All About Speciation

Evolution is most usually defined as a change in a population of a species over time through the accumulation of adaptations that are acted upon by natural selection. That may be a mouth full and nearly impossible to truly understand if there is not a full grasp on what a species actually is or how one changes over time. Sure, things change, but what makes them change? How does that affect other species? How long does it all take? Here we will shed some light on these questions and others like them about how evolution and speciation works. Definition of Species Perhaps the most important thing to be understood before truly grasping the idea of speciation and evolution is correctly defining the word species. Most books and reference materials will define the word species as a group of individual organisms that can interbreed in nature and produce viable offspring. While this definition is a good starting place, lets examine why it may not be quite  as accurate as it should be. First of all, there are many species out there that are asexual. This means there is no real interbreeding happening within those species. Any unicellular organism would be asexual. Some other types of fungi also produce their own spores for asexual reproduction. Some plants can also self-pollinate meaning they also do not interbreed. Do these species undergo speciation and ultimately evolution? The short answer to this question is yes, they do. However, while evolution is usually driven by natural selection, natural selection cannot work on a gene pool that does not have any variation. Offspring of an asexual organism are essentially clones and have no traits that are different within the entire population. However, some changes at the microevolutionary level may occur. Spontaneous DNA mutations are one way new genes can enter the picture and natural selection then has diversity to work on within that species. Eventually, those mutations and adaptations add up if they are favorable and the species changes. Another problem with the basic definition of a species is the existence of what are known as hybrids. Hybrids are offspring of two different species, like how mating a horse with a donkey gives a mule. Some hybrids are sterile, which is sort of taken care of with the viable offspring part of the original species definition. However, many other hybrids are capable of producing their own offspring. This is especially true in plants. Biologists do not agree on a single definition of the term species. Depending on the context, the word species may be defined in more than a dozen different ways. Scientists often choose a definition that fits their needs or combines several to take care of that problem. For the majority of evolution biologists, the general definition above usually suits their purposes, although alternate definitions may be used to explain various parts of the Theory of Evolution. Definition of Speciation Now that a basic definition of species has been decided, it is possible to define the term speciation. Much like a family tree, the tree of life has several branches that show where species change and become new species. The point on the tree where a species change is called speciation. Using the definition of species above, it is when the new organisms can no longer interbreed with the original organisms in nature and produce viable offspring. At that point, they are now a new species and speciation has occurred. On a phylogenetic tree, speciation is the point on the tree where the branches diverge from one another. The farther back on the tree the branches diverge, the less closely they are related to one another. Points, where the branches are closer together, means those species recently diverged from each other. How Does Speciation Occur? Most of the time, speciation occurs through divergent evolution. Divergent evolution is when a species becomes less similar and changes into new species. The original species that branches off is then known as the most recent common ancestor of the new species. That is the process that causes speciation, but what triggers divergent evolution? Charles Darwin described the mechanism of evolution which he called natural selection. The basic idea behind natural selection is that species undergo changes and accumulate adaptations that are favorable for their environments. After enough adaptations have built up, the species is no longer the same as it was and speciation has occurred. Where do these changes come from? Microevolution is the changing of the species on a molecular level like with DNA mutations. If they are significant mutations, they will cause adaptations that may or may not be favorable for their environment. Natural selection will work on these individuals and the ones with the most favorable adaptations survive to create the new species. Changes in species can also happen on a larger scale. Macroevolution examines those changes. One of the most common causes of speciation is called geographic isolation. This is when a population of a species is separated from the original population and over time, the two populations accumulate different adaptations and undergo speciation. If they were brought back together after the speciation has happened, they will no longer be able to interbreed and are therefore not the same species anymore. Sometimes speciation happens because of reproductive isolation. Unlike geographic isolation, the population is still together in the same area, but something causes some of the individuals to no longer be able to mate and produce offspring with the original species. This could be something along the lines of a change in mating season or a different mating ritual. In some cases, males and females of the species have special colors or distinct markings. If these mating indicators were to change, the original species may no longer recognize the new individuals as potential mates. There are four types of speciation. Allopatric speciation and peripatric speciation are caused by geographic isolation. Parapatric speciation and sympatic speciation are the other two types and are generally due to reproductive isolation. How Speciation Affects Other Species Speciation of one species can affect the evolution of other species if they have a close relationship in an ecosystem. When populations of different species come together to form a community, they often depend on each other in some way for survival or to make life easier. This is especially apparent in food webs and food chains and in particular predator and prey relationships. If one of these species were to change, other species may also need to change. An example of this coevolution or cospeciation could be the speed of a prey species. The prey may accumulate adaptations that create larger leg muscles to help them run faster. If the predator does not adapt, it may starve. Therefore, only faster predators, or perhaps stealthier predators, will survive to pass down their favorable adaptations to their offspring. That means since the prey evolved or became a new species, the predator had to also evolve or change.

A Future Of Solar Energy - 3797 Words

A Future in Solar Energy The amount of energy used by the United States and the entirety of the world is predicted to drastically increase over the next few years. In 2001 the worldwide average energy consumption rate was approximately 13.5 TW (terawatt), but it is predicted that by 2100 that rate could triple to about 43 TW. In order to account for this greater need it becomes necessary to take action, as current production levels cannot meet the projected increase in energy consumption. There are many different approaches that could be taken so as to adjust for these forecasted levels. The following pages will consider the pros and cons to the following question: Should the United States Department of Energy promote a comprehensive†¦show more content†¦Therefore, solar energy has the capability to solve the energy shortage problems that could develop in the future. If solar energy is to become a cost effective primary energy source though, then batteries and fuels cells mu st become less expensive and more efficient. In order to obtain these goals research must be done to develop our current technologies. Until solar energy becomes more cost effective, cheaper means of obtaining energy will continue to be utilized even though resources may be depleting and the detrimental effects to our planet may be evident. Currently the capture and storage capabilities for solar energy are not efficient and cost effective enough to make solar energy a viable option to be a primary source of energy for the United States or the rest of the world. At right is a depiction of a fuel cell and an example of a solar fuel cell (Lewis and Nocera). As seen in the diagram, in a fuel cell hydrogen and oxygen are combined so as to create a flow of electrons and protons across the membrane. This produces electrical energy. On the other hand the solar fuel cell is driven by light and causes the electrons and protons to flow in the opposite direction. When coupling the electrons an d protons to the catalysts it becomes possible to break the bonds in water. As

Corporate Culture Responsibility and Profit Orientation

Question: Discuss about the Corporate Culture Responsibility and Profit Orientation. Answer: Introduction The aim of the following report is to make fruitful evaluation of certain factors of Nike Inc. such as the organizations mission, its core purpose and its profit and non-profit orientation, impact of two individual factors from the general and specific environment of Nike and its corporate social responsibility. Moreover, the present assignment, which is going to be constructed as a profound report has intended to elaborate and evaluate the results obtained from the quiz of personal insight. Henceforth, it is to say that the purpose of the present report is to acquire a coherent understanding about the considered organization and thereafter to see whether personal competencies are potential and supportive enough in befitting into the organizational culture or not. Prior to evaluate certain factors about Nike, it is essential to state that the considered organization Nike is one of the leading multinational organizations for designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing apparel, equipment and footwear in an international level. Moreover, the organization is known to be a profit-oriented organization whose net revenue of the year 2015 has been US$3.273 billion (Blok 2014). On the other hand, according to the financial report of Nike of 2015, it has been found that the organization has 62,600 employees in terms of organizational size. Mission, status and location of Nike It has been identified that the core mission or purpose of the organization Nike is to inspire every athlete of the world for innovation. Moreover, it has been found that the organizations statement for purpose has evolved over the years for appropriately representing the business situation of Nike (Hollensbe et al. 2014). Most significantly, Nikes mission statement acts as the guide for formulating the strategic policies as it includes inspiration, innovation and every athlete of the world. This particular mission of the organization is accompanied well by the organizations prime object to make profit for the shareholders. Most importantly, in 2016, Nike has considered to stick to their age-old mission to bring both innovation and inspiration to the entire athlete in the world (MoranSendra et al. 2015). On the other hand, it has been understood that the organization is predominantly profit-oriented as per the fact that the organization aims to inspire athletes through their products. As per their financial report of 2015, the organization has received 13% growth in their fourth quarter excluding the currency changes and it seems that their quarterly profit has jumped nearly 20%. Most significantly, the organizations profit orientation is related with Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike Blazers, Nike Dunk and Nike Skateboarding instead of its own brand. On the other hand, it is important to mention in this respect that with its growing profit orientation, the organization replaced Alcoa and became the member of Dow Jones Industrial Average in the year 2013 (Chung et al. 20130). However, in terms of location, it has been found that the organization is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon of the Portland metropolitan territory. Nevertheless, Nike is located within more than 45 countries outside th e US. Some of Nikes locations outside the US include China, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Pakistan (Blok 2014). Impact of economy on Nike Prior to examine one of the potential factors from Nikes general environment, it is required to mention that in the last quarter, the organization has earned near about 5.7 billion dollars in terms of revenue and for their per share, they acquired one dollar. In the year 2016, it has been identified that the economic factor would have potentially influenced its operations. The economic factor is a strongly influential factor as in terms of opportunity, economic stability and rapid growth of the market work as opportunity for Nike, whereas recent slowdown in the Chinese economy would work as a threat for Nike in the year 2016 (Golden et al. 2015). However, it is unfortunate to note that in terms of international trade, recent incident of Brexit and the slowdown of world trade would affect negatively upon the business operations of Nike. Therefore, in the year 2016, the economic recession would prove adverse for the company. Considering all these adversity, it can be said that Nike could deal with this situation by increasing its brand image. The company believes that their brand has already earned an impressive amount of trust and according to the organizations financial report the economic recession of China has not till now affected the sales growth (Jovanovic 2015). Therefore, it can be said that the organization could improve its marketing strategies and increase its promotion. For instance, it can be said that the company has the capacity to reach to an extensive amount of customers by its target segmentation strategy (Robbins et al. 2013). Therefore, it can be said that Nike can utilize this quality to combat with the current concern. Impact of the buying behavior of the customer of Nike In terms of Nikes specific environment, the buying behavior of the customers or the bargaining power of the customers in 2016 could be prioritized. It has been found that like other potential organizations, the customers of Nike hugely influence its operations. In this respect, it is to say that three particular aspects in terms of the buying behavior of Nike should be considered (Robbins et al. 2013). The first one is the low switching costs, which works as strong force whereas the second one is the availability of the moderate substitutes that works as the moderate force and the small size of the individual customers that works as the weak force. It has been found that in the year 2016, the buying behavior of the Chinese customers would not probably work in favor for the organization as per the Chinese recession. On the other hand, due to Brexit and the weakness of Euro, the buying behavior of the European customers would also fluctuate (Schiffman et al. 2013). Keeping in mind about the current circumstances, along with anticipating their possible consequences it can be said that Nike may revise its brand prices for their customers in the Asian and European zone mainly. However, it is still a fortunate sign that the organization has achieved 30% increase in sales in the year 2015 in the market of China (Chung et al. 2013). Therefore, it can be anticipated that the behavior of Chinese customers would not probably change to a huge extent. Impressive amount of discount as well as product development and modification would help them in this adverse situation. Loyalty card, free coupons or festive sale in terms of discount and improvement of the existing products based on current customer feedback would help the organization to retain their existing customers as well as will attract new ones instead of the adverse circumstances (Szyma?ska and Walecka 2016). Nikes corporate social responsibility and ethical concerns It is significant to state in this context that the Nikes sustainable innovation in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the organizations potential assets. The present vision of Nikes corporate social responsibility is to bring individuals, community, planet and the profit in a balanced alignment for sustaining its success for a long time. In this respect, it is to mention that in the year 2010, the organization has ranked 23rd in the index of 100 best corporate citizens 2010 (Hayhurst and Szto, 2016). Some of the organizations prime contribution under the name of CSR includes 41.9 million dollar distribution for promoting education as well as sports, huge investments for averting risks for the adolescent girls in most of the impoverished countries (Lu et al. 2016). On the other hand, in terms of ethical concerns, the organization has raised salaries in accordance with individual country laws and has gradually started to pay back those labors that belonged to the closed factories. Most importantly, considering both corporate social accountability and ethical concerns, Nike has impressed the world by recycling its old shoes into Grind a material that is capable of being utilized into multiple ways (Lund-Thomsen and Coe 2013). Most importantly, the organization enthusiastically participates in RED, through which Nike donates an impressive amount of money to South America for combating aids and HIV. On the other side, Nike has also donated more than 100 million dollars to the Cancer Institute of Oregon in terms of their corporate social responsibility. It is significant to mention that in Australia, Nike began to charge 10% extra for each bag and donated the entire proceeds to the local charity houses for sports. Furthermore, it has been identifie d that more than $85 million has been spent by the organization for buying products from minority-owned business to support them (Blok 2014). However, it is still unfortunate that the organization in terms of their ethical activities has been criticized for failing to raise wages in most of the foreign countries and the organization has also been highly criticized for doing excessive amount of child labor (Verbos et al. 2007). Nevertheless, it is fortunate that considering the need of recycling for maintaining a healthy environment, in the last year Nike has collected and recycled more than 25 million pairs of shoes through their program called Reuse-A-Shoe. Personal insight As per the result of the quiz Whats the Right Organizational Culture for me? I have understood that I have the flexibility to work accordingly to a culture that is mechanistic, formal, rule-oriented and well structured. Furthermore, the result of the quiz has implied me that my ability can afford me to work in large organizations as well as in government agencies. In this respect, I should mention that the quiz has proved to be supportive for me as it has pointed out my strength as well as weakness. Prior to understand whether a person is eligible for an organization or not, it is required to review the strength and weakness of the person, which can be understood well by such assessment or personal insight quizzes (Corrin and de Barba 2014). Nevertheless, after having a coherent understanding about the considered organizations purpose, profit-orientation, working-culture and corporate social responsibility, I can understand that my abilities according to the insight quiz are seemed w ell-aligned with the organizational dimension of Nike. It is because I have understood that Nike is a well-structured and rule-oriented organization and my capability to befitted in a similar atmosphere, is indicative of the fact that there is an impressive amount of compatibility between my traits and Nikes corporate culture. However, in terms of organizational culture, it is to regard that, seven aspects should be prioritized attention to detail, stability, capability of taking risk and innovating, aggressiveness and team orientation. The insight quiz indicates that I have the potentiality to stay attentive towards the details of each task; it means I would be able to accomplish every tasks. On the other hand, in the ground of risk taking and stability, my score in the insight quiz has been indicative of the matter that I have a preference for structure. Alongside, it has been mentioned before that I am rule-oriented and attentive towards details; it gives hint that I am able to find risks and can innovate. Nonetheless, the quiz has pointed out that I am less aggressive; therefore considering Nikes culture to maintain rule-oriented chain of commands, I can say that I will be convenient enough to be fitted with the culture. Most importantly, I am fortunate in the premise of team orientation also as the q uiz has implied that my personality can work with teams and can also work for the benefits of a team. Henceforth, I believe it would not be hard for me to get acquainted easily with Nikes work-culture. Conclusion From the above report, it can be deduced that Nikes purpose for 2016 is influenced by their fundamental mission to innovate and inspire every athlete of world. On the other hand, it has been identified throughout the report that Nikes present business culture is hugely subjected toward the economic environment and the buying behavior of the customers. The report has also illustrated that both the economic factor and the buying behavior in the year 2016 would be highly influenced by the recession of the China market and the event of Brexit in Europe. Therefore, to avoid the adverse effect, Nike can increase the rate of discounts and can undertake product modification. However, the other side of the report has analyzed the result of the insight quiz and has stated that most of the characteristic traits of the concerned individual will help to get befitted in the corporate culture of the considered organization. References Blok, J., 2014. The priestess of Athena Nike. Chung, K.Y., Derdenger, T.P. and Srinivasan, K., 2013. Economic value of celebrity endorsements: Tiger Woods' impact on sales of Nike golf balls.Marketing Science,32(2), pp.271-293. Corrin, L. and de Barba, P., 2014. Exploring students interpretation of feedback delivered through learning analytics dashboards. InProceedings of the ascilite 2014 conference. Ferguson, J., Sales de Aguiar, T.R. and Fearfull, A., 2016. Corporate response to climate change: language, power and symbolic construction.Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal,29(2), pp.278-304. Fernandez-Feijoo, B., Romero, S. and Ruiz, S., 2014. Effect of stakeholders pressure on transparency of sustainability reports within the GRI framework.Journal of Business Ethics,122(1), pp.53-63. Golden, J.S., Handfield, R.B., Daystar, J. and McConnell, T.E., 2015. An economic impact analysis of the US biobased products industry: A report to the congress of the United States of America.Industrial Biotechnology,11(4), pp.201-209. Hayhurst, L.M. and Szto, C., 2016. Corporatizating Activism Through Sport-Focused Social Justice? Investigating Nikes Corporate Responsibility Initiatives in Sport for Development and Peace.Journal of Sport and Social Issues,40(6), pp.522-544. Hollensbe, E., Wookey, C., Hickey, L., George, G. and Nichols, C.V., 2014. Organizations with purpose.Academy of Management Journal,57(5), pp.1227-1234. Jovanovic, Z., 2015. Management and changes in business environment.Ekonomika,61(2), p.143. Lu, X., Liu, H.W. and Rahman, M., 2016. The impact of corporate social responsibility on customer loyalty: a case of Nike and Adidas in China.Strategic Change. Lund-Thomsen, P. and Coe, N.M., 2013. Corporate social responsibility and labour agency: the case of Nike in Pakistan.Journal of Economic Geography, p.lbt041. MoranSendra, M., Nilmeier, T., Liem, T. and Perkowski, T., 2015. Nike Inc. Robbins, S., De Cenzo, D., Coulter, M. and Woods, M., 2013.Management: the essentials. Pearson Higher Education AU. Schiffman, L., O'Cass, A., Paladino, A. and Carlson, J., 2013.Consumer behaviour. Pearson Higher Education AU. Szyma?ska, K. and Walecka, A., 2016. CulturE opEnnEss as an ElEmEnt of positivE potEntial of EntErprisEs in a Criris situation.Journal of Positive Management,6(4), pp.53-65. Verbos, A.K., Gerard, J.A., Forshey, P.R., Harding, C.S. and Miller, J.S., 2007. The positive ethical organization: Enacting a living code of ethics and ethical organizational identity.Journal of Business Ethics,76(1), pp.17-33.

Lesotho Case free essay sample

Lesotho Case Study BY byrne280 The Market and the Mountain Kingdom: Change in Lesothos Textile Industry Apartheid and the resulting sanctions against South Africa are what ultimately created the textile industry in Lesotho. Aside from the workers that have historically worked across the border in South African mines, the arrival of the textile industry gave Lesotho its first real participation in the global economy. Otherwise the Lesotho economy consists mostly of subsistence farming. The textile industry gives Lesotho an opportunity to participate in trade with the rest of the world and ideally benefit rom globalization. Geographically, Lesotho is uniquely landlocked and in a complete enclave of the country of South Africa. It is the abundance of affordable labor that has attracted clothing manufacturing firms, mostly from Asia that then bring the finished products to the world markets, primarily the United States and Europe. Lesotho has been an appealing location for textile manufacturing in part because of world trade agreements such as the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA), the Lom © Convention and the African Growth and Opportunity act (AGOA). We will write a custom essay sample on Lesotho Case or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All of these trade greements have expired or are set to expire in some capacity as of the writing of the subject case study, The Market and the Mountain Kingdom: Change in Lesothos Textile Industry written in November of 2006. I will be examining these trade agreements and other factors to determine the costs and benefits of each. Lesotho is at a crucial stage of economic development and the decisions that the government makes will affect the quality of life for the people of Lesotho for years to come. Through this examination of the past there are many lessons to be learned from these previous trade policies. In some ways, these policies benefit other countries more than Lesotho. Hopefully these lessons can be applied to a plan of action for the government of Lesotho. It is my recommendation that the government of Lesotho evaluate the causes and effects of these policies as well as the costs and benefits. Going forward Lesotho should do more to empower and educate its own people rather than rely on preferential trade policies. It is not my point that Lesotho should not take advantage of trade policies while they are in place but it has repeatedly set itself up for failure when trade policies expire. Analysis of Previous Policies Affecting the Lesotho Textile Industry The Lom © Convention: The Lom © Convention was the first experiment in development and co-operation between Europe and Africa after colonial rule. It was established in 1975 and during the 1980s greatly benefited Lesotho by providing a developmental spark to the textile industry. It also provided for a smoother separation from British colonization and was a good stepping stone for development. As result, Lesotho along with other former colonies benefited from preferential trade with Europe. However the agreement went through five major evisions as needs changed and finally expired completely in 2007. The Lom © convention can be credited for providing a short-cut to development for developing former colonies but the preferential treatment was not sustainable long term. It was changed to require that the raw materials originate from a former colony as well. Since Lesotho does not produce its own raw materials and imports most of raw materials from China rather than other former colonies, the policy was already outdated before it expired. This left a 17% tariff in place for Lesothos access to European markets. This virtually eliminated trade with Europe by 1998. The Multi- Fiber Arrangement (MFA) and, the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) The MFA was a multi-nation agreement that created quotas from individual countries on imports to the Unites States. The MFA was active from 1974 to 1994 and was then replaced when the World Trade Organization (WTO) implemented a similar policy called the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). The policy expired in 2005 and there are currently no country quotas on textiles. Much like the Lom © Convention, the ATC helped to start the Lesotho textile industry and carried it through 2005. The cost is that arguably quotas can hinder free trade in the world arket. It gives inefficient countries and unfair advantage over efficient countries. The aggregate world output of textiles is fundamentally lower with the quotas in place. The MFA and ATC provided a great way for Lesotho to participate in world trade but unless the policies are permanent, it is not a sustainable solution. Because quotas facilitate inefficient production of goods, they cannot be in place indefinitely. Eventually, truly fair trade must be allowed among all countries and Lesotho must be able to manufacture textiles as efficient as countries like China if it would like to have its textile industry survive.