1.3: Domains of Life
We believe with good reason that all life on earth evolved from a common ancestral cell that existed soon after the origins of life on our planet. Too long ago, not all life was divided into two groups: the true bacteria and everything else!
Now we group life into one of three domains :
They are among the first descendants of that common ancestral cell. They lack nuclei ( pro meaning before and karyon meaning kernel , or nucleus ). They include bacteria and cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).
Include all higher life forms, characterized by cells with true nuclei (Eu, true; karyon , nucleus )
(meaning “old” bacteria) include many extremophile bacteria (‘lovers’ of life at extreme high temperatures, salinity, etc.). Originally classified as ancient prokaryotes, Archaebacteria were shown by 1990 to be separate from prokaryotes and eukaryotes, a third domain of life.
The archaea are found in such inhospitable environments as boiling hot springs or arctic ice, although some also live in conditions that are more temperate. Carl Woese compared the DNA sequences of genes for ribosomal RNAs in normal bacteria and extremophiles. Based on sequence similarities and differences, he concluded that the latter are in fact a domain separate from the rest of the bacteria as well as from eukaryotes. For a review, see (Woese, C. 2004; A new biology for a new century . Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 68:173-186)
The three domains of life ( Archaea , Eubacteria and Eukarya ) quickly supplanted the older division of living things into Five Kingdoms, the Monera (prokaryotes), Protista, Fungi, Plants, and Animals (all eukaryotes!) . In a final surprise, the sequences of archaebacterial genes clearly indicate a common ancestry of archaea and eukarya.
Thus, Archaea are not true bacteria! They share genes and proteins as well as metabolic pathways found in eukaryotes but not in bacteria, supporting their close evolutionary relationship to eukaryotes. That they also contain genes and proteins as well as metabolic pathways unique to the group is further testimony to their domain status. Understanding that all living organisms belong to one of three domains has dramatically changing our understanding of evolution. The evolution of the three domains is illustrated below.
A. The Prokaryotes (Eubacteria = Bacteria and C yanobacteria )
Prokaryotic cells lack a nucleus and other organelles such as mitochondria, chloroplasts, endoplasmic reticulum, and assorted eukaryotic vesicles and internal membranes. Bacteria do contain bacterial microcompartments (BMCs), but these are made up entirely of protein and are not surrounded by a phospholipid membrane.
These function for example in CO2 fixation to sequester metabolites toxic to the cells. Click Bacterial Organelles for more information. Bacteria are typically unicellular, although a few (like some cyanobacteria) live colonial lives at least some of the time. Transmission and scanning electron micrographs of rod-shaped bacteria are shown in the example below at the left. A diagram of bacterial structure is also shown (right).
1. Bacterial Reproduction
Without the compartments afforded by the internal membrane systems common to eukaryotic cells, intracellular chemistries, from DNA replication, transcription, translation, and all the metabolic biochemistry of life, happen in the cytoplasm of the cell. DNA is a circular double helix that duplicates as the cell grows. While not enclosed in a nucleus, bacterial DNA is concentrated in a region of the cell called the nucleoid . When not crowded at high density, bacteria replicate their DNA throughout the life of the cell, dividing by binary fission . The result is the equal partition of duplicated bacterial “chromosomes” into new cells. The bacterial chromosome is essentially naked DNA, unassociated with proteins.
2. Cell Motility and the Possibility of a Cytoskeleton
Movement of bacteria is typically by chemotaxis , a response to environmental chemicals. Some may respond to other stimuli such as light ( phototaxy ). They can move to or away from nutrients, noxious/toxic substances, light, etc., and achieve motility in several ways. For example, many move using flagella made up largely of the protein flagellin . Flagellin is absent from eukaryotic cells. On the other hand, the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells is organized by a complex cytoskeleton of rods and tubes made of actin and tubulin proteins. Prokaryotes were long thought to lack these or similar cytoskeletal components. However, two bacterial genes that encode proteins homologous to eukaryotic actin and tubulin were recently discovered. The MreB protein forms a cortical ring in bacteria undergoing binary fission , similar to the actin cortical ring that pinches dividing eukaryotic cells during cytokinesis (the actual division of a single cell into two smaller daughter cells). This is modeled below in the cross-section (right) near the middle of a dividing bacterium (left).
The FtsZ gene encodes a homolog of tubulin proteins. It seems that together with flagellin, the MreB and FtsZ proteins may be part of a primitive prokaryotic cytoskeleton involved in cell structure and motility.
3. Some Bacteria Have Internal Membranes
While bacteria lack organelles (the membrane-bound structures of eukaryotic cells), internal membranes in some bacteria form as inward extensions ( invaginations ) of plasma membrane. Some of these capture energy from sunlight (photosynthesis) or from inorganic molecules ( chemolithotrophy ). Carboxysomes are membrane bound photosynthetic vesicles in which CO2 is fixed (reduced) in cyanobacteria (shown below).
CC-BY; From: en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carboxysomes_EM.jpg
Photosynthetic bacteria have less elaborate internal membrane systems.
4. Bacterial Ribosomes Do the Same Thing as Eukaryotic Ribosomes… and Look Like Them!
Ribosomes are the protein synthesizing machines of life. Ribosomes of prokaryotes are smaller than those of eukaryotes, but are able to translate eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA) in vitro . Underlying this common basic function is the fact that the ribosomal RNAs of all species share base sequence and structural similarities indicating a long evolutionary relationship. Recall similarities revealed the closer relationship of archaea to eukarya than prokarya.
Clearly, the prokarya (Eubacteria) are a diverse group of organisms, occupying almost every wet, dry, hot or cold nook and cranny of our planet. Despite this diversity, all prokaryotic cells share many structural and functional metabolic properties with each other… and with the archaea and eukaryotes! As we have seen with ribosomes, shared structural and functional properties support the common ancestry of all life. Finally, we not only share common ancestry with prokaryotes, we even share living arrangements with them. Our gut bacteria represent up to 10X more cells than our own! Read more at The NIH Human Microbiome Project . Also check out the following link for A Relationship Between Microbiomes, Diet and Disease .
B. The Archaebacteria (Archaea)
Allessandro Volta, a physicist who gave his name to the Volt, discovered methane producing bacteria ( methanogens ) way back in 1776! He found them living in the extreme environment at the bottom of Lago Maggiore, a lake shared by Italy and Switzerland. These unusual bacteria are cheomoautotrophs that get energy from H2 and CO2 and also generate methane gas in the process. It was not until the 1960s that Thomas Brock (from the University of Wisconsin-Madison) discovered thermophilic bacteria living at temperatures approaching 100oC in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Organisms living in any extreme environment were soon nicknamed extremophiles . One of the thermophilic bacteria, now called Thermus aquaticus , became the source of Taq polymerase, the heat-stable DNA polymerase that made the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) a household name in labs around the world!
Extremophile and “normal” bacteria are similar in size and shape(s) and lack nuclei. This initially suggested that most extremophiles were prokaryotes. But as Carl Woese demonstrated, it is the archaea and eukarya that share a more recent common ancestry! While some bacteria and eukaryotes can live in extreme environments, the archaea include the most diverse extremophiles. Here are some examples of extremophiles:
• Acidophile s : grow at acidic (low) pH.
• Alkaliphile s : grow at high pH.
• Halophiles : require high salt concentrations; see Halobacterium salinarium below.
• Methanogens : produce methane; a cross section of Methanosarcina acetivorans is shown above (right). Note the absence of significant internal structure.
• Barophiles : grow best at high hydrostatic pressure.
• Psychrophile s : grow best at temperature 15 °C or lower.
• Xerophile s : growth at very low water activity (drought or near drought conditions).
• Thermophiles and hyperthermophiles : organisms that grow best at 40°C or higher, or 80°C or higher, respectively. Pyrolobus fumarii , a hyperthermophile, can live at a temperature 113°C. Another thermophile Thermus aquaticus, noted for its role in developing the polymerase chain reaction, is shown below.
• Toxicolerants : grow in the presence of high levels of damaging elements (e.g., pools of benzene, nuclear waste).
Archaea were originally seen as oddities of life, thriving in unfriendly environments. They also include organisms living in less extreme environments, including soils, marshes and even in the human colon. They are also abundant in the oceans where they are a major part of plankton, participating in the carbon and nitrogen cycles. In the guts of cows, humans and other mammals, methanogens facilitate digestion, generating methane gas in the process. In fact, cows have even been cited as a major cause of global warming because of their prodigious methane emissions! On the plus side, methanogenic Archaea are being exploited to create biogas and to treat sewage. Other extremophiles are the source of enzymes that function at high temperatures or in organic solvents. As already noted, some of these have become part of the biotechnology toolbox.
C. The Eukaryotes
1. Large Compartmentalized Cells
The volume of a typical eukaryotic cell is some 1000 times that of a typical bacterial cell. Eukaryotic life would not even have been possible if not for a division of labor of eukaryotic cells among different organelles (membrane-bound structures). Imagine a bacterium as a 100 square foot room (the size of a small bedroom, or a large walk-in closet!) with one door. Now imagine a room 1000 times as big. That is, imagine a 100,000 square foot ‘room’. You would expect many smaller rooms inside such a large space, each with its own door(s). The eukaryotic cell is a lot like that large space, with lots of interior “rooms” (i.e., organelles) with their own entryways and exits. The smaller prokaryotic “room” has a much larger plasma membrane surface area/volume ratio than a typical eukaryotic cell, enabling required environmental chemicals to enter and quickly diffuse throughout the cytoplasm of the bacterial cell. Chemical communication between parts of a small cell is therefore rapid. In contrast, the communication over a larger expanse of cytoplasm inside a eukaryotic cell requires the coordinated activities of subcellular compartments. Such communication might be relatively slow. In fact, eukaryotic cells have lower rates of metabolism, growth and reproduction than do prokaryotic cells. The existence of large cells required the evolution of a division of labor supported by compartmentalization .
2. Animal and Plant Cell Structure Overview
Typical animal and plant cells with their organelles and other structures are illustrated below.
A plasma (cell) membrane surrounds all cells. A cell wall further surrounds prokaryotic, algal, fungal and plant cells, creating rigid structure around the cell membrane and supporting cell shape. Bacterial cell walls are composed of peptidoglycan , long polysaccharide chains attached to polypeptide (amino acid) chains. Cellulose , hemicellulose , and pectin are major polysaccharides of the plant cell wall. Fungal cells contain a wall, whose principal component is chitin . Chitin is the same material that makes up the exoskeleton or arthropods (including insects and lobsters!). Fungi, more closely related to animal than plant cells, are a curious beast for a number of reasons! For one thing, the organization of fungi and fungal cells is somewhat less defined than animal cells. Structures between cells called septa separate fungal hyphae , allow passage of cytoplasm and even organelles between cells. Some primitive fungi have few or no septa, in effect creating coenocytes , which are single giant cells, with multiple nuclei.
We end this look at the domains of life by noting that, while eukaryotes are a tiny minority of all living species, “their collective worldwide biomass is estimated at about equal to that of prokaryotes” (Wikipedia). On the other hand, our bodies contain 10 times as many microbial cells as human cells! In fact, it is becoming increasingly clear that a human owes as much of its existence to its microbiota (see above) as it does to its human cells. Keeping in mind that plants and animal cells share many internal structures and organelles that perform the same or similar functions, let’s look at them and briefly describe their functions.


2.6.4: Differentiation
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- Jamie Hammond and Western Technical College
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Table 5.4 Differentiation
Firms that compete on uniqueness and target a broad market are following a differentiation strategy. Several examples of firms pursuing a differentiation strategy are illustrate below.
| Although salt is a commodity, Morton has differentiated its salt by building a brand around its iconic umbrella girl and its trademark slogan of “When it rains, it pours.” |
| FedEx’s former slogan “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” highlights the commitment to very speedy delivery that differentiates them from competitors such as UPS and the U.S. Postal Service. |
| Offering such as Hot Wheels cars and the Barbie line of dolls highlight toy maker Mattel’s differentiation strategy. Both are updated regularly to reflect current trends and tastes. |
| Nike differentiates its athletic shoes through its iconic “swoosh” as well as an intense emphasis on product innovation through research and development. |
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The Walt Disney Company has developed numerous well-known characters such as Mickey Mouse, the Little Mermaid, and Captain Jack Sparrow that help differentiate their movies, theme parks, and merchandise. |
Learning Objectives
- Describe the nature of differentiation.
- Know the advantages and disadvantages of a differentiation strategy.
The Nature of the Differentiation Strategy
A famous cliché contends that “you get what you pay for.” This saying captures the essence of a differentiation strategy. A firm following a differentiation strategy attempts to convince customers to pay a premium price for its good or services by providing unique and desirable features (Table 5.4). The message that such a firm conveys to customers is that you will pay a little bit more for our offerings, but you will receive a good value overall because our offerings provide something special.
In terms of the two competitive dimensions described by Michael Porter, using a differentiation strategy means that a firm is competing based on uniqueness rather than price and is seeking to attract a broad market (Porter, 1980). Coleman camping equipment offers a good example. If camping equipment such as sleeping bags, lanterns, and stoves fail during a camping trip, the result will be, well, unhappy campers. Coleman’s sleeping bags, lanterns, and stoves are renowned for their reliability and durability. Cheaper brands are much more likely to have problems. Lovers of the outdoors must pay more to purchase Coleman’s goods than they would to obtain lesser brands, but having equipment that you can count on to keep you warm and dry is worth a price premium in the minds of most campers.
Coleman’s patented stove was originally developed for use by soldiers during World War II. Seven decades later, the Coleman Stove remains a must-have item for campers.
Successful use of a differentiation strategy depends on not only offering unique features but also communicating the value of these features to potential customers. As a result, advertising in general and brand building in particular are important to this strategy. Few goods are more basic and generic than table salt. This would seemingly make creating a differentiated brand in the salt business next to impossible. Through clever marketing, however, Morton Salt has done so. Morton has differentiated its salt by building a brand around its iconic umbrella girl and its trademark slogan of “When it rains, it pours.” Would the typical consumer be able to tell the difference between Morton Salt and cheaper generic salt in a blind taste test? Not a chance. Yet Morton succeeds in convincing customers to pay a little extra for its salt through its brand-building efforts.
FedEx and Nike are two other companies that have done well at communicating to customers that they provide differentiated offerings. FedEx’s former slogan “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” highlights the commitment to speedy delivery that sets the firm apart from competitors such as UPS and the US Postal Service. Nike differentiates its athletic shoes and apparel through its iconic “swoosh” logo as well as an intense emphasis on product innovation through research and development.
Developing a Differentiation Strategy at Express Oil Change
Express Oil Change and Service Centers is a chain of auto repair shops that stretches from Florida to Texas. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, the firm has more than 170 company-owned and franchised locations under its brand. Express Oil Change tries to provide a unique level of service, and the firm is content to let rivals offer cheaper prices. We asked an Express Oil Change executive about his firm (Ketchen & Short, 2010).
Question:
The auto repair and maintenance business is a pretty competitive space. How is Express Oil Change being positioned relative to other firms, such as Super Lube, American LubeFast, and Jiffy Lube?
Don Larose, Senior Vice President of Franchise Development:
Every good business sector is competitive. The key to our success is to be more convenient and provide a better overall experience for the customer. Express Oil Change and Service Centers outperform the industry significantly in terms of customer transactions per day and store sales, for a host of reasons.
In terms of customer convenience, Express Oil Change is faster than most of our competitors—we do a ten-minute oil change while the customer stays in the car. Mothers with kids in car seats especially enjoy this feature. We also do mechanical work that other quick lube businesses don’t do. We change and rotate tires, do brake repairs, air conditioning, tune ups, and others. There is no appointment necessary for many mechanical services like tire rotation and balancing, and checking brakes. So, overall, we are more convenient than most of our competitors.
In terms of staffing our stores, full-time workers are all that we employ. Full-time workers are better trained and typically have less turnover. They therefore have more experience and do better quality work.
We think incentives are very important. We use a payroll system that provides incentives to the store staff on how many cars are serviced each day and on the total sales of the store, rather than on increasing the average transactions by selling the customer items they did not come in for, which is what most of the industry does. We don’t sell customers things they don’t yet need, like air filters and radiator flushes. We focus on building trust, by acting with integrity, to get the customer to come back and build the daily car count. This philosophy is not a slogan for us. It is how we operate with every customer, in every store, every day.
The placement of our outlets is another key factor. We place our stores in A-caliber retail locations. These are lots that may cost more than our competitors are willing or able to pay. We get what we pay for though; we have approximately 41% higher sales per store than the industry average.

Larose:
I once had a franchisee candidate in New Jersey respond to a request by us for proof of his liquid assets by bringing to the interview about $100,000 in cash to the meeting. He had it in a bag, with bundles of it wrapped in blue tape. Usually, folks just bring in a copy of a bank or stock statement. Not sure why he had so much cash on hand, literally, and I didn’t want to know. He didn’t become a franchisee.
Express Oil Change sets itself apart through superior service and great locations.
Dystopos – Express Oil Change – CC BY-NC 2.0.
Table 5.5 Executing a Differentiation Strategy
A differentiation strategy offers important advantages and disadvantages for firms that adopt it. Below we illustrate a few examples in relation to an often differentiated product–women’s handbags.
| Advantages | Buyer loyalty is common among handbag buyers. Many individuals enjoy seeing–and being seen with–a designer logo on the products they buy such as the iconic C that is shown on Coach bags. | Chanel enjoys strong margins because their well-known name allows them to charge a premium for their handbags. |
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Disadvantages |
Less-expensive bags from retailers such as Target provide enough of a trendy look to satisfy many price-sensitive buyers . These individuals will choose to save their money by avoiding expensive bags from top-end designers. |
Imitations may steal customers, such as is common with knock-off handbags sold by street vendors. |
Advantages and Disadvantages of Differentiation
Each generic strategy offers advantages that firms can potentially leverage to enjoy strong performance, as well as disadvantages that may damage their performance. In the case of differentiation, a key advantage is that effective differentiation creates an ability to obtain premium prices from customers (Table 5.5). This enables a firm to enjoy strong profit margins. Coca-Cola, for example, currently enjoys a profit margin of approximately 33 percent, meaning that about thirty-three cents of every dollar it collects from customers is profit. In comparison, Walmart’s cost leadership strategy delivered a margin of under 4 percent in 2010.
In turn, strong margins mean that the firm does not need to attract huge numbers of customers to have a good overall level of profit. Luckily for Coca-Cola, the firm does attract a great many buyers. Overall, the firm made a profit of just under $12 billion on sales of just over $35 billion in 2010. Interestingly, Walmart’s profits were only 25 percent higher ($15 billion) than Coca-Cola’s while its sales volume ($421 billion) was twelve times as large as Coca-Cola’s. 1 This comparison of profit margins and overall profit levels illustrates why a differentiation strategy is so attractive to many firms.
To the extent that differentiation remains in place over time, buyer loyalty may be created. Loyal customers are very desirable because they are not price sensitive . In other words, buyer loyalty makes a customer unlikely to switch to another firm’s products if that firm tries to steal the customer away through lower prices. Many soda drinkers are fiercely loyal to Coca-Cola’s products. Coca-Cola’s headquarters are in Atlanta, and loyalty to the firm is especially strong in Georgia and surrounding states. Pepsi and other brands have a hard time convincing loyal Coca-Cola fans to buy their beverages, even when offering deep discounts. This helps keep Coca-Cola’s profits high because the firm does not have to match any promotions that its rivals launch to keep its customers.
Meanwhile, Pepsi also has attracted a large set of brand-loyal customers that Coca-Cola struggles to steal. This enhances Pepsi’s profits. In contrast, store-brand sodas such as Sam’s Choice (which is sold at Walmart) seldom attract loyalty. As a result, they must be offered at very low prices to move from store shelves into shopping carts.
Beyond existing competitors, a differentiation strategy also creates benefits relative to potential new entrants. Specifically, the brand loyalty that customers feel to a differentiated product makes it difficult for a new entrant to lure these customers to adopt its product. A new soda brand, for example, would struggle to take customers away from Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Thus a differentiation strategy helps create barriers to entry that protect the firm and its industry from new competition.
The big risk when using a differentiation strategy is that customers will not be willing to pay extra to obtain the unique features that a firm is trying to build its strategy around. In 2007, department store Dillard’s stopped carrying men’s sportswear made by Nautica because the seafaring theme of Nautica’s brand had lost much of its cache among many men (Kapner, 2007). Because Nautica’s uniqueness had eroded, Dillard’s believed that space in its stores that Nautica had been occupying could be better allocated to other brands.
In some cases, customers may simply prefer a cheaper alternative. For example, products that imitate the look and feel of offerings from Ray-Ban, Tommy Bahama, and Coach are attractive to many value-conscious consumers. Firms such as these must work hard at product development and marketing to ensure that enough customers are willing to pay a premium for their goods rather than settling for knockoffs.
In other cases, customers desire the unique features that a firm offers, but competitors are able to imitate the features well enough that they are no longer unique. If this happens, customers have no reason to pay a premium for the firm’s offerings. IBM experienced the pain of this scenario when executives tried to follow a differentiation strategy in the personal computer market. The strategy had worked for IBM in other areas. Specifically, IBM had enjoyed a great deal of success in the mainframe computer market by providing superior service and charging customers a premium for their mainframes. A business owner who relied on a mainframe to run her company could not afford to have her mainframe out of operation for long. Meanwhile, few businesses had the skills to fix their own mainframes. IBM’s message to customers was that they would pay more for IBM’s products but that this was a good investment because when a mainframe needed repairs, IBM would provide faster and better service than its competitors could. The customer would thus be open for business again very quickly after a mainframe failure.
This positioning failed when IBM used it in the personal computer market. Rivals such as Dell were able to offer service that was just as good as IBM’s while also charging lower prices for personal computers than IBM charged. From a customer’s perspective, a person would be foolish to pay more for an IBM personal computer since IBM did not offer anything unique. IBM steadily lost market share as a result. By 2005, IBM’s struggles led it to sell its personal computer business to Lenovo. The firm is still successful, however, within the mainframe market where its offerings remain differentiated.
Firms following a differentiation strategy must “watch” out for counterfeit goods such as the faux Rolexes shown here.
Wikimedia Commons – public domain.
Key Takeaway
- Differentiation can be an effective business-level strategy to the extent that a firm offers unique features that convince customers to pay a premium for their goods and services.
Exercises
- What are two industries in which a differentiation strategy would be difficult to implement?
- What is an example of a differentiated business near your college or university?
- Name three ways businesses that provide entertainment that might better differentiate their services. How might they do this?
1 Profit statistics drawn from Standard & Poor’s stock reports on Coca-Cola and Walmart.
References
Kapner, S. 2007, November 1. Nautica brand losing ground. CNNMoney . Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/31/news...tune/index.htm .
Ketchen, D. J., & Short, J. C. 2010. The franchise player: An interview with Don Larose. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship , 15 (4), 94–101.
Porter, M. E. 1980. Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors . New York, NY: Free Press.


5.12: V Glossary
At-risk behavior: According to the Just Culture model, an error that occurs when a behavioral choice is made that increases risk where risk is not recognized or is mistakenly believed to be justified.
Chemical restraint: A drug used to manage a patient’s behavior, restrict the patient’s freedom of movement, or impair the patient’s ability to appropriately interact with their surroundings that is not a standard treatment or dosage for the patient’s condition.
Culture of safety: The behaviors, beliefs, and values within and across all levels of an organization as they relate to safety and clinical excellence, with a focus on people.
Handoff reports: A transfer and acceptance of patient care responsibility achieved through effective communication. It is a real-time process of passing patient specific information from one caregiver to another, or from one team of caregivers to another, for the purpose of ensuring the continuity and safety of the patient’s care.
Healthy environment: A place of physical, mental, and social well-being supporting optimal health and safety.
Human factors: A science that focuses on the interrelationships between humans, the tools and equipment they use in the workplace, and the environment in which they work.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): Physical or sexual violence, stalking, and psychological or coercive aggression by current or former intimate partners.
ISBARR: A mnemonic for the components of health care team member communication that stands for Introduction, Situation, Background, Assessment, Request/Recommendations, and Repeat back.
Just Culture: A quality of an institutional culture of safety where people feel safe raising questions and concerns and reporting safety events in an environment that emphasizes a nonpunitive response to errors and near misses, but clear lines are drawn between human error, at-risk, and reckless behaviors.
Learning Culture: A quality of an institutional culture of safety where people regularly collect information and learn from errors and successes. Data is openly shared and evidence-based practices are used to improve work processes and patient outcomes.
National Patient Safety Goals: Annual patient safety goals and recommendations tailored for seven different types of health care agencies based on patient safety data from experts and stakeholders.
Near misses: An unplanned event that did not result in a patient injury or illness but had the potential to.
Never events: Adverse events that are clearly identifiable, measurable, serious (resulting in death or significant disability), and preventable.
Reckless behavior: According to the Just Culture model, an error that occurs when an action is taken with conscious disregard for a substantial and unjustifiable risk.
Reporting Culture: A quality of an institutional culture of safety where people realize errors are inevitable and are encouraged to speak up for patient safety by reporting errors and near misses.
Restraint: A device, method, or process that is used for the specific purpose of restricting a patient’s freedom of movement without the permission of the person.
Root cause analysis: A structured method used to analyze serious adverse events to identify underlying problems that increase the likelihood of errors, while avoiding the trap of focusing on mistakes by individuals.
Scheduled hourly rounds: Scheduled hourly visits to each patient’s room to integrate fall prevention activities with the rest of a patient’s care.
Seclusion: The confinement of a patient in a locked room from which they cannot exit on their own. It is generally used as a method of discipline, convenience, or coercion.
Sentinel event: An unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physiological or psychological injury or the risk thereof.
Simple human error: According to the Just Culture model, this is an error that occurs when an individual inadvertently does something other than what should have been done. Most errors are the result of human error due to poor processes, programs, education, environmental issues, or situations. These are managed by correcting the cause, looking at the process, and fixing the deviation.
Substance abuse: A maladaptive pattern of continued use of alcohol or a drug despite it causing persistent social, occupational, psychological, or physical problems that can be physically hazardous.
Universal fall precautions: A set of interventions to reduce the risk of falls for all patients and focus on keeping the environment safe and comfortable.


3.17: Reading- Choosing a Segmentation Approach and Target Segments
Conducting a Market Segmentation
As you have seen, there are many different ways a company can segment its market, and the optimal method varies from one product to another. Good market segmentation starts by identifying the total market for the product: all the individuals who might conceivably need a product and have the means to purchase it. The total market for accounting software, say, is different from the total market for Lego building sets or the total market for chewing gum.
The next step is to identify marketing goals you want to achieve with the segmentation strategy. Do you want to generate awareness and sales in a local community that has never heard of your company? Do you want to get occasional customers to buy your product regularly? Do you want loyal supporters to dig deeper into their pockets and spend more of their money on your goods or services? Your segmentation approach should offer the best fit for your specific marketing goals.
Your marketing goals point you toward the segmentation criteria that will be most useful to achieve your marketing objectives. For example, if your goal is to build loyalty or increase frequency of purchase, behavioral segmentation is important to consider. If your goal is to broaden your customer base within a given region, geographic segmentation may be useful.
As you identify segmentation criteria that will help you understand the total market and meet your marketing goals, you’ll develop the basis for your segmentation approach. Next, you conduct research to collect segmentation data. Analyzing the market data can tell you whether your segmentation approach makes sense and where you may need to adjust the criteria to yield useful, valid market-segment data.
After conducting research and analysis of segmentation data, you should be able to diagram and profile different segments within your total market. A typical segmentation diagram could look like this:
Evaluating Your Segmentation Approach
An ideal market segment meets all of the following conditions:
- It’s possible to measure. If you can’t measure it, you can’t collect data to know who the segment is or how to reach them.
- It’s profitable. Segments must have the resources to purchase the product and be large enough to earn a profit for the company; otherwise they aren’t worth pursuing.
- It’s stable. Segments need to stick around long enough for you to execute your marketing plan.
- It’s reachable. It must be possible for marketers to reach potential customers via the organization’s promotion and distribution channel(s).
- It’s internally homogeneous. Potential customers in the same segment must prefer the same product qualities and exhibit similar characteristics that are pertinent to the segmentation approach.
- It’s externally heterogeneous. Potential customers from different segments have different product quality preferences and characteristics that affect their purchasing decisions.
- It’s responsive. Segments should respond consistently to a given market stimulus or marketing mix. If they do not, then marketing efforts directed at them will not be well spent.
- It’s cost-effective. Worthwhile market segments can be reached by marketing activities in a cost-effective manner. If too expensive to reach, then serving this segment will negatively impact profits.
- It helps determine the marketing mix. Ideally, when you have identified a market segment, you’ll have insight into ways of shaping the combination of product, promotion, price, and place to fit that segment’s needs.
If your segmentation approach fails to meet any of these conditions, you should go back to the drawing board to refine it. If any one of these factors is not in place, your market segmentation may actually undermine the effectiveness of your marketing and business. But with all these factors in place, market segmentation will point you toward the most promising customer groups in your target market.
For example, if you’re trying to launch a print services company in a large city, targeting “all business owners” isn’t cost effective, and the individuals within this group are actually quite different. That means that no single marketing mix will be effective with everyone in this segment. Instead, you would be better served by researching types of businesses (by industry, size, etc.), geographic locations, and other relevant factors to help you identify and target logical segments with shared characteristics.
Keep in mind that market segmentation is an ongoing activity that needs periodic evaluation to ensure that the approach still makes sense. Since markets are dynamic and people and products change over time, the basis for segmentation must also evolve.
Selecting Target Segments
Once an actionable segmentation approach is in place, marketing organizations typically follow one of two major segmentation strategies: a concentration strategy or a multisegment strategy.
In the concentration strategy, a company chooses to focus its marketing efforts on only one market segment. Only one marketing mix is developed: the combination of product offerings, promotional communications, distribution, and pricing targeted to that single market segment. The primary advantage of this strategy is that it enables the organization to analyze the needs and wants of only one segment and then focus all its efforts on that segment. The primary disadvantage of concentration is that if demand in the segment declines, the organization’s sales and financial position will also decline.
In the multisegment strategy, a company focuses its marketing efforts on two or more distinct market segments. The organization develops a distinct marketing mix for each segment. Then they develop marketing programs tailored to each of these segments. This strategy is advantageous because it may increase total sales with more marketing programs targeting more customers. The disadvantage is the higher costs, which stem from the need for multiple marketing programs that may include segment-specific product differentiation, promotions and communication, distribution/delivery channels, and pricing.
How do you choose?
Selecting the target segments boils down the following questions, which connect to the “ideal segment” conditions listed above:
- Whose needs can you best satisfy?
- Who will be the most profitable customers?
- Can you reach and serve each target segment effectively?
- Are the segments large and profitable enough to support your business?
- Do you have the resources available to effectively reach and serve each target segment?
As you answer these questions with regard to the different market segments you have defined, you will confirm which segments are most likely to be good targets for your product(s). These segments become your target market—the object of your targeting strategy, marketing mix, and marketing activities.
Contributors and Attributions
- Conducting a Market Segmentation. Authored by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
- Revision and adaptation. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
- Criteria for Segmentation. From Marketing 2014. Provided by : Boundless. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-marketing/ . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Introducing Marketing, Chapter 2: Understanding and Approaching the Market. Authored by : John Burnett. Provided by : Global Text. Located at : http://solr.bccampus.ca:8001/bcc/file/ddbe3343-9796-4801-a0cb-7af7b02e3191/1/Core%20Concepts%20of%20Marketing.pdf . License : CC BY: Attribution
- Goth Triplets. Authored by : Fluffy Steve. Located at : https://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffy_steve/3625314011/ . License : CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
- Rolex Datejust. Authored by : Bruno Soares. Provided by : Flickr. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/8YBwNP . License : CC BY: Attribution


8: Gases
In this chapter, we examine the relationships between gas temperature, pressure, amount, and volume. We will study a simple theoretical model and use it to analyze the experimental behavior of gases. The results of these analyses will show us the limitations of the theory and how to improve on it.
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- 8.1: Gas Pressure
- Gases exert pressure, which is force per unit area. The pressure of a gas may be expressed in the SI unit of pascal or kilopascal, as well as in many other units including torr, atmosphere, and bar. Atmospheric pressure is measured using a barometer; other gas pressures can be measured using one of several types of manometers.
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- 8.2: Relating Pressure, Volume, Amount, and Temperature- The Ideal Gas Law
- The behavior of gases can be described by several laws based on experimental observations of their properties. including Amontons’s law, Charles’s law, Boyle’s lawand Avogadro’s law. These laws can be extracted directly from the ideal gas law.
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- 8.3: Stoichiometry of Gaseous Substances, Mixtures, and Reactions
- The ideal gas law can be used to derive a number of convenient equations relating directly measured quantities to properties of interest for gaseous substances and mixtures. Appropriate rearrangement of the ideal gas equation may be made to permit the calculation of gas densities and molar masses. Dalton’s law of partial pressures may be used to relate measured gas pressures for gaseous mixtures to their compositions.
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- 8.4: Effusion and Diffusion of Gases
- Gaseous atoms and molecules move freely and randomly through space. Diffusion is the process whereby gaseous atoms and molecules are transferred from regions of relatively high concentration to regions of relatively low concentration. Effusion is a similar process with gaseous species passing from a container to vacuum through a small orifices. The rates of effusion of gases are inversely proportional to the square roots of their densities or to the square roots of their atoms/molecules’ masses.
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- 8.5: The Kinetic-Molecular Theory
- The kinetic molecular theory is a simple but very effective model that effectively explains ideal gas behavior. The theory assumes that gases consist of widely separated molecules of negligible volume that are in constant motion, colliding elastically with one another and the walls of their container with average velocities determined by their absolute temperatures. The individual molecules of a gas exhibit a range of velocities.
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- 8.6: Non-Ideal Gas Behavior
- Gas molecules possess a finite volume and experience forces of attraction for one another. Consequently, gas behavior is not necessarily described well by the ideal gas law. Under conditions of low pressure and high temperature, these factors are negligible, the ideal gas equation is an accurate description of gas behavior, and the gas is said to exhibit ideal behavior. The van der Waals equation is a modified version of the ideal gas law that can be used to account for the non-ideal behavior.
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- 8.E: Gases (Exercises)
- These are homework exercises to accompany the Textmap created for "Chemistry" by OpenStax. Complementary General Chemistry question banks can be found for other Textmaps and can be accessed here. In addition to these publicly available questions, access to private problems bank for use in exams and homework is available to faculty only on an individual basis; please contact Delmar Larsen for an account with access permission.
Contributors
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Paul Flowers (University of North Carolina - Pembroke), Klaus Theopold (University of Delaware) and Richard Langley (Stephen F. Austin State University) with contributing authors. Textbook content produced by OpenStax College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. Download for free at<EMAIL_ADDRESS>).


3.6C: The Golgi Apparatus
The Golgi apparatus sorts and packages materials before they leave the cell to ensure they arrive at the proper destination.
- Describe the structure of the Golgi apparatus and its role in protein modification and secretion
Key Points
- The Golgi apparatus is a series of flattened sacs that sort and package cellular materials.
- The Golgi apparatus has a cis face on the ER side and a trans face opposite of the ER.
- The trans face secretes the materials into vesicles, which then fuse with the cell membrane for release from the cell.
Key Terms
- vesicle : A membrane-bound compartment found in a cell.
The Golgi Apparatus
We have already mentioned that vesicles can bud from the ER and transport their contents elsewhere, but where do the vesicles go? Before reaching their final destination, the lipids or proteins within the transport vesicles still need to be sorted, packaged, and tagged so that they wind up in the right place. Sorting, tagging, packaging, and distribution of lipids and proteins takes place in the Golgi apparatus (also called the Golgi body), a series of flattened membranes.
The Golgi apparatus sorts and packages cellular products : The Golgi apparatus in this white blood cell is visible as a stack of semicircular, flattened rings in the lower portion of the image. Several vesicles can be seen near the Golgi apparatus.
The receiving side of the Golgi apparatus is called the cis face. The opposite side is called the trans face. The transport vesicles that formed from the ER travel to the cis face, fuse with it, and empty their contents into the lumen of the Golgi apparatus. As the proteins and lipids travel through the Golgi, they undergo further modifications that allow them to be sorted. The most frequent modification is the addition of short chains of sugar molecules. These newly-modified proteins and lipids are then tagged with phosphate groups or other small molecules so that they can be routed to their proper destinations.
Finally, the modified and tagged proteins are packaged into secretory vesicles that bud from the trans face of the Golgi. While some of these vesicles deposit their contents into other parts of the cell where they will be used, other secretory vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane and release their contents outside the cell.
In another example of form following function, cells that engage in a great deal of secretory activity (such as cells of the salivary glands that secrete digestive enzymes or cells of the immune system that secrete antibodies) have an abundance of Golgi. In plant cells, the Golgi apparatus has the additional role of synthesizing polysaccharides, some of which are incorporated into the cell wall and some of which are used in other parts of the cell.


10.3: Store Maintenance
- Describe the activities involved in general store maintenance
Everyday the floors need to be mopped, the shelves dusted and the bathrooms cleaned. Regardless of the type of retail outlet you manage, these things are ongoing and very needed tasks. The cash registers may need to be opened at the beginning of a shift and totalled at the end of the shift. Doors unlocked and locked and food may need to be covered and stored. How can you make these tasks happen on autopilot?
Checklists are the key here. Insuring that all of these tasks get done on a daily, weekly or monthly basis require proper planning. There needs to be an opening and closing checklist available for all staff, and each shift should know what is required of them. The checklist will vary depending on your industry, but let’s look at a few examples:
- Here is a general checklist for a retail location
- Here is a checklist for a computer store
- Here is Ace Hardware’s opening and closing checklist
Restaurants have a whole different level of challenge when it comes to opening and closing procedures, and it is independent for each one. A chain restaurant will have different requirements from a small one location restaurant.
If all employees have a part in the general opening, closing and maintenance of a retail store, the store will stay clean and running properly.
Contributors and Attributions
- Store Maintenance. Authored by : Freedom Learning Group. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution


27.5: Guide for writing a lab report
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- Last updated
- Save as PDF
Abstract
Write a few short sentences briefly summarizing what you did, how you did it, what you found and whether anything went wrong in your experiment.
Procedure
Describe relevant theories that relate to your experiment here, and the steps to carry out your procedure.
Consider the following questions:
- What are the relevant theories/principles that you used?
- What equations did you use? Show how you modeled your experiment.
- What materials, equipment and/or tools were necessary in making your measurements?
- Where was this experiment conducted?
- How did you make your measurements? How many times did you make them?
- How did you record your measurements?
- How did you determine and minimize the uncertainties in your measurements? Why did you choose to measure a specific quantity in a certain way?
Prediction
It can be useful to predict the value (and uncertainty) that you expect to measure before conducting the measurement. You should report on this initial prediction in order to help you better understand the data from your experiment.
Consider the following questions:
- Predict your measured values and uncertainties. How precise do you expect your measurements to be?
- What assumptions did you have to make to predict your results?
- Have these predictions influenced how you should approach your procedure? Make relevant adjustments to the procedure based on your predictions.
Data and Analysis
Present your data. Include relevant tables/graphs. Describe in detail how you analysed the data, including how you propagated uncertainties. If the data do not agree with your model prediction (or the prediction from your proposal), examine whether you can improve your model.
Consider the following questions:
- How did you obtain the “final” measurement/value from your collected data?
- How did you propagate uncertainties? Why did you do it that way?
- What is the relative uncertainty on your value(s)?
Discussion and Conclusion
Summarize your findings, and address whether or not your model described the data. Discuss possible reasons why your measured value is not consisted with your model expectation (is it the model? is it the data?).
Consider the following questions:
- Were there any systematic errors that you didn’t consider?
- Did you learn anything that you didn’t previously know? (eg. about the subject of your experiment, about the scientific method in general)
- If you could redo this experiment, what would you change (if anything)?
Guide for reviewing a lab report
Summary
Summarize your overall evaluation of the report in 2-3 sentences. Focus on the experiment’s method and its result. For example, “The authors dropped balls from different heights to determine the value of g”. You don’t need to go into the specific details, just give a high level summary of the report. If the report is unclear, specify this.
Review
Consider the following questions:
- Is the the procedure well thought-out, clearly and concisely described?
- Do you have sufficient information that you could repeat this experiment?
- Does the report clearly describe how different quantities were measured and how the uncertainties were determined?
- Does the report motivate why the specific procedure was chosen? (e.g. to minimize uncertainties).
- Does the experiment clearly state how uncertainties were propagated and how the data were analyzed?
- Do you believe their result to be scientifically valid?
Overall Rating of the Experiment
Give the report an overall score, based on the criteria described above. Use one of the following to rate the proposal and include a sentence to justify your choice.
- Excellent
- Good
- Satisfactory
- Needs work
- Incomplete


12.4: Colligative Properties of a Dilute Solution
The colligative properties of a solution are usually considered to be:
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Note that all four properties are defined by an equilibrium between the liquid solution and a solid, liquid, or gas phase of the pure solvent. The properties called colligative (Latin:
tied together
) have in common a dependence on the concentration of solute particles that affects the solvent chemical potential.
Figure 12.3 illustrates the freezing-point depression and boiling-point elevation of an aqueous solution. At a fixed pressure, pure liquid water is in equilibrium with ice at the freezing point and with steam at the boiling point. These are the temperatures at which H\(_2\)O has the same chemical potential in both phases at this pressure. At these temperatures, the chemical potential curves for the phases intersect, as indicated by open circles in the figure. The presence of dissolved solute in the solution causes a lowering of the H\(_2\)O chemical potential compared to pure water at the same temperature. Consequently, the curve for the chemical potential of H\(_2\)O in the solution intersects the curve for ice at a lower temperature, and the curve for steam at a higher temperature, as indicated by open triangles. The freezing point is depressed by \(\Del T\subs{f}\), and the boiling point (if the solute is nonvolatile) is elevated by \(\Del T\bd\).
Although these expressions provide no information about the activity coefficient of a solute, they are useful for estimating the solute molar mass. For example, from a measurement of any of the colligative properties of a dilute solution and the appropriate theoretical relation, we can obtain an approximate value of the solute molality \(m\B\). (It is only approximate because, for a measurement of reasonable precision, the solution cannot be extremely dilute.) If we prepare the solution with a known amount \(n\A\) of solvent and a known mass of solute, we can calculate the amount of solute from \(n\B=n\A M\A m\B\); then the solute molar mass is the solute mass divided by \(n\B\).
12.4.1 Freezing-point depression
As in Sec. 12.2.1, we assume the solid that forms when a dilute solution is cooled to its freezing point is pure component A.
Equation 12.3.6 gives the general dependence of temperature on the composition of a binary liquid mixture of A and B that is in equilibrium with pure solid A. We treat the mixture as a solution. The solvent is component A, the solute is B, and the temperature is the freezing point \(T\f\): \begin{equation} \Pd{T\f}{x\A}{\!p} = \frac{T\f^2}{\Delsub{sol,A}H} \bPd{(\mu\A/T)}{x\A}{T,p} \tag{12.4.1} \end{equation}
Consider the expression on the right side of this equation in the limit of infinite dilution. In this limit, \(T\f\) becomes \(T\f^*\), the freezing point of the pure solvent, and \(\Delsub{sol,A}H\) becomes \(\Delsub{fus,A}H\), the molar enthalpy of fusion of the pure solvent.
To deal with the partial derivative on the right side of Eq. 12.4.1 in the limit of infinite dilution, we use the fact that the solvent activity coefficient \(\g\A\) approaches \(1\) in this limit. Then the solvent chemical potential is given by the Raoult’s law relation \begin{gather} \s{ \mu\A = \mu\A^* + RT\ln x\A } \tag{12.4.2} \cond{(solution at infinite dilution)} \end{gather} where \(\mu\A^*\) is the chemical potential of A in a pure-liquid reference state at the same \(T\) and \(p\) as the mixture. (At the freezing point of the mixture, the reference state is an unstable supercooled liquid.)
If the solute is an electrolyte, Eq. 12.4.2 can be derived by the same procedure as described in Sec. 9.4.6 for an ideal-dilute binary solution of a nonelectrolyte. We must calculate \(x\A\) from the amounts of all species present at infinite dilution. In the limit of infinite dilution, any electrolyte solute is completely dissociated to its constituent ions: ion pairs and weak electrolytes are completely dissociated in this limit. Thus, for a binary solution of electrolyte B with \(\nu\) ions per formula unit, we should calculate \(x\A\) from \begin{equation} x\A = \frac{n\A}{n\A + \nu n\B} \tag{12.4.3} \end{equation} where \(n\B\) is the amount of solute formula unit. (If the solute is a nonelectrolyte, we simply set \(\nu\) equal to \(1\) in this equation.)
From Eq. 12.4.2, we can write \begin{equation} \bPd{(\mu\A/T)}{x\A}{T,p} \ra R \quad \tx{as} \quad x\A \ra 1 \tag{12.4.4} \end{equation} In the limit of infinite dilution, then, Eq. 12.4.1 becomes \begin{equation} \lim_{x\A\rightarrow 1}\Pd{T\f}{x\A}{\!p} = \frac{R(T\f^*)^2}{\Delsub{fus,A}H} \tag{12.4.5} \end{equation}
It is customary to relate freezing-point depression to the solute concentration \(c\B\) or molality \(m\B\). From Eq. 12.4.3, we obtain \begin{equation} 1-x\A=\frac{\nu n\B}{n\A+\nu n\B} \tag{12.4.6} \end{equation} In the limit of infinite dilution, when \(\nu n\B\) is much smaller than \(n\A\), \(1-x\A\) approaches the value \(\nu n\B/n\A\). Then, using expressions in Eq. 9.1.14, we obtain the relations \begin{gather} \s{ \begin{split} \dx\A & = -\dif(1- x\A) = -\nu\dif(n\B/n\A) \cr & = -\nu V\A^*\dif c\B \cr & = -\nu M\A\dif m\B \end{split} } \tag{12.4.7} \cond{(binary solution at} \nextcond{infinite dilution)} \end{gather} which transform Eq. 12.4.5 into the following (ignoring a small dependence of \(V\A^*\) on \(T\)): \begin{gather} \lim_{c\B\rightarrow 0} \tag{12.4.8} \Pd{T\f}{c\B}{\!p} = -\frac{\nu V\A^* R(T\f^*)^2}{\Delsub{fus,A}H} \cr \lim_{m\B\rightarrow 0}\Pd{T\f}{m\B}{\!p} = -\frac{\nu M\A R(T\f^*)^2}{\Delsub{fus,A}H} \end{gather} We can apply these equations to a nonelectrolyte solute by setting \(\nu\) equal to \(1\).
As \(c\B\) or \(m\B\) approaches zero, \(T\f\) approaches \(T\f^*\). The freezing-point depression (a negative quantity) is \(\Del T\subs{f}=T\f-T\f^*\). In the range of molalities of a dilute solution in which \(\pd{T\f}{m\B}{p}\) is given by the expression on the right side of Eq. 12.4.8, we can write \begin{equation} \Del T\subs{f} = -\frac{\nu M\A R(T\f^*)^2}{\Delsub{fus,A}H}m\B \tag{12.4.9} \end{equation}
The molal freezing-point depression constant or cryoscopic constant, \(K\subs{f}\), is defined for a binary solution by \begin{equation} K\subs{f} \defn -\lim_{m\B\rightarrow 0} \frac{\Del T\subs{f}}{\nu m\B} \tag{12.4.10} \end{equation} and, from Eq. 12.4.9, has a value given by \begin{equation} K\subs{f} = \frac{M\A R(T\f^*)^2}{\Delsub{fus,A}H} \tag{12.4.11} \end{equation} The value of \(K\subs{f}\) calculated from this formula depends only on the kind of solvent and the pressure. For H\(_2\)O at \(1\br\), the calculated value is \(K\bd=1.860\units{K kg mol\(^{-1}\)}\) (Prob. 12.4).
In the dilute binary solution, we have the relation \begin{gather} \s{ \Del T\subs{f} = - \nu K\subs{f} m\B } \tag{12.4.12} \cond{(dilute binary solution)} \end{gather} This relation is useful for estimating the molality of a dilute nonelectrolyte solution (\(\nu{=}1\)) from a measurement of the freezing point. The relation is of little utility for an electrolyte solute, because at any electrolyte molality that is high enough to give a measurable depression of the freezing point, the mean ionic activity coefficient deviates greatly from unity and the relation is not accurate.
12.4.2 Boiling-point elevation
We can apply Eq. 12.3.6 to the boiling point \(T\bd\) of a dilute binary solution. The pure phase of A in equilibrium with the solution is now a gas instead of a solid. (We must assume the solute is nonvolatile or has negligible partial pressure in the gas phase.) Following the procedure of Sec. 12.4.1, we obtain \begin{equation} \lim_{m\B\rightarrow 0}\Pd{T\bd}{m\B}{\!p} = \frac{\nu M\A R(T\bd^*)^2}{\Delsub{vap,A}H} \tag{12.4.13} \end{equation} where \(\Delsub{vap,A}H\) is the molar enthalpy of vaporization of pure solvent at its boiling point \(T\bd^*\).
The molal boiling-point elevation constant or ebullioscopic constant, \(K\bd\), is defined for a binary solution by \begin{equation} K\bd \defn \lim_{m\B\rightarrow 0}\frac{\Del T\bd}{\nu m\B} \tag{12.4.14} \end{equation} where \(\Del T\bd=T\bd-T\bd^*\) is the boiling-point elevation. Accordingly, \(K\bd\) has a value given by \begin{equation} K\bd = \frac{M\A R(T\bd^*)^2}{\Delsub{vap,A}H} \tag{12.4.15} \end{equation} For the boiling point of a dilute solution, the analogy of Eq. 12.4.12 is \begin{gather} \s{ \Del T\bd = \nu K\bd m\B } \tag{12.4.16} \cond{(dilute binary solution)} \end{gather} Since \(K\subs{f}\) has a larger value than \(K\bd\) (because \(\Delsub{fus,A}H\) is smaller than \(\Delsub{vap,A}H\)), the measurement of freezing-point depression is more useful than that of boiling-point elevation for estimating the molality of a dilute solution.
12.4.3 Vapor-pressure lowering
In a binary two-phase system in which a solution of volatile solvent A and nonvolatile solute B is in equilibrium with gaseous A, the vapor pressure of the solution is equal to the system pressure \(p\).
Equation 12.3.7 gives the general dependence of \(p\) on \(x\A\) for a binary liquid mixture in equilibrium with pure gaseous A. In this equation, \(\Delsub{sol,A}V\) is the molar differential volume change for the dissolution of the gas in the solution. In the limit of infinite dilution, \(-\Delsub{sol,A}V\) becomes \(\Delsub{vap,A}V\), the molar volume change for the vaporization of pure solvent. We also apply the limiting expressions of Eqs. 12.4.4 and 12.4.7. The result is \begin{equation} \lim_{c\B\rightarrow 0}\Pd{p}{c\B}{T} = -\frac{\nu V\A^* RT}{\Delsub{vap,A}V} \qquad \lim_{m\B\rightarrow 0}\Pd{p}{m\B}{T} = -\frac{\nu M\A RT}{\Delsub{vap,A}V} \tag{12.4.17} \end{equation}
If we neglect the molar volume of the liquid solvent compared to that of the gas, and assume the gas is ideal, then we can replace \(\Delsub{vap,A}V\) in the expressions above by \(V\A^*\gas =RT/p\A^*\) and obtain \begin{equation} \lim_{c\B\rightarrow 0}\Pd{p}{c\B}{T} \approx -\nu V\A^* p\A^* \qquad \lim_{m\B\rightarrow 0}\Pd{p}{m\B}{T} \approx -\nu M\A p\A^* \tag{12.4.18} \end{equation} where \(p\A^*\) is the vapor pressure of the pure solvent at the temperature of the solution.
Thus, approximate expressions for vapor-pressure lowering in the limit of infinite dilution are \begin{equation} \Del p \approx -\nu V\A^* p\A^* c\B \qquad \tx{and} \qquad \Del p \approx -\nu M\A p\A^* m\B \tag{12.4.19} \end{equation} We see that the lowering in this limit depends on the kind of solvent and the solution composition, but not on the kind of solute.
12.4.4 Osmotic pressure
The osmotic pressure \(\varPi\) is an intensive property of a solution and was defined in Sec. 12.2.2. In a dilute solution of low \(\varPi\), the approximation used to derive Eq. 12.2.11 (that the partial molar volume \(V\A\) of the solvent is constant in the pressure range from \(p\) to \(p+\varPi\)) becomes valid, and we can write \begin{equation} \varPi = \frac{\mu\A^*-\mu\A}{V\A} \tag{12.4.20} \end{equation} In the limit of infinite dilution, \(\mu\A^*-\mu\A\) approaches \(-RT\ln x\A\) (Eq. 12.4.2) and \(V\A\) becomes the molar volume \(V\A^*\) of the pure solvent. In this limit, Eq. 12.4.20 becomes \begin{equation} \varPi = -\frac{RT\ln x\A}{V\A^*} \tag{12.4.21} \end{equation} from which we obtain the equation \begin{equation} \lim_{x\A\rightarrow 1}\Pd{\varPi}{x\A}{T,p} = -\frac{RT}{V\A^*} \tag{12.4.22} \end{equation} The relations in Eq. 12.4.7 transform Eq. 12.4.22 into \begin{equation} \lim_{c\B\rightarrow 0}\Pd{\varPi}{c\B}{T,p} = \nu RT \tag{12.4.23} \end{equation} \begin{equation} \lim_{m\B\rightarrow 0}\Pd{\varPi}{m\B}{T,p} = \frac{\nu RTM\A}{V\A^*} = \nu \rho\A^* RT \tag{12.4.24} \end{equation}
Equations 12.4.23 and 12.4.24 show that the osmotic pressure becomes independent of the kind of solute as the solution approaches infinite dilution. The integrated forms of these equations are \begin{gather} \s{ \varPi=\nu c\B RT } \tag{12.4.25} \cond{(dilute binary solution)} \end{gather} \begin{gather} \s{ \varPi=\frac{RTM\A}{V\A^*}\nu m\B = \rho\A^* RT\nu m\B } \tag{12.4.26} \cond{(dilute binary solution)} \end{gather} Equation 12.4.25 is van’t Hoff’s equation for osmotic pressure. If there is more than one solute species, \(\nu c\B\) can be replaced by \(\sum_{i\ne\tx{A}}c_i\) and \(\nu m\B\) by \(\sum_{i\ne\tx{A}}m_i\) in these expressions.
In Sec. 9.6.3, it was stated that \(\varPi/m\B\) is equal to the product of \(\phi_m\) and the limiting value of \(\varPi/m\B\) at infinite dilution, where \(\phi_m = (\mu\A^*-\mu\A)/RTM\A\sum_{i \ne \tx{A}}m_i\) is the osmotic coefficient. This relation follows directly from Eqs. 12.2.11 and 12.4.26.


22: Angiosperm Diversity
It is likely that most plants you see are angiosperms. Of the nearly 400,000 species of land plants described, almost 90% are angiosperms. With the production of flowers specialized for pollination and fruits specialized for dispersal, angiosperms formed complex, interconnected relationships with a wide variety of other organisms. These close coevolutionary relationships may have increased speciation within this group. Regardless, the radiation of angiosperms is unprecedented among plants.
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- 22.1: Monocots and Eudicots
- It is likely that most plants you see are angiosperms. Of the nearly 400,000 species of land plants described, nearly 90% are angiosperms. Angiosperms can be divided into two major groups: monocots and dicots. Dicots can be further divided into basal angiosperm lineages (magnoliids and ANA grades) and eudicots. Monocots produce one cotyledon, while dicots produce two. However, there are other characteristics that can be used to differentiate between these groups.
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- 22.2: Pollination Syndromes
- Pollination is the transfer sperm or spermatia from the pollen grain to the egg. This can occur through self-pollination, where an individual's pollen fertilizes its own eggs, or cross-pollination, where pollen is transferred between different individuals. When plants cross-pollinate, they require a pollen vector, which can be biotic (e.g. insects, birds, or bats) or abiotic (e.g. wind or water). Many plants have specialized for their particular vector, resulting in a pollination syndrome.
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- 22.3: Fruits and Dispersal
- Fruits are structures specialized for seed dispersal, typically adapted for a specific diserpsal mechanism. True fruits are composed from the ovary wall, which becomes the pericarp and can sometimes be separated into three distinct layers: exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp. The morphology of these layers, whether the fruit is fleshy or dry, and how it opens are all used to determine fruit type. Accessory fruits are sometimes formed from other floral parts, such as the receptacle.
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- 22.4: Angiosperm Families
- Knowing who is related to whom in the plant world can provide important information. Often, closely related organisms will have similar life history traits, such as defense compounds or other secondary metabolites. While there are over 350,000 species of flowering plants, there are only around 400 families. Being able to quickly narrow an unknown plant to family is an essential skill in plant identification. For many angiosperm families, there will be a characteristic floral formula.


9.3: Stability
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- State the types of equilibrium.
- Describe stable and unstable equilibriums.
- Describe neutral equilibrium.
It is one thing to have a system in equilibrium; it is quite another for it to be stable. The toy doll perched on the man’s hand in Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\), for example, is not in stable equilibrium. There are three types of equilibrium : stable , unstable , and neutral . Figures throughout this module illustrate various examples.
Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) presents a balanced system, such as the toy doll on the man’s hand, which has its center of gravity (cg) directly over the pivot, so that the torque of the total weight is zero. This is equivalent to having the torques of the individual parts balanced about the pivot point, in this case the hand. The cgs of the arms, legs, head, and torso are labeled with smaller type.
A system is said to be in stable equilibrium if, when displaced from equilibrium, it experiences a net force or torque in a direction opposite to the direction of the displacement. For example, a marble at the bottom of a bowl will experience a restoring force when displaced from its equilibrium position. This force moves it back toward the equilibrium position. Most systems are in stable equilibrium, especially for small displacements. For another example of stable equilibrium, see the pencil in Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\).
A system is in unstable equilibrium if, when displaced, it experiences a net force or torque in the same direction as the displacement from equilibrium. A system in unstable equilibrium accelerates away from its equilibrium position if displaced even slightly. An obvious example is a ball resting on top of a hill. Once displaced, it accelerates away from the crest. See the next several figures for examples of unstable equilibrium.
A system is in neutral equilibrium if its equilibrium is independent of displacements from its original position. A marble on a flat horizontal surface is an example. Combinations of these situations are possible. For example, a marble on a saddle is stable for displacements toward the front or back of the saddle and unstable for displacements to the side. Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\) shows another example of neutral equilibrium.
When we consider how far a system in stable equilibrium can be displaced before it becomes unstable, we find that some systems in stable equilibrium are more stable than others. The pencil in Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\) and the person in Figure \(\PageIndex{8a}\) are in stable equilibrium, but become unstable for relatively small displacements to the side. The critical point is reached when the cg is no longer above the base of support. Additionally, since the cg of a person’s body is above the pivots in the hips, displacements must be quickly controlled. This control is a central nervous system function that is developed when we learn to hold our bodies erect as infants. For increased stability while standing, the feet should be spread apart, giving a larger base of support. Stability is also increased by lowering one’s center of gravity by bending the knees, as when a football player prepares to receive a ball or braces themselves for a tackle. A cane, a crutch, or a walker increases the stability of the user, even more as the base of support widens. Usually, the cg of a female is lower (closer to the ground) than a male. Young children have their center of gravity between their shoulders, which increases the challenge of learning to walk.
Animals such as chickens have easier systems to control. Figure \(\PageIndex{9}\) shows that the cg of a chicken lies below its hip joints and between its widely separated and broad feet. Even relatively large displacements of the chicken’s cg are stable and result in restoring forces and torques that return the cg to its equilibrium position with little effort on the chicken’s part. Not all birds are like chickens, of course. Some birds, such as the flamingo, have balance systems that are almost as sophisticated as that of humans.
Figure \(\PageIndex{9}\) shows that the cg of a chicken is below the hip joints and lies above a broad base of support formed by widely-separated and large feet. Hence, the chicken is in very stable equilibrium, since a relatively large displacement is needed to render it unstable. The body of the chicken is supported from above by the hips and acts as a pendulum between the hips. Therefore, the chicken is stable for front-to-back displacements as well as for side-to-side displacements.
Engineers and architects strive to achieve extremely stable equilibriums for buildings and other systems that must withstand wind, earthquakes, and other forces that displace them from equilibrium. Although the examples in this section emphasize gravitational forces, the basic conditions for equilibrium are the same for all types of forces. The net external force must be zero, and the net torque must also be zero.
 Bend forward from your waist, keeping your heels and bottom against the wall, to touch your toes. Can you do this without toppling over? Explain why and what you need to do to be able to touch your toes without losing your balance. Is it easier for a woman to do this?
Summary
- A system is said to be in stable equilibrium if, when displaced from equilibrium, it experiences a net force or torque in a direction opposite the direction of the displacement.
- A system is in unstable equilibrium if, when displaced from equilibrium, it experiences a net force or torque in the same direction as the displacement from equilibrium.
- A system is in neutral equilibrium if its equilibrium is independent of displacements from its original position.
Glossary
- neutral equilibrium
- a state of equilibrium that is independent of a system’s displacements from its original position
- stable equilibrium
- a system, when displaced, experiences a net force or torque in a direction opposite to the direction of the displacement
- unstable equilibrium
- a system, when displaced, experiences a net force or torque in the same direction as the displacement from equilibrium


11.3: Institutional Arrangements for Roadway Infrastructure Management
Roadways are owned and managed by local governments, national governments, and private entities. These different groups often have complicated partnership arrangements in which multiple parties may contribute financing, standards, or other resources. The different groups may have very different objectives. For example, a national government may wish to promote inter-state transportation, whereas a local 144
government may be primarily oriented towards providing roadway services for local businesses and residents.
Users provide the bulk of funding for roadways, with some revenues coming from general government revenues. Common means of securing revenues include:
- Tolls directly on roadway use, usually varying by distance traveled and type of vehicle. Electronic toll collection using RFID tags is becoming more common.
- Vehicle registration fees, usually imposed on an annual basis. These fees may be applied to roadway construction, management processes (including police) or be diverted to general government revenues.
- Fuel taxes applied on volumes of fuel purchases. Figure 4 shows the combined local, state and federal taxes in different states in the United States in 2008. European fuel taxes tend to be higher than those in North America, whereas fuel taxes are low or non-existent in some countries.
- Vehicle sales taxes, although these taxes may flow to general government revenues rather than be dedicated to roadways.
- Property taxes may be used by local governments to provide local roadways.
- Fines such as parking violation fees may be used by local governments.
Figure 11.3.1 summarizes the sources of revenue for highways in 2010. Note that bond revenue must be eventually repaid as the bonds mature. Expenditures by type are shown in Figure 11.3.2. The capital outlay shown in Figure 11.3.2 represents rehabilitation and some lane expansion for existing roadway infrastructure rather than new construction (as discussed above).


10.4.6: References, Key Terms and Concepts
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- LibreTexts
Bruhn, John G. and Howard M. Rebach. 2007. Sociological Practice: Intervention and Social Change . 2nd ed. New York, NY: Springer.
Carl, John D. 2013. Think Social Problems . 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Suasn Cody-Rydzewsk, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Byer, and Faye Jones. 2015. Introduction to Sociology 2e . Houston, TX: OpenStax College.
Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 1979. “Emotion, Work, feeling Roles, and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology 85:551-575.
Human Rights Watch. 2015. “Unequal and Unprotected: Women’s Rights under Lebanese Personal Status Laws.” Retrieved January 9, 2018 ( https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/01/1...al-status-laws ).
Kennedy, Vera, Romney Norwood, and Matthew Jendian. 2017. Critical Thinking about Social Problems . Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
Mills, C. Wright. 2000 [1959]. The Sociological Imagination . New York: Oxford University Press.
Rosenberg, Morris and Ralph H. Turner. 1990. Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives . New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Key Terms and Concepts
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Conflict Theory Functionalism Environmental Theory Exchange Theory Feminism Fishbone diagram Latent function Levels of social analysis Macro level |
Manifest function Meso level Micro level Paradigms Personal struggles Social arrangement Social problem Symbolic interactionism Theoretical paradigms |


11.7: Summary
In this chapter we have extended the energy methods from Ch. 7 to rigid bodies. It was derived how moments contribute to the work on the rigid body and how the angular velocity of rigid bodies increases their kinetic energy. By including these effects, the principle of work and energy and the energy conservation concepts can also be applied to systems that include rigid bodies.
- Work of an external force on a rigid body
\[W_{B, 1 \rightarrow 2}=\int_{\overrightarrow{\boldsymbol{r}}_{1}}^{\overrightarrow{\boldsymbol{r}}_{2}} \overrightarrow{\boldsymbol{F}}_{B, \mathrm{ext}} \cdot \mathrm{d} \overrightarrow{\boldsymbol{r}} \tag{11.42} \label{11.42}\]
- Internal forces in a rigid body do not perform work.
- Work of a couple on a rigid body
\[W_{\text {couple }, 1 \rightarrow 2}=\int_{\phi_{1}}^{\phi_{2}} \overrightarrow{\boldsymbol{M}}_{\text {couple }} \cdot \mathrm{d} \overrightarrow{\boldsymbol{\phi}} \tag{11.43} \label{11.43}\]
- Potential energy of a couple
\[V_{\text {couple }}=\frac{1}{2} \kappa \phi^{2} \tag{11.44} \label{11.44}\]
- Kinetic energy of a rigid body
\[\begin{align} T_{C, 2 D} & =T_{C, \text { trans }}+T_{C, \text { rot }, 2 D} \tag{11.45} \label{11.45}\\[4pt] T_{C, \text { trans }} & =\frac{1}{2} m_{\mathrm{tot}}\left|\overrightarrow{\boldsymbol{v}}_{G}\right|^{2} \tag{11.46} \label{11.46}\\[4pt] T_{C, \text { rot }, 2 D} & =\frac{1}{2} I_{G, z z} \omega_{C}^{2} \tag{11.47} \label{11.47}\end{align}\]
- Principle of work and energy
\[W_{\mathrm{tot}}=\Delta T_{\mathrm{tot}} \tag{11.48} \label{11.48}\]
- Conservation of energy when only conservative forces act
\[\Delta V_{\mathrm{tot}}+\Delta T_{\mathrm{tot}}=0 \tag{11.49} \label{11.49}\]


7.5: How can we prepare all students for life after high school?
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By: Cassaundra Lewis
Every year thousands of students graduate from high school and go on to college. Every year hundreds are not as successful. What can be done to assure that more high school students go on to college? What can we do to prepare students for life after high school? The United States has been debating these questions not only on state levels, but national as well. In this article I will discuss some of the benefits, hindrances, advances, and the content of vocational education and college preparation courses.
First we should define college preparation and vocational education. College preparation is a course or series of courses that help students adjust to many college-level requirements. William Tierney writes, “Important objectives of most programs are the smoothing of the transition from school to college, improvement of study habits, increase of general academic readiness, and expansion of academic options” (Increasing Access to College, 2002, pg 3). Vocational education is a course or series of courses that give students work related experience to express the nature of careers and help them learn skills that will assist towards careers in the future. According to Unger, “the basic purpose of vocational education is to get a job” (But What If…, 2006, pg 33). “In no other area has greater emphasis been placed upon the development of curricula that are relevant in terms of student and community needs and substantive outcomes.” (Curriculum Development, 1999, pg 3).
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Did You Know…?
Did you know…
Education for work began 4,000 years ago? According to Finch, “(the) earliest type of vocational education took the form of apprenticeship” (Curriculum Development, 1999, pg 4).
One of the main targets of college preparation courses are low-income students and minorities, who make up a very small percentage of students attending both two and four year colleges directly after high school (Preparing for College, 2005, pg 3). “Educational institutions, state and federal governments, and local communities have committed significant resources to the development of a wide array of outreach activities designed to identify and assist underrepresented students in their pathways to college” (Preparing for College, 2005, pg 1). Vocational education targets those who are even less likely to attend college immediately after high school. “Millions of students all over the world are not suited for and have no interest in traditional academic schooling—which is why alternative career education was developed: to teach students the skills they need to get a good job” (But What If…, 2006, pg 4). Both college prep and vocational education attempt to enlighten students about career choices and assist them with the transition from high school into the adult world.
According to Anne Lewis, of the Education Digest, “more students are taking upper-level math and science classes and more are enrolled in Advanced Placement classes” (College Prep, 2004, paragraph 1). By this, she means that more students are enrolled in classes to help them prepare for college. She goes on to state, unfortunately, “the likelihood of ninth-graders completing high school and enrolling in college by age 19 (…, having graduated from high school within four years and directly entered a higher education institution) has declined”(paragraph 2). Another major negative in college preparation is that the population targeted is not always the one assisted. Tierney writes, “Programs such as MESA, Upward Bound, AVID, (etc.)… are well intentioned, (but) minority students remain underrepresented on college campuses”(Preparing for College, 2005, pg 1).
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Did You Know…?
Did you know…
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education grades each state, on a scale of A to F, on ability to effectively prepare students for college? Seven states received an “A,” Connecticut, Colorado, Massachusetts (who scored the highest), Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Utah. Louisiana and New Mexico were the only states to receive a “F”(College Prep, 2004, paragraph 7).
There are many benefits of vocational education. According to Unger, “Employers generally respect the credentials of graduates from vo-tech schools, which usually have strong job placement services and close ties with employers. Vo-tech students emerge stronger in academics as well, because students learn English, math, science, and other subjects in conjunction with their vocational education and, therefore, find these areas more interesting”(But What If…?, 2006, pg 20). Two negatives associated with vocational education are that, “Unfortunately, there are only about 325 vo-tech schools across the United States” and there is a rising inability to keep students interested (But What If…?, 2006, pg 20).
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Did You Know…?
Did you know…
“It’s easy to get into college, but not easy to finish and graduate? More than 40% of students who enroll in American colleges and universities quit without graduating” (But What If…, 2006, pg 3).
What all is included in the curriculum for college preparation and vocational education? What factors help in considering whether or not a program should be added or subtracted? “Curriculum materials are resources that, if used properly, can assist an instructor in bringing about an intended desirable behavior change in individual students” (Curriculum Development, 1999, pg 208). Unfortunately, there is no fool proof way of being able to tell what is going to help and what isn’t. There are many things to take into consideration when choosing what programs to keep and eliminate (Increasing Access to College, 2002, pg 3). As far as college preparation is concerned, a lot of the learning occurs in advanced classes. Many different approaches are used, such as computer-based assessment and writing assessment. With vocational education, you must determine: What will the student want to study? What does the community need as far as work experience? What will motivate the students toward life after high school (Curriculum Development, 1999, pg 92)?
While I was in high school, I was fortunate enough to experience both college preparation and vocational education. In my opinion, college preparation did very much to help me familiarize myself with what college would actually be like. I attended all honors classes and college preparation meetings. During my time as a vocational education student, I had hands on job training and was able to get my license as a cosmetologist when I graduated from high school. Vocational education did just as much for me on an overall level as college preparation. I do understand that not everyone was as fortunate as I and may not have had the same type of support that I received. One contributing factor, that is very often overlooked, is the influence of home life on attending college directly after high school.
In conclusion, college preparation courses and vocational education courses are both designed to promote success in the community but use different avenues. College preparation is focused on getting students to college. Vocational education is focused on providing an alternative to a college education for those who might not be as interested capable. When used properly and effectively, these means of education can provide options after high school for all students.
Law, C. J. (1994). Tech Prep Education: A Total Quality Approach. Lancaster, PA: Technomic Publishing Company.
Finch, C. R., Crunkilton, J. R. (1999). Curriculum Development in Vocational and Technical Education: Planning, Content, and Implementation (5th ed.). Boston: Viacom Company.
Walter, D. M. (1992). Tech Prep: Challenges and Opportunities For Community Colleges. Southern Association of Community, Junior, and Technical Colleges (SACJTC) Occasional Paper, 10, 3-8.
Lewis, A. C. (2004). College Prep. The Education Digest, 70, 69-70.
Tierney, W. G., Corwin, Z. B., and Colyar, J. E. (2005). Preparing for College: Nine Elements of Effective Outreach. New York: State University of New York Press.
Tierney, W. G., Hagedorn, L. S. (2002). Increasing Access to College: Extending Possibilities for All Students. New York: State University of New York Press.
Unger, H. G. (2006).  New York: Checkmark Books.


5.3: Nuts and Bolts of Company Formation
Be frugal
One of the hardest-hitting errors of startups is that when people get overconfident, they spend their capital on luxuries that they could have done without. When your company is young and there is no revenue coming in, the burn rate of your capital can break you.  After working hard to raise your capital, don’t blow it on unnecessary stuff.
Keeping your company lean is one of the hardest, but wisest, things you can do. Plan for long-term success. Stay focused on your initial product or service. Almost anyone who has made the mistake of growing a company too fast will tell you that it can be an expensive lesson to learn.
Hire wisely
Running your business frugally also means hiring just the right number (and just the right kind) of people to do the work at hand. Analyze your product or service and where it’s going, and decide who the key people are. You may need engineers, you may need customer service reps, or you may need finance managers.
When hiring anyone who will hold a position of leadership in your company, analyze how well they know the culture of your business, their connections to funding, and whether they have the personal chemistry to attract other employees to work with them. It’s also important to find someone with the entrepreneurial passion that will keep them loyal from a bare-bones startup to a successful company.
Another thing to realize is that, as an entrepreneur, you are essentially a jack of all trades: you take part in every aspect of the business, but are the master of no single aspect of the business. As your company grows, you want to professionalize and enhance company expertise by finding people who are better at certain tasks than you are: a marketing expert, perhaps, or a financial manager, office manager, etc.
Hire higher
Many times, entrepreneurs who bring an idea to life stay on as the company’s president or CEO, and hire to fill in other roles. But there are occasions when the entrepreneur either doesn’t want to or admittedly can’t handle the responsibilities of being an officer. It’s good to know your limits.
Hiring your boss can be a great experience. How often do you get to be responsible for hand-selecting who you’re going to work for? You get to decide what qualities make a great officer, and better yet, who has those qualities. Consider a person’s attitude, their experience in a related field or market, what kind of business philosophy they have, and any other special skills or qualities they can bring to the table.
Frank Hertz, VP of Operations at Massachusetts-based Newmediary, Inc., talks about hiring your own boss:
“First things first, you have to recognize that you do indeed need a boss. Many entrepreneurs think they can be a CEO right away, and, while some can, others need to realize the combination of honed and practiced skill and years of experience in a CEO goes a long way. Whether it’s raising funding, making tough staffing and strategic decisions, or dealing with a Board of Directors, an experienced CEO is an extraordinarily huge factor in a successful business venture. Your product could be best-of-breed, but if you don’t have someone who knows how to grow and run a business, you could fail, and fail quickly.”


6.8: Summary
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As we continue to use such technologies as cell phones, PDAs, palmtops, and virtual devices for everyday activities, educators will need to develop and deliver learning materials on these devices. Educators must proactively influence the design and development of emerging technologies to meet learners’ needs. A good example of this is the one hundred dollar laptop that is being developed by a multidisciplinary team of experts, including educators (OLPC, 2006). The one hundred dollar computer is a global device that will be used by learners around the world since it is affordable.
E-learning materials must be modular to allow for flexibility in delivery. Modular learning materials allow learners to complete a module of instruction at a time rather than an entire course. The learning time for a module of instruction is between two to four hours. The content must be broken down into small chunks and developed as learning objects. The modular format allows the segments of instruction to be tagged and placed in learning object repositories for easy retrieval by learners and instructors. When designing learning materials for emerging technologies, educators must think globally and must design for the future so that the materials do not become obsolete.
Learning systems of the future must develop intelligent systems to relieve tutors from routine decision-making so that they can spend time on issues concerning the learning process. Intelligent systems will be able to design, develop, and deliver instruction to meet learners’ needs. For example, an intelligent agent will be able to identify learners who need extra help and provide an alternative learning strategy. The intelligent agent should anticipate learners’ requirements and respond immediately to take corrective action or to present the next learning intervention based on learners’ characteristics and style to maximize learning benefits. In other words, the intelligent agent should form dynamic profiles of the learner and guide the learner to the next step in the learning process.
One of the major challenges educators will face is how to convert existing learning materials for delivery on emerging technologies rather than redeveloping courses from scratch. It is important to develop learning materials in electronic format so that the information can readily delivered by newer technologies.
“Real learning occurs when learners learn by doing and making things”. – Ally