Expanding into Mexico Benefits, Risks and Impediments

Introduction Globalization and improvement in communication have opened up the international market. Most of the companies venturing into these markets seek to increase their sales volume, diversify their operations, increase the profit margin, avoid excessive competition in the domestic market and also increase their market share.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Expanding into Mexico: Benefits, Risks and Impediments specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Though the benefits of expanding globally are enormous, there are many risks and impediments that may hamper the expansion process. These risks include price fluctuations, exchange rate volatility, political influences, legal and regulatory rules. The company management must therefore carefully evaluate the target market so as to project the expected profits and understand the challenges in order to develop effective entry strategies. Prior knowledge needed prior to expanding into Mexico Before the company can expand to Mexico, it is necessary for the company to evaluate various factors that are imperative for the overall success of the expansion strategy. First, the target market is very important as it forms the consumer base for the company. Currently, Mexico has about 110 million people. It is the 13th largest economy in the world and the 11th most populous country in the world. The country trades with the USA as the most important import and export partner. The nation has an elaborate transport and communication network which is ideal for doing business. Most of the residents are in the upper middle class level. The country is an emerging power and has become one of the industrialized nations. The country supports several trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) according to which it trades with the USA. Profitability The company hopes that the business will be profitable due to the large population in t he country. Since the country is expanding to a market where the competition is not very high, it expects to capture a large portion of the market and hence the business will be profitable. In addition to the large target market, the country labor force is enormous as compared to the USA.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The labor rates are lower in Mexico and hence the company will reduce its operations costs, and this will increase the profit margins. The company expects that Mexico has lower taxes and lower rental rates which increase the profit margins. Potential risks Despite the increase in profits that are expected, the company has several risks that may affect the running of the business. The crime rate is very high causing a lot of uncertainties and instabilities. In Mexico, the market is controlled by cartels which are hard to break up. These cartels pose signi ficant threat to the company as the cartel can cause physical damage to the new company structure and workers. Competition: The other potential risks come from the competitors. These are the local companies that exist around Mexico and they deal with the same commodities as this company. Changes in laws and regulations: changes in the legal system can pose a significant challenge to the company. Laws limiting international investors and promoting domestic companies could affect the company’s operations internationally. International companies may be required to pay extra tax which increases the final product costs in relations to the domestic market prices. Political instability: political instability in the Mexico could result in reductions of the company’s profits. Exchange rate changes: Exchange rates fluctuations affect international prices. If the country’s monetary policy is not effective, inflation would affect the prices of production factors and raw mat erials and this would affect the company’s profitability Changes in trade agreement: Changes in trade agreement between USA and Mexico can also affect the profits and operations of the company in this area.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Expanding into Mexico: Benefits, Risks and Impediments specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Common and Civil law systems in Mexico The Mexican legal system originates from the Greek, Roman, and French legal systems. The law is similar to other common laws around the world. The current Constitution that governs Mexico is based on the Constitution of 1917. The country has a well organized and evolved legal system in contrast to the perception that most foreign people have that the country’s legal system is not adequate. The Mexican laws are similar to the most of the laws in the world as opposed to the US legal system. The US common law is derived from the case law s, statutory laws of England and American civilizations while that of Mexico is derived from the Roman laws that were later refined by the French. In the US, case laws are commonly used to solve judicial cases while in Mexico, case laws are rarely used. The Mexican laws require that international companies running businesses in Mexico are affected by the Mexican law either directly or indirectly even if the business is not located there. The country’s administrative laws are formulated by agencies. They include labor, financial, banking, and taxations laws. These rules are gradually overriding the traditional Mexican laws. Dispute resolution One of the main recognized dispute resolution methods is through arbitration. The law applies to all national and international parties to a dispute unless there are international treaties and laws forbidding the use of arbitration. The Mexico commercial arbitration statute was passed in 1993, and it is used in dispute resolutions. The ar bitration law requires that both parties agree to arbitrate. The failure in arbitrations results in the court litigation where the contract laws apply (Mueller 2). Contract law The fundamental rules that govern Mexico are found in the civil codes of many states in Mexico. These laws stipulate the basic rules of contractual engagements and rules regarding patenting, trademarks, and the negotiable credit instruments. The contract law identifies 20 types of contracts such as associations, bond, chattel mortgages, agency, lease, purchase and sale, deposits, and commodatums among others. Employee labor violations The Mexican labor laws are drawn from the Constitution. They indicate the minimum wage that employees can earn. The laws also state that those paying on an hourly rate must not go below the minimum wage that is allowed. The method of payment is the subject of employees’ consent. Companies must follow these minimum requirements to avoid violations.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Labor contract: the Mexican laws provide the minimum contract period for both executive and non-executive employees. Non-executive employee must be trained for three month while the executive employee must be trained for six months. Outsourcing: the Mexican laws prohibit certain forms of outsourcing. Any outsourcing works must be of a specialized nature and not similar to the work that employee within the company can do. These laws mean that workers will have to get extra benefits due to any additional work. Most companies do not subcontract ordinary works. Termination: The Mexican law details the causes for termination of employment such as fraud, insubordination, drug, alcoholism, immoral conduct among others. The company venturing abroad must understand these laws. Human rights violation The Mexican laws ban all forms of racial, ethnic, national origin, age, disability, health, religion, sex and marital status discriminations. The company must ensure that this does not occur. In Mexico, the human rights abuse is on the rise. Despite the current laws governing the human rights, there are still much human rights abuse in the country (Amnesty International 4). There are large criminal organizations that control the drug and human trafficking trade which the government has not been able to deal with. Criminal gangs always target human rights activist and journalists who expose their cartels. This makes most residents live in fear due to crimes, lawlessness, torture, murder and other atrocities. Impunity in this country is high; crimes are committed by security and military personnel when fighting the drug cartels. Victims are tortured in remand with some common methods as electrocuting, beatings, chocking someone with a plastic bag, threats, and spraying someone with water (Human Rights Watch 3). Child labor law violations In Mexico, child labor laws are high violated. Currently, one out of five children works. A total of 4 million kids under the age of 17 year s work. The country is currently working towards eliminating child labor, and it has already ratified the UN convections on rights of the child of 1989. Perceptions of organization’s that engage in human rights violations and child labor laws Though many see human rights abuse and child rights abuse as being against the law, the government has no machinery and power to control these acts. When establishing the company, it is imperative that human rights are taken into accounts and the company should not engage children in work. European Union The European Union (EU) was formed in 1992, and it is one of the most influential international organizations of the world. The EU was previously known as the European Economic Community. The EU has is based on several policies formed by parliaments, commissions, and ministries. Today, the trade relations between the EU and Mexico are regulated with the help of a free trade agreement which was signed in 2000, providing the country with t he additional possibilities in relation to the development of trade relations with foreign countries. The agreement is based on general democratic principles to protect the interests of both parties. The partnership between the EU and Mexico contributes to the economic growth of the country significantly, with references to the stimulation of the investment flows between Mexico and the international organization. It is possible to speak about the EU as a large export market for Mexico, and this fact contributes to the discussion of the trends in Mexico’s foreign trade. Mexico is rich in minerals which are exported to the EU actively. Moreover, Mexico exports transport and electric equipment to the countries of the EU. It is important to note that the country also imports more innovative variants of the transport and electric equipment from the EU (Derham). Advantages Mexico supports the active trade and political relationships with the EU because a lot of advantages provided for the country. The first advantage is that the EU is a single market which enables companies to trade at an international level using one currency. The second advantage is the monetary union. The EU countries trade with one currency and this makes it easy for a company to trade without the impact of exchange rate changes. The prices of different commodities remain constant. The EU also promises environmental protections and war prevention to the member states, and hence, there is political stability which is suitable for good business (Derham 7). Lastly, the removal of the trade barriers allows companies to expand to other regions within the EU. From this point, Mexico received a lot of opportunities to develop industries and markets depending on the improvement of the effective trade and political relations with the EU. Thus, the main purposes of the EU-Mexico cooperation are to guarantee the free and open trade markets for the parties, to avoid the competition while focusing on the productive cooperation, and to establish the norms of the successful cooperation according to the democratic principles and legal standards. These relations are important for Mexico as well as for the EU because they allow concentrating on the investment flows, liberalization of the markets, open and effective relations between governments. Participating in the agreement, Mexico receives more opportunities to develop trade relations with the European countries according to the globally adopted rules. Thus, the agreement guarantees the countries’ following democratic principles and protecting human rights. Furthermore, minerals and transport equipments are exported and imported by the EU and Mexico to contribute to the further development of the fields. Today, it is possible to speak about definite Mexico’s privileges within the global market which are associated with the active relations between the EU and the country because Mexico is one of the largest partners o f the EU in Latin America (Denti; Derham). Disadvantages Focusing on the certain disadvantages of the EU as an organization, it is important to pay attention to The main disadvantage of the EU is the loss of national sovereignty of the members of the EU. When nations join the EU, they have to obey the rules and regulations set by this economic block which is rather irrespective of the repercussions. Another disadvantage is the fact that small nations have the limited influence on the economic policies set by the EU (Denti 5). However, these points are urgent for the countries which are the members of the EU. The cooperation with the EU is advantageous in its character for all the countries-partners of the organization. Mexico has the closest trade and political relations with the USA, but the focus on the trade and economic relations with the EU provides the country with the opportunity to expand the spheres of the economic impact and diversify trade relations. As a result, Mexico c an compete successfully within the global market while developing the cooperative relations with the EU (Denti). That is why, the agreement between Mexico and the EU adopted in 2000 opened a lot of possibilities for the economic integration and stimulation of the investment flows. Conclusion In conclusion, Mexico is a good country for the company to invest in. There are huge profits expected from the business. Though the legal system is not well established, there are laws in place to protect foreign investors. The main problem with their legal system is the implementation of the laws. The company should go ahead and invest in this country though appropriate risk management strategies must be formulated. Works Cited Amnesty International. Mexico Laws without Justice: Human Rights Violations and  Impunity in the Public Security and Criminal Justice System. 2007. PDF file. Web. Denti, David. The Influence of Small States in the European Union. Iceland: University of Iceland, 2007. P rint Derham, Mark. European Union: Risk-Benefit Analysis. 2010. Web. Human Rights Watch. World Report 2012: Mexico. 2013. PDF file. Web. Mueller, Christa. Arbitration in Mexico. n.d. Web. This assessment on Expanding into Mexico: Benefits, Risks and Impediments was written and submitted by user Wolver-dok to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Every IB English Past Paper Available Free and Official

Every IB English Past Paper Available Free and Official SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In this article, I cover IB English Literature SL/HL, IB English Language and Literature SL/HL, and IB Literature and Performance SL. These are the core language A options for English speakers. When preparing for one of these IB English exams, you should take a practice test. Where can you find IB English past papers, free and paid? I will answer that question and let you know how to get the most out of these past papers. Where to Find Free IB English Past Papers The IB has been cracking down on illegally uploaded past papers for the past few years, so a lot of previous sources are no longer available. IB has however, uploaded a few official past exams that you can view for free online. Below are links to the IB English Past Papers. English A: literature higher level/standard level: papers 1 2 English A1 higher level: paper 2 English standard level A2: paper 2 I haven’t seen any unofficial IB English exams (ones created by someone that is not from the IBO). If you find any, don’t use them for practice!You need REAL IB English past papers to get realistic practice. Where to Find Paid IB English Past Papers The only safe and reliable place to buy IB English past papers is from the IBO at the Follet IB Store. The IBO sells past IB English Literature SL papers, IB English Literature HL papers, IB English Language and Literature SL papers, IB English Language and Literature HL papers,and IB Literature and Performance SLpapers from 2013 onward. The site is somewhat hard to navigate, but using the search bar several times got me where I wanted to be eventually. How to Get the Most of Each Past Paper One complete test will take you 3 hours for SL or 4 hours for HL. If you are going to invest that much time, you need to be maximizing your learning. To do so, follow these rules. Rule 1: Take Paper 1 and Paper 2 on Separate Days IBO splits up all of the IB English tests over two days. You should too. That way you get realistic practice, mimicking the actual testing schedule. Rule 2: Time Yourself You need to get used to the timing. Here is the time allowed: English Literature SL Paper 1- 1 hour 30 minutes Paper 2- 1 hour 30 minutes English Literature HL Paper 1- 2 hours Paper 2- 2 hours English Language and Literature SL Paper 1- 1 hour 30 minutes Paper 2- 1 hour 30 minutes English Language and Literature HL Paper 1- 2 hours Paper 2- 2 hours Literature and Performance SL Paper 1- 1 hour 30 minutes Paper 2- 1 hour 30 minutes Make sure you stick to this exact timing. Don’t give yourself any extra time. Otherwise, you will not be prepared for the pacing of the actual test. Research to Action / Flickr Rule 3: Review With the Mark Scheme After completing your full test, review your answers. You must review to learn from your errors and not make them on the actual test. Take an hour to review. While this may seem like you are wasting time that you could be spending on other practice, it’s not. You need to emphasize the quality of your practice and no the quantity of practice. I’d rather you take two practice tests with good review than eight tests with no review. What’s Next? Want more tips for IB English?Then check out our completeIB English study guidefor all the info you need. Impatient to get your IB scores?Learn when IB results and scores come out. Did you know thatyou can take some IB classes online?Check out our complete guide to online IB courses, including which classes you can take online and if you can get an online IB diploma. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Water pollution- a key to wastewater management Essay

Water pollution- a key to wastewater management - Essay Example Water can be referred as the lifeblood of socio-economic development of a nation. In recent years, climate change has displaced other environmental issues to become the world's number one problem.But the alarming water scarcity is an issue as important and even more immediate threat. The Earth, with its abundant and diverse life forms, including more than six billion human beings, at the 21st century is confronting a severe water crisis. A decade ago it was announced that by 2025 one third of the world population suffer this shortage, but that threshold has already been reached. Two billion people suffer from this problem and by 2025, that calculation could be double (more than four billion, taking into account the increase of the world population), unless there are changes in the trends of today. Demand for water is increasing rapidly, but its supply is limited, decreases and is affected by the deterioration of watersheds due to deforestation and erosion (Johnson, Revenga and Echeve rria 1071). The underground fluid extraction has caused declines in groundwater levels in India, China, Russia, the United States and Western Asia. The global population explosion, breathless advancement on the scientific front, the surge in standard of living of man, and his ingenuity in abusing scientific knowledge, all have placed accumulative demands on natural resources of water. Overlying on this is the water pollution problem which deeply affects the utility of available supplies (Stander 774). The water supply specifically comprises of that found in lakes, underground reservoirs, along with that is brought from afar by pipelines and canals. Some of it evaporates, some is utilized for farming and some passes to the ground. The remainder referred as run-off is liberated into surface streams and runs into the ocean. As suggested by Packman, â€Å"Of the 30 inches of average annual precipitation in the United States, about 8.5 inches, or 1.2 trillion gallons a day, is run-offâ € . This research attempts to explore the answers to the question that is since water scarcity is growing day by day, being an important cause of the issue, can improvement in wastewater management help in solving the problem? The main argument for the research could be that the waste water management can be improved while the other side focuses on the increasing industrialization which hinders the efficiency of wastewater management. So in order to investigate the answer to my research question, various sources are rhetorically analyzed and various views on the topic are generated. â€Å"Global Water Shortage: Will the Earth run out of fresh water?† This is a research paper written by Mary H. Cooper and serves as a comprehensive source for acknowledging the issue of water shortage worldwide. The article introduces the topic as a controversy that revolves around the most essential commodity for life i.e. water. The author thoroughly analyzed the issue and proposed that the re are several causes of water shortage, including the population growth, mismanagement of water resources as well as pollution. The author persuasively conveys that the in order to address the water shortage issue, there are less number of pragmatic technological solutions are available. So the ways suggested by the author to cut down demand include the conservation measures and letting consumers pay off the actual cost of the water utilized by them. According to author, water mismanagement has turned a large proportion of the fresh water of the world into a leading infectious disease source. And the sewage and the waste water treatment are referred as the main culprit. Although the source does not provide a single solution, but the pros and cons of the water management are provided (Cooper). â€Å"Water for the Future† This topic refers to a report by M. Packman. In the given report, the author had explored the various water resources available to the world along with the

Computer Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Computer Science - Essay Example The methods for doing the same are described as below. Textual information like a file or a document comprises of a collection of numbers, characters and special characters for example punctuation marks and symbols. A computer uses the following procedures for the conversion of Text to binary Decimal numbers are the numbers whose base is 10 i.e. it uses ten digits (0 to 9) to represent the values, while binary is the number system whose base is two, it uses 0's and 1's to represent the numbers. Each binary bit has a position assigned to it. The zeroeth position is assigned to the least significant position on the right most side. The 0 or 1 at the respective position is then multiplied by the corresponding power of two to obtain its decimal equivalent i.e. A digit at Kth position is multiplied by 2 ^(k-1). For example Real numbers may be put into binary scientific notation: a x 2^b .The number to the right of decimal part must be multiplied by negative powers two of the corresponding position .The number to the left hand side must be multiplied by the positive powers of two. Mantissa and exponent are then stored .For example Each and every character, symbol or punctuation mark is mapped to a corresponding decimal number .For example letter K is mapped to number 75, the number is then encoded by using ASCII code to a string of Binary numbers. ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is an 8-bit code, which contains in all 128 characters (uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, symbols, and some non-printing characters such as the blank space). For example, the code for "I am" would be: 73 - 01001001 - code for I 32 - 00100000 - code for space 97 - 01100001 - code for a 109 - 01101101 - code for m 46 - 00101110 - code for period REPRESENTATION OF IMAGE: To store an image, like a photograph, in binary form, a computer superimposes a grid on that photograph. Each pixel or grid contains one "dot" of color. In order to store data for that pixel in memory; the information about that pixel's color must somehow be converted to a binary number. There are various ways to do this which serve to map a pixel to binary numbers. Different ways or methods associate different number of bits with each pixel. There are two main formats in which images are stored in the computer - bitmap (or raster) and vector. In vector representation, all components of the image are stored using mathematical formulas. In a bitmap image, the image is stored in memory by recording some piece of binary data corresponding to each pixel of the image. The number of bits used to store each pixel affects both the image quality and the amount of memory that will be needed to store the image. There are various scales for coding the colors, one being grayscale in which 1 repre sents black and 0 represents white. Each pixel in a grayscale image can be stored using 1 byte (8 bits). To represent colored images 16-color, 256 color, and RGB color (or true color) color codes are used. Each of the different code requires different

Starbucks Target Market

Starbucks Target Market Starbucks open its first coffee store in Seattle, Washington and at the end of 1990 Starbucks expand its headquarters in Seattle and also build a new roasting plant. In 1990s Starbucks opens 60 retails shops in United Kingdom. At the end of 2000s Starbucks total branches was 3500. Coffee is one of the rapidly growing industry in this world. According to national coffee association, USA 49% of American age 18 and more drink coffee beverage every day. Coffee industry was in peak of its success at the end of 1990s. Starbucks purchases and roasts high-quality whole bean coffees and sold them along with fresh brewed coffees, Italian style espresso beverages, gold blended beverages, a various complementary food items, coffee related accessories and equipment. TARGETED MARKET AT THE TIME OF LAUNCHING At the time of Starbucks launching the target market was upper income class. But during 1990s Starbucks realise that the growth of Starbucks depends on the middle or lower class incomes because these two classes are more motivated and go to the discounted products. Starbucks also focus on consumer habits and share its speciality of coffee with the buyers. In the end of 20th century there are many changes in market that helped Starbucks getting successful. The most important change of the last twenty, thirty years is the changes of economic policies over the world. Starbucks target market was 18 years to 24 years young professional because they are not yet been loyal with coffee industry. Starbucks strategy comprises to locate its stores at picky places such as the first floor of blocks of offices, underground main entrance and urban areas. An addition to sales through its company-operated retail stores and licensed retail operations, Starbucks sells coffee and tea products through ot her channels like distribution targeting restaurants, hotels, colleges and universities and other work places. Starbucks stated goal is to become the leading retailer and brand of coffee in each of its target markets and it aims to achieve this goal through continued aggressive expansion of Company operated retail locations. STARBUCKS STRATEGY Starbucks adopt different type of strategy to build its branding in the market. Starbucks has numbers of capabilities likes market leadership and its outlets as customers means its locations which means it is the place where customers can relax from work or home and its supply chain management. To try to keep the coffee taste in the stores clean, Starbucks banned smoking and asked employees to refresh from draining perfumes. Prepared foods were kept covered so consumer would smell coffee only instead of other food. Starbucks is culture oriented company who introduce new techniques like commuter mugs and T shirts in different regions of USA that was in keeping with each citys culture(like peach shape coffee mugs for Atlanta State, Paul Revere picture for Boston State and the Statue of Liberty for New York city). To make sure that Starbucks stores reach the maximum standards, the company used mystery shoppers who posed as customers and rated each location on à Ã‚ ° number à Ã‚ ¾f criteria. Starbucks internal operations can be divided into two parts: Retail and Specialty. The Retail division is governed directly by Starbucks Corporation. The Specialty division includes foodservice, licensing agreements to overseas outlets and revenue from foreign joint ventures. STARBUCKS AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Starbucks main objective was to launch itself as the most renowned and respected brand in the world. The company main objective was to the expansion of its branches all over the world, to broad its retail business, develop new techniques, product and introduce new distribution channels in order to achieve its goals. The company another aims was establish its brand as a leading brand in coffee market by selling high quality products, providing better services and build relationship between customers and the Starbucks. SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS OF STARBUCKS Starbucks is good at taking advantage of opportunities. Starbucks is internationally recognized and has a global presence Starbucks has strong ethical values. WEAKNESSES Reliable on beverage innovation Starbucks 50% business is in USA from last three decades. Starbucks need to spread its business all over the world to spread its business risk. Starbucks is dependent on a main competitive advantage, the retail of coffee. It could make them slow to diversify into other sectors should the need arise. OPPORTUNITIES Company has the opportunity to expand its business around the globe In 2004 the company created a CD burning service in their Santa Monica (California USA) cafe with Hewlett Packard, where customers create their own music CD. THREATS Starbucks are increasing the cost of coffee and dairy products Consumer taste might be change in future. Consumer can replace coffee with other cold beverage or leisure activity. CONCLUSION Starbucks is a leading company around the globe. Starbucks used  a very simple strategy, connecting links between treating employees with dignity and respect and producing à Ã‚ ° good product and services. That was the major factors that differentiate Starbucks from others and bring the successful to Starbucks.

Marketing Enviroment Essay

There are two(2) main elements in marketing environment which is microenvironment and macroenvironment. Microenvironment is the actor close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors, and publics. For the first one we start with the company. In designing marketing plans, marketing management takes other company groups into accounts, group such as top management. All of these interrelated groups form the internal environment. Other departments have an impact on the marketing department plans and actions. Next is the suppliers. Supplier also plays an important roles in marketing environment because supplier will form an important link in the company overall customer value delivery system. Supplier also will provide the resources that are needed by the company to produce its products or services. If the supplier face any problem , this will seriously affect the marketing. Next is marketing intermediaries. Marketing intermediaries actually help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its goods to final buyers or can be said easily as firms that help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its goods to final buyers. After that is competitors. Competitors will affects the marketing environment because when there are many competitors in the market, the company will always upgrade or improve their product or services to make sure that their products or services are the best one. For publics, public is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on an organizations ability to achieve its objective. There are seven types of publics that can affect the marketing environment which is financial publics, media publics, government publics, citizen-action publics, local publics, general publics, and internal publics. And finally is the customers. Customers is the important actors in the companys microenvironment. The aim of the entire value delivery system is to serve target customers and create strong relationships with the cutomers. For the second element which is the macroenvironment. Macroenvironment consist of he actors that operate in a larger macroenvironment of forces that shape opportunities and pose threats to the company. Macroenvironment consist of demographic, economic, natural, technologies, political, and cultural. Demographic is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupations, and other statistics. Any changes in world demographic environment have ajor affects for business. Next is economic. Economic environment is the factors that affect consumer buying power and spending pattern. Marketers must pay close attention to major trends and consumer spending patterns both across and within their world markets. Natural environment is a natural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or that are affected by marketing activities. Marketers should be aware of several trends in the natural environment. The first involves groeing shortages of raw materials. Next technological environment, technological is forces that create new technologies, creating new product and market opportunities. Technology has released such wonders as antibiotics, robotic surgery, miniaturized electronics and many more. For political environment, political consist of laws, government agencies, and pressure groups that influence and limit various organizations and individuals in a given society. Even the most liberal advocates of free-market economies agree that the system works best with at least some reegulation. Lastly cultural environment. The cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect a society basis value, perceptions, preferences, and behavior. People grow up in a different society that shape their basic beliefs and values.

Meiosis and Genetic Diversity in the Model Organism

4 November 2013 Section 24 TA- Erik Ohlson Meiosis and Genetic Diversity in the Model Organism, Sordaria flmicola Introduction Research groups from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine and the Institute of Evolution at the University of Haifa have been studying the model organism, Sordaria fimicola, in regards to controlling cross over frequency in response to environmental pressures. Sordaria fimicola is a good model organism because it has a fast life cycle and elongated asci that are easily seen under a microscope.In addition, there are multiple different combinations of ascospore olors due to recombination during meiosis. Evolution Canyon is the research model for this experiment because of its exceedingly differing slopes. The South facing slope (SFS) receives high temperatures and droughts due to the high solar radiation. On the other hand, the North facing slope (NFS) exhibits shadier, cooler, and more humid climates. Asexual filaments were collected from e ither slope and grown in the lab.Wild type spores(black spores) were acquired from self-cross between the asexual filaments and spore color mutants (tan spores) were obtained from wild type trains that produced non-black spores that arose spontaneously within each population. They made crosses with wild type vs. tan spores from differing slopes (NFS-SFS) and found that cross over frequencies between the differing slopes was great (Hass and Ward, 2010). Contrary to previous belief, cellular mechanisms were influenced by environmental conditions; this tells us that differing environments can lead to different recombination frequencies.In our part of the experiment, we created a control where the spores were grown under the same optimal lab conditions. The combinations of ascospores we observed include, 4:4, 2:2:2:2, and 2:4:2. During meiosis, 4 ascospores are produced after crossing over occurs. Then the spores undergo a series of mitosis where 8 spores are then created. In a 4:4 reco mbination, there could either be 4 tan then 4 black or 4 black than 4 tan. In the 2:2:2:2, there could be tan, black, tan, black or vice versa. In the 2:4:2, there could be tan, black, tan and so on.Therefore, 6 different combinations asci classes can occur. Our goal for this experiment was to identify the different spores, cross over frequency, and mapping distance. However, there were challenges in preparing the squashes, and then identifying the different spores. Methods We divided the petri dish into four sections, where the wild black type samples were diagonal from each other and the tan type samples were also diagonal from each other hyphae side down onto mating agar to increase the possibility of crossing over to occur.After two weeks, using an inoculating loop, we scraped some perithecia from the center of the dividing lines where we believed crossing over occurred. We then placed them on slides with a drop of water to observe the crossing over requencies under a microscope . Pressure was applied to the coverslip in order to release the asci from within the perithecia in order to count the frequency of each asci type. To calculate cross over frequency and map distance, we used the formulas: 1. % Cross Over=( # of recombinant asci/ total # asci) x 100% 2.Map Distance= % cross over/ 2 *Note that map distance accounts for all spores, but in our experiment only half crossed over, we divide by 2. Results Table 1. Individual Data. This illustrates the number each recombination found within our picture we were provided. Non-recombinant Recombinant Total # of Asci Total # Recombant Asci (B+C) # of Type A Asci # of Type B Asci # of Type C Asci 8 5 3 4 Table 1 illustrates the number each recombination found within our picture we