Current challenges that New Zealand small: Medium sized enterprises face in retention of employees: With a focus on the landscape industry

Employee retention is a growing concern in Human Resources. Poor employee retention results in businesses incurring increased expenses. Businesses have to search for, recruit and retain employees when job vacancies occur. This is a costly process; therefore businesses are taking a greater interest in human resources and the retention of employees. There is very little literature focusing on employee retention in the landscape industry, so research collected was broadened to other industries with similar attributes to create viable results. The study investigates what factors influence employee retention in small to medium-sized enterprises with a focus on the landscape industry in New Zealand. Research is done on employee retention influencers in similar industries due to the limited amount of research on employee retention in the landscape industry. No research on large businesses was used as the principles of a large organisation would not be compatible with small – medium-sized enterprises. No primary research was used as there was only an available candidate pool of four people and it was believed this would not give viable results or insight into the topic. It was found that employee retention improved in businesses when the business’ organisational culture, values and beliefs matched those of the employees. It was found that when there was a mismatch between culture and employees, employees did not identify with or connect as well with the business, and this caused conflict and resulted in employees wanting to leave the organisation. Leadership was another key influencer on employee retention. Poor leadership causes misunderstanding, miscommunication, and therefore conflict and poor productivity, and has negative effects on organisational culture, resulting in worsened levels on employee retention. Career advancement was another significant influence on employee retention. When employees see a path to both develop and move forward within the business, this is firstly a highly motivational factor but also a factor that improves employee retention. When employees see that the business promotes internally, employees will feel there are greater opportunities at that particular business. Remuneration/ Rewards are the reason employees work in the first place. In industries such as the landscape industry where the hours are long and tiresome, improved remuneration package/rewards improve employee retention, as employees’ most desired need is being better satisfied. The final factor influencing employee retention is employee engagement, which can be improved to better retain employees. This can be done by giving employees more opportunities to take on responsibility and more challenging tasks. This will improve employee engagement as the work employees do gains more variety, and employees are actively challenged and pushed to work at their best

On the use of Satellite Television in High Energy Physics

This paper assesses the feasibility of exploiting commercial satellite television technologies to broadcast video signals and data from major High Energy Physics facilities to collaborating institutes throughout the world.Comment: Invited talk at CHEP'98, Chicago, USA, August 31 - September 4, 199

A source of extended HCO+ emission in young stellar objects

Anomalous molecular line profile shapes are the strongest indicators of the presence of the infall of gas that is associated with star formation. Such profiles are seen for well-known tracers, such as HCO+, CS and H2CO. In certain cases, optically thick emission lines with appropriate excitation criteria may possess the asymmetric double-peaked profiles that are characteristic of infall. However, recent interpretations of the HCO+ infall profile observed towards the protostellar infall candidate B335 have revealed a significant discrepancy between the inferred overall column density of the molecule and that which is predicted by standard dark cloud chemical modelling. This paper presents a model for the source of the HCO+ emission excess. Observations have shown that, in low-mass star-forming regions, the collapse process is invariably accompanied by the presence of collimated outflows; we therefore propose the presence of an interface region around the outflow in which the chemistry is enriched by the action of jets. This hypothesis suggests that the line profiles of HCO+, as well as other molecular species, may require a more complex interpretation than can be provided by simple, chemically quiescent, spherically symmetric infall models. The enhancement of HCO+ depends primarily on the presence of a shock-generated radiation field in the interface. Plausible estimates of the radiation intensity imply molecular abundances that are consistent with those observed. Further, high-resolution observations of an infall-outflow source show HCO+ emission morphology that is consistent with that predicted by this model

Protecting Species or Endangering Development? How Consultation Under the Endangered Species Act Affects Energy Projects on Public Lands

Executive Summary Throughout its forty-three-year history, the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) has been one of the most celebrated environmental laws but also one of the most reviled. After passing with strong bi-partisan support in 1973, the ESA has recently faced growing opposition, amid concerns that it has failed to adequately protect species, while unreasonably impeding economic development. Much of the criticism has been directed towards section 7 of the ESA, which requires federal agencies to ensure that actions they undertake or authorize do not jeopardize threatened or endangered species, by consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”). Industry groups have argued that the consultation requirement frequently stops or delays much needed energy, transportation, water supply, and other projects. This study seeks to assess the impact of consultation, under section 7 of the ESA, on energy development on public land. To this end, the study analyzes 179 consultations undertaken between FY2010 and FY2014 with respect to oil, gas, solar, and wind energy projects on public land managed by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”). Basic information about each consultation, including a brief description of the project involved and a list of species affected, was obtained from FWS’s Tracking and Integrated Logging System. We also reviewed the biological opinions and concurrence letters issued by FWS and, for a subset of consultations, interviewed agency staff and industry representatives involved. Key findings from the analysis include: A relatively small number of energy projects authorized on federal lands between FY2010 and FY2014 went through the consultation process. The majority (eighty percent) of consultations that were carried out involved oil and gas drilling projects. Fifteen percent of consultations related to solar energy projects and five percent to wind energy projects. Only a small proportion (ten percent) of all oil and gas drilling projects approved by BLM from FY2010 to FY2014 were subject to consultation. In contrast, eighty-two percent of BLM approved solar energy projects and seventy-one percent of BLM approved wind energy projects underwent consultation. Most of the energy project consultations undertaken between FY2010 and FY2014 were completed within the 135 day time limit set in the ESA. There was, however, often significant back-and-forth between FWS, BLM, and the project proponent prior to the official start of consultation. This is a concern for industry, as pre-consultation discussions can add significant time to the review process and thereby lead to project delays. The need to consult can also give rise to significant uncertainty for industry. The assessment of project effects and the measures required to mitigate those effects often differs markedly between, and even within, FWS offices. Similar projects may, therefore, be assessed differently depending on the FWS staff handling the consultation. FWS has recently taken steps to address industry concerns regarding the potential for project delays and inconsistencies in the review process. To this end, FWS has issued a number of programmatic biological opinions, which cover multiple similar actions. Where a project is covered by a programmatic biological opinion, consultation tends to proceed more quickly, and there is less need for pre-consultation discussions. The existence of a programmatic biological opinion can also greatly reduce the complexity of consultation and generally leads to increased certainty for project developers.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines

Antiferromagnetic spin-coupling between MnII and amminium radical cation ligands: models for coordination polymer magnets

One and two electron oxidation of the manganese(II) complex [L2Mn(hfac)2] {L = 4'',4'''-di-tert-butyl-2',2'',2'''trimethoxy-{4-(4'-diphenylaminophenyl)pyridine} were studied by ultra violet/ visible/ near infra red spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and magnetometry. A one-electron oxidation converts the triarylamine ligand to its radical cation and gives a complex in which the antiferromagnetic coupling between the spin on the ligand and that on the metal J/kb is -1.5 K. In a dilute frozen matrix and at low temperature this behaves as an S = 2 system. A two electron oxidation gives [L2Mn(hfac)2]2.+ which at low enough temperatures behaves as an S = 3/2 system but the spin-coupling between the metal and the ligand is weaker (J/kb = -0.3 K). The weakness of these spin-couplings mean that MnII/amminium radical cation complexes are not promising systems on which to base coordination polymer magnets. The equivalent copper(II) complex [L2Cu(hfac)2] was also investigated but this decomposes when an attempt is made to oxidise the ligand to its amminium radical cation

Simple and robust rules for monetary policy

This paper focuses on simple normative rules for monetary policy which central banks can use to guide their interest rate decisions. Such rules were first derived from research on empirical monetary models with rational expectations and sticky prices built in the 1970s and 1980s. During the past two decades substantial progress has been made in establishing that such rules are robust. They perform well with a variety of newer and more rigorous models and policy evaluation methods. Simple rules are also frequently more robust than fully optimal rules. Important progress has also been made in understanding how to adjust simple rules to deal with measurement error and expectations. Moreover, historical experience has shown that simple rules can work well in the real world in that macroeconomic performance has been better when central bank decisions were described by such rules. The recent financial crisis has not changed these conclusions, but it has stimulated important research on how policy rules should deal with asset bubbles and the zero bound on interest rates. Going forward the crisis has drawn attention to the importance of research on international monetary issues and on the implications of discretionary deviations from policy rules.Monetary policy

Protecting Species or Hindering Energy Development? How the Endangered Species Act Impacts Energy Projects on Western Public Lands

Since it was enacted in 1973, the ESA has been one of the most celebrated environmental laws, but also one of the most reviled. Industry groups argue that the consultation process frequently delays and sometimes halts much needed energy, transportation, water supply, and other projects and often dramatically increases project costs. Environmentalists disagree with this view, contending that the process actually rarely stops anything and that the FWS lacks the backbone to impose meaningful conservation requirements that would be costly or inconvenient for the project developer. In 2015, the authors decided to delve deeply into ESA §7 to analyze how it actually works in practice and to assess the validity of various parties’ claims about the consultation process. They focused on the impact of §7 consultation on energy development on public land. This Comment is an overview of that study and key findings. In a nutshell, the authors learned that only a small fraction of energy projects developed on public land are reviewed at all under §7. When it applies, the consultation process appears to go quickly and smoothly for the vast majority of oil and gas projects, for a variety of reasons. On the other hand, consultation on solar energy and wind energy projects tends to be lengthy and complicated.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines