Natural resource

Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems. Natural resources are derived from the environment. Many of them are essential for our survival while others are used for satisfying our wants. Natural resources may be further classified in different ways.

Classification
On the basis of origin, resources may be divided into:

Biotic Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere, such as forests and their products, animals, birds and their products, fish and other marine organisms. Mineral fuels such as coal and petroleum are also included in this category because they are formed from decayed organic matter. Abiotic Abiotic resources include non-living things. Examples include land, water, air and minerals including ores such as gold, iron, copper, silver etc.

Considering their stage of development, natural resources may be referred to in the following ways:

Potential Resources Potential resources are those that exist in a region and may be used in the future. For example, petroleum may exist in many parts of India, having sedimentary rocks but until the time it is actually drilled out and put into use, it remains a potential resource. Actual Resources Actual resources are those that have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined and are being used in present times. The development of an actual resource, such as wood processing depends upon the technology available and the cost involved. Reserve Resources The part of an actual resource which can be developed profitably in the future is called a reserve resource. Stock Resources Stock resources are those that have been surveyed but cannot be used by organisms due to lack of technology. For example.hydrogen

With respect to renewability, natural resources can be categorized as follows:

Renewable resources are ones that can be replenished or reproduced easily. Some of them, like sunlight, air, wind, etc., are continuously available and their quantity is not affected by human consumption. Many renewable resources can be depleted by human use, but may also be replenished, thus maintaining a flow. Some of these, like agricultural crops, take a short time for renewal; others, like water, take a comparatively longer time, while still others, like forests, take even longer. Non-renewable resources are formed over very long geological periods. Minerals and fossil fuels are included in this category. Since their rate of formation is extremely slow, they cannot be replenished once they get depleted. Of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them.[1] But coal and petroleum cannot be recycled.[2]

On the basis of availability, natural resources can be categorised as follows:

Inexhaustible natural resources- Those resources which are present in unlimited quantity in nature and are not likely to be exhausted easily by human activity are inexhaustible natural resources (sunlight, air etc.) Exhaustible natural resources- The amount of these resources are limited. They can be exhausted by human activity in the long run (coal, petroleum, natural gas, etc.)

On the basis of distribution, natural resources can be classified as follows:

Ubiquitous resources- Resources that are found everywhere are called ubiquitous resources. For example land, air Localized resources- Resources that are found only at certain places are called localized resources. For example minerals, fossil fuels

Examples
Some examples of natural resources include the following:

Air, wind and atmosphere Animals Coal, fossil fuels, rock and mineral resources Forestry Ranges and pasture Soils Water, oceans, lakes, groundwater and rivers [3] Solar power

Management
Natural resource management is a discipline in the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations. Natural resource management is interrelated with the concept of sustainable development, a principle that forms a basis for land management and environmental governance throughout the world. In contrast to the policy emphases of urban planning and the broader concept of environmental management, Natural resource management specifically focuses on a scientific and technical understanding of resources and ecology and the life-supporting capacity of those resources.

[edit] Depletion
In recent years, the depletion of natural resources and attempts to move to sustainable development has been a major focus of development agencies. This is a particular concern in rain forest regions, which hold most of the Earth's natural biodiversity - irreplaceable genetic natural capital[energy conservation] of natural resources is the major focus of natural capitalism, environmentalism, the ecology movement, and green politics. Some view this depletion as a major source of social unrest and conflicts in developing nations. Mining, petroleum extraction, fishing, hunting, and forestry are generally considered natural-resource industries. Agriculture is considered a man-made resource. Theodore Roosevelt, a well-known conservationist and former United States president, was opposed to unregulated natural resource extraction. The term is defined by the United States Geological Survey as "The Nation's natural resources include its minerals, energy, land, water, and biota."[4]

Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations. Human resources is also the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals (i.e. the human resources). This function title is often abbreviated to the initials "HR". Human resources is a relatively modern management term, coined as late as the 1960s. [1] The origins of the function arose in organizations that introduced 'welfare management' practices and also in those that adopted the principles of 'scientific management'. From these terms emerged a largely administrative management activity, coordinating a range of worker related processes and becoming known, in time, as the 'personnel function'. Human resources progressively became the more usual name for this function, in the first instance in the United States as well as multinational or international corporations, reflecting the adoption of a more quantitative as well as strategic

approach to workforce management, demanded by corporate management to gain a competitive advantage, utilizing limited skilled and highly skilled workers.

Purpose and role

In simple terms, an organization's human resource management strategy should maximize return on investment in the organization's human capital and minimize financial risk. Human resource managers seek to achieve this by aligning the supply of skilled and qualified individuals and the capabilities of the current workforce, with the organization's ongoing and future business plans and requirements to maximize return on investment and secure future survival and success. In ensuring such objectives are achieved, the human resource function is to implement an organization's human resource requirements effectively, taking into account federal, state and local labor laws and regulations; ethical business practices; and net cost, in a manner that maximizes, as far as possible, employee motivation, commitment and productivity.
[edit] Key functions

Human Resources may set strategies and develop policies, standards, systems, and processes that implement these strategies in a whole range of areas. The following are typical of a wide range of organizations:

Maintaining awareness of and compliance with local, state and federal labor laws Recruitment, selection, and on boarding (resourcing) Employee record-keeping and confidentiality Organizational design and development Business transformation and change management Performance, conduct and behavior management Industrial and employee relations Human resources (workforce) analysis and workforce personnel data management Compensation and employee benefit management Training and development (learning management) Employee motivation and morale-building (employee retention and loyalty)

Implementation of such policies, processes or standards may be directly managed by the HR function itself, or the function may indirectly supervise the implementation of such activities by managers, other business functions or via third-party external partner organizations. Applicable legal issues, such as the potential for disparate treatment and disparate impact, are also extremely important to HR managers.
[edit] Training and development

At the organizational level, a successful Human Resources Development program prepares the individual to undertake a higher level of work, "organized learning over a given period of time, to provide the possibility of performance change" (Nadler 1984). In these settings, Human Resources Development is the framework that focuses on the organization's competencies at the first stage, training, and then developing the employee, through education, to satisfy the organization's long-term needs and the individual's career goals and employee value to their present and future employers. Human Resources Development can be defined simply as developing the most important section of any business, its human resource, by attaining or upgrading employee skills and attitudes at all levels to maximize enterprise effectiveness.[2] The people within an organization are its human resource. Human Resources Development from a business perspective is not entirely focused on the individual's growth and development; "development occurs to enhance the organization's value, not solely for individual improvement. Individual education and development is a tool and a means to an end, not the end goal itself" (Elwood F. Holton II, James W. Trott Jr).[5] The broader concept of national and more strategic attention to the development of human resources is beginning to emerge as newly independent countries face strong competition for their skilled professionals and the accompanying brain-drain they experience.

Other considerations
Despite its more everyday use, terms such as "human resources" and, similarly, "human capital" continue to be perceived negatively and may be considered insulting. They create the impression that people are merely commodities, like office machines or vehicles, despite assurances to the contrary. Modern analysis emphasizes that human beings are not "commodities" or "resources", but are creative and social beings in a productive enterprise. The 2000 revision of ISO 9001, in contrast, requires identifying the processes, their sequence and interaction, and to define and communicate responsibilities and authorities. In general, heavily unionised nations such as France and Germany have adopted and encouraged such approaches. Also, in 2001, the International Labour Organization decided to revisit and revise its 1975 Recommendation 150 on Human Resources Development.[7] One view of these trends is that a strong social consensus on political economy and a good social welfare system facilitates labor mobility and tends to make the entire economy more productive, as labor can develop skills and experience in various ways, and move from one enterprise to another with little controversy or difficulty in adapting. Another view is that governments should become more aware of their national role in facilitating human resources development across all sectors. which includes following[citation needed]

Definition of Intangible and tagible assets.

Tangible assets are considered the goods of material nature they can be perceived by senses like :

Row material and stocks The furniture The machines The lands The money

Intangible assets are considered the goods of immaterial nature :

The science of knowing what to do Our relations with the clients Our operative processes The technology of information and databases. Capacities, abilities and innovations of the employers.

Intangible assets vs. Tangible assets.

The present situation of the economy is governed and directed by the intangible assets the company has. Formerly in 1920, the economy was dominated by the tangible assets , during this period the financial indicators were adopted to manage the company effectively. A study of Brookings's institute in 1982 showed the tangible assets represented the 62% of the value in the market of industrial organizations. Ten years later, in 1992 the proportion lowered until 38%, Financial indicators are still used to direct and to take decisions, but they just represent less than 10% of our value. The question is why do we still use them?

The intangible assets are the most important sources of the organization that grant competitive advantages to other companies. The organization that has an excellent operative process, knows their segment in the market and possess the knowledge to develop a unique product, and has the ability of motivating their employers, will have a guaranteed success. Before the described perspective, we need tools to describe the intangible assts, the Balanced Scorecard by means of elaborating an strategic map, relates and transforms these intangibles assets into tangibles, as money. The Balanced Scorecard through his four perspectives, uses indicators to describe the intangible assets, therefore we can monitor and control the intangible activities which add value to the company.