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Population genetic structure of brown crab (Cancer pagurus) in Irish waters
Get PDFThe brown crab (Cancer pagurus) fishery in Ireland is one of the most important financially and socio-economically, with the species worth approximately €15m per year in the first half of the decade. Only mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and Dublin Bay prawn (Nephrops norvegicus) are of greater value. Despite this, very little research has been conducted to \ud
describe the stock structure of brown crab on a national scale. In this study a country-wide assessment of genetic population structure was carried out. Sampling was conducted from commercial fishing boats from 11/06 to 04/08 at seven sample sites representing the central Irish brown crab fisheries, with one sample site from the UK also included in the study. Six microsatellite markers, specifically developed for brown crab, were used to assess genetic diversity and estimate population differentiation parameters. Significant genetic structuring was found using F-statistics (Fst = 0.007) and exact tests, but not with Bayesian methods. Samples from the UK and Wexford were found to be genetically distinct from all other\ud
populations. Three northern populations from Malm Head and Stanton Bank were genetically similar with Fst estimates suggesting connectivity between them. Also, Stanton Bank, again on the basis of Fst estimates, appeared to be connected to populations down the west coast of Ireland, as far south as Kerry. Two Galway samples, one inside and one outside of Galway Bay, were genetically differentiated despite their close geographic proximity. It is hypothesised that a persistent northerly summer current could transport pelagic larvae from populations along the southwest and west coasts of Ireland towards Stanton Bank in the\ud
North, resulting in the apparent connectivity observed in this study
Networking industry and academia: evidence from FUSION projects in Ireland
Get PDFGraduate development programmes such as FUSION continue to be seen by policymakers, higher education institutions and SMEs as a primary means of strengthening higher education-to-business links and in turn improving the match between graduate output and the needs of industry. This paper provides evidence from case studies. The findings indicate that the practical application of academic principles in real world settings provides a useful learning vehicle for academics, graduates and SMEs. Key success factors and strategies for overcoming obstacles\ud
emerged from the case studies. In light of these findings we make tentative recommendations that will aid the future delivery of similar programmes
An evaluation of the use of internal branding among eco-tourism destinations in the north western region of Ireland
Get PDFIn eco-tourism destinations, business practice is usually developed around strict beliefs\ud
and values regarding the environment. By devising a brand, a business is projecting their\ud
beliefs and values to the customer through their name, logo and proposed practices.\ud
Internal branding is a means of internalising brand messages to the staff, and aligning\ud
them to the brand. The role of staff and management are crucial to the process, and\ud
frameworks are highlighted for successful implementation. This study aimed to uncover\ud
the link between internal branding within eco-tourism destinations, specifically in the\ud
North- Western region of Ireland and what the perceptions were of key participants\ud
within the service provision process regarding it.\ud
The key findings of this study came from questionnaires with staff members, interviews\ud
with managers and mystery shops conducted by customers of the businesses. It was\ud
apparent from the data uncovered that despite staff believing internal branding took place\ud
within their organisations, there was disparity between this and their responses with\ud
regard to internal branding practices. Many staff expressed that there were no formal\ud
processes in place for the education and constant reinforcement of the brand in their\ud
organisations, and many expresses that the brand had not even been discussed in the\ud
interview process. Despite this, staff members still believed their role important in the\ud
communication of brand values within the business.\ud
Similarly, managers also placed emphasis on the staff role in communicating brand\ud
values, but all admitted to a lack of education pertaining to the brand internally. All of the\ud
managers in the study felt it important to align the staff to the brand, and two of the\ud
businesses had elements of internal branding incorporated into the hiring process.\ud
However, it emerged in published literature that for internal branding efforts to be\ud
successful, a strong external brand was required. This is to ensure that internalised brand\ud
messages match the ones being projected to the customer. All of the managers specified that there was not a great deal of emphasis placed on the external brand, though all\ud
understood the benefits associated with branding.\ud
The effects of a weak external brand was apparent at times in the customer responses, and\ud
respondents in one business especially, expressed disparity at times between what they\ud
expected from brand to what they received. This may have been attributed to weak\ud
external brand messages. Despite this in two businesses, overall customers believed staff\ud
to be successfully aligned to the brand. This was concurrent with what staff believed, and\ud
it was proposed that internal branding may be something which eco-tourism businesses\ud
do to a certain degree unconsciously.\ud
From the findings, recommendations were made. It was suggested that eco- tourism\ud
businesses strengthen their external brand to ensure implementing an internal brand will\ud
be successful. It was then suggested that processes and procedures be implemented to\ud
educate and continually reinforce the brand, proposed by the literature reviewed. The\ud
final recommendation, also based on the existing literature, was that businesses\ud
implement a method of staff performance appraisal so that they may continually assess\ud
staff performance and alignment with regard to the brand.\ud
Published literature expressed many benefits to internal branding such as enhanced\ud
customer relations and differentiation from competitors. Internal branding is about\ud
successfully aligning beliefs and values, which are two components crucial to the success\ud
of eco-tourism
Utilising a minority language to develop brand identity: an evaluation of current practice using the Irish language
Get PDFThis article examines current practice in relation to the use of the Irish language for branding within the manufacturing and internationally traded services sector. lt identifies the motivations for the use of a minority language (Irish) and the benefits and limitations associated with its use. Data was collected in two stages. Firstly, a survey was conducted to examine the views of companies that use the Irish language. Secondly, in-depth interviews were conducted to explore the key issues arising from the questionnaire. The interviews were conducted with seven companies and an industry expert. The companies believe that although customers do not often use Irish they value companies that use the Irish language. The respondents indicate that using Irish can promote customer loyalty and help to develop consumer awareness. However, companies need to be cognisant of the potential for alienation and misinterpretation of the company brand by customers who are unfamiliar with the language
Using formative assessment to teach academic writing skills at Level 9
Get PDFTo ascertain student perceptions of the usefulness of formative assessment in the teaching and learning of academic writing skills at level 9
Investigate the nature and extent of e-learning adoption by accounting lecturers in institutes of technology and universities in Ireland
Get PDFOverview \ud
Public sector organisations face unprecedented pressure to improve service quality while \ud
progressively lowering their costs. They are also expected to become more accountable, \ud
customer focused and responsive to stakeholder needs. \ud
\ud
The Local Government Act, 2001: states that the corporate plan of each local authority \ud
should include the objectives and priorities of the authority and the manner by which the \ud
authority intends to assess its performance taking into account relevant service indicators \ud
(SIs). \ud
\ud
Purpose \ud
The aim of this dissertation is to examine the use of the national SIs within local \ud
government in Ireland. The objectives are to gain an insight into the perceptions of \ud
managers on the purpose of SIs, the issues relating to the design and implementation of \ud
the SIs, the impact they have on managers, the possibility of manipulation of the results \ud
of the SIs and finally their views on the usefulness of the SIs for comparative purposes. \ud
\ud
A review of literature relating to performance measurement highlighted the issues \ud
associated with performance measures. Semi-structured interviews with a sample of \ud
managers from various local authorities were undertaken to gain an insight into the \ud
manager’s opinions on these matters. \ud
\ud
Findings \ud
The findings demonstrate that there is a lack of understanding to the purpose of SIs. \ud
Despite the literature, that promotes performance indicators as a valuable management \ud
tool, the SIs are not as valuable as the unique set of indicators set by individual local \ud
authorities. \ud
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ii\ud
Future Research \ud
This study could act as a starting point for a more in depth analysis of the use of SIs \ud
within local government. Due to the sample size of interviewees, possible further \ud
research could include a comprehensive case study involving each local authority. \ud
\ud
Importance \ud
Since performance measurement is such a complex and intricate topic area, any research \ud
on its practice can only enhance understanding while simultaneously contributing to \ud
current theories
An investigation into why companies delist from the main market on the Irish stock market to the Irish enterprise exchange and the impact of regulation
Get PDFThe Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) established a new market in 2005, the Irish Enterprise\ud
Exchange (IEX). The main difference between these markets is that less regulations\ud
are required under the IEX. One of the objectives of the IEX market was to act as a\ud
“stepping stone” where companies would eventually list on the Main Market (MM).\ud
Instead it has seen companies delisting from the MM and re-listing on the IEX. Thus,\ud
in this study the researcher examined the reasons for this and if regulation had an\ud
impact on this.\ud
In conducing the study the researcher used both primary and secondary research. The\ud
researcher used semi-structured interviews with a sample of companies that had\ud
delisted and two regulatory bodies, the Office Director of Corporate Enforcement\ud
(ODCE) and the ISE. This allowed the researcher to attempt to examine why\ud
companies delisted between the two markets.\ud
The findings suggest that the size of a company was a key reason to delist from the\ud
MM to the IEX and the cost of been listed on the MM. In relation to the link of\ud
regulation, it was established that this would not have been a major consideration for\ud
the company to delist to the IEX market
Evaluating techniques of finding a path in a dynamic digital search domain
Get PDFMoving from one point to another in an efficient yet effective manner has always been a \ud
problem for people. The same problem can be related to mathematical graph theory, \ud
where moving from one co-ordinate to another generates similar frustration. The term” \ud
pathfmding” is used to describe a process which is purposely designed to solve this \ud
problem. Pathfmding is used in many computer applications, not just limited to games, \ud
but within games is where its use is most apparent.\ud
Within this context this document initially sets out to examine and critically review \ud
pathfmding algorithm.. Special attention is focused upon the A* algorithm, due to it \ud
being one the most widely used algorithm to solve the pathfmding problem. These \ud
algorithms are analysed in the terms of processing speed and efficiency and from this \ud
conclusions are drawn up. It was determined that A* was the best overall algorithm over \ud
a set of standard problems that where tested.\ud
The players of digital games have come to expect that the games developed have the \ud
latest game technology and programming techniques powering them. With this in mind \ud
the dynamic pathfmding process was investigated, Dynamic pathfmding is standard \ud
pathfmding, but it is done in a domain where the domain is likely to change of the \ud
course of the game. Using similar techniques employed to test the non dynamic \ud
algorithms, a dynamic algorithm was analysed and was found out to be very accurate \ud
but caused unnecessary processing and memory expense.\ud
In an effort to remedy the discovered problems and add some closure to this research a \ud
custom algorithm was developed. The algorithm was tested using the same tests as the \ud
other dynamic algorithm and was found to have less processing and memory overheads \ud
at the expense of the accuracy of the algorithm
Approaches to small firm marketing: challenges and opportunities
Get PDFThis paper explores approaches to marketing by small firms in Ireland. Specifically the research studies the experience of small firms based in Donegal. The objective of this study was to identify the usage levels and effectiveness of marketing within small firms in Donegal. The researchers used both qualitative (depth interviews) and quantitative (survey) research to collect data from the target audience. Three\ud
primary issues emerged from the research. Firstly, small firms are limited by time and resources when trying to pursue marketing activities. Secondly, there is a lack of engagement with public bodies providing support and funding. Thirdly, there is a subsequent lack of marketing/business graduates being employed by small firms in Donegal. The findings of the study indicate that there is a need to improve the provision of marketing support to small firms, whether it is consultancy work by business/marketing specialists or support and guidance from government agencies