Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Statistics as Science of Counting Essay Example
Essays on Statistics as Science of Counting Essay The paper "Statistics as Science of Counting" is an outstanding example of an essay on statistics. The great English statistician and economist defined statistics as ââ¬Å"science of counting Statistics play an important role in our daily routine life.Statistics are greatly applicable to the politics and the elections, statistics help in almost all the disciplines of politics, funds distribution amongst constituencies, elections outcomes both the local, and nationwide, politicians performance and achievements in a particular span of time, this is judged through their achievements that can be summarized by the facts and figures collected through statistical studies. Popularity curves are the most important gift of statistics and that helps in a massive amount judging their own performance. This is obtained through conducting opinion polls. Based on the curves and quarterly reports in time changes and measures can be taken, Since a large number of funds are associated with the politic al processes and the campaigning and party maintenance, the funds so distributed can be done through statistical facts and figures, finally analysis of quantitative data, Different policies are made based on statistics. In short, statistics play the role of a backbone in politics and all decisions, administrative, and functional can be taken in the right scope with the help of statistics.The nonprofit organizations require statistics in every step of their routine activities. In broader perceptive statistics help determining the total expenses incurred which includes the monthly and annual payments, wages to the employees, statistics help determining the areas to invest in by calculating the feasibility of any endeavor, On Administrative front statistics play a pivotal role in nonprofit organizations, since any organization needs an infrastructure to operate, users performance can be gauged through statistical measures. Annual reports and data in terms of the progress made in a cert ain period of time help to estimate and analyze the contribution of donors in a particular area of interest. An important contribution of statistics is the identification of sectors that can pay dividends in terms of company growth, public welfare, and overall successful operations. Fund-raising is important phenomenon in the context of nonprofit organizations, through statistics the areas can be identified that are fruitful for the cause; Balance in payment distribution is possible through statistics.
Monday, December 16, 2019
Americans with Disability Act of 1990 Free Essays
The American population of disabled workers previously had no protection of their employment or mandates pressed upon their employer to provide necessary work accommodations, to protect their livelihood, until the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law that prohibits employers to discriminate based on an employeeââ¬â¢s disability. This paper will demonstrate the components of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as well as provide relevant United States Supreme Court cases set out between employee and employer where the law was challenged or upheld. We will write a custom essay sample on Americans with Disability Act of 1990 or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is an Act set out to ââ¬Å"establish a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disabilityâ⬠(Americans with disabilities, 1990). The Act was introduced to the Senate by Senator Tom Harkins on May 9, 1989. The Act was passed by the Senate on September 7, 1989 by a vote of 76-8 and passed by a unanimous voice vote before the House of Representatives on May 22, 1990. The Act was enacted by the 101st United States Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on July 26, 1990 (Americans with disabilities, 1990). ADA Issue: Definition of Disability Under the American with Disabilities Act the term ââ¬Å"disabilityâ⬠refers to a ââ¬Å"physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activityâ⬠(Americans with disabilities, 1990). The case between Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams was presented to the United States Supreme Court on November 7, 2001. The case primarily questioned how you determine whether an individual is substantially limited in the major life activity of performing manual tasks. Under the Americanââ¬â¢s with Disabilities Act of 1990, 104 Stat. 328, 42 U. S. C. 12101 et seq. (1994 ed. And Supp. V), a physical impairment that ââ¬Å"substantially limits one or moreâ⬠¦major life activitiesâ⬠is a ââ¬Å"disability. â⬠42 U. S. C. 12102 (2) (A) (1994 ed. ). Respondent, Ella Williams, claimed to be disabled due to carpal tunnel syndrome and sued, petitioner, her former employer, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. , for failing to provide accommodations as required under the American with Disabilities Act. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, (00-1089) 534 U. S. 184 (2002). ] Ella Williams began employment at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Georgetown, Kentucky, in August of 1990. She was placed on the engine fabrication assembly line, where her duties included work with pneumatic tools. Utilizing these tools over time caused pain in respondentââ¬â¢s hands, wrists and arms. She was treated by her physician and found to have carpal tunnel syndrome and bilateral tendonitis. Her physician released her to return to work with restrictions that included no lifting more than 20 pounds, she could not lift or carry objects weighing more than 10 pounds, must not engage in constant repetitive motion of the wrists and elbows and no overhead work or performing tasks utilizing vibratory or pneumatic tools. Toyota Motor Manufacturing responded to Williamsââ¬â¢ restrictions, for the next two years, by modifying her job responsibilities within the medical restriction guidelines. Despite this revision, Williams missed work for medical leave and she filed a claim under the Kentucky Workerââ¬â¢s Compensation Act. Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann 342. 0011 et seq (1997 and Supp. 2000). The parties settled this claim and Williams returned to work. Williams was still not satisfied with petitionerââ¬â¢s efforts to accommodate her work restrictions and she filed suit against Toyota in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky alleging that petitioner ha d violated the ADA by refusing to accommodate her disability. The suit was settled, and as part of the settlement, respondent was able to return to work in December of 1993. Upon Williams return, Toyota accommodated respondent by placing her in the Quality Control Inspection Operations Department. The teamââ¬â¢s tasks included (1) ââ¬Å"assembly paintâ⬠, (2) ââ¬Å"Paint second inspectionâ⬠; (3) ââ¬Å"shell body auditâ⬠; and (4) ââ¬Å"ED surface repairâ⬠. Williams was placed on a team that performed only two of these tasks and rotated between the two roles. In assembly paint, Williams would visually inspect painted cars moving slowly down the conveyor and then rotated every other week to the second piece of her role, which was to examine the cars by lifting the hoods and opening the doors. She was able to perform these duties as described. There was a change in workflows in the Department of Quality Control where all employees must rotate between the four tasks of the quality operations. Williams attempted to perform all four duties as required, but began having increased pain, sought medical treatment was diagnosed with myotendonitis bilateral periscapular, inflammation of the muscles and tendons of the shoulder blades and forearms and thoracic outlet syndrome. Williams requested to return to only performing the two components of her position. The parties disagree on what happens next, Williamsââ¬â¢ states that Toyota refused her request. Toyota states that the employee began missing work excessively and they were forced to terminate her position for poor attendance. Williams again sued under the Americans with Disability Act of 1990. During the court proceedings and on deposition Williams stated that she was ââ¬Å"disabledâ⬠as she was no longer able to perform activities of daily living that included (1) manual tasks; (2) housework; (3) gardening; (4) playing with her children; (5) lifting; and (6) working, all of which, she argued, constituted major life activities under the Act. [Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, (00-1089) 534 U. S. 184 (2002). Under the ADA the claimant must show that the limitation on the major life activity is substantial 42 U. S. C. 12102 (2)(A). ââ¬Å"Substantially limitsâ⬠was defined as unable to perform a major life activity that the average person in the general population can performâ⬠. In determining whether an individual is substantially limited i n a major life activity, the regulations instruct that the following factors should be considered: ââ¬Å"the nature and severity of the impairment; the duration or expected duration of the impairment; and the permanent or long term impact, or the expected permanent or long-term impact of or resulting from impairment. 1630. 2(j)(2)(i)-(iii) (Americans with disabilities, 1990). The court concluded on January 8, 2002 that the respondentââ¬â¢s impairments substantially limited her in the ââ¬Å"major life activitiesâ⬠of performing manual tasks and was found to be ââ¬Å"disabledâ⬠as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and therefore granted judgment to respondent on the basis that Toyota violated the Act by not accommodating her request as a disabled individual. [Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, (00-1089) 534 U. S. 184 (2002). ADA Issue: Definition of Disability and Direct Threat The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, under Title II, prohibits disability discrimination by all public entities. Public entities must comply with the ADA regulations by the U. S. Department of Justice and includes granting access to all programs and services without disability discrimination. Under the ADA regulations there is also a ââ¬Å"direct threatâ⬠provision which protects facilities where an individual may pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others (Americans with disabilities, 1990). The U. S. Supreme Court Case No. 97-156, Randon Bragdon, Petitioner v. Sidney Abbott, Respondent, poses the question whether asymptomatic HIV infection is a disability under the ADA, and when determining whether an individual with HIV poses a direct threat to a health care provider, should the courts defer to the providers professional judgment [Bragdon v. Abbott (97-156) 107 F. 3d 934, (1998). ] Abbott is infected with HIV, but it had not manifested into the serious stages at the time of the incident. Abbott presented to her dental office and disclosed her HIV infection. Rangdon Bragdon, her dentist, refused to treat her in his office setting and sited his policy on filling cavities on HIV patients. He was willing to treat her in the hospital for no extra charge, but she would be responsible for the hospital bill. She declined and filed suit under the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against any individualâ⬠¦ ââ¬Å"on the basis of disability in the â⬠¦enjoyment of theâ⬠¦servicesâ⬠¦of any place of public accommodation by any person whoâ⬠¦operates [such] a place,â⬠42 U. S. C. 2182 (a), but qualifies the prohibition by providing: ââ¬Å"Nothing [herein] shall require an entity to permit an individual to participate in or benefit from theâ⬠¦ accommodations of such entity where such individual poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others,â⬠12182(b)(3) (Americans with Disabilities, 1990). The court ruled in favor of the respondent, Sidney Abbott, on June 25, 1998. E ven though the respondentââ¬â¢s HIV had not progressed to the point of being symptomatic, HIV is a ââ¬Å"disabilityâ⬠under 12102 (2)(A), that is, ââ¬Å"a physicalâ⬠¦impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities. The life activity upon which respondent relies, her ability to reproduce and to bear children, constitutes a ââ¬Å"major life activityâ⬠under the ADA. In affirming the summary judgment, the court did not cite sufficient material in the record to determine, as a matter of law, that respondentââ¬â¢s HIV infection posed no direct threat to the health and safety of others. The ADAââ¬â¢s direct threat provision, 12182 (b)(3), stems from School Bd. Of Nassau Cty v. Arline, 480 U. S. 273, 287. [Bragdon v. Abbott (97-156) 107 F. 3d 934, (1998). ADA Issue: Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment, unless to do so would cause undue hardship. An accommodation is typically any change in the work environment that allows an individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities (American with disabilities, 1990). The U. S. Supreme Court case U. S. Airways, Inc. v. Robert Barnett poses the question under ââ¬Å"Reasonable Accommodationâ⬠, when an employee with a disability seeks reassignment as an accommodation under the ADA, does the employees right to reasonable accommodation trump another employeeââ¬â¢s seniority rights when the employer has a seniority system. Robert Barnett, respondent, obtained a back injury when he was a cargo handler for petitioner, US Airways, Inc. Following the injury, he transferred to the mailroom, which was less physically demanding. The mailroom position later became open to a senior-based employee bidding under US Airways seniority system. US Airways gave the position to the most senior employee, refused Robert Barnettââ¬â¢s request to accommodate his disability, and Barnett lost his job. Robert Barnett sued US Airways, Inc. under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee with a ââ¬Å"disabilityâ⬠who with ââ¬Å"reasonable accommodations can perform the essential job functions, 42 U. S. C. 2112(a) and (b), unless the employer ââ¬Å"can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of [its] businessâ⬠, 1211(b)(5)(A) (Americans with disability, 1990). US Airways presented that their seniority system had been in place for decades and governs over 14,000 US Airways agents and the policy would trump all other requests. They had been consistent with the usage of the seniority system and allowing any other rationale to alter the policy would cause undue hardship to both the company and the non-disabled employees. The court ruled on April 29, 2002 in favor of US Airways and stated that undermining seniority systems would cause a undue hardship on employers [US Airways v. Barnett, 535 US 394 (2002)]. ADA Issue: Scope of Title III Under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires an entity operating ââ¬Å"public accommodationsâ⬠to make ââ¬Å"reasonable modificationsâ⬠in its policies to accommodate when necessary disabled individuals, unless the entity can demonstrate that making such modifications would alter the nature of their operations, 12182(b)(2)(A)(ii), (Americans with disabilities, 1990). The case, PGA Tour, Inc v. Casey Martin tests the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 and questions whether Title III of the ADA protects access to professional golf tournaments by qualified entrant with a disability; and whether a contestant with a disability may be denied the use of a golf cart because it would fundamentally alter the nature of the tournament to allow him to ride when all other contestants must walk. Casey Martin, respondent, suffers from a degenerative circulatory disorder that prevents him from walking long distances on the golf course. When Martin became a professional golfer he posed a request, which was supported by medical documentation, that while in tournaments he be accommodated by utilizing a golf cart. Petitioner, PGA Tour, Inc. refused and respondent filed suit under Title III of the ADA. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Martin in a 7-2 decision on May 29, 2001. The Supreme Court found that the PGA Tour should be viewed as a commercial enterprise operating in the entertainment industry and not as a private club. In addition, Martin should be provided a golf cart to utilize as a means of reasonable accommodations [PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin, 984 F. Supp. 1320 (2001). ] The Americans with Disability Act of 1990 has brought valuable protection and necessary accommodations to employees and applicants that otherwise may have been faced with discrimination, which was the principal goal of the legislation. The act has been instrumental in providing access to public programs and services that may have not been available to disabled Americans previous to the inception of the ADA. The ADA makes it possible for everyone to be treated as equals and prevents unethical discriminatory behaviors from being placed upon those individuals that suffer from disabilities. How to cite Americans with Disability Act of 1990, Papers
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Jess Martin Essay Example For Students
Jess Martin Essay the Theme of The Outsiders (English)Human NatureThe Outsiders, an enthralling tale by S.E. Hinton, is an excellent story about the hardships and triumphs experienced by the Greasers and the Socs, two rival gangs. This novel suggests the stories? content because the Greasers are a gang of social outcasts and misfits. This novel?s theme is very specific; people, no matter what their social background, strive for the same goals and experience the same disappointments. This novel shows this theme throughout a detailed story line. The fictional novel is set in a moderate-size city, possibly near Texas, in the late 1960?s. Ponyboy, the main character, lives with his brothers as a greaser. One day Ponyboy and Johnny, Ponyboy?s best friend, get jumped by a group of Socs. The Socs start to drown Ponyboy in a fountain. Johnny, realizing they might kill Ponyboy, kills Bob, one of the Socs with his switchblade. Johnny and Ponyboy run to a fellow Greaser, Dally, who is always in trouble with the law. Dally helps them by giving them some money, a gun, and a place to hide. They hide in a church outside of town for a week until Dally says it?s okay to come out. They go out to eat and when they get back to the church they find it burning.When they see that there are kids inside and the fire could have been started by their cigarettes, they run inside to save the kids. Johnny and Dally are hurt in the fire and taken to the hospital. They are hailed as heroes in the local paper. Dally breaks out of the hospital to fight in a rumble against the Socs. While the Greasers beat the Socs, Johnny dies in the hospital. When Dally finds out he goes out and robs a grocery store. When the cops pull up he pulls out an empty gun so the cops shoot him. The theme of this novel is that all people are set back at times and they all want the same basic things. This theme is expressed in the novel several times. Disappointments are shown when Bob dies and the Socs grieve for him, when Ponyboy?s parents die and they are upset, and when Johnny dies and it disturbs the Greasers. It is shown that the Greasers and Socs strive for the same goals when Darry, Ponyboy?s older brother, tells him that he should succeed in school and make something of himself, and Bob is always trying to make his father happy with him. These examples show that all people, Soc, Greaser, or whatever, all strive to achieve the same goals and encounter the same disappointments. The theme that all people experience the same disappointments and strive for the same goals is also depicted in modern times. All people want to have a good job, make a lot of money, and live a good life. Everyone also encounters hardships throughout their life. Their car can break down, their loved ones can die, and they can run out of money. As you can see, this theme is important not only in The Outsiders, but in everyday life as well.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Teaching as a Profession free essay sample
Running Head: Teaching as a Profession Teaching as a Profession Bennetta Trotter Grand Canyon University Edu 215 August 15, 2010 Teaching as a Profession I believe that teaching is one of the most demanding careers one might choose from. Teaching is a one of a kind profession; this career choice can be frustrating, exciting, and also very fulfilling, for those who are really dedicated to choose teaching as their long life career. Deciding to become a teacher means a lot of time and dedication, because it involves becoming one with teaching and learning. It identifies the differences in the lives of children, by helping each individual learn how to read, how to write, and how to do mathematics to include: adding, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Teaching also includes other advantages such as teaching and learning a child how to discover different elements throughout their lives, things such as plant growth, environment changes, history etc, learningââ¬â¢s that will give them the tools to want to learn, and continue to learn throughout their entire lives. We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching as a Profession or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For one to become a teacher, one has to really understand what a ââ¬Å"Teacherâ⬠really does, and what a ââ¬Å"Teacherâ⬠really is. A teacher is defined as someone who is very open minded, and has the willingness to instruct others or an ââ¬Å"Intellectualâ⬠leader a person that will create opportunities and help a student or students acquire their skills and knowledge. Teaching as a profession would go into a variety of things and become certain roles, and have certain characteristics such as becoming a skilled listener, motivator, and a disciplinarian. One must posses a positive attitude, preparedness, a sense of humor, be creative, have the willingness to admit to their mistakes, display fairness, and maintain high expectations for their students. In my honest and fair opinion, teaching as a profession to me means, that one would have to become a better person, a better listener, and learn to use their already known skills and knowledge to fullest of their abilities, also it would mean that they would have to be ready for any and all types of cultural differences and attitudes. One would have to be ready to utilize a vast majority of their time and apply themselves to their chosen profession. The last but not least of what I think it means to be a professional teacher, I would also have to say that it would mean changes in the way that one might speak, and how they would dot their Iââ¬â¢s, it would mean not to take short cuts on anything that they do, it also means, that they would continue to educate themselves, and learn new and different advantages that are offered through education. After reading a lot of information about teaching as a profession, I have come to understand and comprehend what is required and what it takes to become a professional teacher and the criteria that must be needed and used. Although I am not a professional teacher yet, my understandings are set but not foundationally set as they should be. I say this because when I read the Professional Teacher Standards, I read how it really is important to be focused, and to be very communicative with the community, students, teachers and parents. I have a little trouble staying focused at times, and I only communicate with people that I know, but I would have to say, that I am very tactful and respectful when I do have to communicate with others that I am not familiar with. I remember when I did my Practicum 1 at the Tri-County Head Start Program; I did access all the required professionalism that I needed while I was in the classroom. So I am not too lost to the fact of what is needed to become a professional teacher. The Standard Code of Professional Teaching, and the Professional of Ethics, has brought me to a whole other level on teaching as a profession. A Professional teacher has to encourage, assess, maintain, design, create, listen, respect, and demonstrate their knowledge and skills and abilities at all times whether it be in the classroom or in the community. With the information given from the different websites such as: The Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development gave me so much insight and support of becoming a new educated teacher. Their motive is to learn teach and lead. They also gave information on how to help struggling students and how to produce teacher effectiveness. As I have come closer to becoming a teacher, I am required to take certain classes, and I find myself struggling and the information that was presented made me feel more at ease because I now see that there is help that is available to me. Other information from Phi Delta Kappa International gave a lot of information on Curriculum Management, scholar ships and how to become a future educator. My future as an educator I am very excited. I never knew there so many opportunities and advantages in the education field. Me being an educator will brighten my future as well as the ones I will have the pleasure of teaching. Although many may see as being an educator dissatisfying, I see it as very rewarding. Without teachers, where would the education for our children be? I believe that teaching is the essential profession, without well qualified caring and committed teachers, how would the children of today reach their excellence for tomorrowââ¬â¢s future? Teachers of today are shaping our childrenââ¬â¢s tomorrow. Education is the key to a vibrant and prosperous America (Clinton 1998) Everyone has their own opinions of what education should be and how a teacher should teach, but, as far as I am concerned, if one is willing to dedicate his or her time, and if they want to achieve greatness then I think an educator is the way to go. I have been dreaming of being a teacher my entire life and I refuse to give that up on being stereotyped. ââ¬Å"Every child need and deserves-dedicated, outstanding teachers who know their subject matter, are effectively trained, and know how to teach high standards and make learning come aliveâ⬠(Clinton 1998). I am a firm believer..
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Free Essays on Arsenic
Arsenic is a naturally occurring element found in our Earthââ¬â¢s crust, but too much of the element in our water systems, aquifers and wells could cause serious health problems over a long period of time. It has no distinctive taste or smell. You would assume that because arsenic is a naturally occurring element it wouldnââ¬â¢t even be a concern. Arsenic causes a very serious environmental problem by contaminating our drinking water, and causing many diseases in people all over the world. In an article by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources they explain that at very low levels arsenic is not a problem, in fact the body may even need a very small amount to function. However at higher levels, as low as three micrograms per liter, it could have a very serious effect on peoples health.(1) The main cause of arsenic in the drinking water is the weathering and decomposition of soil and minerals that occurs naturally. When the water comes in contact with these materials it can dissolve the arsenic. Industrial factories also introduce it by the combustion of fossil fuels, and they can also release hazardous waste into the ground that leads to contaminated groundwater. The water that people drink that is contaminated could cause some short term and long term effects. According to the National Research Council some short-term effects of drinking water contaminated with arsenic are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. The arsenic can also cause fatigue and an abnormal heart rhythm. It also causes very abnormal bruising on the body, then a ââ¬Å"pins and needlesâ⬠sensation in your hands and feet.(83) These short term symptoms and signs are not always accurate in defining arsenic poising. There is no universal definition of the disease caused by arsenic, so it is very hard to detect the poising without sometimes mistaking it for something else. Long-term exposure to arsenic will cause chronic health problems. In ... Free Essays on Arsenic Free Essays on Arsenic Arsenic is a naturally occurring element found in our Earthââ¬â¢s crust, but too much of the element in our water systems, aquifers and wells could cause serious health problems over a long period of time. It has no distinctive taste or smell. You would assume that because arsenic is a naturally occurring element it wouldnââ¬â¢t even be a concern. Arsenic causes a very serious environmental problem by contaminating our drinking water, and causing many diseases in people all over the world. In an article by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources they explain that at very low levels arsenic is not a problem, in fact the body may even need a very small amount to function. However at higher levels, as low as three micrograms per liter, it could have a very serious effect on peoples health.(1) The main cause of arsenic in the drinking water is the weathering and decomposition of soil and minerals that occurs naturally. When the water comes in contact with these materials it can dissolve the arsenic. Industrial factories also introduce it by the combustion of fossil fuels, and they can also release hazardous waste into the ground that leads to contaminated groundwater. The water that people drink that is contaminated could cause some short term and long term effects. According to the National Research Council some short-term effects of drinking water contaminated with arsenic are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. The arsenic can also cause fatigue and an abnormal heart rhythm. It also causes very abnormal bruising on the body, then a ââ¬Å"pins and needlesâ⬠sensation in your hands and feet.(83) These short term symptoms and signs are not always accurate in defining arsenic poising. There is no universal definition of the disease caused by arsenic, so it is very hard to detect the poising without sometimes mistaking it for something else. Long-term exposure to arsenic will cause chronic health problems. In ...
Friday, November 22, 2019
8 Misused Words on Your Resume That Make You Look Bad
8 Misused Words on Your Resume That Make You Look Bad English can be a difficult language to use, and whether making out a resume and cover letter or speaking to a hiring manager, using the wrong word can leave a negative impression. By using words that are not as familiar, it can be easy to make a mistake. Because hiring managers carefully look at your resume, you want to be sure you donââ¬â¢t make any of the following common errors. 1. Compliment or ComplementAlthough most people may realize that compliment means to say something nice to someone, it can get confused with the word complement. The word complement means that it improves something or completes it, such as ââ¬Å"This app complements the others you need to get the job done.â⬠2. Further or FartherAlthough both words have something to do with distance, further represents a degree of distance while farther represents an actual distance. The easiest way to remember the difference between the two is whether you can substitute the word more. If you can, the proper word i s further. An example is ââ¬Å"I traveled farther today, but the area needs further investigation.â⬠3. Accept or ExceptTwo words that can be confused because they sound so similar are accept and except. To accept something means to receive it. Except means to exclude something. An example is, ââ¬Å"I accept your kind words, except for the comment that I should try harder.â⬠4. Insure or EnsureThese two commonly misused words are simple to sort out. Insure always alludes to insurance. Ensure means to make something occur or be sure. An example is, ââ¬Å"I insure my property, to ensure that it is protected.â⬠5. Comprise or ComposeComprise and compose are two words misused commonly in English. Comprise is an inclusive word that refers to the whole. Compose refers to parts. ââ¬Å"When this writer composes a play, he comprises it of three acts.â⬠6. Fewer or LessThese two confused words also refer to a whole or parts of a whole. The word fewer is used when talking a bout definite numbers as a whole. Less is used when the number is indefinite. An example might be ââ¬Å"Fewer people attended the concert but paid less money because of the discount.â⬠7. Theyââ¬â¢re or ThereSome similar words such as theyââ¬â¢re and there are commonly misused. Theyââ¬â¢re is a contraction that means they are. There refers to a place. An example is ââ¬Å"Theyââ¬â¢re going to the theater over there.â⬠8. Itââ¬â¢s or ItsItââ¬â¢s is a contraction that only means it is, while its is a possessive. A simple way to tell the difference is to write out the words for the contraction. You would not say ââ¬Å"Itââ¬â¢s blue blanketâ⬠because it would read ââ¬Å"It is blue blanketâ⬠when written out.Knowing the correct words to use when writing a resume or cover letter can help get you an interview for a position as you apply to different job sites. TheJobNetwork can help by scouting out jobs for you. All you do is fill out your qualific ations and the type of job you want, and we do the rest by combing through job openings and searching for new ones as they arise. You will be notified by email when jobs matching your description are available. Sign up for job match alert to find your dream job.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Brand Society of Tesco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words
Brand Society of Tesco - Essay Example While the proposed strategy of differentiation of the company products is in line with the company products and service delivery, it is still advisable that the management devises other ways to bust the delivery of the product. The company should also try to retain its current strengths like provision of products at customer doorsteps while trying to eliminate the weaknesses that have drugged the progress of the company. Intensive promotion and marketing strategies will also support the branding strategy in the penetration of the product into the consumers (Anholt, 2007). The strength of Tesco Corporation of quality delivery of its products has facilitated efficient operations of the company. Tesco apart from better business management practices also offers itself to dedicated corporate social responsibility as a way of keeping in touch with the local community. This has acted as a differentiation strategy that identifies it among its competitors like DHL and others. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Branding is an integrative aspect of an organizational identity that got its very long time ago, about 1200ââ¬â¢s. ... à This has been propagated by the fact that at the time technology was at its lowest and people had to use much energy and effort to arrive at minimal results. Branding improved with industrial revolution and improvements in technology up to the moment that it is at its pick and as well used to define the success of any organization in terms of turnover and even performance. Many organizations have given branding an edge having even above advertisement since branding itself is an advertisement (Hatch, 1997). This has been arrived at after extensive research and finding that the resources that could be used in advertising could be used in making a brand and employing brand strategies to realize results which if not more than the same as those which would have been derived from advertisements. A brand is a name that distinctly defines one product from the rest of almost the same kinds to fuel and propagate the sales of such products or services. The brand has several elements, which would include logos, signs, colors, symbols, or even names. All these elements combined in various mixes results in various strong brands. Brands exist as both global versus local brands. Global brands are those that are designed to reflect the same features and characteristics of the organization worldwide, global brands move around the world like crossfire intertwining the relationship between the organization and its customers and even other customers. This is positive for the development of the product in terms of sales and liking.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Issues in Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Issues in Management - Essay Example Investigation was carried out before Houston offered to purchase the company. Although the deal failed, Enron assets were made the largest corporate bankrupt in the history of United Statesââ¬â¢ corporations. The collapse of Enron serves as a lesson for managers and all sub-versions of company management controls. The meteoric rise and down fall of the company astonished groups of people thereby becoming a dream for researchers to unveil what led to such misfortunes; however, the entire ordeal has ever since remained a nightmare for all former and current stakeholders of the company. The companyââ¬â¢s downfall is associated with individuals born with greed and in atmospheres on corporate arrogance. However, many people kept on buying stock; thus, making it buy risk deals. After some time, Enron was then bought from the union of Houston Natural gas. In the union process, the company incurred huge debt and lost its rights to pipeline. To revive its operations, the company decided to initiate new ideas and formulate new strategies that would help to generate cash flow and good profits. On the other hand, to regain its stability, the company hired Jeffrey Skilling, a young consultant with good skills in banking and liability management who created gas bank whereby, Enron could buy gas from suppliers and sell it to consumers. This activity brought about huge profits and created new product as well as new paradigm for the company. Under the leadership of the young consultant, the companyââ¬â¢s finance corporation soon dominated the market with many contracts and good access to suppliers. The number of customers was also seen to multiply. Its gained market power was utilized on predicting future prices with accuracy. Skilling begun to change the culture of the company to much its transformed image as a trading business entity. For instance, he
Saturday, November 16, 2019
MediaCorps Police and Thief Essay Example for Free
MediaCorps Police and Thief Essay 1. Short summary of my understanding of the question and my thesis statement 2. State some obvious similarities and differences between the 2 case studies. 3. Dissect each case study with the following categories in mind: a. Narratives b. Genres c. Representation d. Ideology e. Scenes 4. Conclusion 5. Some other things to think about: a. Give concrete examples. b. Aspects of styles. These two shows are very Singaporean. By this I mean that they contain many elements which are unique to my country, elements which only within the paradigm of our society will resonate with local viewers. Homerun, an Asian remake of the internationally acclaimed Iranian movie Children of Heaven is a movie directed by Jack Neo, who is a local celebrity best known for his comedic prowess and the many comedy shows under his name. Police and Thief is a relatively new weekly half-hour sitcom shown on Channel 5 which has yet to set a foothold in the heart of local audiences. These locally produced shows use, essentially different techniques in many areas to present the story to us while making use of our experiences as Singaporeans to help us understand and appreciate the shows from their story/plot to the surprises and nuances contained within. I will proceed to show you how the techniques used are also more different than similar. A distinction between the two shows is the element of narration. Cause and effect is employed to effectively present the story or stories in the shows. It is not uncommon to find secondary stories in an episode of a situation comedy or sitcom. These are often inserted into the plot and often come together in conclusion at the end of the episode. In Police and Thief, the show starts off on this episode with Lee Tok Kong the main character of the show wanting to get under the blanket with his wife and due to common reasons of tiredness and falling asleep quickly, has his pleas ignored. This scene is related to how Tok Kong later reacts to the wiles of a less than archetypical femme fatale. There is another story inserted in between, which shows how the neighbours sons, Rudy and Rafi having an unspoken conflict over a common love interest. This plot development has no explicit and implicit impact on the main story mentioned earlier. It almost feels like tokenism has taken place, either to fill up the half hour of screen time or to give emphasis to the other characters in the sitcom. In Homerun, it is quickly established that poverty leads to a lack of options and hence with the losing of shoes early into the movie, we see the main cause in the show that explains later effects. The show revolves around how the main characters are thwarted at every attempt to obtain a new pair of shoes or retrieve the old pair. We do not see scenes that have no relation to any other. In fact the entire narration of Homerun is about a search for a cause-shoes. Both the shows have different range of stories. There is less suspense buildup in Police and Thief and this is probably due to restricted narration where both the audience and the characters in the show know the same information at relatively equal times. The only example of unrestricted narration in the recent episode was when Rudy cheated on his promise to his brother Rafi behind his back to get a chance to go out with the girl, Cecilia, they both like. Rafi only found it out in another scene when Cecilia whom similarly does not know of the conflict called their home. In this case, we know more than several characters in the show at a particular time. In Homerun, during the opening sequence of Chew Kiat Kun running errands for his family, it is quickly established that a rag-and-bone man had taken away the pair of shoes which Kiat Kun had put down. Kiat Kun has no idea how the shoes had mysteriously disappeared and hence his sister Seow Fang too. In this scene alone, a beautiful play on camera angle suffices to keep us in suspense till much later in the show. This seemingly passing top down close up scene of the gnarled hands removing the shoes helps to tug hard at our heart strings when we later realize the rag-and-bone man is blind. The above is a good example of how both restricted and unrestricted narration can be developed from one scene. We know who had taken away the shoes (unrestricted narration) but like the characters in the show we have no idea he was blind (restricted narration). These two shows belong to the 2 commonest genres in Singapore. Police and Thief can be classified as belonging to the HDB genre. In fact this plot of this particular sitcom revolves around the conflict faced by two men who live in close proximity. It has an appeal particular to local viewers who are able to appreciate the familiar settings. One example which we can relate to is the scene of Lily, Tok Kongs wife who repeats a punch line in a scene where her face is framed in the center of our common older HDB window panes. It is common to see neighbours walking and talking from the same angle for those who have lived in HDB flats. Homerun is a social commentary and even as it is based in 1965, the year Singapore became independent, it reflects on socio-political situations which were prevalent during the time of filming i.e. the water issue between Malaysia and Singapore. Another genre which is mixed into both these shows is the coffee shop genre, featuring many scenes of meeting and interactions at local coffee shops. We see this in Police and Thief where Tok Kong was being interviewed by a lady near the beginning of the show and in Homerun, Kiat Kun helps out his teacher from school who is close to collapsing from shortness of breath at a roadside coffee shop. There is obvious stereotyping in Police and Thief. Tok Kong is your typical gangster or Ah Beng in colloquial terms. He has wild, pointy gelled hair and wears colourful clothing, even for sleeping attire (Opening scenes). His heavily accented Singapore Colloquial English (SCE) (Dont play with my heart) and his love for techno music scream Ah Beng. He is put in direct contrast with his neighbour and antagonist in the show Sergeant Dollah who is a policeman. Dollah is characterized with short hair, very neat and righteous. These stereotypes alone set the premise for tension and conflict as neighbours. It is akin to Phua Chu Kang versus his sister-in-law Margaret. The stereotypes in Homerun broadly differentiate the rich and the poor. A simple comparison can be made between Beng Soon and Kiat Kun, friends of opposite ends of the economic spectrum whose relationship sours then mends in the course of the show. Beng Soon is cast in shirts, clean with well-gelled hair (in school) and stands at a good head taller than Kiat Kun. His friend however is almost always dirty, with smudges on his singlet and/or face. Even during a game of soccer, Beng Soon provides the soccer boots and he is the only one on the field with soccer socks. Tok Kong as the gangster also becomes an icon easily associated with local shows of similar genres. There is no obvious icon in Homerun. It uses a motif rather, to play out the story. There were multiple scenes of close ups of your Bata white or dirty shoes (in the shops or in the background with Seow Fangs face in the focus). Many scenes of tension started because of shoes e.g. the shoes slipping off and into a canal full of rushing water and even in the scene where Seow Fangs teacher paces as the children are exercising). These scenes feature changes in music, close ups with dialogue in the background, all to draw attention to the motif in the show. During the scene at the well with the confrontation between the two groups of boys, we see wealth being equated with power, that Beng Soon who was the rich one could actually decide who got to use the well. This is perhaps the directors ideology portraying the way Malaysia hordes over us in the water issue. The premise of Homerun revolved around three things: shoes, intelligence and power being associated with wealth. Jack Neo parodies the socio-political situation between Singapore and Malaysia using the three elements with shoes being the water, Singapore being the more intelligent country and power that Malaysia holds over us due to their superior water resource. The two shows end differently too. The end of the sitcom is close without answered questions while the cryptic ending of Homerun leaves us pondering what the director would have us think as we leave the cinema. There is no element of suspense left in Police and Thief to entice the audience to look out for the next episode, unlike a soap opera. Even as both shows make use of our experience to enhance our appreciation and understanding of the shows, they obviously use several different techniques and some similar ones to bring forth the essence of each individual story. These different methods highlight certain elements essential to the plot of the stories and ultimately help us to enjoy the shows as Singaporeans.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Is Bridget jones nothing more than Pride and Prejudice in modern dress?
Love and marriage is the theme of the best selling book Bridget Jonesââ¬â¢ Diary by Helen Fielding and the critically acclaimed novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. There are numerous similarities between the two yet they are set in different eras. Despite this, the young women in both texts have to deal with family and people in their social circles pressurising them to meet the ideal man or love interest. Each story revolves around the main female characters, Bridget Jones and Elizabeth Bennet. In pride prejudice, the financial status of the women was more of an issue when it came to finding an ideal partner, than it was in Bridget Jonesââ¬â¢ Diary. The Bennets were not very financially secure, so Mrs Bennet would arrange or attend parties with her girls that had lots of rich men simultaneously attending, hoping one of them would fall in love and find a husband. Alike to this, Bridgetââ¬â¢s mother would also take her to parties or gatherings where suitable, single men would be lurking, although Bridgetââ¬â¢s mother did not impose rich men on her as much as Mrs Bennet did on her girls. Bridgetââ¬â¢s mum was more concerned about the thought of her daughterââ¬â¢s biological clock ticking away, and finding her a respectable man before it was too late. ââ¬Å" You career girls, canââ¬â¢t put it off forever you know, tick tock.â⬠This shows that pride and prejudice is nothing more than Bridget Jonesââ¬â¢ Diary in modern dress as the issues with not being able to find a suitable husband, and having the family intervene in the search are still very apparent. Both Elizabeth and Bridget feel obliged to find a man as most of their peers surrounding them are settling down and getting married. This is an expectation put on them by society, as only once part of a couple, women are thought of as complete or entirely happy. In Bridget's Jonesââ¬â¢ Diary, Bridget's inability to find a man or settle down, often pops up as a common conversation subject with friends or family. ââ¬Å"Hi Bridget, howââ¬â¢s your love life?â⬠And ââ¬Å"so, Bridget, why is it you career girls canââ¬â¢t hold down a decent man?â⬠Bridget often puts off answering the question, with a quick, witty reply. ââ¬Å"Well I suppose it doesnââ¬â¢t help that beneath our clothes weââ¬â¢re covered in scales!â⬠In pride and Prejudice, Elizabethââ¬â¢s younger sister Lydia runs away with her love interest Mr Wickham. The couple were frowned upon, as the idea of pre-marital sex brought sh... ...Mark Darcy and Mr Darcy are too proud to approach the women and fear rejection. The men also feel slightly pressured to conform to the traditional male roles by looking after the women they love. Examples of this are when Mr Darcy pays off Wickham for the Bennets, and when Mark lets Bridget have an exclusive interview to save her getting the sack from her job. Love and marriage and the status of women in society has not changed dramatically from a male perspective as women are still expected to dress appropriately and have correct language in order to impress the opposite sex. However, in comparison to a 20th century text, the women nowadays and in Bridget Jonesââ¬â¢ Diary have a higher opinion of themselves and feel they still have to work as well as have a love interest, mainly for the self satisfaction, and sense of achievement. In conclusion, Bridget Jonesââ¬â¢ Diary is nothing more than Pride and Prejudice in modern dress as the women are still looking for the traditional love, to be swept off of their feet by a man, be looked after and live happily ever after regardless of whether having a colossal amount of money as both Elizabeth and Bridget proved.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Hunger games Essay
Over the long hot summer I read an interesting book written by Suzanne Collins called The Hunger Games. It is an inspirational book about a small district in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America. The Hunger Games is an annual lottery in which one boy and one girl aged 12ââ¬â18 from each of the twelve districts are selected to compete in a live televised battle to the death. This is an underdog story of Katniss Everdeen who is from district 12 a coal-mining district that is the poorest and least populated district. She is able to come out victorious and find her love Peeta Mellark who is also from district 12. This story shows people our age that even through adversity if you work hard enough you can do anything you want to. Katniss faced much adversity in her life from her father dying in a mine accident, her having to find food so her and her sister did not starve, and her taking the place of her sister when she is picked to take place in the hunger games. This relates to a lot of people because we face challenges in everyday life, but like Katniss we must be able to overcome these challenges and make the best of it. Katniss also showed a lot of bravery by taking the places of her sister in The Hunger Games this act of bravery is something that many people would not do. If you want to be brave in your life you must be able to sacrifice yourself for another person this is another reason why I believe this book related to so many people. I personally enjoyed this underdog story. The fact that the least likely winner of the games came out the winner makes the story great to me. I admire the bravery of Katniss for putting her life in danger to save her sister who I believe would have not survived the games. Another reason I like this book is because of the action and the fact that you must kill someone that might be your friend. It shows the desperation of people and how they fight to survive. As I read the book my opinion of Peeta change by at first I thought he said he loved Katniss in the beginning to add publicity and to get Katniss to trust him, and then he would kill her. I was wrong and it turns out that he did love her and they would both win the games because they refused to kill each other. This proves that you cannot judge some by there words but by there actions. In conclusion The Hunger Games is a book about love, bravery, and trust. With out theses Katniss and Peeta would not have been able to survive. It is also a story of how underdogs can win no matter what the chances are. It is an inspirational story that I believe everyone should get the chances to read. These are the reasons why I enjoyed and would recommended this book to people my age.
Saturday, November 9, 2019
Importance of English Education
A language is a systematic means of communication by the use of sounds or conventional symbols. It is the code we all use to express ourselves and communicate to others. It is a communication by word of mouth. Language is something specific to humans, that is to say it is the basic capacity that distinguishes humans from all other living beings. Language therefore remains potentially a communicative medium capable of expressing ideas and concepts as well as moods, feelings and attitudes. In general, the most popular language is English. In this computer age, English is the only language that any one can understand. So to say, it has become as an ideal language for expressing our feelings. As we know that we are living in the world of globalization. English language is a common language and is spoken in many countries. No one denies the importance of English language in the present time as global language. It is clear that the English language has become more dominant around the world. There is no doubt that, the English is language of communication between the people with different cultures . It is also the language of computers that help to communicate with the people around the world through Internet technology and e-mail. One of the main reasons why the English is dominant in the present time is that it is used in the field of education by universities and institutes and, they use it in scientific research. On the other hand, the English is an important requirement in most government jobs and private. English is important because for its use in different fields like: Travel Languages differ from country to country and from region to region. Thus, if we happen to travel to another country, either for business or leisure purpose, we are sure to land ourself into great trouble, in case we are not conversant with the native language. In such circumstances, English becomes a great help for us as it is a global language spoken by more than 900 million people across the globe, either as native language or second language. Familiarity to English can get us to communicate with anyone and everyone where we travel, by easily handling the situation. Education People not only travel to places worldwide for business and pleasure, but they leave their homeland and travel to another country for study purpose as well. Travel to any country on this earth and you would find English as the main medium of teaching, as it is practically impossible for a new person to study in the local language of the country. Most of the universities worldwide include English as one of their major subject. English is the first and foremost criteria whether we are applying for a job or we are seeking admission in a reputed college/university/institution. Hence, education has increased the importance of English to a great extent. Internet Though internet has developed into various other languages, English still remains as the main language for most internet users. Most of the information and websites are available in English only and it becomes very difficult to translate every appropriate page into the language of the concerned country. With the growth of the internet into education and E-commerce, English language is sure to grow. Hence, we can say that English language is the most important language in the world which is used in different fields,in which usage of other language is not only difficult but nerly impossible. So, it is known as universal language that is spoken by people all over the world.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Essay on gender equalityEssay Writing Service
Essay on gender equalityEssay Writing Service Essay on gender equality Essay on gender equalityThe issue of gender equality has been widely discussed in philosophical literature and mass media sources. In any democratic society, gender equality is considered to be an important moral principle that should be followed by all members of society. Reviewing ethical theories, it is possible to apply the core principles of each of the theories to the issue of gender equality in order to identify the ethical theory that provides the most satisfactory moral answer to the issue and the ethical theory that provides the least satisfactory answer to the issue of gender equality. There are several ethical theories that could be used to answer the issue of gender equality. The three theories that will be discussed in this paper include utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and feminist theory. Considering the key principles of these ethical theories, it is possible to identify the most powerful theory that could be used to handle the issue of gender equality. Thesis statemen t: Feminine theory captures basic moral insights in relation to gender equality because it highlights the necessity to address womenââ¬â¢s rights, providing guidelines for morality and ethical consistency. This theory is the most satisfactory moral answer to the issue of gender equality, comparing with utilitarianism and virtue ethics.Equality (Gender): Basic Information about the Issueà à à à à à à à à à à The issue of equality, especially gender equality, is an important ethical issue that requires proper investigation in order to find solutions. The issue of gender equality is associated with human values and the socially constructed process of developing values in humans. Moreover, the issue of gender equality combined with the emergence of social movements may result in the promotion of gender equality at the global level. According to Cady Stanton (2007), many organizations are focused on the promotion of womenââ¬â¢s rights. In Cady Stantonââ¬â¢ s lecture ââ¬Å"Subjection of womenâ⬠, the author continues to advocate a wide range of reforms that she considered crucial to achieving equality for womenâ⬠(p. 140). The author believes that women should be focused on developing and establishing their independence in social life and in their relationships with men. Her work inspired many feminists and contributed to the development of feminist movements.Besides, the issue of gender equality depends on the role of political authorities in finding the proper solutions. Marilyn Friedman (2003) pays due attention to the issue of gender quality in the book Autonomy, Gender, Politics. The author discusses this issue highlighting the role of government in various practices of a cultural minority within the society, in which womenââ¬â¢s rights are violated (Friedman, 2003). According to Marilyn Friedman (2003), ââ¬Å"equality, rights, autonomy, justice, and liberty are all variously interpreted by liberals themselvesâ⬠(p. 182). The author believes that liberal government and liberalism, in general, provide many solutions to the dilemma of equality of cultural minorities, namely the issue of womenââ¬â¢s rights.Moreover, the significance of the issue of gender equality is reflected in everyday situations. In the video Gender Stereotypes in Media, there are many examples, which demonstrate menââ¬â¢s relation to women in different situations. As a matter of fact, the media maintains gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes are associated with different gender role attitudes and place emphasis on the necessity to handle this issue in a proper way. Gender stereotypes can be found at home, at work and even in schools. These phrases prove the existence of stereotypes caused by gender inequality:à ââ¬Å"You just a woman with a small brainâ⬠or ââ¬Å"If I take you on, you donââ¬â¢t say anything, you donââ¬â¢t question me â⬠¦because you are a girlâ⬠(dsnook, 2009, Feb. 23). Ster eotypes in advertising are still prevalent, although much has been changed over the last 50 years in the United States (jeeprollover, 2011, Oct. 26). Television plays a significant role in reinforcing stereotypes. Besides, various female stereotypes presented in Disney Films teach women different things that are associated with gender inequality. For example, in Beauty and the Beast, girls are taught to accept that men are dominant in relationships (jonesyy217, 2011, Dec. 12).The application of three of the ethical theories to the issue of gender equalityThe issue of gender equality can be discussed based on the application of various ethical theories, including utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and feminine ethics. Using the core principles of each of the above-mentioned theories; it is possible to prove the fact that the issue of gender equality is an ethical issue that requires a comprehensive moral answer.Utilitarianism is considered to be an ethical theory that helps to determine the rightness/ or wrongness of some issue on the basis of an estimated outcome. In other words, utilitarianism is focused on the usefulness of something or somebodyââ¬â¢s actions rather than on moral obligation or moral duty (Jaggar, 2010; Louden, 2013). In the case of gender equality, utilitarianism places emphasis on the outcomes of gender relations. According to this ethical theory, the rightness/ or wrongness of human actions that reflect gender inequality can be determined by the need for assessing the outcomes. From womenââ¬â¢s point of view, gender inequality brings evil consequences because womenââ¬â¢s rights are limited, and womenââ¬â¢s independence is limited.Virtue ethics is an ethical theory that highlights the role of character traits. In other words, this ethical theory shifts the focus from the established rules and actions to the proper character traits. Although virtue ethics cannot strengthen the role of morality in human actions and decisions, moral re asoning needs the analysis of character traits (Louden, 2013). For virtue ethics, the major object of morality and moral evaluation can be an agent, but not his/her actions or decisions. Thus, this theory is centered on the characters traits of agents (both good and bad agents). Their rights or wrong acts are not taken into consideration by virtue ethicists (Louden, 2013). Virtue ethics can be applied to the issue of gender equality. Moral character traits promoted by virtue ethics can give an explanation to gender stereotyping and gender inequality, caused by evil traits of character.Feminine ethics is an ethical theory that is focused on the feminist approach to ethics. The core principles of this ethical theory are aimed at correcting menââ¬â¢s biases that can be found in other ethical theories. These biases discriminate women, promoting womenââ¬â¢s subordination, and disregarding womenââ¬â¢s moral experience (Jaggar, 2010). The major principle of this theory is to criti cize the actions, behaviors, and practices of men who discriminate women, perpetuate womenââ¬â¢s subordination. This theory is based on developing ââ¬Å"philosophical accounts of the nature of morality and of the central moral concepts that treat womenââ¬â¢s moral experience respectfullyâ⬠(Jaggar, 2010, p. 528).Identification of the ethical theory that provides the most satisfactory moral answer to the issueThere are both strengths and weaknesses, which can be identified for each of the ethical theories as applied to the issue of gender equality. In order to identify the ethical theory that provides the most satisfactory moral answer to the issue, it is necessary to refer to the strengths of the ethical theories discussed in the previous section of the paper.To start with, the strengths of utilitarianism include two important characteristics of the theory. First, utilitarianism is ââ¬Å"a single principle, an absolute system with a potential answer for every situationà ¢â¬ (Pojman, 2004, p. 120). Second, this theory ââ¬Å"seems to get to the substance of moralityâ⬠(Pojman, 2004, p. 120). These strengths are focused on the usefulness of actions.In addition, virtue ethics has its strengths. The strengths of virtue ethics include the significance of personal integrity. The major strength of virtue ethics is that it provides an opportunity for individuals to make decisions. Moreover, virtue ethics is closely connected with practical ethics, reinforcing the autonomy of individuals (Louden, 2013).Besides, feminine ethics has its strengths in relation to different issues. The primary principles of feminist ethics include the promotion of the traits and values that are tied to women. The strength of a feminine approach to ethics includes the reflection of womenââ¬â¢s experiences. This ethical theory is aimed at putting the agenda of independence, liberation, and equality in the forefront (Jaggar, 2010).Thus, it is possible to identify the theo ry that is better than others in the case of gender equality is a feminine theory. This ethical theory helps to explain the necessity of the struggle for equal rights in the workplace, at home, and in other public places. This theory promotes the increased role of diversity in human society. Feminist approach is the most satisfactory moral answer to the issue of gender equality because of advocates changes in human society based on the interests of women. Womenââ¬â¢s rights in different sectors should be equal to menââ¬â¢s rights.Identification of the ethical theory that provides the least satisfactory answer to the issueà à à à à à à à à à à In order to identify the ethical theory that provides the least satisfactory answer to the issue of gender equality, it is necessary to refer to the weaknesses of ethical theories. The major weakness of utilitarianism as applied to the conception of equality is that it is focused on certain rights and obligations an d fair shares of resources. The weakness of virtue ethics is that this theory is not oriented to principle-based ethics. Virtue ethics may create certain social problems (Louden, 2013). The weakness of feminine theory is focused on the fact that it deals only with oppression and discrimination of women. Taking into consideration the weaknesses of the ethical theories discussed in the paper, it is possible to identify the ethical theory that provides the least satisfactory answer to the issue of gender equality.Virtue ethics is an ethical theory that may praise some virtues that are considered to be immoral. Besides, virtue ethics does not involve fundamental concepts, such as duty, obligation, and rights. As a result, this theory cannot deal in a proper way with some significant issues. Virtue ethics does not highlight the role of what makes the act or behavior right and what makes it wrong. According to Louden (2013), virtue ethics is dependent on the final end which influences hum an lives, but it may not be virtuous. The issue of equality requires promoting moral principles in relation to women.Conclusionà à à à à à à à à à à Thus, it is necessary to conclude that ethical theories can be applied to different issues of public concern, including the issue of gender equality. The feminine theory is focused on basic moral insights in relation to gender equality because it highlights the necessity to handle discrimination of women, providing guidelines for morality and ethical consistency. This theory is considered to be the most satisfactory moral answer to the issue of gender equality, comparing with utilitarianism and virtue ethics.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Amy Tan ââ¬ÅMother Tongueââ¬Â Analysis
Amy Tan ââ¬Å"Mother Tongueâ⬠Analysis Essay Analysis of Amy Tan ââ¬Å"Mother Tongueâ⬠is a common topic inà Englishà assignments, and there is much content you can include to make your paper stand out. Whether you are writing your thesis or a class assignment in literature, Amy Tan mother tongue analysis is such a common topic. It is important, therefore, to enrich your thesis or assignmentà with the major ideas that are prevalent in the text. For starters, Amy Tanà finds herself in a struggle with her linguistic identity. She finds herself in the middle of her motherââ¬â¢s broken Englishà where she has to fight the prejudiceà her motherà faces because of her fractured dialectal. Amy speaks a different language with her motherà as well as with other people, and we are told how about the struggle that she had withà Englishà as a subject. She would do quite well in Math because she says, while Math has a definite solution, Englishà answers in most of her tests appeared more judgmental. But Tan does not regret anything about her mother tongueà background. She affirms that her momââ¬â¢s dialectal brought her a long way, shaping the way she perceived things, the way she expressed herself and made sense of the world. To her, the kind of Englishà she spoke with her motherà and to a larger extent, her husband made perfect sense and brought in some kind of intimacy that only her family perfectly understood. A textual analysisà of Amyââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"mother tongueâ⬠reveals her passionate defense on her motherââ¬â¢s broken English. Some of the people in her circle claim to understand only a small fraction of whatever her mother speaks. Others would not simply understand anything and looked at her mum as if she spoke in pure Chinese. Her mum is seen to face a lot of challenges andà prejudiceà from the people around her. Rhetorical analysis on Amyââ¬â¢s article reveals how people around her mother claimed they wouldnââ¬â¢t understand much of her motherââ¬â¢s broken English, but Amy goes in details explaining how she finds it easy understanding every bit of what her mother says. In this rhetorical analysis, Amyââ¬â¢s main ideasà happen to be that she at no point despises her motherââ¬â¢s English. She even goes ahead describing it as clear and perfectly normal. Her mastery of rhetorical devicesà is another aspect of her great mastery of language. In one of her many talks about her book, The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tanà display such a great mastery of language, the kind of language she had learned from school and her extensive reading, with carefully articulated grammar, in the audienceà of her mother who was in her company. She felt the talk all wrong seeing she was speaking the kind she never spoke with herà mother. Her use of parallel structure in a paragraphà she speaks of how she isnââ¬â¢t anà Englishà scholar and later in the next paragraphà that she is a writer display her deep understanding of English. Amy Tanà had earlier affirmed that she was not a scholar of the language or literature and still she was a writer. She speaks about her love of linguistics and how much she gets fascinated by language in her daily life. She takes some time to think about her mumââ¬â¢s language. The kind of descriptions it has received from people in the restaurants, banks, stores, and offices, as broken, fractured and limited. She thinks of the times when she fell a victim of the sameà prejudiceà in her childhood days. She had a difficult time with herà mother, holding her with less regard and hating her for the kind of language she spoke. Her limited English isà seemingly translating into her limited personality. People around her treated her less serious, some would even ignore her with sharp brutality, seeing her in the light of someone with some kind disability or some sort of incompleteness. READ: A Lesson Before Dying EssayAmy recalls how she had to save her motherà occasionally from the embarrassment that her broken dialectal brought. She would have to make calls to her mumââ¬â¢s stockbroker, to the hospital attendants among other services if anything was to be taken any serious. Like only the perfect English carries with it some kind of authority. It is clear in the textual analysis ofà how Amy employs a lot of dialogue to give her audienceà a taste of her mother tongue. Although she has gained an excellent mastery of the Englishà language as evidenced by a line, ââ¬Å"That was my mental quandary in its nascent state,â⬠from one of her works of fiction, Amy Tan is not about to thrash her mother tongueà as someone would expect. In fact, she does not bend so much into displaying her mastery of the literary devicesà when she envisions her mum as her intended audienceà in the stories she wrote about mothers and daughters whose intended audienceà is mainly women. She is quite delighted when her mom finishes reading her work and seals it with one simple compliment, ââ¬Å"So easy to read.â⬠Amy also recalls her early days of entry into the world of nonfiction freelancer writing when one of her bosses described her writings as the worst ever and even advised her to work towards account management. Itââ¬â¢s only her rebellious nature and the consistency of purposeà that kept her going even while surrounded by a host of critics. Her use of her mother for purpose andà audienceà is a proof of how much she appreciated the simplicity of language and just how much she wasnââ¬â¢t bothered by the critics that had been a great challenge to her mum. The main ideas that the author appears to communicate in this article are that the notion of a perfect language is not entirely the driving force behind what it is and what is not of other versions of the Englishà language spoken. Tan seeks to emphasize that there are no standard measures for what should be the right type of language. Theà purposeà of her article is clearly to do away with the prejudice that comes with other versions of English whose speakers are held with less regard. Through this article, Amy effectively delivers on her purpose and audienceà bringing to light quite important aspects of linguistic dynamics.
Saturday, November 2, 2019
How did a major religious, intellectual, or political transformation Essay
How did a major religious, intellectual, or political transformation effect feminist ideas and demands focus on one such transaction - Essay Example Some women like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Mary Tudor, Catherine, the great, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and some others have achieved a prominent place in the annals of history but their numbers are negligible on the wider context of the social order. Those were exceptional women in exceptional time who were able to rise above their gender. Though none of these exemplary women leaders were able to influence the socio-cultural role of women to any considerable extent but they were able to ignite some ambitions and desires within the women to question their traditional subservient role. The dictums of French revolution which legally denied women any rights as an individual became the foundation for the early feminist movement in Europe. After the French revolution in 1789, Declaration of Rights of Man and of the citizen (gmu) provoked women activists to demand inclusivity. Olympe de Gouges, a noted playwright, published Dà ©claration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne1 (1791) and became a torch bearer for the upcoming feminist movement. The American civil war brought forth the focus on the changing role of women in the American society. The sporadic movement for empowering women actually started making significant stride after the WWII when the women had to go out of their homes to earn and support their families. The changing paradigms of socio-economic compulsion became the major propellant for the feminist movement in the West. Basic right for self expression and empowerment of women increasingly became a major issue for the societies at large. Feminism can be broadly defined as empowerment of women whereby they are able to exert oneââ¬â¢s choices for their own good by implementing them. In the contemporary time, empowerment has become one of the most crucial issues among the women activists as it directly influences the welfare of the women and the society at large. Empowerment facilitates
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Feminist Concern over Military Sex Assault Essay
Feminist Concern over Military Sex Assault - Essay Example Among the reported crimes, major part involves crime forcefully perpetrated on unwilling and helpless victims. Military rape or other sorts of sexual assault challenge the dignity of the military profession as a whole as the issue has become increasingly common among sex crimes reported in the US. Traditionally, war victims are always prone to rape and sexual assault throughout the world. However, today female soldiers working in the US military are also extremely vulnerable to sexual molestations. Admittedly, the growing crime rate in this field has affected the flow of female candidates to the army. What causes the rise in the military sex crime is a topic for comprehensive research. In this context, it is important to discuss the intensity of military rape in the US giving specific focus to feminist theory. According to Pentagon reports, over 19,000 sexual assaults occur in the US military annually among which many of the cases remain unreported or unresolved, because sometimes th e offenders are the high ranked military officers. The most unfortunate factor is that female soldiers are generally assaulted by their own male counterparts or the individuals at the helm of affairs (Whitten). According to the estimates, ââ¬Å"over 26,000 men and women in the military experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2012; and of those cases, only 3,374 were reported and only 302 of the incidents were prosecutedâ⬠(Feminist News Wire). Many of the female soldiers who took part in the Iraq war reported that they were raped by their male counterparts; and many researchers maintain that one out of every four women that serve the military are likely to face sexual assault at least one time during their career. Erin Solaro explores the intensity and the actual causes of the issue in detail. According to Solaro, there are over 165,000 American servicewomen who have participated in war as volunteer professionals. Another aspect of the active involvement of women in the field i s that women today constitute ââ¬Ë15% of the military, 11% of the deployed troops and an unprecedented 2% of the casualtiesââ¬â¢. The author also points to the fact that no significant war failures, disasters, rapes, discipline breakdowns have been reported due the presence of women in the troops. Solaro argues that wherever bad things have been reported, the problem lies with the fundamental evils of leadership and discipline. Hence, it is in bad units women sufferer when in good units the ââ¬Ëjerksââ¬â¢ do not dare to cross the line of discipline. The feminist author is sure that the solution to this problem is not to punish women by removing them from the posts but removing or punishing the real perpetrators. To define, the term military rape refers to rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment that occur during military service. The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) collectively terms them as Military Sexual Trauma (MST). At the same time, ââ¬Ëwartime rapeâ⠬⢠indicates mass wartime rape rather than isolated cases of individual rapes. As per available reports, increases in the frequency of wartime rape might range from an estimated 300% to 400% by the end of the World War II (Gottschall) although the reliability of the data is not beyond question. According to some estimates, more than half a million people have been raped while serving the US army; and nearly 100,000 cases of military rape have been occurred within the past seven years (Koss, 2004). Evidently, women constitute the major victim group in this regard whereas men are also prone to sexual harassment in the army. To illustrate, according to the Department of Defense survey
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Applied Thermodynamics Design Project Research Paper
Applied Thermodynamics Design Project - Research Paper Example saturated) at a given temperature,as well as partial pressure of air, it is greater than the saturation of water vapour, then the water will evaporate only from its surface (Benabed, 2012 ) Usually, there is more evaporation on occupied swimming pools as compared occupied swimming pools. This difference is related to the occupant number, the activities on the surrounding environment and also the water conditions as well as the ambient air in the swimming pool hall. ASHRAE recommends the use of a correlation factor which ranges from 0.5 for residential pools to a value of 1.0 for the public pools. They also provide carrier evaporation rate equation for predicting the rates of evaporation of occupied pools. For improving efficiency, of the pools environment, these evaporation rates need to be kept at a low level at the same time maintaining a thermal comfort for the swimmers inside the water and also the pool hall space.This role is played by the air conditioning equipment. This study however aims at analysing the various parameters of thedesign of a swimming pool. The pool is an Olympic size and is located in residential location with activity Factor = 0.5. Considering these data, the other parameters such as the power load on the air conditioner, evaporation rate,etc. will be analysed (Sartori,2000) In order to clearly elaborate the energy movements in a swimming pool, we consider the figurebelow. The figure describes the flow of energy in the indoor swimming pool. It also shows the transfer modes that might occur in such a system. Air conditioning systems in indoor swimming pools are usually designed for theprovision of suitable thermal comfort conditions for users in the space pool hall. The indoor temperatures are kept at approximately 30 degcelcious (Mancic, 2014) The main factors contributing to energy loses of an indoor space pool hallinclude: Convection at the pool surface Qconv, evaporation at the poolââ¬â¢s surface QEvap, radiation from surface of
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Aligning Business Strategies and Project Management
Aligning Business Strategies and Project Management Project management has become very important topic all over the world. Literature shows that more than 30 companies fail to accomplish its project with success due to misalignment between business strategies and project management. Many companies face this problem of missing link of business strategies and project management. Alignment is necessary for getting competitive advantage and goals of its business. Top management also play important role in alignment of business strategies and Project management. Keywords: Business strategies, project management, alignment, project portfolio management Introduction: Project management has become very important and also serves as core function in many organizations. Projects are any temporary activities that have starting and finish point, it has performance parameters. Projects face triple constrains (1) time (2) budget and (3) performance. It was assumed that for attainment of organizational goals one has to meet triple constraints of time, budget and performance. Project management plays a vital role in achieving organizational goals and considered as backbone of organization. Project management is knowledge that meets the requirements of projects. Project management plays important role in accomplishing strategies, business goals and desired outcomes. Organizations link their projects with business strategies to achieve the goals and objectives. Strategies are activities that guide and direct the use of the resources to accomplish the organizations vision and goals and sustainable competitive advantage. Mostly these components comprising the strategies of the business like internal analysis, organizational structures, control systems have strong links to project management processes and activities. Project management includes project portfolio management (PPM). PPM is about how organizations controls its projects and align them with business strategies. Many organizations are working on numerous projects and they are conscious to get maximum return of their business. PPM also includes the maximization profit which is main objective of all organization. Basically projects are bases of any organization to build up business strategy and project management relation. When organizations link their projects to their business strategy, they are better able to accomplish their organizational goals. Companies should align their business strategy with the project management action to implement the strategies in the projects. Such alignments are difficult because the objectives of business strategy are sometime not clear and well-communicated with project management. Misalignment may cause an organization to missing goals, communication gap and missing link of business strategy and project management. The lack of alignment of business strategy to the project management leads to the project failure and has adverse effects on organization performance as well. . There is need of systemic approach to align the projects with business strategy. So important in managerial challenges involved that aligning project management and business strategy and encouraging individuals to participate in using emerging strategies to create new ideas and renew existing strategies. Literature indicates that some factors that helps in creating link between business strategy and project management if there is any gap between the bridge of business strategy and project management that should be filled to achieve high returns and competitive advantages. As literature shows that SPL elements such as spirit, strategy, organization, tools and processes that elements should be align between business strategies and project management and in depth understanding of factors that are missing and relationship of these factors with business strategies and project management. Portfolio management play important role in project management and business strategy linking. Implementation of strategies with formulation, receive less attention than formulation so there should be proper emphasis on the implementation as well as. Therefore, this paper examines the linkage between business strategy, project portfolio management, and business success to finish the gap between strategy formulation and implementation and linking them in a bridge. There is seen a lot of importance of project portfolio management in evaluating, prioritizing and selecting projects in line with business strategy. It is choosing the right projects and important part of strategic management in organizations. So there are a few studies exploring single aspects of the linkage between strategies, project portfolio management. Business strategy describes the way in which a firm decides to compete in the market compared to its competitors and close the gap of these strategies with project management. Project Management: Project management has become an important issue for many corporations worldwide. Many implementations of project management have been successful, while others have been considered as failure. Projects in any organization have clearly became a central activity in many companies and considered as a backbone of organization and its success means a lot for an organization to prevail in the competitive arena. A project can be defined as a planned set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations. Project management is often termed as the science and art of organizing the different project phases which may be launch of new service, a marketing campaign, building a an entire new floor of a building or a wedding. According to Milosevic and Srivannaboon (2006), the essence of project management is to support the execution of an organizations competitive strategy to deliver a desired outcome. Project management is defined as management that supports the execution of an organizations competitive strategy to deliver a desired outcome. Six-step approach can be helpful course that avoids the worst storms: Step 1: Identify the project Step 2: Determine the desired outcome Step 3: Describe each of the projects component tasks Step 4: Identify the key players. Step 5: Determine a time lines for each project component. Step 6: Review, revise and reallocate. Successful initiation of projects and its execution mostly depends upon strategy. Many companies are suffering from misaligned projects and a lack of a systematic approach to align project management with the business strategy. When organizations link their projects to their business strategy, they are better able to accomplish their organizational goals. Project strategy should be related to the projects goals and objectives in order to attain the preferred position in its competitive environment. Business Strategy: Strategy is defined by Patton White (2002) as a comprehensive set of actions or activities, which guide and direct the use of the firms resources to accomplish the organizations vision and goals and enable sustainable competitive advantage. Turning strategy into action to operationalize strategic objectives to achieve competitive advantage includes in the strategic management. Several scholars suggest that the success of project should be considered in the context of the achievement of the strategic goals of the organization (Dietrich Lehtonen, 2005; Kenny, 2006) and that organizations are better able to accomplish their goals when they link their projects to their business strategy. To ensure strategies are translated into actions they should be operational and includes some of the characteristics like structuring an organization to support successful performance and enabling success through the way in which the various resource areas like people, information, Finance, IT, etc. of an organization. Better implementation of strategic plans results in the better performance of sales growth, earnings growth, deposits growth, return on assets, return on equity, return on sales and return on total invested capital than those companies that do not implement their strategic plans. However, in any organization there are different levels of strategies presented by different level of a business which includes Corporate Strategy: It involves high level of strategic decision making and purpose of this strategy is to achieve the expectations of the stakeholders. Business Unit Strategy: The purpose of this strategy is to achieve the competitive advantage for the services and products which are produced and the decisions in this level is concerned with the choice of products, gaining competitive advantage, to meet the needs of the customers and create new opportunities. Operational Strategy: Its concerned with the coordination and improvement of resources which results in the effective and efficient implementation of the business unit level strategy. Implementation of strategies requires actions and completing tasks, and should focus on how to realize these strategies. Implementation must include attention to the following key points: Executing the work requires allocation of resources such as funds, people, and equipment. Organizational resources are limited. Implementation process requires project supportive organizational structure. A project selection and priority system to ensure strong linking between projects and the strategic plan. Managerial challenges involves aligning project management and business strategy which encourages individuals to participate in using emerging strategies to create new ideas and renew existing strategies. There is no such research regarding the framework for aligning project management and business strategy comprehensively. The literature has highlighted that there are many projects which have been executed without implementing the strategies as it has been formulated by executives in the corporations level without the involvement of the project manager. Aligning Business Strategy and Projects: Aligning the companys projects to maximize their contributions to strategic objectives takes a highly coordinated effort. Integration requires a process for prioritizing projects by their contribution to the strategic plan. The organizations to become more competitive, efficient and profitable they will need a business and project management experts working together to attain the business goals. Both, business and project management experts will work towards aligning projects with business strategy. Alignment of business strategy and project management is a major concern for any organization. Such alignments are challenging because the objectives of business strategy are not always clear or well-communicated or consistent with project management actions. Misalignment may cause an organization to miss goals and objectives. Understanding the alignment may be one of the major challenges to effective project management process. Alignment is not a onetime task but it is achieved through p rogression, which demands dominant leadership, top management support, efficient communication, collaborative work environment, trust, proper prioritization, technological setup and comprehensive knowledge about the operations of the business (Luftman, 2000). In order to achieve desired outputs from the selected projects organization should have the ability to build up competencies and then allocate those competences to the preferred projects. To help make sure the corporate projects are aligned to corporate strategy following can be kept in mind: Is the corporation committed to using project management strategically? In most companies, hundreds of projects are underway at any given time so there must be corporate commitment to the art and science of managing projects Is there a policy of formally preparing project charters? Since projects are the means by which corporate strategies are executed, it is critical that they be guided by the original corporate philosophy, strategy, and intent. Project charters are the instrument for doing this. Is there synergy between the business group and those responsible for project implementation? There needs to be early involvement by project implementation people. While this principle may seem sound, the practice of it presents a challenge. First, business planning people may prefer to plan without the help of perceived outsiders. Then, theres a good likelihood that the right project people might not be sitting about just waiting to brainstorm and analyze the early stages of a business proposal. The value for the organization to aligning projects with business strategy in a research by the Athabasca University was conducted in more than 60 organizations around the world and results showed that there were some benefits the organizations which include: Saved money and resources Increased profitability Retained customers Increased market share Prioritizing a project on the bases of its contribution to strategic achievement does not provide guarantee of project success but consistent allocation of resources is also a major task (Hrebiniak, 2006). A key point to make sure the alignment between project management and strategy included as: to carry out the appropriately chosen projects in an efficient ways organizations should make sure that have ability to do deliver the projects and programs. Top management plays a major role in projects alignment. Role of Management: Management is of central importance for the success of projects. Pinto and Slevin (1998) suggested that all the researchers agree that absence of support from management especially top management and by important stakeholder are most important among all other factors. Hacker and Doolen (2007) role of top management was studied in the perspectives of vision of the project and alignment of the scope with business strategy and project sponsorship and its impact on the triple constraint of the project i.e. cost, performance and cost. Researchers various different views about the extent of knowledge of senior managers should be in relation to project management. Some researchers suggest to the technical expertise and knowledge about the projects necessary for senior managers to develop and implement projects. Others felt that determine the line of control and to make available all relevant resources for project managers are the main functions of the senior management. There are different methods of how senior managers can be involved in the project management process. One of the approaches is not to interfere in which the project manager to all the rights of the planning to the implementation of projects. Responsibilities of project managers and executive managers is that project managers are primarily responsible for projects that are being implemented while the executives of the strategic alignment of business functions and projects with the organizations goals. Top managers should possess same skills and expertise as do the project managers Top management must carefully analyze which project should be prioritized in the allocation of resources. Resource allocation is one of the critical parts of the project management. These resources include financial, human and other resources necessary for the successful completion of the projects. Top management should carefully analyze which project should be prioritized in terms of resource allocation. Resources must be allocated to projects that are aligned with corporate strategies of the organization. More simple criteria for prioritizing compliance can be or should do projects should receive the highest priority, then the strategic projects, and then the other. With the start of the training programs, coaching and mentoring for project managers, top management can help build leadership skills, so that they can manage project activities responsibly and effectively. Problems of Alignment: Often projects fail to support business strategies and business goals it is due to the missing link, so that it should be align. Some processes factors that affect the business strategies and projects linking such as communication, top management support, competency of project manager are some of the major factors are the necessary ones to consider which solves or even creates hurdles in the alignment process. Business directors and top management are responsible for the three processes such as business planning, portfolio management and prioritizing projects while the project managers are responsible for the process of planning and executing the projects. Prioritizing projects Portfolio management Business planning Project Project portfolio management, business planning and support of business manager to the project manager while project manager is responsible to handling the projects. Choosing project from the AMCs projects and aligning that project with the business plans and top managers suggestions. When these processes are aligned the strategic elements like goals, objectives, vision, mission, values and norms feeds the portfolio element, the portfolio element feeds the project management element like strategies, organization processes, culture, and the project management element feeds projects and the teams execution of project. But in many cases, these processes are not aligned; as a result, organizations may fail to tie their projects either to their business strategy or to their portfolio, which may cause them to terminate the project or to continue executing projects that do not contribute to the organizations goals, thus wasting important organizational resources. Project Portfolio Management: The project portfolio is defined as a group of projects that compete for scarce resources and are conducted under the sponsorship or management of a particular organization. The three main well-known objectives of portfolio management are, the following: maximizing the value of the portfolio, linking the portfolio to the strategy and the continuous monitoring/assessment of the portfolio. Project portfolio selection is an important management task activity of the organization, the project team should consider all details carefully to enhance performance of organizational assets and customize them with the strategic objectives of the organization, although there are usually several projects available for selection than can be completed within the physical and financial limitations of fixed, so choices must be made to make up a suitable project. Management problems are related to the following factors, selecting, portfolio strategy and appropriate plans. The following reasons can be related with the difficulties on managing, and on selecting, the proper projects to the portfolio a) no relationship between project selection: projects entirely with the organizations strategic goals are not related to the impact on organization performance b) poor quality portfolios: organizations, generally, applicable to underdeveloped ideas for projects selected is not fair quality. To work on the building, d) scarce resources, lack of attention and executive skills, resources properly balance, often causing pressure to multitask ; f) Information overflow and lacking quality of information: Regardless of the quality and sophistication of the portfolio selection and decision tools, it is fundamental to obtain the proper information to make accurate decisions; g) Decision making based in power: Usually the decision is an exercise of power, whi ch means that there may be situations in organizations where decisions tend not to reflect the organizational future success. The portfolio management team is normally concerned and overwhelmed with issues like the prioritization of projects and the continuous distribution of personnel from the different projects to overcome the urgent crises. Although, most of the time, however, there are no resources available and when they were redistributed it often produced negative effects on unexpected places in the project portfolio. Project Selection There are more than one hundred tools and techniques for project portfolio selection hence it is not difficult for organizations to select suitable tools. It is important to adapt or develop an appropriate framework to evaluate project proposals and select a project portfolio which is aligned with the corporate strategy. Recent literature focuses on approaches rather than tools and techniques. Common principles from these approaches can be described as followings: Firstly, they suggest dividing the project proposals into subsets (Englund Graham, 1999; Sommer 1999; Cooper et al., 2001a; R̉̉dulescu1 R̉̉dulescu 2001; and Crawford etal., 2006). Each project subset can be a group of projects which will share the same strategic buck as discussed by Cooper et al (2001a) or different categories of projects which have similar characteristics (Crawford et al., 2005, 2006). This will help the organization easily compare projects by same criteria or same tools and techniques. T his is similarly applicable to ensure the balance of the project portfolio. Framework by Englund Graham (1999) 4 steps producing interrelated outputs make this approach truly systematic. The 4 steps are described as follows: a. What the organization should do: Upon identified to lead the process, the team members start listing newly proposed and on-going projects. They, then, clarify or develop the expected goals of projects, taking into consideration of organizational strategies (vision, mission, objectives) and current as well as potential capabilities (either developed or acquired). It is advisable to classify projects into categories for the benefit of looking at projects from the view of big picture inclusive of out-of- the- box thinking, completeness, gaps, opportunities and compliance with strategy. Projects classified/organized into the strategic buckets (e.g. extent of product change: new- enhancement; and extent of process change: new incremental) enable the team focus efforts on selecting the best set of projects within the categories, which constitute the right and balance mix. In order to facility decision making process, a set of criteria with weight or score reflecting requirements of orga nizational objectives (e.g. market positioning, available capacity, etc.) should be determined, modified and agreed upon for comparison and choices of projects. b. What the organization can do: the team members critically screen and evaluate projects based on consolidation and analysis of current or historical data, as a result certain new projects will be eliminated and ongoing projects will be adjusted or terminated in respect of strategic priorities; availability of resources and technology challenges, etc. The authors describe the critical few with n screen subject to criteria sets agreed upon in step 1 e.g. screen 1- fit to goals; screen 2 market size, competence etc. c. Analyze and decide on projects: based on the comparison between resources available and resources required, projects are analyzed, prioritized and selected. The team should consider opportunity costs, project benefits before costs, return value when making decisions. With the sets of criteria agreed upon in step 1, the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy is recommended. Dedicated resources and contingencies should be committed to ensure the successful implementation of selected projects. Besides, communication loop should be developed and utilized to keep changes updated. d. Implement the plan: staffing and allocating committed resources for implementation selected projects. A database should be created for monitoring, reporting and sharing. The plan is used as a communication tool to help management team and those who are involved quickly respond to change and take corrective actions in terms of identifying new opportunities and leveraging resources. It can be interpreted that completion of the first 3 steps in this process reflects the achievement of the three goals determined in the project portfolio selection by Cooper (2005): step 1 with should representing project portfolio in alignment with strategy; step 2 with can representing portfolio value maximization using most effectively its resource and capability; step 3 analyze and decide representing right balance and mix of projects; and step 4 with implement belonging to the next phase of execution and management in project portfolio management. The 4 steps reveal a loop of continuous stages, which is recognized as systematic approach. Challenges in Project Portfolio Selection Organizations face many problems such as lack of information, unreliable data of cost, time to completion, availabilities of resource, and benefits of projects. Project proposals are randomly arriving, not at one time. This requires the model or process to be flexible so that organizations can select projects without waiting until annual planning meetings. In large organizations with many business units, each business unit has its own list of priority and preferences. Besides, project portfolio selection is not always rational but it is biased by human being factor such as lobbying. People resist when there is absence of strategy or vague strategy or they find difficulties in pursuing the strategies. Changes necessary for the aligning the projects with the strategy might win approval of all the members of the organization, but when it comes to implementation, no one will be ready to take the lead. Ten Reasons why Strategy Implementation Efforts Can Fail: 1. The so-called strategic plan is nothing more than a collection of budgets and vague directions that do not provide clear guidelines for action. 2. The strategy does not correspond to market realities because it has been developed by strategic planners with no grass roots input. 3. The strategy does not enjoy support from and commitment by the majority of employees and middle management because they do not feel consulted in the development of the strategy. 4. Middle management does not think the strategy is the right one, or does not feel it has the requisite skills to implement it, so it sabotages the implementation. 5. Insufficient top management time is spent on communicating about, selling the new strategic direction, and managing the organizational changes involved. 6. No provision is made for developing the new skills and competencies required by the employees successfully to make the transition and operate within the new strategic direction. 7. No provision is made for instituting the appropriate organizational systems for the selection, motivation and reward of people in accordance with the new strategy. 8. No provision is made for creating a close fit or coherence between the business-level strategy and the various functional-level strategies that can operationalize it. 9. There are factions in the organization which disagree with the strategy because if implemented it would reduce their power and influence, so they sabotage it by deliberate actions or inactions. 10. No attempt is made to analyze the culture of the organization and identify Literature review examines four selected models that assist organizations in bridging the gap between organizational strategic objectives and project management: Model #1 Model of strategic project management is comprised of four main aspects of higher-level project management practices: 1. Strategic alignment of project: This practice refers to the extent to which an organization ensures that the projects it pursues are directly tied to the organizational strategy. This is very important in terms to see whether the project going to start is intact with the strategies of the organization for its successful implementation. 2. Project portfolio management. This practice refers to the identification of a project investment categorization scheme to assist the organization with prioritizing projects. Project portfolio management forms one of the building blocks in relating projects to strategy and can be considered as a key driver for aligning projects or programs to organizational objectives. It also helps in prioritizing and in the selection process of a project for its successful alignment. 3. Program management. The Project Management Institute (2004) defines the concept of program management as the centralized coordinated management of groups of projects to achieve the programs strategic objectives and benefits. Program management practices are inherent within the pursuit of strategic project management and are demonstrated as the management of groups of projects and the management of interactions between projects (portfolio coordination). 4. The business results of projects. Since projects are financial investments, organizations should estimate and measure project impacts on organizations from a business results perspective which may include return on investment, sales growth etc. Model #2: Project managers contribute to competitive advantage due to their skills in managing relationships and an organizational willingness to foster these skills and leverage them throughout the organization, and learn from them how to manage people and relationships across organizational functions and boundaries. Greens model of strategic project management is based on the constructs of competitive advantage, strategic capabilities and tacit knowledge management. Model #3: Model suggests that adopting strategic project management to select, manage and support multiple projects gives companies the best chance of moving the organization forward by keeping the company vibrant in the marketplace and returning maximum value for shareholders. Further, it identifies the following key characteristics of strategic project management: 1. Alignment of the following key business processes: strategic planning, strategic goal setting, and enterprise project management 2. Functions as a well-managed portfolio of investments as it: (a) allows for the most effective use of constrained resources; (b) ensures a high return on investment since projects are managed collectively; (c) it maintains alignment between the projects and the organizations short, medium and long term goals 3. A new management process embedded between strategic planning and project execution that manages project investments strategically and combines business planning and management with project management best practices Model #4: The term strategic project management as the management of those projects which are of critical importance to enable the organization as a whole to have competitive advantage There is a gap between aligning project management competencies to the selection of projects that will give organizations a competitive edge. Specifically, strategy is formulated at the senior management level and for it to be implemented; it should be broken down into discrete projects. Project management becomes a source of competitive advantage when an organization outperforms other companies through the experience and knowledge built up over time through managing projects. Also, project management yields competitive advantage through the actual selection and prioritization of projects that organizations engage in and secondly, through implementation and execution of the projects. Furthermore, project portfolio management is essential and the prioritization of projects should be based
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)