Analysis of Ice Delight Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Ice Delight - Case Study Example Most importantly, ICEDELIGHTS occupies its own niche in the market of ice cream, selling Italian "gelati," and company's core competence lies in ability to freeze "gelati" and sell them on the premises of each store location. From financial perspective, ICEDELIGHT constitutes a rather expensive franchise, comparing with other offers available on the market. Simultaneously, this new and unproven venture can yield significant profit in the light of the investment required. Moreover, the purchase of ICEDELIGHTS' franchise guarantees to a franchisee exclusive rights to operate in the entire state of Florida. From the critical viewpoint Rogers, Daniels and Garfield purchasing a rather unproven franchise ICEDELIGHTS risk experiencing liabilities of being new and lacking expertise in retail business. Practically, these aforementioned liabilities are characterized by the many challenges faced by new ventures, which include access to resources and knowledge capital, which larger and more established firms are more equipped to handle (Markman & Baron, 2003).

Human Resources Practice Essay Example for Free

Human Resources Practice Essay 1. Introduction The HR Profession Map was developed using the following design principles: †¢ It describes what you need to do, what you need to know and how you need to do it within each professional area at four bands of professional competence. †¢ It covers behaviours as well as the technical elements of professional competence required in the HR profession. †¢ It is organised around areas of professional competence, not organisation structures, job levels or roles. †¢ The scope of the Map will cover the breadth and depth of the HR profession, from small to large organisations, from fundamental to sophisticated practice, local to global, corporate to consulting, charity to public sector, traditional to progressive. †¢ It has the versatility to be used in part, or viewed as a whole, with the core professional areas acting as the key or centre that is relevant to all. 2. Activity 1 Summarise the HRPM The Profession Map captures what successful and effective HR people do and deliver across their specialist profession, and sets out the required activities, behaviours and knowledge. Covering 10 professional areas and eight behaviours, set out in four bands of competence the Map covers every level of the HR profession, from band one at the start of an HR career through to band four for the most senior leaders. The Map has been designed to be relevant and applicable to HR professionals operating anywhere in the world, in all sectors and in organisations of all shapes and sizes. Professional Areas 1. Insights, Strategy and Solutions 2. Leading HR 3. Organisation Design 4. Organisation Development 5. Resource and Talent Planning 6. Learning and Development 7. Performance and Reward 8. Employee Engagement 9. Employee Relations 10. Service, Delivery and Information Behaviours 1. Curious 2. Decisive Thinker 3. Skilled Influencer 4. Personally Credible 5. Collaborative 6. Driven to Deliver 7. Courage to Challenge 8. Role Model (www.cipd.co.uk) 2.1Insights, Strategy and Solutions Human Resources professionals work from a deep business, contextual and organisational understanding to develop actionable insight, and prioritise HR strategies that make the most difference at any given time. You develop insight-led solutions, prioritised and tailored around a good business, contextual and organisation understanding – identifying opportunities and risks and acting on them. Business Vision and strategy of the organisation Products/services and customer profiles Financial and non-financial performance information Contextual Your sector and related regulations/legislation Political, economic, social, technological and environmental issues. Organisation Structure, processes, governance Culture, values, behaviours Key relationships, stakeholders, how decisions get made This understanding – and the resulting insights – allow us to create prioritised and situational HR strategies that make the most difference and build a compelling case for change. Includes these topics: Building a picture Developing actionable insight Delivering situational HR solutions that stick Building capacity and capability -Working with agility Organisation context determines the influence and priority of stakeholder roles and individuals, it also determines how readily new systems/ applications or methods can be adopted, and whether we can get there. If customers / principal stakeholders come from different contexts, this may systematically shape the goals and requirements 2.2 Leading HR Resourcing Band 1 Human Resources Professionals need to have a good knowledge of the principles and procedures for organisations recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits of labour relations and personnel information systems. A sound knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, modelling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. Motivating, developing, and directing people, as they work, identifying the best people for the job also been able to identify potential for succession planning. . 3. Activity 2 Timely and Effective Service With any organization, we will typically find the customers HR supports are within recruiting, employee relations, training, etc, all pretty much the same, regardless of department, our customers are anyone who uses the HR services we provide we interact with supervisors, managers, employees, external candidates, and external organizations. The way that HR interacts with each of these groups is different depending on what is being delivered, but in the general sense, our customers are all as important as each other. 3.1 Employees Employees want professional HR support from real people and HR need to be responsive and clear about what services we offer. HR need to be easy to contact and able to respond quickly and effectively. Obviously employees require accurate pay and benefits, on time. They also want to be given the opportunity for training and development. 3.2 Managers Managers want an HR function which understands the workforce and can help management balance employee and business needs. They want a proactive HR function which identifies issues before they happen and works with managers to address them. They would like HR to help them with their most challenging people issues including motivation, change and skills development. An HR function which does not understand the business and the workforce completely loses its value. The needs of both employees and managers are sometimes be conflicting. For example, managers require a higher level of production and sometimes longer working hours whereas employees tend to want more time off and more focus on a work/life balance. A good HR department needs to work with both groups to find the best balance. A way of resolving these conflicts is to focus on the overall needs of the organisation, ensuring that the right employees are recruited and retained will help this. The skills and abilities of all employees need to be aligned to their job role and as HR we need to provide development and training to ensure productivity is reached and to manage turnover of employees. Coaching and counselling employees will also help and providing an effective reward and recognition system. 3.3 Recruitment Agencies HR and recruitment agencies are committed to developing and maintaining closer relationships, the outcomes for both parties are more positive, and from a strategic perspective, it’s the formation of these stronger partnerships that bring mutual business benefits and added value. Good reasons why an organisation would use recruitment agencies Gain access to job-seekers (both active and passive)  source candidates from more specific talent pools and match them to an  organisation’s vacancies reduce the time and in-house resources dedicated to recruitment use a range of specialist skills offered by recruitment experts Access specialist services such as screening, filtering and profiling of candidates Gain flexibility in recruitment to meet cyclical/ market demand Get expert opinion about and knowledge of current recruitment legislation Benchmarking purposes – access to salary data and local market knowledge. However in past experience working with some recruitme nt agencies it can become an expensive option as they tend to charge anywhere from 12.5 percentage of the starting salary upwards and a finders fee if the candidate does become permanent. 3.4 Communication Communication Type Advantages Disadvantages Email Easy to send Fairly quick to send Can send 365 days of the year Can send to a group of people at once Email can get stuck in spam and not received Attachments could contain viruses Internet could go down and may not receive mail for sometime Phone call Calls can be made 24 hours a day 7 days a week Get your message across and gain feedback immediately You cannot see each other’s body language Things could get mis-interpreted Costly Fax Can send exact copies of documents Easy to train how to use No immediate response Could misdial number sending documents to wrong person Poor quality of received document 3.5 Effective Service Delivery An effective HR services for all employees is seen as be supportive, not to dilute the responsibility of people management. Also have the ability to coach line managers, especially around managing performance. 3.6 Delivering Service HR should obtain thorough feedback from internal customers, line managers, senior managers and employees. This should cover both what they need from HR, and their user experience of current services. Such feedback could generate a clear and more effective HR function within the organisation. It can provide fresh insights and help the HR function to focus its efforts in these areas could add value to the business. 3.7 Difficult Customers Assuming that the employee provides value to the company and possesses redeeming qualities, there are ways to deal with difficult employees. Most often, managers will simply ignore problematic staffers. Managers who live by this rule hope the problem will just go away; that these people will somehow turn themselves around or stop being troublesome. Ignoring the situation is the wrong solution to what could likely become a progressive problem. It is important to take action as soon as the negative behavior pattern becomes evident when left untouched, this problem will only escalate. (http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/201950#ixzz2h4AjsnQf) 3.8 Resolving Complaints Employee complaints alert us to potential problems within the business Depending on the type of complaint that comes in youre going to want to keep relevant portions of your staff appraised of it while simultaneously safeguarding the privacy of the individuals involved. Its important to be transparent in these situations because employees are probably going to know this on the office gossip vine anyway, says Kelly. They want to see that management is aware of it too and that management does take action and demonstrates a commitment to a higher ethical standard. (http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/04/handle-employee-complaints.html/1)

Starwood Hotels And Resorts Worldwide Inc Marketing Essay

Starwood Hotels And Resorts Worldwide Inc Marketing Essay Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc is one of the most well recognized corporations in the hospitality industry. Founded in 1991 as a real estate company first under the name of Starwood Capital Partners it developed to be a top hotel owning, operating and hospitality management company. What really distinguishes Starwood from other hospitality companies is its philosophy towards hotel customers, employees and guest services (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). Providing unparalleled guest experience, high quality services products, creating team spirit among employees and by using an innovate customer approach it managed to be one of the leading companies in the hospitality industry (ibid.). Performing in the hospitality market since 1993, it developed to a global enterprise with the acquirement of Westin Hotels only 4 years after it first operated. In 1998 Starwood purchased the ITT Group, owner of the Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton brands (ibid.). Today the company owns 992 properties all over the world (appendix 1). The majority of these properties are located in North America, where Starwood has presence with 533 hotels and 298.500 rooms in total. The company has also presence in Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin America (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). Most of the properties are franchised or operated in joint venture with individual hotel owners. Only 63 of the hotels are privately owned. At this moment 145.000 employees work worldwide for hotels managed and operated by Starwood. The Group is consisted by nine hotel brands and one residential and vacation Ownership Company (appendix 2), (ibid.). St. Regis: St. Regis hotels and Resorts are properties which provide high-end service to satisfy the most distinguished and demanding guests, both business and leisure travelers (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). The Luxury Collection: This brand operates unique and exceptional hotels and resorts, usually classic buildings or palaces. The aim of Luxury Collection is to provide extraordinary services and experiences concentrating in the destination (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). W: W Hotels and Resorts is a new brand of ultra modern, fashion and trendy hotels that is now developing throughout the world. W offers services and experiences never offered by any company in the past. Some examples are the WhateverWhenever service and the unique design and internal environment (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). Westin, Le Meridien and Sheraton brands are the three historical and largest brands of Starwood. All of them operate in the upper scale of hospitality industry. Le Meridien is the most classic of them and provides a distinctive French style in all of its properties. Sheraton is the largest brand of Starwood and operates business city hotels and leisure resorts, whereas Westin hotels are distinctive for their gracious style and are ideal for those, who seek a superior guest experience (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). Four Points is a brand operating medium scale comfort hotels (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). Aloft, opened in 2008, is a collection of hip hotels with modern rooms. Aloft is similar in concept with the W brand but with cheaper rates (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). Element Hotels and Resorts, also opened in 2008, is a brand inspired by Westin and consists of environmental and nature friendly hotels (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). One of Starwoods key to success is based on its approach towards enterprises development, which generates from the idea of continuously growth, targeting top markets. Therefore there is no surprise that among the corporations future goals is the expansion in China market; a strong financial country with a huge market and many business potentials (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). 2.Financial Assessment Evaluating the financial assessment of a company is possible either by comparing one company to another one of the same industry or by comparing data of different financial years. In Starwoods case, in order to perform companys assessment the second method will be used; comparison of different years. Hence, from year 2008 to 2009 there was a significant decrease in return of equity, falling from 20.3% to 3.8% indicating that Starwood was not able to generate return for shareholders (figure 1). Caused partly by the fall of return of assets from 5.20% in 2007 to 1.80% in 2008 reaching -1.30% in 2009, showing that Starwood didnt use efficiently its assets to generate profit. Referring to return of capital one of its downside is that it doesnt represent something specific about where the return is being generating. Therefore its not a precise choice of financial evaluation (About.com, 2010). Figure 1: Ratio Analysis for 2007-2009 3 Year Annual Ratios (Year End) Fiscal Period 2007 2008 2009 Return on Equity (%) 26,10 20,30 3,80 Return on Assets (%) 5,20 1,80 -1.3 Profit Margin (%) 9.00 6.00 2.00 Gross Margin (%) 28,10 26,40 21,80 Net Margin (%) 8,80 5,60 1,50 Asset Turnover (%) 0.64 0.61 0.54 Fixed Asset Turnover (%) 1.6 1.64 1.41 Inventory Turnover (%) 7.81 6.09 3.74 Debt to Equity (%) 173 216 160 Current Ratio (%) 0.87 0.81 0.74 Acid Test (%) 0.53 0.44 0.35 Coverage Ratio (%) 8.28 4.55 1.48 Note: Euromonitor International, (2010) Our own Calculations Furthermore, a major drop from 8.80% to 1.50% in net margin occurred during the years 2007 and 2009 revealing that not all of its income is converted into profits. Regarding profit margin in 2007 for each dollar of sales Starwood generated $0.09 of profits, when in 2009 for each dollar of sales Starwood generated $0.02. Also, gross margin indicates that the company will retain $0.28 in 2007 for its dollar of revenue, to be able to pay additional costs and expenses, whereas in 2009 retained $0.21 for the same purpose. Concerning net margin there was a gradual fall from 8.80% in 2007, to 5.60% in 2008 and finally to 1.50% in 2009 meaning that finally for every dollar earned by Starwood, the profit is $0.015 (Investopedia ULC, 2010). Additionally, asset turnover remained almost the same. In 2007 asset turnover was 0.64, in 2008 0.61 and in 2008 it dropped to 0.54 showing that a smaller percentage of sales was able to be generated from the companys assets. Therefore fixed assets turnover had also a small decline from 1.6 in 2007 to 1.41 in 2009. Moreover there was also a substantial decline in inventory turnover from 7.81 in 2007 it fell to 6.09 in 2008, whereas we only had 3.74 in 2009 suggesting that the companys inventories are not marketable as they used to (Investopedia ULC, 2010). As far as debt to equity is concerned there was a significant rise in 2008 from 173% in 2007 to 216, but after a year it fell again to 160%. Also, current ratio had a slight decline from 0.87 in 2007 to 0.74 in 2009. Regarding acid test in 2007 it was 0.53 decreased to 0.44 in 2008 and in 2009 reached 0.35, indicating to investors and to Starwood how quickly the assets can be converted to cash in order to pay their current liabilit ies. Finally, coverage ratio from 8.28% in 2007, dropped to 4.55% in 2008, reaching 1.48% in 2009 (appendix 4.2). Hence, the company will be in danger in the future if the coverage ratio remains around 1.0% or falls below 1.0%, because at this case that will mean that it is not able to meet its obligations (Palepu, Healy, Bernard, Peek, 2007). 3.Financial Performance, Forecast Evaluation In order to perform a financial evaluation of Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide Inc. it is necessary to collect information regarding the balance sheet (appendix 7), income statement (appendix 8) and cash flow statement (appendix 9) of the company. Using these financial statements we were able to calculate the financial ratios, that were presented previously and to produce the forecast models (appendix 10 11 12 ). Also, as presented in Figure 2, Starwoods greatest Dividends per Share rate were in 2006. From that year the dividends per share followed a downward flow to 0.90 in 2007 and 2008 to reach the amount of 0.20 in 2010, the lowest for the past 10 years. This could have happened due to new equity issue. Figure 2: Per Share Data for years 2000-2009 Annual Per Share Data (Year End) Fiscal Period 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Revenue per Share ($) 22,43 20,06 23,36 22,89 25,72 27,26 28,20 30,90 32,27 25,20 Free Cash flow per Share 1,60 1,44 2,04 2,29 1,17 1,37 0,61 2,57 0,93 2,01 Earnings Per Share ($) 2,08 0,73 1,78 1,53 1,89 1,92 4,92 2,72 1,80 0,38 Dividends Per Share 0,69 0,80 0,84 0,84 0,84 0,84 13,90 0,90 0,90 0,20 Book Value Per Share 20,48 19,21 20,29 21,54 22,94 23,77 14,19 10,42 8,86 9,87 Note: (Euromonitor International, 2010) Moreover, Starwoods greatest Dividends per Share rate was 13.90 in 2006. From that year the dividends per share followed a downward flow to 0.90 in 2007 and 2008 to reach the amount of 0.20 in 2010, the lowest for the past 10 years. This could have happened due to new equity issue or the decrease of net income from the year 2006 to 2009. Earnings per Share(figure 3) is also a rate that is affected from the relegation of net income from $1 billion in 2006 to $71 millions in 2009. Operational Income is also a factor that indicated that Starwoods financial condition is not in a good position. Figure 3 Note: Our own Diagram Figure 4 Note: Our own Calculation Regarding the forecast models, firstly the moving average model is calculated as well as the weighted moving average model. However these forecasting models are providing predictions only for one future period, in this case for the year 2010. The same situation applies for the exponential smoothing model. After making two assumptions for the value alpha (0.6 and 0.05) it is proved that this model is also not appropriate, because it provides forecasts for one future period. The most accurate forecasting method for Starwood is the linear regression model. After calculating a and b, which are necessary for the formula y=a+ bx (appendix 10.2, 11.2 12.2) the yearly (seasonal) ratio is estimated (Higgins, 2009). After these calculations the estimation of the sales (appendix 10.3), profits (appendix 11.3) and cost forecast (appendix 12.3) was completed. 4. SWOT Analysis Strengths à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Massive investment on Sheraton brand hotels. Starwood spent billions of dollars on renovations and new hotel openings in order to strengthen Sheraton globally and renew its corporate image (appendix 13), (Euromonitor International, 2010). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Hotel ownership: Starwood is selling its properties in return to long year management contracts of the same properties. This tactic is generally called Sale and lease back and is used in order that the company decreases its expenditures for maintaining the buildings. Starwood sold many of the leased, owned or operated by joint venture properties (Euromonitor International, 2010). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program. The loyalty program of Starwood is well known in the tourism and hospitality industry and attracts new customers due to the benefits, innovative services and promotions in partnership with other companies offered to them (Euromonitor International, 2010). Also, to offer more benefits to their customers Starwood has cooperated with American Express to create a Starwood credit card (appendix 14). Weaknesses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Luxury Brand Hotels. Starwoods collection contains only luxury, up-scale and mid-scale brands. There are no economy hotels for business or leisure travelers that dont afford luxury brands. Starwoods competitors are present in budget hotels with brands for example Ibis, owned by Accor and Holiday Inn Express owned by IHG (Euromonitor International, 2010). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ U.S. market oriented. Starwood has a large presence in the United States and that makes the company extremely dependant on the economy situation of the country. The U.S. economy upturns and downturns have direct effects on Starwood (Euromonitor International, 2010). Opportunities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Aloft brand. This new Starwood brand gives the opportunity to travelers that cant afford the other luxury brands to have access to modern hotels with high-tech design and facilities (Euromonitor International, 2010). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Growth in Asia. Asia and especially China are the emerging markets for Starwood in the fore coming years. China is the second largest market right now and Starwood plans to double its presence there by 2012 (Euromonitor International, 2010). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Attraction of wider range of travelers via the social media networking sites. By developing mini-sites in every social media site, Starwood could attract new target groups of customers that never before have used its services or sometimes havent even heard about Starwood brand name (Euromonitor International, 2010) . Threats à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Consumer behavior. Starwood, having only a collection of luxury and upscale hotels is reliant to any changes in travelers behavior. Spending for luxury goods and services is usually the first thing that gets deleted or decreased from every business or family budget (Euromonitor International, 2010). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Travel industry downturns. Travel and tourism industry have experienced in the past a lot of uncertain and unexpected recessions due to facts like terrorism, enlarging fuel prices, political instability economic conditions or extreme weather conditions that caused major catastrophes. These effects could still happen anytime in the future. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The above point about industry downturns leads most of the times to less credit availability to the companies. This means that there will be fewer investments in tourism either in forms of renovations or new build hotel openings (Euromonitor International, 2010). 5. Competitive Challenges In general 2008 for the hospitality industry was a good year. More specifically a 5% growth occurred at that time, followed however by a significant fall of 11% during the year 2009 due to the economic crisis. Starwood enterprise was affected by this crisis by a 12% fall in that year. Therefore, one solution to avoid the catastrophe was to lower room rates and cut costs. But what Starwood did was to try and gain customer loyalty. One way to do that was by making him feel like home. Another way to offer 1000 reward points for every night the customer stayed at their hotel (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). Starwoods policy was by no means lower the price of the room rates significantly as some of their competitive did. Since it would be very difficult for them to recover after the crisis and the customers would become adapted to the discount room rates. Thus, it would be very difficult for Starwood to raise the room rate prices again. Eventually they would manage to do so, but it would take too much time (ibid.). For 2010 Starwood plans to launch its campaign of rediscover Sheraton, which cost US$ 6 billion in order to renovate and built new rooms, lobbies etc of Sheratons properties. A step, that will give Sheraton and Starwood a leading advantage (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). 6. Future Prospects The unpredictable and unstable economic situation in U.S and Europe resulted to the decrease of Starwoods revenue by 18% comparing the years 2008 and 2009. The weakening economic environment and the general reduction of business traveling led Starwood to offer an innovative promotion through the loyalty program called Preferred Guest. Starwood offered a 50% discount for guests staying from November until January 2010 (Euromonitor International, 2010). The future prospects for Starwood in order to adapt to the always evolving hospitality environment is first to franchise some brands to other hotel operators and owners (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). This means that Starwood could give permission to a 3rd organization to operate and be the master franchisor of its brands in a country or market that Starwood doesnt have prior experience. Second prospect intention is to increase sales booked directly from the companys website. That will lead to higher customer satisfaction and revenue increase. Another intention is to increase the number of guests joining the loyalty program and thereby increase the occupancy rates (ibid.). One final overall intention is to make the most out of what technology has to offer to hospitality and therefore boost the operating efficiency. Even though the information needed for Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide Inc evaluation was sufficient, there were some important statistics missing regarding Starwoods individual hotel brands and internal data for every country that Starwood is operating. Having these records we could have made a more informed report containing future prospects for each particular brand. Furthermore, if we had more information and data regarding taxes, distressed costs, market signaling, companys flexibility and management incentives we could make more efficient financial decisions (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010),. 7. Recommendations Geographic expansion Starwood has already a large presence in North America and Europe covering a wide range of properties, from historical palaces to ultra modern and hi-tech hotels. Starwood is now starting to expand in China, India and other Asian countries. Additionally the company should expand its business to Africa and Middle East but certainly should focus on China as it is the rising economy of our days (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). The Chinese, in a few years, are expected to be the largest number of travelers worldwide both for regional and international tourism. It is rational for any company to have strong presence in this country in order to create loyal guests of the future (appendix 15). Affordable Luxury Starwood created new concepts in hospitality a few years ago when introducing the brands aloft and Element. In that way these two new ideas were offered to new target groups of travelers that in the past would have never chosen to stay in a Starwood managed hotel. Element is the eco-friendly brand of the group while aloft is the first hotel company of the group doesnt concentrate on business travelers but focuses on young travelers that dont want to spend large amounts of money but still enjoy staying in a modern, comfortable and hi-tech environment (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). Cost controlling Due to the global unstable economic situation companies and organizations like Starwood should deliberate to reducing their operational costs. This means that hotels should maximize the use of their existing resources and increase their efficiency. To give an example of that (Euromonitor International, 2010). New target groups In the near future Starwood should invest in new hospitality industry segments and new target group of both business and leisure travelers. Generation Y in a few years will have the ability to afford staying in a Starwood hotel. This is the reason why Starwood through the two new brands, element and aloft, should focus on developing them to attract the new generation (Euromonitor International, 2010). Customer experience The key point of success for the existing well-known brands of Starwood is to increase customer satisfaction and make each moment he spends using the services unique. This objective can be achieved from considering customers feedback and trying to adapt to their needs (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). Budget hotel brands A new trend that has been developed the last few years is for hotel chains to adapt low budget hotels. This doesnt mean under any circumstances that the quality standards will be lowered. Only that these specifically brand will provide more affordable services to future hotel guests. Other hospitality chains have recognized the market need for more inexpensive hotels and have already launched their budget hotels (Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 2010). 8. References About.com. (2010). Interest Coverage Ratio. Retrieved September 13, 2010, from beginnersinvest.about.com: http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/incomestatementanalysis/a/interest-coverage-ratio.htm Ashpfoundation. (2009). SWOT Analysis. Retrieved September 21, 2010, from www.ashpfoundation.org: http://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ashpfoundation.org/leadershiptoolkit/swot-analysis-sm.jpgimgrefurl=http://proiecte4.parvezbd.com/swot-de-starbucks.htmlusg=__6eEJug33fGnGxWj8RZmFQl5hfjg=h=371w=368sz=79hl=destart=0zoom=1tbnid=ui8SJD5s Credit Card Offers IQ. (2008). New Changes To The Starwood Amex Card. Retrieved September 21, 2010, from creditcardoffersiq.com: http://creditcardoffersiq.com/credit-card-news/new-changes-to-the-starwood-amex-card/ Euromonitor International. (2010). Starwood Hotel Resorts Worldwide Inc in Travel and Tourism World. Retrieved September 11, 2010, from www.portal.euromonitor.com: http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/Portal/ResultsList.aspx GuruFocus.com. (2010). HOT Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide Inc. ($47.45) . Retrieved August 27, 2010, from www.gurufocus.com: http://www.gurufocus.com/financials.php?symbol=HOT# Higgins, R. C. (2009). Analysis for Financial Management. New York: The McGraw- Hill Companies. Investopedia ULC. (2010). Fixed-Asset Turnover Ratio. Retrieved September 11, 2010, from www.investopedia.com: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fixed-asset-turnover.asp Investopedia ULC. (2010). Gross Margin. Retrieved August 11, 2010, from www.investopedia.com: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/grossmargin.asp Investopedia ULC. (2010). Net Margin. Retrieved August 11, 2010, from www.investopedia.com: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/net_margin.asp Investopedia ULC. (2010). Return On Assets ROA. Retrieved September 11, 2010, from www.investopedia.com: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/returnonassets.asp Investopedia ULC. (2010). Return On Invested Capital ROIC. Retrieved September 11, 2010, from www.investopedia.com: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/returnoninvestmentcapital.asp Miles, D. P. (2009). Hotel Reward Programs: Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). Retrieved September 21, 2010, from pointsmilesandmartinis.blogspot.com: http://pointsmilesandmartinis.blogspot.com/2009/06/hotel-reward-programs-starwood.html Palepu, K. G., Healy, P. M., Bernard, V. L., Peek, E. (2007). BUSINESS ANALYSIS AND VALUATION. London: Thomsom Learning. Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (2010). Company Overview. Retrieved September 9, 2010, from www.starwoodhotels.com: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/corporate/company_info.html Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (2010). Company Values. Retrieved September 9, 2010, from www.starwoodhotels.com: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/corporate/company_values.html Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (2010). Development Support. Retrieved September 8, 2010, from development.starwoodhotels.com: http://development.starwoodhotels.com/development_support/ Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (2010). Sales Marketing. Retrieved September 10, 2010, from development.starwoodhotels.com: http://development.starwoodhotels.com/sales_marketing/ Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (2010). The beauty of Starwood is the beauty of choice. Retrieved September 8, 2010, from development.starwoodhotels.com: http://development.starwoodhotels.com/brands/ Valane, J. (2009). Starwood Hotels Resorts: Fairly Valued At Current Price. Retrieved September 21, 2010, from seekingalpha.com: http://seekingalpha.com/article/35371-starwood-hotels-resorts-fairly-valued-at-current-price

Martin Luther King :: essays research papers

How Did Martin Luther Challenge Loyalty To The Roman Catholic Church   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In our society today, it is ruled with a firm hand. Similar aspects of our modern society and how our society was. Back then in the early fifteen - hundreds were similar. Such as today the public has the right to free speech and to build and choose a strong democracy, and a responsible loyal leader. The people in our life want to seek independence and live their own life from the ruler. In a unique way, all things have a ruler for instance the church in our case for Catholics, Pope John Paul is the Catholic religion ruler; and as it was back in the fifteen- Hundreds, a man named Martin Luther became an important ruler. In the year of fifteen-seventeen, a German monk named Martin Luther wrote a reformation that changed the life of the Roman Catholic Church.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Martin Luther was born in Eisleben on November 10,1483 (Beers, Burton page 246). Luther’s family was peasants but still being peasants they were wealthy. Luther was survived by his father Hans Luther his occupation was a copper miner(Flowers page 27). When Luther got older, his father sent him out to study law at the University of Wittenburg; not interested in the idea of law school, Luther dropped the class sold his learning books and left school. After Luther left school he later joined a monastery. The reason why Luther decided to join a monastery was one night, while walking home a storm began to brew from up above while not taking shelter, lightning struck Luther and in fear Luther cried â€Å" Saint Anne, help me; For I will become a monk†(Beers page 247). Being true to his words Luther joined a monastery where he taught Bible studies and studied theology in order to become a professor. His friends and family were shocked by his actions. While in training Luther began to believe that a person’s sin cannot be removed by just doing good deeds but to have faith in god. With Luther’s beliefs he then accuses the selling of indulgences or the removal of sin after death in purgatory through money which was made by the church. That is one way Luther is loyal to the church but in this case Luther can do the opposite.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Luther challenges loyalty against the church by composing ninety-five questions for arguments against the

Task 601.5.7-02, 03, 5.10.07

Task _601. 5. 7-02,_03,_5. 10. 07 Part C There are many different ways to give a child or group of children positive reinforcement. Though, individual and group positive reinforcement needs to be done in different ways ,there are 4 ways in which you may give positive reinforcement. There are natural positive reinforcers, such as being a team captain, free time, or sitting next to a friend. The second one is edible reinforcers, such as candy, or a pizza party. The fourth is social reinforcement, which is giving positive comments and attention.All four methods are good to use on both individual and group positive reinforcement, but the same reinforcement isn’t as effective on both. For individual positive reinforcement, when a student is following classroom rules a student will get a token for great behavior throughout the day. This reinforcement provides the children with a reward for doing good and incentive to continue following the rules. Another great positive reinforcement for individuals is personally acknowledging the child for correct answers, good behavior, etc.A simple smile, positive attention, or letting the parents know how great the student is doing is in most situations better than any physical reward, it boost the child’s self esteem and confidence in themselves. Competition tends to be a good motivator for kids. Another positive reinforcement for groups could be a party. When the entire class, reaches a certain level of attendance, the teacher could give the class a little party. Even though, not all the students where in class as much as others, it shows the student that you can have rewards when you try and how important it is to go to school.

Development of Quantitative and Qualitative measures of Human Impact on Wimbledon Common Essay Example

Development of Quantitative and Qualitative measures of Human Impact on Wimbledon Common Essay Example Development of Quantitative and Qualitative measures of Human Impact on Wimbledon Common Essay Development of Quantitative and Qualitative measures of Human Impact on Wimbledon Common Essay A vegetation analysis has been performed at four sites on Wimbledon Common SW19 London, to assess the suitability of quantitative methods for determining human impact on the succession climax. Systematic stratified sampling based on the method of Querouille (1949) has been used Based on 25 sample points per site. A test of Yodas law; C=W? -3/2 has been performed on tree stands, where ? = density of a stand, C= dry weight of matter and w is a constant, by using a correlation test. Log (combined diameters) as the dependent variable (y) and log (distance between pairs) as the independent (x) variable. Three out of four sites gave high values of r, indicating that Yodas law may operate on the sample sites. This is thought to reflect human management of the common over 200 years as well as the mechanism of self-thinning. Using the point quadrat method (Curtis 1949) estimates of density d were obtained as: d= 1 / l 2 where l = ? li / n , where n = sample no and l i the determined lengths from the sample points. This showed discrimination between open and closed sites. A frequency analysis was carried out on this data to find the relative dominance of species X as: Relative dominance of species x= sum of circumferences for that species/ sum of circumferences for all species. Following the procedures of Clark and Evans (1954) these density estimates were tested for normality or a random distribution using the statistic: C=(rn- E(rn))/ (?/?N,) rn and E(rn ) the mean and expectation of the lengths of up to three nearest neighbours. Further following the procedure of Thomson (1956) using a chi squared distribution a further test of randomness was performed on nth nearest neighbours. Basal cover at 36 quadrats was estimated using a tenths scale. Finally a trampling index is proposed that assesses human impact. This has shown discrimination between open and closed sites. However in terms of overall trampling damage little serious impact has been seen outside of the established paths. A conclusion is drawn that both Conservationists and ecologists will be able to use the density measurements and the techniques more generally when planning management schemes for the common as well as the vegetation data and trampling scale to readily assess the impact visitors are having on certain areas of the common. Introduction. Wimbledon Common situated in southwest London is an extensive area of open land subject to multiple recreational use. For example there is a golf course, horse riding designated paths, cycle paths and numerous footpaths, some designated some not. Conservators are appointed to resolve issues of conflict demand use and to take decisions regarding conservation. In the absence of human interference this area would reach climax vegetation. Exactly what this would be depends upon a number of factors. The vegetation could vary on a local scale depending on the closeness to standing water, drainage qualities of the soil as well as the climate overall. The deciduous oak/beech forest is typical of southern England. Diagram 1 shows the proposed stages in this climax that could be appropriate to this area. It is important to realise that the vegetation pattern is never a static phenomenon unchanging once established but a highly dynamic one. Individual trees for example inevitably die or fall; leaving an opportunity gap in the light space that has opened up for other species to establish. This implies a pattern of a mosaic of patches might be become established caused by catastrophes, storms epidemics and diseases and so on. Some species actually inhibit their own re-creation at least initially. Their young saplings do not succeed paving the way for others. Beech is a case in point, thus replacement will be of ash, oak, or birch, but later these trees let the beeches back in. We can conclude that patches of oak, ash or birch are an integral part of the beechwood community. A.S.Watt in a study of beech-woods and found that when they are 60-80 years old the field layer can support wood sorrel but after another 10-20 years these are succeeded by brambles. The field layer may be very sparse with some species of tree for example Beech, dogs mercury, wood sorrell, wood barley grass and wood sanicle have been recorded as common, however if yews are present then not even these plants can gain a foothold. Oak (Quercus robor) has associated on the filed layer dogs mercury, wood sanicle and bluebells. As some areas on Wimbledon Common are left by the conservators to reach their natural climax whereas others are heavily trampled by humans, the opportunity exists to evaluate methods that quantify and qualify the scale of human interference. In this study a dual focus will be attempted. Firstly a look at the trees in their stands1 from the viewpoint of density2, and secondly to look at the ground cover3and assess both qualitatively and quantitatively human impact. Theory. A logical starting point is Yodas self-thinning law. (1963). In this study applied to trees. A derivation of this is given in the appendix. Yoda postulated that that the smallest individuals in a population are the first to die, leaving the larger individuals to gain weight. The law proposed was W= C ? -3/2 , or; in log form log W= log C- 1.5 log ? Where w = dry weight of surviving plants, ? = density of surviving plants C = a constant related to growth class of particular species being studied. The power 3/2 could vary between species as could the constant C. In some 80 species studies the range of C has been found to lie: 3.5 ;= C;= 4.3. A 3/2 power law implies that a change of three log units in mean plant weight corresponds to a change of only 2 log units in mean plant density. Although plants in a dense population become larger with age and as the population decreases due to mortality the law implies that the total plant weight will increase because mean plant weight is increasing faster than density is falling. This phenomenon is known as self-thinning. Incidentally there is enormous biological significance in this. For Farmers three are density limits in which young seedlings of a given species can survive. There are also implications in the filed of conservation of rare species where safe sites need to be found, for the planting of the seeds. One of the Hypotheses under test is that there is a positive direct relationship between the size of each pair of nearest neighbours and their distance apart. In particular self-thinning as opposed to mans imposition of pattern would be expected to comply with Yodas -3/2-power law. Larger individuals benefit from the death of smaller ones. Where regeneration takes place in a woodland gap a large number of seedlings immediately take advantage of the extra light but self-thinning operates during their growth to provide only one mature tree to fill the gap. The successful tree then suppresses new seedling growth. For the analysis of tree stands the method of plotless sampling has been chosen. This method is considered appropriate to forests where there are practical difficulties in delimiting the relatively large quadrats necessary for sampling trees. From the varied procedures mentioned in the literature given for completeness in appendix 2. Three have been chosen and suitably modified to suit the present project. By recording a minimum set of data it is possible to use any of the three methods. 1. Intraspecific and Interspecific crowding. Involves plotting the relationship between the log o combined diameters of each tree and that of its nearest neighbour against the log of the distance between them. This can be done for (i) all pairs of the same species (ii) all pairs of mixed species (iii) Combined data. A correlation coefficient is calculated where x represents the log of combined diameter and y the log of the distance of the nearest neighbours. Point Centred Quadrat method. A Point is established at random in the study area. Four quadrats around the point are marked. The distances from the point to the nearest tree in each quadrant are measured. Simultaneously through symbols such as triangles and squares the species type could be noted. p p could represent silver birch could represent oak could represent beech. p p The density of all trees in the study area is readily estimated as he average of all n length measurements. l = ? li /n. The overall tree density D= 1/ l 2 The frequency of each tree species encountered is obtained as a proportion of the total number of distance measurements made. fj = n j /n j= 1,2s, s is the total number of species, n j is the number of recorded distances to species j. From this the Density of species j: D j =f j D Adding to the data- sheet a record of the circumference of the tree at breast height (approx. 1.5m) we can use the following definitions in the project: Relative Dominance of Species X = Sum of circumferences for all species X /(sum of circumferences for all species) * 100 Relative frequency of species X = frequency of species X */ 100 (Sum of frequency values of all species) Relative density of species X = density of species X/(total density of all species) *100 Nearest neighbour methods. Morsita (1957) has suggested a type 3 estimator ( involving third nearest neighbours and above) applicable to certain type of non-random distribution. This might prove useful in our situation where Wimbledon Common is managed to a great extent in terms of tree density and so on. The distance r to the nth nearest neighbour n;= 3 in each of k sectors at N points is measured. In view of the greater number of sampling points required, a simpler scheme needs to be found here. D1 = 1/pi (n-1)/N ( 1/r) The distance from one tree to its three nearest neighbours will be obtained, and following a procedure of Clark and Evans (1954) test will be conducted on the randomness or otherwise of the distribution of distances. The estimate for density m0 will come from the point quadrat method. Choice of Sampling Procedure and Quadrats. Cochran in 1963 pointed out that There must inevitably be an element of subjectivity in sampling procedure because the boundary within which a set of samples is taken are fixed by the ecologist on the basis of his judgement of what can be suitably described as one unit for the purpose in hand. Parts of an area can be sample separately if there is doubt as to its homogeneity. A choice has to be made between random and systematic sampling. In random sampling an estimate of the mean is available plus the standard error of the mean i.e. the precision of the mean. The use of t tests to compare two sites is available. In systematic sampling there is no indication of precision and no possibility of assessing the significance of its difference from the mean in another area. However systematic sampling is preferred by many workers on the grounds that it is more representative of variations over the area and hence likely to give a better estimate than random samples and that it is easier to carry out I the filed. Bordeau (153) in his study on density and basal area of forest trees found any gain in accuracy from systematic sampling to be slight. In random sampling any point within the area has an equal chance of being represented in the sample. Stratified random sampling divides the area into blocks taking the same number of samples from each block using random co-ordinates. Quenouille (1949) suggested a method of systematic unaligned sampling. The area is dived into blocks as shown in the diagram 2 below. Keep the x co-ordinate fixed and randomly choose y in a row. Repeat for the other rows with different xs. Smartt et al (1974) found the accuracy increases in the order random, systematic stratified random and stratified unaligned systematic sampling. Whatever method is chosen one important criterion must be borne in mind. An appropriate scale must be chosen for the co-ordinate axes. If too coarse a scale is used so that only a limited number of possible positions are available the system degenerates into a random sub-set of points on a very limited grid. This implies the same disadvantage of possible bias in any one set of samples as systematic sampling. On the hand the smaller the quadrat the greater the chance of significant edge effects due to the observer consistently including individuals that ought to be excluded or vice versa. Extremely false conclusions can also be drawn see illustrations below.(diagram 3) On the basis of the above discussion the following decisions have been made: 1. To select for ground vegetation cover the method of quenoiulle (stratified systematic unaligned sampling.). Sophisticated t analysis will not be used on the ground cover data. 2. A quadrat size of 30mx 30m will be used, divisible into 9, 10m x 10m blocks. 3. For tree analysis plotless sampling methods will be chosen avoiding consideration of quadrat design. Choice of Cover measurement. Two schools of thought have emerged on describing and recording vegetation cover that of Domin and that of Braun Blanquet. For convenience a table is shown in the appendix of these scale. However it was thought better for this project to use a system of recording a quadrat base on tenths coverage of the basal layer. As the site area will be 30m x 30m a splitting into 9 blocks each of side 10m seems reasonable. Vegetation will be estimated on a scale of ten. Detailed Plan and Methods. Apparatus. Measuring tape, Light Meter, stakes or markers, chalk, clipboard, prepared data sheets, pencils, map. Preliminary work. 1. Conduct preliminary site survey, to get a feel for the area and to see what can be usefully accomplished. 2. Talk to Range Warden, obtain useful information on human management of the common, and also vitally and respectfully inform him of the intended research and aims and as to where the research will be carried out. 3. Prepare data field sheets for four sites (samples are shown below). For plotless sampling 8 columns are required of length in four quadrants together with associated tree diameters including a key for species identification. For nearest neighbour analysis 9 columns are required for tree no, distances to three nearest neighbours and associated tree diameters. 4. Obtain table of random numbers. Select 3 blocks of 4 single digit numbers (see diagram 3) 5. Obtain an assistant for the recording of data and help in setting stakes, marking trees and in holding the tape. 6. In the field: Select site. Chosen quadrat size is 30m x 30m. This can be paced out and staked in 10m intervals in both x and y dimensions. Adhering to the pre-ordained random numbers in y and fixed numbers in x for each row ,according to systematic sampling method chosen, the ground cover of the vegetation is estimated in tenths. Any notes made on the sheet according to the Braun-Blanquet school of notation. Any new species not recorded on the sheets should be added. The trampling scale score, canopy cover and light readings can be incorporated on the sheet. 7. Select 4 sites in all, under two criteria. Two should be largely unmanaged; two should be largely managed. The word largely implies inherent uncertainty given the relative un-isolation of the common. Show these on the map. 8. For the plotless sampling data start at a sensible point in the site area. In this context sensible refers to a number of criteria. Single plantations can be useful. Mixed plantations can be useful. Note that the site has already been chosen under a range of criteria. Move around the site taking representative readings until 25 sets of trees have been obtained. 9. Under the point quadrat method select the sample point. Mark it clearly. (Put the assistant on it!) Measurement of the distance in paces will be good enough or with the measuring tape (making sure of consistency in method of recording). Record the circumference of that tree at breast height. Try to be consistent in this in view of any vegetation causing difficulty in approach, or awkward geometry of trees. Note the species of each tree using a key system for ease of recording, (see data sheets). 10. For the nearest neighbour method. Choose a starting tree. Measure its circumference. Then measure distance to its nearest neighbour and measure its circumference. Repeat for the three nearest neighbours in total. No need here to record the species. Except in the general notes comment may be made as to the nature of the area. In particular note that the measurement of a particular tree does not preclude that tree from being anothers nearest neighbour. 11. Record all data by the researcher (me) verbally calling out the measurements and the assistant recording them. It is often sensible to have him verify what he has written down to minimise errors of recording. 11. At all times observe a safe procedure but equally as importantly attempt to disrupt the ecosystem as little as possible. This is particularly important at the two sites that are left by the conservators as little managed as possible. Modifications to plan as carried out in the method. 12. A minor modification resulted in the field in that the measuring tape was in fact in imperial units. In the original data sheets circumferences are recorded in inches and some distance measurements. Other distance measurements were recorded in paces. My pace was measured in cms. (about 30cm) In translation to the spreadsheet appropriate conversions were undertaken , i.e. 1 inch =2.54 cm. Examples of data sheets used in the field. Field Data-Sheet: Plotless Sampling. Point Centred Quadrat Method. Sample point no l1 r1 l 2 r2 l 3 r3 l4 r4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Field Data Sheet: Nearest Neighbour Analysis. (Site Designator):- Tree no Circumference (cm) r n1 dn1 r n2 dn2 r n3 dn3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Field Data-Sheet : Base Cover. Site: Ground Cover % 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Average Leaf Litter Branches/twigs Bare ground Short grass Long grass Soft rush Brambles Holly Tree saplings Ferns gorse Trampling Score The trampling scale index. 1. No impact on vegetation- flower heads present and stems of plant not broken. 2. 2. Vegetation affected-plants are mainly grasses, stems bent 3. 3 1%-25% of topsoil expose-plants very short or cushion form, some damage 4. 26%_50% of topsoil exposed-plants very short or cushion form clear damage. 5. 51%-75% of topsoil exposed-plants very short or cushion form, very clear damage. 6. 76%-100% of topsoil exposed-plants very short or cushion form, severe damage. Results and Discussion. The original results are presented as carried out in the field. These have been copied onto an excel spreadsheet for analysis and converted where appropriate into SI units. Various plots are presented below to illustrate some of the data that has been collected. Four sites were chosen two in relatively open ground, two in more dense plantations. A frequency count of each tree species is recorded below. Site1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Silver Birch 95 Beech 8 Beech 56 Silver Birch 35 Oak 3 Oak 29 Oak 22 Oak 48 Other/holly 2 Silver Birch 60 Silver Birch 17 Beech 6 Beech 0 Other 3 Other 5 Other 7 This summary table provides useful information on the character of the sites. Sites 1 and 2 consist predominately of silver birches, whereas the oaks and beeches dominate sites 3 and 4. However in the denser stands there is still a significant number of silver birches and this may well affect the results. In Sites 3 and 4 however with the greater number of mature oaks and beeches this symbolises that these latter sites have been better able to reach a state of maturity or climax, than those of the former have. Correlation data for Yodas law are summarised in the table below for the four sites. Site no 1 2 3 4 Correlation Coeff. r 0.71 0.81 0.42 0.84 The data have brought one of the surprises of the study. I would have expected the Pearson correlation coefficients to be nearer unity in the mature forests and perhaps not so in the silver birch plantations, implying a direct association between tree spacing and tree diameter for pairs of trees sampled. It is to be noted that the coefficient is highest in the supposedly more mature woodland in site 4, than it is in sites 1 and 2, although these two sites have returned a high value. The small sample covering an extremely small fraction of the area of the common must be borne in mind when analysing all the data in the study. A significance test could have been performed on these correlation coefficients but this will be held over for a further study. Yodas self-thinning rule might well show some correlation because of the influence of tree management. As trees are cut down to make open space or to let other plant species flourish . In the third site a poor correlation has been observe d. Various hypotheses still need to be explored to explain the pattern of results. (i) The sampling was inadequate in terms of numbers sampled. (ii) The measurements were seriously incorrect. (iii) Yodas law does not apply as either man or some earlier catastrophe has thinned the trees below their natural self-thinning level . Yet a correlation appears for another reason. (iv) Yodas law does apply and the results bear this out largely. Whilst accepting that the number sample at each location was low, it is unlikely that gross errors were made in the measurements attention must focus on the third and fourth assumptions . The Common management have more than likely restricted the number of trees especially in areas 1 and 2 to allow a wider access for walkers and in so doing the density of the trees is below that which they could have attained, and yet a correlation between tree diameter and distance still exist but it might not be finding a 3/2 power law but some other relationship.. Indeed in conversation with the park ranger I learned that further thinning work was planned in conjunction with Kingston University at site 2. Conservationists face this dilemma of wanting more species to establish in areas where more light is allowed to penetrate the surface, as against the philosophical wish of other conservationists of leaving things as they are and for areas to develop naturally. In a crowded urban environment such as the conurbation of London it is probably inevitable that the former policy would win out and that areas have to be managed to cope with multiple demands on them. Density calculations. To further refine the notion that man management has affected the area, tree densities have been worked out according to the point quadrat method. A summary table below shows the computation that have been undertaken on the spreadsheet. The units for these densities should be considered as numbers of trees per square metre. Site Number 1 2 3 4 Point transect 0.23 0.12 0.04 0.05 Sites 3 and 4 have been found to have a lower density than sites 1 and 2. This calculation therefore tends to confirm a trend that was already being formulated that the more mature woodland with its older and higher trees has lower densities of individual that the younger silver birches of sites 1 and 2. Silver birches tend to have lower girths ( at least this study has fond that) than mature oaks or beeches and that more can be packed into a given area. Of course it is not just the basal area that determines the thinning density it is also a function of the overhangs and morphology of the higher branches. Interestingly this concept of morphology forms a detailed subject in itself. Plants and trees are different to animals in that they do not have a modular form. Shape can be extremely variable. White has conducted a study into subject principally on silver birches. My photographs of Oaks on Wimbledon common have revealed some very strange specimens indeed. The Ranger gave me an explanation in that he thought the poor drainage of London Clay responsible for their non-upward growth. Many of the oaks on the common had this deformation, whilst others appeared in normal stands. The results have demonstrated that discrimination between sites is possible with calculations of the type used. There are others mentioned in the literature, which could be similarly evaluated in the field in a subsequent study. The author admits to being surprised at the low densities being found. Photographic evidence of some areas would suggest a low value , whereas others would suggest for silver birches a much higher packing fraction. However it again boils down to the number of samples taken and where they are taken for a fuller picture to emerge. Gathering together the remaining calculations: The table below shows the computations for frequenct density and relative dominance. The useful property of the definition of relative dominance is that the weight given to larger trees such as the oaks and beeches more than compensates for their fewer number. It gives a more accurate impression than simple frequency density of the true impact that a tree species has in terms of basal area ,and hence light requirements and competition for resources and so on. One feature from the table is that silver birches are highly dominant in open ground, whilst maintain a fair degree of dominance also in closed ground. Oak only managed first place in one of the sites , Beech also in one. Of course the small sample again and the way the sampling was conducted mitigated against all oak or beech dominance. However this data does provide a pointer that a succession climax is not being reached on Wimbledon Common. Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Frequency Density Oak 0.68 3.42 0.78 2.28 Silver Birch 21.65 7.08 0.60 1.67 Beech 0.46 0.94 1.99 0.29 Other 0 0.35 0.17 0.33 Relative Dominance Oak 0.06 0.59 0.30 0.77 Silver Birch 0.93 0.26 0.06 0.12 Beech 0.01 0.13 0.62 0.06 Other 0 0.01 0.02 0.06 Thomson, Clark and Evans have attempted to go further and look for evidence of non- random distributions in tree stands. As the procedure they describe is applicable to the measurements I had already collected, with the proviso that my estimate of density will come solely from the point quadrat method and not from nearest neighbour analysis .The appendix 3 summarises data relevant to the calculation and shows two sample calculations. These authors assume that a measure of departure from randomness in a population of plants can be measured. The distributions of distances to neighbours in first order second order and so on are related to the chi-squared distribution. The advantage in using second and third nearest neighbours (Apart from the increase in accuracy of density determination in random populations) is that it should be possible to detect larger scale heterogeneity than by merely using the distance to the nearest neighbour. In the distribution (details not given here) the statistic N x where x n is the mean of the N observed values of x is distributed as chi squared with Nn degrees of freedom. Chi-square gives a simple test of randomness. A probability of Chi 0.95 indicates significant overdispersal of individuals, the distance being smaller than expected, while a probability 0.05 indicates significant underdispersion. From the calculations there is evidence of overdispersal from the nearest neighbour analysis ,because the probability values have turned out to be very low indeed. Ground Vegetation and Trampling Scale Analysis. Turning to the more subjective but nevertheless quantitative data on the ground layer. Averages for each category have been worked out and displayed in the form of a bar chart below. The limited number of samples taken over the limited number of sites obviously limits the description of the vegetation that can be given for the area. However a number of points emerged from the study. Bare non-open ground was founds at site 3 mature beech-oak woodland. The canopy layer in early spring as leaves began to emerge was estimated at 70%. It was thought that the field layer was largely a function of the microclimate of the canopy layer rather than the effect of huge numbers of persons trampling the area. Although a stream existed at the bottom of the glade and the golf course existed at the top on higher level ground, and undoubtedly humans such as myself visited the area. The overall scene of bareness indicated a natural explanantion. Where in any quadrat a footpath exists then inevitably consequences flow from that. In some locations not sampled but viewed generally, wide paths (One is seen on an annotated photograph) exist and at the season of the year ( Early spring) it appears that trampling exposes bare topsoil, as well as the more natural phenomenon of waterlogging. This would indicate severe damage on the trampling scale chosen. Other more minor paths appeared to be in good condition, in that they were overlain with grass albeit is short cushion form. Conservationists again face a dilemma here. Concern is expressed in some quarters that too many visitors destroy that which they have come to see. As evidenced in the phonograph busy paths can prevent any regeneration of plant life. On the other hand paths encourage visitors to keep within narrow restricted ranges and discourage them from straying further. This helps to conserve plant material away from the main paths. I observed on my study how difficult it w as to stray from sidepaths to take measurements in view of the dense underlayer often of bramble, holly and so on. The bar charts clearly bring out differences that do exist between the sites. For example the bramble appears most often in the darker more mature woods. Leaf litter and branches are very noteworthy features of the closed areas.. The small sample has just picked up some of this. Ivy appears to be a feature of some of the darker area. In the more open silver birch stands it was possible without too much difficulty to step between leaf litter, and occasional bramble to measure trees. The fact that more people might stray in this open area is the most likely factor other than man management that denser woodland does not form. One consequence I noticed in some areas where paths had formed, these allowed more light to penetrate the dense woodland canopy which may be beneficial, also the problem arose t of unwanted plant species at the borders of such paths, principally nettles. This voracious species appears to have spread along paths and slightly into interiors in some parts of the common. In the more open areas not always sampled by my quadrate there we extensive area of heather and gorse. Heather existed near site 1 in extensive carpet form. These species seem to relish the more open and well-drained areas of open parkland. Heather is a probably acceptable form of seating for picnickers in the summer months and the rangers choose to leave these areas for recreation at the expense of establishing silver birch saplings. The survey method is therefore capable of reproducing information to ecologists as the field layer tells them in effect the state of the woodland and its canopy layer. Any damage by too much human impact can be assessed using such methods. Conclusion and Evaluation. Necessarily given a short time span for an inidiuval study one cannot hope to solve completely the difficult problem of describing the distribution of flora in an area. The problem of density measurement has been tackled at albeit at a simple level. This problem which entails decision making on sampling and what to sample is the prerequisite for the next fundamental problem that of describing pattern, i.e. what distribution will describe the tree stands. For example. Does a Poisson distribution describe the vegetation? Other interesting possibilities for further research have been revealed by the study, that of the morphology and form of trees. This appears an equally difficult subject. On the more human side of things issues are raised by conservationists on how to manage an area such as Wimbledon Common, quantitative and other more subjective determinants of distribution of vegetation all have their place, when trying for example to estimate the impact of visitors and as to how this should if at all be minimised. .In future work I would want to study more on the methods of selecting the quadrates, and to study the effect on results on quadrat size, which I have briefly seen in the literature. I would want to look further at the methods available and their problems for looking at surface cover on plant vegetation. Sampling frames with pins and so on. Further I would want to correlate my measurements with those of elsewhere on other woodlands and sites and to see how they compare with literature values in other places. This leads on to questions of the physical factors such as soils drainage and microclimate generated by the plants themselves, the factors that determine the distribution as we see it today. In other words the field for study is huge, this individual study has merle scratched the surface. The simple point quadrat method is capable of discriminating between sites in it measurement of density. The nearest neighbour methods can assist in determining if a law similar in form to Yodas law applies as well as to assisting in the statistical analysis on the randomness or otherwise of the distribution of trees in a stand.