Ecological roles and importance of sharks in the Anthropocene Ocean

In ecosystems, sharks can be predators, competitors, facilitators, nutrient transporters, and food. However, overfishing and other threats have greatly reduced shark populations, altering their roles and effects on ecosystems. We review these changes and implications for ecosystem function and management. Macropredatory sharks are often disproportionately affected by humans but can influence prey and coastal ecosystems, including facilitating carbon sequestration. Like terrestrial predators, sharks may be crucial to ecosystem functioning under climate change. However, large ecosystem effects of sharks are not ubiquitous. Increasing human uses of oceans are changing shark roles, necessitating management consideration. Rebuilding key populations and incorporating shark ecological roles, including less obvious ones, into management efforts are critical for retaining sharks’ functional value. Coupled social-ecological frameworks can facilitate these efforts

ISO 9000 Certification Projects: Four Companies Compared

The efforts of four companies to achieve ISO certification are profiled with emphasis on project management issues arising from the efforts. The four companies profiled and analyzed are AT&T Submarine Systems, Inc. Calvin, Fuji\u27s, and Tektronix. The methodology used is to create a survey addressing the six key dimensions of project management , which is administered to four different functional positions within each company. Data is analyzed by company and by function in search of patterns. Current literature is reviewed for examples of project management methods and ISO certification effort. Observations based on data are analyzed, and recommendations and conclusions are made