How Can Government Support Business Growth in the Uk

How Can Government Support Business Growth in the UK? Judging from major shopping centres and high streets, it is easy to conclude that the UK is dominated by large successful businesses. â€Å"However, Office for National Statistics figures (2008) show that 89% of all UK enterprises have less than 10 employees and 98. 1% have less than 50 employees; the very largest companies account for just 0. 4% of all UK business enterprises† (Birchall, 2009). Although there are several advantages of being a small firm, most businesses want to grow and this inspires the question: â€Å"What is business growth? LinkedIn (2012) defines business growth as â€Å"an innovation that delivers solutions to customers while adding value both internally and externally to our processes as well as increasing customer value while increasing profits†. In less complex terms, a business is said to be growing when it gets a better return on its investment. In this essay, I will be discussing the wa ys the government can support business growth. In doing this research, a question popped in my head, â€Å"Why should the government support business growth? † One of the major problems facing the UK currently is unemployment.Once a business starts growing, it is essential to hire more people to help power the development and ensure stability. As such, the problem of unemployment will be considerably reduced. Secondly, Stokes and Wilson (2006) have argued that â€Å"in recent times, small firms have proved to be an abundant source of very inventive ideas however, they lack resources to put them into practice without external assistance†. They also highlighted the fact that small firms are essential to compete with larger companies by providing alternating sources of supply thereby playing an immeasurable role in the anti-monopoly policy.Insufficient finance is a major cause of business failure and this is one of the major hindrances encountered by businesses in their p ursuit of growth. â€Å"Finance is critical for starting, maintaining and growing small and medium businesses therefore, it is vital that both start-ups and existing businesses have access to the full range of debt and equity financing options† (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2010). Cameron (2011) in his speech about the role of small businesses expressed his shock at the way small and medium enterprises are blocked out of procurement and acquisition opportunities.In applying for bank loans, a business is required to possess a form of collateral or guarantee to support the application. Unfortunately for most businesses, they do not have sufficient collateral to back the application. The government can therefore set up schemes to help entrepreneurs obtain finance from financial institutions by agreeing to guarantee loans. For example, in 2011, Hong Kong launched the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme which was aimed at helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) obtain loans from financial institutions and in one year, there has been tremendous growth in several industries (SME Fund, 2012).In addition to guaranteeing loans, the UK government can also help firms or industries attract external investors or experts in specific fields – private individuals and companies. This can be achieved by either providing certain incentives to the investors and experts who will not only provide the funds needed to run the business but possess the knowledge and expertise required to grow the business; or creating a platform for entrepreneurs to present their ideas to these investors. In 2005, the British Broadcasting Corporation, backed by the UK government launched a show, Dragon’s Den (BBC, 2012).This was aimed at giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their businesses to five of the most wealthy business moguls in the UK. Also, in 2005, Mozambique’s government solicited the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help develop the ir tourism sector and in less than five years after, Mozambique has attracted over $33 million in investment and designated over 13,000 ha of land as sustainable tourism zones (IFC, 2012). The government can help the unemployed and disadvantaged start-up businesses of their own through special schemes.In 1999, the government recognised the need to encourage start-ups in disadvantaged companies so the Phoenix Fund was set up (Open Forum, 2012). The major objective of this scheme was to encourage investment in new and growing businesses. However, the unemployed population are still being ignored and some of them genuinely want to work but have met with one difficulty or another (Open Forum, 2012). The government can help by creating enabling opportunities for people to set up their own businesses at home. They can also set up Enterprise Allowance Schemes which will serve as incentives to these entrepreneurs.Furthermore, the government can interfere with the free market and save failin g businesses. However, there are two sides to this coin. On one hand, government’s intervention through policies would result in a better controlled trading environment and can stabilise faltering economies. An example of this is the 2008 financial crises when the UK government stepped in to help the large banks and struggling automakers. On the other hand, government’s interventions may result in inefficiency such as price floors e. g. EU's Common Agriculture Policy which created huge surpluses (excess butter to make a cube of butter with 125m sides) (Debate Org. 2012) Another way the UK government can support business growth is to lighten the burden of taxation and administrative processes required to start up and run a business. The Bolton Committee suggested that taxation policies should reflect the government’s encouragement of entrepreneurial activity and improve the marketability of small businesses i. e. improving the degree to which an asset can be trad ed in the market without affecting its price (Stokes and Wilson, 2006). The government responded to this suggestion by giving small firms the advantage of benefitting from lower corporation tax rates.For example, a company with profits from ? 50,000 to ? 300,000 has a tax rate of 19%. However, once profits increase above this range, they are liable to the full 30% tax rate (UK Legislation, 2012). Similar to all other businesses, even the very small firms are responsible for health and safety on their premises for all workers and customers. For example, The Safety at Work Act (1974) and the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act (1963) give employers thorough responsibilities ranging from machinery safety to even the temperature of the working environment.Another example is the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) which requires employers to take steps to ensure disabled employees are not discriminated against. Small firms have experienced major difficulties in following these regul ations to the letter. The government can help here by reducing its requirements regarding very small firms and by encouraging their inspectors to increase their awareness of smaller firms’ interests (UK Legislation, 2012). The third way in which the government can support business growth is in the provision of information and advice.Of all the factors initiating growth, the most important is luck and the ability to be aware of chance opportunities (Gill, 1985). In 1993, the UK government launched what Stokes and Wilson (2006) refer to as â€Å"a network of independent local business information and advice centres offering a range of services to the business community, designed to enhance the competitiveness of local companies†. This network is known as Business Links. The government can develop this initiative by providing online information and services thereby, reaching a larger range of businesses.However, Office for National Statistics (2008) show that 24% of SMEs lack online presence. Therefore, in addition to providing online information, the government has to encourage these companies to log on to the internet. Business owners and entrepreneurs tend to value advice from experienced business moguls. Therefore, the government can set up â€Å"business mentoring organisations that will provide practical advice and contacts for other businesses, based on hands-on experience† (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2010).In 1972, on the recommendation of the Bolton Committee, the Small Firms Service (SFS) was set up to provide information through a network of 13 Small Firms Centres (SFCs); however, this service packed up in 1990 due to the irresponsibility and negligence of the management. In spite of the failure of the service in the UK, other governments recognised that if these organisations were successful, the benefits cannot be over-emphasized (Open Forum, 2012). They therefore set up similar schemes e. g. he United States Small Business Administration, the Australian business services portal of the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources and the Small Business Directorate in the Ministry of Economic Development in New Zealand (LinkedIn, 2012). Business growth brings improved survival prospects through larger market shares, diversification into different markets and greater finance. It also brings an increased feeling of status and power. Most importantly, it enables a firm enjoy economies of scale. Wikipedia (2012) defines economies of scale as â€Å"the cost advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion†.The common sources of economies of scale are purchasing – bulk buying of materials through long-term contracts, managerial – increasing the specialization of managers, financial – obtaining lower-interest charges when borrowing from banks and having access to a greater range of financial instruments, marketing – spreading the cost of advertising over a greater range of output in media market and technological – taking advantage of returns to scale in the production function. In the 1990s during the Asian economic crises, Tesco saw this as an opportunity to enter the market and once the economies started to recover, they emerged stronger.Today, they are the market leader in Thailand (Floyd, 2011). Whereas growth is encouraged, there are a number of possible problems arising from growth. Firstly, expansion brings pressure on a firms’ liquidity e. g. as a result of offering additional credit to encourage sales, and on its level of gearing. Also, although growth may have been planned efficiently by managers, they may find that this growth makes the firm’s various functions or projects more difficult to co-ordinate and to control, and its communication procedures slower.In addition, there is no guarantee that what is popular in the UK market will become equally popular overseas, because of local and national dif ferences (e. g. due to culture). Control and co-ordination also become more difficult as a result of international expansion. A good example of when business growth has been a huge disadvantage to a company is General Motors Limited in the USA (Open Forum, 2012). In conclusion, the three ways in which the UK government can support business growth are by improving access to finance, making information and advice available to people and by lightening tax and administrative load.However, even though supporting business growth is essential, it is important that this growth be controlled because even though small firms make less profit than the larger ones and have low chances of surviving in the dynamic world of business, they offer a better and more flexible service to customers and their staff often benefit from high levels of motivation. They are also able to exploit their size and take advantage of the opportunities presented by diseconomies of scale suffered by large firms.Most imp ortantly, they play an important role in ensuring the economy remains balanced. Reference List * Birchall, N. (2009) ‘Survival of the smallest’, Business Review Journal, (Sept 2009), pp. 5-7 * British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2012) Dragon’s Den [Online]. Available at: http://www. bbc. co. uk/programmes/p01009mj (Accessed on 13th October 2012) * Cameron, D. (2011) Is the Government serious about supporting small business? [Online]. Available at: http://goo. gl/l2rBl (Accessed on 13th October 2012) * Debate org. 2012) Should the government intervene with the free market and save failing businesses? [Online]. Available at: http://www. debate. org/opinions (Accessed on 1st November 2012) * Department for Business Innovation and Skills (2010) Backing small business [Online]. Available at: http://goo. gl/9gGe9 (Accessed on 13th October 2012) * Drucker, P. (1985) Innovation and Entrepreneurship. London: Heinemann * Floyd, D. (2011) Revise AS ; A2: Business Studie s. London: Letts Educational Ltd. * Gill, J. (1985) Factors affecting the survival and growth of the smaller company.Hants: Gower Publishing Company Limited * IFC (2012) Helping Attract Investment in Mozambique’s Tourism Sector [Online]. Available at: http://goo. gl/wkZqZ (Accessed on 30th October 2012) * LinkedIn (2012) Business Growth [Online]. Available at: http://www. linkedin. com (Accessed on 1st November 2012) * Office for National Statistics (2008) UK Business Statistics [Online]. Available at: http://nationalstatistics. gov. uk (Accessed on 12th October 2012) * Open Forum (2011) Why the Government should help Young Entrepreneurs start business [Online]. Available at: http://goo. l/uYwiZ (Accessed on 13th October 2012) * SME Fund (2012) SME Loan Guarantee Scheme [Online]. Available at: http://www. smefund. tid. gov. hk/english/sgs/sgs_objective. html (Accessed on 30th October 2012) * Stokes, D. and Wilson, N. (2006) Small Business Management ; Entrepreneurship. London : Thomson Learning * UK Legislation (2012) Employment and Tax-related Laws [Online]. Available at: http://www. legislation. gov. uk (Accessed on 2nd November 2012) * Wikipedia (2012) Economies of scale [Online]. Available at: http://www. wikipedia. com (Accessed on 4th November 2012)

Beauty May Only Be Skin Deep

While many postulate that beauty is not the most important thing in a person's life, reality sometimes dealt people with a hard blow. New parents are always anxious that their child would look good not only for their sake but mostly for the child's sake. Society may well deny that beauty is not a hindrance to success and popularity but even as people are growing up, the good-looking girls and boys get more attention and are forgiven their mischiefs with the proper contrite looks on angelic faces. Relatives and friends would always remark on how beautiful a child is.Even if grown ups know that beauty is just skin deep, it is deeply entrenched in society that it becomes automatic and a point of conversation. In the job market, applicants try their best to look good because it could only be their edge against many others. The Economist says in an article that if appearance is not important in a job, why would people take the trouble of dressing up? Particularly in jobs that involve deal ing with people, employers would require, without including it in the requirements, that the candidates should be pleasing to the eyes.For instance, a flight attendant need not finish college but she must have perfect skin and teeth. For no apparent reason other than having perfect skin is good to look at, airline companies would prefer a college drop-out with stunning good looks rather than a comparatively more intelligent person whose physical appearance is not as flawless. In interpersonal relationships, people tend to gravitate toward beautiful people because they are generally thought to be more fun to be with. People who possess natural beauty could turn out fun and outgoing if they are not blinded and spoilt by too much adoration in their formative years.Many gorgeous celebrities are often caught behaving disorderly in public because their adoring public make sometimes make them blind to their faults. References Women's Health/Gynecology. (2008, August 19). America's Beauty O bsession Poses Serious Consequences for Women and Girls, Report Reveals. Retrieved October 7, 2008, from http://www. medicalnewstoday. com/articles/118588. php The Economist. (2007, December 19). To Those That Have, Shall be Given. Retrieved October 7, 2008, from http://results. myhpf. co. uk/framedresults. asp? Keyword=beauty+and+job+

Is brain dead really dead Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Is brain dead really dead - Research Paper Example Advances in medical knowledge and practice have made it possible for respiratory and cardiovascular functions to be taken over by sophisticated machines and advanced therapies. The significance of recognizing brain death is based on the costs of maintaining patients on life support, intellectual progression and utilitarian purposes. Despite the importance of recognizing brain death, concerns have been raised over challenges to determining brain death. The first challenge is that brain death is not death while the second challenge is that brain death is death but the clinical criteria used to recognize it are unreliable. This essay will discuss the importance of recognizing brain death, in addition to discussing the challenges to brain death. Brain death is a clinical manifestation characterized by irreversible cessation of all the functions of the human brain, including the brain stem (Machado, 2007). Even though the concept of brain death has commonly been applied to organ donation and transplantation, brain death has become a contested issue in general medical practice. Strict guidelines have been developed to certify brain death and only specialist medical practitioners are allowed to make the determination. Recognition of brain death is crucial in medical practice given the medical, bioethical and legal contestations associated with brain death. Much as brain death is considered to be effective in making definite recognition of death, the legal, ethical and human aspects associated with death make brain death a very complex clinical issue. The permanent cessation of the respiratory and cardiovascular functions was traditionally used as the basis upon which death was recognized. Regardless of a patient’s situation, this criterion was widely accepted as the standard for recognizing death (Wijdicks, 2013). Conversely, advancements in medical technology and knowledge have

Criminal Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Criminal Justice - Essay Example Abu Dhabi has constantly suffered the effects of terrorism that have significantly impacted the social, economic and infrastructural settings across the nation. Over the past short period, the Abu Dhabi government has earned bad reputation, thanks to the continuous terror threats. This problem has made the nation to be classified with other nations facing security issues including, Iraq and Afghanistan. Such is the case that nations presently considered most unsafe keep hitting the media headlines on the negative side. It is for this reason that the law enforcement agencies within the Abu Dhabi government are forced to reconsider a new approach to the security issues. In this case, the government will be needed to implement a all-inclusive policy that will help handle the issue ensuring an environment that supports the socio-economic activities within the country, help restore peace and boost prosperity. As it is today, security issues, both internal and external present a serious is sue for countries across the globe, a case that is not much different with Abu Dhabi case. Social-political challenges are greatly heightened by the Crime-corruption. Ethnicity and sectarian division that are witnessed in many other parts of the world are also pronounced in Abu Dhabi. United Arab Emirates has in the recent past become associated with frequent uprising and rebellions, Abu Dhabi being one of the nations within the league it is no exception. Terrorism is the leading threat to the Abu Dhabi internal security. The issue is made even worse by the fact that it consist of a strong network in which the said terrorists collaborate with the drug cartels and criminal organizations to benefit economically. Following these the security department has worked out strategies to help strengthen the policies on foreign security and thus combat acts of terrorism. The interns working with this department help in

Philip Morris Co Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Philip Morris Co - Case Study Example Production of a good quality product, testing it properly, marketing it in a proper way ensuring that no unethical means are used are some of the aspects of business ethics. In short, business ethics are the rules to ensure that the business causes no harm to other businesses, people and society in any way, be it morals and values or any other way. Being such a big international organization, Philip Morris holds great social responsibility. Adding to it the fact that it is a tobacco company, this social responsibility is even doubled. Many ethical issues are posed on it every day and the way it tackles these issues and makes its decisions accordingly, is one of the main factors that make it the leader of the tobacco market. Corporate social responsibility is defined by many people in many ways. Some define it as carrying out the business responsibly and properly giving the society economic benefits, while other define it as striving to solve world's different problems. In either case, corporate social responsibility refers to the act of an organization acting as a responsible part of the society and helping it in one way or the other. When talking about Philip Morris's Corporate Social Responsibility, the main issue is the question that w... Looking at these facts and statistics, it is not surprising if Philip Morris cannot be classified as a socially responsible company no matter how philanthropic campaigns they lead and how many worthy causes they serve to. In cases like Philip Morris, where the corporate goals and interests of the society go in totally different directions, it is very important for the company to incorporate corporate social responsibility in its corporate strategy in a much more integrated way as compared to any other organization. This is extremely important for companies like Philip Morris, the leader of a market that literally kills people. This issue, if not handled properly, can become so serious for the organization that it can become an issue for its survival in the market, since the society would always tend to reprimand any such business that poses such hazards to it and is totally incongruent to its values and interests. Ethical Issues associated with Marketing Practices Although ethical issues are frequent in almost all areas of the business for a tobacco company like Philip Morris, but the major issues are posed in the arena of marketing of its product. In 1998, after the conflicts of four years, the US government and Tobacco Market Leaders settled on an agreement. It tackled with the two most important and growing issues in the society; public health and underage access to the tobacco products. The settlement also required the industry to take necessary steps to ensure the reduction in underage access and underage consumption of the tobacco products. It created a National Foundation and a Public Education fund to make people aware of the hazards attached to tobacco consumption and educating them accordingly.

The Nature of Human Soul Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Nature of Human Soul - Essay Example Plato’s Phaedo has rightly considered as one of the most famous philosophic dialogues about the nature of the human be the ng and the place of soul in it. Plato’s philosophy of human nature and soul is quite straightforward: there is no separation of soul and body, and even death does not break this relationship. Plato asserts that the truth of life is in the way humans hear or see it, as both sight and hearing are the two accurate witnesses of the actual acquirement of knowledge. â€Å"And the thought is best when the mind is gathered into herself and none of these things trouble her – neither sounds nor sights nor pain nor any pleasure – when she has as little as possible to do with the body† (Plato). The soul is the miracle of life, through which humans rethink their deeds and the actions of others, filling themselves with fears, loves, fancies, and lusts (Plato).         Lieutenant Commander Data may be well deprived of the lusts, fancies, and loves that are familiar to humans, but the complexity of his exquisite mind should not be disregarded. Data grasp new information coming to him from the world around him with unusual mental hunger. He has a book he likes because it reminds him of the special moments in his life, and he confesses that he and Tasha Yar used to be intimate (Star Trek). Data demonstrates the sensitivity and respect a machine without a soul would never show, and based on Plato’s writings, it is possible to assume that Data’s body is inseparable from his soul. The latter helps him to understand the complexity of the world.            Like Plato, Descartes was extrthe only concerned with the questions of the human body and soul. However, unlike Plato, the perspective Descartes chooses is called ‘doubt’. In the First Meditation, Descartes asserts that reason and thinking capabilities are the foundational pillars of human existence. To a large extent, thinking in Descartes is the same as the soul in Plato. Descartes writes: â€Å"although the senses sometimes deceive us about objects that are very small or distant, that doesn’t apply to my belief that I am here, sitting g by the fire, wearing a winter dressing-gown, holding this piece of paper in my hands, and so on†.

OLS Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

OLS - Case Study Example According to Carrel et al (1995), organisations should always consider ethics and values since they are primarily concerned with upholding the principles of honesty and truthfulness in the company’s endeavour to satisfy the needs of the customers. Ethics are very important because strategic operations in an organisation that are premised on lies are bound to fail as they would be doubtful in the eyes of the potential customers. 2) Leadership can be defined as the ability by an individual to influence the other people in an organisation to follow a course of action that is specifically designed to achieve the goals of the organisation. Leadership is primarily involved in the attainment of the vision of the organisation. Leadership in an organisation is very important since it focuses on the attainment of organisational goals. 3) A service can be defined as an offering that is intangible but able to satisfy the needs of the consumers. A service is exchanged for something valuable such as money or any other kind of payment. This definition is very important in the understanding of decision making since it affects the quality of services offered by an organisation as well as the general service delivery 4) Character can be defined as the personal attributes that form and shape the behaviour of an individual person. Whilst character is something that is in born, it can as well be noted that it can as well be influenced by external forces. This definition is very important in the knowledge of decision making as it is enlightening about how an individual person can conduct himself. a) Prejudicial employment practices posit to the effect that organisations should not discriminate the other employees on the basis of race, gender, age, physical ability as well as religion among others (Carrel et al 1995). The most

A report on the care programme approach (CPA) within NHS Essay

A report on the care programme approach (CPA) within NHS - Essay Example The scope of this report is to appraise relevant Government initiatives in taking healthcare policies forward, with particular reference to the CPA to serve as a basis for improved service planning for the future. The Government in 1999, brought out a document named â€Å"Effective co-ordination in Mental Health Services: A policy booklet modernising the Care Programme Approach.† One of the observations made this is that â€Å"Mental illness places demands on services that no one discipline or agency can meet alone.† (2) This led to recognition of the need for a system to effectively co-ordinate health, social care and related services â€Å"to work in harmony to the benefit of the service user.† (2 ibid) A major milestone that accelerated the pace of integrated health care service delivery was the issue of a White paper named â€Å"Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services,† (3) in January 2006. This White paper sets the baseline for healthcare services in the country for the future. This report aims to bring out an appraisal on the implementation of strategies, objectives and goals relating to healthcare underpinned in various Government initiatives to make the CPA for mental health services more result oriented. This aim is accomplished through a critical study of documents released by the Government from time to time, on implementation of the policies and programmes and on monitoring these and accomplishments reported. The findings include understanding of the policies initiated in 1991 through significant reforms brought out on the CPA since 1999, taking forward the initial policies, formulation of National standards on mental health and various other reforms that influenced the healthcare Sector as a whole. Documents researched particularly include reviews of the progress and effectiveness of the policies programmes and initiatives and improvements accomplished. People of working age have a mental health

Medical profession Essay Example for Free

Medical profession Essay Adolescence roughly covers the age from thirteen to eighteen. Thus they are called the â€Å"teen years†. Psychologist, educators and the medical profession all agree that adolescence is the most difficult stage an individual may have to go through. It is a time of rapid changes in physical, cognitive and social behavior (Hurlock, 1982). At this age the teen undergo a transition from â€Å"innocence’ to â€Å"awareness†. He shifts from the egocentric world of childhood where his thinking is guided only by what is known or seen to a wide world within him and around him where he can logically think through its reality(Hilliard ,2003) The individual entered an age wherein suddenly there are so many things that he wants to know, understand and experience. It is at this time that primary (sex organs) and secondary sex characteristics start to develop. This includes growth of pubic hair, swelling of breast or first menstrual period for girls and penis growth for boys. Such changes are made possible due to biological change that are undergoing within their bodies. Both boys and girls began to release large quantities of sex hormones, estrogen for girls and androgen for boys. This hormonal change in turn may cause arousal and emotionality in both sexes as they began to figure there sexual values (Hurlock, 1982). Their physical and biological development may make teens overly â€Å"self-conscious† and they become strongly interested to the opposite sex. It is at this time that they first start dating (Huebner, 2000). Generally teens are primarily confronted with issues about sexuality that leads to confusion, chaos, rebellion and extra emotional sensitivity (Hurlock, 1982). Developmental theories had been formulated to explain this phenomenon. METHODOLOGY The purpose of questionnaire is to know a teen’s view and attitude about sex. It does not tackle other sexuality issues like homosexuality and transgender. In developing my questionnaire I keep three things in mind: I should not be biased, questions must be clear to avoid misunderstanding and that care should be taken so as not to offend or embarrass my respondents. I know that teens can be very sensitive and conscious of what people say about them and for most of them sex is a private matter. To meet the above criteria I was careful in not committing the following errors in designing a questionnaire: a) the respondent feels the information is â€Å"none of my business† (Do you masturbate? ), b) Question lack a standard of reference ( do you feel comfortable discussing sex with â€Å"people†? What people? Friends? Parents?), c) the respondent does not know the answer (How many teens in your school disagree about premarital sex? ), and d) the respondent does not remember the answer and therefore guesses (How many girls does your best friend dated last year? ). I first tested my questionnaire by letting one of my teen friends answer it. In this way I will know if the questions are clear and can be easily answered even when I am not around. I revised question/s that was declared not clear by my friend. The next task was to find a teen to be interviewed using the questionnaire. In order not to be biased I interviewed someone I do not know. In this way I have no idea regarding his sexual views. I went to a community park where all sorts and types of teens usually hangout during non-school days. I found a prospect in a group of boys who were dancing beside a stage. The person I interviewed volunteered to answer the questionnaire. He strikes me as a happy go lucky teen. He dresses nicely and smells good although he had been sweating because of their dance practice (he informed me that his group will be joining a dance contest in their community). He smiles easily and seems not to take my interview seriously at first.

High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry

High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry Hotels, catering and leisure industry in the UK remains the sector with the highest level of staff turnover, with all leavers in this category hitting 41%, according to a survey carried out by the CIPD (2008). Many organisations are badly affected by high levels of staff turnover and the survey identified that 74% of organisations in the UK, reported a negative impact on their business performance. This report also identified four main reasons that cause labour turnover. They are, change of career (55%), promotions outside of the company (45%), level of pay (41%) and lack of career development (33%). Employee dissatisfaction caused by poor relationships with supervisors and line managers, undesirable working conditions and lack of career development and training opportunities are also seen as major factors that cause high staff turnover ( Griffeth, Hom and Gaertner 2000). As mentioned in an article published by the Adecco Institute (2008) skills shortage in the jobs market is seen as a major human resources challenge for the future and this is particularly true of the hospitality and leisure industry in the UK, as it has suffered from constant recruitment difficulties over the past so many years. Age positive carried out a survey in the year 2005 and according to the results of the survey nearly 40% of all vacancies in the hospitality industry were hard to fill and much of the problem has been caused by poor retention strategies implemented by organisations. Another factor identified by the survey with regard to why so many vacancies were hard to fill is the lack of necessary ski lls and abilities by potential applicants who apply for jobs in the hotel and hospitality industry. A similar percentage of employers who participated in the survey stated that applicants lack excellent communication skills required, and this is particularly true of receptionists, managers and administrators and this has created immense pressure on HR executives and managers to attract, manage and retain key talent within their organisation which is an essential factor in creating sustainable competitive advantage. The results and information unearthed from these surveys make it crystal clear that high levels of staff turnover is a major problem to all organisations and the HR department of an organisation has a key responsibility of closely monitor labour turnover levels and figures and make right steps in order to bring staff turnover to a manageable level and face the future with resistance. High levels of staff turnover in an organisation may compromise the quality and high standards of customer service, and may impact on the organisation loosing loyal customers, revenue and long term sustainability (Tracy and Hinkin, 2008). Once the well established staff leave a company it may not only increase the workload of the remaining staff members of the company, but would be difficult for the organisation to gain the same highest levels of service from the newly hired staff as they would still be in a period of learning their job, and other key tasks and responsibilities associated with the job. Furthermore when employees leave on a regular basis it creates extra workloads for the remaining staff and as a result they could become depressed with work and not be able to deliver their best performance on the job. This may further exacerbate the problem and may also result in staff getting absent from work regularly and their good health deteriorate. The article of Tracy and Hinkin (2008) also states financial implications for organisations as a result of high levels of staff turnover. The costs associated with replacing staff can be sorted into hard costs, soft costs, and opportunity costs. Hard costs are costs such as money spent on newspaper advertisements, adverts on recruitment agencies etc, and they have a direct impact on the organisation. Other elements such as the time it takes to interview new recruits, and time spent on exit interviews will not be shown in company account statements as they are regarded as soft costs. Opportunity costs such as missed customers and market shares, usually go unmeasured but can still be substantial and may also lower company profitability and competitor advantage of the organisation ( Simons and Hinkin 2001 cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, 2008). The following five are identified as major costs categories that contribute towards the total costs of replacing an employee. They are pre-departure, recruitment, selection, orientation and training, and lost productivity (Hinkin and Tracy 2007, 2006, cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T,2008). The already high staff turnover rates in the hotel industry also reflects high turnover of newly selected staff who leave the company within their first 30 days because the job did not suit them (Woods,1997:141). Does this mean possible issues with the prevailing recruitment and selection methods adopted by the hospitality sector organisations? According to the article by Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, only a few turnover studies have been so far carried out in the hotel and hospitality sector, despite reporting high levels of turnover every year. Therefore my literature review aims to conduct a much broader view of this issue by critically examining the current procedures and practices carried out by the High Beech Hotel UK and some of the other local selected competitor hotels, which may be associated with employee turnover. By doing so this study aims to understand the root causes of high levels of employee turnover of High Beech Hotel and propose solutions and recommendations to overcome those issues. This research benefits High Beech Hotel in terms of minimising the unnecessary costs that may occur due to advertising, interviewing, training of new staff as well as improving the overall standard of the hotel. High Beech Hotel is a three start hotel located in beautiful Hastings area and is faced with stiff competition with many three to four star hotels operating in the area such as, The White Rock Hotel, Travelodge Hastings, The Hotel Undum and the Chatsworth Hotel. The High Beech Hotel is therefore fighting to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage and grow its market share. The opinions of the General Manager, Operations Manager and the HR manager prove that jobs in the industry are difficult in the area and finding the right talent for the right job and the retention of quality staff are major HR challenges currently faced by the hotel. The general manager of the hotel is new to her post and has already expressed concerns about the high staff turnover. Turnover is high among front line staff, waiters and porters and the management has had few discussions to find the reasons why staff left, and find out ways to resolve the problem. I having worked at the hotel as an HR executive (placement student) managed to gain a good understanding of the high turnover and the possible effects the turnover levels have had on the existing staff. Literature review Labour turnover is the rate at which staff leaves an organisation and are replaced by new employees. Too high a labour turnover rate may mean that there is something unsatisfactory about working for the organisation and that action therefore would need to be taken (Adams et al, 1993) Denver and McMahon (1992:143) defined labour turnover as the movement of people into and out of employment within an organisation and can both be voluntary and involuntary. Eade (1993) further categorises turnover into management controllable and unavoidable turnover. Labour turnover index is used to measure staff turnover and according to Armstrong (2001) labour turnover rates provide a valuable means to benchmarking the effectiveness of HR policies and practices in organisations. The hotel industry is essentially comprised of both a production and a service aspect and the creation and rendering of services from the hotel to the customer are mainly achieved through employees. Therefore the industry is essentially represented by people (Lewis 1989; Thompson and Abbott, 1990; Schneider , 1993) and is considered as one of the most labour intensive industries. Turnover in the hotel industry in the UK has been shown to be unacceptably high (Kennedy and Berger, 1994), averaging as much as 200% to 300% per year. Statistically this means that the entire workforce of the industry turns over two to three times per year. The main factors identified, that could impact on turnover are, orientation and good socialisation procedures (Kennedy and Berger 1994, Woods, 1992), ad-hoc recruitment and selection (Benn and Farbringer, 1992, Woods and Macaulay, 1989; Wagner, 1991; Wheelhouse, 1989), discrimination at the workplace (Antolik,1993), lack of training and development oppor tunities (Hogan, 1992; rowden,1995), organisation culture (Woods and Macaulay, 1998) shortage of skills in the labour market (Debrah, 1994; Woods, 1992), high levels of work related stress ( Vallen,1993;Woods, 1992; Ham and Griffeth, 1995), seasonal nature of the industry ( Boella, 1998) and job dissatisfaction ( Bonn and Frbringer, 1992). All of these factors have contributed towards high levels of staff turnover in the hotel industry and it is clear that the success of the industry depends upon taking necessary steps to reduce the above mentioned issues, and problems, and the calibre of employees, and how well they are managed (Nankervis and Debroh, 1995; Berger and Ghel, 1995). Deery and Iverson, (1996) commented that high degree of staff turnover levels consist of recruitment and replacement costs, and regular and loyal customers switching to other competitor hotels as they expect to see their favourite staff members. It is clear labour costs play a major part in the industry and high staff turnover is seen as a prime issue hampering the smooth functioning of hotel and organisations within the hospitality industry (Obrien and McDonnell 2003). Deery and Iverson (1996) examined the employee turnover phenomenal and found that high turnover resulted in organisations loosing revenue and profits. They also argued that high turnover, especially when skilled staff leave, contributes to lowering the employee morale and the overall ability of teams within the organisations to get quality work done. Therefore the retention of skilled and well trained staff in any hospitality organisation is important to save unnecessary tangible and intangible costs as well as retaining regular and loyal customers and to provide them with a quality service. It is clear from the arguments put forward by the above mentioned authors and scholars but Despite an array of academic evidence and research on labour turnover the question to be asked is do management of hospitality sector organisations understand the gravity of the issue of staff turnover, and its negative effects on the performance of the organisation and how far they are willing to go to retain the valuable staff. At a time of difficult economic times it is imperative and organisation takes measures to outperform its competitors and any hospitality sector organisation that understands the value of human capital and adopt good HRM policies and management practices in pursuit of employee retention will inevitably outperform the competition (Cho et al., 2006, Hinkin and Tracy, 2000). Staff leaving on a regular basis involves heavy administration costs and a loss of productivity through the breaking up of teams who are used to working together (Denvir and McMohan, 1992:144). Therefore the critical importance of employees staying with an organisation is evident (Brayfield and Crockett, 1995; Cho et al, 2006). It is clear that satisfied and highly motivated employees stay with the organisation which in turn helps the company to reduce unnecessary recruitment and selection costs which could amount to a substantial amount of money, but also produce high quality work which helps the organisation to achieve competitive advantage and increase its profits (Cho et al., 2006; Hinkin and Tracey, 2000). Exit interviews are a great method of collecting information as to why employees leave an organisation. Employees leave for various reasons ranging from lack of employee oriented organisational measures such as succession planning, pay , non-financial rewards, work life balance and undesirable working conditions as well as more personal reasons such as inability to look after their children, other child welfare issues and transport problems. This can also vary depending on how long they have worked for the company and it is a common factor as evident from the High Beech Hotel, and that staff leaves because they soon found out that the job did not suit them. Some other staff members leave after serving the organisation after serving a considerable amount of time and their issues could very well be different to people leaving early. According to the CIPD (2007) costs an organisation approximately  £3500 pounds every time an employee leaves and as stated earlier these costs include bo th tangible costs and intangible costs such as time spent on interviewing new recruits and these often go unreported in company accounts. Denver and McMahon (1992:146) also found out that individual hotel organisations experience different levels of turnover, which helps to confirm that staff turnover is partly within the control of the hotel management. This also contradicts with the common acceptance that staff turnover is high and uniform throughout the industry and uncontrollable. Therefore it is evident that high levels of staff turnover is harmful to the smooth functioning of any organisation, may it be in the hospitality sector or some other sector and hinders the efficient operation of the business resulting in the hotel gradually losing its market share. Therefore it is important that the hospitality sector organisations develop effective and vibrant HRM policies that enable them to successfully recruit, select and retain skilled and efficient employees, who would contribute towards the achievement of the corporate objectives of the business. Factors influence on high Labour Turnover. The hotel industry in the UK is constantly troubled with high staff turnover resulting in increased personnel costs arise from recruitment and selection of new staff, training them (Ham and Griffeth, 1995). There is a strong negative relationship between turnover and organisational commitment which indicates that staff with low levels of commitment and loyalty are more likely to withdraw from the organisation than more committed staff (Johnston et, 1993). He also identified a positive relationship between organisational commitment and career progression opportunities given to employees through internal promotions and succession planning. These employees who are given opportunities to progress up the ladder, exhibit higher levels of organisational commitment, and loyalty and results in skilled staff retention and a gradual decline of low performing employees. This makes it much easier for HR managers to successfully identify low performing employees and eliminate them from the work fo rce which is important and a good for the success of the company as this turnover is considered healthy. Another key factor which may influence staff turnover is the gender difference and certain problems it creates within the organisation. Female workers have different responsibilities to their male counterparts and may value work life balance more as a result. The pressures of work and life, has resulted in more female workers leaving their jobs than male workers (Doherty and Manfredi, 2006:62). In most hotels it can be seen female workers working in the bottom of the organisation hierarchy and the pay gap between males and female workers has been a much talked about issue in the UK. Iverson (2000) conducted a study in the USA involving hotel establishments and found that female managers earn much less than the male managers doing the same job which is commonly seen in the UK and this has resulted in, female workers being reluctant to return to work after their maternity leave. On top of this, most organisations have failed to assist their female workers to arrange necessary child car e arrangements which have aggravated the number of female workers leaving their job. As per above authors the reluctance of female workers to return to work may also be caused by factors such as stress, work dissatisfaction, lack of commitment and low promotion opportunities coupled with a poor organisation culture that does not provide a platform to encourage female workers to move up the career ladder. Therefore the problems and issues female workers face in the workplace is clear and applicable in hospitality sector organisations, and it is very important the HR department address these issues and understand why many female workers leave their jobs early. Organisation culture, average age of the total labour force of the organisation, gender and racial composition and male-female pay gaps are among the reasons why employees leave (Bennett et al, 1993). Prospective employees when joining an organisation look into a number of factors such as career development opportunities, total reward policy and work life balance. Lack of incentives is therefore a main reason why many employees leave their jobs after some time. Incentives include both financial and nonfinancial and employees may simply want praise for their good work and lack of recognition could seriously hamper employee retention. Ritz Carlton hotel in London, has managed to reduce employee turnover to a significant level by focusing on quality recruitment, providing better training and development opportunities and by forming a positive psychological contract with the employees, and also by creating long term incentive and reward systems ( Barky, 1996). Therefore it is fair to assume that to a large extent organisation HRM practices, policies and procedures determine staff turnover. Organisation policies and lack of employee oriented practices and procedures may not only be the sole reason why many organisations particularly in the hospitality industry experience high level of staff turnover. Another factor that affects turnover is the ability of staff to carry out their tasks and responsibilities up to the required standard and the job performance of employees largely affects staff turnover and this is also confirmed by a study conducted by Jewell and Siegal (1990). They found that employees having very high levels of on-the-job performance are highly unlikely to leave their job in contrast with employees with low levels of performance. High performing employees are confident in their job and have better work related knowledge and skills. Low pay, lack of training and career development opportunities, lack of regular and realistic performance appraisals and undesired work environments are among the key reasons that cause low performance which in-turn result in high staff turnover. Therefore it is clear HR professionals in hotel establishments must pay very close attention to developing employee oriented HRM policies and practices that help staff achieve their full potent ial. To name a few these HR policies and practices are training and development opportunities open management communication systems, employee welfare such as child care, flexible working, transport assistant to employees and a comprehensive induction programme that helps new recruits to adopt well to their new roles. When analysing the hospitality and hotel industry in particular it has been found that most organisations have a poor reputation for providing good staff training and development opportunities (Maxwell et al, 2004). High staff turnover in most hospitality sector industries may have also led managers to be reluctant to providing staff with opportunities to further develop their careers fearing they may leave after that ( Davies et al, 2001, Jameson, 2000: Lowey et al, 2002). High staff turnover also causes managers to be occupied with recruitment and selection activity as well as grievance issues, and this may also be a reason for them not to have sufficient time to focus on staff development and talent management. Training and development and staff retention has a close match as poorly trained staff are less satisfied with work and may leave quicker and more than fully trained and highly satisfied staff. Therefore training and development directly affects job satisfaction and organis ational commitment (Lam and Zhang, 2003, Taylor et al, 2001, Lowry et al, 2002). Working hours is another key factor that causes employees to leave and most hospitality sector organisations, because of high staff turnover may require remaining staff to work extra hours on a regular basis. Long working hours without breaks are against the working time regulations as well as current health and safety rules and Female workers are largely affected by this practice because of their family commitments and a research conducted by Erdogan (1996:26) revealed long working hours are among the main reasons for many female workers to quit their jobs. There has also been an increase of single parent families and long hours and unsocial working hours have forced females to leave their jobs. This not only creates staff to leave but unfriendly working hours coupled with a poor corporate and work culture and a hostile working environment of the organisation , may affect the job satisfaction of female workers and even if they remain with the job their work could be highly unproduct ive and suffer from work related stress. Despite the fact that many researchers and academics stressing the importance of a good organisation work environment that provides employees oriented HR measures to achieve these goals and objectives many organisations still suffer from high levels of staff turnover and female staff turnover as evident from research findings. All of the above stated factors and elements contribute to employee dissatisfaction and it is a result of various internal and external factors that were mentioned above. Labour turnover of High Beech Hotel High Beech Hotel had a newly appointed general manager and she has been investigating the reasons for the high staff turnover levels of the hotel over the past three years and has had several discussions with the operations manager and the HR manager of the company. Unfortunately no proper investigation has not been done so far to find out the possible causes of staff turnover but the management in consultation with the company HR records and turnover figures has assumed the reasons as job dissatisfaction, long and unfriendly working hours, pay issues, lack of training and development opportunities for staff, issues with working condition and other personal issues of staff such as work life balance. Importance of HR practices and concepts in relation to staff retention and turnover HRM plays a vital part in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for any organisation, and forward looking organisations adopt good HR policies and practices to ensure the smooth functioning of the organisation (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Stewart, 1997; Verma and Dewe, 2008). Research studies have confirmed that well defined organisational goals and corporate objectives directly influence employee retention and productivity. Kim et al, (2005) in their study on corporate orientation found that organisational direction and support had a significant impact on employee job satisfaction and overall commitment. ORGANISATIONAL INITIATIVES The organisational HR initiatives as mentioned above, illustrate how internal factors and forces contribute towards employee retention. The model does not mention about external forces such as local and national competition in the labour market, economic situation, globalisation and international competition which affects attracting skilled employees to various jobs. It can be seen that this model covers the internal factors and reasons that affect staff retention or turnover and it is critically important for an organisation and HR professionals to pay close attention to the factors mentioned under the model to critically assess where they stand as an organisation and take steps to implement those HR practices and policies to retain talented staff ( Horwitz et al, 2003; Steel et al, 2002). These internal HR policies and practices are bundled under the term retention management and it is defined as the ability to hold onto those employees an organisation would want to keep, for longe r than the competitors (Johnson,2000 cited De Vos and Meganck,2007). The external factors should not be neglected at the same time because there may be times employees may leave an organisation due to their influences. The impact of financial and non-financial rewards cannot be undermined and play a critical role in motivating skilled and valued employees and retaining them within the organisation. Financial rewards such as a good basic pay combined with performance related pay and non-financial rewards such as training and development opportunities, initiatives to achieve work life balance for staff and other employee retention initiatives such as a pensions scheme and internal promotions motivate staff and force them to think again before quitting their jobs (Horwitz et al,2003;De Vos and Meganck, 2007). When analysing the theories and ides put forward by the above mentioned academics and scholars it is evident they focused on retaining highly skilled employees and researched to find out the possible reasons why valued employees leave organisations. This is being described as retention management and the word retention embraces with other HR practices such as recruitment and selection, development of employees to achieve their full potential and succession management (Lewis and Heckmanp 2006:140). HR Practices and the importance of Human Psychology HRM involves all management decision and practices that directly affects other people, or human resources, who work for the organisation. The question that arises is that despite the fact that many organisations including the hospitality and hotel industry, implement all accepted HR practices and procedures, why employees still leave and the staff turnover rates are extremely high. A good understanding of the implications of human psychology would help HR managers to find the root causes to this problem. Psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced his concept of hierarchy of needs in 1943 which suggests that people are motivated to fulfil their basic human needs before moving on to other needs. The hierarchy of needs is displayed as a pyramid and the lowest level of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are at the top. The needs located at the bottom are the most basic human needs and as people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Therefore when it comes to employees staying or leaving a particular organisation which stage the employee is in could play a vital role in his or her decision making process. At the core this theory of Maslow suggests that when an individual satisfies one set of needs they always try to move into the other level. This makes it critically important for HR professionals in the hospitality organisations how this theory of Maslow affects individual employees and how it influences an individuals decision about him staying or leaving the organisation. When an individual joins an organisation the first concern is to organise his life in-terms of food shelter and other essential psychological needs through wages and salary. The next concern would be job security and personal health and safety in the job. Once those needs are satisfied the employee would move in to the other set of needs which are social needs such as friendly colleagues and staff as well as a desirable working environment. After this comes the next stage which is satisfying the esteem needs which is comprised of individual being recognised for his work and valued by the management of the organisation as well as taking full advantage of any courses and exams they could take to get promoted. Once this set of needs are fully satisfied t he employee reaches the stage of self actualisation. Therefore to satisfy the individual employee needs the HR executives working in hospitality sector organisations must understand the needs of employees and aim to provide tailor made HR solutions in line with the corporate strategy of the company. In order to accomplish this, the HR managers must have accurate methods and procedures to understand which stage the employee is in his hierarchy of needs because if this is not done or if the right methods and procedures are not in place there will inevitably be a contradiction. For an example the HR managers may direct their full efforts into satisfying the esteem needs of employees through individual recognition and internal promotions at work when the employees are seeking safety needs. This would result in a waste of company resources and employees considering leaving the organisation. Individuals decision making process An individuals decision making process is comprised of a number of internal and external variables as shown below and the final decision makes by an individual employee is made up of a collection of those internal and external variables. This model is highly useful in understanding an employees decision making in an organisation (Kotler, 2000, p98). As seen the model is comprised of five main stages which an individual may go through before coming into a decision. They are, * Problem recognition * Information search * Evaluation of alternatives * Decision to leave or stay * Post- purchase evaluation Therefore the first stage is problem recognition and that is recognising there is a problem or issue to be answered by the employee. The problem arose can be triggered by internal influences, external influences or both. Once the main problem or problems are recognised by the employee he then moves into the next stage which is information search. For an example if the initial problem recognised by the employee is concerned with training and development opportunities offered by the organisation then through information search he would try to gather as much information as possible through various external and internal sources about what actions and steps he could take in order to gain the desired level of training. The next stage once sufficient information is gathered is the evaluation of alternatives. As per with training and development, the employee in this stage will go through various possible courses to be taken and evaluate the appropriateness of those courses to his job and what help he could get from the organisation in order to take the course. The next stage of the process is the final decision of the employee to stay with the organisation or to leave. This is called the purchase decision and according to Kotler (2000, p 99) two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and purchase decision. The first factor is the attitudes of other people, which is what the others around think of the individuals decision. Influence of other people can become complex and varied when there are more than one persons involved. The second factor Kotler (2000,p 99) mentions is the unanticipated or unexpected situations and as per the above example of training and development, factors such as the recession and cost cutting measures by the organisation could hamper the employees aspiration of embarking on the course. The final stage of the decision making process is the post purchase evaluation which involves the employee evaluating the positives and negatives of the decision taken, and the possible consequences of it. This concept has a high degree of importance to HR even though it is widely used in marketing and regarded more as a marketing related concep High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry Hotels, catering and leisure industry in the UK remains the sector with the highest level of staff turnover, with all leavers in this category hitting 41%, according to a survey carried out by the CIPD (2008). Many organisations are badly affected by high levels of staff turnover and the survey identified that 74% of organisations in the UK, reported a negative impact on their business performance. This report also identified four main reasons that cause labour turnover. They are, change of career (55%), promotions outside of the company (45%), level of pay (41%) and lack of career development (33%). Employee dissatisfaction caused by poor relationships with supervisors and line managers, undesirable working conditions and lack of career development and training opportunities are also seen as major factors that cause high staff turnover ( Griffeth, Hom and Gaertner 2000). As mentioned in an article published by the Adecco Institute (2008) skills shortage in the jobs market is seen as a major human resources challenge for the future and this is particularly true of the hospitality and leisure industry in the UK, as it has suffered from constant recruitment difficulties over the past so many years. Age positive carried out a survey in the year 2005 and according to the results of the survey nearly 40% of all vacancies in the hospitality industry were hard to fill and much of the problem has been caused by poor retention strategies implemented by organisations. Another factor identified by the survey with regard to why so many vacancies were hard to fill is the lack of necessary ski lls and abilities by potential applicants who apply for jobs in the hotel and hospitality industry. A similar percentage of employers who participated in the survey stated that applicants lack excellent communication skills required, and this is particularly true of receptionists, managers and administrators and this has created immense pressure on HR executives and managers to attract, manage and retain key talent within their organisation which is an essential factor in creating sustainable competitive advantage. The results and information unearthed from these surveys make it crystal clear that high levels of staff turnover is a major problem to all organisations and the HR department of an organisation has a key responsibility of closely monitor labour turnover levels and figures and make right steps in order to bring staff turnover to a manageable level and face the future with resistance. High levels of staff turnover in an organisation may compromise the quality and high standards of customer service, and may impact on the organisation loosing loyal customers, revenue and long term sustainability (Tracy and Hinkin, 2008). Once the well established staff leave a company it may not only increase the workload of the remaining staff members of the company, but would be difficult for the organisation to gain the same highest levels of service from the newly hired staff as they would still be in a period of learning their job, and other key tasks and responsibilities associated with the job. Furthermore when employees leave on a regular basis it creates extra workloads for the remaining staff and as a result they could become depressed with work and not be able to deliver their best performance on the job. This may further exacerbate the problem and may also result in staff getting absent from work regularly and their good health deteriorate. The article of Tracy and Hinkin (2008) also states financial implications for organisations as a result of high levels of staff turnover. The costs associated with replacing staff can be sorted into hard costs, soft costs, and opportunity costs. Hard costs are costs such as money spent on newspaper advertisements, adverts on recruitment agencies etc, and they have a direct impact on the organisation. Other elements such as the time it takes to interview new recruits, and time spent on exit interviews will not be shown in company account statements as they are regarded as soft costs. Opportunity costs such as missed customers and market shares, usually go unmeasured but can still be substantial and may also lower company profitability and competitor advantage of the organisation ( Simons and Hinkin 2001 cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, 2008). The following five are identified as major costs categories that contribute towards the total costs of replacing an employee. They are pre-departure, recruitment, selection, orientation and training, and lost productivity (Hinkin and Tracy 2007, 2006, cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T,2008). The already high staff turnover rates in the hotel industry also reflects high turnover of newly selected staff who leave the company within their first 30 days because the job did not suit them (Woods,1997:141). Does this mean possible issues with the prevailing recruitment and selection methods adopted by the hospitality sector organisations? According to the article by Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, only a few turnover studies have been so far carried out in the hotel and hospitality sector, despite reporting high levels of turnover every year. Therefore my literature review aims to conduct a much broader view of this issue by critically examining the current procedures and practices carried out by the High Beech Hotel UK and some of the other local selected competitor hotels, which may be associated with employee turnover. By doing so this study aims to understand the root causes of high levels of employee turnover of High Beech Hotel and propose solutions and recommendations to overcome those issues. This research benefits High Beech Hotel in terms of minimising the unnecessary costs that may occur due to advertising, interviewing, training of new staff as well as improving the overall standard of the hotel. High Beech Hotel is a three start hotel located in beautiful Hastings area and is faced with stiff competition with many three to four star hotels operating in the area such as, The White Rock Hotel, Travelodge Hastings, The Hotel Undum and the Chatsworth Hotel. The High Beech Hotel is therefore fighting to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage and grow its market share. The opinions of the General Manager, Operations Manager and the HR manager prove that jobs in the industry are difficult in the area and finding the right talent for the right job and the retention of quality staff are major HR challenges currently faced by the hotel. The general manager of the hotel is new to her post and has already expressed concerns about the high staff turnover. Turnover is high among front line staff, waiters and porters and the management has had few discussions to find the reasons why staff left, and find out ways to resolve the problem. I having worked at the hotel as an HR executive (placement student) managed to gain a good understanding of the high turnover and the possible effects the turnover levels have had on the existing staff. Literature review Labour turnover is the rate at which staff leaves an organisation and are replaced by new employees. Too high a labour turnover rate may mean that there is something unsatisfactory about working for the organisation and that action therefore would need to be taken (Adams et al, 1993) Denver and McMahon (1992:143) defined labour turnover as the movement of people into and out of employment within an organisation and can both be voluntary and involuntary. Eade (1993) further categorises turnover into management controllable and unavoidable turnover. Labour turnover index is used to measure staff turnover and according to Armstrong (2001) labour turnover rates provide a valuable means to benchmarking the effectiveness of HR policies and practices in organisations. The hotel industry is essentially comprised of both a production and a service aspect and the creation and rendering of services from the hotel to the customer are mainly achieved through employees. Therefore the industry is essentially represented by people (Lewis 1989; Thompson and Abbott, 1990; Schneider , 1993) and is considered as one of the most labour intensive industries. Turnover in the hotel industry in the UK has been shown to be unacceptably high (Kennedy and Berger, 1994), averaging as much as 200% to 300% per year. Statistically this means that the entire workforce of the industry turns over two to three times per year. The main factors identified, that could impact on turnover are, orientation and good socialisation procedures (Kennedy and Berger 1994, Woods, 1992), ad-hoc recruitment and selection (Benn and Farbringer, 1992, Woods and Macaulay, 1989; Wagner, 1991; Wheelhouse, 1989), discrimination at the workplace (Antolik,1993), lack of training and development oppor tunities (Hogan, 1992; rowden,1995), organisation culture (Woods and Macaulay, 1998) shortage of skills in the labour market (Debrah, 1994; Woods, 1992), high levels of work related stress ( Vallen,1993;Woods, 1992; Ham and Griffeth, 1995), seasonal nature of the industry ( Boella, 1998) and job dissatisfaction ( Bonn and Frbringer, 1992). All of these factors have contributed towards high levels of staff turnover in the hotel industry and it is clear that the success of the industry depends upon taking necessary steps to reduce the above mentioned issues, and problems, and the calibre of employees, and how well they are managed (Nankervis and Debroh, 1995; Berger and Ghel, 1995). Deery and Iverson, (1996) commented that high degree of staff turnover levels consist of recruitment and replacement costs, and regular and loyal customers switching to other competitor hotels as they expect to see their favourite staff members. It is clear labour costs play a major part in the industry and high staff turnover is seen as a prime issue hampering the smooth functioning of hotel and organisations within the hospitality industry (Obrien and McDonnell 2003). Deery and Iverson (1996) examined the employee turnover phenomenal and found that high turnover resulted in organisations loosing revenue and profits. They also argued that high turnover, especially when skilled staff leave, contributes to lowering the employee morale and the overall ability of teams within the organisations to get quality work done. Therefore the retention of skilled and well trained staff in any hospitality organisation is important to save unnecessary tangible and intangible costs as well as retaining regular and loyal customers and to provide them with a quality service. It is clear from the arguments put forward by the above mentioned authors and scholars but Despite an array of academic evidence and research on labour turnover the question to be asked is do management of hospitality sector organisations understand the gravity of the issue of staff turnover, and its negative effects on the performance of the organisation and how far they are willing to go to retain the valuable staff. At a time of difficult economic times it is imperative and organisation takes measures to outperform its competitors and any hospitality sector organisation that understands the value of human capital and adopt good HRM policies and management practices in pursuit of employee retention will inevitably outperform the competition (Cho et al., 2006, Hinkin and Tracy, 2000). Staff leaving on a regular basis involves heavy administration costs and a loss of productivity through the breaking up of teams who are used to working together (Denvir and McMohan, 1992:144). Therefore the critical importance of employees staying with an organisation is evident (Brayfield and Crockett, 1995; Cho et al, 2006). It is clear that satisfied and highly motivated employees stay with the organisation which in turn helps the company to reduce unnecessary recruitment and selection costs which could amount to a substantial amount of money, but also produce high quality work which helps the organisation to achieve competitive advantage and increase its profits (Cho et al., 2006; Hinkin and Tracey, 2000). Exit interviews are a great method of collecting information as to why employees leave an organisation. Employees leave for various reasons ranging from lack of employee oriented organisational measures such as succession planning, pay , non-financial rewards, work life balance and undesirable working conditions as well as more personal reasons such as inability to look after their children, other child welfare issues and transport problems. This can also vary depending on how long they have worked for the company and it is a common factor as evident from the High Beech Hotel, and that staff leaves because they soon found out that the job did not suit them. Some other staff members leave after serving the organisation after serving a considerable amount of time and their issues could very well be different to people leaving early. According to the CIPD (2007) costs an organisation approximately  £3500 pounds every time an employee leaves and as stated earlier these costs include bo th tangible costs and intangible costs such as time spent on interviewing new recruits and these often go unreported in company accounts. Denver and McMahon (1992:146) also found out that individual hotel organisations experience different levels of turnover, which helps to confirm that staff turnover is partly within the control of the hotel management. This also contradicts with the common acceptance that staff turnover is high and uniform throughout the industry and uncontrollable. Therefore it is evident that high levels of staff turnover is harmful to the smooth functioning of any organisation, may it be in the hospitality sector or some other sector and hinders the efficient operation of the business resulting in the hotel gradually losing its market share. Therefore it is important that the hospitality sector organisations develop effective and vibrant HRM policies that enable them to successfully recruit, select and retain skilled and efficient employees, who would contribute towards the achievement of the corporate objectives of the business. Factors influence on high Labour Turnover. The hotel industry in the UK is constantly troubled with high staff turnover resulting in increased personnel costs arise from recruitment and selection of new staff, training them (Ham and Griffeth, 1995). There is a strong negative relationship between turnover and organisational commitment which indicates that staff with low levels of commitment and loyalty are more likely to withdraw from the organisation than more committed staff (Johnston et, 1993). He also identified a positive relationship between organisational commitment and career progression opportunities given to employees through internal promotions and succession planning. These employees who are given opportunities to progress up the ladder, exhibit higher levels of organisational commitment, and loyalty and results in skilled staff retention and a gradual decline of low performing employees. This makes it much easier for HR managers to successfully identify low performing employees and eliminate them from the work fo rce which is important and a good for the success of the company as this turnover is considered healthy. Another key factor which may influence staff turnover is the gender difference and certain problems it creates within the organisation. Female workers have different responsibilities to their male counterparts and may value work life balance more as a result. The pressures of work and life, has resulted in more female workers leaving their jobs than male workers (Doherty and Manfredi, 2006:62). In most hotels it can be seen female workers working in the bottom of the organisation hierarchy and the pay gap between males and female workers has been a much talked about issue in the UK. Iverson (2000) conducted a study in the USA involving hotel establishments and found that female managers earn much less than the male managers doing the same job which is commonly seen in the UK and this has resulted in, female workers being reluctant to return to work after their maternity leave. On top of this, most organisations have failed to assist their female workers to arrange necessary child car e arrangements which have aggravated the number of female workers leaving their job. As per above authors the reluctance of female workers to return to work may also be caused by factors such as stress, work dissatisfaction, lack of commitment and low promotion opportunities coupled with a poor organisation culture that does not provide a platform to encourage female workers to move up the career ladder. Therefore the problems and issues female workers face in the workplace is clear and applicable in hospitality sector organisations, and it is very important the HR department address these issues and understand why many female workers leave their jobs early. Organisation culture, average age of the total labour force of the organisation, gender and racial composition and male-female pay gaps are among the reasons why employees leave (Bennett et al, 1993). Prospective employees when joining an organisation look into a number of factors such as career development opportunities, total reward policy and work life balance. Lack of incentives is therefore a main reason why many employees leave their jobs after some time. Incentives include both financial and nonfinancial and employees may simply want praise for their good work and lack of recognition could seriously hamper employee retention. Ritz Carlton hotel in London, has managed to reduce employee turnover to a significant level by focusing on quality recruitment, providing better training and development opportunities and by forming a positive psychological contract with the employees, and also by creating long term incentive and reward systems ( Barky, 1996). Therefore it is fair to assume that to a large extent organisation HRM practices, policies and procedures determine staff turnover. Organisation policies and lack of employee oriented practices and procedures may not only be the sole reason why many organisations particularly in the hospitality industry experience high level of staff turnover. Another factor that affects turnover is the ability of staff to carry out their tasks and responsibilities up to the required standard and the job performance of employees largely affects staff turnover and this is also confirmed by a study conducted by Jewell and Siegal (1990). They found that employees having very high levels of on-the-job performance are highly unlikely to leave their job in contrast with employees with low levels of performance. High performing employees are confident in their job and have better work related knowledge and skills. Low pay, lack of training and career development opportunities, lack of regular and realistic performance appraisals and undesired work environments are among the key reasons that cause low performance which in-turn result in high staff turnover. Therefore it is clear HR professionals in hotel establishments must pay very close attention to developing employee oriented HRM policies and practices that help staff achieve their full potent ial. To name a few these HR policies and practices are training and development opportunities open management communication systems, employee welfare such as child care, flexible working, transport assistant to employees and a comprehensive induction programme that helps new recruits to adopt well to their new roles. When analysing the hospitality and hotel industry in particular it has been found that most organisations have a poor reputation for providing good staff training and development opportunities (Maxwell et al, 2004). High staff turnover in most hospitality sector industries may have also led managers to be reluctant to providing staff with opportunities to further develop their careers fearing they may leave after that ( Davies et al, 2001, Jameson, 2000: Lowey et al, 2002). High staff turnover also causes managers to be occupied with recruitment and selection activity as well as grievance issues, and this may also be a reason for them not to have sufficient time to focus on staff development and talent management. Training and development and staff retention has a close match as poorly trained staff are less satisfied with work and may leave quicker and more than fully trained and highly satisfied staff. Therefore training and development directly affects job satisfaction and organis ational commitment (Lam and Zhang, 2003, Taylor et al, 2001, Lowry et al, 2002). Working hours is another key factor that causes employees to leave and most hospitality sector organisations, because of high staff turnover may require remaining staff to work extra hours on a regular basis. Long working hours without breaks are against the working time regulations as well as current health and safety rules and Female workers are largely affected by this practice because of their family commitments and a research conducted by Erdogan (1996:26) revealed long working hours are among the main reasons for many female workers to quit their jobs. There has also been an increase of single parent families and long hours and unsocial working hours have forced females to leave their jobs. This not only creates staff to leave but unfriendly working hours coupled with a poor corporate and work culture and a hostile working environment of the organisation , may affect the job satisfaction of female workers and even if they remain with the job their work could be highly unproduct ive and suffer from work related stress. Despite the fact that many researchers and academics stressing the importance of a good organisation work environment that provides employees oriented HR measures to achieve these goals and objectives many organisations still suffer from high levels of staff turnover and female staff turnover as evident from research findings. All of the above stated factors and elements contribute to employee dissatisfaction and it is a result of various internal and external factors that were mentioned above. Labour turnover of High Beech Hotel High Beech Hotel had a newly appointed general manager and she has been investigating the reasons for the high staff turnover levels of the hotel over the past three years and has had several discussions with the operations manager and the HR manager of the company. Unfortunately no proper investigation has not been done so far to find out the possible causes of staff turnover but the management in consultation with the company HR records and turnover figures has assumed the reasons as job dissatisfaction, long and unfriendly working hours, pay issues, lack of training and development opportunities for staff, issues with working condition and other personal issues of staff such as work life balance. Importance of HR practices and concepts in relation to staff retention and turnover HRM plays a vital part in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for any organisation, and forward looking organisations adopt good HR policies and practices to ensure the smooth functioning of the organisation (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Stewart, 1997; Verma and Dewe, 2008). Research studies have confirmed that well defined organisational goals and corporate objectives directly influence employee retention and productivity. Kim et al, (2005) in their study on corporate orientation found that organisational direction and support had a significant impact on employee job satisfaction and overall commitment. ORGANISATIONAL INITIATIVES The organisational HR initiatives as mentioned above, illustrate how internal factors and forces contribute towards employee retention. The model does not mention about external forces such as local and national competition in the labour market, economic situation, globalisation and international competition which affects attracting skilled employees to various jobs. It can be seen that this model covers the internal factors and reasons that affect staff retention or turnover and it is critically important for an organisation and HR professionals to pay close attention to the factors mentioned under the model to critically assess where they stand as an organisation and take steps to implement those HR practices and policies to retain talented staff ( Horwitz et al, 2003; Steel et al, 2002). These internal HR policies and practices are bundled under the term retention management and it is defined as the ability to hold onto those employees an organisation would want to keep, for longe r than the competitors (Johnson,2000 cited De Vos and Meganck,2007). The external factors should not be neglected at the same time because there may be times employees may leave an organisation due to their influences. The impact of financial and non-financial rewards cannot be undermined and play a critical role in motivating skilled and valued employees and retaining them within the organisation. Financial rewards such as a good basic pay combined with performance related pay and non-financial rewards such as training and development opportunities, initiatives to achieve work life balance for staff and other employee retention initiatives such as a pensions scheme and internal promotions motivate staff and force them to think again before quitting their jobs (Horwitz et al,2003;De Vos and Meganck, 2007). When analysing the theories and ides put forward by the above mentioned academics and scholars it is evident they focused on retaining highly skilled employees and researched to find out the possible reasons why valued employees leave organisations. This is being described as retention management and the word retention embraces with other HR practices such as recruitment and selection, development of employees to achieve their full potential and succession management (Lewis and Heckmanp 2006:140). HR Practices and the importance of Human Psychology HRM involves all management decision and practices that directly affects other people, or human resources, who work for the organisation. The question that arises is that despite the fact that many organisations including the hospitality and hotel industry, implement all accepted HR practices and procedures, why employees still leave and the staff turnover rates are extremely high. A good understanding of the implications of human psychology would help HR managers to find the root causes to this problem. Psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced his concept of hierarchy of needs in 1943 which suggests that people are motivated to fulfil their basic human needs before moving on to other needs. The hierarchy of needs is displayed as a pyramid and the lowest level of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are at the top. The needs located at the bottom are the most basic human needs and as people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Therefore when it comes to employees staying or leaving a particular organisation which stage the employee is in could play a vital role in his or her decision making process. At the core this theory of Maslow suggests that when an individual satisfies one set of needs they always try to move into the other level. This makes it critically important for HR professionals in the hospitality organisations how this theory of Maslow affects individual employees and how it influences an individuals decision about him staying or leaving the organisation. When an individual joins an organisation the first concern is to organise his life in-terms of food shelter and other essential psychological needs through wages and salary. The next concern would be job security and personal health and safety in the job. Once those needs are satisfied the employee would move in to the other set of needs which are social needs such as friendly colleagues and staff as well as a desirable working environment. After this comes the next stage which is satisfying the esteem needs which is comprised of individual being recognised for his work and valued by the management of the organisation as well as taking full advantage of any courses and exams they could take to get promoted. Once this set of needs are fully satisfied t he employee reaches the stage of self actualisation. Therefore to satisfy the individual employee needs the HR executives working in hospitality sector organisations must understand the needs of employees and aim to provide tailor made HR solutions in line with the corporate strategy of the company. In order to accomplish this, the HR managers must have accurate methods and procedures to understand which stage the employee is in his hierarchy of needs because if this is not done or if the right methods and procedures are not in place there will inevitably be a contradiction. For an example the HR managers may direct their full efforts into satisfying the esteem needs of employees through individual recognition and internal promotions at work when the employees are seeking safety needs. This would result in a waste of company resources and employees considering leaving the organisation. Individuals decision making process An individuals decision making process is comprised of a number of internal and external variables as shown below and the final decision makes by an individual employee is made up of a collection of those internal and external variables. This model is highly useful in understanding an employees decision making in an organisation (Kotler, 2000, p98). As seen the model is comprised of five main stages which an individual may go through before coming into a decision. They are, * Problem recognition * Information search * Evaluation of alternatives * Decision to leave or stay * Post- purchase evaluation Therefore the first stage is problem recognition and that is recognising there is a problem or issue to be answered by the employee. The problem arose can be triggered by internal influences, external influences or both. Once the main problem or problems are recognised by the employee he then moves into the next stage which is information search. For an example if the initial problem recognised by the employee is concerned with training and development opportunities offered by the organisation then through information search he would try to gather as much information as possible through various external and internal sources about what actions and steps he could take in order to gain the desired level of training. The next stage once sufficient information is gathered is the evaluation of alternatives. As per with training and development, the employee in this stage will go through various possible courses to be taken and evaluate the appropriateness of those courses to his job and what help he could get from the organisation in order to take the course. The next stage of the process is the final decision of the employee to stay with the organisation or to leave. This is called the purchase decision and according to Kotler (2000, p 99) two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and purchase decision. The first factor is the attitudes of other people, which is what the others around think of the individuals decision. Influence of other people can become complex and varied when there are more than one persons involved. The second factor Kotler (2000,p 99) mentions is the unanticipated or unexpected situations and as per the above example of training and development, factors such as the recession and cost cutting measures by the organisation could hamper the employees aspiration of embarking on the course. The final stage of the decision making process is the post purchase evaluation which involves the employee evaluating the positives and negatives of the decision taken, and the possible consequences of it. This concept has a high degree of importance to HR even though it is widely used in marketing and regarded more as a marketing related concep

Leisure Time And Cultural Values Of Biodiversity Environmental Sciences Essay

Leisure Time And Cultural Values Of Biodiversity Environmental Sciences Essay Many people derive value from biodiversity through leisure activities such as hiking, birdwatching or natural history study. Biodiversity has inspired musicians, painters, sculptors, writers and other artists. Many culture groups view themselves as an integral part of the natural world and show respect for other living organisms. Popular activities such as gardening, fishkeeping and specimen collecting strongly depend on biodiversity. The number of species involved in such pursuits is in the tens of thousands, though the majority do not enter mainstream commerce. The relationships between the original natural areas of these often exotic animals and plants and commercial collectors, suppliers, breeders, propagators and those who promote their understanding and enjoyment are complex and poorly understood. It seems clear, however, that the general public responds well to exposure to rare and unusual organisms-they recognize their inherent value at some level. A family outing to the botanical garden or zoo is as much an aesthetic and cultural experience as an educational one. Philosophically it could be argued that biodiversity has intrinsic aesthetic and spiritual value to mankind in and of itself. This idea can be used as a counterweight to the notion that tropical forests and other ecological realms are only worthy of conservation because of the services they provide. Key words:Biodiversity;leisure,aesthetic Introduction Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or on an entire planet. Biodiversity is one measure of the health of biological systems. Life on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The year 2010 was declared the International Year of Biodiversity. Biodiversity is not consistent across the Earth. It is consistently rich in the tropics and in specific regions such as the Cape Floristic Province; it is less rich in polar regions where conditions support much less biomass. Rapid environmental changes typically cause extinctions.[1] 99.9Â  percent of species that have existed on Earth are now extinct.[2] Since life began on Earth, five major mass extinctions have led to large and sudden drops in Earthly biodiversity. The Phanerozoic eon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity in the Cambrian explosion-a period during which nearly every phylum of multicellular organisms first appeared. The next 400 million years was distinguished by periodic, massive biodiversity losses classified as mass extinction events. The most recent, the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, occurred 65Â  million years ago, and has attracted more attention than all others because it killed the nonavian dinosaurs.[3] The term was used first by wildlife scientist and conservationist Raymond F. Dasmann in a lay book[4] advocating conservation. The term was widely adopted only after more than a decade, when in the 1980s it came into common usage in science and environmental policy. Use of the term by Thomas Lovejoy, in the foreword to the book Conservation Biology,[5] introduced the term to the scientific community. Until then the term natural diversity was common, including by The Science Division of The Nature Conservancy in an important 1975 study, The Preservation of Natural Diversity. By the early 1980s TNCs Science program and its head, Robert E. Jenkins,[6] Lovejoy and other leading conservation scientists at the time in America advocated the use of biological diversity. The terms contracted form biodiversity may have been coined by W.G. Rosen in 1985 while planning the National Forum on Biological Diversity organized by the National Research Council (NRC) which was to be held in 1986, and first appeared in a publication in 1988 when entomologist E. O. Wilson used it as the title of the proceedings[7] of that forum.[8] Human benefits Biodiversity supports a number of natural ecosystem processes and services.[10] Some ecosystem services that benefit society are air quality,[11] climate (e.g., CO2 sequestration), water purification, pollination, and prevention of erosion.[11] Since the stone age, species loss has accelerated above the prior rate, driven by human activity. The exact rate is uncertain, but it has been estimated that species are now being lost at a rate approximately 100 times as fast as is typical in the fossil record, or perhaps as high as 10,000 times as fast.[12] Land is being transformed from wilderness into agricultural, mining, lumbering and urban areas for humans. Non-material benefits include spiritual and aesthetic values, knowledge systems and the value of education..[9] Human health Biodiversitys relevance to human health is becoming an international political issue, as scientific evidence builds on the global health implications of biodiversity loss.[13][14][15] This issue is closely linked with the issue of climate change,[17] as many of the anticipated health risks of climate change are associated with changes in biodiversity (e.g. changes in populations and distribution of disease vectors, scarcity of fresh water, impacts on agricultural biodiversity and food resources etc.) Some of the health issues influenced by biodiversity include dietary health and nutrition security, infectious diseases, medical science and medicinal resources, social and psychological health.[18] One of the key health issues associated with biodiversity is that of drug discovery and the availability of medicinal resources.[19] A significant proportion of drugs are derived, directly or indirectly, from biological sources; At least 50% of the pharmaceutical compounds on the US market are derived from compounds found in plants, animals, and microorganisms, while about 80% of the world population depends on medicines from nature (used in either modern or traditional medical practice) for primary healthcare.[14] Moreover, only a tiny proportion of the total diversity of wild species has been investigated for medical potential. Through the field of bionics, considerable advancement has occurred which would not have occurred without rich biodiversity. It has been argued, based on evidence from market analysis and biodiversity science, that the decline in output from the pharmaceutical sector since the mid-1980s can be attributed to a move away from natural product exploration (biopr ospecting) in favor of genomics and synthetic chemistry, neither of which have yielded the expected breakthroughs; meanwhile, natural products have a long history of supporting significant economic and health innovation.[20][21] Marine ecosystems are of particular interest in this regard,[22] although inappropriate bioprospecting has the potential to degrade ecosystems and increase biodiversity loss, as well as impacting the rights of the communities and states from which the resources are taken.[23][24][25]. Conservation of biodiversity Conservation biology matured in the mid- 20th century as ecologists, naturalists, and other scientists began to collectively research and address issues pertaining to global declines in biodiversity.[26][27][28] The conservation ethic differs from the preservationist ethic, originally led by John Muir, that seeks protected areas devoid of human exploitation or interference for profit.[27] The conservation ethic advocates management of natural resources for the purpose of sustaining biodiversity in species, ecosystems, the evolutionary process, and human culture and society. [26][28][29][30] Conservation biology is reforming around strategic plans that include principles, guidelines, and tools for the purpose of protecting biodiversity.[26][31][32] Conservation biology is crisis-oriented and multi-disciplinary, including ecology, social organization, education, and other disciplines outside of biology.[26][28] Preserving biodiversity is a global priority in strategic conservation plans that are designed to engage public policy and concerns affecting local, regional and global scales of communities, ecosystems, and cultures.[32] Action plans identify ways of sustaining human well-being, employing natural capital, market capital, and ecosystem services.[33][34] and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Strategies for biodiversity Strategically, focusing on areas of higher potential biodiversity promises greater return on investment than spreading conservation resources evenly or in areas of little diversity but greater interest in the conservation. A second strategy focuses on areas that retain most of their original diversity. These are typically non-urbanized, non-agricultural areas. Tropical areas often fit both sets of criteria, given their natively high diversity and relative lack of development.[35] However, many animal species are migratory, meaning that focusing only on specific locations is insufficient. Wildlife corridors can help support migration, and is considerably cheaper and easier than clearing/preserving entirely new areas. Some habitats may require restoration before standard conservation techniques can be effective. Conclusions Popular activities such as gardening, fishkeeping and specimen collecting strongly depend on biodiversity. The number of species involved in such pursuits is in the tens of thousands, though the majority do not enter mainstream commerce. The relationships between the original natural areas of these often exotic animals and plants and commercial collectors, suppliers, breeders, propagators and those who promote their understanding and enjoyment are complex and poorly understood. It seems clear, however, that the general public responds well to exposure to rare and unusual organisms-they recognize their inherent value at some level. A family outing to the botanical garden or zoo is as much an aesthetic and cultural experience as an educational one. Philosophically it could be argued that biodiversity has intrinsic aesthetic and spiritual value to mankind in and of itself. This idea can be used as a counterweight to the notion that tropical forests and other ecological realms are only worthy of conservation because of the services they provide.