Human Resource Management in Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Human Resource Management in Practice - Essay Example The essay "Human Resource Management in Practice" analyzes what is the most important contribution that the human resource manager can make to the organizational effectiveness. Managers and policymakers now need to know how the human resources are managed in different regions of the world. Academics have responded positively to meet the challenges raised by the globalization of business by investigating a number of issues and problems related to international business. They have attempted to examine management from a cross-national viewpoint. This comparison of HRM policies and practices at a national level helps to test the convergence–divergence thesis. The typical questions pursued by comparative researchers are: how is HRM structured in individual countries. What strategies are discussed? What is put into practice? What are the similarities and differences? What is the influence of national factors such as culture, government policy, and education systems? Scholars have al so developed and proposed different models of HRM both between and within nations. Interestingly, most models of HRM have an Anglo–Saxon base. As such, from a global perspective, principles of HRM have been developed from a restricted sample of human experience. During the infancy stage of HRM literature, such an ethnocentric approach was understandable and unavoidable. With the growth of a â€Å"global business village,† firms operating in different countries need appropriate information and guidance to develop their HRM policies and practices.

Business connection The Key in perfect competition Managing costs Research Essay Example for Free

Business connection The Key in perfect competition Managing costs Research Essay Canada boasts of being among the world’s richest nations and of the western countries that have ultimate leverage over the economy, it is ranked in 10th place. It has an array of different industries characterized by a buzzing and quite rapid growth and development and production in the industries is entirely mechanized. Due to its trades it also happens to be a member of the G8 as well as Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Industries in Canada are high-tech and uphold state of the art technology and mechanization. Canada’s microeconomic issues Challenges however do come its way both internally and externally a good example being the world economic crisis of 2009 which saw to its financial stability regression and many employees losing their jobs since a majority of the industries could not sustain themselves let alone their large numbers of labor force. Previously the global economic downturn that had hit the US had led to a colossal fluctuation of market prices resulting in a massive decline of Canada’s profits. Despite the aforementioned global challenges, Canada like any other business has had its equal fair share of challenges. Sailing amongst the richest nations of the world, Canada has constantly overstretched its spending means leaving it with a huge burden of debts. According to the (Globe and Mail), it stands at a deficit of 3.3% of its GDP. Its lack of an economic slack makes it stand on the edge of a high inflation rate despite it being among the world’s countries with the least unemployed people. Canada has for a long time failed to embrace the art of international competition. Business connection: the key in perfection competition- managing costs Due to the trend in which the world has turned into a digital one with top notch technological systems being installed, and almost all operations going digital, leading to company’s marketing their merchandise on the internet. E-marketing is the most productive tool for any business that wants to thrive and stand way above its competitors and colossally out ways traditional methods of marketing. The largest proportion of the world’s population is now connected to the internet and in a bid to connect to large masses round the globe, e-marketing comes in handy as a business is able to have a wide presence ensuring it lures a wide variety of customers internationally which in the long run culminates into the company effectively managing its costs. Modern communication methods have been changing with time and it is therefore essential for the company to be up to speed with the changing technological advancements. According to (quirk biz), when correctly implemented, return on investment from e-marketing exceedingly outdo traditional methods of marketing not to mention it is at the forefront of redefinition for businesses to effectively interact with their customers. By adopting unique and state of the art e-marketing strategies, the company is able to effectively outshine its competitors. A company can also maximize on its desired profits by correctively identifying its target market and capitalizing on meeting and satisfying their needs so as to build on customer loyalty which reflects into high profit returns. This can be effectively done by emphasizing on the research of original research. That which lured customers to the company’s services and products should be used as a strength hence improved on in a bid to bait a large clientele of the company’s target market. (Lead forensics) advice on the need to carry out intelligence beforehand so as to clearly identify the needs of the purposed target audience thus the need to use current pop culture. In the spirit of beating competition and managing costs effectively, the company ought to rise a notch higher than its competitors by taking up unique strategies that outdo its competitors. Such as getting into video savvy. This is a plus to any business as it offers the company the platform to show case their unique attributes. Through this the company can also invest in animations for putting up their advertisements and is suitable for advertisements on both products and services and it would be guaranteed of effectively beating its competitors as its target clientele will always identify to the video ad. The demographic and lifestyle segmentation of target consumers helps the company in getting a clear picture of their clientele’s needs in terms of age, marital status, religious beliefs among others hence getting a clear mode of communication to them with an inclusive need of their lifestyles as well as cultures. By so doing, the company is able to enjoy a massive return on investments having cut on a lot of miscellaneous costs and expenses. It is also essential to bear in mind the customers purchasing attitudes and behavior thus capitalizing on the pros. investing on research on consumer behavior is quite instrumental as the company is able to get the niche in the industry and easily manipulate and take leverage over the market share. This can be efficiently and effectively done through a proper survey of the market and observing the target customer’s needs and preferences. The company can also invest in qualitative studies so as to get up to date with the industry and a clear understanding of the overview market share. A clear outline of a research plan should also be in calculated in the company’s research process. This is to make sure that the company is up to date with all possible avenues for doing business. All this withstanding, it is essential for the company to bear in mind the psychographics of its customers through a comprehensive research process so as to determine consumer behavior by looking into the attitudes of potential and kinetic clientele as well as pinpoint its customer’s purchasing behavior. It is possible for a company to build on customer loyalty hence customer retention and this can effectively be managed by capitalizing on the purchasing behavior of the customers hence improving on them or emphasizing on them so as to retain the customers and lure more aboard. A company can effectively manage its costs by research ing on the other places their customers or other customers shop for products and services same as its. This would give it insight on how operations are carried out in the other companies and serve as an eye opener on what woos the customers to them and in turn work on their strategies to lure back the customers, all this with an aim of being on top of their customers. The customer can also lure its customers by rewarding them for shopping at their outlets hence ensuring they come back another time. Quite a number of customers are sensitive on prices hence it is important for a company to work on its prices so as to enhance on customer retention. This can be done using the varieties of pricing techniques. Promotions are a plus in any given industry thus it is advisable that the company does promotions for its products from time to time and rewarding its loyal customers. This would out rightly beat its competitions as customers will constantly be reminded of the company’s merch andise. Effective public relations should not be overlooked as they also are a place in any business. Government’s intervention on trade regulations helps in creating a perfect atmosphere for doing trade among various businesses offering the same merchandise since competition is regulated and malicious strategies aimed at seeing to the downfall of a specific company cannot be initiated. Connection debate summary In summary, the debate connection is aimed at providing companies with the knowhow on market penetration as well as standing out from the rest with an intent of taking leverage over the market share hence beating competition from its rival companies. This in the long run aids the company in managing its costs through profits maximization. The connections debate’s pros The debate is aimed at aiding companies in taking a leverage over others in the same industries as theirs which is good in creating friendly competition. By adopting strategies mentioned in the debate, a company is assured of increasing on their return on investments as well as standing out from the rest. The connection debate’s cons Not all businesses uphold friendly business competition strategies as some can have the malicious intent of tarnishing a different company’s names so as to take entire leverage over the industry. Basing an argument from Canada’s economic state, the country has failed to efficiently diversify its target international trade partners and concentrated on only one trade partner the US which is a risky trend as its stability entirely relies on the US’ economy. In an event of the downfall of the US’ economy, then Canada’s economy is bound to fail. Referencebusbus Britany Lee fries. November, 2009. Environment: the type of economy and level of industrialization in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.canada-britanyleefries.blogspot.comIndex Mundi. August, 2014. Canada economy profile 2014. Retrieved from http://www.indexmundi.com The heritage foundation wall street journal. Canada: 2014 index economic freedom. Retrieved from http://www.herutage.org The Globe and Mail, 2013. Canada’s 7 deadly economic problems. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com Fred lazar, 1981. The new protectionism: non-tariff barriers and their effects on Canada. James Lorimar amp; company. Elijah M. James, 2008. Chapter 11. Microeconomics. Published by Pearson education Canada Lead Forensics, June 2014. 3 winning ideas to beat your competitors at content. Retrieved from http://www.leadforensics.com Source document

Additive Manufacturing of Medical Implants: A Review

Additive Manufacturing of Medical Implants: A Review E. Gordon Wayne State University College of Engineering Abstract Additive manufacturing has numerous applications and is gaining interest in the biomedical field. The quality of additively manufactured parts is constantly improving, which contributes to their increased use for medical implants in patients. This paper reviews the literature on surgical additive manufacturing applications used on patients, with a focus on the customization of 3D printed implants and the ability to incorporate scaffolds on the implant surface. Scholarly literature databases were used to find general information on the focus topics, as well as case studies of surgical applications of additive manufacturing implants in rodents and humans. The advantages of additive manufacturing medical implants include improved medical outcome, cost effectiveness, and reduced surgery time, as well as customization and incorporated scaffold. Overall, the most effective type of additive manufacturing for the medical implant application is electron beam melting using Ti-6Al-4V because it can produce a high quality, high purity biocompatible implant that has the required mechanical properties. Keywords: Additive Manufacturing, Customized implants, Scaffold, 3D Printing, Ti-6Al-4V Introduction In recent years, additive manufacturing technologies have improved significantly, thus expanding the fields and applications for which they can be used. These 3D printing technologies create physical models from digital models without the need for tool and die and process planning. Additive manufacturing can fabricate prototypes of complex shapes in a variety of materials such as metals, polymers, and nylon. Metal components, in particular, can be used for practical applications such as medical implants: devices manufactured to replace or support a biological structure. The biocompatibility of these metallic devices must be considered, creating rigorous requirements for the material selection and final material properties of the structure. Studies have shown that additive manufacturing successfully produces implants with biocompatible materials that meet the structural requirements [1-6]. 3D printing medical implants can provide many benefits such as the customization and personalization of the implants, cost-effectiveness, increased productivity, and the ability to incorporate scaffold. Using custom made implants, fixtures and surgical tools can help decrease surgery time and patient recovery time, while increasing the likelihood of a successful surgery [7]. Another benefit is the cost efficiency of 3D printing medial implants. Traditional manufacturing methods are cheaper for large quantities, but are more expensive for personalized designs and small production runs [8, 9]. 3D printing is especially cost effective for small-sized implants like spinal or dental implants. 3D printing is also faster than traditional manufacturing if a custom implant needs to be made; traditional methods require milling, forging, and a long delivery time while 3D printing may only take about a day [1]. Another notable benefit of additive manufacturing is the ability to share data files of designs. Files saved as an .STL can be downloaded and printed anywhere in the world. The National Institutes of Health established a 3D Print Exchange to promote open-source sharing of 3D print files for medical models [7]. The most significant benefits for the biomedical industry, however, are the ability to manufacture biocompatible materials, customize implants, and incorporate a porous scaffold surface. Types of Additive Manufacturing The additive manufacturing approach uses computer software to slice a complex 3D model into layers of 2D cross-sections with a minute thickness. The layers are then printed layer by layer depending on the particular method chosen for the application. There are dozens of types of additive manufacturing systems on the market, some of the most common being stereolithography (SLA), direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), selective laser sintering (SLS), selective laser melting (SLM), 3D printing (3DP), and electron beam melting (EBM). These systems are classified according to the form of the raw material, which can be powder, liquid, or solid form [8]. The two types of additive manufacturing that are most commonly used for medical implants are SLS and EBM. Figure 1: Process chain for SLM and EBM. The pre-processing before manufacturing includes 3D modeling, file preparation, and slicing of the 3D model into layers. Post-processing may include heat treatment and polishing of fabricated parts [10]. Selective Laser Sintering An SLS printer uses a powder form of material for printing objects. A laser fuses a single layer of powder by drawing the shape of the object according to the first 2D cross-section of the 3D model. Immediately, the build platform is lowered by the defined layer thickness and another layer of powder is rolled across [10]. The process repeats, fusing each layer one at a time to form the object. SLS can be used with metal, ceramic, and plastic powders. The precision of the laser and the diameter of the powder determines the degree of detail of the final object, so it is possible to create detailed structures with an SLS printer [11]. Figure 2: Schematic of SLS system. The key components of SLM include the laser system (a fiber laser, F-theta and galvanometer used to control the laser beam movement) and the mechanical system (movable build platform and powder roller) [10]. Electron Beam Melting An EBM printer uses a powder form of material for printing objects, similar to SLS. However, while SLS uses a laser to fuse each layer of the powder, EBM uses an electron beam. This energy is delivered through an electric circuit between a tungsten filament inside of the electron gun and the build platform [10]. An electric current heats the filament to emit a beam of electrons [1]. Electric energy is transformed to heat energy which melts the powder on the build platform. The process continues similarly to SLS, where powder is spread across the platform in a thin layer, the cross-section of the object is melted, and then the build platform lowers by the layer thickness. A key element of EBM is that the build chamber is kept under vacuum, which allows the object to be maintain great detail (70-100ÃŽÂ ¼m) [1]. Figure 3: Schematic of EBM system. The key components of EBM include an electron beam system (electron gun assembly, electron beam focusing lens and deflection coils used to control the electron beam) and the mechanical system (movable powder rake and fixed powder cassettes) [10]. Materials of Medical Implants The most common metals used for surgical implants are stainless steel 316L (ASTM F138), Cobalt based alloys (ASTM F75 and ASTM F799) and titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V (ASTM F67 and F136) [12, 13]. However, these metals have disadvantages such as the potential release of toxic ions and particles due to corrosion that cause inflammation and allergic reactions, affecting biocompatibility [14]. Also, the materials that have an elastic modulus that is not similar to natural bone stimulate new bone growth poorly [12]. Despite this, the low Youngs modulus, high strength, and nonlinear elasticity of titanium-based alloys make it the least harmful choice [3]. The most commonly used titanium alloy is Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64) because it also has a better resistance to corrosion compared to stainless steels and cobalt-based alloys [15]. Additive manufacturing has also been done using Tantalum. Tantalum is biocompatible, hard, ductile, and chemically resistant, but it is expensive and difficult to machine [6] . Titanium based alloys are superior, thus Ti-6Al-V4 is the best material for additive manufacturing medical implants. Material Youngs modulus (GPa) Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) Yield strength (MPa) Elongation (%) TiTa 75.77  ± 4.04 924.64  ± 9.06 882.77  ± 19.60 11.72  ± 1.13 Ti6Al4V 131.51  ± 16.40 1165.69  ± 107.25 1055.59  ± 63.63 6.10  ± 2.57 cpTi 111.59  ± 2.65 703.05  ± 16.22 619.57  ± 20.25 5.19  ± 0.32 Table 1: Tensile properties of SLS produced TiTa, Ti6Al4V and commercially pure titanium samples (n = 5) [16]. Customized Implants Additive manufacturing allows for the design and fabrication of customized prosthetic implants that are created to meet the specific needs of a patient, such as the size, shape, and mechanical properties of the implant. Additive Manufacturing reduces design time as well as manufacturing time because the implant pattern is computer generated with CT and MRI scans, thus removing the need for a physical model [8]. The ability to produce custom implants quickly solves a common problem with orthopedics where standard implants do not always fit the needs of certain patients. Previously, surgeons had to manually modify implants to make them fit the patient [7]. These techniques can be used by professionals in a variety of specialties such as neurosurgery, orthopedics, craniofacial and plastic surgery, oncology, and implant dentistry [8]. One example of an application in which a customized implant is required is craniofacial reconstruction. Craniofacial abnormalities are a diverse group of congenital defects that affect a large number of people and can be acquired at birth or due to injuries or tumors [8]. Standard cranial implants rarely fit a patient precisely because skulls have irregular shapes [7]. The custom implant can be created by using a CT scan to create a 3D virtual model of the patients skull. Then the model can be used with CAD software to design an implant that would perfectly fit the patient [8]. Using custom implants has shown to improve the morphology for large and complex-shaped cranial abnormalities, and some researchers have observed a greater improvement in neurological functions than after similar surgeries using traditionally manufactured implants [17, 18]. Figure 4: Skull model and customized implant for craniofacial reconstruction surgery [8]. Scaffold Additive manufacturing medical implants allows the porosity of the surface to be designed, controlled, and interconnected, which provides better bone growth into implants, thus decreasing the chances of the body rejecting the implant. Additionally, the rough surface quality of 3D printed implants enhances bone-implant fixation [1]. Without scaffold, there is a risk of bone weakening and bone loss around the implant, which is a consequence of stress shielding due to high stiffness of materials [19]. The probability of this problem occurring is lessened when bone can grow into a porous surface of the implant [19]. Cellular lattice structures are classified by stochastic and non-stochastic geometries. The pores in stochastic structures have random variations in size and shape, while the pores in non-stochastic structures have repeating patterns of particular shapes and sizes [10]. The main challenge in additively manufacturing scaffolds is the difficulty to remove the loose powder from within the pores, but an advantage is that additive manufacturing technology allows for the manufacturing of different types of scaffolds if a design requires it; different regions of the implant could have different porosities [1, 10]. The procedure used to achieve the porous areas with traditional manufacturing methods includes coating a smooth surface with other materials such as plasma-sprayed titanium or a titanium wire mesh; however, combining different metals increases the risk of the body rejecting the implant. Additive manufacturing allows the smooth and porous surfaces to be fabricated with the same material, thus decreasing that risk. A variety of additive manufacturing techniques can be used to create the lattice structure, but scaffold can be fabricated by SLS or EBM without the need for support structures, thus making it the most effective method [5]. Figure 5: Acetabular cup with designedFigure 6: (a) Porous femoral stem on the building porous surface [10].platform, (b) post-processed femoral stem [5]. Conclusion There are many advantages to using additive manufacturing to fabricate surgical implants. These benefits include improved medical outcome, cost effectiveness, reduced surgery time, as well as customization and scaffold. Overall, the most effective type of additive manufacturing for the medical implant application is Electron Beam Melting because it can produce a high quality, high purity biocompatible implant that has the required mechanical properties. The recommended metal to use for most implants is the titanium-based alloy Ti-6Al-4V because of its low Youngs modulus, high strength, nonlinear elasticity, and corrosion resistance. Overall, additive manufacturing is an excellent production method for medical implants because it allows surgeons to customize implants and scaffold to the specific needs of the patient. References 1.Petrovic, V., et al., Additive manufacturing solutions for improved medical implants. 2012: INTECH Open Access Publisher. 2.Ahn, Y.K., et al., Mechanical and microstructural characteristics of commercial purity titanium implants fabricated by electron-beam additive manufacturing. Materials Letters, 2017. 187: p. 64-67. 3.Yan, L.M., et al., Improved mechanical properties of the new Ti-15Ta-xZr alloys fabricated by selective laser melting for biomedical application. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2016. 688: p. 156-162. 4.Caldarise, S., Hip joint prostheses and methods for manufacturing the same. 1996, Google Patents. 5.Simoneau, C., et al., Development of a porous metallic femoral stem: Design, manufacturing, simulation and mechanical testing. Materials Design, 2017. 114: p. 546-556. 6.Wauthle, R., et al., Additively manufactured porous tantalum implants. Acta Biomaterialia, 2015. 14: p. 217-225. 7.Ventola, C.L., Medical Applications for 3D Printing: Current and Projected Uses. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 2014. 39(10): p. 704-711. 8.Jardini, A.L., et al., Cranial reconstruction: 3D biomodel and custom-built implant created using additive manufacturing. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, 2014. 42(8): p. 1877-1884. 9.DUrso, P.S., et al., Custom cranioplasty using stereolithography and acrylic. British Journal of Plastic Surgery, 2000. 53(3): p. 200-204. 10.Sing, S.L., et al., Laser and electronà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ beam powderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ bed additive manufacturing of metallic implants: A review on processes, materials and designs. Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 2016. 34(3): p. 369-385. 11.Hoy, M.B., 3D printing: making things at the library. Med Ref Serv Q, 2013. 32(1): p. 94-9. 12.Kokubo, T., et al., Bioactive metals: preparation and properties. J Mater Sci Mater Med, 2004. 15(2): p. 99-107. 13.Staiger, M.P., et al., Magnesium and its alloys as orthopedic biomaterials: A review. Biomaterials, 2006. 27(9): p. 1728-1734. 14.Polo-Corrales, L., M. Latorre-Esteves, and J.E. Ramirez-Vick, Scaffold Design for Bone Regeneration. Journal of nanoscience and nanotechnology, 2014. 14(1): p. 15-56. 15.Dinda, G.P., L. Song, and J. Mazumder, Fabrication of Ti-6Al-4V Scaffolds by Direct Metal Deposition. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions a-Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science, 2008. 39A(12): p. 2914-2922. 16.Sing, S.L., W.Y. Yeong, and F.E. Wiria, Selective laser melting of titanium alloy with 50 wt% tantalum: Microstructure and mechanical properties. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2016. 660: p. 461-470. 17.Rotaru, H., et al., Cranioplasty With Custom-Made Implants: Analyzing the Cases of 10 Patients. Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2012. 70(2): p. e169-e176. 18.Agner, C., M. Dujovny, and M. Gaviria, Neurocognitive Assessment Before and after Cranioplasty. Acta Neurochirurgica, 2002. 144(10): p. 1033-1040. 19.Shah, F.A., et al., Long-term osseointegration of 3D printed CoCr constructs with an interconnected open-pore architecture prepared by electron beam melting. Acta Biomaterialia, 2016. 36: p. 296-309. Bacillus Thuringiensis: Distribution and Habitat Bacillus Thuringiensis: Distribution and Habitat LITERATURE REVIEW For several decades since its discovery, formulations of Bacillus thuringiensis (B. t.) have been seen as the ideal means of controlling Lepidoteran pests in agriculture because of the many attributes that differentiate this microbial insecticide from the synthetic chemical formulations. No toxicity to mammals, environmental friendliness, apparent immunity to the pesticide resistance phenomenon (no longer true), good integration with other pest control methods and the possibility of being mass produced at farm level at low cost, all made B. thuringiensis the much-needed tool for IPM programmes in developing countries. Research of almost 85 years reveals that Bacillus spp., especially B. thuringiensis and Bacillus sphaericus are the most potent biopesticides (Boucias Pendland, 1998). B. thuringiensis is a species of bacteria that has insecticidal properties that affects a specific range of insect orders. There are at least 34 subspecies of  B. thuringiensis (also called serotypes o r varieties) and possibly over 800 strain isolates (Swadener, 1994). B. thuringiensis accounts for about 5-8% of Bacillus spp. population in the environment (Hastowo et al., 1992). Till date more than 130 species of lepidopteran, dipteran and coleopteran insects are found to be controlled by  B. thuringiensis (Dean, 1984). Historical Background of B. thuringiensis B. thuringiensis are interesting and important bacteria used in the biological control of insect pest which form toxic crystal proteins at the time of sporulation. Perhaps the most well known and widely used biopesticide comes from B. thuringiensis, a bacterium that produces insecticidal proteins during its sporulation. This common soil bacterium, most abundantly found in grain dust from soil and other grain storage facilities, was discovered first in Japan in 1901 by Ishawata and then in 1911 in Germany by Berliner (Baum et al., 1999). It was subsequently found that thousands of strains of B. thuringiensis exist (Lereclus, 1993). The bacterium was isolated from diseased larvae of Anagasta kuehniella, and this finding led to the establishment of B. thuringiensis as microbial insecticide. The first record of its application to control insects was in Hungary at the end of 1920, and in Yugoslavia at the beginning of 1930s, it was applied to control the European corn borer (Lords, 2005). Sporine which was the first commercial product of B. thuringiensis was available in 1938 in France (Waiser, 1986) for the control of flour moth (Jacobs, 1951). Unfortunately, the product was used only for a very short time, due to World War II (Nester et al., 2002). Formation of transgenic plant was also observed. The first reports of insertion of genes encoding for B. thuringiensis delta-endotoxins into plants came in 1987 and the first transgenic plants to express B. thuringiensis toxins were tobacco and tomato plants (van Frankenhuyzen, 1993). In 1957 pacific yeast products commercialized the first strain on B. thuringiensis, named as Thuricide due to the increasing concern of biopesticide over the use of chemical insecticides. B. thuringiensis is a gram-positive spore-forming bacterium that produces crystalline proteins called deltaendotoxins during its stationary phase of growth (Schnepf et al., 1998). The crystal is released to the environment after analysis of the cell wall at the end of sporulation, and it can account for 20 to 30% of the dry weight of the sporulated cells (Schnepf et al., 1998) Distribution Habitat of B. thuringiensis This bacterium is distributed worldwide (Martin Travers, 1989). The soil has been described as its main habitat; however it has also been isolated from foliage, water, storage grains, and dead insects, etc (Iriarte Caballero, 2001). Isolation of strains from dead insects has been the main source for commercially used varieties, which include kurstaki, isolated from A. kuehniella; israelensis, isolated from mosquitoes, and tenebrionis, isolated from Tenebrio monitor larvae (Ninfa Rosas, 2009; Iriarte Caballero, 2001).. The spores of B. thuringiensis persist in soil, and vegetative growth occurs when nutrients are available (DeLucca et al., 1981; Akiba, 1986; Ohba Aizawa, 1986; Travers et al., 1987; Martin Travers, 1989). DeLucca et al., (1981) found that B. thuringiensis represented between 0.5% and 0.005% of all Bacillus species isolated from soil samples in the USA. Martin Travers (1989) recovered B. thuringiensis from soils globally. Meadows (1993) isolated B. thuringiensis from 785 of 1115 soil samples, and the percentage of samples that contained  B. thuringiensis ranged from 56% in New Zealand to 94% in samples from Asia and central and southern Africa. Ohba Aizawa (1986) isolated B. thuringiensis from 136 out of 189 soil samples in Japan. There are several theories on the ecological niche filled by B. thuringiensis. Unlike most insect pathogenic microbes, B. thuringiensis generally recycle poorly and rarely cause natural epizootics in insects, leading to speculation that B. thuringiensis is essentially a soil micro-organism that possesses incidental insecticidal activity (Martin Travers 1989). Evidence to support this view is that B. thuringiensis are commonly reported in the environment independent of insects and there is a lack of association between occurrence and insect activity (van Frankenhuyzen 1993). Meadows (1993) suggested four possible explanations for the presence of B. thuringiensis in soil: 1) rarely grows in soil but is deposited there by insects; 2) may be infective to soil-dwelling insects (as yet undiscovered); 3) may grow in soil when nutrients are available; and 4) an affinity with B. cereus. B. thuringiensis has been found extensively in the phylloplane. Numerous  B. thuringiensis subspecies have been recovered from coniferous trees, deciduous trees and vegetables, as well as from other herbs (Smith Couche, 1991; Damgaard et al., 1997). B. thuringiensis deposited on the upper side of leaves (exposed to the sun) may remain effective for only 1-2 days, but B. thuringiensis on the underside of leaves (i.e. protected from the sun) may remain active for 7-10 days (Swadner, 1994). B. thuringiensis kurstaki has been recovered from rivers and public water distribution systems after an aerial application of Thuricide 16B (Ohana, 1987). Crystal Composition and Morphology The existence of parasporal inclusions in B. thuringiensis was first noted in 1915 (Berliner, 1915), but their protein composition was not delineated until the 1950s (Angus, 1954). Hannay (1953) detected the crystalline fine structure that is a property of most of the parasporal inclusions. B. thuringiensis subspecies can synthesize more than one inclusion, which may contain different ICPs (Hannay, 1953). Depending on their ICP composition, the crystals have various forms (bipyramidal, cuboidal, flat rhomboid, or a composite with two or more crystal types) (Bulla et al., 1977; Hà ¶fte Whiteley, 1989). A partial correlation between crystal morphology, ICP composition, and bioactivity against target insects has been established (Bulla et al., 1977; Hà ¶fte Whiteley, 1989; Lynch Baumann, 1985). Classification of B. thuringiensis subspecies The classification of B. thuringiensis subspecies based on the serological analysis of the flagella (H) antigens was introduced in the early 1960s (de Barjac Bonnefoi, 1962). This classification by serotype has been supplemented by morphological and biochemical criteria (de Barjac, 1981). Until 1977, only 13 B. thuringiensis subspecies had been described, and at that time all subspecies were toxic to Lepidopteran larvae only. The discovery of other subspecies toxic to Diptera (Goldberg Margalit, 1977) and Coleoptera (Krieg et al., 1983) enlarged the host range and markedly increased the number of subspecies. Up to the end of 1998, over 67 subspecies based on flagellar H-serovars had been identified. Genetics of ICP In the early 1980s, it was established that most genes coding for the ICPs reside on large transmissible plasmids, of which most are readily exchanged between strains by conjugation (Gonzà ¡lez Carlton, 1980; Gonzà ¡lez et al., 1981). Since these initial studies, numerous ICP genes have been cloned, sequenced and used to construct  B. thuringiensis strains with novel insecticidal spectra (Hà ¶fte Whiteley, 1989). The currently known crystal (cry) gene types encode ICPs that are specific to either Lepidoptera (cryI), Diptera and Lepidoptera (cryII), Coleoptera (cryIII), Diptera (cryIV), or Coleoptera and Lepidoptera (cryV) (Hà ¶fte Whiteley, 1989). All ICPs described to date attack the insect gut upon ingestion. To date, each of the proteolytically activated ICP molecules with insecticidal activity has a variable C-terminal domain, which is responsible for receptrecognition (host susceptibility), and a conserved  N-terminal domain, which induces pore formation (toxicity) (Li et al., 1991). Most naturally occurring B. thuringiensis strains contain ICPs active against a single order of insects. However, conjugative transfer between B. thuringiensis strains or related species can occur, resulting in new strains with various plasmid contents (Gonzà ¡lez Carlton, 1980). Thus the mobility of the cry genes and the exchange of plasmids may explain the diverse and complex activity spectra observed in B. thuringiensis (Gonzà ¡lez Carlton, 1980; Gonzà ¡lez et al., 1981; Gonzà ¡lez et al., 1982; Reddy et al., 1987; Jarrett Stephenson, 1990). New B. thuringiensis strains have been developed by conjugation that is toxic to two insect orders. Nutritional status of B. thuringiensis Since sporulation and germination in bacilli are dependent on the nutritional status of the organism (Hardwick Foster, 1952), a study of the nutritional requirement of  B. thuringiensis var. thuringiensis is important for delineating the control mechanisms which regulate spore and parasporal crystal formation. Certain amino acids support growth, sporulation and crystal formation of B. thuringiensis var. thuringiensis, while others inhibit the growth (Singer et al., 1966; Singer Rogoff, 1968; Bulla et al., 1975; Nickerson Bulla, 1975; Rajalakshmi Shethna, 1977). A lower concentration of cystine (Nickerson Bulla, 1975) or cysteine (Rajalakshmi Shethna, 1977) promotes growth, sporulation and crystal formation in Î’. thuringiensis, while at a higher concentration of cys/cysSH, only the vegetative growth was observed, (Rajalakshmi Shethna, 1977). Classification of B. thuringiensis The classification of B. thuringiensis subspecies based on the serological analysis of the flagella (H) antigens was introduced in the early 1960s (de Barjac Bonnefoi, 1962). This classification by serotype has been supplemented by morphological and biochemical criteria (de Barjac, 1981). Many strains of B. thuringiensis have been isolated and classified within more than 20 different varieties by serological techniques. On the basis of their potency for insect these varieties have been grouped into five pathotypes: Lepidopteran-Specific (e.g. B. thuringiensis .var Kurstaki) Dipteran-Specific (e.g. B. thuringiensis . var israelensis) Coleopteran-Specific (e.g. B. thuringiensis .var. tenebrionis) Those active against Lepidoptera and Dipter(e.g. B. thuringiensis . var. aizawai) Those with no toxicity recorded in insects (e.g. B. thuringiensis . var. Dakota) Mode of Action The ICP structure and function have been reviewed in detail by Schnepf et al., (1998). Binding of the ICP to putative receptors is a major determinant of ICP specificity and the formation of pores in the midgut epithelial cells is a major mechanism of toxicity (Van Frankenhuyzen, 1993). After ingestion of B. thuringiensis by insect the crystal is dissolved in the insects alkaline gut. Then the digestive enzymes that are present in insects body break down the crystal structure and activate B. thuringiensiss insecticidal component, called the delta-endotoxin (Swadner, 1994). The delta-endotoxin binds to the cells lining the midgut membrane and creates pores in the membrane, upsetting the guts ion balance. The insect soon stops feeding and starves to death (Gill et al., 1992). Target Organisms In the past decades, B. thuringiensis Cry toxins were classified according to the target pest they attacked (Hofte Whiteley, 1998); however, due to the dual toxic activity exhibited by some cry genes and the inconsistencies in the original classification proposed by Hà ¶fte and Whiteley(1998), Crickmore et al., (1998) proposed a revision of the nomenclature for insecticidal crystal proteins, based on the ability of a crystal protein to exhibit some experimentally verifiable toxic effect in a target organism (Crickmore et al., 1998; Hà ¶fte Whiteley, 1998). The diversity of B. thuringiensis is demonstrated in the almost 70 serotypes and the 92 subspecies described to date (Galan-Wong et al., 2006). It is well known that many insects are susceptible to the toxic activity of  B. thuringiensis; among them, lepidopterans have been exceptionally well studied, and many toxins have shown activity against them (Jarret Stephens., 1990; Sefinejad et al., 2008). Order Lepidoptera encompasses the majority of susceptible species belonging to agriculturally important families such as Cossidae, Gelechiidae, Lymantriidae, Noctuidae, Pieridae, Pyralidae, Thaumetopoetidae, Tortricidae, and Yponomeutidae (Iriarte Caballero, 2001). General patterns of use: Commercial applications of B. thuringiensis have been directed mainly against lepidopteran pests of agricultural and forest crops; however, in recent years strains active against coleopteran pests have also been marketed (Tomlin, 1997). Strains of B. thuringiensis kurstaki active against dipteran vectors of parasitic disease organisms have been used in public health programmes (Tomlin, 1997). Applications in agriculture and forestry Commercial use of B. thuringiensis on agricultural and forest crops dates back nearly  30 years, when it became available in France (Van Frankenhuyzen, 1993). Use of  B. thuringiensis has increased greatly in recent years and the number of companies with a commercial interest in B. thuringiensis products has increased from four in 1980 to at least 18 (Van Frankenhuyzen, 1993). Several commercial B. thuringiensis products with B. thuringiensis aizawai, B. thuringiensis kuehniella or B. thuringiensis tenebrionise have been applied to crops using conventional spraying technology. Various formulations have been used on major crops such as cotton, maize, soybeans, potatoes, tomatoes, various crop trees and stored grains. Formulations have ranged from ultralow-volume oil to high-volume, wettable powder and aqueous suspensions (Tomlin, 1997). In the main, naturally occurring B. thuringiensis strains have been used, but transgenic microorganisms expressing B. thuringiensis toxins have been developed by conjugation and by genetic manipulation, and in some cases, these have reached the commercial market (Carlton et al., 1990). These modified organisms have been developed in order to increase host range, prolong field activity or improve delivery of toxins to target organisms. For example, the coleopteran-active cryIIIA gene has been transferred to a lepidopteran-active B. thuringiensis kuehniella (Carlton et al., 1 990). A plasmid bearing an ICP gene has been transferred from B. thuringiensis to a non-pathogenic leaf-colonizing isolate of Pseudomonas fluorescens; fixation of the transgenic cells produces ICP contained within a membrane which prolongs persistence (Gelernter, 1990). Applications in vector control B. thuringiensis Kurstaki has been used to control both mosquitos and blackflies in large-scale programmes (Lacey et al., 1982; Chilcott et al., 1983; Car, 1984; Car de Moor, 1984; Cibulsky Fusco, 1987; Becker Margalit, 1993; Bernhard Utz, 1993). For example, in Germany 23 tonnes of B. thuringiensis Kurstaki wettable powder and 19 000 litres of liquid concentrate were used to control mosquitos (Anopheles and Culex species) between 1981 and 1991 in the Upper Rhine Valley (Becker Margalit, 1993). In China, approximately 10 tonnes of B. thuringiensis Kurstaki have been used in recent years to control the malarial vector, Anopheles sinensis. Resistance of Insect Populations A number of insect populations of several different species with different levels of resistance to B. thuringiensis have been obtained by laboratory selection experiments during the last 15 years (Schnepf et al., 1998). The species include Plodia interpunctella, Cadra cautella, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, Chrysomela scripta, Tricholplusia ni, Spodoptera littoralis, Spodoptera exigua, Heliothis virescens, Ostrinia nubilalis and Culex quinquefasciatus (Schnepf et al., 1998). The Indian meal moth, a pest of grain storage areas, was the first insect to develop resistance to B. thuringiensis. Kurstaki (Swadner, 1994). Resistance progresses more quickly in laboratory experiments than under field conditions due to higher selection pressure in the laboratory (Tabashnik, 1991). No indications of insect resistance to B .thuringiensis were observed in the field, until the development of resistance was ob-served in the diamondback moth in crops where B. thuringiensis had been used repeatedly. Since then, resistance has been observed in the laboratory in the tobacco budworm, the Colorado potato beetle and other insect species (McGaughey, 1992) B. thuringiensiss Ecological Impacts Some of the most serious concerns about widespread use of B. thuringiensis as a pest control technique come from the effects it can have on animals other than the pest targeted for control. All B. thuringiensis products can kill organisms other than their intended targets. In turn, the animals that depend on these organisms for food are also impacted (Swadner, 1994). Effect on Beneficial insects: Many insects are not pests, and any pest management technique needs to be especially concerned about those that are called beneficials, the insects that feed or prey on pest species (Swadner, 1994). B. thuringiensis has impacts on a number of beneficial species. For example, studies of a wasp that is a parasite of the meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) found that treatment with B. thuringiensis reduced the number of eggs produced by the parasitic wasp, and the percentage of those eggs that hatched (Salama, 1993). Production and hatchability of eggs of a predatory bug were also decreased (Salama, 1991). Other insects: Many insects that do not have as directly beneficial importance to agriculture are important in the function and structure of ecosystems. A variety of studies have shown that B. thuringiensis applications can disturb insect communities (Swadner, 1994). Research following large-scale B. thuringiensis applications to kill gypsy moth larvae in Lane County, Oregon, found that the number of oak-feeding caterpillar species was reduced for three years following spraying, and the number of caterpillars was reduced for two years (Miller, 1990). Birds: Because many birds feed on the caterpillars and other insects affected by B. thuringiensis applications, it is not surprising that impacts of B. thuringiensis spraying on birds have been documented (Swadner, 1994). In New Hampshire, when B. thuringiensis-treatment reduced caterpillar abundance, black-throated blue warblers made fewer nesting attempts and also brought fewer caterpillars to their nestlings (Rodenhouse, 1992). Effects on Humans Eight human volunteers ingested 1 gram of a B. thuringiensis kuehniella formulation  (3 ÃÆ'- 109 spores/g of powder) daily for 5 days. Of the eight volunteers, five also inhaled 100 mg of the B. thuringiensis kuehniella powder daily for five days. Comprehensive medical examinations immediately before, after, and 4 to 5 weeks later failed to demonstrate any adverse health effects, and all the blood chemistry and urinalysis tests were negative (Fisher Rosner, 1959). Pivovarov et al., (1977) reported that ingestion of foods contaminated with  B. thuringiensis gastroenteitis at concentrations of 105 to 109 cells/g caused nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and tenesmus, colic-like pains in the abdomen, and fever in three of the four volunteers studied. The toxicity of the B. thuringiensis gastroenteritis strain may have been due to beta-exotoxin (Ray, 1990). In a purified form, some of the proteins produced by B. thuringiensis are acutely toxic to mammals. However, in their natural form, acute toxicity of commonly-used  B. thuringiensis varieties is limited to caterpillars, mosquito larvae, and beetle larvae (Swadner, 1994). Special Concerns about B. thuringiensis Toxicity The earliest tests done regarding B. thuringiensiss toxicity were conducted using B. thuringiensis var. thuringiensis, a B. thuringiensis strain known to contain a second toxin called beta-exotoxin (Swadner, 1994). The beta-exotoxin is toxic to vertebrates, with an LD 50 (median lethal dose; the dose that kills 50 percent of a population of test animals) of 13-18 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg) in mice when injected into the abdomen. An oral dose of 200 mg/kg per day killed mice after eight days (swadner, 1994) Beta-exotoxin also causes genetic damage to human blood cells (Meretoja, 1977).

Bad Decision-Making in Hamlet Essay -- Shakespeare plays, story analysi

Are you too quick to make important decisions? Do you act before you think? These quick decisions are common in the play Hamlet. Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare in 1589. The play takes place in Denmark. The protagonist is a prince named Hamlet. Hamlet’s father suddenly dies, and Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude, decides to marry Hamlet’s uncle, King Claudius. Hamlet slowly goes insane, and he wants revenge on the murderer of his father. Laertes, the son of the king’s associate, makes a bad decision in the play. When Laertes’ father, Polonius, is killed, Laertes is outraged and seeks vengeance. Laertes made a bad decision in the play, but he could have tried using the decision-making process, weighing possible alternatives, and he could have changed the outcome of the play if he had made careful decisions. Laertes’ main decision in Hamlet was how to seek revenge on Prince Hamlet for killing Polonius. There are seven steps to the decision-making process. First, Laertes had to identify the decision that had to be made. Laertes did follow this step by looking for a solution of his father’s death. Next, Laertes should have gathered information relevant to his situation. Instead of this step, Laertes automatically assumed that he had to kill someone without knowing what really happened to Polonius. Then, Laertes should have identified his alternatives of the decision. Laertes did not explore alternative in the play. He immediately met with the king and decided to kill Prince Hamlet without looking at different ways to approach the situation. After exploring alternatives, Laertes should have weighed the evidence of the situation. The only evidence that Laertes had was the king’s word that Hamlet... ...the king. By killing the king, they put Denmark in better hands, and they save both of their lives. Also, Ophelia and Hamlet could get married and take the throne. Just by changing Laertes decision, the ending of Hamlet completely changes. Everyone is alive and healthy, except for King Claudius, and Denmark is not taken over by Fortinbras, an officer of a foreign country. By using the decision-making process, creating alternatives, and choosing the best outcome, Laertes would have completely changed the play, Hamlet. Laertes could have used steps two, three and four of the decision-making process to make an educated decision. Also, Laertes may have wanted to explore his many alternatives and outcomes before making his decision. Lastly, Laertes should have talked to Hamlet about the death of Polonius. Think before you act, and do not be too quick to judge.

Pandora: disintermediator or disintermediated? Essay

For Pandora, one of the biggest players in Internet radio, figuring out the future is both challenging and intimidating. If the regular challenges of growing a new company aren’t enough, Pandora also faces a market that is reeling in turmoil. In the new digital world, the way people listen to music continues to change dramatically. It seems likely that Pandora will either lead the changes or fall victim to them. Pandora was founded just over a decade ago. At that time, a vast majority of music listeners were still getting their groove on in one of two ways: They either popped a CD into their home, car, or personal CD player or they turned on the old AM/FM radio. But the advent of digital formats like MP3s has had a huge impact on CD sales and has drawn people away from what is now called â€Å"terrestrial radio.† Moreover, like the music business, the radio business has faced major changes of its own. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 reduced limitations on the number of stations that one owner could hold. This led to huge ownership groups that consolidated and standardized listening formats. The result is less diversity on the radio, with shorter playlists and fewer artists represented. From one city to the next, all across the United States, radio stations have started to sound more alike. Both these trends – combined with the explosion of Internet usage and changes in online technologies – have led to a deluge of companies trying to capitalize on the future of music distribution. This includes download services such as iTunes, subscription services such as Rhapsody and eMusic, an endless number of Internet radio stations, and even satellite   radio network SirriusXM. Today, with an ever†growing list of listening devices and cloud music services that store personal music libraries so they can be accessed anywhere by any device, listening trends continue to evolve. But one thing about the future is certain: The business of listening to music is full of disruption and confusion. Things are changing fast and the winning products and services—indeed, the survivors—are yet to be determined. The Power of People Amid the chaos, Pandora has carved out its own niche, setting itself apart as an automated music recommendation service. It isn’t a play†on†demand service, where members can simply choose the exact song and artist they want. Rather, listeners enter an artist or song suggestion. The playlist starts with a track by the r equested artist and inserts additional songs by that artist every once in a while. But in between, Pandora cues up songs by other artists similar in nature to the requested material. If an unliked or unwanted song plays, the listener can click the â€Å"thumbs down† icon or just skip the song and it will be removed from the list. Users can also create stations by browsing artists alphabetically, or they can tune in to pre†made genre stations or to other users’ stations. Listener’s can create as many stations as they wish, each oriented around the initial input. Lots of online services employ similar recommendation features (think Netflix and Amazon). But Pandora has set a precedent by the predictive power of its recommendation software. The Pandora software is amazingly precise at choosing material that fits with what the user wants. According to Tim Westergren, founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Pandora,

7 Social Media Checklists to Boost Your Efficiency - CoSchedule

7 Social Media Checklists to Boost Your Efficiency As a marketing manager, you have a ton of work to do. Between projects, reports and more, trying to manage social media (which is a lot of work in and of itself) can put on a lot of stress. You have to check in on your campaigns, approve graphics, pull analytics, and the list goes on. Having a checklist in place can help you ensure that you’re getting all your work done promptly and you’re not missing any critical steps. Since we’re such believers in checklists, we created seven social media checklist templates for you. There are printable and editable versions for each one, too, making it easy to manage everything you need to get done. So what are you waiting for? Start reading and using your free checklists now. 7 Simple Social Media Checklists to Boost Your EfficiencyDownload Your Social Media Checklist Bundle Your Social Media Checklist Bundle includes seven unique checklists: Daily Social Media Checklist General Management Social Media Checklist Social Media Campaign Checklist Social Media Audit Checklist Quarterly Social Media Analysis Checklist Social Media Crisis Communications Checklist Social Media Strategy Checklist Each checklist comes as a PDF and Word Document so you can edit and adjust each one to fit the specific tasks you need to complete.Why Are Checklists Important? Checklists are essential for any manager. Actually, that’s true for almost any position, which is why they are so critical to today’s work environment. In fact, Atul Gawande, author of â€Å"The Checklist Manifesto†Ã‚  talks about how to the world is so busy and complicated that we need a checklist to keep up with everything. He’s literally a surgeon, too. If he needs checklists, marketers probably do as well. Checklists help by: Keeping you on track and organized. Ensuring that you don’t forget something in the process. Help you maintain consistency. Help delegate tasks to the rest of your social media team and ensure that they are also getting their work done. Still don’t believe me? Take a look at a day in the life of social media manager  Mario Moreno (a global social media manager for a massive retailer): And that’s just one day! Not to mention, that’s just social media. You’re probably balancing other things on top of your social media management. In summary, get yourself a checklist, there’s too much going on with your day-to-day work not to. Create Checklists In With Task Templates You can move all of your checklists into one place with Task Templates  from . Getting them set up in your calendar is easy. Select the task template icon: Add in the tasks from your checklist and assign them to a person in your calendar with a due date: Title and save your template once it’s ready: Ready to try managing all your content + social media marketing on one calendar and build your own checklists with Task Templates? Start a free trial or schedule a demo now. 7  Social Media Marketing Checklists For Managers Okay, we’ll stop being a dead horse here. You can see that checklists are essential for social media managers.  So, let’s dive into each one we've included in this post. Table of Contents: Daily Social Media Checklist Social Media Management Checklist Social Media Campaign Checklist Social Media Audit Checklist Social Media Analysis Checklist Social Media Crisis Communication Checklist Social Media Strategy ChecklistA Daily Social Media Checklist First on our list is a daily social media checklist. It looks something like this: Get your free daily social media checklist from @here:Finish Any Outstanding Tasks The first part of any social media marketers day should be to finish any outstanding tasks from the day before. Check That Posts That Are Publishing Today Are Ready To Go This step in your daily checklist involves three parts: Ensure that any accounts tagged in your posts are correct. The last thing you want to do is send out a post that links to the wrong account. Make sure any links in your posts are working. Broken links are no good. Double-check for spelling errors. Simple mistakes can leave a lasting (and unfortunately, negative) impression. Review Any Meetings On Your Agenda For Today Meeting to discuss an upcoming campaign? Do yourself a favor and review your notes and research before you head in. Check The Status Of Upcoming Graphics and Videos If upcoming posts still don’t have the images, graphics, or videos they need, check in with the teams responsible for creating them. This is especially important because if you and need to make edits, you don’t want to be adding visual content at the last minute. Review Any VIsual Media That Needs To Be Approved For Your Social Channels If graphics or videos are waiting for approval, make your edit notes and get them back to their respective teams in a timely manner. Edit Upcoming Content For Each Social Media Channel If you have a writer crafting social copy, review every post before it’s published. Approve Any Content That Is Ready For Publish Once the graphics are uploaded, and the content is edited, you can approve your posts to publish to your channels. Ensure that your social media publishing tool has approval features to make sure everything that publishes is actually ready to go. Engage With Thought Leaders There are thought leaders in every industry. Set aside time each day to engage with them, and find new people to follow. Share advice, tactics, and more to help develop that relationship. You never know when they might call for a favor. Plus, engaging with thought leaders can help keep you on top of the latest trends in your industry and increase your authority. Reshare Content From Partners and Influencers If you are working with a partner or influencer, show their content a little love by sharing it to your channels. This can also help fill gaps in your social media schedule if you’re running out of content ideas. Update Your Social Media Calendar Your social media strategy lives and dies by your calendar. Which means that it should always be up to date. Check in every day to ensure projects, messages, reports, and meetings haven’t moved dates. Did You Know?: is the industry's leading marketing calendar, making it easy to plan and publish all your content and social media posts in one place. Engage With Potential New Customers Social media is all about engagement. With companies all over the social media sphere, it’s easier for customers to have their voice heard by the organizations they love (or hate). This is a task that would be easy to pass down to another team member if you don’t have time to respond to every request. Read Industry News Interacting with thought leaders in your industry is not going to be enough to keep you on top. Reading articles and the latest industry news can help you fill that gap though. Subscribe to blogs and follow social accounts that share relevant news about your industry. Use tools like Feedly  or Flipboard  to help find the latest news. Curate Content For Your Social Media Channels It can be tough to create enough content to keep your social channels full. Fortunately, content curation can help fill those gaps. Look for stories that your customers and fans would enjoy reading and add them to your publishing tool. Did You Know?: 's Chrome extension makes it easy to curate social media content on your marketing calendar. Back to Table of Contents Social Media Management Checklist Another checklist in your bundle is a general management checklist. These tasks are ones that usually fall to management alone and should always be a part of your list. It could look something like this: Get your free social media management checklist from @here:Check The Workload Of Your Team Check in with your co-workers periodically to make sure that they aren’t overwhelmed with their workload. (Or worse they don’t have enough to do). If they are overwhelmed, try shifting tasks so they can regain their balance and get caught up. Do This With : 's Team Performance Reports allow you to measure your team's productivity and adjust workloads accordingly. Monitor Upcoming Campaigns If you’ve got a big campaign on the horizon, you may want to make sure that everything is on track to be completed by the intended launch date. Make it easier on yourself and your co-workers and commit to having all the graphics, content and videos done before launch, so you have time to review and get edits completed before things start to publish. Do This With : You can schedule entire campaigns using Social Campaigns  in . Create posts, schedule posting times, and measure their performance, all in one place. Check Incoming Messages There are three reasons that as a manager you would want to check in on the incoming messages from your social media channels. Checking incoming messages may help you spot a crisis before one starts. If you can step in and help calm down an angry customer before calamity ensues, your whole organization will thank you. You can help manage customer engagement. You might even uncover some positive reviews of your product that you can reshare. Prepare For Upcoming Strategy Meetings As a manager it’s up to you to steer the social media ship, so preparing for those upcoming strategy meetings is going to fall on to your plate. One way to stay on top is continuous research to help you see what’s going on in the social media realm. Prepare Reports For Upper Management Or Clients Your reports are what show the success (or failure) of your work. Your reports should be easy to read by anyone in your company. They should include any metrics that show that you reached or missed your goals and a brief analysis on why something did or didn’t work. Do This With : offers robust social analytics and reporting features to measure every post and campaign. Monitor Competitor Channels The saying keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer comes to mind here, but having your competitors in the back of your mind can give you that extra drive to be better and do more. Back to Table of Contents Social Media Campaign Checklist Campaigns come up frequently in social media, so it’s vital that as a manager you have a process to follow that makes it easier to crank them out and get them published. The following checklist can help you do just that. Get your free social media campaign checklist from @here:Brainstorm A Theme With Your Team You have to create a lot of campaigns in a year, and as they say, two heads are better than one. Round up your social media team to help you brainstorm the theme for your next campaign. Recommended Reading:  This Is The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Outline The Dates For Your Campaign Three major dates need to be outlined for any campaign: When you need to start working on creating content. When your campaign goes live. When your campaign ends. Determine Your Audience Depending on the theme of your campaign and the message you want to send, the audience you are targeting may shift a little bit. You also need to determine what message you need to share with them that would resonate and  grab their attention. Recommended Reading: How To Find Your Target Audience And Create The Best Content That Connects Set An Ad Budget (If Necessary) If you decide that you are going to add any paid ad promotion to your campaign you need to set a budget. Outline how much you are going to spend: In one day. On one post. On the total campaign. Recommended Reading: How To Make The Most of Facebook Advertising To Reach New Audiences With Rachel Wiinanen From [AMP063] Outline Necessary Image And Video Needs The next step is to outline any necessary image or video needs that you might want to add to your campaign. Include things like: Videos for each channel. Infographics. Photos for each channel. Cover photos. Profile photos. Anything else your team might need. Once you have those initial requests, send them to each team to determine how much time they would need to complete them. Recommended Reading: The Best Guide to Social Media Image Sizes Every Marketer Needs Assign Deadlines To Team Members For Projects Each member of your social media team, as well as your graphic designers and video production crew, needs a deadline that they need to have their work done. Set them early, so you have time for edits and changes before your campaign launches. Do This With : Task Templates  make it easy to build reusable checklists right inside your marketing calendar. Choose Your Hashtags Decide as a team if you are going to use any unique hashtags to identify your campaign on channels like Twitter and Instagram. If you decide to add your hashtag decide on spelling and spacing in advance. Write Post Copy Either you or your social media writers now need to write copy for your campaign. Use our Social Message Optimizer  to create the best content for every channel. Recommended Reading: How To Write The Best Social Media Posts [Backed By 6,399,322 Messages + 11 Studies] Shoot/Design Visual Content Once your message copy has been created direct your designers and video producers to create the necessary visual content for your campaign. Edit Content After your writers have created that initial message copy, go through each post and check for: Spelling errors. Grammar errors. Accounts are tagged correctly. Hashtags are spelled correctly and used on the right channels. Approve Graphics/Videos Once your designers and producers are done with any necessary images or videos, review each one to make sure that it is ready for publishing. Check Links Another thing to check off your list is to ensure the links in your posts are leading to the right places. You may need to check that each one of your posts has been run through a link shortener (if you use one). Upload Messages To Your Publishing Tool Once everything is approved, upload your messages into your social media publishing tool. Ensure that each message is paired with its appropriate visual counterpart. Do This With : Use Social Templates  in to easily recreate posting cadences and frequencies. Schedule Your Campaign Your next step is to schedule your campaigns. Once you have your posts uploaded, turn your campaign live. Do This With : You can schedule your social media messages to go out at the best times with our Best Time Scheduling Feature. Measure Your Results The last step in your process is to measure the results of your campaign. Remember, you can make it easy by using ’s Social Campaign Report, where we’ll do all the work for you. Back to Table of Contents Social Media Audit Checklist Once a year you’re going to run a social media audit. It’s tedious but necessary. A checklist will help you ensure that you don’t miss a step in your auditing process. [Tweet "Get your free social media audit checklist from @here:Review And Secure All Your Social Media Profiles Make sure that your profiles are up to date and all of your passwords are stored in a secure location like LastPass  or 1Password. Analyze The Performance Of Each Of Your Social Media Profiles Check your data to see if your social media profiles and their messages are connecting with your audience and producing engagement. If not, it may be time to ax them. Review Your Publishing Schedule Check your schedule and see if the amount of content you posted to each channel was enough to generate engagement. If not, consider adding or back off the number of times you post on a channel. Run An Audience Analysis Using the same resources you did to develop your first audience, review your demographic data to see if you are still attracting the same audience. Complete A Content Analysis Review what content types did and didn’t connect with your audience on each social media channel. Run A SWOT Analysis Determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that your organization currently faces on social media. Review Goals From Previous Year Determine if you and your social media team met the previous year’s goals. Recommended Reading: How To Complete A Social Media Audit In Nine Steps (+ Free Template) Back to Table of Contents Quarterly Social Media Analysis Checklist Each quarter you’re going to need to check in to see if your efforts are producing the results you want. In other words, you’re going to need to run a quarterly social media analysis. Here is the checklist you’ll need to make sure you get everything done. Get your free quarterly social media analysis checklist from @here:Decide Your Time Period For Analysis What dates are you going to gather your data from? If going quarter by quarter, you’d be looking at a three-month period for each one. Create Your Report Template Create a template with sections for every piece of data you need to gather. This can help ensure that you don’t forget to collect data for a specific section from one quarter to another. Recommended Reading: The Best Social Media Report Template to Show Your Results Gather Data Using your reporting tools, gather the data you need. Analyze Your Data Look for trends, patterns and other consistencies that can help you interpret what your audience wants to see from you. You should also be looking for data that shows that your team is (or isn’t) on track to meet their goals. Recommended Reading: How to Drill Into Data To Extract Powerful Social Media Insights Prepare Your Report Place data into your report and provide a summary of overall trends and patterns for upper management or your client. Recommended Reading: The Best Social Media Report Template to Show Your Results Send To Client Or Upper Management Send the report to whoever needs to see it. Prepare and respond to any questions that may come from your client or management based on your report. Decide If Your Strategy Needs Adjustment Based On Analysis Based on your report and the data you gathered, adjust your strategy to ensure your team meets the goals that were set for them. Back to Table of Contents Social Media Crisis Communication Checklist As a   manager, you need to be prepared at all times for a communication crisis. This could stem from your work or something that happens within your organization. Either way, you need to be ready. Here is the checklist you’ll need. Get your free social media crisis communication checklist from @here.Pause All Social Media Campaigns Immediately The minute a crisis happens, pause all of your social media campaigns immediately. No post should go out until you’ve spoken with upper management. Check In With Upper Management To Determine Next Steps Meet with the other managers to decide what steps the company needs to take. Determine What Kind Of Messaging Should Be Used Work with your public relation team to decide what type of language and messaging should be used to respond to the crisis. Respond Individually To People On Social Media If a flood of mentions and comments come in during a crisis, take the time to respond to them individually, but only after messaging and language has been determined by management. Issue An Apology From The Company The first social media message you send after the crisis has occurred should be an apology from the company. Edit Campaigns For Content That May Inflate Crisis Again Edit your campaigns to ensure they have no mention of anything related to the crisis, or why it occurred. Resume Campaigns Once the crisis has passed, resume your campaigns again. Recommended Reading: How To Build a Thorough Social Media Policy to Prevent Emergencies Back to Table of Contents A Social Media Strategy Checklist The last checklist on this massive list of checklists revolves around your social media strategy. Like your audit checklist, this list is used maybe once a year or once per quarter to review how things are going. Here is the list of things you’ll need to do. Get your free social media strategy checklist from @here.Review Last Year’s Strategy Determine what did and didn’t work from your strategy and why. Throw out what didn’t work and revamp or keep what did. Research New Trends And Ideas Keep your strategy fresh by researching the latest emerging trends and ideas that might work for your organization. Review Your Target Audience Decide if this is still the audience you want to be attracting to your organization. If it is, make sure that your audience profile is up to date. If it isn’t, decide who your new audience will be and create a new profile. Review Your Business Objectives Talk with your CMO to determine the new business objectives that have been set, so your team can create goals based on them. Set Goals Set your goals based on your business objectives. Recommended Reading: How To Set SMART Marketing Goals Establish Your Metrics And KPIs Determine the data points you need to track in order to prove that you are meeting your goals. Determine Tactics Decide which tactics your team is going to use on each social media channel to meet your goals. Map Out Seasonal Campaigns On Social Media Calendar Use recurring sales or seasonal campaigns and plan them out in your social media calendar in advance. Establish Your Reporting Schedule Determine how often and when you are going to report on the progress of your social media strategy and goals to upper management or a client. Back to Table of Contents See How Easy Checklists and Can Help Improve Your Efficiency You now have the tools you need to help get your work done even faster than you were before. Each one of these checklists can be edited to fit your schedule. Once you’re ready to increase your efficiency even more, try . Our state of the art marketing calendar will let you control every aspect of your social media all from one place. Plus, don't forget Task Templates make it easy to build reusable checklists for all your social media tasks.  Start a trial  or sign up for a demo  today.