Platos Three Waves Essays - Socratic Dialogues, Dialogues Of Plato

Plato's Three Waves The Three Waves In the Republic, Plato, through his character of Socrates, is searching for the definition of justice. During his search he creates a theoretical city of the kallipolis. This city is to be the ideal, good city. After he establishes this city in his mind he realizes that this city goes against some of the major common thought of his time, and for the city to work it must get passed these obstacles. These obstacles, or waves as Socrates calls them, are vital to the city's success. The city of the kallipolis that Socrates discusses is an ideal city and everything must work according to his plan. Socrates feels that the best way to establish a just city would be to create a city that has three classes of people. The three classes are the guardians (rulers), guardians (auxiliaries), and producers (everybody else). Socrates feels that in order for this city to work the best people, or golden people, would be on top as rulers. Then the auxiliary guardians/soldiers, or silver people, would be educated to believe that this is this best city so they will not revolt against the city. These silver people would also be censored in the things they learned, so they would act in accordance to what they learned, i.e. the rulers would not allow the soldiers to read stories of revolution. Finally, the producers, or bronze and iron people, would follow and listen to the guardians above them because of the noble falsehoods that have been told to them. They will believe that the land is mother and that they should be the producers, because that is the way this society is run, they are born into different classes and metals, and they cannot change that. The second noble falsehood Socrates explains is that the people will think that they all have equal opportunity to mate and produce offspring, when in actuality they do not. Instead the strongest males and females, or the most intelligent, moral and most beautiful are chosen to mate in an attempt to breed the best offspring. This will be accomplished through a fixed lottery. Because of the lottery and the myth of the land, the people will agree and continue to live in this fashion and the city will get stronger. Even though Socrates puts this city together well, there are still three waves that the city must get passed. The first wave is common tasks for both men and women, or equality of the sexes. This wave goes against the common thought of Socrates' time because the majority of people felt men should do more than women should. Even Socrates acknowledges that women are weaker than men are, but in this city it is not the strength of the people that count. This city needs intelligent and moral people. If a woman has the qualities to be a guardian she must then be educated the same as the men in the city. Socrates proves this through the following quote ?So one woman may have a guardian nature and another not? Therefore, men and women are by nature the same with respect to guarding the city? Then women of this sort must be chosen along with men of the same sort to live with them and share their guardianship? it isn't against nature to assign an education in music, poetry, and physical traini ng to the wives of the guardians? It's rather the way things are at present that seems to be against nature.? This equality allows for the most intelligent, and moral people to be in the higher classes in this city, and for these people to breed strong offspring in this sense through the fixed lottery. It is to the benefit of the state to allow this, and to its disadvantage to hold women inferior to men. The second wave, although one of the hardest to embrace, is probably one of the most important for Socrates' city to have success. The second wave is women and children are to be held in common. This means that there cannot be marriage and what we see as family. Instead there will be mating of the best men and women so that

A Comparison of the Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Strategies of Nivea Beiersdorf in the UK and Thailand Essay Example

A Comparison of the Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Strategies of Nivea Beiersdorf in the UK and Thailand Essay Example A Comparison of the Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Strategies of Nivea Beiersdorf in the UK and Thailand Paper A Comparison of the Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Strategies of Nivea Beiersdorf in the UK and Thailand Paper Apart from the operating procedures being done by the Nivea Beiersdorf joint, the need for an efficient analysis of the marketing plans employed the multinational firm is important for the success of its operations in the United Kingdom and Thailand. Both countries exhibit a different set of cultures, as well as a varying array of demographics which greatly affects the STP strategies being used by any company who wishes to successfully penetrate both markets (Kotler, 2003). Nivea Beiersdorf has its foothold in Europe and penetrating the British Market would not be that hard given that the cosmetics and lifestyle company has been there for about sixty years. Nevertheless, the company presence in Thailand, given its totally different demographics than that of the UK, as well as its highly competitive cosmetics market would pose as a challenge in the positioning strategy of Nivea Beiersdorf (2007). The STP strategies to be utilized for both countries should be analyzed with utmost considerations. These considerations will in turn fall under three main parts: the concentrated, undifferentiated, and the differentiated strategies (Kotler, 2003). Concentrated Strategies Under this type of marketing strategy, the company, Nivea Beiersdorf needs to concentrate its resources within specific market segments of the UK and Thailand (2006c). With this in mind, the firm needs to determine which segment of the two different markets have the better need of market penetration strategies. Although Thailand has a grater need of marketing penetration strategies since Nivea’s presence there is recent and the market growth is more competitive as compared to that of the British market, the concentrated strategy can be more efficiently is used in the British market since the company has been there for quite long. Under this type of marketing strategy, competition is currently recognized and small to medium-sized firms which offer the same marketing mix like Marks and Spencer have the capability to compete with the company given that Nivea Beiersdorf was already able to position itself above the cosmetics market as a premiere cosmetics company. On the other hand, the concentrated targeting strategy being employed by Nivea Beiersdorf in the UK is more on the maintenance and improvement of the market share in the country as well as coping up with the market growth factors that are involved (Kotler, 2003). Undifferentiated Strategies Along with the current concentrated strategies used by Nivea Beiesdorf in the UK and Thailand, under the undifferentiated strategy, the company positioning is not much taken seriously in the UK out of the already established reputation and is more concerned on the savings that the company could achieve. However, this target marketing strategy can be best employed in the Thai market out of the high level of nationalism of the locals towards their local products. Using this specific strategy, Nivea has to position itself as a local brand yet of foreign origin. That is, Nivea will have to establish itself as a product that is not much different from the local ones. This specific strategy is currently being employed by the company to date with a local factory as well as local employees being employed. This way, appreciation of the products of the company is simplified and savings on marketing can be used for other purposes. Although, this type of strategy is more susceptible to competiti on, the right amount of company vigilance of the Thai demographics must be carefully monitored (Kotler, 2003). Differentiated Strategies Under this type, the company is producing several types of products that would specifically cater to the needs of the different market segments present in both countries. A specific example of this is the range of products offered by Nivea aside from the usual white cream up to sun tan lotions, body sprays, etc. The targeting strategies being used here is a product based on the thorough analysis of the demographic factors that are present in the UK and Thailand. For example, the British market is composed of a high adult market segment with a high disposable income (2006b). The range of products to be developed for them suits the characteristics of this particular domain. On the Thai market on the other hand, there are a lot of the housewife segment with a middle-sized income who is obsessed with having white skin, hence, a different set of product offerings ought to be made for them (2006a). Company positioning therefore can be dictated by the product offerings that will be utilized by the company.

Nursing Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing Literature - Essay Example According to Davis et.al. (2003) there is no difference in the use of CPM post operatively or not. This study used randomized patients studied in three different group through a six month period. They looked at length of stay, pain control and flexion of the knee. The results of the research should that there was no difference in range of motion, pain, or utilization of services between patients that had just physical therapy and patients who also have CPM. This was supported by a study done by Denis et.al.(2006). This group performed a randomized control trial that was very similar and weighted the use of CPM in different intervals ranging from 35 minutes per day to continuous ROM. These were compared to patients who had active physical therapy. The results showed that there was no difference between the results of each of the combinations of therapy. Controversy comes when Wells et.al. (2008) did a meta-analysis of 14 studies. This analysis showed that in 14 randomized control trials the results were that CPM and PT increased active knee flexion and reduced hospital stay as well as pain and increased range of motion. Again, however, in the study done by Bruun-Olsen et.al (2009) in a randomized control trial done with active exercises versus CPM, results were very similar to other studies noted for this paper. There were not statistical differences noted between the control group and the trial group. Lenssen et.al. (2008) essentially agrees in his comparison of CPM during the 1st rehab phase to active physical therapy without CPM. This study shows only slight improvement with the use of CPM and is supported by Grilla (2008) who finds no support for CPM as improving any outcomes. In conclusion, of the six studies that were reviewed, only one supported the use of CPM for increased motion, reduced length of stay or reduced pain. One, which was a meta-analysis did support it but is vague in its content. From these six studies alone, there is no evidence based answer. There is reason to further research the use of CPM in post of knee replacement. References Bruun-Olsen, V., Heiberg, K. & Mengshoel, A. (2009). Continuous passive motion as an adjunct to active exercises in early rehabilitation following total knee arthroplasty. Disability and Rehabilitiation. 31(4). 277-283. Retrieved from Academic

Sexual harrasment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sexual harrasment - Essay Example ke visual, verbal or physical; which can be of sexual nature and as a result are referred to be sexual harassment when the behavior is not welcome and if it’s pervasive or severe. More examples of sexual discrimination conducts: Written or verbal: comments on personal behavior, clothing or person’s body sex-based or sexual jokes, repeatedly asking an individual out or request of sexual favors, sexual innuendoes, rumors concerning an individual’s sexual or personal life and threaten any person sexually. Non-sexual conduct can as well be sexual harassment when harassed when you are female rather than male and vice-versa (MacKinnon and Catherine, 1979). For instance, it is sexual harassment when a woman working as a carpenter on an all-male job; and you become the only one whereby tools are normally hidden by their male co-workers. A single unintended request for date or one making suggestive comment might offend a person may or may not be taken as sexual harassment. But several associated minor separate incidents may add up into sexual harassment, especially when the incidents influence your working conditions (William, Petrocelli and Repa, 1998). Some of the questions which an individual can ask himself to determine on whether a certain conduct is pervasive are: For how long has the harassment been taking place? How many times did occurrences take place? How many other individuals were sexually harassed? Harassments can range from distracting or annoying comments to acts of threats, intimidation or demands involving sexual conduct. Majority of people would be in agreement that any employee whom the supervisor conducts sexual needs accompanied by job associated threats is in a troubling or serious condition (MacKinnon and Catherine, 1979). This is particularly where there are fewer jobs and when the employee has got few job skills. Even though, less blatant kinds of sexual harassment can have serious impacts of jeopardizing employee’s gain or career

[Paul's case] Essay with little research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

[Paul's case] with little research - Essay Example 14). The name "Faust" comes from a charlatan alchemist (some claim astrologer and necromancer) whose pride and vanity lead to his doom. (elconnery.blogspot.com, also, en.Wikipedia.org) In the past, it was assumed that the comic scenes were additions by other writers. However, most scholars today consider the comedy an integral part of the play, as its tone shows the change in Faust’s ambitions. (Anon) With greater recognition, Faust became a Grand Opera, ending tragically in death. Paul’s death in Cather’s short story, prompting the comparison, transmogrifies a youth’s confused vision of Utopia into a destination attainable only after renouncing life. The story is one extensive allusion, interspersed with multiple cross references to images or symbols, some of which are complex and require background knowledge of literature from Shakespeare’s era. Faust or Faustus, is noted for his pact with the devil, in the form of Mephistopheles, a servant of Lucifer, the Devil incarnate. He also finds place in other works dealing with the netherworld. (Soldati, 1980 also Leslie Kay Swigart, 2004). Kennedy’s Faust (p 537) curses life –â€Å"would that I were never born† he says. The similarity to Paul’s bent of mind is striking. Cordelia was one of three daughters of King Lear, from Shakespeare’s play of the same name. The only unmarried Princess, she fell out of favor with her father and was disowned by him, ultimately dying a horrific death. (JSTOR) The loss of paternal love affected her in its own way, as it did with Paul. Cordelia is, therefore, an allusion. There is a dichotomy here, because if she was a person who Paul identified himself with, in the story she symbolizes all that he had grown to despise. This symbol was the embodiment of a dreary street, stretching monotonously with identical houses lining it on both sides. It

Project Management in SMEs

Project Management in SMEs Introduction To Literature Review: Literature Review is done by knowing a clear definition of SMEs, its role in the Indian economy. Then it is carried out by analyzing the definition of project management and its significance in the SMEs, and next the definition of project and its factors affecting the success of a project was discussed. This chapter also deals with the staffing of a project manager, project team and also about the effective skills required for a project manager to implement successful project management methodologies into an organization. This literature also covered by the critical analysis of effective risk management through Project Management practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India, here mainly it was discussed about the types of risks that an organization encounters while establishing/choosing a vendor, and ways of analysis this risks through project management techniques. This chapter also explained about the ways of implementing a project management methodology into an SME and effec ts that a SME might face of implementing the project management tools and techniques. Definition Of Smes: SMEs can be defined in different forms due to broad mixture in business. A company is generally distinguished as a small or medium enterprise based on the total number of employees, total turnover and the balance sheet of the company. A company is considered as a small firm if it has 50 employees with an annual turnover of about  £5.6 million and an annual balance sheet of  £2.8 million. On the other hand, a firm is said to be a medium firm when it has a total of 250 employees with a turnover of about  £22.8million and a balance sheet of  £11.4million (company act 1985, Duke Ghosh, 2009). Role Of Smes In Indian Economy: SMEs are most vital part in the sustainable economical growth and participating in a long run of development of industrial sector from the past few years, SMEs are considered as a stepping stone for industrial growth. It has ability to transfer technology and modernization which brings economic success in this modern era. In the development of better and greater economic growth, competition, flexibility and good communication are the required parameters, for this reason SMEs are becoming like of mixture of competitiveness within the economy while providing flexibility and better communication system to the complete industrial structure. (Duke Ghosh, 2009) Recently the dimensions of the SMEs are seems likely to be increasing due to the government promotions and also its encouragement towards the goal of SMEs. The growth of the entrepreneurial sector have been raised from 870,000 businesses in 1981 to nearly 4 million by 2003 by the identification of importance and its development by the government of India. And it stood next to gigantic agricultural sector in providing the employment opportunities (Boulton and Turner, 2005). This SMEs are acting like a job providing engines, which indirectly raising the per capita of the nation economy. Such firms make significant contributions to private sector employment and output, which appears to be increasing overtime (Storey, 1994). The following diagram show the growth and the position of the development of the small industries development as on 2003 according to SIDO Importance Of Smes To The Indian Economy SMEs, however defined, constitute the majority of all enterprises in most of the economies in the world (OCED, 1998). SMEs are not only acting as employment generator but also achieved outstanding credit in Indian economy by satisfying its core objectives and being as a supporting body to the large firms. This is one of the main reasons why the SMEs have gained more attention from the politicians, policy-makers and academics. However, between 1945 and the late 1960s there was little interest in small firms from either the government or academics. According to Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Ministry of State for Finance, Bangalore; says that SMEs are playing a vital role in socio-economic policies of Government of India. Foreign earning and imports of foreign capital goods contribution have been developed by the socio economic policies of India (Mr. Pawan Kumar, 2007). â€Å"SMEs were regarded as being poorly managed, badly organised and reliant on outmoded technologies to produce inferior products and services† (Manson and Harrison, 1990). For this reason the Indian government have implemented many more SMEs policies for their development and mainly focused on promoting clusters of small firms and supporting the development of high-tech sector such as IT sectors and BPOs in Bangalore, and this policies have been very successful as a results many of the outsourcing companies from western countries are moving to India (Patrizio B, et. al, 2006). Starting with wide varieties of situations and approach, a huge amount of SMEs policies have been implemented in developing countries like India (Parrilli, 2005). Services have been the fastest-growing sector of the Indian economy over the past decades and helped to accelerate the overall growth rate of the economy, this services have also made Indias integration with the world economy through trade and capital flows (Uma Kapila, 2009). The phenomenal growth and export in the services like IT and BPO have placed India on the global map as one of the major players in the field of knowledge-based services this also helped to improve the performance of the other sectors of the economy in turn helping the overall development. Project Management And Its Significance: This literature says before knowing about the significance of project management in SMEs, it is important to explain the definition of the project management and its approach of implementing a project as follows: Project Management: â€Å"The purpose of project management is to plan, organize and control all activity so that the project is completed as successfully as possible in spite of all the difficulties and risks. This process starts before any resources are committed and must continue until all work is finished. The aim is for the final result to satisfy the objectives of both the project performer and the customer† (Lock, 2006, p. 1) It is known that projects differ from each other in more ways than one. They might differ in their structure, mode of operation, funds allocated or even the strength they comprise of or their criticality to the business (Heldman, 2005). Even though a similar project has been carried out in the past, the projects may differ in one or more aspects such as administrative, physical and commercial or a change in ways of working etc; managing projects is a part of every business and is quintessential for the smooth functioning and success of the project. Project Management includes all necessary activities needed to plan and execute a project (Lock, 2006). The two most important steps involved in going about a project are discussed below: Step 1: To decide what needs to be done before the initiation of a project. The next set of requirements from a project management perspective is to estimate the cost of completing the project and make sure there are necessary funds available to execute the project so as to bring name and revenue to the organization (Burke, 1999). People involved in planning the project need to ensure beforehand that they pick the right people to execute the project and make them aware of the responsibilities assigned to them. Project resources are the key to success in any project and its rarely a one-man team (Heldman, 2005). Therefore, a team that has an open-minded approach towards the project and all other people involved in the project and be prepared to motivate and be motivated throughout the length of the project. This will encourage teamwork and commitment in what they do. One of the key things to ensure higher rates of success in a project is to choose the right mix of people and the right level of management looking for process improvement and thereby providing value added services to customers. This in turn helps organizations improve their efficiency and help them to stay on top of its competitors (Baron, 2005). Every person involved needs to be updated by project leaders and start the chain of communication to ensure adequate buy-in and at the same time commit to managing their expectations from the project. The main aim of communication is to keep everyone updated about any latest developments that take place and keep them engaged (PMBOK, 2004). Provide clear briefs to people involved in the project to obtain commitment on work and deliveries (Baron, 2005). The support of sponsors is very important by making them commit to your approach. (Burke, 1999) Meeting the expectations of the stakeholders, meeting of objectives and requirements, meeting budget, meeting deadlines etc (Jeston and Nelis, 2006). Step 2: We live in a competitive world where every firm attempts to make optimum use of resources and to be better than their competitors. This brings the area of proper planning and execution of the project. The main objective of planning a project well is to schedule and chart out the complete work for the project and then ensure arrangements are in order for work to start and continue as per schedule (Burke, 1999). For a project to be successful and be admired, it should complete on schedule. The project needs a leader who takes the final decision with the consent of all members in his/her team. He/she should portray the courtesy to listen to subordinates even when the opinion is not being considered or implemented (Heldman, 2005). People who carry out the project should be taken into confidence and spoken to regularly. Most importantly, a project should have clarity about its scope, objectives, responsibilities, cost and accountability, scope for improvement should be considered and stockholders should be kept in confidence (PMBOK, 2004). The literature explains that the project management methodologies allow the project manager to allocate and make more work done with less people and time, so it would be beneficial to the SME where it have very fewer people working. And also its make the organisation more effective by implementing more project in lesser time by providing clear control on the projects scope and changes and implementing them more effectively and efficiently. Project management improves the line of decision making; it also increases the quality of a project. SMEs can handle more projects by raising its business (Kerzner, 2003). Definition Of Project And Its Success Factors: Project: A project is a series of activities or tasks that have a specific objective to be completed within a determined specification; have defined start and end dates; usually funded and require resources (Kerzner 2003; Cooke-Davies 2001). When the project is said to be failed it is waste of capital, time and resource, a new lessons /techniques/methodologies have to be learned from the failed projects and the project manager/ project authorities have to continue for the new project. Project management is one of the methodologies which deals the projects in a systematic manner and says the following are the essential factors to be made to complete successfully with a project: Clarity In Project Definition: Project manager has to make himself/herself with a clear idea and definition of the project, but not only he/she but also to his/her project team. He/she have to make sure about the project specifications such as â€Å"what the project is about† its aim, objectives, and its deliverables, etc. For example we can talk about the case studies of some unsuccessful projects due to indistinct objectives and aims which are documented by Gray and Larson (Gray and Larson, 2002). Thus the chances of increasing project success lies in clear and distinct objectives and aims. Project Feasibility: It is one among the factors which talks about the social, economical, political, human, cultural, financial and environmental factors which underpins to the achievement of the project (Fullen, 2005). According to Khatib this factors would produce a good result for a project which undergoes a serious study, specified aim and objective and allocation of time (Khatib, 2003). Consistent feasibility makes a project manager to define himself with a clear and well project aim, time specifications, and allocation of resources. A positive feasibility brings more chances to lead a project success. Planning: â€Å"According to Kerzner project planning; in general, can best be described as the function of selecting the enterprise objectives and establishing the policies, procedures, and programs necessary for achieving them. It can be described as a forecasting the environment and predefined course of action† (Kerzner, 2003 ). According to Kerzner, there are four basic reasons for project planning: Elimination or reduction of uncertainty. Improving the efficiency of the operation. Understanding a better understanding of the objectives. To provide a basis for monitoring and controlling work. (Adapted from Kerzner, 2003) Work Breakdown Structure (Wbs): The important task to be done by the project manger after project planning is dividing the work into manageable tasks. â€Å"The work breakdown structure is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team, to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables† (PMBOK, 2004). The work breakdown structure also explains complete scope of the project. The WBS divides the work into small tasks which are manageable and will have a specific responsible authority will be allocated, it will be in a manner of integratable so that the total work package is the summation of subdivided elements, and it will be as much as easy to be measure in terms of progress like estimating cost, scheduling, monitoring, and controlling (Kerzner, 2003). Involvement Of Project Stakeholders: â€Å"Project stakeholders are the individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be affected as a result of project execution or project completion. They may also exert influence over the projects objectives and outcomes† (PMBOK, 2004). Project stakeholders are also a part of the project success, to ensure this success the project team have to identify their requirements, expectations, and their influence on the project. Stakeholders may have various levels of authority/responsibility on the project; they may vary from occasional contributors to full sponsors for the project. â€Å"Stakeholder who ignores this responsibility can have a damaging impact on the project objectives. Likewise, project managers who ignore stakeholders can expect a damaging impact on project outcomes† (PMBOK, 2004). The above figure shows that every individual project is similar to the structure of the earth where in each sector plays an important role here the most interior structure is project manager who forms the base of any project. The project manager forms the integral part of a project management team along with whom he carry on the project. The project manager and the project management team together comprises of a project team where in this team wholly concentrate on the project that is to be taken. These three together works for the satisfaction of the stakeholders interested in the completion of the project it may comprises of the senior management of the company the owners and the clients of the company. Staffing The Project Manager And Project Team: As mention above to my literature the successful project includes; on time delivery, must come across stakeholders expectations, within budget and have to congregate the project deliverables (Cooke-Davies, 2004). Project manager is one who plays a vital role to mix all stuff to formulate the project to a success. â€Å"Project manager is the individual ultimately responsible for managing and leading the project to its successful conclusion† (Paul D, 2005). It is a role that entails a mix of competencies, combining management with leadership and political awareness (Pinto, 2000). Though understanding the role of project manager sounds good, but the upper management always find difficulties in the selection of a correct project manager. â€Å"Project management is said to be successful only if the project manager and his team are totally dedicated to the successful completion of the project. This requires the project team and project manager must have good understanding of the fundamental project requirements† (Kerzner, 2003). For this reason the upper management have to look up/focus at the following skills in the selection process from the individual to appoint him/her as a project manager: (this are requirements demanded by a SME in its advertisement for a facilities planning and development project manager (adapted from The New York Times, January 2, 1972) (source: Kerzner, 2003) Business Management Skills: If project management is itself an organization, as the whole project group will work as a solo unit for the achievement of a common goal, then the project manager is the CEO of this organization. So the organization skills are predominantly important during project development. With strong business management skills, he/she must be able to achieve the most excellent hysterics across teams and in the midst of all project resources of the organisation. â€Å"It requires defining the reporting relationship, responsibilities, line of control, and information needs. A good program plan and a task matrix are useful organisation tools plus clear defined program objectives, open communication channels, good program leadership, and senior management support† (Kerzner, 2003). Leadership Skills: Project manager is the one who has to manage his/her team and make them to follow him/her, has to act as a leader. He/she has to have a clear project leadership and own direction to direct the team members. He/she must be able to solve the conflicts, assistance in problem-solving, as a project leader he/she as to represent his/her team to upper level management. He/she as to motivate the project team members towards common vision. Project manager as a leader has to remain as a inspiration to his/her project team (Kerzner, 2003). Technical Skills: Technical skills is an superlative addition remark for a project manager, if his proficiency applicable to the project, by this he/she can have good thoughts and understanding about the projects and can work out more for his/her profound project objective (Horine 2005; Murch 2001). Now a day this skills achieved a greater importance, without technical skills a project manager cannot understand the present market, updated technology and the environment of the business. With the help of these technical skills one can understand the consequences or technical risks that encounter in the project, for example a software engineer being as a project manager and handling a software development project can easily sort the risks that appear in that project. He/she can make sure of his/her project team with a clear understanding of the foreseen risks that may appear in the project. â€Å"According to Kerzner, 2003 the technical expertise is composed of the following understanding: Technology involved Engineering tools and techniques employed Specified markets, their customers, and requirements Product application Technological trends and evolutions Relationship among supporting technologies People who are part of the technical community† (Source: Kerzner, 2003) Communication Skills: Another important skill set must be posed by the project manager is communication skills. â€Å"Project manager influence people o take action, this requires an ability to communicate in a style appropriate for the individual concerned† (Paul D, 2005). Project manager is the communication channel throughout the project. Project manager is effective means of communication hub between the project team and the end users. Project manager have to act as a communication radio and have to carry the stakeholders expectations towards the project team and have to bring the project to a successful effective end. Moreover, a successful project manager ensures smooth information sharing across teams via instilling a communication-driven environment that allows for efficient spread, user-friendliness and use of information. Conflict Resolution Skills: No project end up successfully without any conflicts, there might be foreseen risks or conflicts between the project team members or conflicts between project team and stakeholders. So this is the main reason that the project manager, the CEO of project management organization has to possess the problem solving skills/conflict resolution skills. Project success lies with how well the project manager solves the problems/conflicts. Soundness of the solution taken by the project manager with a logical and analytical thinking conforms how well the project manager good at reaching the project to a successful end. However these conflicts are beneficial to a project which indirectly increases the competiveness among the team members involved the project (Kerzner, 2003). Project Management Experience: Implementing successful project management lies in the hands of able project manager, so the project manager is responsible character and must possess prior project management experience in general. Project management is body of knowledge which can be learned from the realistic knowledge, but its not a skill which comes by itself. A well qualified project manager will be very much able to implement a successful project management into an organization. Past knowledge makes a manager to overcome all the challenges that he/she face in completing a project by using project management. Other Skills: There are so many other skills such as planning, resource allocation, management support building, and time management skills, etc, which make the project manager to lay his/her path successful in controlling the projects successfully. Not only this but also the entrepreneurial skills and administrative skills are very important in understanding the tactics and implement them in his/her own project and make the project victorious (Kerzner, 2003). A Critical Analysis Of Effective Risk Management Through Project Management Practices In Small And Medium Enterprises In India: Risk: Vose (2008, p. 3) defines the term risk as â€Å"a random event that may possibly occur and, if it did occur, would have a negative impact on the goals of the organization. Thus, a risk is composed of three elements: the scenario; its probability of occurrence; and the size of its impact if it did occur†. Any risk could prove an organisation wrong in its quest to achieve success. Risks can occur in various forms and their impact can vary under a lot of factors. In a high cost business environment that is under fierce competition from companies not just on a national, but also on a global level, the chances of risks arising multiply quickly and heavily (Crouhy et al., 2000). A firm can easily lose its name in the market because they had overlooked a miniscule drawback that their competitors overcame. Therefore, risks not only carry financial implications with them, but also other factors such as brand image, market credibility or loss of market share. To analyse and understand these implications, it is necessary to understand the types of risks and their varying characteristics (Flynn, 2008). Click and Duening (2004) have come up with a list of the various types of risks such as human capital risks, Confidentiality risks, overall project risks, and scope risks, delay risks, estimation risks and dependency risks may occur in the business. In addition to this there might be property (intellectual), legal, value related or unavoidable natural risks that generally exist and arise in a business. Types of risks: Human capital risks This has always been an important part of the business activity. People who work towards organizational goals are the most critical assets of the firm and the project (Beasley et al., 2004). A loss of an employee who was very important to the smooth functioning of a project can be a risky proposition because a new individual joining the project would need time to understand and evaluate a lot of factors contributing to the project. This would invariably lead to loss of productivity, a slump in team morale or even loss of time and money (Flynn, 2008). Project risks – These risks arise because of a lot of other risks contributing to the main risk of a project being delayed or even shelved in certain cases. There have also been instances where proper planning and regulation were absent or goals misunderstood leading to extended timeframes to complete the project thus leading to increased investments of critical resources (Sanchez Canton, 1998). A very good example of project risks can be seen in Government funded public projects or even military developmental projects where public time and money is involved. Confidentiality risk: The second most important risk that may appear in dealing a project is confidentiality risk, it mostly appear due to lack of secrecy. This is especially for the large projects. The information have to be kept confidential, if not the competitors with large team members may understand the work flow/formulae of the project and be able to built the project earlier as before you can. We must be careful especially when we involve contractors or outsiders into the project. Effective project management may help in having a good communication line among the team members, marketing staff, and contractors; this may helps to keep the information confidential (T Kendrick, 2009) Scope risks: This is another type of risk which mostly appears when the project starts to take a shape. This is due to requirement of a new technology, unfamiliar developments of tools or methods, poor testing criteria, inconsistent specification, undefined product definition, and technical complication (T Kendrick, 2009) Delay risks: Delay risk is part of schedule risks and these are after scope risks, these risks mainly appear due to the delay of the essential parts required for a project, it include customs, Paperwork, delivery, and related concerns. This is also due to the delay of information needed, communication gap and misunderstanding among the team members/ project stakeholders, etc. Due this factor the project may delay for some days, months or may be for years (T Kendrick, 2009) Estimating risks: Estimating risk appears mostly in technical projects. Project manager mostly says the typical risks arise in the project is estimating risks. Estimating risks occurs when there are learning curves ( when the quality of estimates of new technology, or new people involvement is not good), judgements (misunderstanding, disintegration of work), and imposed deadlines (forceful deadlines set in advance, when an objective is retained) (T Kendrick, 2009) Dependency risks: Other projects, infrastructure factors, and legal issues are three sub categories of dependency risks. In general large project are sub divided into small projects and mostly these small project will be dependent on the other, unfortunately when one small project is delayed/stopped the other projects which are dependent on it will be delayed. â€Å"Even for the interfaces that were defined in advance, delay was fairly common due to the uncertainty in each project† (T Kendrick, 2009) The above section has detailed the different types of risks that normally exist or co-exist in projects. Their modes of occurrence and the impact they can have on the project and the firm has been explained in brief. The following part would attempt to explain ways that firms, projects and managers involved employ to analyse and manage the same since the occurrence of a risk can pose a threat to the above in terms of time, money or even failure to deliver what has been promised. Analyzing And Managing Risks: Ways to manage risks with limited impact on other resources: Risks are present in abundance in any IT and outsourcing industries because of the processes being tightly interlinked such as business processes, database, or process reengineering. Therefore, it is very important to: Identify risks. Weigh risks for probability of risk occurring. Weigh risks for criticality/impact at your operations. Plan to reduce risk (to zero if appropriate, for example for a safety critical industry) (Sanchez Canton, 1998). A simple way of explaining risk analysis is to take an airplane for example because the traveler, who is the user, has zero tolerance to risks. In similar manner, risk analysis can be carried out for other products and services too. The most important indicative risks are business continuity management risks, information security/data privacy risks and process related risks (Lock, 2001). The need to evaluate and monitor risks involved from an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) perspective takes higher priority over other means of analysis in the information age of business (Flynn, 2008). It can be seen in the ERM diagram below the different risks across the entire organization that exist or arise and the need for them to be managed effectively (Beasley et al., 2004). An important reason firms should stress on analysing risks is the realization that risks delay chances of sticking to time schedules agreed by project leaders to customers in turn; leading to increased investment of resources in the form of man hours and time (PMBOK, 2004). This causes increase in investment of capital, which is something neither customers nor firms involved like to do. Risks occur at every stage of a project thus increasing stress on carrying out risk analysis and minimize the effects of risks on a given project. It means that risks and errors still occur when thorough analyses of their occurrence have been chalked out and steps have been implemented to minimize the effects they have on a project (Burke, 1999). However, prior knowledge of a risk occurring at a given period in the project enables people involved to counter the risk effectively and minimize or erase the impact it could have had on the project. Before the project could be initiated, assessing risks by knowing in exact what the project intends to do and the reason for it to be outsourced becomes very important. This could include assessing project behaviour under varying market conditions and the expected growth rate it can attain within a given period of time (Dickson, 2003). Risks need to be analyzed in a detailed manner by the top management in order to understand the various options available to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. This understanding and analysis becomes significant in implementing a sound risk management plan. A project taken up poses as a risk in itself to explore opportunities that lie waiting on the other side. Therefore, threats need to be minimized a Project Management in SMEs Project Management in SMEs Introduction To Literature Review: Literature Review is done by knowing a clear definition of SMEs, its role in the Indian economy. Then it is carried out by analyzing the definition of project management and its significance in the SMEs, and next the definition of project and its factors affecting the success of a project was discussed. This chapter also deals with the staffing of a project manager, project team and also about the effective skills required for a project manager to implement successful project management methodologies into an organization. This literature also covered by the critical analysis of effective risk management through Project Management practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India, here mainly it was discussed about the types of risks that an organization encounters while establishing/choosing a vendor, and ways of analysis this risks through project management techniques. This chapter also explained about the ways of implementing a project management methodology into an SME and effec ts that a SME might face of implementing the project management tools and techniques. Definition Of Smes: SMEs can be defined in different forms due to broad mixture in business. A company is generally distinguished as a small or medium enterprise based on the total number of employees, total turnover and the balance sheet of the company. A company is considered as a small firm if it has 50 employees with an annual turnover of about  £5.6 million and an annual balance sheet of  £2.8 million. On the other hand, a firm is said to be a medium firm when it has a total of 250 employees with a turnover of about  £22.8million and a balance sheet of  £11.4million (company act 1985, Duke Ghosh, 2009). Role Of Smes In Indian Economy: SMEs are most vital part in the sustainable economical growth and participating in a long run of development of industrial sector from the past few years, SMEs are considered as a stepping stone for industrial growth. It has ability to transfer technology and modernization which brings economic success in this modern era. In the development of better and greater economic growth, competition, flexibility and good communication are the required parameters, for this reason SMEs are becoming like of mixture of competitiveness within the economy while providing flexibility and better communication system to the complete industrial structure. (Duke Ghosh, 2009) Recently the dimensions of the SMEs are seems likely to be increasing due to the government promotions and also its encouragement towards the goal of SMEs. The growth of the entrepreneurial sector have been raised from 870,000 businesses in 1981 to nearly 4 million by 2003 by the identification of importance and its development by the government of India. And it stood next to gigantic agricultural sector in providing the employment opportunities (Boulton and Turner, 2005). This SMEs are acting like a job providing engines, which indirectly raising the per capita of the nation economy. Such firms make significant contributions to private sector employment and output, which appears to be increasing overtime (Storey, 1994). The following diagram show the growth and the position of the development of the small industries development as on 2003 according to SIDO Importance Of Smes To The Indian Economy SMEs, however defined, constitute the majority of all enterprises in most of the economies in the world (OCED, 1998). SMEs are not only acting as employment generator but also achieved outstanding credit in Indian economy by satisfying its core objectives and being as a supporting body to the large firms. This is one of the main reasons why the SMEs have gained more attention from the politicians, policy-makers and academics. However, between 1945 and the late 1960s there was little interest in small firms from either the government or academics. According to Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Ministry of State for Finance, Bangalore; says that SMEs are playing a vital role in socio-economic policies of Government of India. Foreign earning and imports of foreign capital goods contribution have been developed by the socio economic policies of India (Mr. Pawan Kumar, 2007). â€Å"SMEs were regarded as being poorly managed, badly organised and reliant on outmoded technologies to produce inferior products and services† (Manson and Harrison, 1990). For this reason the Indian government have implemented many more SMEs policies for their development and mainly focused on promoting clusters of small firms and supporting the development of high-tech sector such as IT sectors and BPOs in Bangalore, and this policies have been very successful as a results many of the outsourcing companies from western countries are moving to India (Patrizio B, et. al, 2006). Starting with wide varieties of situations and approach, a huge amount of SMEs policies have been implemented in developing countries like India (Parrilli, 2005). Services have been the fastest-growing sector of the Indian economy over the past decades and helped to accelerate the overall growth rate of the economy, this services have also made Indias integration with the world economy through trade and capital flows (Uma Kapila, 2009). The phenomenal growth and export in the services like IT and BPO have placed India on the global map as one of the major players in the field of knowledge-based services this also helped to improve the performance of the other sectors of the economy in turn helping the overall development. Project Management And Its Significance: This literature says before knowing about the significance of project management in SMEs, it is important to explain the definition of the project management and its approach of implementing a project as follows: Project Management: â€Å"The purpose of project management is to plan, organize and control all activity so that the project is completed as successfully as possible in spite of all the difficulties and risks. This process starts before any resources are committed and must continue until all work is finished. The aim is for the final result to satisfy the objectives of both the project performer and the customer† (Lock, 2006, p. 1) It is known that projects differ from each other in more ways than one. They might differ in their structure, mode of operation, funds allocated or even the strength they comprise of or their criticality to the business (Heldman, 2005). Even though a similar project has been carried out in the past, the projects may differ in one or more aspects such as administrative, physical and commercial or a change in ways of working etc; managing projects is a part of every business and is quintessential for the smooth functioning and success of the project. Project Management includes all necessary activities needed to plan and execute a project (Lock, 2006). The two most important steps involved in going about a project are discussed below: Step 1: To decide what needs to be done before the initiation of a project. The next set of requirements from a project management perspective is to estimate the cost of completing the project and make sure there are necessary funds available to execute the project so as to bring name and revenue to the organization (Burke, 1999). People involved in planning the project need to ensure beforehand that they pick the right people to execute the project and make them aware of the responsibilities assigned to them. Project resources are the key to success in any project and its rarely a one-man team (Heldman, 2005). Therefore, a team that has an open-minded approach towards the project and all other people involved in the project and be prepared to motivate and be motivated throughout the length of the project. This will encourage teamwork and commitment in what they do. One of the key things to ensure higher rates of success in a project is to choose the right mix of people and the right level of management looking for process improvement and thereby providing value added services to customers. This in turn helps organizations improve their efficiency and help them to stay on top of its competitors (Baron, 2005). Every person involved needs to be updated by project leaders and start the chain of communication to ensure adequate buy-in and at the same time commit to managing their expectations from the project. The main aim of communication is to keep everyone updated about any latest developments that take place and keep them engaged (PMBOK, 2004). Provide clear briefs to people involved in the project to obtain commitment on work and deliveries (Baron, 2005). The support of sponsors is very important by making them commit to your approach. (Burke, 1999) Meeting the expectations of the stakeholders, meeting of objectives and requirements, meeting budget, meeting deadlines etc (Jeston and Nelis, 2006). Step 2: We live in a competitive world where every firm attempts to make optimum use of resources and to be better than their competitors. This brings the area of proper planning and execution of the project. The main objective of planning a project well is to schedule and chart out the complete work for the project and then ensure arrangements are in order for work to start and continue as per schedule (Burke, 1999). For a project to be successful and be admired, it should complete on schedule. The project needs a leader who takes the final decision with the consent of all members in his/her team. He/she should portray the courtesy to listen to subordinates even when the opinion is not being considered or implemented (Heldman, 2005). People who carry out the project should be taken into confidence and spoken to regularly. Most importantly, a project should have clarity about its scope, objectives, responsibilities, cost and accountability, scope for improvement should be considered and stockholders should be kept in confidence (PMBOK, 2004). The literature explains that the project management methodologies allow the project manager to allocate and make more work done with less people and time, so it would be beneficial to the SME where it have very fewer people working. And also its make the organisation more effective by implementing more project in lesser time by providing clear control on the projects scope and changes and implementing them more effectively and efficiently. Project management improves the line of decision making; it also increases the quality of a project. SMEs can handle more projects by raising its business (Kerzner, 2003). Definition Of Project And Its Success Factors: Project: A project is a series of activities or tasks that have a specific objective to be completed within a determined specification; have defined start and end dates; usually funded and require resources (Kerzner 2003; Cooke-Davies 2001). When the project is said to be failed it is waste of capital, time and resource, a new lessons /techniques/methodologies have to be learned from the failed projects and the project manager/ project authorities have to continue for the new project. Project management is one of the methodologies which deals the projects in a systematic manner and says the following are the essential factors to be made to complete successfully with a project: Clarity In Project Definition: Project manager has to make himself/herself with a clear idea and definition of the project, but not only he/she but also to his/her project team. He/she have to make sure about the project specifications such as â€Å"what the project is about† its aim, objectives, and its deliverables, etc. For example we can talk about the case studies of some unsuccessful projects due to indistinct objectives and aims which are documented by Gray and Larson (Gray and Larson, 2002). Thus the chances of increasing project success lies in clear and distinct objectives and aims. Project Feasibility: It is one among the factors which talks about the social, economical, political, human, cultural, financial and environmental factors which underpins to the achievement of the project (Fullen, 2005). According to Khatib this factors would produce a good result for a project which undergoes a serious study, specified aim and objective and allocation of time (Khatib, 2003). Consistent feasibility makes a project manager to define himself with a clear and well project aim, time specifications, and allocation of resources. A positive feasibility brings more chances to lead a project success. Planning: â€Å"According to Kerzner project planning; in general, can best be described as the function of selecting the enterprise objectives and establishing the policies, procedures, and programs necessary for achieving them. It can be described as a forecasting the environment and predefined course of action† (Kerzner, 2003 ). According to Kerzner, there are four basic reasons for project planning: Elimination or reduction of uncertainty. Improving the efficiency of the operation. Understanding a better understanding of the objectives. To provide a basis for monitoring and controlling work. (Adapted from Kerzner, 2003) Work Breakdown Structure (Wbs): The important task to be done by the project manger after project planning is dividing the work into manageable tasks. â€Å"The work breakdown structure is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team, to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables† (PMBOK, 2004). The work breakdown structure also explains complete scope of the project. The WBS divides the work into small tasks which are manageable and will have a specific responsible authority will be allocated, it will be in a manner of integratable so that the total work package is the summation of subdivided elements, and it will be as much as easy to be measure in terms of progress like estimating cost, scheduling, monitoring, and controlling (Kerzner, 2003). Involvement Of Project Stakeholders: â€Å"Project stakeholders are the individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be affected as a result of project execution or project completion. They may also exert influence over the projects objectives and outcomes† (PMBOK, 2004). Project stakeholders are also a part of the project success, to ensure this success the project team have to identify their requirements, expectations, and their influence on the project. Stakeholders may have various levels of authority/responsibility on the project; they may vary from occasional contributors to full sponsors for the project. â€Å"Stakeholder who ignores this responsibility can have a damaging impact on the project objectives. Likewise, project managers who ignore stakeholders can expect a damaging impact on project outcomes† (PMBOK, 2004). The above figure shows that every individual project is similar to the structure of the earth where in each sector plays an important role here the most interior structure is project manager who forms the base of any project. The project manager forms the integral part of a project management team along with whom he carry on the project. The project manager and the project management team together comprises of a project team where in this team wholly concentrate on the project that is to be taken. These three together works for the satisfaction of the stakeholders interested in the completion of the project it may comprises of the senior management of the company the owners and the clients of the company. Staffing The Project Manager And Project Team: As mention above to my literature the successful project includes; on time delivery, must come across stakeholders expectations, within budget and have to congregate the project deliverables (Cooke-Davies, 2004). Project manager is one who plays a vital role to mix all stuff to formulate the project to a success. â€Å"Project manager is the individual ultimately responsible for managing and leading the project to its successful conclusion† (Paul D, 2005). It is a role that entails a mix of competencies, combining management with leadership and political awareness (Pinto, 2000). Though understanding the role of project manager sounds good, but the upper management always find difficulties in the selection of a correct project manager. â€Å"Project management is said to be successful only if the project manager and his team are totally dedicated to the successful completion of the project. This requires the project team and project manager must have good understanding of the fundamental project requirements† (Kerzner, 2003). For this reason the upper management have to look up/focus at the following skills in the selection process from the individual to appoint him/her as a project manager: (this are requirements demanded by a SME in its advertisement for a facilities planning and development project manager (adapted from The New York Times, January 2, 1972) (source: Kerzner, 2003) Business Management Skills: If project management is itself an organization, as the whole project group will work as a solo unit for the achievement of a common goal, then the project manager is the CEO of this organization. So the organization skills are predominantly important during project development. With strong business management skills, he/she must be able to achieve the most excellent hysterics across teams and in the midst of all project resources of the organisation. â€Å"It requires defining the reporting relationship, responsibilities, line of control, and information needs. A good program plan and a task matrix are useful organisation tools plus clear defined program objectives, open communication channels, good program leadership, and senior management support† (Kerzner, 2003). Leadership Skills: Project manager is the one who has to manage his/her team and make them to follow him/her, has to act as a leader. He/she has to have a clear project leadership and own direction to direct the team members. He/she must be able to solve the conflicts, assistance in problem-solving, as a project leader he/she as to represent his/her team to upper level management. He/she as to motivate the project team members towards common vision. Project manager as a leader has to remain as a inspiration to his/her project team (Kerzner, 2003). Technical Skills: Technical skills is an superlative addition remark for a project manager, if his proficiency applicable to the project, by this he/she can have good thoughts and understanding about the projects and can work out more for his/her profound project objective (Horine 2005; Murch 2001). Now a day this skills achieved a greater importance, without technical skills a project manager cannot understand the present market, updated technology and the environment of the business. With the help of these technical skills one can understand the consequences or technical risks that encounter in the project, for example a software engineer being as a project manager and handling a software development project can easily sort the risks that appear in that project. He/she can make sure of his/her project team with a clear understanding of the foreseen risks that may appear in the project. â€Å"According to Kerzner, 2003 the technical expertise is composed of the following understanding: Technology involved Engineering tools and techniques employed Specified markets, their customers, and requirements Product application Technological trends and evolutions Relationship among supporting technologies People who are part of the technical community† (Source: Kerzner, 2003) Communication Skills: Another important skill set must be posed by the project manager is communication skills. â€Å"Project manager influence people o take action, this requires an ability to communicate in a style appropriate for the individual concerned† (Paul D, 2005). Project manager is the communication channel throughout the project. Project manager is effective means of communication hub between the project team and the end users. Project manager have to act as a communication radio and have to carry the stakeholders expectations towards the project team and have to bring the project to a successful effective end. Moreover, a successful project manager ensures smooth information sharing across teams via instilling a communication-driven environment that allows for efficient spread, user-friendliness and use of information. Conflict Resolution Skills: No project end up successfully without any conflicts, there might be foreseen risks or conflicts between the project team members or conflicts between project team and stakeholders. So this is the main reason that the project manager, the CEO of project management organization has to possess the problem solving skills/conflict resolution skills. Project success lies with how well the project manager solves the problems/conflicts. Soundness of the solution taken by the project manager with a logical and analytical thinking conforms how well the project manager good at reaching the project to a successful end. However these conflicts are beneficial to a project which indirectly increases the competiveness among the team members involved the project (Kerzner, 2003). Project Management Experience: Implementing successful project management lies in the hands of able project manager, so the project manager is responsible character and must possess prior project management experience in general. Project management is body of knowledge which can be learned from the realistic knowledge, but its not a skill which comes by itself. A well qualified project manager will be very much able to implement a successful project management into an organization. Past knowledge makes a manager to overcome all the challenges that he/she face in completing a project by using project management. Other Skills: There are so many other skills such as planning, resource allocation, management support building, and time management skills, etc, which make the project manager to lay his/her path successful in controlling the projects successfully. Not only this but also the entrepreneurial skills and administrative skills are very important in understanding the tactics and implement them in his/her own project and make the project victorious (Kerzner, 2003). A Critical Analysis Of Effective Risk Management Through Project Management Practices In Small And Medium Enterprises In India: Risk: Vose (2008, p. 3) defines the term risk as â€Å"a random event that may possibly occur and, if it did occur, would have a negative impact on the goals of the organization. Thus, a risk is composed of three elements: the scenario; its probability of occurrence; and the size of its impact if it did occur†. Any risk could prove an organisation wrong in its quest to achieve success. Risks can occur in various forms and their impact can vary under a lot of factors. In a high cost business environment that is under fierce competition from companies not just on a national, but also on a global level, the chances of risks arising multiply quickly and heavily (Crouhy et al., 2000). A firm can easily lose its name in the market because they had overlooked a miniscule drawback that their competitors overcame. Therefore, risks not only carry financial implications with them, but also other factors such as brand image, market credibility or loss of market share. To analyse and understand these implications, it is necessary to understand the types of risks and their varying characteristics (Flynn, 2008). Click and Duening (2004) have come up with a list of the various types of risks such as human capital risks, Confidentiality risks, overall project risks, and scope risks, delay risks, estimation risks and dependency risks may occur in the business. In addition to this there might be property (intellectual), legal, value related or unavoidable natural risks that generally exist and arise in a business. Types of risks: Human capital risks This has always been an important part of the business activity. People who work towards organizational goals are the most critical assets of the firm and the project (Beasley et al., 2004). A loss of an employee who was very important to the smooth functioning of a project can be a risky proposition because a new individual joining the project would need time to understand and evaluate a lot of factors contributing to the project. This would invariably lead to loss of productivity, a slump in team morale or even loss of time and money (Flynn, 2008). Project risks – These risks arise because of a lot of other risks contributing to the main risk of a project being delayed or even shelved in certain cases. There have also been instances where proper planning and regulation were absent or goals misunderstood leading to extended timeframes to complete the project thus leading to increased investments of critical resources (Sanchez Canton, 1998). A very good example of project risks can be seen in Government funded public projects or even military developmental projects where public time and money is involved. Confidentiality risk: The second most important risk that may appear in dealing a project is confidentiality risk, it mostly appear due to lack of secrecy. This is especially for the large projects. The information have to be kept confidential, if not the competitors with large team members may understand the work flow/formulae of the project and be able to built the project earlier as before you can. We must be careful especially when we involve contractors or outsiders into the project. Effective project management may help in having a good communication line among the team members, marketing staff, and contractors; this may helps to keep the information confidential (T Kendrick, 2009) Scope risks: This is another type of risk which mostly appears when the project starts to take a shape. This is due to requirement of a new technology, unfamiliar developments of tools or methods, poor testing criteria, inconsistent specification, undefined product definition, and technical complication (T Kendrick, 2009) Delay risks: Delay risk is part of schedule risks and these are after scope risks, these risks mainly appear due to the delay of the essential parts required for a project, it include customs, Paperwork, delivery, and related concerns. This is also due to the delay of information needed, communication gap and misunderstanding among the team members/ project stakeholders, etc. Due this factor the project may delay for some days, months or may be for years (T Kendrick, 2009) Estimating risks: Estimating risk appears mostly in technical projects. Project manager mostly says the typical risks arise in the project is estimating risks. Estimating risks occurs when there are learning curves ( when the quality of estimates of new technology, or new people involvement is not good), judgements (misunderstanding, disintegration of work), and imposed deadlines (forceful deadlines set in advance, when an objective is retained) (T Kendrick, 2009) Dependency risks: Other projects, infrastructure factors, and legal issues are three sub categories of dependency risks. In general large project are sub divided into small projects and mostly these small project will be dependent on the other, unfortunately when one small project is delayed/stopped the other projects which are dependent on it will be delayed. â€Å"Even for the interfaces that were defined in advance, delay was fairly common due to the uncertainty in each project† (T Kendrick, 2009) The above section has detailed the different types of risks that normally exist or co-exist in projects. Their modes of occurrence and the impact they can have on the project and the firm has been explained in brief. The following part would attempt to explain ways that firms, projects and managers involved employ to analyse and manage the same since the occurrence of a risk can pose a threat to the above in terms of time, money or even failure to deliver what has been promised. Analyzing And Managing Risks: Ways to manage risks with limited impact on other resources: Risks are present in abundance in any IT and outsourcing industries because of the processes being tightly interlinked such as business processes, database, or process reengineering. Therefore, it is very important to: Identify risks. Weigh risks for probability of risk occurring. Weigh risks for criticality/impact at your operations. Plan to reduce risk (to zero if appropriate, for example for a safety critical industry) (Sanchez Canton, 1998). A simple way of explaining risk analysis is to take an airplane for example because the traveler, who is the user, has zero tolerance to risks. In similar manner, risk analysis can be carried out for other products and services too. The most important indicative risks are business continuity management risks, information security/data privacy risks and process related risks (Lock, 2001). The need to evaluate and monitor risks involved from an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) perspective takes higher priority over other means of analysis in the information age of business (Flynn, 2008). It can be seen in the ERM diagram below the different risks across the entire organization that exist or arise and the need for them to be managed effectively (Beasley et al., 2004). An important reason firms should stress on analysing risks is the realization that risks delay chances of sticking to time schedules agreed by project leaders to customers in turn; leading to increased investment of resources in the form of man hours and time (PMBOK, 2004). This causes increase in investment of capital, which is something neither customers nor firms involved like to do. Risks occur at every stage of a project thus increasing stress on carrying out risk analysis and minimize the effects of risks on a given project. It means that risks and errors still occur when thorough analyses of their occurrence have been chalked out and steps have been implemented to minimize the effects they have on a project (Burke, 1999). However, prior knowledge of a risk occurring at a given period in the project enables people involved to counter the risk effectively and minimize or erase the impact it could have had on the project. Before the project could be initiated, assessing risks by knowing in exact what the project intends to do and the reason for it to be outsourced becomes very important. This could include assessing project behaviour under varying market conditions and the expected growth rate it can attain within a given period of time (Dickson, 2003). Risks need to be analyzed in a detailed manner by the top management in order to understand the various options available to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. This understanding and analysis becomes significant in implementing a sound risk management plan. A project taken up poses as a risk in itself to explore opportunities that lie waiting on the other side. Therefore, threats need to be minimized a

Factors That Influence Human Development Essay

In our day and time, socioeconomic status, cultural context, and ethnicity play a huge role in human development. Human development begins while in the womb and at birth and continues through life heavily depending on these particular factors. These factors determine how a person communicates, works, looks, and chooses to live their daily lives. People are individuals and therefore, are all different people and will develop in different ways all depending on the influence of these three things in their lives. The first factor that influences human development is a person’s socioeconomic status. This indicates a person’s position in society as determined by income, wealth, occupation, education, and place of residence. As a child, socioeconomic status has a big effect on the way a child is raised and the opportunities available to him/her. Children that come from high socioeconomic status families typically are more successful because they have more resources readily available to their children. They are able to afford high-quality childcare, education, and healthcare. Read more: Explain how children and young peoples development is influenced by a range of personal factors essay Their children are also typically more involved in recreational sports and extra-curricular activities broadening their children’s horizons and talents. Children that are raised in low socioeconomic families lack the financial, educational, and social support that would make them feel equal to children from higher social standing families. These feelings of unease and not fitting in can lead to low confidence and low motivation. Children have to live with these feelings and the circumstances they were born into until they become adults and can make their own livings. Anyone is capable of overcoming his or her circumstances! When children grow up, they get to decide how far they want to take their education and what type of career field they want to go into as well as where and how they will choose to fit into modern day society. Cultural context is also a large factor that shapes a person’s development. Culture is defined as the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and arts. Culture affects the way we dress, what we eat, what we believe, and even the way we think about life and make decisions. I think that culture is beginning to play a larger role in development as our country begins to grow exponentially with the number or foreign immigrants making this nation their home. Different cultures are beginning to merge together making their heritage and beliefs that much more important in the hearts of their people as they grow and develop into adults. For example, a Muslim or Hindu individual will celebrate certain holidays very differently than a Catholic or Christian individual. A person’s cultural beliefs and traditions have an affect on their everyday lives, and those things will be passed down through generations. One example of a culturally taught idea here in America is the typical â€Å"American Dream† that we, as American children, have been taught through childhood and youth. From an early age, we were taught and told that with hard work, determination, and never giving up on a dream, our opportunities would be endless. Culture is another huge factor on human development. According to the textbook, there is some confusion regarding the differences between race and ethnicity. Ethnicity or an ethnic group is defined as a people whose ancestors were born in the same region and who often share a language, culture, and religion. Race is defined as a group of people who are regarded by themselves or by others as distinct from other groups on the bases of physical appearance. Race can definitely be a misleading concept though. I think ethnicity and culture are very different things, but definitely go hand in hand pertaining to human development. Each human being is their own individual person, therefore, will grow and develop differently. Being a part of an ethnic group can have a very positive influence on a child or an adult by giving them a sense of belonging and identity; it helps them to discover and understand who they are and where they come from. It can also present negative consequences such as creating divisions between different groups of people which have caused discrimination and prejudice which in our history has unfortunately led to conflict and in extreme cases, war. All three of theses areas influence a person’s physical, cognitive, and social development in different ways. Explain why researchers interested in human development study different cultures. Give an example of a research question that would benefit from a multicultural comparison. This question can greatly be connected to the following one. Cultural tendencies are a huge factor in human development, so to get an accurate study regarding development; it would have to be a cross-cultural study. If you were questioning the correlation between height and weight of children from higher socioeconomic families versus children from lower socio economic families testing the theory that a major cause of malnutrition and low growth rate is family income and status, you would have to test your theory in different parts of the world and in different people groups. Things that would need to be considered are different styles of cooking and the way that certain people eat as well as amount of physical activity. For example, children in Africa whose job it is to work in the fields or help their family out doing some form of chores that most likely is outside and involves laborious activity are going to naturally get more physical exercise in their everyday lives that American children who sit in a classroom and then go home to play video games and maybe play an occasional game outside. Children raised in America definitely live a more sedentary lifestyle than most other people groups, and that is something to take into consideration when looking at things such as height and weight that ride on factors such as physical activity and activity level. This is the reason for researchers and psychologists that are interested in studying different cultures to get accurate answers to these questions regarding human development. Since culture, race, and ethnicity play such a huge role in development, it is necessary to study different types of people to make these assumptions. Review information related to Figure 1. 2 (Ecological Model). Explain your own development from a social, physical, and cognitive perspective from this model using at least three of the Five Characteristics of Development (page 11). This model illustrates the social, physical, and cognitive development of a person through these five different characteristics of development. The five systems are the Microsystems, exosystems, macrosystems, mesosystems, and the chronosystem. This model was created by Urie Bronfenbrenner to show how each person is significantly affected by interactions among a number of these overlapping systems. The microsystem seems to be the most critical in my personal opinion; they intimately and immediately shape development. Personally, the examples given in the model are the most important areas or things that mean the most to me as a person, and I would definitely say they are the things that have made me who I am today. My family, friends, and my faith are the most important things in my life and certainly have shaped my life. I was raised in a strong Christian family with two loving parents who support me in everything that I do. My faith is the cornerstone and foundation of who I am, and is my basis for decisions I make and the way I choose in which to live my life and the people I choose to surround myself with. I have an incredible group of friends that keep me grounded and sometimes I feel like they know me better than I know myself. These things that are included in the microsystem of development have certainly been heavyweights as I have developed into the woman I am today. The next system illustrated in this model is called the exosystem, which include external networks such as community, mass media, school/educational settings, and medical institutions that influence the inner circle of the microsystem. Personally, these areas definitely carry weight, especially in such a generation and society that is led by social networking and the media/entertainment industry. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all of the other social networking sites drive this generation, so I believe this system has a large impact on development. As far as schooling, since I am deciding to go back to school to aim for a master’s degree in nursing, this plays a huge role in my life and development. I spend large amounts of time focusing all of my attention on schoolwork and reading to further my education. The third area I feel like has had a large impact on my personal development and life itself is the macrosystem, which influences all of the other systems and includes cultural values, political philosophies, economic patterns, and social conditions. I think the one of these areas that has personally had the most influence on me is the social conditions. Being socially aware and socially open to meeting new people and being able to learn new ways to engage others at the college age level is crucial. When our high school group of friends breaks up and moves away to take on new endeavors of their own, you have to be able to adjust and meet new people, and I feel as if that is an area I have done really well in. I love to meet new people, and I think the reason for that is the social foundation that I already had established from growing up in an environment and around people who made me feel comfortable and established self-confidence and self-worth in me. These are the areas in which I feel like have greatly influenced my personal physical, cognitive, and social development.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Proposal Essay

Hazards exist in every workplace in many different forms: sharp edges, falling objects, flying sparks, chemicals, noise and other potentially dangerous situations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that employers protect their employees from workplace hazards that can cause injury. Controlling a hazard at its source is the best way to protect employees. Depending on the hazard or workplace conditions, OSHA recommends the use of engineering or work practice controls to manage or eliminate hazards to the greatest extent possible. For example, building a barrier between the hazard and the employees is an engineering control; changing the way in which employees perform their work is a work practice control. When engineering, work practice and administrative controls are not feasible or do not provide sufficient protection, employers must provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to their employees and ensure its use. Personal protective equipment, commonly referred to as â€Å"PPE†, is equipment worn to minimize exposure to a variety of hazards. Examples of PPE include such items as gloves, foot and eye protection, protective hearing devices (earplugs, muffs) hard hats, respirators and full body suits. This guide will help both employers and employees do the following: Understand the types of PPE. Know the basics of conducting a â€Å"hazard assessment† of the workplace. Select appropriate PPE for a variety of circumstances. Understand what kind of training is needed in the proper use and care of PPE. The information in this guide is general in nature and does not address all workplace hazards or PPE requirements. The information, methods and procedures in this guide are based on the OSHA requirements for PPE as set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 29 CFR 1910. 132 (General requirements); 29 CFR 1910. 133 (Eye and face protection); 29 CFR 1910. 135 (Head protection); 29 CFR 1910. 136 (Foot protection); 29 CFR 1910. 137 (Electrical protective equipment); 29 CFR 1910. 138 (Hand protection); and regulations that cover the construction industry, at 29 CFR 1926. 95 (Criteria for personal protective equipment); 29 CFR 1926. 96 (Occupational foot protection); 29 CFR 1926. 100 (Head protection); 29 CFR 1926. 101 (Hearing protection); and 29 CFR 1926. 102 (Eye and face protection); and for the maritime industry at 29 CFR 1915. 152 (General requirements); 29 CFR 1915. 153 (Eye and face protection); 29 CFR 1915. 155 (Head protection); 29 CFR 1915. 156 (Foot protection); and 29 CFR 1915. 157 (Hand and body protection). OSHA requires the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective in reducing these exposures to acceptable levels. Employers are required to determine if PPE should be used to protect their workers. If PPE is to be used, a PPE program should be implemented. This program should address the hazards present; the selection, maintenance, and use of PPE; the training of employees; and monitoring of the program to ensure its ongoing effectiveness. PPE is addressed in specific standards for the general industry, shipyard employment, marine terminals, and long shoring . The Requirement for PPE To ensure the greatest possible protection for employees in the workplace, the cooperative efforts of both employers and employees will help in establishing and maintaining a safe and healthful work environment. In general, employers are responsible for: ? Performing a â€Å"hazard assessment† of the workplace to identify and control physical and health hazards. Identifying and providing appropriate PPE for employees. Training employees in the use and care of the PPE. Maintaining PPE, including replacing worn or damaged PPE. Periodically reviewing, updating and evaluating the effectiveness of the PPE program. In general, employees should: Properly wear PPE, Attend training sessions on PPE, Care for, clean and maintain PPE, and Inform a supervisor of the need to repair or replace PPE. Specific requirements for PPE are presented in many different OSHA standards, published in 29 CFR. Some standards require that employers provide PPE at no cost to the employee while others simply state that the employer must provide PPE. Appendix A at page 40 lists those standards that require the employer to provide PPE and those that require the employer to provide PPE at no cost to the employee. United States department of labor Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez

Free Essays on Report On Case Study

This research article chosen is entitled, Individual Differences in Children’s Emotion Understanding: Effects of Age and Language. It came from the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology; September 2003, Volume 44 Issue 4, p 347, 7 p. It’s logical to assume that as individuals get older, they tend to mature in additional areas of life. In the extent of the last two decades, it has been proven that emotion understanding can alter with age. Recent studies have begun to focus on children’s individual emotion understanding. Researchers in this study also hypothesized that as children mature, their emotion understanding will increase. The researchers’ first goal of this study was to examine the development of individual differences in children by assessing a test containing nine different components of emotion understanding. Their second goal was to observe the relation between language ability and individual differences in emotion understanding. Eighty children ranging in age from four to eleven years were tested. As expected, there was an increase in emotion understanding and language ability with age. In each age group, it was clear that there were individual differences in language ability an d emotion understanding. Age and language ability collectively explained 72% of emotion understanding conflict; 20% of this variance was explained by age single-handedly and 27% by language ability. The research conducted was a correlational study. As the children increased in age, their language ability and emotion understanding also increased. In this case, there was a positive correlation. After the exposure to an original research report, I realize that even the most practical situations could be a product of a psychological study. I expected the research article to contain more scientific information resulting in confusion. As for the results of the actual study, I’m not surprised. It’s logical to assume that when aging occurs, it wi... Free Essays on Report On Case Study Free Essays on Report On Case Study This research article chosen is entitled, Individual Differences in Children’s Emotion Understanding: Effects of Age and Language. It came from the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology; September 2003, Volume 44 Issue 4, p 347, 7 p. It’s logical to assume that as individuals get older, they tend to mature in additional areas of life. In the extent of the last two decades, it has been proven that emotion understanding can alter with age. Recent studies have begun to focus on children’s individual emotion understanding. Researchers in this study also hypothesized that as children mature, their emotion understanding will increase. The researchers’ first goal of this study was to examine the development of individual differences in children by assessing a test containing nine different components of emotion understanding. Their second goal was to observe the relation between language ability and individual differences in emotion understanding. Eighty children ranging in age from four to eleven years were tested. As expected, there was an increase in emotion understanding and language ability with age. In each age group, it was clear that there were individual differences in language ability an d emotion understanding. Age and language ability collectively explained 72% of emotion understanding conflict; 20% of this variance was explained by age single-handedly and 27% by language ability. The research conducted was a correlational study. As the children increased in age, their language ability and emotion understanding also increased. In this case, there was a positive correlation. After the exposure to an original research report, I realize that even the most practical situations could be a product of a psychological study. I expected the research article to contain more scientific information resulting in confusion. As for the results of the actual study, I’m not surprised. It’s logical to assume that when aging occurs, it wi...

Characteristics of a Real Number

Characteristics of a Real Number What is a number? Well that depends. There are a variety of different kinds of numbers, each with their own particular properties. One sort of number, upon which statistics, probability, and much of mathematics is based upon, is called a real number. To learn what a real number is, we will first take a brief tour of other kinds of numbers. Types of Numbers We first learn about numbers in order to count. We began with matching the numbers 1, 2, and 3 with our fingers.  Then we and kept going as high as we could, which probably wasnt that high. These counting numbers or natural numbers were the only numbers that we knew about. Later, when dealing with subtraction, negative whole numbers were introduced. The set of positive and negative whole numbers is called the set of integers. Shortly after this, rational numbers, also called fractions were considered. Since every integer can be written as a fraction with 1 in the denominator, we say that the integers form a subset of the rational numbers. The ancient Greeks realized that not all numbers can be formed as a fraction. For example, the square root of 2 cannot be expressed as a fraction. These kinds of numbers are called irrational numbers. Irrational numbers abound, and somewhat surprisingly in a certain sense there are more irrational numbers than rational numbers. Other irrational numbers include pi and e. Decimal Expansions Every real number can be written as a decimal. Different kinds of real numbers have different kinds of decimal expansions. The decimal expansion of a rational number is terminating, such as 2, 3.25, or 1.2342, or repeating, such as .33333. . . Or .123123123. . . In contrast to this, the decimal expansion of an irrational number is nonterminating and nonrepeating. We can see this in the decimal expansion of pi. There is a never ending string of digits for pi, and whats more, there is no string of digits that indefinitely repeats itself. Visualization of Real Numbers The real numbers can be visualized by associating each one of them to one of the infinite number of points along a straight line. The real numbers have an order, meaning that for any two distinct real numbers we can say that one is greater than the other. By convention, moving to the left along on the real number line corresponds to lesser and lesser numbers. Moving to the right along the real number line corresponds to greater and greater numbers. Basic Properties of the Real Numbers The real numbers behave like other numbers that we are used to dealing with. We can add, subtract, multiply and divide them (as long as we dont divide by zero). The order of addition and multiplication is unimportant, as there is a commutative property. A distributive property tells us how multiplication and addition interact with one another. As mentioned before, the real numbers possess an order. Given any two real numbers x and y, we know that one and only one of the following is true: x y, x y or x y. Another Property - Completeness The property that sets the real numbers apart from other sets of numbers, like the rationals, is a property known as completeness. Completeness is a bit technical to explain, but the intuitive notion is that the set of rational numbers has gaps in it. The set of real numbers does not have any gaps, because it is complete. As an illustration, we will look at the sequence of rational numbers 3, 3.1, 3.14, 3.141, 3.1415, . . . Each term of this sequence is an approximation to pi, obtained by truncating the decimal expansion for pi. The terms of this sequence get closer and closer to pi. However, as we have mentioned, pi is not a rational number. We need to use irrational numbers to plug in the holes of the number line that occur by only considering the rational numbers. How Many Real Numbers? It should be no surprise that there are an infinite number of real numbers. This can be seen fairly easily when we consider that whole numbers form a subset of the real numbers. We could also see this by realizing that the number line has an infinite number of points. What is surprising is that the infinity used to count the real numbers is of a different kind than the infinity used to count the whole numbers. Whole numbers, integers and rationals are countably infinite. The set of real numbers is uncountably infinite. Why Call Them Real? Real numbers get their name to set them apart from an even further generalization to the concept of number. The imaginary number i is defined to be the square root of negative one. Any real number multiplied by i is also known as an imaginary number. Imaginary numbers definitely stretch our conception of number, as they are not at all what we thought about when we first learned to count.