Entrepreneurship is part of the American dream; about 10% of the US work force owns a small business. In a stable economy owners that are focused on product and market development see continuous growth and expansion; however in turbulent economic times businesses are forced to focus on their competitive advantages. For small enterprises, the most valuable asset is the human capital of the firm; nonetheless many start-up founders tend to overlook the importance of administrative issues like human resource management (HRM). This report shall discuss how founders initially approach the employment relations in the start-up, and what effects their choices have in the long run on the business performance. / text

Under the Resource Management Act 1991, the interpretation and implementation of environmental policy is primarily the responsibility of local government. The management of forestry operations may be influenced via two written means: statutory rules published in regional and district plans, and recommended best management practices (BMPs) published in guidelines. There are concerns that inconsistency between jurisdictions’ regulations have a negative impact on the forestry industry; both in terms of cost and achieving positive environmental outcomes. This research has investigated and quantified the variation in Permitted Activity rules and BMPs between the sixteen Regional Councils of New Zealand, with a focus on culvert installation and earthworks. This research quantified variation on both a national scale and between neighbouring councils. A peer review exercise was carried out to test the possible subjectivity of results, and found that an expert panel largely agreed with the results produced. It has been found that there is significant variation in these regional rules and BMPs. Variation in both the level of control, i.e., the number of rules and BMPs per council, and the nature of control, i.e., the proportion of rules or BMPs utilised, is considerable. Further, the rules and BMPs of one council are seldom the same as another. This variation is apparent on both a national scale and when considering only neighbouring pairs of councils. The findings on levels of variation between councils show that the variation is high, given that the parameters of this research excluded rules and BMPs which pertained to areas of special significance or value. As only ‘general’ rules and BMPs were examined, one would expect variation between councils to be low. The results, however, indicate that there is only limited agreement between Regional Councils. New Zealand’s resource management rules and policies regarding plantation forestry are currently under review. By highlighting the existing regional variation, this research may help to promote the need for a more consistent and effective approach to the regulation of forestry operations.

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<p> Lake Atitlan in Guatemala is a vital source of drinking water. The deteriorating conditions of water quality in this lake threaten human and ecological health as well as the local and national economy. Given the sporadic and limited measurements available, it is impossible to determine the changing conditions of water quality. The goal of this thesis is to use Hyperion satellite images to measure water quality parameters in Lake Atitlan. For this purpose <i> in situ</i> measurements and satellite-derived reflectance data were analyzed to generate an algorithm that estimated Chlorophyll concentrations. This research provides for the first time a quantitative application of hyperspectral satellite remote sensing for water quality monitoring in Guatemala. This approach is readily transferable to other countries in Central America that face similar issues in the management of their water resources.</p>

Resources are said to be fragmented in the network when they are available in non-contiguous blocks, and calls are dropped as they may not end sufficient resources. Hence, available resources may remain unutilized. In this thesis, the effect of resource fragmentation (RF) on RSVP-controlled networks was studied and new algorithms were proposed to reduce the effect of RF. In order to minimize the effect of RF, resources in the network are dynamically redistributed on different paths to make them available in contiguous blocks. Extra protocol messages are introduced to facilitate resource redistribution in the network. The Dynamic Resource Redistribution (DRR) algorithm when used in conjunction with RSVP, not only increased the number of calls accommodated into the network but also increased the overall resource utilization of the network. Issues such as how many resources need to be redistributed and of which call(s), and how these choices affect the redistribution process were investigated. Further, various simulation experiments were conducted to study the performance of the DRR algorithm on different network topologies with varying traffic characteristics.

<p> The effectiveness of a state's natural resource management is rendered meaningless if the particular resource migrates into another state's jurisdiction. In the case of marine mammals, inadequate management of the species anywhere along their annual migration could make food insecure for the regional human populations. My research evaluates to what extent International Environmental Agreements have been able to manage transboundary challenges to food security. Two case studies, the <i>Polar Bear Agreement</i> (2000) and the <i>International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling</i> (1946), are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively using Ronald Mitchell's four factors for describing variation of International Environmental Agreements' effectiveness: incentives, capacities, information, and norms. To ensure food security in the Bering Strait, this thesis stresses the importance of local concerns, norms and stakeholders. Transboundary management includes stakeholders at various scales to address a local challenge that is intersected by an international political boundary. The higher values of the Bowhead whale International Environmental Agreement's four factors, in the quantitative analysis, account for the higher level of food security for Bowhead whale. The qualitative analysis makes three recommendations for future International Environmental Agreements, in this case the draft U.S.-Russia agreement on Pacific walrus: 1) conservation of the Pacific walrus, 2) maintenance of Native self-determination and, 3) encouragement the flow of information between the local and federal stakeholders and between the United States and Russia. In order to ensure future food security in the Bering Strait Region, the management of the Pacific walrus depends on an effective International Environmental Agreement.</p>

<p> There are over 650 million acres of federal public lands in the United States that allow access to nature. Public lands are utilized for a variety of different activities, ranging from preservation to resource extraction. Regardless of proximity, public lands belong to everyone in the United Sates. From January to August 2016, I opportunistically and purposively collected sixteen interviews in Arizona, a state with 38.5% federal public lands, and sixteen in Texas (1.5% federal public lands), to document attitudes, opinions, and ideas about public lands in the United States. Conducting such interviews provides insight into the many different perspectives that people from different areas and backgrounds have about public land, and also acts as a medium for outreach and education. Although the data collected is not representative, it exemplifies different opinions that exist in regards to public land. Opinions such as these can affect management policy and inform how people advocate for public lands now and in the future. I attempted to capture candid responses from the interviewees utilizing an open-ended interview guide to elicit the interviewee&rsquo;s emotions, reactions, attitudes, and opinions towards public lands. All interviewees appreciated access to nature through public lands regardless of their experience with or knowledge about them. Most interviewees were familiar with national parks, but not all knew about national forests, national wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, or the national system of public lands. Several themes emerged, including issues of access, extractive industries such as grazing and mining, and discussions of federal versus state management. </p><p>