Business sustainability CSR, corporate objectives, and strategic intent

Business Sustainability Business sustainability is a process through which business entities control their finances, opportunities, obligations, environmental and social risks. Generally, the three aspects affect the planet, profit, and customer base of a business. It is also vital to note that business sustainability targets social equity, environmental protection, and economic development. The achievement of all the three aspects enhances sustainable business development.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Business sustainability CSR, corporate objectives, and strategic intent specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The most important function of a business is profit maximization. Modern developments in the field of business management have gone a long way in analyzing other aspects of a business. Sustainability is one of the important aspects of a business that has been identified. This implies that such a business can survive any challenge due to its friendly connection to healthy environmental, social, and economical systems. Apart from the contribution of such businesses to an economy, a healthy ecosystem between the business environment and people is also enhanced. The World Council of Development (WCED) advocates for development with the aim of meeting the present needs without infringing the rights and privileges of the future generations. If any business entity satisfies this aspect, then it definitely promotes a sustainable business development. This can be achieved by adhering to quite a number of recommended practices. Engagement by stakeholders is extremely important toward the sustainability of an organization. Information gathered from employees, customers, and the neighboring population assist organizations in coming up with decisions that incorporate stakeholders’ interests. Another important requirement for sustainability is the incorporation of environmental management syst em in a company’s management. This provides processes and structures that necessitate environmental-friendly practices. Organizations such as ISO 14001 usually offer such services. Controls and measurements are also necessary in achieving sustainability. Hence, organizations should be transparent to scrutiny from any external body. This provides a means of reporting the company’s achievements. Moreover, life cycle must also be analyzed. This involves the analysis of social and environmental effects of the products and services offered by a company. The ability of a firm to attract and retain employees is also an integral measure of sustainability.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A company can ensure sustainability in numerous ways. For instance, the use of paperless or timber-less office, use of green energy such as solar energy in running machineries may indee d be instrumental in enhancing sustainability. CSR, Corporate Objectives, and Strategic Intent Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating mechanism that is usually integrated into a business model of an organization. The corporation ensures that appropriate measures are put in place. The latter will ensure total compliance with the ethical standards, existing law, and international standards. Corporate objectives are the primary principles that guide daily running of a business entity. They offer the much needed guidelines for policy making, development of agenda and secondary objectives. They also enhance the set goals of an organization. On the other hand, strategic intent is the planning mechanism adopted by an organization on how to achieve its vision. Strategic intent also enables a company to formulate its specific development path according to the desired future. Therefore, strategic intent is destiny-oriented and the winning formula of a company. For a compan y to achieve its CSR, the set objectives should be geared toward achieving sustainability. Since the strategic intent defines the future, sustainability implies coming up with a realistic goal that will ensure the strategic intent is achieved. Therefore, CSE of an organization is dependent on the organization’s strategic intent and its objectives. Approaches to CSR When analyzing CSR, three approaches are used. These approaches are Neoclassical, Ecocentric, and Ecological modernization of a business. The neoclassical approach views CSR as a requirement of an organization in order to avoid legal actions, fines, license revokes, and loss of customer base. Any aspect outside the aforementioned elements may be enforced by a regulatory measure. In ecocentric business, a company addresses CSR from an ethical point of view. In this case, sustainability is part of a company’s policy and strategy. Ecological modernization of a business is the balance between the two aspects. It targets development without harming stakeholders. CSR is achieved by ensuring sustainability of all the three aspects of a business.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Business sustainability CSR, corporate objectives, and strategic intent specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The best of the three approaches to CSR is the ecological modernization of a business since it takes into account all the necessary requirements of a sustainable business. Profit, people, and the environment are also considered in this approach. The latter approach ensures that all the parts required for a business to function effectively are available in the future. This approach is also realistic compared to the ecocentric business approach to CSR. it does not care about the survival of a business especially if the environment and social responsibilities are achieved. However, the economical aspect of a business is highly likely to be ignored. This exposes a business to numerous vulnerabilities. Hence, its economic value is not preserved for the future. The neoclassical business approach to CSR is the simplest one to achieve. It is also realistic in nature. A company will always be on the right side of the law and also be able to remain profitable when this approach is followed since it is the most important aspect of a business. However, a business entity that does not entrench social responsibility in its agenda cannot set goals for the future. Such companies may easily fail to plan for the future sustainability. This essay on Business sustainability CSR, corporate objectives, and strategic intent was written and submitted by user Marco Wolfe to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Writing Process

The Writing Process The Writing Process The Writing Process By Ali Hale Whether you know it or not, there’s a process to writing – which many writers follow naturally. If you’re just getting started as a writer, though, or if you always find it a struggle to produce an essay, short story or blog, following the writing process will help. I’m going to explain what each stage of the writing process involves, and I’ll offer some tips for each section that will help out if you’re still feeling stuck! 1. Prewriting Have you ever sat staring at a blank piece of paper or a blank document on your computer screen? You might have skipped the vital first stage of the writing process: prewriting. This covers everything you do before starting your rough draft. As a minimum, prewriting means coming up with an idea! Ideas and Inspiration Ideas are all around you. If you want to write but you don’t have any ideas, try: Using a writing prompt to get you started. Writing about incidents from your daily life, or childhood. Keeping a notebook of ideas – jotting down those thoughts that occur throughout the day. Creating a vivid character, and then writing about him/her. See also How to Generate Hundreds of Writing Ideas. Tip: Once you have an idea, you need to expand on it. Don’t make the mistake of jumping straight into your writing – you’ll end up with a badly structured piece. Building on Your Idea These are a couple of popular methods you can use to add flesh to the bones of your idea: Free writing: Open a new document or start a new page, and write everything that comes into your head about your chosen topic. Don’t stop to edit, even if you make mistakes. Brainstorming: Write the idea or topic in the center of your page. Jot down ideas that arise from it – sub-topics or directions you could take with the article. Once you’ve done one or both of these, you need to select what’s going into your first draft. Planning and Structure Some pieces of writing will require more planning than others. Typically, longer pieces and academic papers need a lot of thought at this stage. First, decide which ideas you’ll use. During your free writing and brainstorming, you’ll have come up with lots of thoughts. Some belong in this piece of writing: others can be kept for another time. Then, decide how to order those ideas. Try to have a logical progression. Sometimes, your topic will make this easy: in this article, for instance, it made sense to take each step of the writing process in order. For a short story, try the eight-point story arc. 2. Writing Sit down with your plan beside you, and start your first draft (also known as the rough draft or rough copy). At this stage, don’t think about word-count, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Don’t worry if you’ve gone off-topic, or if some sections of your plan don’t fit too well. Just keep writing! If you’re a new writer, you might be surprised that professional authors go through multiple drafts before they’re happy with their work. This is a normal part of the writing process – no-one gets it right first time. Some things that many writers find helpful when working on the first draft include: Setting aside at least thirty minutes to concentrate: it’s hard to establish a writing flow if you’re just snatching a few minutes here and there. Going somewhere without interruptions: a library or coffee shop can work well, if you don’t have anywhere quiet to write at home. Switching off distracting programs: if you write your first draft onto a computer, you might find that turning off your Internet connection does wonders for your concentration levels! When I’m writing fiction, I like to use the free program Dark Room (you can find more about it on our collection of writing software). You might write several drafts, especially if you’re working on fiction. Your subsequent drafts will probably merge elements of the writing stage and the revising stage. Tip: Writing requires concentration and energy. If you’re a new writer, don’t try to write for hours without stopping. Instead, give yourself a time limit (like thirty minutes) to really focus – without checking your email! 3. Revising Revising your work is about making â€Å"big picture† changes. You might remove whole sections, rewrite entire paragraphs, and add in information which you’ve realized the reader will need. Everyone needs to revise – even talented writers. The revision stage is sometimes summed up with the A.R.R.R. (Adding, Rearranging, Removing, Replacing) approach: Adding What else does the reader need to know? If you haven’t met the required word-count, what areas could you expand on? This is a good point to go back to your prewriting notes – look for ideas which you didn’t use. Rearranging Even when you’ve planned your piece, sections may need rearranging. Perhaps as you wrote your essay, you found that the argument would flow better if you reordered your paragraphs. Maybe you’ve written a short story that drags in the middle but packs in too much at the end. Removing Sometimes, one of your ideas doesn’t work out. Perhaps you’ve gone over the word count, and you need to take out a few paragraphs. Maybe that funny story doesn’t really fit with the rest of your article. Replacing Would more vivid details help bring your piece to life? Do you need to look for stronger examples and quotations to support your argument? If a particular paragraph isn’t working, try rewriting it. Tip: If you’re not sure what’s working and what isn’t, show your writing to someone else. This might be a writers’ circle, or just a friend who’s good with words. Ask them for feedback. It’s best if you can show your work to several people, so that you can get more than one opinion. 4. Editing The editing stage is distinct from revision, and needs to be done after revising. Editing involves the close-up view of individual sentences and words. It needs to be done after you’ve made revisions on a big scale: or else you could agonize over a perfect sentence, only to end up cutting that whole paragraph from your piece. When editing, go through your piece line by line, and make sure that each sentence, phrase and word is as strong as possible. Some things to check for are: Have you used the same word too many times in one sentence or paragraph? Use a thesaurus to find alternatives. Are any of your sentences hard to understand? Rewrite them to make your thoughts clear. Which words could you cut to make a sentence stronger? Words like â€Å"just† â€Å"quite†, â€Å"very†, â€Å"really† and â€Å"generally† can often be removed. Are your sentences grammatically correct? Keep a careful look out for problems like subject-verb agreement and staying consistent in your use of the past, present or future tense. Is everything spelt correctly? Don’t trust your spell-checker – it won’t pick up every mistake. Proofread as many times as necessary. Have you used punctuation marks correctly? Commas often cause difficulties. You might want to check out the Daily Writing Tips articles on punctuation. Tip: Print out your work and edit on paper. Many writers find it easier to spot mistakes this way. 5. Publishing The final step of the writing process is publishing. This means different things depending on the piece you’re working on. Bloggers need to upload, format and post their piece of completed work. Students need to produce a final copy of their work, in the correct format. This often means adding a bibliography, ensuring that citations are correct, and adding details such as your student reference number. Journalists need to submit their piece (usually called â€Å"copy†) to an editor. Again, there will be a certain format for this. Fiction writers may be sending their story to a magazine or competition. Check guidelines carefully, and make sure you follow them. If you’ve written a novel, look for an agent who represents your genre. (There are books like Writer’s Market, published each year, which can help you with this.) Tip: Your piece of writing might never be published. That’s okay – many bestselling authors wrote lots of stories or articles before they got their first piece published. Nothing that you write is wasted, because it all contributes to your growth as a writer. Conclusion The five stages of the writing process are a framework for writing well and easily. You might want to bookmark this post so that you can come back to it each time you start on a new article, blog post, essay or story: use it as a checklist to help you. If you have any tips about the writing process, or if you want to share your experiences, tell us in the comments! Check Out Other Articles from The Writing 101 Series: The Writing Process Creative Writing 101 Story Writing 101 Letter Writing 101 Business Writing 101 Freelance Writing 101 Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial Expressions26 Feel-Good WordsHow Do You Pronounce "Mozart"?

Pleaes .Require ....Paraphrase..rewrttin...Reflection 300 word Essay

Pleaes .Require ....Paraphrase..rewrttin...Reflection 300 word - Essay Example This helped me finish my work with complete patience. I was able to deliver my best, and score the most accordingly. There were quite a lot of assignments in which I had to reflect upon my experiences. In the start, reflective tasks seemed very difficult to accomplish. As I started to be less critical about the formal tone of writing, my reflection writing skill flourished. I would let go of grammatical errors and would instead, concentrate more upon the concept, theme and evaluation of experience. This earned me good grades. In this course, I learned how to improve teamwork in medical imaging by reflecting upon past experiences, identifying the faults, and realizing suitable alternatives for future. One of the lessons that I learned was that conflicts are inevitable in group work, though one can put effort to make them functional rather than dysfunctional. Concluding, I appreciate having learnt a lot in the last semester. The lectures were highly informative and were given by some o f the most successful and well reputed scientists. I had seen some of them on television before attending their lectures on campus. As lecturers kept changing from one lecture to another, students would not be bored. I am optimistic that the referencing styles, reflection writing, working in group and presentation making which I have learnt in the last semester would be very useful to me in my future practice. ..

Content Analysis (cartoon) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Content Analysis (cartoon) - Essay Example To summarize, 1 scene of verbal aggression by non-adult character will be viewed by audience every 10 minutes. The results also show that there is no significant difference in the number of aggressive scenes depicted by non-adult versus adult characters, except in verbal aggression. These three cartoons’ stories frequently revolve around family issues, with one or more non-adult characters, like Bart in The Simpson, Stewie in Family Guy, and Stan in South Park. Despite producers’ assertion that these shows are for adults, they attract children during prime time viewing hours, due to young age of characters, family-based story lines and animation. As my sample size s relatively small, I cannot conclude that other prime-time cartoons contain similar levels of aggressive scenes, as in the sample. However, for further research, I will view as many samples as possible and extend my research to include Prime Time Drama, to determine whether a specific genre contains more scenes of aggression than

Motivation Behind Creative Accounting Accounting Essay

Motivation Behind Creative Accounting Accounting Essay Creative accounting is a practice that potentially being undertaken as a result from some individual care more on their own interest and indirectly causes issues arise in ethical dimension of creative accounting. From information perspective, agency theory gives a clear picture on creative accounting scenario. Whereby managers misuse their privileged position in manipulating financial reporting in their own interest which providing superior information content to shareholder. Lack of personal skill or unwillingness to carry out detailed analysis making individual shareholders do not have the clear view on the effect of accounting manipulation give a high possibility in the incidence of creative accounting. Definition of creative accounting In the USA, the preferred term of creative accounting is earnings management, however in Europe the preferred term is creative accounting. Generally, creative accounting is accounting practice that falls outside the regulation and give benefit to certain people. It can be described as a practice with a clear aim to interrupt the financial reporting process which affects reported income to make it looked normal and provides no true economic advantages to relevant parties like shareholders. Concisely, creative accounting is the transformation of financial accounting figures from what they actually are to what users desire by taking advantage of the accounting policies which is permitted by accounting standard. Motivation for creative accounting There are several motivations have been identified in stimulating the behaviour of creative accounting in the organization. These are proven by various researches being done in the past. Firstly, the significant motivator for creative accounting is to report a decrease in business income to lower the tax paid. Second, to enable the companys performance appear better in future, company will maximize the reported loss to make bad loss in that year. This is called big bath accounting for the purpose in smoothing the income. Thirdly, to provide positive view on expectations, securities valuation and reduction on risk for analysts in anticipated capital market transactions and maintain firms performance in analysts expectation. Other motivations are to manipulate profit in order to match the reported income to profit forecasts and to distract attention from negative news by boosting companys profit figure though change in accounting policies. Managers motivations in managing earning aim to report a stable growth in profit not only to reduce the perception of variability toward organisations earnings, but also are in relation to income measurement. In order to make company faces less risk and gain more benefit in aspect of raising fund, takeover bids as well as prevent takeover by other company. Creative accounting is needed to maintain or promote the share price and create a good profit growth. To gain benefit from inside knowledge, director of the company engage creative accounting to postpone the release of information to the market. Last but not least, many types of contractual right, obligation and constraints based on the amount reported in the accounts also motivate company to apply creative accounting. Techniques of creative accounting Creative accounting is actively applied in six areas. The first area is regulatory flexibility, whereby changes in accounting policy are permitted by accounting regulation. For example, IAS permit carrying non-current asset can be recovered at either revalued amount or depreciated historical cost in asset valuation. Secondly, dearth of regulation by which some accounting treatment might not be fully regulated as there is few mandatory requirements. The third area is management has large extent of estimation in discretionary areas, such as assumption in bad debts provision. Fourthly, some transactions can be timed as to show the desired appearance in accounts. For example, the manager is free to choose the timing to sell the investment just to increase earning in the accounts. Fifthly, to manipulate balance sheet amounts by using artificial transaction. Last but not least, by reclassification and presentation of financial amounts through balance sheet manipulation in order to smooth financial ratios and also based on cognitive reference point in financial numbers presentation. Existence of creative accounting Theoretically, managers motivation in creative accounting is acceptable. However, there is various empirical studies have concluded that certain of companies apply a particular techniques of creative accounting to some extent, for example, applied in non-discretionary component of the bad debts provision. Other evidence is classificatory smoothing by using the extraordinary items, such as pensions cost, dividends from unconsolidated subsidiaries, extraordinary charges and credits and research and development costs in manipulating the figure of income in financial statements as it was proven by several researchers. Merchant found that managers acknowledge manipulative behaviours in accounting information and Black argued non-current asset sales are exploited by manager as creative accounting tools through timing of its transactions since relevant accounting standards are permissive. Creative accounting behaviour is slightly still persisting although regulations are tightened. Amat reported out of 35 large listed companies especially in Spanish identified that creative accounting behaviour was overt and considered legal. In addition, there are 3 possible indicators of creative accounting: (1) auditor report qualifications, (2) special authorizations from regulatory agencies, and (3) changes in accounting practices. In Spanish case, the direction of creative accounting was connected to general economic conditions and this somehow affected reported earning and adjusted earning against Spanish listed companies. However, there are some unique features of Spanish accounting environment bring out special attention such as the audit report qualification are ordinary, and creative accounting may be arose from the collusion of the regulatory authorities. Creative accounting behaviours can be identified by having thoughtful analysis of financial statement or observed by reasonably well- informed user of financial statement. But, how clearness the users of statement observe creative accounting is questionable. As in Spanish, analysts fail to report the existence of creative accounting. Anyway, value of information content in financial statement is concerned even though financial statements give adequate information enable users to adjust for creative accounting as certain investors rely on reported earning numbers in income statement. Ethical perspective of creative accounting There are some ethical issues concerning the exercise of creative accounting. Revsine stated that loopholes in accounting standards provide manager some spaces in the sense of manipulate the timing in income reporting. In his opinion, accounting is a tool to supervise contracts between managers and financial groups, identify possibility of accounting manipulation and how properly it reflected in pricing and contracting decisions. Ethics of bias in choosing accounting policy which implied in creative accounting can be seen through accounting regulators and management level. There are 2 views of accounting (deontological and teleological) which viewed differently by Revsine and Ruland. From Rulands perspective, deontological view is the moral applied to actual action and teleological view is actions should be judged based on the result of such action. Whereas from Revsine perspective, teleological view of accounting is employed in private sector which permit manager to use loose standard to achieve what they want and deontological view is about strict standard in preventing accounting manipulation in public sector. In addition, Ruland has also differentiated positive responsibility and negative responsibility. From accounting perspective, positive responsibility refers to present an account free from bias. Meanwhile, negative responsibility refers to managers would be liable for actions done by others, which they fail to avoid. Compared to duty to act, Ruland has stressed on duty to refrain, which means avoid the inherent bias in creative accounting. Its importance can be looked into 3 issues, which are relentlessness, certainty of result and responsibility. Professional accountant regards creative accountings are ethically doubted. Conner stated that managers tend to misapply accounting principles to give better appearance in financial statement to investors. Conflict of interest, client requests to alter account and for tax evasion are the most frequent ethical issues. Accountants attitudes toward creative accounting depend on whether it is arisen from misuse of accounting principle and manipulation of transactions. Merchant and Rockness found that accountants more critic in misuse of accounting principles as accountants duty is on rule-based and it falls within their expertise. Failure to act ethically may damage the reputation as an accountant unless he or she reports the abuse to the appropriate party. Slotting is not an acceptable accounting treatment in company practices. There are some action can be taken by accounting regulators in order to restrain creative accounting: Decrease allowable accounting method or fix method used in different condition so that scope for choosing accounting method can be narrow downed. Companies should also be consistent in using method chosen by them. Some rules should be established to reduce the abuse of judgement. For instance, International Accounting Standards presently have almost removed the extraordinary item from operating profit. Also, companies should be consistent in applying accounting policy to restrain the abuse of judgement. Implementation of Substance over form can decrease artificial transaction and this can make linked transaction become one as whole. To restrict the use of timing of genuine transaction, item in account should be regularly revaluated. The increase or decrease in value should be stated in the account each year the revaluation occurs. International Accounting Standards also tends to value item at fair value rather than historical cost. Besides alteration in accounting regulations, ethical standards and governance codes must be properly executed to avoid individuals from performing creative accounting. Comparison with other author on the article presented From the study done by Dilip and Eno in Creative Accounting in Bangladesh And Global Perspectives found that the cause of creative accounting is the conflicts of interest among different interest groups. For example, managing shareholders want to pay less tax and dividends. Investor-shareholders are interested to get more dividends and capital gains. Countrys tax authorities would like to collect more and more taxes. Employees are interested to get better salary and higher profit share. Dilip and Eno also reported that creative accounting may arise under 3 different financial market conditions: Depending on the financial market evaluation of the companys future prospects, company keep changes its shares to attract investors to contribute to such shares either at par or at a premium. Aim to show a desirable picture of its financial conditions when the company whose shares are already listed in a stock exchange. Based on inflated profits through overvaluation of assets, undervaluation of liabilities and change in systems of stock valuation that promote the image of company in a short time, company having its shares listed in the stock exchange may declare and pay high dividends. Both of them examines creative accounting in Bangladesh scenario, they found out many of the company prospectuses published in Bangladesh are based on creative accounting. An expert opinion survey also done by them and result showed that although it is not clear for how long, creative accounting has been clearly practice in Bangladesh. Creative accounting not only being practiced in Bangladesh but it seems to be widespread globally in developed countries such as UK, USA as well as Australia. And the case of Enron is the most broadly known case of creative accounting in USA. Dilip and Eno also suggested that the code of professional ethics should be strictly overemphasized. Accounting education is needed as well as the responsible of instructor to instill moral values of integrity, honesty and sincerity into students character as it is critical to modern society, the business world and the accounting profession.

Allocation of Seats in a Theatre :: Papers

The aim of my project is to make the task of the allocation of seats in a theatre in a much more efficient manner than writing down on a piece of paper, which will allow calculations to be taken to show the overall costs against profit for the whole show. This will also allow the spreadsheet to also take into account the fixed costs of show, the projected profits from program sales, confectionery sales and other miscellaneous costs and profits from the show and quickly and efficiently calculate them. Background A ------------ Mr Brown, owner of Brown Theatres puts shows on fairly frequently, so he requires a simple solution, that is quick and easy to adapt to and simple to understand. The problems faced by him is that the current solution is to write down all the information by hand and use a calculator to work out costs, expenses and profit. He wants the solution to be able to do all this in and instant, and in a simple, understandable format. Mr Brown also believes that this new system will allow his company to expand, and become more profitable, he believes that this new, efficient way of calculating will allow him to accurately calculate everything he needs in a matter of seconds. Alternative strategies for solving the problem A/B -------------------------------------------------- Non-ICT solution The non-ICT solution would be similar to one Mr Brown uses at the moment, that being pen and paper. He could create a notebook in which there is a graph where the person fills in the appropriate box relevant to where the person is sitting and whether he/she is an adult or child. After this has been done, this must all be calculated to the price paid by the person, multiplied by the number of other people of the same type and seating position, then added to all the other seating arrangements and classes of people, and then subtracted from the cost of the show. This would probably only be useful to a small

Eco-tourism Essay

Eco-tourism is defined by the International Ecotourism Society as â€Å"responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people. † It is different from the traditional mass tourism in that it provides an incentive to people to be more environmentally and culturally friendly and responsible and thus preserving a better future for the tourists of tomorrow (What is ecotourism? , 2009). One of the continents rich in indigenous cultures is the continent of Australia where various natural wonders of the world lie. It is a place with cultural and natural diversity. It is places where the Sydney Harbor, Ayers Rock and cricket stadiums mark the beauty and diversity of the region. Beautiful rainforests, parks and resorts are found and that need to be preserved and protected. In this article today, we will look into the different organizations working to promote eco-tourism in Victoria, the efforts they have taken, their adequacies, the effect of green washing which should be eliminated the most and the costs and benefits associated with eco-tourism in Australia. Even though there are costs associated with eco-tourism, the benefits certainly outweigh them and thus for the prosperity of tomorrow, eco-tourism is an emerging concept picking up even more pace in today’s difficult times of global warming, environmental threats and extinction of natural habitat at an exceeding fast rate (Brue, 2006). Introduction Eco-tourism, a term, which is gaining more momentum in today’s world due to the ever-more environmentally friendly and conscious approaches being taken to conserve the natural habitats of the world is often confused with similar terminologies. Buzz words such as ‘adventure travel,’ ‘sustainable travel,’ ‘green travel’ and ‘responsible tourism’ are often used interchangeably with eco-tourism, which has a precise and unique meaning to it. Eco-tourism is best defined as a ‘responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people. ’ It is different from the traditional travel in the sense that it allows travelers to meet the people from different cultures and encourages them to protect the endangered species, plants and animals. The history of eco-tourism began when many countries started setting up lodges near parks and reserves to display the natural wonders to the world. However, little was it helping the local communities as rainforests and endangered species started depleting. In the late seventies did the realization struck that huge resorts such as Acapulco and Cancun and large parks were having disastrous effects on the natural environment, which should in fact be protected thus giving the idea of eco-tourism to be invented (What is ecotourism? , 2009). In this article we will be looking at eco-tourism in the great continent of Australia, home to the most beautiful natural sites in the world. Australia is native to an indigenous culture, marvelous sites and landscapes, rare species and inhabitants that can easily be used to spur up an economy of eco-tourism; the only hindrance is the fact that it lies towards one extreme end of the Earth. Costs and Benefits The benefits of eco-tourism cannot be understated. However, the costs of eco-tourism should also not be overlooked (Case & Fair, 2004). Environmental In today’s worlds where environmental awareness and protection is a key priority in almost all aspects of the economy and in almost all business arenas, eco-tourism also stresses on the sole importance of preservation of the environment and natural habitats. Eco-tourism like any other form of tourism is a means of giving people a break from their mundane lifestyles and giving them an exuberant experience but with a feel of environmental obligation. Eco-tourism has raised awareness among travelers as well as local communities and residents of how to protect their surroundings and the need for it as well. It has made societies more knowledgeable and has raised appreciation for biological diversity and resources and is also encouraging nations to discover new means for better conservation practices. If resources and inhabitants are not protected today, the world’s scarce resources will deplete soon leaving no tourist attraction for the later generations to come (Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, 2009). Some of the potential costs associated are that if there is no proper regulation and authority, eco-tourism efforts may fail and damage the environment. This is what initially happened in Costa Rica and Nepal where pollution from nearby runaway resorts and hotel development and parks kept rising, signaling a poorly managed eco-tourism business (Martha, 1999). Economic Economically, eco-tourism is growing significantly. Apart from the growth of ecotourism at about a sustained 15% in Australia, there are other potential growth opportunities in other Latin American countries as well. Latin America is seen as the heart of eco-tourism and in Costa Rica, eco-tourism is rising by about 20% each year. Mexico and the Brazil have entered into long term agreements to launch massive eco-tourism projects in places such as the Amazon Basin in order to attract millions of tourists each year. And this as a result is a major contributor to the national GDP and generates millions of dollars each year. Also, eco-tourism has allowed a number of new tourists spots to develop in recent years. USAID promotes nature based tourism by developing new national parks, demarcating and equipping these parks, encouraging more investments into eco-tourism and providing hobs and training to people from such ingenious areas as well as locals and hence reducing unemployment (Dasgupta, 2006). However, one of the major risks that seem to be associated with economic effects of eco-tourism is that with the rise of international tourism, the local economic effects of eco-tourism are depleting. The millions of dollars generated by this industry often leaves the host country and into other nations (Case & fair, 2006). Eco-tourism society through its research finds out that about 55% of total revenues generated from eco-tourism leaves Central And South America. This is not the case so for Australia where a majority of the revenue forms government revenue which is spent back on public development and national preservation of forests and species. This leakage of revenue hampers growth of the local societies and limits the funds that can be re-invested in protecting and conserving the environment. Moreover, the rural people who get the jobs in the eco-tourism industry are often exploited for being cheap labor and often international workers are hired which again means a leakage of funds from the host country. Yet another cost of eco-tourism is that there maybe some spots reserved for tourists and for environmental protection, which will be seen by natives such as farmers as a means of encroaching on their lands and snatching away their rights to farm on those lands and feed the growing population. National heritage and critical sites in the Australia that have long been preserved in their natural forms, are now being encroached upon by locals and greedy foreigners in search for minerals, ore and timber and thus hampering the life of farmers and tribal people living in these areas relying upon ancient farming techniques and production methods for sustenance. Socio-cultural Eco-tourism allows people from different nations to meet people from other cultures with varying customs and unique histories. It is important that tourists have already read about the native locals that they will soon be meeting up with and the places they will go to. The benefits in this are the increase in knowledge of people about other cultures, developing cross-cultural communications and relationships and bridging gaps that may exist. Also, it allows tourists to come out of their stereotyped tourists impression and give a chance to the locals to offer them hospitality and kindness and thus providing a unique opportunity to overcome cultural barriers (Tenenbaum, 2000). However, the one real and most dangerous cost of socio-cultural aspects of eco-tourism is that it has resulted in eroding away the natives’ culture that is so unique and needs to be preserved. This happens in case when eco-tourism is not managed well whereby the tourists needs to be told how to behave with the natives, what code of conduct they need to embrace and what they should talk about and what not. Often when things are not managed well, a sense of inadequacy arises in the natives such as people from high mountains or tribal regions when they see the ‘white’ foreign tourists in such luxury and richness leaving resentment in the natives over their way of life. This has been observed through a research in the Ecuadorian highlands where the natives feel a great sense of deprivation looking at the foreign ‘white’ tourists who come with their own food, has the cash needed for purchases and can afford to have people serve them comfortably. This often leaves behind traces of modern culture and infiltrates the native culture and leaves it at a state that is neither modern nor indigenous. Managing Eco-tourism-Quality Control, Management Practices In order for the objectives of the eco-tourism to be achieved, quality control measures and management techniques should be in place correctly. In conjunction with new Zealand and other surrounding pacific nations, Australia boasts of a large ecotourism joint agreement that has seen all the members of the agreement seeing growth and development in the ecotourism sector for the past five years. Even in South America, various countries have entered into eco-tourism agreements to ensure safer and environmentally responsible tours. Mexico is one of the Latin American countries that tourism and environment leaders have entered into long-term eco-tourism agreements and Brazil has launched a huge eco-tourism project in the Amazon Basin (Martha, 1999). Various organizations have been set up to deal with the quality control issues at hand to ensure that eco-tourism approaches and techniques are able to meet the set standards and goals. Initially, in the past couple of years organizations were exploiting and misusing the label of eco-tourism and offering the traditional tourism plans. However people, conservation minded organizations and the governments realized the importance of eco-tourism in its true meaning and thus have now embraced it in its true form (Brue, 2004). In South America, many eco-tourism specific organizations are providing services to ensure quality control. In Guatemala, a local organization by the name of Pro Peten Conservation International provides training services since 1993 to natives in order for them to act as agents of eco-tourism and as guides for the tourists. They are taught how to behave with tourists, how to interact with them, how to be proud of and protect their indigenous culture and heritage and how not to get swayed away by the tourists’ lifestyles. Another organization is the Ecuadorian Eco-tourism Association that improve the working and training of all those working in the eco-tourism industry by providing field training, workshops for guides, tour operators, lodges and conservationists. Providing training to natives and those working for the industry is essential so that they know which tourists they are going to be dealing with, the level of awareness of those tourists and how well they need to frame their plans in accordance with eco-tourism objectives (Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, 2009).