Project Management- Group Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Project Management- Group Report - Essay Example They are: initiating; planning; executing; monitoring and controlling; and closure (PMI 2008). Together these process groups have 42 activities that are required of the project manager (PMI 2008). PMI (2008) indicates that they include: The initiation process group performs a number of functions. These include defining the project – why the project was initiated and the benefits to be derived from its performance. It also involves getting the necessary authorisation to begin project activities. The planning process involves establishing the scope, refining the objectives and defining the action to be taken to attain the stated objectives. The scope indicates the work that needs to be done, the deliverables and the results that will be achieved as a result of carrying out the project (Schwalbe 2009). Here is where the different aspects of the project management plan are developed and integrated. In managing the scope of the project the work breakdown structure (WBS) is created. The WBS is a useful method that is used to identify the scope of the project. It uses a hierarchical tree structure to break down the scope into planned outcomes (Blokdijk 2007). This process also takes into consideration the procurement of material – in which case the process of obtaining the canvas and other tools necessary for painting will be dealt with. A risk management plan is normally done where qualitative risk analysis is done to identify risks. They are quantified and the responses to counter them are planned. A very important aspect of planning is the management of communication. It is critical to the planning and execution phases. It is important that any changes to the plan are communicated to all stakeholders. Other important plans that forms part of the project management plan are the budget, quality and human resource plan. A budget has to be done to ensure that the

Assessing Iran's Nuclear Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Assessing Iran's Nuclear Program - Essay Example Much of the information contained in these sources commonly comes from reliable sources as publishers remain careful to avoid prosecution, for publication of misleading information to the public. The utilisation of OSINT can be utilised in gaining essential information regarding Iran’s nuclear programme. Since the country considers the capacity to produce nuclear power its right, the country is bound to release a lot of information to various sources, which can be utilised to gather intelligence reports. Numerous international news channels and media have published reports regarding the nuclear programme progress in Iran. With increased availability of media reports regarding the nuclear programme, OSINT can easily become effective source of reliable information (BBC 2006). The existing tensions between western governments and Iran cannot support the utilisation of intelligence operatives undertaking an operation within the country. Intelligence gathering can only be undertaken through the application of OSINT. Open sources have been essential in providing the entire world with information of the nuclear programme being implemented by Iran. The plan to construct a nuclear power plant by the country appears to be at advanced stages, though the construction has continued secretly (The Associated Press 2008). This secret construction continues to cause concerns over whether the intended plant will be utilised for only power production. The increased links between the country and terrorism groups, combined with the hard-line Islamic leadership, create concerns for international security. While OSINT has been effectively utilised in gaining essential information on the nuclear programme, such intelligence cannot present information regarding the objetcives of the project. The concerns about construction of nuclear weapons remain a suspicion

Gender Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gender Paper - Essay Example Other differences can also occur in their attitudes and behaviors, as formed in their interactive settings and perceived psychologically; these however vary even among each gender. Much has been elaborated on the similarities and differences of the males and females in their sexual response during an arousal, biological functioning of the body, and the physical, structural formation of the sex. Keywords: Gender, Sex, Reproductive System, Male, Female, Electoral Tissues, Hyperventilation, Sexual Response, Sperms, Muscular, Blood Vessels, Sex Flux, Erection Introduction Humans have special abilities, which are determined by numerous factors right from birth, to development, till they form their own identities as mature people. When each person is born, the first features that define their physical identity are their sexual organs, which depict as to whether one is male or female. From that point, humans are brought up and socialized in particular ways that instill certain characters an d model their behavior. Based on the sexuality and gender aspects, humans experience various situations, either differently or similarly to their opposite sexes. These factors can be realized by examining the broad range of both sexes’ behaviors, physical responses, and attitudes. Peoples sexuality and gender behaviors can therefore be studied, and allow people to know what to expect when dealing with the different genders and their reactions. However, some of the similarities and differences put across in the social setting remain to be a stereotype, because no evidence can prove their claims. Physical Structures Males have different physical sexual organs from the females. Based on the biological sex, which addresses the sexual and reproductive anatomy, males have external sexual organs (penis and testicles), while the females virginas are internally connected to the inner body of their lower abdomen. According to Sloan, external features on the male are the penis and the s crotum, while the clitoris and labia are for the females (2002). The differences in the reproductive system also occur from female ovulation and males’ ability to provide sperms. Females have the capacity to hold pregnancy after fertilization of ovum in the uterus, which lacks among the males. With age, as the human females develop, their mammary glands enlarge, and produce breast milk to feed the child when born. Unlike males, females receive monthly cycles (menstruation), where the lining of the uterus is shed and expelled from the body when a fertilized egg, fails to be implanted into the uterus (â€Å"The female,† n.d). Basically, the female reproductive system allows male penetration through the vagina to release the sperms, female production of the ova, and development of the fetus. On the general body formation, males have distinct features from the females. Although both have breasts, the males lack the capacity to function like for the females. Similarly, the male genitals have a single function in reproduction, which is to release the sperms; this makes females the only child bearers. According to Heidi, men have more body hair (especially on their chests), are considered to be taller on average, muscular, and heavier (more on the upper body) than the females, which makes them

Robert Frost’s “choices” in ‘A Road Not Taken’ Essay Example for Free

Robert Frost’s â€Å"choices† in ‘A Road Not Taken’ Essay Making a right choice is not always simple and easy. Though it is a task that everyone comes across many times every day, sometimes this â€Å"everyday† task becomes very meaningful, and affects a person’s entire life. This is the theme of Robert Frost’s â€Å"The Road Not Taken†. In the poem, Frost uses a variety of literary devices to bring out this theme, such as metaphor, images, diction, tone, repetition, rhyme scheme and structure.   The most striking use of literary device in this poem is Frost’s use of the extended metaphor. The entire poem is a metaphor comparing life and its choices to a journey through the woods, and about having to decide what choice to make. It is an apt analogy, because in life, one does move forward, like on a road. Similarly, sometimes life is easy-going without any major difficulties, but sometimes life has big problems—and this is appropriate in the road comparison because roads, too, are sometimes smooth and easy to ride on, while at others, they have potholes and ruts which make it a rough ride. Also, when the poem begins with â€Å"Two roads diverged†¦Ã¢â‚¬  it gives the impression that this is the first fork in the road the speaker has come to. This points to the fact that in every person’s life a time comes when s/he has to make a major choice. The comparison continues throughout the poem where one of the roads is described as â€Å"grassy and want[ing] wear†, and â€Å"less traveled by† representing an option which people had not often taken up. Similarly, when the speaker says, â€Å"Knowing how way leads on to way†, it is appropriate to a real-life setting, where, after making a choice in a certain direction, it is hard to think of â€Å"com[ing] back†, just as the poem suggests. Frost also makes important use of images, especially visual ones, which add to the poem’s influence on its readers. He describes the diverging roads in the â€Å"yellow† wood, the â€Å"grassy† road which â€Å"wanted wear† and the leaves which â€Å"no step had trodden black†. With such images as these, the reader is able to visualize with clarity what is being described, and this makes the poem more effective. It further places the poem in a true-to-life setting and makes it easier for the reader to understand and identify with the speaker. Another literary device which Frost uses in this poem to give it a real-life touch, and emphasize the importance of choices in our life, is his use of diction. The common everyday words that he uses, give the poem a realistic quality, and while this relates it to peoples’ everyday experience, also gives it a serious feel. For example, his choice of words such as â€Å"sorry†, â€Å"perhaps† and â€Å"really about the same† are important in conveying the simple, yet serious matter he is talking about, because he is speaking in a simple, yet serious way. Along with the diction, tone also plays an important role in the poem. A conversational tone is adopted throughout, and this lends great credibility to the words that are spoken. The conversational tone is a positive one, because though the speaker is talking about the past, he is not nostalgic. The tone serves to reinforce the theme, of making choices and their effects on later life, in a very positive way. The speaker is happy, and realizes that his decision earlier in life is what has influenced his later life. He conveys his satisfaction through his tone, especially in the second stanza and when he says â€Å"I shall be telling this with a sigh† (a sigh, most probably, of contentment). Such a tone is often achieved by repetition—not of a kind in which entire lines are repeated, but in which certain words recur. For example, the word ‘traveler’ occurs in line 3, right after ‘travel’ in line 2. Other examples include ‘way leads on to way’, ‘ages and ages’, and the recurring ‘I’ in the last stanza. Such repetition gives validity to speech, because it seems normal, with a word being spoken again just to emphasize, or starting a sentence, then breaking off, then beginning again. This happens in everyday speech, and thus this technique helps in developing the conversational tone. The repetition is, however, not only found in the recurrence of words. It is also felt in the steady a, b, a, a, b rhyme scheme, which, though different in each stanza, retains its similar quality throughout. Such deliberate rhyming does not, as it would seem, give artificiality. To the contrary, it serves to re-enhance the smooth, steady pace of the poem and helps bring out the theme even more—the theme of understanding and accepting that our choices greatly affect us. Frost’s ‘choice’ of a definite structure, as felt through the rhyme scheme is also an important literary device he makes use of. The poem is divided into four distinct stanzas, but there is also another sort of division. The first three stanzas are fused together as one part, with the second and third stanzas joined to the preceding one with the words â€Å"Then† and â€Å"And† respectively. Stanza 4, however, constitutes the second part of the poem itself. The last stanza is very obviously set apart from the rest of the poem, and this is to emphasize its importance. It is in this stanza that Frost tells about his choice and how â€Å"it has made all the difference†, and thus gives us his (implicit) statement about the choices one makes and the effects they have on a person’s life. The realization that his choice has influenced his life to such an extent, is also apparent in the title Frost has chosen for his poem. â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, as the name itself suggests, is about the option which he did not take up, when making a decision. This is evident in the poem too, when he contemplates upon the road that he did not take, â€Å"look[ing] down† it as â€Å"far as [he] could†, and then suddenly (he abruptly uses the word â€Å"Then†) takes the other. On the whole, the poem conveys the theme of choices bearing a strong effect on a person’s later life, very effectively. Though each line or each stanza might not lead to an immediate understanding of this theme, all the devices Robert Frost uses in his poem contribute to the readers’ appreciation of it. Appreciation is, after all, the first step to understanding, and this appreciation was, after all, brought on by Frost’s â€Å"choices†.

Knowledge Sharing in a Multi-cultural Setting Essay -- Comparative, Kn

In recent decades, the importance of knowledge management to an organization has been recognized by the society, and leaders are more likely to introduce it into the management systems of their organizations, yet Wang and Noe (2010) claimed that the success of knowledge management initially depended on knowledge sharing, which was the fundamental of communication between employees. Hence, these questions will be aroused that what can influence knowledge sharing and how it can be influenced. This paper will have a comparative review of two published studies, which are Knowledge sharing in a multi-cultural setting: a case study (Ford & Chan, 2003) and Knowledge sharing and team trustworthiness: it’s all about social ties! (Wang et al., 2006), both authors have answered the questions ahead on the basis of their studies. But while both of them give us explicit conclusions and generally support that knowledge sharing has a connection with social relationship, there are clear differences in the approach each takes to the study. Dr. Dianne P. Ford, who has published in the Handbook on Knowledge Management, illustrates a result that cross-cultural difference is an obstacle to share knowledge and there is a slight difference between intra-cultural knowledge sharing and inter-cultural knowledge sharing using case study and data analysis. (Ford & Chan, 2003) Dr. Wang and his colleagues seem to be more interested in the relationship between knowledge sharing and trust. They use the same methodology with Dr. Ford in the course of research to claim that trust plays an important role in knowledge sharing, but it also can be substituted by social tie and network in some specific context. (Wang et al., 2006) This paper is organized as follows.... ...g the view that when people meet a person they are not familiar with, they won’t talk too much, so there is little knowledge sharing. Unless after a while, a belief relationship built between them, they will share more knowledge. A social tie or network, I think, is only a bridge to bring people to meet others, but have not reached the high level of substituting trust. Same with Ford and Chan, Wang et al. also use case study methodology and data analysis. But unlike the previous who choose the best site for the research, they use Wang’s working place, a technology research and development institution in Taiwan as the study site. (Wang et al., 2006) Therefore, all the study is about the knowledge sharing within an innovation team, which is a certain component of the whole organization or the society, greatly limits the scalability and extensibility of the results.

Personal Sense of Identity :: essays research papers

Identity What influences a person’s identity? Is it their homes, parents, religion, or maybe where they live? When do they get one? Do they get it when they understand right from wrong, or when they can read, or are they born with it? Everyone has one and nobody has the same, is there a point in everyone’s life when they get one? A person’s identity is his own, nobody put it there and nobody can take it out. Everyone in this world has a different identity because they all make their own over the course of their life. A person’s identity also causes a person to have masculine and feminine traits. There is no one thing that gives a person their identity, there are however many different factors that contribute to one’s identity. What is someone’s identity? Is it the way they look, the way they dress, or it could be many things all put together, or is it none of the above? To me someone’s identity is a part of their being. Nobody will ever hold it, touch it, or even see it, but it is there. Everybody has one, it guilds your decision making, your thoughts, ideas, and dreams. You may think something is terrible while someone else does not even care and yet another person may laugh, why? The answer is simple, everyone has his own identity and personality. Everyone feels, acts, thinks, and dreams differently. People may have some of these things in common with one another, but they will not be totally the same, it is like a fingerprint, unique. There are many origins to a person’s identity, their family, friends, home life, religion, environment and others. But how does it get there, you do not go into a store and pick on off the shelf. A person’s identity is developed over many years and put together by the person themselves. It comes from the individuals ability to think, reason and form an opinion. Nobody has the same mind, or the same or the same conscious, so how could anyone have the same identity as another. A person’s identity is developed over many years from the time they become aware of their surroundings, to the time they decide if they are going to college, and even as they grow old there identity will change with them. As people’s dreams are dreamed and goals are accomplished their identities will change with the individual.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know 1 & 2 Essay

First and foremost for any case study, the reader must first understand what they are researching and why. Penton Media, a publisher of business trade magazines such as Industry Week, Machine Design, and Restaurant Hospitality, was the subject of this particular case study. Upon reading the case study on Penton Media, the reader learns that Penton Media has made great progress in the growth of their company through a six year period, 1992-1998, based on the research results provided. Ken Long, Penton Media’s Director, stated in 1998 that there was a growing belief that Penton Media was generating fewer services than in the past. In 1992, Penton Media was reaching out to their readers by having them request product information through mail, which back then, that form of communication was acceptable. However, as time elapsed, technology and communication advanced. By 1998, Penton Media was providing information requests through e-mail and websites. In this case study, the research results provided two different years, 1992 and 1997. The years that elapsed from 1992 to 1997 proved that there was a growth in response and response selections to the advertisements Penton Media provided, in the business magazines they publicized for. From reading the case study the reader can build the management-research question hierarchy. The first thing to identify is the management dilemma, which in this case is: Will Penton Media experience lower advertising revenues, if alternate methods of inquiry stimulation are sought, since companies do not track the source of their leads? Secondly, defining the management question, which is: Are there publications or magazines that are generating fewer leads now as opposed to the past years? Next, the reader must ask the research question(s), which is: Should Penton Media continue to include reader service cards in the magazines they advertise for, for readers to request additional information on companies, which in turn enhances advertisement and business for the companies listed? If not, what are the alternative advertising methods that are more technologically advanced that could be applied to boost advertising revenues? Upon defining the research question(s), the investigative que stions need to be identified throughout the case study. For this case, the investigative questions are: What are the percentages of readers/subscribers using the reader service cards currently in comparison to the years past? If there is a decline  detected in the usage of reader cards, what are the alternative methods that they are using to contact businesses and companies? Is there any way to implement different strategic means of these methods to enhance advertising revenue? After identifying the investigative questions, the management questions are the next step on the management-research question hierarchy. The management questions for this case include: Will Penton Media experience a decline in revenue due to the alternate methods of advanced advertising technology of customer inquiry stimulation? Penton Media will need to make a management decision is the last step for the hierarchy. In this case, Penton Media will need to decide whether to terminate the use of reader service cards in the magazines they advertise and replace the advertisements with alternate methods of advanced technology advertising. If they do decide to implement a more strategic technologically advanced method of advertisement, the readers and subscribers will be able to directly contact businesses and companies they are interested in on a present and current time schedule. After reading this case study, there are some ethical issues that are relevant to it. The most vital ethical issue that is presented in this case is the right to privacy, or confidentiality. Upon reading the case and the forms that are included to be sent to the readers and subscribers questioned and polled, it is read within the cover letter for the survey that â€Å"All individual responses will remain completely confidential, with answers combined and presented in statistical form only.† At the end of the cover letter Penton Media asks the selected person for the survey to correct or make any necessary changes to their mailing address, to ensure they would be in the random drawing for the handheld color television. Having that information in the survey is proof that Penton Media is aware of who is responding to which questions, regardless of privacy and confidentiality. Based upon the results they received, out of 710 participants, Penton Media only analyzed 676 surveys. Penton claims the reasoning behind only analyzing 676 surveys was due to the fact that those participants were purchase decision makers for their organization. From there, Penton Media stated that the standard deviation of the survey results they received was four, with a ninety-five percent level of confidence. Out of the 676 surveys analyzed, Penton Media did an in depth follow-up with only forty  participants. Given the information of how Penton Media conducted the entire survey process, it is possible there was more room for error than Penton anticipated. Penton Media’s research team runs the risk of their data results and information being inaccurate since all of the participants that responded didn’t have their answers considered for the research. References Cooper, D., Schindler, P. (2001). Business Research Methods: Cases: Inquiring Minds Want to Know – – Now!.