The Operational Strategy for Gap Inc

The Operational Strategy for Gap Inc It is clear in the market that as an organization Gap is struggling. Profitability, changing customer needs and tastes and increased global competition has affected our performance. The Gap North America division for instance, has not posted an annual increase in sales at stores open at least a year since 2004. In 2009, sales were $3.82 billion, down almost one-third from where they were in 2004, Clifford (2011). At least four changes at CEO level have occurred, and as the new CEO, the need to determine and implement an effective operational strategy is of paramount importance. The objective of this presentation is to obtain board approval on the proposed Operational Strategy for Gap and any possible changes to the recommendations and conclusions drawn by the executive team. The methodology adopted involved reviewing the entire business operations of Gap and that of its leading competitors (especially Zara). This involved using secondary data from the case study, internet searches on trends and developments in the global fashion industry and that of the company. In the development of this operational strategy it was important to note that, the operational strategy is sub servant to the broad corporate strategy and using the Porters (1985) value chain analysis. This according to Heizer and Render (2011) uses identified activities that represent strengths or potential strengths and maybe opportunities for developing competitive advantage. It must be noted early, however, that an alternative perspective exist that the use of resource view approach. Using the resource view approach means that Gaps effectiveness is predicated by determining the optimum fit for the firms resources in the dynamic environment as noted by Heizer and Render (2011). A hybrid response and differentiation strategy shall be adopted as apposed to the traditional cost leadership strategy within Gap. Our focus and competitive advantage as an organisation has thus shifted from just become cheaper to becoming better and faster. This means that we are aligning to changes in cus tomer needs, increasing global competitiveness and a dynamic business environment. (A justification for this strategy is provided for in annexure 1 of this report). The CSFs necessary to ensure the success of the operational strategy included, effective communication, internal marketing, change management and while communication was found to be the most Cost of implementing changes to ensure that successful execution of the operational strategy was determined asà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. The recommendations put forward to the board included the need to adopt the operational strategy in line with understanding that radical change is a prerequisite. Critical Success Factors to include, internal marketing of the operational strategy, building a performance culture, ensuring effective communication and putting in place a reward-systems that are linked to performance are a must. Table of Contents Page 1.0 Design of goods 2.0 Process and Capacity Design 3.0 Location Selection 4.0 Layout design 5.0 Supply Chain Management 6.0 Inventory Management 7.0 Scheduling 8.0 Conclusion and Recommendations List of References Annexures 1.0 Design of goods 2.0 Process and Capacity Design 3.0 Location Selection 4.0 Layout design 5.0 Supply Chain Management Hanna and Newman (2002) define SCM as the configurations, coordination and improvements of a sequentially related set of operations. It is the output from operations referred to by Hanna and Newman (2002) that customers get, and therefore, the strategic emphasis of well-managed supply chain is to have a competitive advantage driven primarily by strong customer focus. Heizer and Render (2011) define SCM as the management of activities that procure materials and services, transform them into intermediate goods and final products and deliver them through a distribution system. The authors believe that in todays business competition is not between companies but rather supply chains. This means that if internal operations at Gap can be improved to surpass that of competition it will give our organisation a competitive advantage. This section of the report will focus on how Gap can change its relationship with suppliers and distributors and most importantly an evaluation of managing our purchasing and outsourcing activities in line with increased competitive activity. In reviewing the above the objective it to build a chain of suppliers that focuses on maximising value to the ultimate customer Heizer and Render (2011). The major challenge within Gap has been our inability to control and determine what is to be made and what is to be purchased effectively. As we maximise value along the chain we will be able to ensure that we improve on quality, delivery and innovation. Our global presences demands that the review of the supply chain be linked closely to the overall strategy of the business. In other words this means that the operational strategy must link back to the broad corporate strategy for GAP. Key aspects of this the broad corporate strategy and operational strategy is driven primarily be the need to increase competitiveness through product customisation, high quality, cost reductions and speed to market with the added emphasis being on the supply chain Heizer and Render (2011). Refer to the corporate strategy in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. It is proposed that a new integrated supply chain be adopted with Gap. This means that, having fewer suppliers and building on a centralised manufacturing. The advantages will be cutting down on unnecessary costs by suppliers while building on a pool of highly effective supplier base that is aligned to the firms overall vision and direction. Zara continues to use vertical integration as a method to build on expandin g its supply chain. The Japanese, method of Keirestu would work well as we combine both few suppliers and vertical integration. Whilst our traditional many-supplier strategy worked in the past suppliers were responsible for maintaining the technologies and expertise, costs and quality controls the surge in competitive activity especially form Zara has shown that centralised and or few supplier strategy works better. The need to focus on controlling supply and building on technological advantages is an imperative to the success in the industry. It will be necessary as few suppliers will help on improve inventory management as we move closer to the implementation of a JIT system. These few suppliers will be asked to participate in the design of goods by helping in the partnering in research and development initiatives to include, provide design innovations, input on changing customers tastes and needs and technological expertises. Review of existing Suppliers: our focus is to cut down on scatter and huge number of suppliers and thus focus on building dependable close yet very few suppliers with long-term strategic relationships Heizer and Render (2011) Because of the shift in focus of our broad strategy (differentiation) it means that the selection of our suppliers inevitably has to change. This change however is radical demanding that our lower end suppliers that are not cost effective and do not meet the changing requirements set by the organisation must be immediately cut out. Whilst the medium to long-term aspect of our strategy demands that we build a centralised manufacturing. This means that, existing risk associated with the environment (customs duties, tariffs, security screening, natural disasters, currency fluctuations, terrorists attacks and political issues), controls (management metrics and reliable secure communication for financial transactions product designs, and logistics scheduling) and process performance (raw material and component availability, quality and logistics) need to be considered, Heizer and Render (2011). Ongoing reviews of competitors centralised manufacturing performance will continue in line with building on the above necessary changes to ensure that risks identified can be mitigated. Heizer and Render (2011) proposes that while changes in the supply chain management happens differently in different organisation its success will depend on the building mutual agreement of goals, trust and compatible organisational culture. These are discussed in the conclusion section of the report. Fisher (1997) offers insight on how supply chain decisions affect strategy. Because Gap desires to use a hybrid strategy various aspects of Fishers input are critical to the success of the organisation. Our Supplier goals will equate to those of Benetton and that is to share market research jointly and develop products and options. Our Primary selection criteria however will select primarily for capacity, speed and flexibility. Gap would need to invest aggressively to reduce production lead time while use product design that lead to low setup time and rapid production ramp-up. 6.0 Inventory Management Effective supply chain management that is aligned to both a well-structured operational and corporate strategy has ensured that Zara remains highly profitable. It has also meant that it (Zara) can continue to build on its in-house production and inventory management systems. Backed by advanced technologies and inventory optimisation models Zara has been able to improve on its efficacy. To this end, Zara has a failure rate of 1% compared to the industry of 10%. The experiences that we have faced as an organisation in managing inventory has greatly performance because our 10% error rate in our clothing collection is very high and makes us very uncompetitive. In-part our many-supplier strategy is to be the cause of theses failures while in turn the fact that suppliers are many, makes the handling and processing of inventory very difficult from inbound logistics of raw material inventory to delivery of finished goods inventory. Two categories of inventory posses the biggest threat to our organisation and are a major concern. These are the management of raw material inventory and finished goods inventory. It is key to note that in line with changes in supply change, a review of our customer satisfaction (refer to Goods and service design à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) suppliers, production schedules and human resource planning are key in achieving success in inventory management as noted by Heizer and Render (2011). Poor record keeping of inventory has also been a major problem this has been caused by the huge stock of unsold items returned from own store retail chains in exchange of in-season stocks. While the existing many-supplier strategy has also increased stock and warehouse as lead times for stocks continue to negatively affect stock holding levels and record keeping. This also in turn increases holding stock costs and insurance charges while our competitors especially Zara centralised distribution warehouses hold stock for only 72 hours. A very effective and simple system to implement in store is a two -bin system. It is the view of the executive that going back to basics in inventory control will play a critical role in ensuring that we succeed in tracking and monitoring stock movement for the group. If is difficult to worry about more scientific approaches such as probabilistic models when the major challenge is that we have excess stock of clothing lines that have not been sold. Art P eck the former CE for Gap the Northern American rightfully notes Unless we put cute clothes in front of our customer on the shelfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦everything else we do isnt going to matter. 7.0 Scheduling Contracting manufacturing has created major challenges for our organisation in the past, as lead times have been long, late deliveries and prevention of out-of stock situations become an on going exercise. Lessons from the industry have shown the need to restructure our scheduling in line with proposed changes in supply chain and inventory management. According to Heizer and Render (2011), the scheduling decision addresses the problem of matching productivity to fluctuating demands. It is however important to note that different processes suggest different approaches to scheduling. Based on our selected strategy and the position taken by our competitors such as Zara and HM, it is important that we build on process focused facilities in the medium to long term period as we seek to centralise our operations. This means that we generate a forward-looking schedule, where MRP generates due dates that are refined with finite capacity scheduling techniques as noted by Heizer and Render (201 1). Automated scheduling systems will be put in place with trained and competent personnel. This is necessary to ensure that accurate and relevant production database is maintained throughout the entire organisation. Therefore in the first few months of operationalising the CE and Operations Director will review item master file, routing file, work-centre master file to ensure that scheduling is down to satisfactory standards (something that my predecessors failed to effectively manage). In own store retail structures Gap will employ a strategy current used by Zara to effectively manage staff. This method involves cyclical scheduling as it has been proven to reduce man-hours and increase staff motivation. Software to perform scheduled staff based on stores forecasted sales volumes with location staffing even during peak periods has been identified and been purchased to achieve the above requirement of cyclical scheduling at own store retail locations. Feasible and efficient schedules of production must be developed, the demands of human resources and facilities must be determined and controlled Heizer and Render (2011). 8.0 Conclusion and Recommendations The above analysis has clearly shown that change is eminent within the organisation. It is important to note that this change is radical and has to be implemented immediately. The criticality of the operation strategy (like all other major programs such as the balanced score card) demands that executives are tasked with specific duties and responsibility to ensure its success. To this end, executive management must ensure that operational decisions assigned to them be coordinated and communicated effectively among all operational structures and divisions (a schedule for the critical implementation has been shown below). The major concern from a marketing perspective is our failure to provide customers with products that clearly meet their specific needs and or tastes. The ever-changing business environment and increased competitiveness globally has also worked against the firm. However, from a purely operational perspective this has meant that we need to change our operating model an d ensure that it is aligned to the broad corporate strategy. In this regard the most effective strategy will be a hybrid response and differentiation strategy. This strategy will be different to the traditional cost leadership strategy within Gap. Our focus and competitive advantage as an organisation has thus shifted from just become cheaper to becoming better and faster. This means that we are aligning to changes in customer needs, increasing global competitiveness and a dynamic business environment. Key aspects of differentiation that will be incorporated are innovative design and a shopping experience unmatched to competition whilst the response aspect of our strategy will ensure flexible manufacturing reliability in our inventory, supply chain and scheduling structures and quickness in process design (as this will now be a lean structure). Key Operations Decision Major activities to be conducted Responsibility Due Date Design of Goods Process and capacity design Location Selection Layout design Supply Chain Management Inventory Management Scheduling The success of the Operational Strategy will not solely be based on its adoption and approval by the board but also by the need and realisation that it has to be implemented. However, implementation will also involve change, Burnes (2004), effective communication, Thill and Bovee (2001), internal marketing, Keegan (2001) and redefinition of reward systems and performance culture, Hitt, Black and Porter (2004). These critical success factors will help build on trust, ownership, teamwork and transparency while ensuring the successful implementation of the Operational Strategy. 8.1 Performance culture Reid (2005), sums up a performance culture that Gap must adopt to achieve a credible performance learning system these are: Openness and trust: candor must be encouraged and managers have to be willing to speak the unspeakable. Trust produces an environment where there is less defensiveness when issues are raised; people react more honestly and ask questions. Managed differences: conflicts are addressed and unfulfilled commitments exposed, options and alternatives are looked at without predetermined outcomes. Simplicity and focus: there is focus on implementation, with clarity and precision defining what needs to be accomplished and how. There is commitment at every level to remove complexity from the way of doing business. Playing to peoples strengths: leaders know their people and match effectively talent and task, as they understand their peoples strengths and how best to elicit them. 8.2 Internal marketing Internal marketing must become part of the on-going process within Gap. This will involve functional process alignment, motivation and empowerment of employees at all levels to consistently deliver and satisfy customer experience. Internal marketing must empower employees and give them accountability and responsibility because it helps non-marketing staff to learn and be able to perform their tasks in a marketing-like manner. For the internal marketing to be effective, employees must internalise the core values of the organisation. Sponsors can print t-shirts, caps and merchandise to give employees to wear every Friday so that they remember the importance of the project. 8.3 Reward systems To address motivation and morale within Gap there is need to initial review the existing reward and performance bonus scheme. The traditional approach of linking this to bottom line heavily undermines long term sustainability of the organization, as managers and employees race to meet target. Having worked in operations, the risk is made high as we near the festive season sales personnel dump long shelf life products on customers (on the basis that they will be in critical short supply) so as to meet targets. This works well until two months down the line, customers either refuse to replenish orders and or return product because it is nearing expiration. These losses are usually only accounted for way after the productivity bonuses have been paid out and annual accounts drawn. Whilst it is important to inform or remind employees what results are desired and motivate them to achieve and exceed the performance targets, the performance learning system (balance score card will help addre ss ensure this is done with great transparency). To achieve the above, sponsors through the HR department must ensure: Drafting job description based on process requirements and characteristics Translating process goals and action plans, personal training and development requirements into personal performance measures. Defining appropriate performance targets based on known capability and desired characteristics. Formally appraising performance against the range of measures developed and compare with target performance. Rewarding and recognizing superior performance. A balance must be struck in selection of reward system mix for both long term and short term success of Gap. Thus, in the short-term, rewards such as bonuses, commissions and piece-rate payments can be used long-term rewards can constitute stock based incentives i.e. stock options, stock appreciation rights and phantom stock plans. 8.4 Change Management Having internally marketed the adoption of the Balanced Scorecard as a PMM system, performance measure owners, must manage the change process. The change being implemented in Gap is planned as it is being consciously embarked upon, Burnes (2006). Stages of the planned change will entail: exploration, planning, action and integration. During each stage identified above it will be necessary for performance measure owners to involve employees for the change process to be successful. The change process reinforces behaviors that are aligned to Gaps objectives through feedback and full utilization of the reward system being created. However, in the implementation of the balance scorecard and in effecting change as a critical success factor to the entire project barriers might impede the successful execution of the project. According to Burnes (2006) the barriers to effective change programs are: competing resources, functional boundaries, change management skills, communication, Them and us- the opposition element, people needs and training, unrealistic timetables, resistance to change and initiative fatigue These factors can occur at any stage and can affect employees both the general labour force and even managers and the executive. To overcoming these barriers, Burnes (2006) proposes communication, ability to establish high trust relationships, negotiation, Influencing and build on self confidence.

Homeless Bedford Reader

Joseph Papalexandrou The essay I am analyzing is homeless written by Anna Quindlen. The essay can be found in The Bedford Reader 10th edition. My curiosity it what brought me to this essay. The topic I am writing about is homeless citizens. What interests me about homeless people is that it never seems to bother them where there living. What also gave me interest is how do homeless people feed themselves with no money?I always wonder why homeless people don’t look for money on the streets and save what they find buys a pair of clothes and go for a job interview at McDonalds. The overall message in this essay is that people make what they have home. If it’s living in a box or on the street they will always call that place home. It doesn’t matter what you have but how you feel about what you have. If you’re ok with where you call home then that fine. The real message in this essay is that not all people depend on items or things they have to make them happy. The overall tone in this essay is subjective and personal. Anna is trying to do a story on homeless people, and she found women called Ann on the back of a bus. Quindlen tries to get some information out of the women at the back of the bus and she is having a hard time doing so. In the story Quindlen goes back and forth with how she doesn’t see the big picture in things. But she does bring up some personal information. There are no images in this essay although there the Quindlen likes to make a lot of understatements.She says that it’s not where you live or how big it is but that it’s the place you call home. So basically living in a box you can call home and it doesn’t matter because it’s your home. That is a very big understatement. A lot of people like stability to be able to feed themselves everyday and be clean. The details and evidence that I found to support the main message in this story was when quindlen wrote â€Å"They are not the home less.They are people with no home. (Quindlen 200) That pretty much gives me the feeling that she is saying that there is no right to look down on someone because they have no home and that it gives us no right to call someone homeless. In this essay there are logos & pathos. In the essay Quindlen started to do to a report on homeless people and she even mentioned that she never seen the big picture up until she met Ann on the back of the bus. Quindlen started to no longer call homeless people homeless she instead refers them to people without a home.

April ABC, Inc

In the beginning of April ABC, Inc. hired Carl Robins as their new campus recruiter. Carl was new to his position, but that did not stop him from striving to be a great recruiter right from the start. Carl successfully hired 15 new trainees to work for Monica Carrols the Operations Supervisor. Monica checked in with Carl to advise him of all the steps that are necessary to complete before the trainees could start working for the company. Carl felt confident about the situation and assured Monica that everything would be arranged in plenty of time. The goal is to have the trainees working by July; the problem is that Carl has neglected to make the proper arrangements to ensure all tasks will be accomplished. This analysis will try to come up with a good solution for Carl Robins to resolve the problems he has created. Carl has been in his recruiter position for six months; these 15 trainees are his first recruitment efforts for ABC, Inc. The trainees were recruited in early April; it was Carl’s hopes that he would have the hires working by July. The second week in May, Monica contacted Carl about the training schedule, letting him know it takes a lot of time to get the training schedule, policy booklets, manuals, drug test, physicals and many other areas scheduled. Carl would have to coordinate these tasks for the new employees before the new hire orientation; the orientation was dated for June 15. After Memorial Day, Carl looked over the new trainee files; the orientation was to take place in two weeks. As soon as Carl was done looking over the paperwork, he realized some of the trainees had not finished their applications, they did not have transcripts on file, and not one new hire had scheduled the mandatory drug screening. Many things Carl needed to be concerned about, he has been an employee for only six months, therefore if he does not fulfill this task, he might be in risk of loosing his job because this may not get another chance. He decided to look through the orientation manuals, but he had missing pages and he only had three copies; they would be no help in trying to prepare the materials for the orientation. Carl knew he confirmed Monica that everything would be done by the time for the new orientation course. Now he will have to figure out how he will execute the perfect plan to make things right again and have enough time to complete the tasks. Carl went to check the training room that he will use for the orientation training but he ound out that his co-worker Joe already reserved the room for giving computer training for the whole month of June. Carl did not know the training room was reserved and he will have to find a solution for finding a place to have the orientation; this was a major oversight from Carl’s part. Alternative solutions are needed in order to get Carl out of trouble and back on track and try not to loose his job. To start he can make a list of the pending tasks and give them an order of importance. He needs to have an estimate of time that will take each task and see how viable tasks are and if he needs an extra plan to make them happened. Carl can call a meeting with all the new hires and give them a list of requirements they will need to be considerate for a permanent position. Since the new hires will want the opportunity they will make the impossible to make it happen. The drug testing is mandatory and should be the top priority on his list; the second priority on the list, should be the manuals. Carl needs to complete the manuals; gather all the information and make sets of all the copies. If Carl can continue to be motivated to do a good job and make a great first impression, he can accomplish all tasks at hand. Once Carl has created his plan of action, he can make notes as to how he plans on figuring everything out. By contacting the new trainees that do not have a completed application and transcripts turned in he has not only informed the trainees of what is need from them in order to be completely hired, but he is also giving contact and that shows seriousness to the situation. If the new hires show up to orientation and do not have the drug screening complete they should be sent directly to the clinic to get the screening done. The reason the drug screening needs to be done prior to the orientation is the company does not want to hire anyone who is on drugs, so this task needs to be complete before they are even considered for the new hire orientation course. When the individuals show up for the course if they have not yet completed their part of the new orientation process they should be asked to leave; they can either complete their given tasks and contact Carl when they have done so or they can decided to not work for ABC, Inc.. The problem with allowing them to stay and complete the tasks at a later time is that they are getting a message that this is how they can conduct themselves while on the job. The manuals and incompatible reservations for the training room are Carl’s misdoings, so he needs to take responsibility for these matters. In order to have the orientation manuals be useful, Carl should consider completing the three that he has since they are only missing some pages and then make a power point slide show to use as the main course material. By turning the material into a power point slide he is giving the trainees a chance to take notes and he can create the presentation at home during off work hours. Carl should take one of the manuals and combine whatever information is missing into it. The situation with using the training rooms can only be fixed by Carl taking to his co-worker Joe. The new hire orientation only takes one day and since Joe has the room booked all month, he may not mind giving up one day, so his co-worker can utilize the space. If Joe says that Carl using the room is not possible, Carl needs to find another space to hold the orientation. The best thing to do would be to find another room that has access to a computer hook up and can display a power point presentation. There are only 15 new hires and they do not need computers for the course, so just about any space should do the job. Another solution could be for Carl to have the room for half a day on two different days; by doing this you give Joe his space everyday and he make be able to re-work his course schedule easier by not being asked to leave his room for a whole day. It is clear to see that Carl was slacking in all areas need to complete his first recruitment job for ABC, Inc. Carl did not plan ahead, he did not organize, and he did not prioritize any of the tasks. This being Carl’s first job for the company he should have taken it more seriously and he should have listened to the advice given to him by Monica Carrols, she is in a management position, has been with the company longer and knew what steps needed to be taken to succeed. Carl should learn from this mishap and always give himself plenty of time to complete a job the right way, he should listen to those who have valuable advice, and he should communicate with co-workers more effectively. If Carl can get his act together, he has real promise to being a great recruiter and asset for ABC, Inc.

Discussion on management plan in Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Quangnam province, Vietnam The WritePass Journal

Discussion on management plan in Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Quangnam province, Vietnam Introduction Discussion on management plan in Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Quangnam province, Vietnam Introduction1.  Ã‚  Governance and planning system2.  Threats2.1.  Hunting and fishing2.2.  Logging2.3.  Over-exploitation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs)2.4.  Forest conversion2.5.   Freshwater degradation2.6.  Construction of roads and hydropower dam 3.  Management challenges3.1.  Legislation challenges3.2.  Lack of number and qualified staffs and equipments3.3.  Lack of budget3.4.  Lack of participatory management mechanism and communication with communities in the buffer zone 4.  The issues should be included in the management plan of the nature reserve and recommendations4.1.  Management objectivesLong-term visionObjectivesManagement: Protection: Research and monitoring:Community cooperation and economic development:4.2.  Management ActivitiesManagement activities:Protection activities:Research and monitoring:Community cooperation and economic development:4.3.   Implementation plansManagement:Protection:Research and monitoring:Community co operation and economic development:Boundary demarcationVillage Protection TeamsConservation education4.4.   Monitoring and EvaluationReferencesRelated Introduction 1.  Ã‚  Governance and planning system Song Thanh Nature Reserve is managed by the Management Board with 31 staffs at present. There are one director and two vice directors on the management board. Six staffs are doing administrative work; two staffs belong to the Research and Monitoring unit; remained ones belong to Protection unit. The nature reserve management board is under the direct management of provincial Forest Protection Depatment of Quangnam province. The role of management board is to: i) protect natural resources, landscape and environment; ii) cooperate with universities, research institutes to carry out research on forest and biodiversity conservation; iii) cooperate with other agencies (e.g. NGOs), to carry out awareness raising, community development, ecotourism and staff training activities; iv) monitor and evaluate natural resources. Besides, nature reserve’s staffs are also cooperated with other agencies, such as district forest rangers, policemen and soldiers in protecting natural resources. The joined enforcement campaigns are sometimes launched to stop illegal mining, logging, hunting in the nature reserve; but these events do not happen regularly due to the budget limitation. There are four ethnic groups inhabiting in the buffer zone of the nature reserve. These people are highly dependent on forest resources for their livelihoods and have cultural and spiritual practices based on the forest. However, all the natural forest belongs to government and co-management has not been established in this area yet. According to the current management system in Vietnam, the nature reserve management plan should be made by the Management Development Team of the reserve’s Management Board that may including director and/or vice director, forest protection staffs, enforcement staffs, finance staffs. The management plan must be endorsed by Forest Protection Department and approved by Provincial People Committee for allocating the budget, staffs, etc. before implementing. 2.  Threats Based on an assessment of the threats to Song Thanh Nature Reserve recently, six major threats were identified.   2.1.  Hunting and fishing The majority of threatened species in Song Thanh Nature Reserve are large mammals.   These species is directly targeted for subsistence consumption and for trade as bushmeat, medicine, pets or ornamental use. Some species, especially wild pig, muntjac, macaques, porcupines, civets and rats are seen as serious threats to agriculture and so are trapped to protect crops. Hunting activities have been done not only by local people living surrounding the reserve but also by outsiders. The current intensity of such hunting combined with trade driving hunting results in un-sustainable hunting pressures. Fishing is also been considered as over harvested and exploit environment with bad practices such as the use of explosives, poison and electricity. 2.2.  Logging Although enforcement efforts have been increasing, illegal logging in Song Thanh Nature Reserve still happen. Logging can be conducted by outsiders and local people for trade or for home uses. Logs are removed from the forest either by river or by buffalo. Illegal logging driven by the trade is more serious and can lead to the extirpation of some species from Song Thanh Nature Reserve such as the critically endangered Hopea hiananensis.   . 2.3.  Over-exploitation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) Harvesting of NTFPs (not including animals or timber) is conducted by a wide range of people for numerous reasons, including local communities and outsiders.   The products harvested are many, but include aquilaria, honey, rattan, ‘uoi’ fruit, fire wood, palm fronds and bamboo shoots. The products harvested are for trade and subsistence uses. Once external forces are involved in harvest, collection rates can increase past sustainable levels and so resources are depleted.   This not only effects biodiversity, but also removes critical resources for local communities, the majority of which are not collecting for trade, but for subsistence. 2.4.  Forest conversion The conversion of forest to agricultural land and Acacia plantation is one of main causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the buffer zone and this may make more pressure to the core zone. This problem has been considered as the effect of population increase and land demand for agriculture and plantation recently. Besides, the upgrading of roads cutting through the core zone of the reserve provides access to forest areas and could result in large scale forest conversion along these roads.   Not only would this effect forest cover, but also could potentially disrupt habitat connectivity, vastly reducing the effectiveness of the reserve as a core area for wide-ranging species such as tiger. 2.5.   Freshwater degradation Freshwater are an important ecosystem both in terms of biodiversity and local community resources.   Water quality and fresh water biodiversity have been seriously affected by illegal gold mining and exploited fishing activities recently. Gold miners use poisonous chemicals such as mercury and cyanide in accelerating process. The issue of poisoning also needs addressing, both from the point of view of biodiversity loss and human health. 2.6.  Construction of roads and hydropower dam Road construction is considered as indirect threat to habitat in the reserve. The continuousness of forest cover is broken within the core zone in two locations and within two corridors in the buffer zone due to road construction. Three hydropower dams are proposed for construction in the buffer zone.   The potential of forest loss and the affects indigenous freshwater biodiversity would be happened.   Although the dams will not be in the core zone, the flooding will extend into these areas.  Ã‚   This is likely to prevent the migration and so breeding of many species. Reservoirs almost without exception are subject to release of non-native fish species.   These can have large effects on indigenous species, often leading to the local extinction. 3.  Management challenges 3.1.  Legislation challenges The boundary of Song Thanh nature reserve is inadequate at some places that have not designed based on biological and social – economic requirements. The boundary demarcations are not clearly known by the management authorities and local residents. The management plan has been prepared but not well implemented 3.2.  Lack of number and qualified staffs and equipments According to the approved investment plan for Song Thanh Nature Reserve, the number of staff should be 92. However, there are only 25 staffs at present in the management board. The guard ratio is about 4,000 hectares/guard. This ratio makes it impossible for a guard to fulfill his job. The capacity of the staffs is also inadequate to carry out their tasks because most of the staffs graduated in silviculture, having little knowledge or experience of conservation. Additional obstacles to the effective functioning of the forest protection staffs are poor living and working conditions, lack of communications, office and technical equipment. 3.3.  Lack of budget Song Thanh nature reserve management board has not been able to carry out many activities, in particularly research and biodiversity monitoring in the reserve due to the lack of funding. The fund for the reserve’s operations is just come from Quangnam province and basically for the staff’s salaries. Other fund sources via the conservation projects funded by NGOs are not continuous and stable. 3.4.  Lack of participatory management mechanism and communication with communities in the buffer zone Song Thanh management board is only given responsibility over core zone. Local communities have some inputs into discussions relating to its management but on direct involvement in decision. The village/community patrol teams, established under conservation projects to protect the forests within and around the villages, and forest protection agreements between communities and the reserve’s management board were recognized as good models in some villages, but those have not worked well recently after the projects finished due to budget constraints. 4.  The issues should be included in the management plan of the nature reserve and recommendations 4.1.  Management objectives The management objectives should be clearly addressed including long-term vision and short-term objectives. Long-term vision The biodiversity and local cultural traditions in and around Song Thanh Nature Reserve, are effectively managed and protected by rangers in partnership with local communities whilst ensuring sustainable development of the buffer zone and, as a core component of the Central Annamites Landscape, ecosystem processes are maintained and enhanced. Objectives Management: Budget and resources are efficiently utilised by trained, motivated and monitored staff to achieve realistic targets towards strategic objectives within the framework of an adaptive management plan Protection: Threats to natural resources across the whole nature reserve are minimised by trained, motivated and equipped rangers and communities in partnership with related departments through a coordinated patrolling and monitoring implementation plan within a law enforcement strategy. Research and monitoring: Forest management, protection and monitoring activities are focused on key areas identified based on priority species by a trained scientific and monitoring unit working towards a strategic plan for area, species, forest cover, priority habitats and freshwater conservation. Community cooperation and economic development: Effective forest protection and resource management is conducted in partnership with empowered and informed communities and other stakeholders in each commune within Song Thanh Nature Reserve, facilitating sustainable economic development in the buffer zone. 4.2.  Management Activities Management actions should be grouped according to the objectives to which they will contribute and the target by which they will be monitored. Management activities: Include management planning, personal management, capacity building and those should be considered as critical priority Protection activities: Should include law enforcement strategy, reduce trapping, gun removal, removal of illegal gold mining, developing informant network; and those should be considered as high priority. Research and monitoring: Should establish the Research and Monitoring unit and carry out biological socio-economic researches; and those should be considered as high priority. Community cooperation and economic development: Should include reserve’s boundary re-design, community co-management, forest land allocation and conservation education. In which, community co-management is considered highest priority. 4.3.   Implementation plans Management: The responsible person, partners, implementing time of each activity should be clearly addressed in the implementation plan. The monitoring plan is also set up together with annual management review. Protection: The duty of Protection unit is to protect the forest and its resources.   This can involve many approaches which in this management plan are lumped into two objectives: protection and community cooperation. Each activity or group of activities of patrol, trap removal campaign, gun removal campaign, gold mining removal, informant network, violation database, etc. should be mentioned in detail in the implementation plan. Research and monitoring: The primary function of this unit is to directly monitor the values of Song Thanh Nature Reserve, using the results to inform and adapt management actions.   The primary values of Song Thanh Nature Reserve are biodiversity and watershed related. The animal abundance would be measured and the threats to biodiversity would also be monitored over time by Research and Monitoring unit with supported from rangers whenever they go to the forest. The science work focussing on identifying the distribution of and key locations for the conservation of the priority values would be done in the Nature Reserve. Where key values are localised such as a population of doucs or a community sacred forest, the Research and Monitoring Unit will be charged with delineating an Intensive Protection Zone in consultation with local communities.   These zones will then have specific management actions designed by the Research and Monitoring Unit in cooperation with the reserve management board and local communities to ensure the persistence of values. Community cooperation and economic development: The development of effective co-management involves many steps as outlined in the actions of the management plan above.   It is impossible to extract one section of the process without the others being hindered. Therefore the process is explained here step-by-step to facilitate its complete implementation. Gaining community consensus on the boundary of the reserve is critical for enforcing the laws of the reserve adequately, ensuring high value forest is protected and not disenfranchising local communities from their resources.   Community consultation on the reserve boundary will therefore be sought and the boundary re-designed and demarcated in the forest. Core Zone delineation and buffer zone land allocation are inseparable activities. Community consultation on land allocation will be conducted by ‘District Allocation Teams’.   The Community Cooperation Unit in partnership with the Director and Section Leaders should ensure that commune rangers are involved with this activity in each commune. Once all communes have agreed to the boundary location a report will be produced by the Community Cooperation Unit and reviewed by Section Heads and the Director. Boundary demarcation Major boundary posts should be placed on forest entry points as well as prominent features such as ridge tops and rivers.   Smaller boundary markers should be placed every 1km around the boundary of the reserve. Defining clear boundaries is one pre-requisite of effective community-based conservation. Village co-management agreements called ‘Huong Uocs’ will be developed in each village.   These form the basis of sustainable forest management in the village including sustainable harvest and resource protection mechanisms. ‘Village Protection Teams’ (community patrol groups) are to be established to enable communities to protect their forest resources.   This permits sustainable harvest mechanisms to be established and assists with protection goals as ‘outsiders’ should be excluded from the core zone of Song Thanh.   Village Protection Teams will consist of two to five members per village who are voted for by the community.   These teams will work together and with commune officials to conduct patrols.   Establishment should follow the working example in Tabhing commune, Nam Giang district. Field demarcation of co-managed zones will require one to two months per commune and involve a lot of field time.   Demarcation will be trialled in Tabhing commune during 2005 with replication in other communes in subsequent years will all communes being completed by the end of 2006. Village Protection Teams Essentially community patrols groups, Village Protection Teams are established to empower communities to protect their natural resources from outsiders so providing a ‘closed access’ system that can be managed and harvest sustainable.   As well as facilitating an increase and stabilisation of natural capital (so acting as one avenue for poverty alleviation) these teams also assist the nature reserve in preventing access to the core zone by outside violators. Conservation education A member of the Community Cooperation Unit will be nominated to develop a conservation education programme for Song Thanh Nature Reserve in partnership with the rest of the unit and the commune rangers. 4.4.   Monitoring and Evaluation Monitoring has been intrinsically built into all activities.   Three major steps to be taken to ensure all activities are conducted to the highest standards possible, within the allotted time schedule, by the most appropriate rangers and with full community consensus are: Strategic action planning to achieve realistic, clearly defined targets within the framework of a management plan and operational plans. Strong personnel management to ensure all rangers know what, when and how to conduct tasks.   Monthly, two-way time planning and annual reviews will ensure rangers continue to work towards personnel, departmental, station and reserve goals and annual targets. The creation of the scientific research and monitoring department will ensure an independent monitoring system to each target and facilitate the knowledge required for and the understanding of, the importance of monitoring and evaluation systems. References Nguyen Thi Dao 2002. Co-management of Protected Areas: Finding Solutions for Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Vietnam. Thesis. DICE, University of Kent, UK

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Spreading Terror essays With the War on Terrorism lasting about 5 months, it has moved on from Afghanistan to many other locations. In his State of the Union speech on Wednesday January 30th, President Bush said that the war was not over and that we should not expect a short war on terror. President Bush and the rest of the United States are now looking at other countries such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic," Bush said. President Bush singled out Iraq, Iran and North Korea as being the main possible producers of weapons of mass destruction. The axis of evil, as Bush called them are not being shunned out of the United States. "We'll tell you what we think, and we'll tell you we're ready to discuss these issues," Boucher said referring to the discussions between Iraq, Iran, and North Korea with the United States. Diplomacy itself is about to change. Is America ready to fight a war against multiple enemies should the need come? "When we're called upon by the president to do whatever, we'll be ready to do that," General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a press conference. The countries that Bush singled out are not taking his words lightly. "This statement of President Bush is stupid and a statement that does not befit the leader of the biggest state in the world," Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said. North Korea also voiced their opinion about being called an axis of evil. In one of North Koreas newspapers it was written that President Bushs words were merely loudmouthed threats meant to justify U.S. military presence in South Korea. The future ...

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