. It is part of the medical profession creates by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia in the sixties to overcome the shortage of medical officer in the country. We need to go through three years training program conducted by our Ministry of Health in order to be a qualified as a Medical Assistant. My speciality is in Emergency and Trauma care management, with sixteen years working experiences in the Emergency Department (ETD) and currently attached to the ETD in one of the hospital located in central region. In this assignment I will discuss and explore how practice arena can assist in learning as well to identify the learning opportunity available for learners and how I integrate my professional role to develop health care profession competency. My focus will be on the factors of physical and social climate and how does it affect learning in my practice arena. Based on the theories of humanism and Androgogy compare with the concept suggested in the literature, I will come with my recommendation on how I am going to promote my practice arena into a more conducive learning environment. There are few factors or element that can affect or influence learning environment. The most important elements are physical environment, social climate and learning opportunities (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2006) that I am focusing now. Discussing about the physical element, resources are among thing that we should considered within the placement. Ileris (2011) claimed the variety of opportunity and situation offer to learners is the most significant factors influencing the quality of practice arena as 1 learning environment. He further quotes that difference type of workplace offer different  learning environment with different learning opportunity. The emergency and trauma department or my practice arena cover one whole block and the facilities and services available encompassing a wide range of emergent trauma and non trauma condition, from the critically ill or severely injured to those with minor ailment. The scope include pre hospital care services, resuscitation and stabilisation, diagnosis and definitive care management, one stop crisis centre and medical coverage. The facilities available are dividing into zone ranging from a critical to  a non critical zone where patient management are triage according to the severity of illness. There are three main zones, one observation bay equipped with 5 beds, a procedure room for minor surgical procedures and a sterilisation unit for collecting and receiving sterile item from the central sterilisation department. Each zone or treatment areas are equipped with standard equipment for it functionalities inclusive of an emergency trolley, cardiac monitor and defibrillators, portable ventilators and airway management, radiography machine, ultra sound machine, electrocardiogram,  refrigerator and blood analyser machine. It provide a wide range of learning opportunity to learners and students to develops their skills ,knowledge and understanding of the role and function with the organisation( Evan et. al, 2006). However all these equipment needs speciality and skills to be operates and 2 learners need period of time to get familiar with the equipment. The department need to send learners for user training and courses before they can handle the machine. My practice arena is amongst the busiest place in the hospital compound. Even worse  when facing the incidence of mass casualties where every staffs busy with their own task. However it doesn’t mean that they have no time with the learner. They are actually a good role model for learner where they can work and learn at the same time. They are willing to shares their working experience, skills, knowledge and ideas with student or learners even though they are very with their tasks. In fact chaotic working environment is rich for learning because of large volume of patient of varying acuity and learner will take responsibility of their own learning, identifying gap in knowledge, seeing feedback  and working toward closing these gap. (Goldman et. al, 2009) Every zone is fully air conditioning and furnished with patient’s beds, trolleys and wheelchairs. We also have an access to internet and intranet where Learners will have the opportunity to access the heath information system, interaction between the instructors and as well among learners as it is the key point for good practice and learning expectation for each area (Severs and Pearson, 1999), (Ileris, 2011). But there are limitations as some of the equipment and facilities only can be use by professional  and expert and the use of internet has been block by the management from being access in an improper way and only involved with certain website, this may lead to frustration and conflict to extensive use in workplace learning (Ileris, 2011). We also 3 have teaching room or a seminar room with selection of books, journal and handout available which is accessible to learners. Apart from the facilities above my placement arena also have 2 unit of type A, 3 unit of type B and 5 unit of type C ambulances. They are all equipped with standard equipment and also link by the radio communication services. In order to be part of the ambulance services team, learner need to undergo basic training on the basic equipment available inside the ambulance and how to use radio communication system. They are attached with qualified personnel as a mentor who is in charge of the ambulance services. For the convenience of every staffs, student and even public, my placement arena offer excellent facilities such as rest room with television set, tea room and pantry, accessible wash room and toilet, emergency fire exit with fire extinguisher and waiting area provided with chairs and queue number system. Quinn (2007) states that this basic needs make learner feel secure and comfortable and enable them to concentrate in their learning. Nevertheless my placement area doesn’t have any skill laboratory where student can practice their skills and knowledge. However the higher management has planned to set it up in few years time for the benefit of all parties. 4 My practice arena offer a placement for student nurses, newly graduates medical assistant and medical students doing their internships and housemanship program from the nearby colleges and higher institution. In fact the facilities has been gazetted as one  of the teaching hospital by the government and the Ministry of Health Malaysia as a whole. Learners and student will need to be introduced to the new environment to get them off to a good start by establishing a sense of belonging, creating a welcoming learning environment, supplying information that will answer their question and removing any uncertainties once they reporting themselves for the placement. Gopee (2008) stated this as an essential and effective when new experience are linked to prior knowledge where it begin with familiarisation with the clinical setting, clinical specialism,  get to know with mentor and staffs and feeling that they are part of the team inorder to meet the learning needs and achievement of their practice objective. The availability of the multidisciplinary staffs ranging from the higher level management and clinician to a well trained paramedics (Goppe, 2008) form the basis of inter- professional learning and will be an advantage for the student to learned and adopted as their role model and mentors. West et. al (2007) highlight that the practice is not only the environment where services is delivered to client but also a learning area where  future and qualified practioner continually utilise the opportunity provide to them as an experience to facilitate their professional development. 5 It is an effort of every personnel to create the practice arena into an interesting and conducive place to learn. Fox (2009) describe learning environment as a place or setting where learning occur. This include physical setting, interpersonal and instructional characteristic that influence learner’s performance. The nature of learning environment is important in establishing an expansive learning area (Evan et. al, 2006)  but sometime it is difficult to achieve as to some leader it is not a priority and therefore there must be a balance against priority in order to improve learning. Hand(2006) suggest that placement should be of higher quality accompanied by improved teaching support to help student gain better practical skills. But a high standard ward with rigid task allocation, with hierarchical system exist are unlikely to meet student learning needs (Fretwell, 1980) Relationship between manager and subordinates and vice versa is another important aspect of social climate in learning environment. Hand (2006) stated that mutual respect, integrated and valued student, manager’s commitment, interactive communication, motivated employers, supportiveness and openness are among the element that contributing to a conducive learning environment. Chan (2001) highlight that inter personnel relationship between staffs are crucial in order to develop a positive learning environment. Hand (2006) described the relationship between teacher and learner must be genuine, non- threatening, lasting relationship and encourage learner to give feedback in order to promote learning and Nolan (1998) found out that learning  desire will reduce without supportive from learning arena. 6 My unit manager is very supportive and committed person, caring attitude and openness especially toward professional development, friendly, approachable and knowledgeable. He motivates the staffs by sending them for courses, workshops and seminar to upgrade their skills and knowledge, counselling and indirectly benefit student placement in the areas. I believe he is a role model in my placement areas. The success and fall of the placement as a conducive learning arena depend on the management, leadership style and the relationship which exist between the people, the  manager and the goals in the organisation (Weir et. al, 2010). Inorder to develop a positive learning environment, there must be a positive management style and interpersonal relationship among manager, staffs and learner. Fretwell (1988), Pembrey (1988) described ward manager as a key figure in the organisation in establishing and maintaining a ward atmosphere conducive learning environment and patient care environment as well. Practice area learning are mostly student centred learning where learner and student needs to participates and involve themselves in the activities design in the practice  area. Self awareness is therefore very important and Cook (1999), mention that many nurses educationist are focused on self awareness to get the learning opportunity in the practice area. In this way student are able to make judgement of their own and identify their strength and weakness in consistent to andragogy approach as self assessment which help them to develop awareness of their own standard of practice (Chambers, 1998). This can be in the form of formal and informal learning activities. In my placement area, student or learners will have the opportunity to involve themselves in  7 discussion, case presentation, in house courses and continuous medical education which is plan weekly for every qualified personnel. For pre registration student this is a good chance to get new ideas, knowledge and skills and for post registration it is professional refreshment. Spouse (2001) clarified that knowledge quickly become outdated as rapid pace of technology and to be more effective this continuous professional development should be carried out under the guidance of experience and knowledgeable colleagues with the evidence of attendances. The collaboration of one  department with other organisation and between unit and section in the department should be considered as one of the factors that influencing the provision of good experience within the placement. This is because exchange and sharing of ideas between these two different organisations happened to achieve the same goal. We have been discussed many factors influencing learning in my practice setting such as physical environment, social climate and learning opportunities available in my practice setting and this will definitely give a better output toward learning environment  in the placement arena. Although I have identified many of the learning opportunities but there are some limitation on the implementation especially on the resources. I have made some recommendation to be bringing forward to improve the placement arena in future. I believe that this can be fulfils if the higher level management, training institution, mentors as well learners themselves is really committed to make changes toward the excellence learning environment. To make the process going smoothly everybody should take parts and plays their role accordingly.