Sustainability as a Key Critical Success Factor The WritePass Journal

Sustainability as a Key Critical Success Factor Executive Summary Sustainability as a Key Critical Success Factor Executive SummaryIntroduction:Literature Search:Objectives:Research Questions:Research Design:Data Analysis:Limitations/Ethical Risks:ReferencesRelated Executive Summary Sustainability is one of the popularly emerging principles in project management and is rapidly becoming a critical success factor as considered by some businesses. However, there are also a number of other critical success factors in project success which include time, money, and the involvement and skills of employees and management. However, sustainability is viewed as socially responsible behavior and may be beneficial in promoting a business’s sales and media relations. Contrarily, some businesses still view it as a fourth constraint in project management against time, scope, and money. Businesses such as Zara’s and Nike have implemented sustainability in their project specifications and have gained a favorable reputation with consumers. However, while all companies may not be duly aware of how to implement such processes, knowledge transfer may be an important consideration in the further implementation of sustainability principles. These issues are further discussed in this proposal and outlined in the form of research questions for the final dissertation. The data for the dissertation is proposed to be a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data which will be in the form of a literature review of secondary data and a questionnaire dispersed to 30 employees in 3 project-based organizations. Results will be combined to arrive at an appropriate conclusion and recommendations will be made accordingly. Introduction: Project management is one of the most vital disciplines within business management and is crucial to economic prosperity for both the public and private sectors. While there is ample emphasis upon project management within various industries, it is often seen that many projects fail due to a lack of emphasis upon critical success factors. As there are numerous factors that affect a project’s success, it is often difficult for managers to choose those that are most vital in improving the success of a project (Schieg, 2009). As the business environment is highly competitive and complicated, success factors for a project are likely to be relative to the industry the project is aimed at and the objectives that the individual project is trying to achieve. While efficiency, cost, and time management are all vital resources within a project or any business process, managers are always aiming to reduce the cost and the time allocated to each project while also aiming to increase efficiency, productivity, and turnover (Shrivastava Berger, 2010). Hence, it is generically considered that projects which are completed within budget and on time are successful. However, with increasing research it has become evident that there are numerous other factors which affect the success and outcome of a project such as the involvement and decision power of leaders and managers, the skills of employees, the organizational culture practiced during the project, the level of teamwork shown by the team, and many others (Eid, 2009 ). Accordingly, the contemporary business environment has recently explored a new concept, sustainability, which is becoming highly popular amongst society and may also be considered as a vital factor to success for businesses in the future or may already be considered so in the present (Gitsham Peters, 2010). With the quest to improve the environment and ensure businesses implement environmentally-friendly processes, society is becoming highly conscious of businesses performing unethically and harming the environment. Thus, this increases the pressure upon business operating in the contemporary environment to adopt sustainable processes which are environment-friendly (Talbot Venkateraman, 2011). Literature Search: Sustainability is a highly interesting and important concept in the contemporary business environment because there has often been heavy debate regarding the necessity of its adoption by businesses. While some businesses may easily be able to adopt appropriate sustainability processes, it is more difficult for other businesses to implement such processes specifically in the industrial sector. Thus, while aiming to implement sustainability may raise a business’s costs substantially, choosing the correct manner in which to implement sustainable practices may also substantially reduce a business’s operating costs and other costs (Morelli, 2011). Moreover, the current business environment demands businesses to be socially responsible and ensure that they perform ethically ( Lindsey,2011). Thus, a business implementing and including sustainability as a criterion in its project specifications is likely to gain a good reputation in the corporate world, media, and society which may in turn benefit the business in the form of increased sales, higher consumer confidence, and positive press releases (Zainul-Abideen, 2008). Recently, it has been seen that organizations are increasing their emphasis upon sustainability and consider it to an extent of 25.9% in their project management specifications. While this does show a positive trend, it also shows that business may not be implementing sustainability in their project specifications because of adopting a socially responsible approach, but is more aimed towards adopting a â€Å"less unethical† approach. This is to ensure that they can escape the blame when questioned regarding the manner in which they run their business (Badiru, 2010). However, there is no doubt that there is an increasing emphasis upon principles of sustainability and awareness of social pressure upon businesses. Companies such as Zara, Toyota, Nike, and many others have changed their production processes in order to make sure that they uphold sustainability as a principle and thus, these companies have increased their credibility in the consumer market (Artiach et al, 2010). However, in order to increase the emphasis upon sustainability it is essential to indulge in knowledge transfer between industries and businesses to properly disperse information regarding the importance and applicability of sustainability principles. Such information dispersion and knowledge transfer may be organized by large governmental or business organizations to facilitate open communication between businesses in order to find viable solutions (Badiru, 2010). However, the problem of the perception of sustainability as a further constraint upon projects in the essence of time, cost, and scope also is widespread. Accordingly, this dissertation proposes to discuss the critical success factors affecting businesses today, how sustainability affects businesses today, the importance of sustainability and the reasons why it is considered interesting, corporate social responsibility as a determinant of project success and gaining contracts, knowledge transfer as a determinant of the application of sustainable principles, and whether sustainability is viewed as a fourth constraint in project management (Barnard et al, 2011). Objectives: Discuss the Critical Success Factors affecting businesses in the contemporary business environment Determine the importance of sustainability as an emerging critical success factor in project management Illustrate the examples of businesses who have adopted sustainable practices successfully Discuss the benefits of credibility when adopting socially responsible business practices Discussing the importance of knowledge transfer in implementing sustainability principles Analyzing the extent to which sustainability is considered a fourth constraint in project management Research Questions: Main Research Question: To what extent is sustainability considered a critical success factor in project management in the contemporary business environment? Subsidiary Research Questions: How does the implementation of sustainability affect the project outcome? How does sustainability affect a business’s credibility and image of being socially responsible? Is this beneficial for the business? What is the importance of knowledge transfer in the implementation of sustainability? To what extent is sustainability considered a fourth constraint in project management besides those of time, cost, and scope? Research Design: Data Collection: The study is designed to be an exploratory study which will investigate the concept of sustainability in businesses today. The study will make use of both quantitative and qualitative data in order to further explore the research questions outlined above. The study will also rely upon both primary and secondary data in order to thoroughly explore the topic in question. The mixture of both types of data will be appropriate for this dissertation in order to validate the opinions and information presented in the literature review and as the topic of sustainability as a success factor of project management is an evolving topic, it is also essential to get first-hand and recent information regarding its current importance in the business environment. Data will initially be collected via the internet, journals, articles, magazines, and other databases in order to obtain relevant literature regarding the concept of sustainability. The literature will then be analyzed and duly criticized in order to determine popular opinion regarding the concept of sustainability and arriving at conclusions regarding the research questions mentioned via secondary data. Primary data will then be collected via an industrial questionnaire dispersed to three project-based organizations regarding their opinions and practices of sustainability as a criterion for success in project management. The questionnaire will be dispersed to approximately 30 respondents working in the three respective organizations and this sample size has been chosen for researcher convenience, access, and appropriateness in attaining sufficient information. The questionnaire will be quantitative in nature in order to avoid irrelevant responses and to limit the discussion towards the points made in the literature review. The results of the questionnaire would then be used to validate or conquer the findings in the literature review. Data Analysis: The qualitative secondary data collected will be analyzed through content analysis in order to extract the most relevant and important points from the arguments presented in the literature review. The quantitative survey results will be analyzed through the use of the statistical software, SPSS. The results of the quantitative survey will then be analyzed against the results of the literature review in order to arrive at appropriate conclusions for the research questions mentioned above. Recommendations will then be given accordingly for issues like knowledge transfer and eradicating the perception of sustainability as a fourth project management constraint. Limitations/Ethical Risks: One of the limitations of this study is gaining access to 30 randomly selected individuals in three different project based companies. Permission must be obtained and the individuals must be randomly chosen in order to avoid biasness. Moreover, there may be issues of confidentiality or their unwillingness to respond to questions regarding their own personal sustainability practices and principles. There is also the risk of people answering dishonestly only to maintain their image or respondents not paying particular attention to the survey because of lack of interest or boredom. The questionnaire may be prone to researcher bias and the data obtained in the literature review may be outdated and not applicable in all countries. Thus, appropriate care must be applied to ensure contemporary data is collected and data is relevant to the topic in question. One of the major ethical risks of this project is ensuring that confidentiality is maintained while conducting the survey of project-based companies and ensuring that no information is dispersed openly which may negatively affect their reputation. Timescale: Obtaining Permission from Companies Beginning Literature Search Organizing and Analyzing Secondary Data Writing Literature Review Conducting Survey Formulating Results of Survey Analyzing Results Writing Complete First Draft Proofreading Dissertation Submission References Artiach, T., Lee, D., Nelson, D., Walker, J. (2010). â€Å"The determinants of corporate sustainability performance.†Ã‚  Accounting Finance, 50(1) pp.31-51. Badiru, A.B. (2010) â€Å"The many languages of sustainability†. Industrial Engineer, Vol. 42(11) pp. 30-34. Barnard, L.T., Ackles, B. and Haner, J.L. (2011) Making Sense of Sustainability Project Management. Explorus Group Inc. Eid, M. (2009) Sustainable Development Project Management. Lambert Academic Publishing Cologne. Gitsham, M., Peters, K. (2010). Thoughts on Sustainability-Principles into Practice. Lindsey, T. C. (2011). â€Å"Sustainable principles: common values for achieving sustainability.†Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 19(5) pp. 561-565. Morelli, J. (2011). â€Å"Environmental Sustainability: A Definition for Environmental Professionals†.  Journal of Environmental Sustainability. Vol.119-27. Schieg, M. (2009). â€Å"The model of corporate social responsibility in project management†. Business: Theory Practice. Vol.10 (4) pp. 315–321. Shrivastava, P., Berger, S. (2010). â€Å"Sustainability principles: a review and directions.†Organization Management Journal. Vol.  7(4) pp.246-261. Talbot, J. and Venkataraman, R. (2011), â€Å"Integration Of Sustainability Principles Into Project Baselines Using A Comprehensive Indicator Set†. Journal of International Business Economics Research. Vol.10 (9) pp. 29-40. Zainul-Abidin, N. (2008) â€Å"Achieving Sustainability through Value Management: A passing opportunity?† International Journal of Construction Managem pp. 79-91.

Get the Facts of the Burj Khalifa

Get the Facts of the Burj Khalifa At 828 meters in length (2,717 feet) and 164 floors, Burj Dubai/Burj Khalifa was the tallest building in the world as of January 2010. Taipei 101, the Taipei Financial Center in the Taiwanese capital, was from 2004 to 2010 the worlds tallest skyscraper, at 509.2 meters, or 1,671 ft. The Burj easily exceeds that height. Before their destruction in 2001, the World Trade Centers Twin Towers in Manhattan were 417 meters (1,368 ft) and 415 meters (1,362 ft) tall. Burj Dubai/Burj Khalifa was dedicated on Jan. 4, 2010.Cost of the Burj: $1.5 billion, part of downtown Dubais $20 billion redevelopment program.The name of the tower was changed from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa at the last minute in honor of Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi, and in recognition of Abu Dhabi providing Dubai $10 billion in December 2009 to bail out Dubais bankrupt sovereign wealth fund.Construction began on Sept. 21, 2004.More than 12,000 people will occupy the buildings 6 million square feet. Residential apartments number 1,044.Special amenities include a 15,000 square foot fitness facility, a cigar club, the highest mosque in the world (on the 158th floor), the highest observation deck in the world (on the 124th floor) and the highest swimming pool in the world (on the 76th floor), as well as the first Armani Hotel in the world.The Burj is expected to consume 946,000 liters (or 250,000 gallons) of water a day.Electricity consumption is expected to peak at 50 MVA or the equivalent of 500,000 100-watt bulbs burning simultaneously. The Burj has 54 elevators. They can speed up to 65km an hour (40 mph)The equivalent of 100,000 elephants worth of concrete was used during construction.31,400 metric tons of steel rebar used in the structure.28,261 glass cladding panels cover the exterior of the tower, each panel cut by hand and installed by Chinese cladding specialists.12,000 workers were employed at the site at peak construction. Three workers died while working on the site.The number of underground parking spaces at the Burj: 3,000.The lead contractor was South Korea-based Samsung, along with Belgiums Besix and the UAEs Arabtec.The building was designed by Chicagos Skidmore, Owings Merrill and developed by Dubais Emaar Properties.The buildings structural engineer is William F. Baker, who on July 11, 2009, became the first American to win the Fritz Leonhardt Prize For Achievement In Structural Engineering.

EMTALA Scenario Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

EMTALA Scenario Analysis - Term Paper Example An Analysis of the Situation From a casual glance, the situation is one that appears simple and dismissible, going by the orthopediatrician’s correspondence. This is because; at a casual glance, the status of the patient which is characterized by a non-displaced, splintable and easily detectable fracture is one that is not serious enough to warrant an emergency. Nevertheless, a critical reflection on the situation makes it clear that it is possible that the case may be complicated enough to warrant a legal suit against the hospital. This is especially the case if it turns out that the hospital’s orthopediatrician was either being economical with the truth, or read from an inaccurate source. Conversely, it is also possible that the participating hospital (the hospital that intends to transfer the patient) could be trying to refer the patient as a way of dumping the patient. How the Situation Is Impacted By EMTALA The situation, as misty (due to scantiness and contradicti on of information) as it is, totally applies to EMTALA mandate. The place of the participating hospital may be insignificant to the matter at hand. This is because the hospital could be having a deficiency of an emergency department. Secondly, the nature of the fracture is relatively less serious but may be very complicated. This is because to the layman, the fracture is less serious since it is less visible than compound, open and displaced fractures. However, the fact that pain, swelling and stiffness accompany non-displaced fractures is a matter that directly invokes emergency and thereby necessitating the consideration of EMTALA provisions. According to Bitterman (2011), EMTALA provisions describe medical emergency as a condition that manifests itself by acute and severe symptoms to an extent that failure to administer immediate medical attention places the patient’s health in danger and physiological and anatomical impairment. It is a fact that the non-displaced fracture is causing the patient severe physical pain and will also precipitate swelling and stiffness to the injured arm. Over time, bone and blood infections may ensue as the patient is left untreated. Nonetheless, despite all of these, the fact that EMTALA applies when there is an individual having a medical emergency, and when a request has been made on behalf of the individual for examination, treatment of a medical condition or both, makes the consideration of the patient more binding. In this case, there is a patient with a fractured arm, alongside a request placed by a participating hospital. Above all, even Levy and Pravikoff (2012) acknowledge that EMTALA stipulates that it matters not that the condition is palpable or perceptible to others or that the patient or the participating hospital is able to adduce evidence of the emergency or not. This means that the counterargument by the orthopediatrician that the fracture is a non-displaced one and that it can be splinted and seen in t he office is neither here nor there. The Decision to Make As the Administrator In the case presented, it will be important to have the patient with the fractured hand referred, even if his fracture seems not to warrant strictly urgent medical attention since it is non-displaced, splintable and easily detectable. The Rationale and Thought Process behind the Process The decision to have the patient referred to the hospital for an emergency treatment is very informed and

Price Discrimination in Cinema Market Research Paper

Price Discrimination in Cinema Market - Research Paper Example A price discrimination strategy is a common tool adopted by cinema operators for maximizing business profit. Through the implementation of a versioning or product line stretching program, these companies charge higher prices to same groups of customers for superior and newer services. Golden Village charges $8.50 per movie ticket on weekdays. However, for the same shows, the company sets $ 11.50 price per ticket on weekends. At the same time, the company charges $ 4.50 per ticket for the show on weekdays for senior citizens; whereas, charges $7.00 for the same ticket on the same day for young students. Thus, if observed in details, the company discriminates on its ticket prices on the basis of time, the degree of iteration of customer visit and age. From the above analysis, it can be claimed that the company implements third and second-degree price discrimination strategy while setting prices of its movie tickets. Under the regime of second-degree price discrimination, the company ch arges higher for each ticket when a movie new releases in the market and lowers the ticket prices gradually.Given that customer’s willingness to pay falls with time, a price of the ticket for a movie released also drops. Through third-degree price discrimination, the company charges separate prices to different groups of customers, as per their age and time of ticket purchase. An elasticity of demand measures degree of responsiveness of rate of change in quantity demanded with respect to a rate of change in the price level of a product or a service.

Patient Isolated And Public Health Investigations Assignment

Patient Isolated And Public Health Investigations - Assignment Example   The CDC confirms Europe based tourist who raised earlier suspicion of Ebola attack positive   The tourist, who visited West Africa earlier, was isolated soon after he indicated symptoms of the contagious disease. Apparently, the patient is under isolation and close check up. On Sunday, October 19, the tourist reported a low-grade fever throughout the night and immediately received a referral for testing at the States’ most reputable laboratory. As a precautionary measure after observing the unusual fever, CDC staff isolated the tourist and interviewed him to establish additional contacts or potential exposures. Currently, one close contact has been identified, and appropriate measures employed to prevent further spread of the disease.  Careful monitoring and scrutiny of all tourists and associated health care workers who interacted with the isolated patient, therefore, is directed to offer the public an assurance of the absence of a trace of the disease in America.   Ebola is an infectious, deadly disease noticeable by fever and severe internal bleeding, spread through physical contact with the infected person’s body fluids.   The outbreak of Ebola experienced in West Africa in 2014 is the largest, so far in history according to records by the CDC, 2014. The disease has an average of 8 to ten incubation period. The CDC, therefore, recommends immediate isolation and close monitoring of suspected individuals with symptoms for a period of 21 days.

Arthur Miller Essay Example for Free

Arthur Miller Essay The theme of morals and guilt is explored by the characterization of John Proctor. Proctor is portrayed as being around the age of thirty and a well-respected farmer in the towns community. He is described as the kind of man- powerful of body, even-tempered, and not easily led. From these descriptions, we recognize that he is a strong, calm individual who is quite cynical. As soon as Proctor appears in the play we see that he is very much in conflict with himself due to the terrible secret he conceals within the dark and forbidding chambers of his heart. A history of sin, which goes against every moral fibre of his body and the society in which he dwells. He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion but against his own vision of decent conduct. John Proctor is guilty of committing adultery with the young Abigail Williams while she was serving as a servant in his household and this has a great effect on his conscience. Proctors conscience eats away at him throughout the play as it manifests itself into his relationship with people, especially his wife, Elizabeth. This is presented when Elizabeth states: I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought you but a good man, John- only somewhat bewildered. Here we see the idea of morality being reflected on a personal level, or Proctors conception of himself. He conceives himself as a blatant sinner because of his raw deeds, being his lechery. I blush for my sin, he admits to his wife. Overall, through the characterization of John Proctor the theme morals and guilt is presented and from this we see that his perception of right and wrong are decided by his own vision of decent conduct. Characterization is essential to the exploration and development of themes in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The characterization of Rebecca Nurse explores the theme of evil. Abigail Williams explores the themes of evil as well as the power of fear and John Proctor explores the theme of morals and guilt. All these characters and many more help develop the themes within The Crucible.

Plant hormones Essay -- essays research papers

Plant hormones are specialized chemical substances produced by plants. They are the main internal factors controlling growth and development. Hormones are produced in one part of a plant and transported to others, where they are effective in very small amounts. Depending on the target tissue, a given hormone may have different effects. Plant hormones play an integral role in controlling the growth and development of plants. A plant hormone is generally described as an organic compound synthesized in one part of the plant and translocated to another part, where in low concentrations elicits a physiological response. There are five generally recognized classes of plant hormones; some of the classes are represented by only one compound, others by several different compounds. They are all organic compounds, they may resemble molecules which turn up elsewhere in plant structure or function, but they are not directly involved as nutrients or metabolites. Hormone  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Source  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Action Auxins  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  apical meristem (only moves down), embryo of seed, young leaves  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Control of cell elongation †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  apical dominance (prevents lateral buds) †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  prevents abscission †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  continued growth of fruit †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  cell division in vascular and cork cambium --formation of lateral roots from pericycle --formation of adventitious roots from cuttings Gibberellins  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Roots and young leaves  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cell (stem) elongation (works in stems and leaves, but not roots) †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  breaking seed/bud dormancy †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  stimulating fruit set Cytokinins  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  roots, embryos, fruits actively growing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Promote cell division --signal axillary/lateral bud growth --prevent leaf abscission †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  chloroplast development †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  breaking dormancy in some seeds †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  enhance flowering †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  promote fruit development Abscissic Acid  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ... ...ascade ultimately resulting in modification of enzyme activity, altered metabolic processes, and different phenotypes. One thing plant hormones specifically control is gene expression. The exact mechanisms by which hormones regulate gene expression are poorly understood. Gene expression is part of a large amplification process. This process involves repeated transcription of DNA resulting in many copies of mRNA (1st amplification step); mRNA is processed and enters the cytoplasm where it is translated many times by ribosomes into a gene product such as an enzyme (2nd amplification step); enzymes are modified to become functional and capable of high catalytic activity even at low concentrations. They catalyze the production of many copies of an important cellular product (3rd amplification step). It is likely that gene regulation is affected by certain enzymes after initial hormone binding. Genes may be altered by secondary and tertiary messengers of a cellular cascade as well. Hormones may indirectly control gene expression through these enzymes and messengers at a number of control sites such as transcription, mRNA processing, mRNA stability, translation, and post-translation Plant hormones Essay -- essays research papers Plant hormones are specialized chemical substances produced by plants. They are the main internal factors controlling growth and development. Hormones are produced in one part of a plant and transported to others, where they are effective in very small amounts. Depending on the target tissue, a given hormone may have different effects. Plant hormones play an integral role in controlling the growth and development of plants. A plant hormone is generally described as an organic compound synthesized in one part of the plant and translocated to another part, where in low concentrations elicits a physiological response. There are five generally recognized classes of plant hormones; some of the classes are represented by only one compound, others by several different compounds. They are all organic compounds, they may resemble molecules which turn up elsewhere in plant structure or function, but they are not directly involved as nutrients or metabolites. Hormone  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Source  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Action Auxins  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  apical meristem (only moves down), embryo of seed, young leaves  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Control of cell elongation †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  apical dominance (prevents lateral buds) †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  prevents abscission †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  continued growth of fruit †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  cell division in vascular and cork cambium --formation of lateral roots from pericycle --formation of adventitious roots from cuttings Gibberellins  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Roots and young leaves  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cell (stem) elongation (works in stems and leaves, but not roots) †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  breaking seed/bud dormancy †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  stimulating fruit set Cytokinins  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  roots, embryos, fruits actively growing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Promote cell division --signal axillary/lateral bud growth --prevent leaf abscission †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  chloroplast development †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  breaking dormancy in some seeds †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  enhance flowering †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  promote fruit development Abscissic Acid  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ... ...ascade ultimately resulting in modification of enzyme activity, altered metabolic processes, and different phenotypes. One thing plant hormones specifically control is gene expression. The exact mechanisms by which hormones regulate gene expression are poorly understood. Gene expression is part of a large amplification process. This process involves repeated transcription of DNA resulting in many copies of mRNA (1st amplification step); mRNA is processed and enters the cytoplasm where it is translated many times by ribosomes into a gene product such as an enzyme (2nd amplification step); enzymes are modified to become functional and capable of high catalytic activity even at low concentrations. They catalyze the production of many copies of an important cellular product (3rd amplification step). It is likely that gene regulation is affected by certain enzymes after initial hormone binding. Genes may be altered by secondary and tertiary messengers of a cellular cascade as well. Hormones may indirectly control gene expression through these enzymes and messengers at a number of control sites such as transcription, mRNA processing, mRNA stability, translation, and post-translation