An Introduction To The Operations Management Concepts Business Essay

An Introduction To The Operations Management Concepts Business Essay Operations Management has been defined by Krajewski, et al. (2007) as the control and direction of the processes of the organization that changes its input materials to products and/or services for its customers. This report will compare how Mercedes-Benz and Honda manage their operations. The comparison might be useful because it would help identify various ways an organisation could be run in order to meet its goals and objectives. The report will give a brief background of the two organizations mentioned above and then would move on to the comparison of their marketing strategies and competitive priorities. Finally, the importance of frameworks such as capacity planning, inventory management, supply chain design, Total quality management and performance measures, would be discussed and how they could be useful in helping an organisation function efficiently and effectively. A) COMPANY BACKGROUND OF MERCEDEZ BENZ [MERCEDEZ-BENZ U.S. INTERNATIONAL, inc. (MBUSI)] and HONDA [HONDA MA NUFACTURING OF ALABAMA, LLC. (HMA)]. MERCEDEZ-BENZ (MBUSI) Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. (http://www.mbusi.com) was established for the main purpose of manufacturing the M-Class. The M-class was such a huge success that they decided in August 2000 to expand the facility not only to manufacture more units of It, but also to include the R and GL-classes to its product list. The expansion not only doubled the plant size but also the labor force. The plant consists of a body shop, paint shop and two assembly shops. MBUSI receives orders from their 135 worldwide markets. MBUSI uses the â€Å"Just-in-Time† (JIT) philosophy which implies that they do not stockpile large amounts of the inventory they use to assemble their cars. HONDA (HMA) HMA (http://www.hondaalabama.com) manufactures the odyssey, ridgeline and pilot models for the world wide market. HMA’s investment in Alabama is over $1.4billion with the construction of a new Honda Engineering facility, on-site con solidation center and steel blanking operation. One of their goals is to be able to produce goods with high quality and sell at a reasonable price. HMA can be referred to as a Zero Landfill Facility due to the fact that they are committed to the principle of â€Å"Reduce, Reuse and Recycle†. They have made efforts in curbing energy use during their production processes, and this has earned them an energy star award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A.1) OPERATION/TRANSFORMATION PROCESS OF THE ORGANIZATIONS MERCEDEZ-BENZ (MBUSI) The manufacturing process for both models begins in the Body Shop where the components that comprise the metal body are welded together. From the body shop, they are taken to the ultra-clean Paint Shop where the cars are painted. Finally, they end up in the Assembly where it becomes a new Mercedes-Benz M, R, or GL-Class ready for shipping. From beginning to end, these vehicles are created with style, functionality, and quality in min d (http://www.mbusi.com). HONDA (HMA) Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA) has the largest output for Honda light trucks. It has the capacity to create over 300,000 odyssey minivans, pilot sport utility vehicles, Ridgeline pick-up trucks and V-6 engines annually (http://www.hondaalabama.com).

Native American Cultural Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Native American Cultural - Research Paper Example However, these groups of Americans show inspirational inner strategies and reserves for survival. Some major concepts of the Native American’s identity, cultural context, perseverance, and adaptability include a desire to promote a group’s well being, a holistic approach to life, respect for all healing ways, and an enduring spirit. Cultural aspects widespread among Native Americans usually comprise of valuing cooperation, and being oriented in the present. They also place a great value on spiritual beliefs and family. To them, a state of health exists when an individual lives in totality with nature. Sickness is not viewed as an alteration in one’s physiological state, rather as an imbalance between the ill individual and supernatural forces or nature in general. Their medicine men or women, called ‘shaman’ are conducted in case of an illness (Barry, 2000). Traditional healing systems are meant for balancing the body, spirit, and mind within the com munity context of the Native Americans. Contrary to the Western advance to health and healing, this group of people finds it odd to isolate one part of a human being and try by all means to heal that part, a holistic approach that has been practiced for a long time. Their survival depends on their wisdom of the connectedness and interrelatedness of everything in the universe. Their holistic perception involves a sense of connection with land and place. It also entails the practical application of techniques of preventing illnesses that they believe are caused naturally, such as broken bones, as well as illnesses of the spirit and mind. According to Barry, 2000, conventional healing practices rotate around gains to the psychological, emotional, spiritual, and cultural facets of the tribal group. Systems of healing share the belief that huge, communal ceremonies act as a way to promote the well being of all Natives. The role of a healer is to reaffirm the cultural values of the group, combine all the pieces into the cultural framework, and to consider everybody in the community. To them, medicine is all about healing the patient but not curing the disease. Furthermore, some believe that inherited conditions like birth defects are a result of the parent’s immoral life and thus are not easily treated. To others, such conditions are a reflection of God’s touch and may consider them a sort of gift. Native American’s healing approaches aim to bring back wholeness and balance and restore spirituality and healthy pure state. From the cultural beliefs of Native Americans, severity of an illness is often judged with the pain, discomfort, and disability related to it. They also believe that no human part should be eliminated from the body but rather left to heal. For instance, a member of this group has to undergo a surgical procedure but when he reaches the physicians room, he informs him that he has already made peace with his creator and he is will ing to die. Some of the members who are strong believers in culture will not opt to take the patient to the hospital; instead take him to a spiritual healer or use herbs, which may have toxic effects to the affected body part. A Native American patient may not come back for treatment just because the therapist did not recognize the worth of traditional curing interventions. In such cases, a therapist may mistakenly believe that the patient is a victim of neglect or that he is not taking

Health Care Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 24

Health Care Leadership - Essay Example Kevin as a manager has certain flaws among which the most frequent is his inability to communicate in terms of clear vision, conveying strategy formulated, getting feedback and identifying priorities with staff. Also, he lacks trust over abilities of others and does not allow them to take risks or work freely and therefore actually performs their job instead of letting them work. He also lacks identifying future opportunities and ideas to improve the business process. 3. After comparison of Kevin’s strengths and areas of development, I would prefer not to work under Kevin at this stage i.e. before professional development. Instead of being a team leader and high level manager, he has opted to work as team member lacking ideas of development. I could make a role model even the person working under me, but select a boss who provides enough space to take risks adopting new skills and gain experience. Communicating effectively in terms of macro affairs is the basic task of top management, which otherwise would cause confusion and chaos. In order to create a vision it is important not just to consult the higher management rather workers at lower and staff level should also be discussed (Robert Lussier, 2012). They could also come up with bright ideas, goals and objectives which can be made a part of the organization’s vision. In order to communicate the formulated vision statement, it must be ensured that every single employee in the organization has totally understood its value from the scratch; it’s not just remembering it but driving the right meaning of the statement. Those whom Kevin followed regarding the development program played a very important role in his development as a leader. Any development program is a gradual process, and self development in terms of communication requires time and phases. Although the coach mentored Kevin in terms of vision creation and communication, but the ones to practically analyse him were his colleagues. Without their honest opinion, it was not possible for Kevin adjusts his development strategy.

Love - Culture, Technology, and Entertainment Essay

Love - Culture, Technology, and Entertainment - Essay Example d, when a talk show, a movie or a song are not entertaining then they have little chance of influencing culture on the people who either watched or listened. Additionally, since entertainment involves showing what is popular with people this helps in defining culture. The interesting nature of any form of entertainment greatly defines the culture of people who come across this form of entertainment. It can be stated in a different argument that themes in any form of entertainment are cultural (Cheok, 2010). Technology is hugely beneficial not only to entertainment, but also the entertainment industry as a whole. For instance, through technology, it is possible to produce high quality movies or record high quality songs. The most employed form of technology in the entertainment industry is computer technology. Application of computers in the entertainment industry has made production and distribution of any form of entertainment effective and efficient. Taking production of movies into consideration, there are advanced computer software, which are used in the production process, known as the green screen. Through the green screen, movie producers can impose non-existing images or features in a movie. Technology is also beneficial to the music entertainment in the production process. Music producers use computer software to create instrumentals instead of the traditional way of playing musical instruments. Manipulation of vocals is also possible through computer software, which brings ab out voice clarity. The other area in which technology has highly become beneficial is in the distribution process. In this case, the internet has proved to be very useful. Whether the entertainment is in the form of audio of video, its distribution to customers through the internet is very efficient. The internet has made buying and selling of any form of entertainment faster, since customers can pay for a song or a movie online and thereafter download it on their personal computers.

King Henry VIII of England: Wives and Legacy

King Henry VIII of England: Wives and Legacy Outline Henry VIII Reigned as king of England from the 21st of April in 1509 until his death on 28thof January in 1547, King Henry VIII who ruled for 37 years and 282 days was the second son of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. His older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales got married to Catherine of Aragon in 1501 when Henry was 10 years old. Soon after Arthurs wedding, his wife, Catherine, and he went to live in Wales, seeing that was tradition for the heir to the throne. However, four months after their marriage began, it ended with Arthurs death. Later on, An agreement was signed that would allow Catherine to marry the next heir to the throne which was Prince Henry. Until then, Catherines parents, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain would send over 100,000 crowns worth of plate and gold as a wedding gift and Henry would pay the agreed upon dowry. It was viewed as necessary for a papal dispensation to be issued permitting Henry to marry Catherine, as she was his dead brothers wife, and this marriage was illegal in Leviticus. At the time Catherine denied that her marriage to Arthur had even been accomplished so no dispensation was needed. However, permission from the pope was wanted and received due to both parties in Spain and England who wanted to be sure of the legitimacy of the marriage. Arthurs death caused Henry to be the upcoming king in a very young age and that Henry was shy of 18 years old, but he did prepare himself for this situation after his brothers death. When people hear the name Henry VIII they would not want to see an 18 year old boy so he was not what people really expected. Henry was not the heavy and ill kind of person in his later years. Instead in his youth, he was handsome and athletic. He was tall as well as he had a bright red-gold cap of hair and beard balding and unhealthy man that is often remembered. Henrys marital career is probably the thing that he is most known for. Shortly after becoming king, Henry VIII took Catherine of Aragon as his bride on 11 June 1509. King Henry had inherited  £1.5 million pounds from his father and had succeeded in the first peaceful transition of power after the Wars of the Roses. He then brought a youth and vigor to the court that had long been lacking and that Henry dreamed of glory beyond the hunt and argues. Catherine of Aragon Wife # 1 Catherine of Aragon was rased in a family of kings and queens and she was intended to become one herself. As she was about four years old she was betrothed to the future king of England. After her first husband dies, Catherine of Aragon by 1505 married Henry VIII. She satisfied this destiny. Soon after their marriage, Catherine finds out that she is pregnant, but with a stillborn daughter. Subsequent to that she gave birth to a daughter called Mary. But Henry was scared that hell die before having a boy to take his name after him and at the same time Catherine could not really produce a male heir. After all she became a victim of Henry VIIIs inability to produce a male heir. For this reason, she was removed from her throne and her marriage annulled. Although, maybe not the most memorable of Henry VIIIs wives, she certainly had left a mark on history. Anne Boleyn Wife # 2 In 1528, Anne showed real interest in religious reform and may have gave some of her ideas to Henry, and gaining the hatred of some members of the Court. The legal argues about the marriage of Henry and Catherine of Aragon continued on. Anne was no doubt frustrated by the lack of progress. Her famous anger and tongue showed themselves at times in famous arguments between her and Henry for all the court to see. Anne feared that Henry might go back to Catherine if the marriage could not be annulled and Anne would have wasted time that she could have used to make an advantageous marriage. Sometime near the end of 1532, Anne finally gave way and by December she was pregnant. To avoid any questions of the legitimacy of the child, Henry was forced into action. Sometime near St. Pauls Day, Anne and Henry were secretly married. Although the Kings marriage to Catherine was not dissolved, in the Kings mind it had never existed in the first place, so he was free to marry whomever he wanted. On May 23, the Archbishop officially proclaimed that the marriage of Henry and Catherine was invalid. Anne later on recognized that it was urgent that she produce a son. By January of 1534, she was pregnant again, but the child was either miscarried or stillborn. In 1535, she became pregnant again but miscarried by the end of January. The child was reported to have been a boy. The Queen was quite upset, and blamed the miscarriage on her state of mind after hearing that Henry had taken a fall in jousting. She had to have known at this point that her failure to produce a living male heir was a threat to her own life, especially since the Kings fancy for one of her ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour, began to grow. Although Anne gave birth to a girl named Elizabeth, she got executed since she could not produce a male heir so he can come after the king. Jane Seymour- Wife # 3 In September 1535, the King stayed at the Seymour family home in Wiltshire, England. It may have been there that the king noticed Jane. Henrys love for Jane was secretly made that no one noticed but until February of 1536. By that point, Jane probably pegged to be in a position such as the one Anne was in as a queen, and that she would love to replace her, while Henrys unconcern in Anne was obvious. Within 24 hours of Anne Boleyns execution, Jane Seymour and Henry VIII were formally betrothed. On the 30th of May, Henry and Jane were married. Jane never had a coronation, unlike Henrys previous two Queens. King Henry was waiting for Jane to prove herself by giving him a son. It was not until early 1537 that Jane became pregnant. During her pregnancy, Janes every whim was indulged by the King Henry was convinced that Jane, whom he felt to be his first true wife, carried his long hoped for son. In October, a prince was born at Hampton Court Palace and was christened on 15th of October. T he baby was named Edward. Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, was godmother and Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn, also played a role in the ceremony. Jane attended her sons christening, although she was weak. She died on October 24th, just two weeks after her son was born. Anne of Cleves- Wife #4 Henry VIII remained single for more than two years after his beloved, Jane Seymours death. Maybe he was giving some acceptance to the thought that he lost his previous wife, Jane Seymour. Henrys first marriage had been a foreign alliance of sorts, although it is almost certain that the two were truly in love for some time. His next two brides were love matches and Henry could have had little or no monetary or political gain from them. Henry did also want to be sure he was getting a desirable bride, so he had agents in foreign courts report to him on the appearance and other qualities of various candidates. He also sent painters to bring him images of these women. Hans Holbein was sent to the court of the Duke of Cleves, who had two sisters, Amelia and Anne. Holbein painted the sisters of the Duke of Cleves and Henry decided to have a contract drawn up for his marriage to Anne. At the end, Anne was probably smart enough to know that she would only be making trouble for herself if she raised any obstacles to Henrys attempts to annul the marriage. She testified that the match had not been accomplished and that her previous engagement to the son of the Duke of Lorraine had not been properly broken. So at last she got what she wanted, a divorce. Kathryn Howard Wife # 5 Katherine Parr Wife #6 Edward VI Mary I (and know as Bloody Mary) Mary Tudor is the daughter of King Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, born on February 18, 1516.she was well educated and was able to speak and write in both Latin and French. Moreover she studied theology and history. At age eleven Mary translated a prayer of St Thomas Aquinas from Latin to English and under the tutelage of Katherine Parr learned to translate Erasmuss Paraphrases of the Gospel of ST John from Latin. One of her hobbies is playing music such as the lute and virginals like pro at an early age. After her father annulled his marriage to her mother in 1533 this had a heavy hearted affection on Mary. The child that was loved and adored by both of her parents wound up in hostile arguments with her father. Henry became a hard hearted man towards the daughter he was supposed to love and she felt she had to be her mothers champion and stand up for her mothers rights. Katherine always made it clear to everyone that she felt that she was the real wife of King Henry VIII and that she would not do anything to endanger her daughters and rightful place on the throne. In 1533 her father secret married Anne Boleyn and they soon expected a child. When her half sister Elizabeth was born on September 7th 1533, Marywas proclaimed a bastard and not eligible to inherit the crown. The favor was then passed on to her younger sister. Marys pride was humiliated even further when she was forced to be a lady in waiting to Elizabeth. Anne mistreated Mary and lowered her self esteem by uttering nasty threats at her and even tried to have her own father sentence her to death. Elizabeth Tudor Henrys second wife Anne Boleyn gave birth to a daughter named Elizabeth, born on September 7th 1533. When she was a year old an act of succession was passed in her favor, which made her heir to the throne in place of her older sister Mary. In her young life Elizabeth had a number of governesses one of whom was Lady Margaret Bryan who had to beg Cromwell for night gowns and chemises for the princess once she grew out of them. Clothes that had been ordered by the princesses mother Anne Boleyn. When Elizabeth was four Margaret Bryan was transferred to the household to become governess to Prince Edward. Elizabeth was taughtmathematics, history, geography, architecture, needlework, dancing, riding and deportment. Elizabeth spoke and read Latin, French, Italian, Flemishand Greek. The princess spent most of her child hood in different royal houses in the northern part of London. The first house in Hatfield was a redbrick palace built by Cardinal John Mortor between 1480 and 1497. As a child Elizabeth rarely visited her father at the palace. Henry VIII would send someone to make inquiries about her health and education. When Elizabeth was eight years old her second cousin Katherine Howard was beheaded for committing adultery which brought back the terrifying way in which her mother died. Henry never intentionally expected her education would prepare her to become Queen. Elizabeth was not beautiful, but she was appealing to the eye. She had inherited her fathers red hair and hooked nose. She inherited her long pale face, pointed chin and witty eyes from her mother. Elizabeth was well composed, well mannered and posed certain gravity and was described as a witty and gentile young lady. She was also a strong minded woman and strived to work hard in everything she did.

Angels Essay -- Spirituality Religion Christianity Essays

Angels An angel is a pure spirit created by God. The Old Testament theology included the belief in angels: the name applied to certain spiritual beings or intelligences of heavenly residence, employed by God as the ministers of His will. HISTORY Are Angels ambassadors sent from God to guide us, protect us or bring messages from heaven? The word angel comes from the Greek word "angelos" which means messenger. The Bible says that God has appointed many angels to those who love God and call to Him, "Psalms 91:11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways." The bible refers to different types of angels, with varying duties such as ugides, protectors, messengers and angels of the Lord, or as Cherubim, Seraphim, or Archangels, and not to be worshipped for they are "creatures" Col. 2:18; Rev. 19:10; 22:9. The meanings of angels, their appearance and purposes vary throughout history and the world. Artists have given us their visions of angels as winged creatures, usually beautiful figures that are glowing, shining, floating, in human form or as a voice. Saints as well as everyday people tell about being visited by or helped by angels In the bible, angels have appeared as messengers, guides, and healers. They also make up the celestial court. "And I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the number of them was thousands of thousands." - St. John, the Evangelist. Angels are even recorded in the Koran, "You shall see the angels circling around the throne, giving glory to their Lord". The world's great literature and art tell us about many angel characters - some we're familiar with and some obscure to us now. Yet, the common thread that weaves amongst the legends and the lore is the undeniable influence that angels have had upon nearly every culture and religion known to man Types of Angels There are different types of angels depicted in the bible that have varying degrees of divine missions, different names and descriptions. First of all they are said to be with God Angels are found throughout the Old Testament and also in the New Testament, though less often. Origen, one of the earliest biblical scholars living at the time of the first Century, recognized the notion of Guardian Angels. St. Jerome told us that each of us is given a Guardian Angel a... ...s a legend that Raziel is the author of a great book, 'wherein all celestial and Earthly knowledge is set down.' W hen the angel gave his tome to Adam, some envious angels stole it away and threw it in the ocean. After it had been recovered by the primordial angel/demon of the deep, Rahab, the book passed first to Enoch, who apparently claimed it as his own, then to Noah, who learned how to make his ark from it. Solomon, too, was thought to have possessed the book, which allowed him his unusual knowledge of magic and control over the demons." "The Zohar, the major work of Jewish mysticism, claims that set in the middle of Raziel's book there is secret writing 'explaining the fifteen hundred keys [to the mystery of the world], which were not revealed even to the angels.' Other Jewish mystics report that 'each day the angel Raziel, standing on the mount of Horeb, proclaims the secrets of men to all mankind'." "What we didn't know when we began this book, but what Abigrael, our recording angel, told us later, is that Raziel is its boss." SANDALPHON "The sonorously named angel prince Sandalphon, who some say, Elijah became after his death." Bibliography: www.angels.com

What must be done to protect New Zealand’s wildlife

There is much said about protecting native species all around the world and New Zealand is no exception. In New Zealand we are facing challenges of our own when it comes to protecting and conserving our native species. This challenges range from oil spills to climate change to over-harvesting (in particular whale hunting). It is common reality that more needs to be done to protect our native New Zealand species. And this needs collective effort from each and every one of us to protect our native species-the government, NGOs and citizens. in my essay I will be emphasising on what we can do as individuals to contribute to protecting and conserving the native species and these includes reducing our carbon footprint, considering our lifestyle and lastly speaking out. I will then conclude by emphasising these points. Brief Background Due to its long geological isolation since breaking away from the supercontinent Gondwana about 80 million years ago, New Zealand’s plant and animal life has developed down a unique evolutionary path. Many of our native plants and animals are endemic – that is, found nowhere else in the world. The level of endemism among New Zealand plants and animals is one of the highest in the world. The tuatara, moa, kiwi, kokako, saddleback, huia, kakapo, native frogs and giant carnivorous land snails are just some of the species that are uniquely New Zealand. This isolation in the absence of mammalian predators for millions of years also meant that many of our native species were virtually defenceless against attack – for example, many of our native birds like the kiwi are flightless and nest on the ground. When humans – first Maori and then European settlers – arrived in New Zealand, introduced mammals came with them: rats, possums, stoats, ferrets, weasels, deer, pigs, mice, cats, dogs and others. These introduced species quickly took a heavy toll as they preyed and browsed on New Zealand’s largely defenceless native species, or competed with them. Human activities such as felling and burning vegetation and draining wetlands also destroyed much of the native species’ habitats. Native species such as the moa, huia, and the world’s largest-ever eagle, the Haast’s eagle, the South Island kokako and many others became extinct. Many more, such as the Takahe, the Kakapo and the long-tailed bat were radically reduced in number and remain perilously close to extinction today. Against this backdrop, the protection of our native species becomes ever more urgent. Thus this brings me to my emphasis on what we can do as individuals to protect our native species. Protection of our native species doesn’t only mean big campaigns by organization such as green peace o world wildlife fund. It also concerns us as individuals to contribute in our own small ways in protecting our native species. Unfortunately, we as individuals don’t realise these. Therefore, there are three things that I believe we can do to help in protecting our native species. They are reducing our carbon footprint, considering our lifestyles and last of all speaking out. Reduce our carbon footprint Each and every one of us can help save the planet from runaway climate change. Carbon emissions have been scientifically proven to be one of the main contributors to global warming. And as individuals, we think that releasing of carbon to the atmosphere is mainly done by factories of all sorts without realising that we also contribute to that. Therefore I believe that we have a responsibility to ensure that we minimise this. So this is how it can be done. Ever wondered how much difference your small actions really make? If every New Zealand household took these three simple actions, it could have a big impact. First of all, go car-free one day a week. Transport is a major contributor to New Zealand's emissions (20%). If everyone in New Zealand who currently drives to work were to walk, cycle or take public transport on just one day per week, it would save up to 114,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year (Landcare Research’s carboNZero Programme Dec 2008). Secondly, we must switch our bulbs. If every household swapped their remaining old-style light bulbs for new energy efficient ones, this could save up to 0.6 billion kWh of electricity or 106,800 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year (Landcare Research’s carboNZero Programme in December 2008) Thirdly, we must turn un-needed appliances off at the wall. When not in use things like heated towels rails and appliances on standby account for almost 1 billion kWh of electricity per year or 165,700 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (Landcare Research’s carboNZero Programme in December 2008). If every household simply turned these off, we could make a big saving. So if all of the above actions are taken, it all adds up to us as individually contributing to reducing carbon emissions. According to Landcare research, the combined impact of these actions would be an emissions reduction of 386,500 tonnes CO2 equivalent per year. This is equivalent to over 839,000 car journeys from Kaitaia to Invercargill (Landcare Research’s carboNZero Programme in December 2008). Figures are based on work by Landcare Research’s carboNZero Programme in December 2008 commissioned by WWF-New Zealand. Consider our lifestyle Have we ever wondered how our lifestyles can contribute to carbon emissions which impact on the environment? In our pursuit of pleasure, enjoyment and expensive lifestyle we have become careless-careless in the sense that we are consuming things that we don’t really need. Carbon emissions are created by stuff – the more stuff you buy, use, consume and throw away the more you’re contributing to climate change. Did we ever known that? I guess no. Take a look at what we really need. Can we cut down on anything? By eating meat and animal products our carbon footprint will be higher than on a vege diet. Can we eat less meat? Garbage emits methane – a greenhouse gas – as it breaks down. Can we reduce our waste? Clothes, furniture, electrical goods – everything really – takes resources to produce and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions as it is moved around the planet. Can you buy less stuff and local stuff instead? Or above all consume only stuff that we really need. You can help – Speak out The last thing we can do is speak out. There are petitions made by organizations such as Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to the government. The best we can do to help is to sign up. One such petition is the Forest & Bird’s petition. You can help by signing Forest & Bird's petition to save sea lions. In this petition, WWF is calling on the New Zealand Government to immediately take the following action: 1. Determine the relative importance of the threats facing the sea lions. 2. Revise the Department of Conservations Sea Lion Species Management Plan. – (The revised plan should provide clear, time-bound actions to address the main threats identified in the comparative assessment.) 3. Develop an improved population model to guide sea lion mortality limits. – (The model should address the flaws in the current model and also consider the effect of food competition and epidemics.) 4. Set a precautionary mortality limit for sea lions in the squid fishery. – (This limit should be based on the improved population model and on a conservative assessment of the effectiveness of sea lion exclusion devices.) 5. Set an explicit sea lion mortality limit in the Campbell southern blue whiting fishing. 6. Set precautionary allocations of squid and other southern ocean fish stocks. – (These allocations should be ecologically based and explicitly considers direct and indirect effects of fishing on sea lions.) The numbers of sea lion pups are in freefall – estimates from the Department of Conservation show pup production has halved since 1998. So we can play our part by signing the petition. Conclusion To conclude, we must know that protecting native New Zealand species does not concern only the government or organizations such as WWF. It also concerns us as individuals to contribute in our own small ways. We need a collective effort to protect New Zealand’s native species.