Population Ecology vs. Neoinstitutional Theory Essay -- Environment, E

Organization-environment relations depict certain areas of UCSB in their entirety in which two of those theories include population ecology and neoinstitutional theory. Population ecology and neoinstitutional theory looks at UCSB in divergent perspectives: population ecology studies organizations if they are a living or dying species whereas neoinstitutional theory highlights the organization’s importance as an establishment to its field of expertise. With this, I am going to compare both, population ecology and neoinstitutional theory, in relation to the University of California – Santa Barbara. I will further discuss each of their strengths and weaknesses in accordance to the behavior and environment of institution, faculty, staff, and its students within this organization. Within nature, any form of species focus on selection and adaptation towards their environment to better themselves; organizations exert this idea as a metaphor to personify the organization-environment theory of population ecology underlining any organization functions as a living or dying species. Primarily, population ecology reflects both a rationalist and naturalist perspectives. Population ecology echoes rationalist theory since power is frequently controlled by those in superior positions inside the organization (Taylor 25). Also, population ecology is natural because it denies specificity and predictability due to the organization’s dependence of the fluctuation of environmental resources (Sutton 1/20/11). Ultimately for any organization to adapt and change the future of the establishment, it is compulsory for workers in a dominant position to ruminate any strategies and environmental opportunities and threats (Hannan 930). Henry Yang, as UCSB’s ... ...rsity. Conformity limits the organization values and appearance to which they cannot change unless the organization wishes to achieve any backlash. Overall, population ecology and neoinstitutional theory are part of organization-environment relations and are applied throughout UCSB. Population ecology and neoinstitutional theory are two theories describing and affecting the organizational environment at UCSB from two perspectives: the population and institutions as a whole. With population ecology, UCSB faces competition dilemmas to keep their organization from â€Å"dying†; and additionally, neoinstitutional theory shows UCSB how to appear legitimate through conforming to society’s beliefs and expectations. Although both concepts are vastly differently, they aid UCSB, as well as other organizations, to understanding the lifespan and appearance of its establishment.

Characteristics of the breakfast cereal industry Essay

Brand History Breakfast cereals are not a homogenous product. The ready-to-eat breakfast cereal industry may be characterized by relatively low economies of scale and relatively low levels of technology. In other words, the entry into this industry is easy. Between the 1950s and the 1970s there was no entry of new firms in the industry even though all the incumbent firms such as Kellogg, General Mills, General Foods and Quaker Oats, made significant profits. Later however, there was the entry of new low-end companies in the markets and the number of brands sold by these firms also increased substantially from 25 to more than 80, and this number is still on a rise (Cabral, 2000, p. 265-266). Pricing trends For decades the breakfast cereal market was one of the most profitable in the United States. The industry had a consolidated structure dominated by Kellogg, General Mills and Kraft Foods with its Post brand. Strong brand loyalty, coupled with control over the allocation of supermarket shelf space, helped to limit the potential for new entry. Meanwhile the steady demand growth of around 3% per annum kept the industry revenues expanding. Also Kellogg, which accounted for over 40 percent of the market share, acted as the price leader in the industry for years in the industry. Every year Kellogg increased cereal prices, its rivals followed and industry profits too remained high. However, this favorable structure started to change in the early 1990s when the growth in demand slowed and then stagnated as the lifestyle and hence food patterns changed and the market saw the rise of powerful discounters such as Wal-Mart that started promoting their own brand of cereal. As sales of cheaper store-brand cereals began to take-ff, supermarkets no longer were as dependent on brand names to bring in traffic and hence they started to demand lower prices from the branded cereal manufacturers. Initially, the branded cereal manufacturers tried to hold against these adverse trends. However, in 1996 Kraft which was then owned by Philip Morris aggressively cut prices by 20 % for its Post brand in am attempt to gain market share. Kellogg son followed with a 19 percent price cut on two-third of its brands and General Mills quickly did the same. However, this too did not change the consumption pattern the growth rates of which remained flat and revenues then started going down for all the branded cereals (Hill, Jones, 2009, p. 52). The trend continued in 2000s also and the situation worsened with the private-label sales continuing to make inroads, gaining over 10 percent of the market. To top it all off, the sales of breakfast cereals started to contract at 1 percent per annum and the period between 1998-2001 saw the market leader Kellogg sliding down to the 2nd position for the first time in its history since its inception in 1906, by General Mills that continued to launch expensive price and promotion campaigns. To cover the rising cost General Mills raised prices in 2001 and competitors soon followed the trend. However, both Kellogg and General Mills tried to move further away from price competition in the industry by diversifying and focusing on brand extensions such as Special K on the behalf of Kellogg and new varieties of Cheerios. Special K was instrumental and helping Kellogg recapturing its market leadership position from General Mills and this renewed focus on non-price competition halted years of damaging price warfare (Hill, Jones, 2009, p. 52). Target markets The breakfast cereal industry targets several diverse markets but focuses upon two large ones namely the baby boomers and their children. Since a high proportion of the baby boomers are highly educated, health appeals are paramount. Thus many brands have placed emphasis on various types of oat-bran cereal. The other sizeable market, targeted to children is also highly developed. Various brands have successfully used sports personality and trade characters such as Tony the Tiger to attract the children towards their products and retain brand loyalty. The breakfast cereal industry has been adept at target market segmentation and promoting favorable brand images. The strategy of the overall industry especially Kellogg, the market leader, has been to provide a comprehensive assortment for the retailers targeting specific market segments (Michman, Mazze, 1999, p. 109-111) Competition Breakfast cereal industry faces competition from hand-held breakfast products such as bagels, muffins, doughnuts etc. These have in fact led to a decrease in the growth of the breakfast cereal industry. The industry also faces competition from frozen waffles, pancakes, and French toast brands which have proved to be a concern both in the past and the present. Many analysts consider that the competition is due to the change in dietary habits, though some also say that this has been due to th increase in cereal prices for the branded segment (Michman, Mazze, 1999, p. 112-113). Advertisements and Promotional activities From the time of WH Kellogg, the breakfast cereal industry has been dependent on marketing strategies and expensive promotions. In fact in 1909 itself the advertisement budget of Kellogg had reached 1 million per annum. Needless to say this is a major problem in the industry which has become price sensitive in present times. This activity has led to a decrease in profits and considering that the market share has not increased since the 1990s, this has become even more of a problem. There were also many insufficiencies generated by coupons and in-store promotions. For instance, more than 95 percent of the cereal coupons were thrown away and not redeemed and approximately half of the promotional expenditures did not reach the consumers in the form of lower prices. Because of these inefficiencies, as well as congressional investigations and competitive treats, the breakfast cereal industry has moved to lower prices. As the returns earned by the cereal manufacturers exceed most other grocery products, there is fierce competition among manufacturers (Michman, Mazze, 1999, p. 113-114). Factors contributing to success and failure There are a combination of variables that contribute to the successes and failure of the breakfast cereal industry. These variables and strategies include innovation, target-market segmentation, image, physical environment resources, and human resources. Such factors must be combined in various degrees for success. The breakfast cereal industry has shown innovation in product and packaging strategies. In addition to this, breakfast snack bars are a new innovation. The image of the breakfast cereal industry has been positive enough to withstand the assault of private-label brand sot a large extent. Also cereal manufacturers with their successful track records and huge advertisement budgets do not have much difficulty in convincing retailers to give their new product introduction a chance. In 1970s, Kellogg designed shelf space allocation programs for supermarkets. Sophisticated computers and programs developed by members of the breakfast cereal industry now help to allocate shelf space according to turnover. The breakfast cereal industry has also been successful in designing packaging for shipping and for display purposes. To sell their product brands and retain the company brand value, the breakfast cereal manufacturers have developed the strategy that links the brand name to the company name instead to identifying brand products by their individual brand names. For instance, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies and Special K, as well as General Mills’ Total Raisin Bran and Total Corn Flakes use this strategy. To fend off private brand competition by offering product line depth and high brand identification (Michman, Mazze, 1999, p. 114-115).

What Is a Word Equation in Chemistry

In chemistry, a word equation is a chemical reaction expressed in words rather than chemical formulas. A word equation should state the reactants (starting materials), products (ending materials), and direction of the reaction in a form that could be used to write a chemical equation. There are some key words to watch for when reading or writing a word equation. The words and or plus mean one chemical and another are both reactants or products. The phrase is reacted with indicates the chemicals are reactants. If you say forms, makes, or yields, it means the following substances are products. When you write a chemical equation from a word equation, the reactants always go on the lefthand side of the equation, while the reactants are on the righthand side. This is true even if the products are listed before the reactants in the word equation. Key Takeaways: Word Equations A word equation is an expression of a chemical reaction or mathematical equation using words rather than letters, numbers, and operators.In chemistry, a word equation indicates the order of events of a chemical reaction. The number of moles and types of reactants yield the number of moles and types of products.Word equations help in learning chemistry because they reinforce the thought process involved in writing a chemical reaction or equation. Word Equation Examples The chemical reaction 2 H2(g) O2(g) → 2 H2O(g) would be expressed as: hydrogen gas oxygen gas → steamAs a word equation or as Hydrogen and oxygen react to form water or Water is made by reacting hydrogen and oxygen. While a word equation doesnt ordinarily include numbers or symbols (Example: You wouldnt say Two H two and one O two makes two H two O, sometimes it is necessary to use a number to indicate the oxidation state of a reactant so that a person writing a chemical equation can do it correctly. This is mostly for the transition metals, which can have multiple oxidation states. For example, in the reaction between copper and oxygen to form copper oxide, the chemical formula of copper oxide and the number of copper and oxygen atoms involved depends on whether copper(I) or copper(II) participates in the reaction. In this case, it would be fine to say: copper oxygen → copper(II) oxide or Copper reacts with oxygen to produce copper two oxide. The (unbalanced) chemical equation for the reaction would start out as: Cu O2 → CuO Balancing the the equation yields: 2Cu O2 → 2CuO You would get a different equation and product formula using copper(I): Cu O2 → Cu2O 4Cu O2 → 2Cu2O More examples of word reactions include: Chlorine gas reacts with methane and carbon tetrachloride to produce hydrogen chloride.Adding sodium oxide to water produces sodium hydroxide.Iodine crystals and chlorine gas react to make solid iron and carbon dioxide gas.Zinc and lead two nitrate make zinc nitrate and lead metal.which means: Zn Pb (NO3)2 → Zn(NO3)2 Pb Why Use Word Equations? When youre learning general chemistry, work equations are used to help introduce the concepts of reactants, products, the direction of reactions, and to help you understand precision of language. They may seem annoying, but are a good introduction to the thought processes required for chemistry courses. In any chemical reaction, you need to be able to identify the chemical species that react with each other and what they make. Word Equations in Other Sciences Chemistry isnt the only science to use equations. Physics equations and mathematical equations may also be expressed in words. Usually in these equations two statements are set to be equal to each other. For example, if you way force equals mass multiplied by acceleration then you are providing the word equation for the formula F m*a. Other times, one side of the equation may be less than (), greater than (), less than or equal to, or greater than or equal to the other side of the equation. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, logs, square roots, integrals, and other operations can be stated in word equations. However, complex equations that contain parentheses to describe the order of operations are very hard to understand as word equations. Source Brady, James E.; Senese, Frederick; Jespersen, Neil D. (December 14, 2007). Chemistry: Matter and Its Changes. John Wiley Sons. ISBN 9780470120941.