Celebrity Status

Celebrity Status â€Å"Everything I do need a news crew's presence† – kanye west. Think back to the early years and recall the one role model that was looked up to the most go ahead might have to go back as far as childhood. Ok got that amazing individual in mind? Now is that somebody a person who had a lifestyle in luxury, fascinates the media and the influences the public on day-to-day basis? (Commonly denoted as an individual with fame and fortune), implied with great popular appeal, prominence in a particular field, and is easily recognized by the public or also known as a celebrity or celeb.Known fact most role models are celebrities but why? Celebrities are on TV, front page of magazines, and have their names big and bold in newspapers. Every time they turn their head or scratch their nose it’s going to make the headlines and believe it or not things that small from people with big reputation have a huge impact on the public people. Celebs are bad role mode ls because they effect children, families, and can give the wrong meaning of celebrity status. Children the offspring, the next generation need to grow up healthy and with a excellent mental state and not a fantasy trying to copy the latest and greatest movie actor out. he child needs to be an individual meaning one person as him/herself, â€Å"selfhood†. Who knows the child could be a genius and invent something great that could be helpful for the future, but never know because they are to influenced by their celebrity role model. Having celebrities as role models can also throw a good chance of bad behavior in children for example lindsay lohan she effected thousands of young girls with then good girl gone bad incident made national back in 2004 after she made the movie mean girls then later got caught stealing and no penalties were issued.As a role model she portrayed that stealing was ok and being bad is cool plus you just can’t act bad, you have to be bad! It was just that easy to set the mind of a child off track and to follow the footsteps of a â€Å"role model†. As children get older the role model gets older and will still try to do everything they see their role model do because they think it cool or want to be just like them no matter what the action is going from sex all the way to drugs. Drugs are likely to be used before age twenty six by young adults, but when celebrities use drugs it raises the chances even more with teenagers when celebrities are caught red handed by he media. It gives the wrong impression because the whole incident turns into a phenomenon â€Å"what drug did she/he use† â€Å"how long has she/he been using it† it becomes more a reward then punishment because there are now the biggest topic of the month and really miss the point that person made a mistake in life and is now addicted when they needed to be taking out of the spotlight so child viewers don’t think twice of making that mis take; but its not that easy.It also gives the impression that everything will be perfectly using drugs and life goes on perfect example Charlie sheen. when Charlie got fired from two and a half men then left for rehab he came back the same man that left but came back with a hit catch phrase duh winning and was offered he’s job back plus endorsements. Celebrities that use drugs are a easy way to influence children to experiment and use drugs so why let them take it that far? The celebrity doesn’t care about their effect on children but their own.Family is the group of people who are willing to do anything for each other and won’t let anything between, so why let a celebrity ruin that? Celebrity role models effect families nationwide by giving the wrong message all the time; like its ok to live young wild and free or better like the new saying of 2012 Yolo so popular it made it to the dictionary. (yo-lo) you only live once. If a role model says it’s ok â₠¬Å"Yolo† it’s just the same as saying its ok to do anything crazy, it’s ok go head live fast because you once live once (Yolo).That saying is being promoted by celebrities and it’s pretty scary. kids have a reason to do something crazy and then are sent to the grave and left mom and dad to mourn the day with the feeling that life will never be the same. A role model should be a positive person and have nothing but good intentions Like a super hero and doesn’t want to harm anyone or do drugs also would lead by example those are true role models. No matter if they’re popular or not that role model will always be above celebrity status!

Rushil Surapaneni

Computers eave led to space exploration, new designs of vehicles and other forms of transportation, increase in entertainment industry, and revolutionized medical and biological sciences to address healthcare issues. The Television ; Became commercially available in an experimental basis in the late sass, popularized greatly after World War II and has become commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions. ; Serves in many instances as the primary vehicle for entertainment, advertising, and news. ; During the sass, television became the primary medium for molding public opinion and continues to do so today.The Telephone First patented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell and further developed by many others; the telephone was the first device in history that enabled people to talk directly with each other across large distances. ; Became indispensable to businesses, government, and households, today some the of most ; and Has are fostered whole-wheat indwell used small appliances. Inv entions as both the cellular phone and the internet are a result Of the telephone system. ; Telephone has changed our mindset to a more complex way of thinking and continues to impact us as we move into the 21st century. The Logic Behind theSelections Overall, it came down to what saw was most practical and necessary for society and the modern world to exist the way it does today. Believe that the inventions chose revolutionized the socioeconomic standing of society to the point that allowed for radical changes in thought and ideology to take place due to these inventions. See the inventions of this world allowing for society to not only grow in the present but also further advance into the future as they can be tinkered with to better optimize the potential of humankind in the long-run, whether it be technologically, socially, or economically.

Criminal Justice Agency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Criminal Justice Agency - Essay Example To their tribute, the legal structure and law enforcement agencies have not disregarded this predicament. Several courts and lawmaking organizations have, at different times, deliberated and established special measures to safeguard against eyewitness inaccuracy. The majority of States and local law enforcement agencies have recognized their own rules, practice, and instructional procedures concerning the gathering and management of eyewitness proof, several of which are reasonably excellent. The police department is on the clock enforcing the rule of law. The mandate of the police department is to make sure the evidence and testimonies in their custody is true and give the correct account of any incident that occurred and reported to the departments. Investigation on theatre is also important to verify the credibility of the witness testimonial. The scrutiny of the sites is very important since there may be other observers who saw different happening of the reported events. Therefor e, the vigilance of the police on the evidence presented on cases makes the department of police obligated on the provision of protection of the witness, verification of the information relayed and conduction of separate inquiries of the cases to gather more evidence. That is instrumental in assisting the lawmakers achieve instillation of the rule of law to both the offender and the offended. Crime control and crime prevention Crime is a phenomenon that occurs when the profits overweigh losses. The fact that the trend of crime occurs when one finds it plausible for them to have their personal reasons outweigh their morals creates crime in its essence. Crime is a rational choice that many people decide to take and act upon their choice. The modern strategy predicament for a law enforcement agency rests among crime control and crime prevention. Specifically, what methods to use are more functional to trim down crime and alleviate public safety becomes the hard question for the agency. These topics attempts to help law enforcement agencies to make such decisions. The purpose of the topics is to evaluate and evaluate the effectiveness of crime control and crime prevention programs. It adds to criminal justice application by representation of the policy repercussion concerning the competence of these programs (Hughes, 1998). Before implementation of any crime reduction program one needs to first inquire whether the realization of each of these crime reduction programs is either proficient or inefficient. Although recently deliberation on impartiality, responsiveness, and crime control, effectiveness is still an essential thought in guiding both educational study and administration practice. The center on competence adds data on efficiency and value of performance in criminal justice programs (Cowell, & Stenson, 1991). This is due to the concept of effectiveness evaluates the link between program yield and program finances. Criminal justice program assessments focus mostly on value. On the other hand, the use of these control measure also strike questions on their proficiency in crime control. The best deliberation is a comparative knowledge on the control measures the law enforcement needs to incorporate. Crime prevention is a mandate the police department is aware if but it becomes a collective task since the department cannot function singly. The community the police is protecting needs to come up with measures to assist the police give more

Government business relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Government business relations - Essay Example Journalism traditionally sees itself as having a central role in ensuring accountability in the democracy by revealing the details of debate in the political process. The term fourth estate is used to contrast the press to the legislative, executive and judicial arms of the government (Dr. Stockwell Stephen ). But let us go back in time when the fourth estate was considered an important pillar of society. James Harrison in the first issue of his Geelong Advertiser proclaimed the press to be a "mighty engine for the promulgation of Truth". Engines of Influence shows the links in the newspaper network working to receive and share news, distribute papers and manufacture opinion. "A rich fund for the investigations of future historians", was how the Trustees saw the newspaper collection of the public Library of Victoria in 1883. This has been proved true with the frequency with which newspapers are cited in Australian histories. In fact, Alan Atkinson's history of Australia postulates and explores a relationship between the ubiquity of print and manuscript, the power of writing and development of democracy. (Mighty Engine 24th Jan 2004) The fourth estate in the earlier days carried a certain stature and was vary of transgressing the privacy of individuals. It followed government policies and decisions and debated them vociferously thereby, influencing policy decisions. Its bipartisan discussions and views were taken seriously and could definitely be counted as a force in the public domain. Commercial compulsions did not hold sway and nor did political affiliations. Journalist commanded a certain stature in society which unfortunately today is being diluted. Till the seventies and eighties the fourth estate could be considered to be the government watchdog, but with the challenges of the present day times and the government regulations coming into place, it seems to have lost some of its sheen. Globalisation, technology and media ownership have played an important role in the effectiveness of the fourth estate. Let us take a closer look at how each one of them has an impact on the fourth estate. Globalisation In this age of globalisation, the relationship of the media and the government cannot be ignored. Globalisation has provided the media with a bigger and more diverse audience. The whole world is suddenly open to it. With the advent of the internet and satellite transmission, the viewer ship for the media has largely increased. Ironically though, the media instead of being free has been bound in shackles with the acceleration of globalisation. The acceleration of globalisation has led to the fourth estate being stripped of its potential and thus making it a miniscule counter power. This new geo-economic framework has made all the activities in the mass culture, communication and information merge where it difficult to distinguish between their individual elements. (Ramonet Ignacio, October 2003) Earlier the three were clearly divided and the news was considered a priority with entertainment having a separate identity of its own. But today commercial compulsions and technology make it necessary to merge all the three thereby

Report for Potential Investor Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Report for Potential Investor - Assignment Example Financial Analysis The Company’s Financial Analysis is based on the last 5 year’s financial data as per London Stock Exchange Website (Source: Robert Wiseman Dairies Fundamentals). ... the raw milk and oil prices (Source: annual report 2011, pg 17, web version) For 2011, the Company has reported an operating margin of 4.1% (Source: annual report 2011, pg 11, web version) after adjusting for non recurring items like closure of Okehampton Dairy and Cupar Depot (Source: annual report 2011, pg 17, web version) Net Profit Margin : Calculated as the ratio of Net Profit or Profit after tax to Revenue NPM 2.96% 4.03% 0.78% 2.68% 3.99% The profit margin of the Company is quite volatile as seen from the 5 year data. The Company benefited from lower finance cost which declined from ?1.3m to ?1.0m (Annual Report 2011, Pg 17, Web Version) and lower effective tax rate, down to 20.9% from 27.3%(Annual Report 2011, Pg 17, Web Version) in 2011 but the gains on absolute basis were more than offset by reduction in operating profit. Return on Equity : Calculated as the ratio of Net Income to Shareholder’s equity RoE 16.73% 25.61% 4.89% 13.85% 17.28% Net Profit Margin 2.96% 4.03 % 0.78% 2.68% 3.99% Asset Turnover (Sales/Assets) 2.72x 2.69x 2.75x 2.46x 2.50x Financial Leverage (Asset/Equity) 2.08x 2.36x 2.28x 2.10x 1.73x The return on equity for a Company justifies the investment of shareholder’s funds in that firm. It should be higher than the cost of equity which implies the Company has been adding value to shareholders. A high RoE is desirable, it should be analyzed in its components based on Dupont’s formula (i.e ROE = Net Profit Margin * Asset Turnover * Financial Leverage) to assess impact of each of component on ROE. Based on this, volatility in net profit margin it seems has made ROE volatile with Company managed to improve its asset turnover (conversion of asset employed in sales) over

Obesity, Diet and Physical Activity Data in England Shows Worsening St Essay - 1

Obesity, Diet and Physical Activity Data in England Shows Worsening State of Health of General Population - Essay Example The same overall trend emerges as the data is further processed and assessed for levels of occurrence of obesity as primary diagnoses for the same population of inpatients in hospitals in England over the decade-long observation period ending in 2013, with levels of occurrence being the highest for the age group from 35 to 54 years, and tapering off from either end of that peak age group (Datawrapper 2015; data.gov.uk 2015): There is another way to view the numbers presented above, that looks at the cost implications of the obesity numbers. Those costs relate to the medical interventions that are undertaken to treat obesity, and this, in turn, can be gauged by a proxy measure of the number of obesity medications that were given to obese inpatients in England for the observation period. Consistent with the overall trend for the occurrence of obesity throughout this observation period, with peaks around 2009-2011 and dips from 2012 to 2013, the numbers for medicine prescriptions to deal with obesity also follow the same peaks and dips (data.gov.uk 2015): Translating those prescription numbers into costs, we see that there has been a substantial overall escalation in obesity medicine costs through time, even with costs at the tail-end of the observation period going down (data.gov.uk 2015): Looking at the data from the perspective of the last plot, we see that obesity translates to very real and large healthcare financial costs. Moreover, extrapolating the figures and adding in the potential incremental costs of medication from the consequences of obesity, such as diabetes, it is natural to expect that the absolute financial costs must be a very large burden on patients and the healthcare system must shoulder. Moving forward, therefore, the overall trend towards worsening health has dire implications for the cost of managing obesity and overall healthcare in England (data.gov.uk 2015).

Is famine a natural phenomenon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Is famine a natural phenomenon - Essay Example tion as to whether or not famine is man-made or a natural disaster, the following aims to explore the different causes of famine in a holistic perspective. It is reported that in Asia Africa and Latin America, the regions of the world which are underdeveloped, more than 500 million people live in absolute poverty. Accordingly more than 9 million people die each and every year due to hunger and malnutrition and starvation. Accordingly famine persists despite the fact that we have obtained a certain level of and development in the Western developed world and the result of income disparity is the increased incidence of famine throughout the world. What are the causes of famine? For many parts of the world famine is caused by a series of social, political, and environmental factors which have led to widespread poverty and hunger. In some places such as in Ethiopia, Somalia, and other countries of the Horn of Africa harsh envrionmental conditions and political instability have paved the way for famines and droughts. Droughts occur due to environmental factors and can be caused by a lack of rain one year, soil degradation, or the forces of g lobal warming. Environmental catastrophes have been prevalent throughout world history and famine can be traced back to biblical stories as well as to the early annals of modern civilization. In this respect then, famine can be seen as inevitable and as a feature of our existence on earth. Despite the fact that famine has existed since the dawn of time, there are also human made factors which can account for the rise of famines and poverty throughout the world. We now turn to the causes of human made famines and turned to exploration of our case study, Somalia. The African continent, although seen by many as the cradle of humanity and endowed with many natural resources, is home to some of the poorest countries on the planet. Many of these countries are beset by famine, arguably the greatest indicator of poverty known to

Comprehensive Strategic Case Analysis of Real Chocolate Study

Comprehensive Strategic Analysis of Real Chocolate - Case Study Example The company is noted for its perfection in hand made gourmet chocolate made from finest quality ingredients with no artificial preservatives added. This paper presents a strategic analysis of the case real chocolate company using some analytical tools such as the PESTLE framework, Porter's five forces and competitive advantage etc. The paper is structured as follows, in part one using the PESTLE framework the paper analyses the environment in which the company is operating based on the case, the Five forces framework of Porter also help us to beef our analysis. Part two of the paper carries out an internal analysis of the real chocolate company, by using basic financial ratios, the SWOT matrix, to identify its competitive advantage and resources capabilities while part three of the paper now uses Porters generic strategy and the TOWS matrix. In the concluding part of the paper, using the balance scorecard some recommendation are made. PESTEL framework is used here because the analysis is concerned with the Macro-environmental influences which can better be analysed by use of the PESTEL framework. Johnson et al (2006) states that the PESTEL framework is a framework that can be used to categorise the factors that influence the business environment of an organisation into six main types including: Political Influences, Economic influences, Technological influences, Social Influences, Environmental influences, and Legal influences. (See appendix 1). The political environment of the United States was unstable following the period of the case with the then Republican government loosing popularity because of the war in Iraq the tooth for tat with Iran, its neglect of Russian on key international issues. The situation was further made worst by its war for peace captioned "war against terror". Thus, at the time of the case, the poor political climate of the States must have affected the operations of real chocolate company international expansion. In 2006, the political situation of the countries was the beans are grown affected production negatively. Economic factors that affected real chocolate companies from the case, prices vary due to monetary fluctuations, raw materials are sources from other countries, the trade between US and Canada were the stores are based are liable to exchange rate fluctuations. Social factors include growth in population. It was reported in June 2006, that the black pod, frosty pod, and witches' broom di seases could adversely affect the cacao beans if these plant diseases are not controlled. Obesity is becoming a major concern in the USA. In 1986, the Centers for Disease Control reported that just eight states had 10 to 14 percent of the residents obese. Technological factor offers real chocolate company an opportunity of automated production without affecting

Essay of Narration Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Of Narration - Essay Example In vain, he tried to bring himself to understand how he could do foolish enough to attempt cheating in exams, yet he had never succumbed to this temptation even once. His mind paced to and fro, as if in an attempt to cushion him from the glaring disgrace that stared him in the face. That he is diligent and a promising young man, people readily agreed. All his continuous assessment test papers had averaged above seventy percent. The fact that this was his first semester underscored further, the bright prospects of success that Joe had ahead of him, both in campus life, and thereafter. Indeed, Joe was a stark contrast of his peers who were grappling with the new concepts that were being introduced to them. The contrast that differentiated Joe from his peers surpassed matters of impeccable academic performance. Unlike his friends who tinkered campus life with fun, Joe was an orphan who knew that the brightness of his success depended on his academic excellence. A first born among four siblings, Joe’s plate of responsibilities was indisputably full. Finishing campus with first class honors, landing a decent job and supporting his three brothers were the main objectives that lingered frequently in his mind. However, the most immediate objective that Joe shouldered apart from his studies was processing the family’s inheritance, since his parents had died without having written a will. This task, Joe had to juggle with his studies. As such, no lady had managed to squeeze herself into Joe’s life and time yet. Nevertheless, with all his commitment and focus, little had Joe known that his busy schedule had slowly started eating into his academic time plan. It was just three weeks ago when he copied down the exam timetable that had signaled the end of the semester. One of the second continuous assessment takeaway tests had not been handed in. The lecturer’s deadline was firm, to the effect that all essays had to be handed in before the

World Religions 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

World Religions 2 - Essay Example However, earlier the doctrine of karma combines together with caste doctrine and came up with another view of the universe which does not please lots of Hindus. The Law of Karma is considered to be as the most essential Hinduism doctrine. According to the Law of Karma, it is an esteem principle that people actually reap what they sowed. This justice principle requires that every single deed or thought whether it is good or bad is counted when analyzing how a particular person will be sent on earth in their next life. Apart from any other religion, Hinduism is one of those religions that emphasize more on it. It is of the firm belief that a person having bad karma is born repeatedly in inferior human castes, or even in animals, and is not released until or unless they are not reborn in Brahmin, or other minor caste. No one can change or modify the fact that a person is exactly what he or she is supposed to be in their lives. However, in their existing life, if people do good karma the y can modify or change their future lives as per their wish. The Samsara doctrine is that a soul is sent to earth number of times; nevertheless, they appear in a different body according to their karma. The eternal soul transforms bodies just like a person modifies old or worn-out clothes. There is no end to karma, it has nothing to do with whether a body is dead or alive, and therefore, its power may be extended through various souls’ incarnations. Avatar and its Function Avatar means incarnation, a theory that the God is actually born. However, he appeared himself in a flesh body. According to Hindu concept, an Avatar is basically a body irrespective of whether it is human or not, and its purpose is of deity or cosmic entity. This avatar concept is more often related with Vishnu, who is known as a sustainer or preserver within the Trimurti Hindu Gods. He is basically one and only ultimate God who is followed by Vaishnavism. Avatar of Vishnu normally descends for some specif ic purpose. An extension is observed in the number and changes in identities quite often as per local inclination. Bhagavad Gita portrays the distinctive role of Vishnu’s avatar, that is, to bring righteous or dharma back to the cosmic and social order (Matthews, 91). The Vishnu’s descents are also essential to his tradition and teaching, while the descriptions of different deities are not strictly reliant on the stories of avatar associated with them. The ten greatest Vishnu’s avatars are communally known as the Dasavatara; Vishnu actually went through ten different avatars, for instance, another human, tortoise, boar, etc.: 1. The fish avatar Matsya who saved Manu’s life. 2. Avatar of a tortoise Kurma, who helped out in Samudra Manthan. 3. Boar-avatar Varaha rescued earth from an ocean, by assassinating Hiranyaksha the kidnapper-demon. 4. Half man-half lion avatar Narasimha, 5. Dwarf-avatar Vamana. 6. Parashurama, sagacious with the axe. 7. Ramayana her o Rama, the Ayodhya king. 8. Dwarka king, Krishna the Bhagavad Gita’s reciter. 9. Buddha, the enlightened one 10. Kalki means destroyer of foulness, the one who is expected to show up when Kali Yuga end. Hinduism is a very diversified and interesting Religion From the very beginning, Hinduism has always encouraged a diversity of practices and beliefs. A Hindu initiates with the direction from the Vedas that is the scriptural basis is independent of widen manifold expressions of actions as well as faith. Hinduism is a bit more complex rather than other religions. The ancient writings of Hindus speak of space and time in a manner that reel the thoughts of all except modern physicists and astronomers. Hinduism is in agreement with black holes and island

Traffic Jam Essay Example for Free

Traffic Jam Essay Traffic jam is one of popular issue in over the world in general and Vietnam’s big cities in particular. The scientists and Vietnam Government have found out the causes of this problem, one of main causes is the traffic participant’s awareness. These include the knowledge about traffic regulations, respecting for the traffic policeman’s controlling and behavior in the streets. As we know, there is a huge number of people living in big cities, while the people who leave the countryside for the city to work and study make up a large proportion of population. Many of them do not have enough knowledge about traffic rules. On the other hand, they carry the countryside’s lifestyle to take part in traffic in a big city. Therefore, they do not know how to go correctly in a complex traffic. According to a sociology research, the inhabitant’s knowledge about traffic rules is so bad, among 360 answerers were only 8% said that they know and understand all of traffic regulations, 78% said that they just know some simple regulations and 16% said that they do not know any rule of traffic. Another important cause is people’s consciousness to execute the traffic rules. Maybe they know about traffic regulations very well but they do not respect because they think that it is not important even there is the control of policeman. For example, they know that when the red light is on they have to stop but they pass intentionally. Following the statistic of Hanoi Traffic Police Apartment, there were about 991,000 peoples broke the law with amount of penalty was 50 billions Vietnam dong in 2005. By 2006, it increases to 1 300 000 peoples and 100 billions Vietnam dong. And in 7 months of early 2007, there were approximate 700,000 cases broke the traffic regulations. The increasing infringement the rule help to raise traffic jam.

The Rationales And Strategies For Change Management Essay

The Rationales And Strategies For Change Management Essay In this highly competitive global market organizations are pron to any change in global economic environment. The rise of highly efficient global and domestic competitors, the rapid technological development and global economic downturn like that of 2007, are some of external and internal pressures that have forced organizations to change the way they manage their business processes. In order to increase their efficiency, minimize their operation cost and increase their competitiveness, organizations are going through changes such as Downsizing, implementing new technology or merger. Considering the current economic downturn many organizations took drastic measure to insure their survival in the global market by downsizing their operation to the level where they can stay competitive. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview on the rationale behind organizations going through change and the strategy implemented by organization. Accordingly, the paper examined the rationale and strategies used by changing organizations: GM Holden, Ford and Fletcher building supply, due the current economic crisis. Organizational change-Downsizing For decades because of instability in the global business environment organizations often finds themselves facing the need to change their way of operations. The current economic crisis which started in 2007 was a good scenario where many organizations had to take Transformative change to counter slowing global economy (Brown and Harvey 2001). The demand for product and services worldwide slammed to the lowest level which forced organizations to downsize their operations and employee number in order to minimize their operational costs. In 2009 car manufacturing company GM-Holden downsized its vehicle production to 310 a day. Holden closed its afternoon shift and operate only one shift per day. Even though Holden downsized its vehicle production it managed to keep its 3000 workforce at Elizabeth plant. The production line operates in two teams, each working one week on and one week off (The Age 2009). Similarly Ford car manufacturing company cut a round 350 employees in 2008 and close d it Geelong engine manufacturing plant in 2010 (The Age 2008). The other organization to downsize in 2009 was Fletcher Building Supply Company where a bout 2500 staff members was slashed across all operations inline with falling demand for building material around the world (The Australian 2009). From the above example we can clearly see that downsizing was the strategy implemented in countering the challenges these organizations were facing in the global market. Downsizing is a set of activities designed to improve organizations performance and by scaling down business processes, workforce and operational costs (Farrell and Mavondo 2005). In case of Holden the company prefer to keep its employee while it reduces the output while Ford and Fletcher prefer to downsize their employee and close down some of their operations. The rational for the change including external and internal pressures? According Chief executive Jonathan Ling of Fletcher (2009), due to slowing down in construction of residential houses around the world the company have taken a range of initiative to scale down manufacturing capacity of the company by retrenching workers and closing down braches to keep the profit margin. This was echoed by Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary (2008) who claims that the demand in six-cylinder vehicle and further deterioration in global economy forced Ford to shade some employee and closed down its engine manufacturing plant in Geelong. According to Holdenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Spokesman Scott Whiffing (2009), Holden downsized its volume of production due to the falling demand of its V6 vehicles and the scraping of its G8 US lucrative export deal by its Parent company General Motors (GM). In addition, the increasing demand for smaller and fuel efficient cars in global market forced Holden to shift from manufacturing bigger fuel consuming cars to small cars that are economical for consumers. From the above reasons given by these organizations, global financial crisis was the external factor causing companies to take drastic transformative changes in order to survive in this highly competitive global market. The internal reason is the need to satisfy their shareholders by cutting costs to keep the profit margin. In addition, these organizations fail to have vision in to the demand of the market place. Car manufacturing companies like Holden and Ford failed to notice the shift in demand before the financial crisis hit the global market. This allows companies like to Toyota to easily out pace Holden and Ford and become dominant in the market place. Change Strategy used by Organization There are different strategies to implement planned organizational changes. It could be either incremental or transformative change strategy. In the case of Holden the company has implemented Participative change which is incremental transformation. During downsizing employees were participating in the planning of the change and they show willingness to work one week on and off to help the company challenge the current economic slowdown. Holden managed to keep it work force which will enables the company to cope with production of new small cars in 2010 (The Age 2009). In the case of Ford it uses Dictorial transformation strategy to implement its transformative change from being only a large car maker to add small car to its line-up by 2011. Similarly Fletcher is undergoing Dictorial transformation by downsizing its employee and closing down its manufacturing to insure its balance sheet is up float. According to Fletcher, it would also impose a freeze on remaining staff salaries and directors fees for 2010. 2.0 Comparing the Rationales and Strategies Are there commonalities that emerge? Despite of different strategies companies could implement during in need of change to secure their survival, there is a trend emerging where downsizing seem the only solution exercised by many CEO during time of crisis. Most organizations cut back their work processes or their worker during economic down turn, however researches shows down sizing is becoming a common practice regardless of the status of the economic environment(Jeffrey and Pfeffer 2010). Only one in six organizations interviewed in 1995 responded not to have downsized between 1993 and 1995(Bordia, Hobman, Paulsen, and Tourish, 2004). For example Fletcher decision to downsize their production and manpower, seems that the company was following what other organization was doing in the global market. The organization was reacting to the temporary problem arisen during the financial crisis. The shrinking market for large vehicles around the world forced car manufacturing company like Ford to lay off their worker and close down their worker. The downsizing was in response to drop in demand and due to shift of product market. Similarly Holden reacted to the crisis by cutting down product size. In all cases above, downsizing was the solution use by these organizations to cut their operational cost. It seems that they all have the same reason why they implement downsizing as strategy to face the financial but they have different way implementing it. Are some rationales and strategies presented as more legitimate than the others? In your option why might be the case? Some of the rationale and strategy presented are more legitimate than the others. If we take in the case of Holden the organization seem to understand the rationale well when they implemented downsizing as their strategy. It is important they cut down their production volume however since the problem is temporary the solution is also temporary. Holden use the situation as their advantage to structure their business processes and prepare for the future competition in the global market. The reason behind not to let go of their worker was firstly the organization valued the skilled workers who would necessary when the company introduce new small car model in 2010. For that reason the company avoided not only the cost involving laying of workers but also rehiring (Jeffrey, and Pfeffer, 2010). Secondly Holden understood the extent to which downsizing could impact the moral of the workers that are staying behind. According annual investigative industry report subsequent reductions in manpo wer have negative impact on performance (Farrell, and Mavondo, 2005). In addition Holden took involuntary downsizing with the participation and consultations of its employee. This helped Holden to minimize employee distrust on the organization. In contrary Fletcher Pty seems to care about fixing their balance sheet. The company seems to miss that the current slump in residential housing was not as result of over supply instead was due to financial crisis. The demand for residential construction is still high but it slowed down due to affordability. When the demand is high again Fletcher will be in bad position compare to its competitors. Where as Ford didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have choice it needed to cut down staff and downsize its production at Geelong plant was due to aging model of its four-wheel model and its small car was imported as the result it was necessary in long-term to downsize it business processes. There fore Ford took downsizing associated with long-term business processes restructuring (Farrell, and Mavondo, 2005). There fore its legitimate to implement downsizing in the time of crisis however it should not only focused on the current issue but the long-term strategy to gain competitive advantage in the global market. To what extent are single or multiple rationale and strategy utilised? What conclusion can you draw from these? There are circumstances in which layoffs are necessary for a firm to survive. Some time changes due to technological implementation makes downsizing feel like only solution. In the current economic crisis downsizing was a major strategy to be implemented by many organization. The external and internal pressure that generated from this crisis was the reason behind these changes. In many cases organization are mainly interested in finding an immediate solution to the crisis rather than long-term solution. This is because organizations are mainly concerned with the shareholder interest rather than the local economy or interest of employee (Burdos, 2002). In case of Holden, Ford and Fletcher downsizing was the only strategy implemented to cut cost of operation and restructuring purpose. This shows that in time crisis cost cutting is the prime target of an organization to stay competitive in the global market.

Effectiveness Of Communication In Project Management

Effectiveness Of Communication In Project Management A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result (PMI, 2008, pg. 5). A project is a sequence of unique, complex and connected activities having one goal or purpose and that must be completed by a specific time, within budget, and according to specification (Wysocki and McGary, 2003, p. 3). A project comprises of number of activities that must be completed in some specific order or sequence according to their technical requirements. Activities in a project are unique, complex and connected in a sense that no two activities can occur under the same conditions which make them unique; the activities are not simple, and the output of one activity becomes the input to another which makes them connected (Wysocki and McGary, 2003). The most important difference between the management control of on-going operations and the management control of projects is that the on-going operations continue indefinitely, whereas a project starts, moves forward from one milestone to the next, and then stops (Anthony and Govindarajan, 2005, p. 790). Projects are temporary, unique and require progressive elaboration (Gardiner, 2005, p. 2). The first characteristic is that projects have a definite life span and they exist for a limited time varying from few days to several years although its end products may sustain indefinitely. This temporary nature of project indicates a definite beginning and an end. The end is reached when the objectives of the project are achieved; the need for project no longer exists or the objectives of the project cannot be met due to lack of resources and the project is terminated. The second characteristic is that each and every project will be different from other projects in their own way. The last characteristic is that as the project progresses, work required is slowly defined with information being added over time (Gardiner, 2005). A project usually has a single objective and the time horizon is the end of the project. The objective of a project is to produce a satisfactory product, within a specified time period, and at an optimum cost (Burke, 2007). Projects often involve trade-offs between scope, schedule, and cost (Gardiner, 2005). Less scope might mean less costs or a shortened schedule leads to overtime and thus increasing costs. Plans for projects can be changed frequently and drastically. A project begins when management has reviewed the nature of what is to be done in the project and approved it. The project ends when its objective has been accomplished, or when it has been cancelled. Projects can be of various durations. Some project may last for a few days, a few weeks, or several years. Its content can be similar to work done before, or unlike anything ever done before (Burke, 2007). Most projects start small, build up to a peak activity and then taper off as completion near (Anthony and Govindaraja n, 2005). An international project is a project that involves multiple locations, entities, organizations and business units (Lientz and Rea, 2003). International projects typically are simultaneously multicultural projects relating to diverse cultures be it national, organizational, or functional cultures (KÃ ¶ster, 2010, p.3). In international projects, stakeholders and organizations who have different cultural and educational background work together. International projects are different from national projects because of language and dialect variations; religious practices; legal, regulatory and reporting requirements; technology level differences in different areas (Lientz and Rea, 2003). The difference between standard projects and international projects are shown in the table below: Attribute Standard projects International Projects Organizations Single Multiple organizations and departments System and technology Homogeneous Multiple systems Culture Single and common culture Multiple, varied cultures Organization Can be focussed on the project Many other competing demands for resources Self-interest More easily understood More complex to understand Table 1 Comparison of standard and international projects (Lientz and Rea, 2003) In short, a project can be considered as a series of activities and tasks that have A specific objective Defined start and end dates Consume human and nonhuman resources Are multifunctional 2.2. Project Life Cycle A project can be considered to have a life-cycle that is divided into four phases. Those phases are: Initiation and definition, Planning and development, Execution and control and finally Closure (Gardiner, 2005; Burke, 2007; Keeling, 2000). A clear understanding of these phases permits the project manager to control resources effectively to achieve the project objectives. D:DocumentsMscDissertationRequiredPlc.JPG Figure 2 Project Life Cycle (Gardiner, 2005) 2.2.1 Initiation and definition This phase represents the start of the project. This is a conceptual phase which includes the preliminary evaluation of an idea (Kerzner, 2006). This phase sets the scope of the project (Gardiner, 2005; Keeling, 2000). It forms the basis for deciding if a particular function or feature is within the scope of the project. This is the phase where new ideas and options are considered and tested to ensure the project objectives can be achieved making use of resources effectively (Burke, 2007). The project ideas are usually derived from the identification of a demand, an available resource or a need (Potts, 2002). The initiation and definition phase is mainly about formulating goals and strategies (Keeling, 2000). 2.2.2 Planning and development During the planning phase, the time plan is set into detail and the planning of the project is conducted with great accuracy. In the project planning phase, a project planning team specifies the rough estimates that were made when it was decided to implement the project. The project planning phase is often the most challenging phase for a project manager as he/she needs to make an educated guess of the stakeholders to be involved, resources and equipment needed to complete the project (Wysocki and McGray, 2003). The project manager needs to plan communications and procurement activities and create a comprehensive suite of project plans which set out a clear project roadmap ahead (Gardiner, 2005). Planning helps in reducing uncertainty, increases understanding of the goals and objectives to be achieved and improves resource efficiency (Wysocki and McGray, 2003). Thus detailed specifications for the product, time schedules, and cost budget are prepared and a management control system, a task control system and an organization chart developed. Furthermore a responsible manager is identified for each work package. Even on projects with little complexity a plan for planning exists and the planning process itself can be seen as a subproject (Anthony and Govindarajan, 2005). 2.2.3 Execution and control This is the phase in which the plans are put into operation (Keeling, 2000). The rate of expenditure is at its peak in this phase (Gardiner, 2005; Burke, 2007). Executing the plan involves four steps (Wysocki and McGray, 2003) Identify the specific resources that will be required to accomplish the work defined in the plan. Assign workers to activities. Schedule activities with specific start and end dates. Launch the plan. No matter how attentive the team is when creating the plan, the project work may not go according to plan. There may always be some schedule slips (Wysocki and McGray, 2003). To minimize this, the progress of the project should be regularly monitored. This is usually done in the controlling phase. Completed work is measure against the plan to monitor the progress of the project and avoid potential problems which may occur in the future. 2.2.4 Closing Closing a project means that the project has been completed and the results of the project can be submitted to the client. The closing phase evaluates what occurred during the project and provides historical information for use in planning and executing later projects (Keeling, 2000; Kerzner, 2006). 2.3. Role of Project Manager The role of project manager is to attain the project objectives (Gardiner, 2005). The project manager must be experienced, capable, and competent in getting the project work done on time, within budget and according to specification (Wysocki and McGray, 2003). The project manager must simultaneously see to the needs of the sponsor and other stakeholders, manage the project life cycle and the performance of the project team, including his or her performance (Gardiner, 2005). It is a role that involves a mix of abilities, combining management with leadership and political awareness (Pinto, 2000). The project manager is responsible for coordinating and integrating activities across multiple, functional lines. The integration activities performed by the project manager include activities which are necessary to develop a project plan; execute a plan and to make changes to the plan (Kerzner, 2006). A project manager must be able to understand the project detail but manage from the overall perspective (PMI, 2008). As an architect of the project plan, the project manager must provide complete task definitions; resource requirement definitions; major time table milestones; definition of end item quality and reliability requirements and the basis for performance measurement (Kerzner, 2006). Project managers influence people to take action (Gardiner, 2005). This requires an ability to communicate in a style appropriate for the individual concerned. If communication in the project is of low quality, the project will be more likely to fail (Armstrong, 1992). People working within a project always communicate but the quality of the communication must be high. The purpose and direction of the project lie on the ability of the project manager to communicate well with the partners within the project (Briner et al., 1996). One important role of the project leader is to create active communication among the project members by staying in touch with individuals and passing information between different members and between them and the funding organization (Briner et al., 1996). The project manager must be able to convert the inputs (i.e. resources such as capital, materials, equipments, facilities, information, personnel etc.) into output of products, services and ultimately profi ts (Kerzner, 2006). In order to do this, the project manager needs strong communicative and interpersonal skills, must become familiar with the operations of each line organization and must have knowledge of the technology used (Kerzner, 2006). Project leader should have high level of communication skills to be able to successfully manage with the project. The project managers role is like a spider weaving the web and should be the centre of communication and events (Briner et al., 1996). One of the major responsibilities of the project manager is planning. If project planning is performed correctly, then it is conceivable that the project manager will work himself out of the job because the project can run itself (Kerzner, 2006).The chief executive role of the project manager involves more than that of being accountable for the activities of the project (Cusworth and Franks, 1993). It implies that the manager is expected to make things happen by active involvement. The manager role as co-ordinator is vital in co-ordinating the efforts of the project team and the stakeholders. The project manager should define the ethics, norms and values of their project team, establishing the atmosphere of the organization and the way that the various project tasks are approached. The project managers role as a diplomat requires high level of sensitivity and good negotiating skills (Cusworth and Franks, 1993). He/she must be able to negotiate the relationship between the project and its environment and must be able to ensure the political support. The project manager along with his/her team should brainstorm to decide who the various stakeholders in the project might be. The project manager should go out and talk to all of those stakeholders and develop the necessary interviewing and probing skills which enable him/her to draw out of them what their expectations are. Often, the stakeholders are uncertain about what they want (Potts, 2002; PMI, 2008). The project manager should engage in a dialogue with them to help them to think through their expectations (Jandt, 2007). The project managers initial consideration of stakeholder expectations will help him/her to begin to understand the kinds of resources the project might require and will ensure positive outcome (PMI, 2008). Talking about resources does not mean only talking about tangible resources of money, time and materials, but also about those intangible resources of technical skills, non-technical managerial and communication skills, and the vital intangible of commitment and support from particular people within the project organisation and outside it (Jandt, 2007). The project manager should need to map the risk that may occur in a project by going through a structured process (PMI, 2008). Such process might include: brainstorm possible risks; considering what was wrong in similar projects previously; clustering into related topics; weighting-seriousness and probability; focusing on the very serious and highly probable; defining the project type, and review typical risks; planning how to run the project with the risks in mind. Highlight where in the project the risks will be most crucial; deciding how to reduce the risks so that the chances and consequences of failure are minimised. The project can be considered as temporary organization because it has limited time frame, limited budget, specific goals and activities (Maylor, 1999). Some of such temporary organizations might be inter-organizational projects that involve many organizations having different specialties or expertise (Maylor, 1999). In such projects, it is very important for the project manager to ensure the flow of information from the different organizations involved within the project. The flow of information is vital for the success of such project or organization (Burke, 2007). Since these innovation projects are of interdisciplinary and innovative, the share of experiences, knowledge, and the cooperation in different stages of the project development become absolute necessary for its success. Managing international projects that are of multi organizational type is not an easy task, especially when these organizations are from different technical, cultural, political backgrounds and have different management style in their approach for handling a task (Lientz and Rea, 2003; Koster, 2010). A careful and detailed preparation of projects, especially for inter organizational ones due to their complexity, in their planning phase is vital for their success. The manager should have high experience in planning such projects. To summarize things up, the project manager should have the following attributes Ability to select and develop an operational team. Leadership skills and management ability. Ability to anticipate problems, solve problems and make decision. Ability to integrate the project stakeholders. Operational flexibility. Ability to plan, expedite and get things done. Ability to negotiate, persuade and make deals. Understand the environment within which the project is being managed. Ability to review monitor and apply control. Ability to keep the stakeholders and client happy. COMMUNICATION: ITS ROLE AND EFFECTIVENESS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT 3.1 Definition of Communication Communication is a process in which information is transmitted from a source to a receiver through various channels (JPIM, 2000). Communication means act of transferring information, exchange of information, message which is either written or verbal, and an idea for conveying thoughts effectively (Kerzner, 2001). A good definition of project communication is Project communication management includes the process required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrieval and ultimate disposition of project information (PMI, 2008, p. 243). In a project environment, communication refers to the exchange or sharing of messages and information to convey meaning and knowledge between project manager, internal and the external stakeholders (Verma, 1996). Communication is a process involving the exchange of message and the creation of meaning. No two individuals ever attach the same meaning to a message or symbol. Effectiveness of communication depends on the degree to which the individuals attach similar meanings to the messages exchanged. Stated differently, communication is effective when individuals are able to minimize misunderstandings. To say that meaning in communication is never totally same for all communicators is not to say that communication is impossible or even difficult only that is imperfect (Fisher, 1978, p. 257). When individuals communicate, they attach meaning to messages they construct and transmit to others. They also attach meaning to messages they receive from others. There are different types of communication such as verbal, written and non-verbal (Verma, 1996; Mehta, 2008). Verbal communication gives a lot of flexibility to the speaker. It is mainly used in face to face meetings, group meetings and over the telephone. While communicating verbally, the speaker can communicate with voice as well as body language. Written communication on the other hand is usually more precise (Mehta, 2008). Written communication can be in the form of letters, memos, notices, emails, reports, proposals memoranda etc. Another type of communication is the non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication refers to a speakers actions and attributes that are not purely verbal. It can be reflected in the way people dress, their tone and stance while talking, their gestures, facial expressions and their body language (Verma, 1996). 3.2 Importance of Communication Communication is an important skill for project managers to accomplish effective project management (Analoui, 1993). This skill is vital because part of management is motivating people to perform their assigned duties to the best of their ability (Perret, 1982; Scott, 1989). Effective communication is the key to success for the individual as well as for the project (Verma, 1996, p.23). By using communication skills, the project manager help to plan, direct, control and coordinate their operations throughout the project life cycle (Verma, 1996). Most of the communication activities of project managers involve interpersonal communication and project communications, sharing information with the project team members and other stakeholders. Communication is the nerve system of leadership, teamwork, cooperation and control. It determines the quality of relationships, levels of satisfaction, the extent of projects success or failure. Cleland and King (1988) in a study of fifty project managers found that managers named communication as one of the vital ingredients for successful project implementation. Moreover, Morris and Hough (1986) also argues that clear communication is necessary for project success and that effective communication is the key to high staff morale which is vital for project success. According to Ruuska (1996, p.67) More than half of the management problems in projects are more or less caused by poorly looked-after communication. Communication acts as a resource as well as tool in project management. As a resource, communication can be compared to other project resources such as time, money, people and equipment. It should be taken into consideration when planning along with the resources. On the other hand, communication is a tool which can be used for effective utilization of other project resources. Communication helps in developing relationships in the organization (Ruuska, 1996). A projec t manager uses communication more than any other element in the project management process to ensure that the team members are working cohesively on project problems and opportunities (Verma, 1996). Communication plays an important role in connecting different parts of an organization together and its external environment (Taylor and Watling, 1979). In an organization, communication is needed to inform the members about the on-going status of the project. For an effective management, it is necessary to have a two way communication channel, to and fro in and across a project organization. A good communication channel can also allow progress to be monitored; difficulties to be reported back to the executive management and expert specialist can advise on technical or commercial problems to be sought by any participant (Keeling, 2003). Communication plays an important role in influencing the whole organization that may be affected and not only those immediately involved in the change. However, the importance of communication is often neglected in many projects (Toney and Power, 1997). Furthermore, lack of communication also results in many failures in change projects (Orr and McKenzie, 1992). Failure to maintain adequate information flows, conflict among project staff or between project administrators and professional staff, as being among some of the causes for inadequate execution, operation and supervision in projects (Rondinelli, 1977). These problems which are in essence communication problems are likely contributors to project failure. Hammond (1990) states that if the intrinsic difficulties such as limitation of funds are taken away, the reason some projects fail is because of problems with people, problems that effective communication could go a long way in solving. Lack of effective communication may lead to misunderstanding. Frustration can be seen in employers due to ineffective or poor communication and may result in conflicts. Communication breakdown is a prime cause of discord or conflict (Keeling, 2003). 3.3 Model of Communication A basic model of communication is shown below: Description: C:Documents and SettingsmnmbaramDesktopcommunication model.JPG Source: Project Management Institute, 2008. This model shows how communication is transferred between the sender and the receiver. The model includes the following components: Encode. The process of putting an idea or a thought into a symbol. Message. The encoded thought or idea. Medium. Means by which the encoded message is transmitted. Noise. Anything that distorts the message. Decode. To translate the message back into thoughts and ideas. The components in the communication model should be taken into account when discussing project communication. The sender determines what information he or she intends to share, encodes this information in the form of a message, and then transmits the message as a signal to the receiver. The destination decodes the transmitted message to determine its meaning and then responds accordingly. If the message decoded is the same as the sender intended, communication is successful (Jandt, 2007). Whenever information is sent from the sender to the receiver, the sender is responsible for making the information clear to the receiver so that the receiver understands it clearly. The receiver is responsible for making sure that the information is received is in its original form and understood correctly. In order to make sure that the message is sent and understood properly, feedback is required (Verma, 1996). 3.4 Channels of Communication Three basic channels of communication in a project environment exist (Verma, 1996). They are upward communication, downward communication and lateral communication. 3.4.1. Upward communication This type of communication is called subordinate/manager communication (Fielding, 2006). It involves communication from the lowest positions in the company to the highest positions. It contains information that higher management needs to evaluate the overall performance of the project for which they are responsible (Verma, 1996). This communication is in the form of reports, memoranda or messages about individual problems and performance; company policies and practices and specific staff problems. 3.4.2 Downward Communication This communication involves managers communicating down the line to subordinates. It provides direction and control for project team members and other employees. It may include information such as missions and goals of the organisation, feedback to subordinates on their performance; procedures to be followed etc (Fielding, 2006). 3.4.3 Lateral communication This communication takes place between departments in a company or project manager and his/her peers (Verma, 1996). This communication is in the form of reports on the activities of departments to keep each other informed and information to managers on company policies and progress so that they are able to make informed decisions (Fielding, 2006). 3.5 Effectiveness of Communication Effective communication involves minimizing misunderstandings. To be effective in communicating with people, everyone must be mindful. Communicating effectively and appropriately are important aspects of being perceived as a skilled communicator (Gudykunst and Kim, 1992). Communication is only effective if the following two conditions are met (Rogers, 1976 cited in JPIM, p. 364). Firstly, the source must be willing to share the information. However, such willingness may be absent at times because the source may not be able to transmit the information, is reluctant to transmit the information or thinks that the information is irrelevant. Secondly, the information transmitted is only effective if it has an effect on the receiver. The effect maybe either change in knowledge, change in attitude or a change in behavior. Ineffective communication can occur for a variety of reasons when individuals communicate. They may not encode the message in a way that it can be understood by others, people may misinterpret what they say or both can occur simultaneously. Effective communicators are those who are motivated; knowledgeable and possess certain communication skills (Samovar and Porter, 2004, pg. 303). Project managers should be motivated; should have a positive attitude towards communication event and they should put every effort to bring about constructive results. They should have the knowledge of what topics, words or meanings are required in a situation. They should know how to assemble, plan and perform content knowledge in a particular situation. Their communication skills should be high enough to accomplish their goals (Samovar and Porter, 2004, pg. 303). For effective communication in project management, it is essential that communication should be focused. If used effectively, can reduce non-productive effort, avoid duplication and help eliminate mistakes (Clarke, 1998). Communicating effectively helps in identification of problems, helps in generating ideas leading to better solutions and helps in dealing with uncertainty. Moreover, it encourages team-work, motivates the team and ensures that every member of the team is involved (Gannon, 1994). Not only effective communication is essential for project implementation and control, it is a powerful weapon against stakeholders conflict. Communication usually fails for the following reasons; not having a clear goal in mind; not establishing relationship; being impatient; not hearing what others have to say; overabundance of ego; assuming that others have the same information on the subject that you have; mistaking interpretations for facts; failure to analyse and handle resistance (Ritz , 1990). 3.6 Communication in stages of Project Life Cycle Communication is important during various phases of the project life cycle. During the initiation/planning phase, communication planning involves determining the information and communication needs of the stakeholders: who wants what information, when will they need it, and how will it be given to them (PMI, 2008). Some other things to be given consideration are the methods of communication to be utilized during the project. These are the technologies or methods used to transfer information back and forth among project entities. Different forms of communication will need to be utilized for communicating with different types of stakeholders and different occasions. Different assumptions and constraints that will affect the project also need to be carefully thought out. Once these factors are kept in mind, develop and document a communication plan that can be shared with the entire set of stakeholders, including team members, management customers and vendors. This type of methodical pl anning can lead to a carefully constructed project communication plan (Mehta, 2008). The plan should detail out what type of communication will take place during the project, who will receive what type of information, where the information will be stored, the schedule of communication such as status reports and project team meetings. Communication with stakeholders from start to the finish of a project is essential to all project management (Verma, 1996). Once the initial communication guidelines and expectations of the project have been established, the communication plan can be executed. During the execution phase of the project, the three main communication functions are information distribution, performance reporting and project control. Information distribution involves making needed information available to project stakeholders in a timely manner. It includes implementing communication management plan and responding to unexpected requests for information (PMI, 1998, p. 106). Some of the essential tools and technologies for information distribution are communication skills and information distribution system. Many of the project deliverables and records result from this function such as meeting minutes and decision documents. Various tools and techniques can be used for performance reporting such as performance reviews, variance analysis, traffic light reports, earned value analysis and trend analysis (Scott and billing, 1998). The output that results from performance reporting are performance reports and project change requests that is generated due to corrective action that needs to be taken to address a variance from the original plans or additional customer needs. All of these functions are useful for project control. Keeping the project on track according to the project plan, budget and estimates that have been laid out is of prime importance. If the project needs to vary from any of these established plans, the project information distribution system should be utilized. The project stakeholders need to be informed and new expectations need to be set. Following a set of established project management processes can be helpful in identifying events that are not planned for. When unexpected events occur , assessing the impact and quickly communicating them to the affected people according to your established communication plan can be efficiently addressed them. Some simple things that a project manager needs to keep i

Metamorphosis of the Family in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis Essay

The Metamorphosis of the Family Before the caterpillar can transform into a butterfly, it must go through a metamorphosis. The cocoon in which the caterpillar hibernates is in fact just a conveyance towards another life form. Gregor, in Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis, is similarly a vehicle for such an important transformation, in this case the reformation of his family. The metamorphosis of Gregor facilitates the gradual change of his entire family, demonstrating that an outside source is sometimes needed in order to push people out of stagnation and into life. Before the family members begin to make their transformations, they rely heavily on Gregor. The dutiful son sets out to provide for his family after the failure of his father's business. He secures a decent job and the family gladly accepts this new way of life, with a steady income and means of support. Over time, "they had simply got used to it, both the family and Gregor; the money was gratefully accepted and gladly given, but there was no special uprush of warm feeling" (95). Each member of the family becomes accustomed to an easy life in which needs and wants are provided for. This routine causes the individuals in the family to stagnate and live unproductively. The family begins to follow a path of existentialism because of what their lives have become. Existentialism entails taking responsibility for one's own actions and finding meaning in life. Through the course of the novel, the family proceeds from a state of senselessness to a gradual form of existentialism. In the beginning, the lives of the family members mean nothing and have no purpose. They are not individuals, but rather mindless drones who take advantage of a convenient situation... ...ther, and daughter emerging arm in arm" (11). Gregor's death is a necessary sacrifice, for it is through his loss of humanity that his family is able to find humanity of their own. He forces them to understand their environment and their role in society, creating meaning in their lives. The transformation of Gregor is a catalyst for the gradual metamorphosis of each member of his family, illustrating the importance of discovering purpose in one's life. In order to truly experience life, people must find meaning in it. However, sometimes it is only through the changes of another, in this case Gregor, that people themselves begin to transform. The sacrifice of Gregor allows his family to leave its protective cove and journey out into the world, discovering what life has to offer. Works Cited: Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Mattituck: Vanguard Press, 1946.

Comapring Families in Song of Solomon, Narrative of Frederick Douglass and Push :: compare and contrast essay examples

Role of Extended Families in Song of Solomon, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Push      Ã‚   The readings presented by African American writers vary greatly in style, context, and story line, however there are some common themes presented throughout. Among these themes is an expansive shift from what is generally considered to be a traditional, nuclear family. Each work presents a view of family life that, forced by events, shows people attempting to build non-traditional, extended families in an effort to identify themselves, understand where they fit in socially, and know their place in the world.    It is important to clarify the definition of traditional and extended families in the context of minority populations. For the majority culture, a traditional family is thought to consist of the nuclear family (i.e. father, mother, and children). Minority groups tend to cast a wider net when defining members of their "families." The extended family is the norm in minority cultures, which consists of the nuclear family plus Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents. In the following works, each of the main characters are forced to go beyond what is considered the extended family structure to find what they need.    Song of Solomon is the only story presenting even a glimpse of what can be considered a majority traditional family. On the surface, the Dead family presents all the mechanics of a normal and functional family attempting to live out the American dream. The family unit is complete; there are no overt problems or missing pieces of the puzzle.    This image of a normal family quickly vanishes when we see how unhappy Milkman is within this family. He feels smothered; he lacks identity and direction for his life. His family does not provide what he needs most, a sense of where he belongs and fits in the world. In order to understand his own place and history he is forced to first leave his immediate family, then his extended family and finally begins his quest in search of unknown family members as a way of self-development.    This quest is beyond the normal strive that a son takes to become his own person rather than the son his father envisions. It is a quest to understand himself as a whole person, to know where he fits in the "big picture" rather than simply following the family's expectations. He does not feel complete until he has discovered where he came from.

Chinese Food: Potstickers :: History Culinary Cooking Essays

Chinese Food: Potstickers I was flipping through the â€Å"Food† section of the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, November 5th, 2003, and came across an enormous picture of a potsticker. The article about â€Å"Potstickers† caught my attention. I thought, so what? Is there really a history behind the famous dumpling? Surprisingly, yes. The article began with an introduction of how Amy Tan, the famous author of The Joy Luck Club, makes potstickers with her sisters in remembrance of their mother. They gradually linked into the history of the potsticker with a legend that many culinary chefs know today: A chef to a royal household left a pot of dumplings on the stove too long and discovered the bottoms had burned. The chef thought this would mean his head, but his smart son decided to present the dumplings to the emperor himself. When the emperor asked why the dumplings were burned, the son quickly explained it was a new recipe for something called potstickers. The emperor liked the cr unchiness of the browned bottoms and a new dish was born. The article then continues on to the significance of the potsticker. Martin Yan, cooking show host, says â€Å"The potstickers are special because of the succulent filling inside and a crispy bottom outside. People also like the play of the dumpling with its dipping sauce.† The article ties back to the introduction of Amy Tan and her connections with the potsticker. She also states the potsticker is an equalizer to all; people rich or poor can eat the most glorious pot sticker for â€Å"they transcend class and money.† Tan continues to make potstickers in her mother’s memory. The pot stickers are great for entertaining a party and culinary schools are now teaching how to make the dumplings. The article also provides a recipe and illustrations in addition to seven columns on how to prepare them. On the Bottom of that article was another article by Olivia Wu, titled, â€Å"A Family That Rolls, Fills and Crimps Together Creates More Than Just Dumplings.â₠¬  This article talks about the significance of one family and how making potstickers brings them together like playing a board game would. The article was captivating because my family and I do the same thing! I was reminded of how the potsticker relates to me.

Effectiveness of Online Advertising Essay

Growing internet user base, increasing time spent on the internet, broadband penetration into the households and fragmented media consumption of consumers are driving advertisers towards the field of online advertising. But there are a few limitations to this sector as well, the primary one being low broadband penetration in the country. Thus, the field of online advertising promises growth as it is interactive, targets specific consumers and has no geographical or time boundaries. With the help of all the primary and secondary data collected and analyzed, certain trends and conclusions came forth. The first and foremost thing in this project was to understand the influencers (online advertising agencies). Why various sectors are getting into the field of online understanding, what are the features of an online advertisement, what are the advantages of internet as a medium over other forms of media, objectives of an online campaign, which sectors are investing in this field and what are the limitations of internet as a medium of advertising – all these are listed under the major findings. The next thing was to understand the average consumers who had to be users of internet. Why they use internet, do they notice these advertisements, if yes do they take any action, if no then what is the reason for the same, do they think that online advertising is more engaging, if not what is their preferred medium for advertising, whether they have been pursued to take any action regarding the product/service after watching the online advertising and whether they think that online advertising has any limitations or not – all these are listed in detail under major findings. For this, students studying across Delhi, pursuing graduate/post-graduate and various professional courses were among the target audience. The reason behind this was that students these days spend a lot of time on the internet whether it is for acquiring information or social networking sites. They are present their on the medium and notice these advertisements. The Young Working Professionals are the other target segments as they are also heavy users of internet using it for acquiring information or sending e-mails or social networking sites. Online advertising as a medium is emerging and holds a promising future for brands to build consumer relationships as these advertisements act as a reminder as well as a channel of sales. Online Advertising provides brands with the opportunity to exist alongside their competition and yet be relevant. Presently BFSI and IT sectors are the major investors in online advertising as their target audience (corporate) is present online most of the time. So, internet acts as a medium of influencing the target consumer as well as a channel of sales for them. But FMCG sectors are also catching up. Because of the advent of social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut and Twitter, it has become easier for FMCG brands to advertise online as these advertisements act as a reminder for the consumers and directs the interested consumers to the main sites. This helps them in building their brand image as well as the consumer database as it gives them the opportunity to interact with the consumers and get feedback. The most important feature of Online Advertising is that is measurable i. e. consumer reactions can be monitored. This feature of online advertising makes it an efficient medium for advertising as results can be easily monitored. The major limitation to this medium is the low broadband penetration in the country and although the internet user base is on a rise but the ratio when compared to the total population is very low. Thus, Online Advertising is an effective medium of advertising owing to its interactive and measurable nature. With the growing possibilities of sectors investing in this medium we can expect more creative content to be available on the online space. This would make the medium of online advertising more creative, more interactive and in tune with all the other mediums of advertising. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUNDER The Indian advertising industry is in a phase of transition. Rapid advances in technology and an ever growing base of empowered customers have redefined how advertising is created, sold, consumed and evaluated. At this juncture advertisers are experimenting with a number of emerging platforms including Internet which has been globally acknowledged as an interactive medium with a lot of advertising potential. Internet is the most powerful communication medium known to humankind but there is still a debate on as to how powerful it as a communication tool. It is a way of directly communicating to consumers in cyberspace. It is unique as there is more of narrow focus on e-commerce. It has opened up a lot of opportunities for marketers for targeting customers in an interactive and measurable ways. Online advertising is an effective way of advertising that uses the power of Internet and World Wide Web in order to deliver marketing messages and attract consumers. It helps to target specific customer segments and gather information across geographical boundaries in a cost effective manner. Online advertising helps in not only leading visitor to a publisher’s site but also creating awareness which potentially could result in gradual brand building. With online advertising you get instant results. It is growing faster than other segments due to fundamental drivers such as †¢ Low input costs for advertisers †¢ Increasing awareness of online usage in India amongst advertisers and marketers †¢ Growth in online user/audience base The number of net surfers in India is increasing at a rapid rate and studies have shown that people are spending more and more time on the web. Buying products online is convenient, hassle-free and easy. Online market places allow buyers to see the best deals available without moving from their desks and choose the products they want which they could not find at the local supermarket. For a company putting an advertisement online gives a benefit of being present right next to your competition when people are looking for products or services. Online Advertisement in India is a fast growing market and media buying is becoming a very important decision for all online spenders. The biggest advantage of Online Advertisement is it helps you to track your user online and understand online consumer behaviour. Recognizing the possibility of using Internet as an effective tool for targeting niche audiences, innovative perspectives are being practiced by established and traditional institutions. According to a study1, in the recent general elections in India (early 2009), many Indian politicians considered Internet as a useful platform for interactive political communication especially with youth. Indian National Congress party used sites like YouTube and Facebook to execute web-based social marketing campaigns. With 50 Million Internet users in Urban India and majority of them in the age group of 18-24 years, Internet was found to be an effective tool to engage with them. 1 Study on Online Display Advertising in India by IMRB (December 2009) Growing Internet user base, increasing time spent on the Internet, broadband penetration into households and fragmented media consumption habits of consumers are driving advertisers towards the online medium.

World Systems Theory

Dane Fuentes Sociology 10/19/12 World System's Theory Immanuel Wallerstein’s World Systems theory is the theory of how multinational corporations and industrializing nations have dominated the world over the last 500 years. Wallerstein also takes a look at how â€Å"periphery† and â€Å"semi-periphery† nations have become dependent on â€Å"core nations†, due largely to their lack of varied resources and driven by the need to survive.Wallerstein goes on to explain how colonialism has been replaced by neo-colonialism, a new form of using people, land, and resources purely for economic gain. This neo-colonialism, he claims, will lead to a perpetuation of wealth and more strict ascribed statuses and global stratification. One way neo-colonialism is highly visible, is in the presence of sweat shops or maquiladoras. Maquiladoras are sweat shops that are owned by multinational corporations that are common in developing and under-developed countries.These sweat-s hops do not give their worker’s any rights. There is no job security, benefits, or retirement pensions. People work, until they can no longer work, and then perish. The worker is then replaced, possibly by his children, and the corporation moves on, never noticing the now disenfranchised worker who has to find a new means of survival and, in his desperation, perhaps turning to crime. The IMF and World Bank are two multinational corporations that also may have contributed in many ways to the massive inequality that is the global economy.These financial institutions provided aid to needy countries. However, in exchange for this aid, the IMF and World Bank asked for very strong influences in those needy countries as well as heightened interest rates on the loans themselves. The countries are then, in turn, caught in a cycle of conceding to the Banks demands and paying their national debt. Many underdeveloped countries, such as Ghana and The Philipines, cannot pay these debts, so in turn, these debts grow.At the same time, the multinational corporations are syphoning out resources due to their influence within those countries, leaving barren wastelands and poverty-stricken, disenfranchised people in their wake. Therefore, it may be seen that the multinational corporations may have sought to help these developing countries in a time of need, but in truth they were seizing an opportunity to indirectly buy the land from under the people living on it. This forms the basis of neo-colonialism.

Education and Social Mobility Essay

Historically, due to our post-colonial background, that of the plantation society, education was only afforded to the white, upper class individuals. In order to establish and reinforce a hierarchy of power and ownership, wealthy capitalists ensured first-rate education for their children, while actively excluding members of the lower classes from this luxury. Due to the caste system, students or individuals are stratified, where individuals from non- traditional school have less opportunity for social mobility, solely due to fact that students or individuals from traditional schools are of such social class, that their opportunity is based on their ascribed characteristics, which influences them in a profound way. Nonetheless, it is my view that this is a fact, due to the differences in class and culture, students will have varied access to resources with regard to education, and therefore, there will be different opportunity for education and social mobility within our society. Firstly, while conducting the research on this thesis, it was found that the functionalist theory was not applicable, as the functionalist view studies the ways in which education aids society, as such, this sociological perspective did not support any of my points being made within this research paper. However, this research proved that the main views are supported by the Marxist conflict theory, which studies the ways in which education manages the imbalance of power in our society. Due to socioeconomic background of individuals, those from low-income backgrounds are less likely to graduate from high school, less likely to go to university and even if Comment [A1]: Very good they do graduate, they are less likely to complete university if they enrol. Consequently, the gap between children from the lower socioeconomic strata and those from the middle and upper strata tends to increase with the level of school. This relates to social class; where the higher the social class, the more likely parents are to hold high expectations, and positively influence the child to attain a high degree of education. This suggests that schools contribute to educational inequality, where children who are deprived by their social background when they enter school become even more disadvantaged as they progress through school, and as such at a greater difficulty for social mobility. Comment [A2]: Good This is supported by an article taken from the Jamaica Gleaner, by contributor Michael Waul, who agrees with this notion. Students from marginalised socio-economic backgrounds, giving rise to disparate educational experiences is greatly evident in the preparatory/primary and traditional/ non-traditional high-school divide. Where access to quality education remains largely determined by societal class, a fact evident not only in the differential resources available to schools but also the background of students entering better-resourced institutions. Comment [A3]: What does a conflict perspective say about this issue? This helps to perpetuates historical societal divisions, that of our post-colonial plantation society, where rewarding those from higher social classes while placing those from lower classes at an increasing disadvantage. This results in low CXC pass rates, increasing number of high-school dropouts in regards to non-traditional high schools, therefore leading to a decrease in the number of students attending university for tertiary education. Subsequently, with regard to primary and/or preparatory schools, a great majority of students are passing the GSAT examination; however with the majority of the passes, students are being placed into non-traditional high school, where only a minority of students are being placed in traditional high schools. This only proves to further the division between the upper class and the lower class, while other students are placed into non- traditional schools solely because of the environment in which they live. Even though some students may excel in their examinations, due to where they reside, they are placed in schools that are close to their homes, and as a result their chance for social mobility diminishes, as they are not able to have access to resources Comment [A4]: Issue of screening and facilities, that are available at traditional schools, and as such greatly disadvantage from the start of their education, and as such there is social inequality. This is supported from an article from the Jamaican Gleaner, by Michael Waul, noting that access to tertiary education is a difficult option for the poor. As such, poverty prevents economic freedom and choice, and so despite ones willingness, this circumvents many realities of their experience, where the poor is held in the vicious cycle of continuous poverty, and as such at a great disadvantage for social mobility for those students from non-traditional schools which are mostly individuals from the lower socioeconomic background. Another element which affects the social mobility of students from traditional school versus students from non-traditional schools is that of the neo-Marxist reproduction theory, which involves what is known as â€Å"tracking†. This involves the assignment of students according to class and basic work roles. This grouping by ability, or tracking of students, has been common in non-traditional schools. In fact, as students progress through school, they tend to take classes that ensure they will remain in the same track, where they are at a disadvantage for social mobility. So instead of promoting democracy, social mobility and equality, schools reproduce the ideology of the dominant groups in society. This is supported by theorist Pierre Bourdieu, where each individual occupies a position in a social space, by his or her habit, which include beliefs or mannerism and also by cultural capital, where belief and mannerism are in some cultural settings, however, not in some. This is evident between the cultures of traditional schools and non-traditional school. Similarly, another aspect which affects, and illustrates my notion of the inequality of traditional school versus non-traditional schools is referred to as the hidden curriculum. This system includes values and beliefs that support the status quo, thus reinforcing the existing social hierarchy, which include the books we read and various classroom activities that we participate in. On the other hand, theorist and other individuals will disagree with my argument, and contest that students from non-traditional schools do have a great opportunity for social mobility. Others believe tracking systems does allow for some mobility, and the effects of tracking depend upon the way the tracking is organised according to Gamoran. This view is supported by an article in the Jamaica Gleaner, by Micheal Waul where students in traditional schools, such as preparatory schools are not inherently more intelligent than the other students from non-traditional school. However, due to disparity in performance, what differentiates them is largely a matter of economics. This suggests that wealthier parents are better able to fund the private schooling of their children in institutions which are better equipped to meet the students’ learning needs. Likewise, parents who lack financial support are more likely to enrol their children in the non-traditional schools, which is limited to government-provided resources. However, this is not sufficient in allowing student from non-traditional school to acquire the necessary resources needed to be best able to perform at their maximum capacity. Contrary to this perspective, there are the rare occasions that occur when students from non-traditional schools strive against all the odds, and actually excel in their examination. Thus allowing them to be placed in traditional schools, which in turn provides them with the necessary resources needed to move upward on the social ladder. This is evident as I have read in the Jamaica Observer, that the top performing boy and girl in the GSAT examination in 2013, are from non-traditional schools, and as such are the rare cases. Another view, contrary to my belief, is from an article from the Jamaica Gleaner, by Robert Buddan, in which individuals from poorer or less-advantaged communities and households can achieve and while poverty hinders, as previously stated. Also individuals from lower class society and single-parent families can achieve given good personal and institutional guidance. However, the students have to be dedicated and committed, and teachers who have confidence in each other can make up for the lack of financial support and other disadvantages which may arise. This is evident in the case of traditional schools such as St. Georges College and Kingston College. The founders of the institutions could have established the school ‘uptown’ instead of ‘downtown’, as other institutions such as Campion and Ardenne High School have done. However, they built their school downtown, and as such the founders did the opposite in all respects. The schools were established downtown, and as such opportunities were offered to great numbers from all classes in order to make education affordable. However, contrary to the beliefs of the conflict theory, the interactionist theorists believe that students from non-traditional schools can achieve social mobility. This is possible through social interaction with peers. Due to the fact that not all upper class students are placed in traditional schools, there are the few that are placed non-traditional school. This allows a mix of social class, and as such, some children will push themselves to achieve more, to that of the standards of the upper class. This outcomes allow students from traditional school to be able to interact with other students from upper class society, thus the student would be shaped in such a manner. This intern allows the student to gather and grasps the different cultures and values from that of the elites of society, on how to behave in our modern society, and thus becoming more affluent in relating to individual from the upper class of society. This will allow them increased opportunity for social mobility, due the fact that student would interact with their peers from their school, allowing them the opportunity to different aspects of the social world, and thus have a different view from that of student from non-traditional school This is evident as students from a lower socioeconomic background, when placed in a traditional school, due to interaction with other students from that school, there attitude and values gradually tend to start changing. Due to this interaction, these individual strive to be similar to those higher economic background, and as such are at a greater position for social mobility. Nonetheless, it is evident that students from non-traditional school have increasing opportunity for social mobility, as our society is gradually changing, where the need for skilled labourer are becoming more necessary. It is in non-traditional school, where the more technical skills are being offered such as mechanical engineering and technical drawing. As such, these students from non-traditional schools are being offered more opportunities for social mobility, as the employment sector has become more diverse, and has changed from the past, where mostly teachers and government employees, had prominent positions for social mobility. However this has not bridged the gap in social classes in entering top level positions. In conclusion, with regards to my thesis statement, the most important sociological perspectives of this research are both the Conflict theory and Interactionist theory. The Functionalist theory did not support the points being made in this research, as the functionalist believe that education is equal, where my belief completely contradict this view. After detailed reading and research I found that the gap between social mobility between students from traditional school versus non-traditional school have greatly decrease over the last 40 years, and now traditional school, does not necessarily ensure social mobility of it students. However, there is still a great gap present, but it is gradually becoming closer. 12/15 While the functionalist theory does not support your point, it would have been good for you to mention some of their key issues and how education reinforces social norms and then you can then refute some claims. Very good attempt overall – very astute in your thinking and writing.