Amber Suites Inn Case Analysis Essays

Amber Suites Inn Case Analysis Essays Amber Suites Inn Case Analysis Essay Amber Suites Inn Case Analysis Essay Mene Kude Dr. Dixie Marketing 601 November 17, 2010 Amber Inn Suites, Inc. Strategic issues and Problem Identification The Amber Inns Suites, Inc. is a 250 property hotel chain, struggling with net operating lost since 2002, with fiscal year 2005 projected to be its fifth consecutive unprofitable year. The company has projected lodging revenue of $422. 6 million and a net loss of $15. 7 million for fiscal 2005. Joseph James, the company’s new president and chief executive officer, wants an hour presentation that describes initiatives, expenditures, and outcomes for the past two fiscal years, and a planned initiatives and budgetary needs for fiscal 2006. Mr. James goal for the company is to achieve profitability within two years. To this end, the V. P. of Sales and Marketing and the V. P. of Advertising has to corroborate on resource allocation in their respective budgets. The company would use growth in Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) as a corporate performance measure and a basis for determining senior management executive incentive compensation. It should be noted that EBITDA often disguises the financing effects of operations and allows allot of leeway in what is reported. This analysis looks at marketing strategies that best justify potential budgetary objectives that could lead to profitability. Industry Analysis The U. S. hotel industry recorded revenue of $113. 7 billion and grossed $16. billion in pretax profit in 2004. As of December 31, 2004, there were 4. 4 million hotel rooms in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of all U. S. hotel rooms were affiliated with a brand; the remaining one-third was independently owned and not brand-affiliated. Although companies such as Cendant Corporation, Marriott International, Inc. , Hilton Hotels Corporation, Inter-Continental Hotel Group, and Choice Hotels International, Inc leads the industry in having the most hotel rooms in the United States, the hotel industry is highly fragmented, with no one company dominating the arket. Though difficult to compare, hotel industry do have wide range of offerings and recognizable areas of distinctive competencies that allow for differentiated offerings. Generally, the industry can be divided into two main markets, full service hotels, and economic hotels. The full service hotels offer rooms and services that include restaurants for meals, bars and sometimes gymnasiums or spas. They range from luxury to low cost hotels differentiated not only by the facilities but in service levels that are offered. Economy hotels only offer a limited service, providing a room and few additional services such as a dinks machine and ice machine. They are generally lower in price compared to the full service hotels. The market is also divided into leisure travelers who are less price-sensitive and business travelers. The leisure market shows enormous rooms for growth as leisure travelers are only loyal to hotels that meet their respective needs. The September 11th event caused declined in profitability across the industry; while other organization within the industry eventually bounced back and reported profitable operations following improved economic conditions, Amber Inns Suites remain unprofitable. Organization Analysis and Positioning The corporate service mission of Amber Inn Suites, Inc. is to provide principally business travelers with clean and comfortable guest accommodations in convenient locations at reasonable prices. The company is positioned as a limited service hotel between economy hotels and full-service hotels. This positioning in the middle allows it to place its offerings in indirect competition with both full service hotels such as Holiday inn and Ramada inn, and economy hotels such as Red Roof and Motel 6. This positioning gives Amber Inn Suites a strong competitive advantage through differentiation of offering that can be seen as premium by some consumers and cost effective by others. Taking advantage of this competitive advantage will require a greater degree of investment in positioning and education of potential customers of the benefits for the offerings. Amber Inn Suites, Inc positioning has always been highly targeted at the business travelers with 80% of the travelers staying at the chains being business travelers. The business travelers market is more stable, less price sensitive and has less room for growth as full service hotels compete aggressively for their business. Amber Inns Suites locates its properties on premium sites, on major highways close to industrial, office complexes, and shopping centers for the most part in order to carter to its business traveler’s market. This excessive catering to business travelers leaves room for growth with leisure travelers. Overview of Past Performance In 2002 and 2004 guest profile, Average number of nights stayed on most recent visits improved from 2. 4 average nights to 2. 6. There are improvements in the likelihood of customer retention in the extremely likely and very likely category. 2002 sees an average of 81. 6% favorability rate and favorability rate of 84. 5% was recorded for 2004. There is an increase in the average number of occasions a guest stays at Amber Inn, from 9. in 2002 to 10. 8 in 2004. In spite of these increases, 2005 still sees a projected net operating lost. As such Amber Inns Suites have to rethink its strategic and make cost saving decisions like investments in technology so as to reduce direct labor cost. Improvement of energy efficient equipment could also help reduce utility cost. Another area of cut should be corporate employee compensation. Amber Inns Suites have to develop a ba lance that will streamline corporate compensation while retaining good talented employee. Alternatives The three areas that require immediate attention are as follows: First, allocation of media advertising dollars between the pleasure-vacation travelers and the business traveler market. Second, the frontier initiated of fiscal 2005, which have three objectives: (1) to increase overall occupancy in both guest rooms and suites, (2) to attract first-time guests, and (3) to increase the length of stay per visit. Third, use of weekend special as a replacement of the â€Å"free-night stay† promotion used in fiscal 2005. This promotion would be used to increase weekend occupancy that is currently at 60 percent. Marketing Initiatives and Outcomes Access to markets is an important element of the marketing mix. Although there are gradual movement to increase the commitment towards the leisure market, majority of the effort is still aimed at the business traveler. For example, hotels are in areas that are easily accessible by business travelers. The company recognized this and made marketing efforts to attract leisure visitors that are merely looking for a bed on their way to a place of interest. This was the underlying approach used in the â€Å"a place to stay while on the way† campaign that was launched in the Northwest Rockies area, which focused on the leisure market showing couples and families enjoying the amenities offered by Amber Inns as they travels in that area. This was a successful strategy, which lead to increased level of occupancy paving the way to the frontier initiated in fiscal 2005 ‘frontier areas’ of Texas. The 2005 inclusion of the internet marketing facilitated bookings with an estimated 20% increased in travelers making bookings on the internet will lower direct labor cost. Notably, an aggressive marketing strategy will help educate customers to identify their needs while paving ways for increase profitability. It is noted in the case that some business customers are not happy with the families using the hotels. This is regrettable and needs to be addressed. Future plans has to reflect the need of adapting to a new environment of technological innovation and core customer sensitivity, many of whom are loyal with average of about 10 visits a year with 66. 7% booking rate. 2005 Lodging Expenses |Direct Cost/rental room |28. 5 | |Room units |26500 | | Occupancy Rate |65% | | Room used |17225 | |Suite Units |3500 | | Occupancy Rate |75% | | Room used |2625 | |Total Room Used |19850 | |Total Unused Rooms |10150 rooms | 2006 Budget Plan The internet is cost effective and of increasing importance and has to be employed in developing the marketing plan for 2006. Placements of advertisements on web sites that travelers may frequent, effective listing of Amber Inn Suites link with search engines (like Google and Yahoo) and the use of viral and social networking sites should be leveraged. The company should use banner advertisements differentiate Amber Inn Suites focusing on quality and value of their offerings like accommodation for a reasonable price. Such efforts may lead to high retention of the core business market and an increase in the target leisure market. Many leisure travelers tend to travel on the weekend a time when business travelers tend to be at home. As a result, the promotions used to attract the leisure market will be focused in the weekend night, Friday – Sunday, with leisure rates prices that are competitive. Such offer will attract families on the weekends when there are fewer business travelers and will help to increase the occupancy rates of the hotels. The use of television advertising should be changed with the message that is more aligned to the branding and positioning of the hotel chain – a message that may appeal to both the business and the leisure market. The message should reflect quality rooms with a high level of reliability and value as well as good service. The use of increased levels of billboard advertising near the locations of the Inns, with similar message of value and comfort should be employed. Once there is a noticeable increase in occupancy rate, an increase in room prices of $1 or $2 per night during the week, should be considered. The level spent on research should be lower, but needs to be ongoing. My propose budget for 2006 are as followings. |Figure 1b Marketing and Sale Budget | |Sales Budget |2006 |2005 | |Sales reps |4,033,470 |3,841,400 | |Sales and marketing admin 525,210 |500,200 | |Sales Materials |15,965 |15,205 | |Travel |331,013 |315,250 | |Sales and marketing research |20,000 |60,000 | |Total |4,925,658 |4,732,055 | Figure 1a Advertising Budget Advertising Media Budget | | |Media |2006 |2005 | |Magazine |3,300,000 |3,236,240 | |Newspaper |3,800,000 |4,096,965 | |Outdoor |540,000 |519,700 | |Spot television |2,300,000 |2,340,266 | |Cable networks |1,000,000 |1,048,589 | |Radio |260,000 |257,740 | | Internet |1,700,000 |1,000,500 | |Total |12,900,000 |12,500,000 | Financial Performance of Amber Inns and Suites The increases in occupancy rate are counteracted by special offers culminating in a drop of in revenue between 2002 and 2005 projection. The rates for the room are well below the industrial average of $96 a night for business travelers and $89 for leisure traveler. For Amber Inns, the average daily rate has been only $57. 2, which leads to a revenue per available room of only $38. 60. With only a 79% occupancy rate there are a lot of empty rooms and revenue that can be realized with marginal costs; besides, the majority of the overheads are incurred whether the rooms are occupied or not. Increasing in revenues may help lower the overhead burden per room thus decrease contribution margin and increase net operating income. A projection for 2006 is included in the analysis below. Also, investment in technological upgrades will help lower both utility cost and labor cost culmi nating in my proposed 2006 projected income statement below. What is stated below indicates that cost cutting strategy most be employed. This means cutting cost from corporate conpensation expense, direct labor cost via the use of technology, and efficient use of utility as well as energing saving utility equipments upgrade. Amid streamlining cost will be the use of the various low cost promotional tools discussed earlier. Doing all of this wil increase occupancy rate, lower fixed cost over time, lower contribution margin, and bring net operating income above breakeven point. Figure-2 Amber Inn Suites, Inc. Consolidated Statement of Operations | | | | |2006 (proj) |2005 (proj. |2004 |2003 | |Lodging Revenue |$443,798 |$422,625 |$397,980 |$386,429 | |Variable Expense | | | | | |Direct Lodging Expense |$212209 |$211,239 |$194,887 |$192,069 | |Other Lodging Expense |$62462 |62,482 |54,672 |52,271 | |Sales, General Administrative Expense |$45635 |44,941 |39,029 |36,201 | |Total Variable Expenses |$320,306 |318,662 |288,588 |280,541 | |Contribution Margin |$123,492 |$103,963 |$109,392 |$105,888 | |Fixed Expense | | | | | |Depreciation Amortization |68,235 |70,135 |78,044 |69,190 | |Interest Expense |49,020 |49,520 49,786 |50,535 | |Total Fixed Expenses |$117,255 |$119,655 |$127,830 |$119,725 | |Net Operating Income |$6,237 |($15,692) |($18,439) |($13,837) | |Contribution Ration |0. 278261732 |0. 245993493 |0. 274868084 |0. 274016702 | |Dollar sale needed to attain a profit |$421,383. 85 |$486,415. 31 |$465,059. 45 |$436,925. 92 | Net Operating Income = Contribution Margin Total Fixed Expenses ontribution Ratio = Total Contribution Margin / Total Revenue Dollar Sales to break even = Fixed expenses/CM Ration Recommendations As discussed earlier, media advertising dollars should be increased for pleasure travelers. Although their core business is around business travelers, the opportunity for the most growth is with vacation travelers. Based on early projections, Amber Inns Suites will be 7. 9 percent than fiscal 2004 on occupancy rates. During the summer months, when there is increased family travel, the hotels should make an effort to segregate business travelers from families. This should lower the complaints from the business travelers. The frontier strategy should be kept in place. Based on industry reports, less than 30 percent of families stay more than two nights. This is an opportunity to increase a family stay and produce additional revenue when families do the most traveling. Finally, the weekend special should be initiated in fiscal 2006 as discussed in the earlier section. This special would require very little advertising cost and would potentially increase weekend occupancy. Beside, increased promotion for weekend special will have a spill over effect on the business market in that name recognition will be promoted. Also, some of the business travelers who stay may take there family there for a weekend together. Increase occupancy will also decrease contribution margin and sprread the overhead cost leading to net profit.

Principles of the Human Relations Movement

Principles of the Human Relations Movement Free Online Research Papers In today’s successful organisations, the most important focus is managing individual employee satisfaction and motivation, apart from complying with formal rules and operating procedures, to maintain high quality productivity. Unlike the classical perspectives of management such as Scientific Management and Bureaucracy, â€Å"the importance of informal social factors in the work place such as co-worker relationships and group norms that influence employee motivation and performance is highlighted† (Macky Johnson, 2003, p.82) under the ‘Human Relations Movement’. This essay will discuss how the Human Relations Movement has been adapted and carried out successfully in New Zealand by the restaurant chain, Starbucks Coffee. By focusing on the principles of maintaining a socialised natural group working environment and two-way communication between employees and managers, this essay will demonstrate how they became the most powerful and well-known coffee franchise restaurant in New Zealand market. To start with, the Human Relations Movement firstly emphasises the importance of the working environment for employees as a socialised natural group in which social aspects for both employees and managers take precedence over functional organisational structures. Elton Mayo, who was called â€Å"the founder of both the Human Relations Movement and of industrial sociology† (Pugh Hickson, 1989, P.152), had the basic idea that â€Å"workers had strong social needs which they tried to satisfy through membership of informal social groups at work place† (Nicholson, 1998, p.215). Opposing the classical perspectives of management principles of the Scientific Management and Bureaucracy, Mayo claimed that scientifically clarified rules, strict work procedure and incentive money payments were not the only stimulus to inspire workers and that they were â€Å"less factors in determining output than were group standards, sentiments and security† (Robbins, Millett Waters-Mar sh, 2004, p.815-816) after he proceeded an experiment, called the ‘Hawthorne Experiment’. According to the Hawthorne Studies, employees were motivated to work harder and efficiently when managers provided a more comfortable and informal working environment taking into account individual satisfaction and their personal needs rather than manipulating employees by way of higher remuneration. Mayo demonstrated that an organisation could not generate much beneficial output if managers â€Å"treat workers simply as economic individuals wanting to maximise pay and minimise effort† (cited Nicholson, 1998, p.215). As a result, â€Å"managers would no longer consider the issue of organisation design without including the effects on work groups and employee attitudes† (Robbins Barnwell, 2006, p.47). They now see their jobs as dealing with human beings rather than simply with work. One of the most well-known and influencing coffee franchise restaurants in New Zealand, Starbucks Coffee, tries its best to offer an informal and social working environment in which employees can enjoy themselves and be enthusiastic, in order to satisfy and motivate those employees at the same time increasing company sales. The company expects and encourages every employee to participate in developing plans, creating and achieving their goals. First of all, Starbucks Coffee, for example, treats every employee equally and they are all called ‘partners’. Therefore, those employees can feel more familiar and closer to their work place which could otherwise have been formal and difficult to feel part of. Also, Starbucks Coffee puts its effort into paying attention to employees, so as to satisfy their personal needs and wants. Managers schedule and allocate employees’ work hours and schedule time off with the needs of those employees being central. Additionally, emplo yees, including part-time employees, for instance, are provided a number of benefits such as medical and dental health care coverage, vacations, discounts on merchandise, etc, apart from money. Also, Starbucks Coffee develops tools and courses to support and train employees towards their future career development. Although the costs of these partner benefits are rapidly rising, Starbucks Coffee covers the financial risks and funds to display benefits and training courses, because it is aware how employee satisfaction affects the productivity and behaviour towards customers. Accordingly, great treatment of employees in the well-developed and humanly concentrated environment has brought Starbucks Coffee much impact on the high quality services to customers and thus an increase in company sales each year. In addition to the Human Relations Management being focused on the importance of the working environment for employees as a socialised natural group that is aimed at satisfying personal needs and wants of each employee, there is another significant principle of the Human Relations Movement. This is two way communications between employees and managers. According to the Hawthorne experiment, which was performed by Elton Mayo, as explained above, Bartol (2005) advocates that â€Å"collaborative and co-operative supervisor-and-worker relationships was emphasised† (Bartol, Tein, Matthews Martin, 2005, P.43) Mayo carried out an experiment about the effects of physical conditions of work. During the experiment, he observed the impact on the productivity of workers by varying the lighting conditions, however there was no particular change found that affected workers. Mayo (1932, P.153, as cited in Pugh Hickson, 1989) eventually realised that â€Å"communication between workers an d the research team was very full and open throughout the experimental period.† Mayo had discovered that the communication was one of the most effective fundamentals to stimulate the motivation of employees so as to boom a level of production. Unlike the classical perspectives of management principles of the Scientific Management and Bureaucracy, which stated the significance of one way communication by giving orders and requirements from managers to workers, the Human Relations Movement stresses â€Å"the importance of an adequate communication system, particularly upwards from workers to management (Pugh Hickson, 1989, P.155). In today’s organisations, employees have a right to express and indicate their opinions and personal thoughts towards the management, so that the decisions can be made widely throughout whole organisation. As a result, in order to operate this management system, the role of managers in the organisation requires them to have â€Å"social skil ls as well as technical skills† (Bartol, Tein, Matthews Martin, 2005, P.43) to understand the influence of human control on organisational outputs. Starbucks, for instance, performs its operations under the principles of the Human Relations Movement by displaying two-way communication between employees and managers in their work environment. In the first place, Starbucks Coffee ensures all its policies, standards and procedures are communicated between employees and managers. Managers in this organisation allow employees to provide their own suggestions and complaints, therefore Starbucks Coffee can improve its effectiveness and correct any deficiencies. The managers conduct daily and weekly interviews to listen to what individual employees want. Starbucks Coffee also holds a special survey for employees every 18 to 24 months, called a ‘Partner View Survey’. By operating this survey, employees give the management feedback as they are requested to point out what in the organisation performs well and issues which it needs to consider more closely. In addition, Starbucks supplies training courses for managers so that t hey can act as role models for employees and can lead and control employees in a positive manner. This organisation is concerned about the importance of personal control with every employee so as to construct a closer and informal relationship with each other. Starbucks Coffee is hence continuing to develop passionate, motivated employees who have a large impact on their consistent sale increases. As stated so far, the Human Relations Movement is mainly based on the satisfaction and motivation of each individual employee rather than a formally structured organisational group. As distinct from Scientific Management and Bureaucracy, a socialised natural work environment for employees and two-way communication between employees and managers, especially upwards from employees to managers, conceptualises the Human Relations Movement. Starbucks Coffee could become one of the most successful coffee franchise restaurants in New Zealand, because it has adapted well to and operate effectively in modern management based on the Human Relations Movement. Managers show their respect towards individual employee by treating every employee equally. Also the organisation offers employees a lot of personal benefits rather than incentives. Besides, the management in Starbuck Coffee open their minds to communicate efficiently with employees as they conduct a survey, interview and receive feedback. Overall, as a result, the Human Relations Movement is an obviously essential method of the management that modern organisations must apply to operate as a successful and influencing business in the market. 1359 Words Reference List Badol, K., Tein, M., Matthews, G. Martin D. (2005). Management: A Pacific Rim Focus 4E. Mc Graw Hill Australia. James, H. (2003). The Gurus who created Modern Management and why their ideas are bad for Business today. Cambridge. MA Perseus Books Group. Macky, K. Johnson, G. (2003). Managing Human Resources in New Zealand (2nd ed.). Mc Graw Hill Australia. Nicholson, N. (1998). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Organisational Behaviour. Blackwell. Pugh, D.S. Hickson, D.J. (1989). Writers on Organisations – An invaluable introduction to the ideas and arguments of leading writers on MGMT (4th ed). Penguin Business. Robbins, S.P. Barnwell, N. (2006). Organisation Theory – Concepts and cases (5th ed.). Pearson education Australia. Robbins, S.P. Judge, T.A. (2007). Organisational Behavior. Robbins, S.P., Millett, B. Waters-Marsh. (2004). Organisational Behaviour. Pearson. Research Papers on Principles of the Human Relations MovementTwilight of the UAWThe Project Managment Office SystemAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaResearch Process Part OneThree Concepts of PsychodynamicMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 40

Economics - Essay Example That makes lending conditions more difficult, especially at smaller banks. The March loan-to-deposit ratio of 83 per cent  for Chinas small and midsize banks was already above the 75 per cent  limit set by the regulator. In aggregate, though, it isnt clear the banks are short of funds to lend. The level of reserves banks hold above the requirement held steady at 2.2 percentage points in March, up from 0.8 points in the middle of 2011. The seven-day interbank lending rate was 3.2 per cent  Friday, down from an average of 4 per cent  in 2011. Both measures suggest that liquidity conditions are improving. With no shortage of funds in the banking system, but new loans low, the obvious conclusion is that it is constrained demand for loans, not a constrained supply of credit, that is the problem. The shrinking share of long-term loans in the total for new lending - down to 28  per cent  in April from an average of 51 per cent  in 2011 - suggests businesses dont see so many opportunities for profitable investment. In the past, demand for loans was always strong. Increasing supply by lowering the reserve-requirement ratio was a sure-fire way to give growth a boost. If demand is now less assured, opening the lending taps may no longer provide a quick

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Sociology - Essay Example This promoted a environment of mistrust amongst the prisoners. A similar tactic is used by real guards in real prisons which aims to break prisoner alliances. An article in The New York Times about ‘Racial segregation in Prison’ highlights the advantages of this tactic which in effect incorporates elements of racism which pit’s Blacks, Chicanos, and Anglos against each other. It also shows how this segregation regulates some control over keeping heightened violence in check. By the division and conquering in this way, guards deflect a lot of the aggressive focus from themselves. Other real life incident’s that can be related to the continuous revolts of the prisoners to break free of the oppression and abuse of the unchallenged power of the guards is the ‘San Quentin Six’ alleged prison escape attempt at San Quentin in 1971. (The Lucifer effect, Philip Zimbardo). Also there was the ‘Attica Prison Riot’ that followed shortly afterwa rds in New York. The prisoner’s riot was based on their demand for better living conditions and to be treated as human beings. (Attica prison riot, Web). This incident is so much similar to the various revolts the prisoner’s conspired to do against the guards in just six days of the Stanford study we observed. Even in this short span they suffered continuous humiliation in form of extended push-ups, jeering, longer solitary hours and uncalled for punishments such as unnecessary scrubbing of the toilet pans, all of which aimed to dehumanize the inmates turning them into objects. Another recent real life example of what happened in the ‘Stanford Prison study’ can be related to the violation of human rights that occurred at the Abu Ghraib prison under the authority of the American armed forces which took place post the 2003 Iraq war. (Abuse at Abu Ghraib, CNN). This was mainly because the soldiers were pushed into the role of prison guards, without any string ent guidelines as to how to deal with the prisoners. Many of the specific acts of degradation were comparable to those that occurred in the Zimbardo prison experiment. (Psychologist world, Web) Work Cited. The New York Times (Nov, 14). Racial Segregation in Prison. Retrieved from: . Phillip Zimbardo. The Lucifer Effect. Retrieved from: . Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Attica prison riot. Retrieved from: . Rebecca Le Lung ( 2004, May) .‘Abuse at Abu Ghraib.’ CNN News. Retrieved from: . Psychologist world. ‘Influence of Social roles.’ Retrieved from:

Internal Consumer Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Internal Consumer Behavior - Essay Example This set of characteristics or can said to be the personality of an individual. Since the late 19th-century personality study has emerged as the sole way to understand a person and almost every discipline that is related to social study or human relations, in the modern times, is trying to represent their points from the perspective of personality analysis of individuals. (Gilbert and Connolly, 1991, 23) The 19th and 20th century has witnessed great progress in the field of personality analysis and several famous figures have appeared in this arena who have interpreted human psychology in their own ways and it has helped them to come up with different types of personality theory. Results of such analysis have been used in various disciplines of human actions, starting from literature to selling of products. Among various other disciplines personality theories proved to be a boon for the business houses and industrialists and these theories opened up different avenues to them through with they started reaching people in the way that was never experienced before. Analysis of the personality theories helped the business house to understand their consumerist traits and they started to launch their products according to the desire of the mass. At the same time, various innovations were also implemented to the methods of advertising and the business groups, in order to expand their consume r circle, used advertisement so that it can capitalize over personality traits of an individual. The personality theories can be classified into seven major divisions, namely, a) Trait theories, b) Type theories, c) Psychoanalytic theories, d) Behaviorist theories, e) Social cognitive theory, f) Humanistic theory and g) Biopsychological theories. (Awrshay, 1971)

Methods For Determination Of Heavy Metals Biology Essay

Methods For Determination Of Heavy Metals Biology Essay There are various analysis methods applied by researchers to determine the heavy metal contents of a particular sample. Of the various analytical methods used, atomic absorption spectroscopic methods are the most commonly used methods to determine the amount of heavy metals present in a particular sample. Preconcentration and separation methods have been routinely used to eliminate matrix effects and cope with low metal levels. Different preconcentration technique for heavy metals such as cloud point extraction, solid phase extraction and acid preconcentration were performed by researchers before the samples being analyzed by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. 2.1.1 Determination of heavy metals by using cloud point extraction before flame atomic absorption spectroscopy analysis Chan and Teo (2001) used cloud point extraction (CPE) for the simultaneous pre-concentration of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc after the formation of a complex with 1-(2-thiazolylazo)-2-naphthol (TAN) before the sample undergoing analysis by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) using octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol (Triton X-114) as surfactant. Cloud point extraction is a separation and preconcentration procedure that has been extensively applied for trace metal determination in several different matrices. It is simple, rapid, high extraction efficiency and environmentally friendly. Its major advantages are simple experimental procedures, low cost, high preconcentration factors, and environmental safety. Cloud-point extraction is the preconcentration of target metal ion using surfactants such as non-ionic and anionic surfactants. Under the optimum conditions, the aqueous surfactant solution becomes clouding and separating into two phases which are aqueous and surfactant-rich pha ses. The interested analytes are extracted and concentrated into surfactant-rich phase. The surfactant rich phase with interested analytes is analysed by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (F-AAS). The water samples tested in this experiment are tap water, river water, sea water and a standard reference material (SRM). The chemical variables affecting the separation phase and the viscosity affecting the detection process including 50mL of sample, temperature of 40à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C, pH of 8.6, 2ÃÆ'-10à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢5 mol là ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 of TAN complexing agent, 0.05% non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114 were optimized. Table 1: Limit of Detection and Sensitivity of F-AAS analysis for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in Water Samples (n=10). (Chen and Teo, 2001) Table 1 gives the calibration parameters, the relative standard deviation obtained for 10 analyte samples subjected to the complete procedure and the detection limits. In this case, linear relationships between the absorbance measured and the concentration of metal prepared for the calibration solution were obtained. The sensitivity of F-AAS for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn analysis are 0.9982, 0.9987, 0.9995 and 0.9992 respectively. In addition, pre-concentration of 50 ml of sample in the presence of 0.05% Triton X-114 showed the detection of 0.099, 0.27, 1.1 and 0.095 ng mLà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 for cadmium, copper, lead and zinc, respectively. Table 2: Recovery analysis of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in water samples by F-AAS (n=3) (Chen and Teo, 2001) Table 2 shows the recovery percentage of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in tap water, river water and sea water by F-AAS. Recovery experiments for different amounts of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were carried out. The overall recovery percentages in this experiment for the four heavy metal elements were in the range of 98 % to 104 %. 2.1.2 Determination of trace elements in waters after preconcentration with 2-nitroso-1-naphthol Gentscheva et al. (2012) determined heavy metals using F-AAS after pre- concentrating the water samples with 2-nitroso-1 naphthol. 2-nitroso-1-napthol is a chelating agent that has been used for precentration of cobalt as well as for the preconcentration of cobalt as well as for the solid phase extraction of Th, Ti, Fe, Pb and Cr from waters. The purpose of this experiment was to study the possibilities for preconcentration of trace amounts of Cu, Ni, Co, Cd, and Pd using 2-nitroso-1-naphthol with analysis of F-AAS. The method developed was tested for reliability using a reference material which was SPS-WW2, Batch no.108, Spectrapure Standards AS (Oslo, Norway) and this method was applied to the determination of traces of these elements in capture water and waste water. A comparison between ethanol and 1- ethanolic solution of 2-nitroso-1-naphthol was done by plotting calibration curves. It was found that 2-nitroso-1-naphthol suppressed the absorbance of the interested trace elements ideally. Figure 1: Effect of sample volume on the recovery of Ni, Co, Cu, Cd and Pd with 2- nitroso-1-naphthol. (Gentscheva et al., 2012) Figure 1 showed the effect of sample volume on the recovery of trace elements in the range from 20 to 250 ml. As can be seen, the maximum sample volume allowing a better quantitative recovery of the analytes which was more than 95% was 160ml. At higher sample volumes the recovery gradually decreases. 11ml of optimum volume for 1% ethanolic 2-nitroso-1-naphthol was also determined. Figure 2: Effect of time of complexation on the recovery of Ni, Co, Cu, Cd and Pb with 2-nitroso-1-naphthol (Gentscheva et al., 2012) Figure 2 showed the effect of time of complexation on the preconcentration of trace elements in experiment. The effect of time of complexation was studied in the range of 15 to 60 minutes. The optimum time of complexation obtained was 40 minutes. Longer complexation time did not bring any effect on the recovery of the trace elements. Table 3: Determination of Cu, Co, Ni, Cd and Pd in capture water from the region of an old copper mine (Bov, Bulgaria) and waste water from the copper plantAssarel, Bulgaria Table 3 shows the concentration of interested trace elements obtained from F-AAS analysis. From the table, copper was the trace element with the highest content not only in the waste water sample, but also in the capture water sample. The latter may be attributed to the high residual level of this element in the environment of the former copper mine. The Pd contents in water samples were below the detection limit of the method. 2.1.3 Solid-phase extraction of metal ions from environmental samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) Duran et al.(2007) used a column packed with Amberlite XAD-2010 resin as a solid-phase extractant for the preconcentration of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) ions based on their complex formation with the sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (Na-DDTC) subjected to flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS) determinations. Metal complexes sorbed on the resin were eluted by 1 mol Là ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 HNO3 in acetone. Effects of the analytical conditions for the preconcentration yields of the metal ions, such as pH, quantity of Na-DDTC, eluent type, sample volume and flow rate have been investigated. Figure 3: Effect of pH on the retention of the metal ions (n=4). (Duran et al., 2007) Figure 3 showed that the effect of the pH that had been studied in experiment. pH of samples in the range 2 to 12 by adjusting the metal solutions with buffer solutions. Cu and Co were quantitatively recovered more than 95% in the pH range from 2 to 9. Quantitative recoveries were obtained in the pH range 3 to 9 for Ni, 4 to 9 for Cd, 5 to 9 for Pb, and 7 to 9 for Mn. According to the results, the optimum pH for multi-element preconcentration of the metals was 6, except for Mn for which the value is 8. Figure 4: Effect of ligand quantity on the recoveries. (Duran et al., 2007) Figure 4 showed the determination of amount of ligand needed for preconcentration of metal ions. From the figure above, it showed the preconcentration yields of the six metal ions were 11 to 21% without chelating agent. The preconcentration yields increased with the addition of Na-DDTC. The quantitative values were obtained after 2.0 mg of Na-DDTC. As the result, 5.0 mg of Na-DDTC was chosen as optimum value for the next works. Figure 5: Effect of sample volume. (Duran et al., 2007) Figure 5 showed the determination of sample volume in order to deal with real water samples which were containing very low concentrations of the metal ions. The recoveries were found to be stable until 500mL. Thus, 500mL was chosen as the optimum sample volume to work. In this work, the final solution volume to be measured by FAAS was 5.0 mL, hence the preconcentration factors were 100 for all the six metal ions. Figure 6: Effect of flow rate on the recoveries. (Duran et al., 2007) Figure 6 showed the study of sample flow rate in the experiment. The flow rate of sample solution through the Amberlite XAD-2000 column is a very important factor. The recovery percentage increases with the reduced flow rate, causing the preconcentration time increases. In order to obtain the quantitative recovery and to reduce the preconcentration time, the effect of sample flow rate was studied in the range 2 to 40mLminà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1. 10.0mLminà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 was chosen as the sample flow rate. This flow rate is high enough to load the sample in a moderate short time and allowing metal/Na-DDTC chelates to interact with XAD-2010. Table 4: Trace metals contents of real water samples with the proposed method (n=3) Table 4 showed the determination of concentration of trace metals in real water samples with the proposed method. Six sample collection sites were determined and under optimal conditions. There was no detection of Cd in all of the six water samples. There was also no detection of Co in Solakli stream, Kisarna mineral water, Of stream water and black tea while Ni was also cannot be detection by F-AAS in the water samples such as Kisarna mineral water and Of stream water. Overall relative standard deviations for Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) ions were less than 5 %. 2.2 Sample Analysed For Determination of Heavy Metals Heavy metals can be found in various materials, not only in water samples. By performin different analytical methods, most researchers had determined the presence of heavy metals, commonly, Cd, Pb, Cr and Cu to name a few, in environmental samples which include water sample, food samples, biological samples and plastic materials as well. 2.2.1 Environmental samples Among the environmental samples that had been tested to determine trace toxic metals level are the water samples such as capture water and waste water (Gentscheva et al., 2012); river water, tap water and sea water (Chan and Teo, 2010) and sea water; soil samples heavy metals determination which carried out by Capitelli et al. (2002) in order to investigate the contents of chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead and zinc by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy. 2.2.2 Food samples Many experiments for determining heavy metal contents have been performed on food samples. Ghaedia et al. (2008) determined the presence of chromium, iron, copper, iron, nickel, cobalt and zinc in cow meat, spinach, liver and fish samples. Muà ±oz and Palmero (2004) determine the presence of cadmium, lead and copper in milk by using potentiometric stripping analysis while Tripathi et al. (1999) determined zinc, lead, copper and cadmium in human milk, milk powder and baby food. Vegetable and fruits that we usually consumed as part of our daily diet intake were also found to have trace amount of heavy metals. Radwan and Salama (2006) determined the heavy metals such as zinc, copper, cadmium and lead contents in strawberry, apples, banana, eggplant, lettuce and many more. Determination of cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, nickel, lead and zinc in beverage such as tea, coffee, dairy products, fruit juices, carbonated soft drinks and wines was carried out by Onianwa et al. ( 1999) , using an air-acetylene flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. 2.2.3 Biological Samples Other than environmental samples and food samples, several researches had also been carried out to determine heavy metal contents in biological samples such as human urine and blood which are the most common tested samples for determination of heavy metals. Suleiman et al. (2008) determined the presence of cadmium, cobalt, nickel and lead in human urine,  blood and serum samples by black stones online coupled with ICP-OES. In addition, Aguiar et al.(2012) determined the presence of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, selenium, and zinc which are essential for reproduction by using ICP-MS. 2.2.4 Plastic samples The plastic samples that commonly tested to determine the heavy metal contents are the plastic toys (Omolaoye, Uzairu and Gimba, 2010); waste electrical and electronic equipment such as mobile phones (Nnoroma and Osibanjob, 2010), computer mouse, printer, keyboards, refrigerators, washing machines, personal computer and television (Onwughara et al., 2010); and small waste electrical and electronic equipment which includes plastic materials from household appliances such as vacuum cleaners, pocket calculators, video games, body care appliances, clocks and watches as well.( Dimitrakakis et al., 2009) 2.3 Permissible Limits of Heavy Metals in Waste Water Samples For every product that available in the market, there must be a limit of the substances added that will gives the details of the contents of that particular product to ensure the safety of the product to consumer. According to Environmental Quality Act (Sewage and Industrial Effluents) Regulation 1979, the maximum contaminant level of copper, cadmium, chromium, lead and nickel in waste water are 0.20, 0.01, 0.05, 0.20 and 0.20 ppm respectively. This means that if waste water sample was found to contain either one of the heavy metals mentioned having values exceeding the maximum contaminant level, that particular waste water sample could pose health hazards and environmental pollution to human being. 2.4 Improving the Sensitivity of Heavy Metals in F-AAS Analysis High sensitivity of the analysis of the presence of heavy metals present in a waste water sample are needed to give a reliably accurate and precise result in some cases where there is only a slightly difference in the amount of heavy metals. The sensitivity of various heavy metals in F-AAS analysis can be enhanced by several methods. 2.4.1 Copper, Cadmium and Lead The sensitivity of F-AAS analysis for the detection of Cu, Cd and Pb can be enhanced by performing online sensitivity enchancement method involving the implementation of various designs of quartz tubes of slotted tube atom traps (STAT) system as published by Yaman (2005). In this technique, quartz tubes which had a 5 and 6 mm diameter and 2.3cm for an upper slot length, produced the best sensitivity as high as with the factor of 6- and 10-fold enhancement for Pb and Cd respectively. 2.4.2 Other Heavy Metals The sensitivity of F-AAS analysis for the detection of heavy metals can be increased by using pre-concentration methods such as chromatographic method, extraction method, drying and ashing method, electrochemical method and miscellaneous method published by Rottschafer, Boczkowski and Mark (1971).

Eating Disorders: How the Media Have Influenced Their Development In Adolescent Girls :: Free Essays Online

Eating Disorders: How the Media Have Influenced Their Development In Adolescent Girls The words "eat" and "boring" are usually never found in the same sentence, but leave it to a supermodel to accomplish this task. Bodies reminiscent of the Holocaust clad only in a bathing suit, underwear, or a skimpy tank top flood popular fashion magazines today. How many times have you flipped through the pages of your favorite magazine and spotted an article about how women should have a good perception of themselves and how they should "celebrate those curves," and then turned the page to find a centerfold makeover section complete with before and after pictures? Mass media serve as a type of "normative influence" to teens, and those who are high in susceptibility to the media’s influence are much less skeptical of advertisements (Mangleburg & Bristol 30). Therefore, it is much more difficult for them to realize that attaining a body like those of the women in the above advertisements is impossible without developing severely disordered eating habits. In the United States, the "conservative estimates" indicate that after puberty, 5-10% of girls and women are struggling with eating disorders. That translates to 5-10 million girls and women! Out of that 5-10 million, at least 50,000 will die, and that’s not including the number of cases not reported due to the shame and secretiveness associated with the disease (EDAP Handout- Basic Facts). Sufferers of eating disorders have admitted that images of skinny models enflamed their condition. In an article titled, "War on Waifs," they agreed that they "would like to see the fashion industry present a range of sizes in magazines just like you see in the stores" (Jedeikin, sec. Responses). Susie Orbach, the therapist who treated the late Princess Diana for her bulimia, has similar thoughts on the controversy: Eating problems are now at epidemic proportions. There is so much anguish felt by so many women and girls of all ages, even in childhood†¦ We need to target the diet industry. If diets worked, we wouldn’t need so many of them†¦ I will also suggest that it is in the fashion industry’s interest to glamourise girls and women in all sizes and shapes, as that is how we really are. I’d like to see model agencies and designers setting aside profits for fashion students to promote gorgeous clothes in all sizes" (Jedeikin, sec. Responses). Until the industry can shift from encouraging people to be a shape which nature never intended them to be, however, the media will continue to form young people’s view of the world, a world that is apparently populated by only thin girls.