Shell in Hrm free essay sample

In this report, it will introduce what Royal Dutch Shell (‘Shell’) done in HRM, what strategies they use and why they are be successful. It focuses mainly on effective employees’ selection, human resources developments, performance management, remunerations and rewards of Shell. Each part will mention factors influenced by internal and external factor, the rationales of using strategies and what Shell did on each part. Effective Employee Selection Shell has provided a variety of job positions for suitable candidates to apply for jobs at their own choices. Shell will select candidates who possess bachelor degree, master degree or PhD degree to apply for all kinds of job positions. Shell believes that those candidates selected will eventually help Shell to provide quality of services and techniques after trainings. Application Shell has provided detailed information and instructions for all candidates in making on-line applications via internet. â€Å"Job Search† engine at Shell’s website has also been designed for candidates, who could immediately find their desired vacancies and submit their application immediately through internet. When the candidates complete and submit applications, they will receive acknowledgements within 48 hours. For suitable candidates, Shell will invite them for interviews within 2 weeks from the date of submission. In addition, Shell has also designed and provided â€Å"Job Alerts† function for people, who are difficult to find their desired vacancies from Shell in the past. This function is to alert people for job opportunities in future when their desired vacancies are being offered and match with their resume. Interview Shell will invite suitable candidates for interviews, which will be held via face-to-face meeting(s) or by telephone inquiries. Through the interview, Shell will evaluate candidates how Capacity, Achievement, Relationship Skills and Technical Skills (‘CART’) are carried out. Before the end of the interview, Shell will provide adequate time for candidates to ask questions about working environment, corporate culture and etc. Final Assessment The successful candidates being selected after interviews will be given with an opportunity to take a final assessment. This final assessment will take 4-hour time to finish designated tasks, which include Case Study, Group Discussions, Scenario Practice and Final Interview. Having passed the final assessment, candidates will be given with an opportunity to get more insight about the job position, rewards and fringe benefits. Rationale for the employee selection The rationale for the employee selection by Shell is to select for the company suitable employees, who would provide good quality of performances and services offered to the public. In the selection process, Shell will select candidates being university under-graduates or graduates and requires university qualification as its basic entrance level in the application. Shell is well in selection on the best uses of talents as its employees. They will provide an opportunity on working environments for employees to have equal opportunity in developing their own skills and talent. In addition, Shell also pays attention to candidates’ resume because those resumes will show key strengths and achievements made in their working experience. The final assessment provides an opportunity for those candidates to tell their own achievements made and how challenges being tackled in the past. Strategy Influenced by Other Factors Internal factors Shell provides â€Å"Job Search† engine at its website for candidates to choose interested vacancies for them to apply. This function can let candidates to have opportunities to find their dream jobs. If Shell assigns employees to hated job positions, it will affect the employees being demoralized. External factors At present, many companies require candidates having the university education level as the minimum educational qualification. However, Shell finds that it is difficult to identify talents amongst those university graduates applied. If Shell employs fresh graduates who are lack of working experience, Shell will provide training programs for them so that they will work smoothly after trainings. In addition, Shell also considers economical elements, including other companies’ annual salary increments and its affordability for hiring high-paid employees. As such, Shell usually employs university graduates. Training programs Shell operates more than 110 countries in the world and has attained vast working experiences and expertise in different areas or locations. Also, Shell has established many training centers across different countries and offers a large range of training programs and development activities for its employees. Offers of the training programs and the development activities to selected employees depend on their business areas covered, locations and role of the employee within Shell. An example of Shell’s training activities is shown as follows: Tailored Training Tailored training is offered for all of Shell’s new employees and includes inductions and a specific program, namely, â€Å"Shell Life†. Shell Life is a course that is highly experiential and interactive designed for university graduates to develop their leadership potentials. The course helps participants to identify their personal direction, leadership skill, interpersonal effectiveness and business awareness qualities that they need if they want to pursue a successful career with Shell. Leadership Program Leadership program is available to all staffs of Shell. Under the Leadership Program, management team will be invited to be tutors coaching their staffs and will provide their expertise and insights to those staffs. Besides, this program covers the contexts that actually happen in the real life. After attending the Leadership Program, new staffs will be evaluated and will be considered as the first priority to be promoted as senior executives in future. On-the-job learning On-the-job learning is conducted by senior staffs or supervisors. It is an extensive training service, which facilitates senior staffs to learn in the work stations. On-the-job learning provides hands-on experience for senior staffs in building up required skills and / or expertise. After completion of the On-the-job learning, those senior employees or supervisors will then provide their sub-ordinates with insights into their strengths, development areas and teaching them how effective works be achieved. As such, their supervisors could create an effective development plan for their sub-ordinates. Off-the-job learning On-line and face-to-face trainings are offered for employees on the company’s Business Principles, which are similar to preventing from bribery and corruption in order to make the employees understand the business mission and vision. The company expects that the employees should follow the business principles in doing their works. Rationale for the training programs The rationale for the Shell training program is to improve the current job performances of its employees. Shell coaches their employees through actual practices in order to make the employees understand how to perform their present job better. Besides, Shell designs a large range of training programs to support and guide their employees’ career choices in order to increase their motivation to work with Shell. The strategy influenced by other factors Internal factors If the program is not compulsory for the employees to join or employees have choices not to join the program, it will be lack of employees’ motivation to learn any technique in the program. On the other hand, if program trainers have poor training skills, they might mislead trainees in learning incorrect skill from the program. Therefore, the program fails and losses its significance to be continued. External factors If the world economy is slump, it may make organizations lack of resources in providing training programs to their employees. If a competitor has offered a good training program system to its employees, it will create a yardstick and a comparison within the same industry of its kind. As such, Shell’s employees might want to leave Shell and join the competitor company. Performance Management Companies need improvements in performances in order to survive in the highly-competitive world, remain competitive and stay strong. Performance management links to the objectives of improving organizational, functional, group or individual progress towards goal achievements. It ensures that jobs are properly designed and qualified personnel are hired, trained, rewarded and motivated in order to achieve the organization’s strategies and business objectives. Board Evaluation The Board carries out Performance Evaluations of itself, its committees, its Chairman and each other of the directors within the Board. It has held a significant part in the Performance Management in Shell. These evaluations are led by the Nomination and Succession Committee, which is an external facilitator and does not have any connection and relation with Shell. The process of the evaluations consists of all directors completing questionnaires, designed by the external facilitator, through online system. When the results of questionnaires are available to the facilitator, he will then prepare written reports to the Chairman. The results of the evaluations on the Board and its committees will be discussed at the Board of Directors’ meeting. The evaluations provide to the Board a wide range of feedback, including some processes and agenda contents. Controls and Procedures The Board is responsible for Shell’s internal control system and for reviewing its effectiveness and relations to control the financial report. It has indicated that such controls are one of the methods in managing performances and the progress of business objectives achievements. The Shell Control Framework advocated by Shell applies to all related companies of the Group. The three key components comprise of Foundation, Organization and Process. Foundation comprises of Shell’s objectives, principles and establishes the boundaries for the company’s activities. †¢ Organization sets out how various legal entities relate to each other and organize and manages their business activities. †¢ Process plays an important role in this framework as it refers to material processes, including how authority be delegated, how strategies, planning and appraisals are used to improve performances. It is an ongoing process for identifying, evaluating and managing the significant risks to achieve Shell’s objectives. According to the Shell’s Annual Review, it could be seen that the Performance Management of Shell’s risk management system and internal controls system has been undertaken by the Board. Performance Share Plan Shell has indicated the performance share plan into performance management. Its awards under the Performance Share Plan are granted upon certain conditions to eligible employees, who are not members of the Executive Committee of Shell. The actual amount of shares that may vest range from 0% to 200% of the awards, depending on the outcomes of prescribed performance conditions over a three-year period of the award year. Rationale for performance management Performance management aims to †¢ Improve organizational, functional, unit and individual employee performances; †¢ Identify required performance improvements and developing new performance objectives for converting improved performances into rewards. For information, rewards could be interpreted as remuneration and benefits. In case of Shell, the Company has applied Shell Control Framework in their business objectives and the system is monitored and controlled by The Board, which will regularly review it. The Control Framework has been put in place to designed tools in managing risk rather than eliminating the risks of failure to achieve business objectives. Therefore, it only provides a reasonable and not an absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. Moreover, the Performance Share Plan aims to award employees who are eligible and are not members of the Executive Committee. This Performance Share Plan is effective to reward eligible employees in order to increase their moral and retain their loyalty. On the other hand, the Board’s evaluation is to ensure that jobs are properly designed and that qualified personnel are performed well or not. Strategies Influenced by Other Factors Internal Factors Internal factors indicate as factors which are under the organization control, including the business principles, the Board and all employees. In Shell, the business objectives, functions and strategies are lying to the Shell Control Framework whereas the Board is responsible for controls and reviewing its effectiveness. Since three components are lie to the Shell Control Framework and controlled by the Board, the performance management influenced by the Board internally. The strategies and business activities are used to improve performances which are indicated by the Board. Actually, the strategies and objectives have changed year by year. External Factors External factor comprises of climate change, economic downstream, government, communities and social. In Shell, external regulatory and legal environment are the external factors and are usually out of control. These two external factors were under the Organization component in Shell Control Framwork. In case of Performance Management, rewards act as important roles, including benefits and remuneration. Shell awards eligible employees by Performance Share Plan and award them with the Shell’s share at a price not less 30% off. During economics downstream or crisis in the oil industry, employees might be awarded with the low price of shares of the Company. Human Resource Management strategy Performance Management In managing performances, strategy, performance management and performance appraisal have been introduced. There are co-related commons and differences between Performance Management and Performance Appraisal. Performance management focuses on enhanced achievements of organizational objectives on group or unit or individual performance. It involves goal establishment, performance evaluation, employee development and reward. There is a strategic link in relation to the five missions and objectives. It can be defined as organizational mission and objectives, functional objectives, unit or group objectives and individual objectives accordingly. Performance appraisal is a key part of a company’s performance management system. The performance appraisal involves measuring how well individual personnel are doing their jobs against a set of criteria, providing feedback and creating a development plan. Successful of performance management of Shell In the above evaluations and measures of performance management, it has indicated that Shell has shown its great efforts towards performance management. The Board and it committee and employees of Shell are using effective performance management leading to its successful implementation of developing new strategies direction and adopting new practices (Manoochehri, 1999). Shell has applied Performance Share Plan, The Board Evaluation and Shell Control Framework in order to manage the employees. The Board undertakes its activities in order to achieve its objectives and to evaluate their performances. In the Annual Review, Shell has disclosed details and process about the Board Evaluation, which shows that Shell has paid continuous efforts on its successful performance management. Human Resource Management strategy Human Resource Development The aim of Human Resource Development (â€Å"HRD†) is to enhance the capability of human resource management systems to adapt and respond proactively to a constantly changing environment. HRD includes training, development, career planning and performance appraisal. Shell has done a lot of works to contribute to the organization’s performances. The company has always focused on developing individual skills and capabilities to ensure that the right number of managers with the right set of competencies and experiences would be available to occupy the most senior jobs in the company. Moreover, Shell always recruits University graduates and uses its strategy of â€Å"grown their own people† by providing technical, professional and leadership training programs. This method has involved moving people within the company around the world every few years and encourages its staff to have on-the-job learning. Besides, Shell has been building long term strategic relationships with all stakeholders, including its own staff as an important stakeholder. Shell understands that its staffs are at the heart of the success of a company. Therefore, the company wants to build and maintain a good relationship with their staff. Furthermore, in terms of career planning, human resource professional always act as a coach to help the employees in understanding their individual strengths and weaknesses. The professional advises them on development needs and possible career directions against the background of a wider understanding relating to the business requirements and suitable job opportunities. Also, Shell assigns line managers to be coaches to their own staffs and provides the expertise and insights to their sub-ordinates. On the other hand, Shell uses a set of common criteria, namely, ‘helicopter’, ‘power of analysis’, ‘imagination’, ‘sense of reality’, and ‘leadership effectiveness’ for job evaluation and grading to identify the strengths and weaknesses of people. Successful of Human Resource Development of Shell The above practices are successful to use the Human Resource Management of Shell. It is reported that Human Resource Development (‘HRD’) refers to the practices used for enhancing employee skills through training and other forms of knowledge and skill enhancement. Lepak Snell, 1999). Shell provides technical, professional and leadership training programmers to employee and focuses on developing individual skills. On the other hand, on- the-job learning can make the employee having more practical working experience. Those experiences that increase employee tacit knowledge especially are likely to increase the compa ny’s specificity of human capital. Therefore, HRD can improve the human capital that people bring with them to the company. Besides, the important internal customers include line managers. Line managers are increasingly given key responsibilities for the delivery of Strategic HRD (Morley Heraty, 1997). As such, Shell assigns line-managers to be coaches to their own staff and providing the expertise and insights to their subordinates. Therefore, the line-managers from Shell can deliver the Strategic of HRD to other employees directly and can make the employees to follow the strategy easier. Conclusion Shell has been successful owing to some particular HR strategies, such as performance share plan, tailored training, leadership program and etc. This report uses journal research method to find out the HR techniques used by Shell and to identify the intended purposes of these strategies. The abovementioned strategies in this report include training and development, remuneration, employee selections and performance management. Also, this report has detailed explanations on the rationales why Shell needs to implement these kinds of strategies. It has been identified that the common internal factors are affected by employees’ influences to the strategies and policies whereas the common external factors are affected by economics and environments in the world.

The Golden Thread Essay Example

The Golden Thread Essay A Tale of Two Cities is separated into three different books, Book one: Recalled to Life and Book two: The Golden Thread and Book three: The Track of a Storm, Which is one of the things that i like about the book. The first part of the book is explaining the era in which the novel takes place, England and France in 1775. The age is marked by competing and contradictory attitudesщہ"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I like that the Dickens wants the reader to understand what is going on in the time period in which the story is told so we can understand the story better. Anoter reason why I like A Tale of Two Cities is how the story was told in 3rd person point of view. He switching his focus between cities and among several characters. The narrator is also omniscient, not only revealing the thoughts, emotions, and motives of the characters, but also supplying historical context to the events that occur, commenting confidently upon them. The narrator doesnt make the story so boring. The final reason why i liked A Tale of Two Cities is its not your typical heroic rebellion of a wronged people who bring peace to their society, but a bloodthirsty revolution of a desperate, starved peasantry. We will write a custom essay sample on The Golden Thread specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Golden Thread specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Golden Thread specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It wasnt just some made up story either. It was based upon a time period in which things where bad in France and England and Charles Dickens shows you that through this novel. Even though i did like some things in this book there where things about the book in which i did not like. For example how detailed the novel was. It was just too wordy for me. I like a novel that explains whats going on but not to the extent that Dickens does. He gives you just a little to much to grasp all at one time and at points in the book it is really hard to understand the what he is trying to tell. Another reason why I dislike the novel is some of the characters, for example I think Lucie Manette is a pathetic character. She adds a stereotype into the novel, being that women are weak and are unable to handle hard situations. She is too perfect and almost reaches the point of annoyance. One of the other reasons why I dislike the novel is the old style writting. I am a reader that has to be able to relate to the characters and the story line and if I cant. I dont stay interested for long and it makes the story boring for me. It has to have something I can understand what the characters are going through to make me want to read more. Even though i did like some things in this book the things I disliked out number the things I did. I wouldnt recomend this story to anybody enless you wanted to learn about France and England during the 1775 time period. The novel is just way too long and wouldnt keep intrest to many people. As i already told you i just couldnt relate to the story and the characters. I think Dickens spends way to much time describing unimportant details and events. I also didnt like that there were two page long sentences it was just to hard to grasp.

College Essay - Tips for Writing a Sample College Essay

College Essay - Tips for Writing a Sample College EssayYou're about to start a new group of friends, or you're planning to start a new group of clubs, and you need to write a sample college essay. Here are some tips that will help you get started. Write a little, it'll pay off in the end.Start small. Yes, one college essay is never enough. There are many things to cover in one essay. Don't be tempted to think that this one can do all the work for you. Most of us don't have the time or the inclination to write a lot of essays.Plan your paper around an outline. Use an outline as a springboard for ideas that will become sentences. The key to writing an outline is using it as a writing tool. It's not a 'writing guide' - it's a starting point that will lead to interesting information on your essay.Try using your example of a friend. Have you worked with your friend on some projects in the past? Do you know anything about his/her skills or personality? Try to find a specific skills or pers onality trait. Study it and then see if you can extrapolate those skills or traits into an essay. If you can't, try looking up some samples online.Don't neglect detail. What is so appealing about writing a college essay? It takes a lot of preparation and research to properly complete such a project. So, make sure that you take time and effort to plan your essay from the get-go.Research something you already know about. Something that your friend may not even be familiar with. Have you spoken at all to that person? Try to research things that you think would apply to the club you're starting. Take time to understand who you're dealing with.Talk to your local college or university. It's always a good idea to talk to the head of your chapter or the coordinator of the club you're starting. They'll be able to tell you about their experiences at that particular college.When you're writing a sample college essay, there are many things that you can use to develop your essay. Making the time to plan and research, and remember that the ideas you'll find online aren't anywhere near as good as the ones you can find on your own, will result in a more effective and interesting essay.

Free Essays on A Literary Analysis Of Porphyrias Lover

The Demented Mind of Porphyria’s Lover Audience: Person’s interested in learning more about Robert Browning’s â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover.† Purpose: To Educate. Proposal: I will tell you my interpretation of Robert Browning’s â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover.† Tone: Objective Constraints: The poem is from the nineteenth century which brings a whole new aspect to some of the customs in dating and life. The Demented Mind of Porphyria’s Lover Is it truly love if you would kill your lover so you can be together forever? Sounds like dementia, does it not? In Robert Browning’s â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† the speaker of the poem kills his lover. He does this because he fears she will go back to her family and leave him. He believes that if he kills her they will be together happily ever after. From the beginning of the poem there is a feeling that something is wrong, a rainy windy night when trees are getting blown down. Then Porphyria comes home to her lover and, in his eyes â€Å"She shut the cold out and the storm† (7). The speaker of this poem views Porphyria as somebody who can make everything okay. She also brings happiness and warmth to his life. This is symbolized in the fact that she â€Å"made the cheerless grate/ Blaze up, and all the cottage warm† (8). Throughout the first twenty five lines of the poem the anaphora â€Å"And† is used to emphasize Porphyria’s life and her caring actions. It is always used to begin a line where she is doing something for the speaker. However, there is a volta at the beginning of line twenty six â€Å"But passion sometimes would prevail† (26). Here a negative attitude is emitted by the speaker and this anaphora ends, at least until after Porphyria is dead. After starting a fire and warming the cottage Porphyria removed all of her wet clothing and sits beside her lover. At this point she is talking to him but there is no response. This is probably because he is already contemplat... Free Essays on A Literary Analysis Of Porphyria's Lover Free Essays on A Literary Analysis Of Porphyria's Lover The Demented Mind of Porphyria’s Lover Audience: Person’s interested in learning more about Robert Browning’s â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover.† Purpose: To Educate. Proposal: I will tell you my interpretation of Robert Browning’s â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover.† Tone: Objective Constraints: The poem is from the nineteenth century which brings a whole new aspect to some of the customs in dating and life. The Demented Mind of Porphyria’s Lover Is it truly love if you would kill your lover so you can be together forever? Sounds like dementia, does it not? In Robert Browning’s â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† the speaker of the poem kills his lover. He does this because he fears she will go back to her family and leave him. He believes that if he kills her they will be together happily ever after. From the beginning of the poem there is a feeling that something is wrong, a rainy windy night when trees are getting blown down. Then Porphyria comes home to her lover and, in his eyes â€Å"She shut the cold out and the storm† (7). The speaker of this poem views Porphyria as somebody who can make everything okay. She also brings happiness and warmth to his life. This is symbolized in the fact that she â€Å"made the cheerless grate/ Blaze up, and all the cottage warm† (8). Throughout the first twenty five lines of the poem the anaphora â€Å"And† is used to emphasize Porphyria’s life and her caring actions. It is always used to begin a line where she is doing something for the speaker. However, there is a volta at the beginning of line twenty six â€Å"But passion sometimes would prevail† (26). Here a negative attitude is emitted by the speaker and this anaphora ends, at least until after Porphyria is dead. After starting a fire and warming the cottage Porphyria removed all of her wet clothing and sits beside her lover. At this point she is talking to him but there is no response. This is probably because he is already contemplat...

Marketing strategies to attract buyers in times of financial crisis Essay

Marketing strategies to attract buyers in times of financial crisis - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to find out how companies in different parts of the world have responded to the global financial crisis in terms of changing their marketing strategies to address the changed needs and preferences of the customers during the financial crisis. Questions that are answered in this paper include; what are the patterns of change in the needs and preferences of the customers during the financial crisis? What are the principles of successful marketing during the times of financial crisis? What should be the companies’ focus during financial crisis to sustain their business and profitability despite the economic pressure? A lot of research has been recently made to study the effects of the recent global financial crisis on the companies as well as the consumers. During any financial crisis, consumers generally become worried about their future psychologically whether or not they have experienced the physical effects of the financial crisis in terms of lack or insufficiency of money themselves. This causes the consumers to become very much concerned about proper use of their money. The preferences of consumers change from luxuries to basic necessities, and they become very critical about the quality of products they purchase. This has many implications on the companies because they need to redesign their marketing strategies to address the changed needs and preferences of the consumers. Findings of this research and the topic of this term paper is of huge significance to the companies that are doing business in the contemporary age when the economy is recovering from the effects of the recent global financial crisis. Also, companies can benefit from these findings in the future during any possible financial crisis. Answers to the aforementioned questions have been found from a review of literature based on the findings of latest researches made to study the effect of the recent global financial crisis on the consumers’ behavior and the market strategies of the companies. 2. Current Research on the Topic 2.1 Effect of Financial Crisis on the Customers’ Behavior and Companies Market Strategies in Romania (Nistorescu and Puiu) conducted a qualitative study to study the way marketing strategies were adapted by the Romanian retailers to the changed buying behavior of the consumers during the global financial crisis. To accomplish this, (Nistorescu and Puiu) collected the empirical data from two companies, namely Carrefour and Real Hypermarket that belong to the Romanian retail sector. The researchers collected the primary data from the information shared on their websites, articles, as well as their annual reports. (Nistorescu and Puiu) observed the implementation of similar changes in the needs and preferences of their consumers during the crisis. Accordingly, both companies adopted similar marketing strategies during the financial crisis e.g. both used loyalty programs and in-store commercial to strengthe n their contact with their respective customers. 2.2 Effect of Financial Crisis on the Customers’ Behavior and Companies Market Strategies in Turkey (Koksal and Ozguk) conducted a quantitative research to examine the effect of financial crisis

What an education mean to me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

What an education mean to me - Essay Example Education for her is confined to the realm of the observable, quantifiable and rational. Education occurs in the classroom mostly, and occasionally in the field under controlled conditions. I know a man in my mother’s neighborhood that is constantly learning. He told me that education and learning for the sake of understanding is enough for him. He reads classical literature and philosophy as well as all of the latest books on political science and environmental concerns. His mind is filled with the words of some of the greatest scholars that have lived over the past 1500 years. He works at a neighborhood corner shop stocking shelves and running the cash register. When I asked him why he didn’t get a better job he replied that a more demanding job would interfere with his education, and that he valued knowledge over money. The superintendent that works in my apartment complex told me once that he never read anything he couldn’t apply to his job. If it was a manual on fixing a trash disposal or direction on installing new lighting fixtures, then the reading was worth his time. He said that he really didn’t see the need for any education beyond the obvious needs of his career. Formal study beyond his career was a waste of time because it couldn’t earn him any money. Read a novel for enjoyment or enlightenment? Never. He’d rather play poker. I list these examples of people I have in my life and their attitudes towards education to illustrate why I am so conflicted about education in many ways, specifically my education and how I should conduct it. I respect all of these people and see the good and bad in the choices they have made relative to their own education. Summarizing my feelings about education is difficult because of the disparate examples, but as I learn more about the world and the people in it, I can see one thing clearly. I can see that an individual’s approach to their education (whatever that may

Outer Banks, North Carolina Essay Example for Free

Outer Banks, North Carolina Essay Outer Banks is located in North Carolina. It is a narrow chain of barrier stretching 175 miles long. The area is frequented by high winds and storms. It is basically made up of sand dunes. Sand dunes are formed due to the prevailing winds. The winds come from opposite direction, northeast and southwest. Because of the natural occurrence, sand dunes were formed. The tallest active sand dune in Outer Banks is Jockeys Ridge. Some interesting features about the Outer Banks is that it housed the talled lighthouse. It also has the tallest san dune, Jockeys Ridge. Duck Beach is named one of the top beaches in America. Animals especially birds and horses are actively seen the area. Outer Banks 3 Outer Banks, North Carolina Outer Banks in North Carolina is a narrow chain of barrier islands. It is one mile wide or 1. 6 km. It stretches more than 175 miles along the coast. Main islands are Bodie, Roanoke, Hatteras, Ocracoke, Portsmounth and Core Banks. The area is prone to severe storms and high winds (Outer Banks, 2007). Outer Banks natural processes evolved from a predetermined conditions. Outer Banks can be well describe by its sand dunes. Migration of sand dunes is an important process on the Outer Banks. It is basically formed by two prevailing winds, northeast and southwest. Due to the different directions of the wind, volume of sand build up. With its sand dunes, Nags Head Woods were developed. It was inherited from what used to be sand dune and swale or a depression found between dunes and beach ridges more than 100,000 years ago. In some areas, the swales were internally drained and now contain freshwater ponds (Frankenberg Tormey, 2000). The Jockey Ridge is the most tallest active sand dune in Outer Banks. The sand is mostly quartz rock which comes from the mountains million of years ago (Ecology, 2006). Some very interesting features can be provided by the Outer Banks (Interesting Facts about the Outer Banks, 2006) ? Wild Ponies, descendants of Spanish Mustangs, still travel the coast. As per record, they run wild North Carolina since 1523 until present time. Tallest lighthouse in America, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is located in Outer Banks. It Outer Banks 4 is 198 feet tall. It has 257 steps. Beacon light can be seen as far as 20 miles out the to sea. ? Duck Beach is one of the Top Beaches in America. This was named because of the number of waterfowls that flocked during migration. ? Jockeys Ridge is the largest active sand dune in East Coast. Outer Banks 4 References Frankenberg, Dirk Tormey, Blair. (2000). The Northern Outer Banks. Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations pp. 3. Retrieved January 22, 2008 from http://www. learnnc. org/lp/editions/cede_nobx/3 Infoplease. (2005). Outer Banks. Retrieved January 22, 2008, from http://www. infoplease. com/ce6/us/A0921656. html Jockeys Ridge Sate Park. (2006). Ecology. Retrieved January 22, 2008 from http://www. jockeysridgestatepark. com/ecology. html Outer Banks Vacation Guide. (2006). Interesting Facts About the Outer Banks. Retrieved January 22, 2008 from http://www. visitob. com/outer_banks/trip/facts. htm