Saturday, August 31, 2019

Investment Behaviour of Women Essay

Abstract Through an analysis of recent reforms in three policy areas in Chile—pensions, childcare services, and maternity/parental leave—the paper seeks to explore how equity-oriented reforms deal with the triple legacy of maternalism, male-breadwinner bias, and market reform. Recent studies of â€Å"new† social policies in Latin America have underlined the persistent strength of maternalist assumptions. Feminist research on new cash transfer programs, in particular, has tended to see more continuity than change in the gendered underpinnings of social policy. This paper suggests that once we broaden our ï ¬ eld of vision to include other social programs and reforms, the ways in which contemporary social policy (re)deï ¬ nes women’s productive and reproductive roles, social rights, and obligations are more complex and contradictory. Indeed, while some policies take unpaid care by women for granted, others point to an increasing awareness of inequalities   Staa b that shape women’s and men’s differential access to market income and public social beneï ¬ ts. Over the last decade, there has been a veritable explosion of scholarship on Latin American social policy. In part this reï ¬â€šects the fact that—after decades of neglect—Latin American states have rediscovered social policy and scaled up their efforts to address the social fallout of liberalization. Indeed, while â€Å"Washington Consensus† reforms were mainly driven by the desire to cut costs and reduce the scope of the state, the late 1990s and 2000s have seen more coordinated state interventions to reduce poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. While not returning to post-war social protection schemes, countries in the region are experimenting with policies that break with the neoliberal notion of minimal safety nets (Barrientos et al. 2008; Molyneux 2008; Cortes 2009).  ´ What does this â€Å"return of the state† mean for women’s social rights and welfare? It has been argued that in contrast to the gender blindness of neoliberal reforms, â€Å"new† social policies have been gender conscious (Bedford 2007). However, relatively little systematic research has been carried out on the gender dynamics of this new social agenda (Macdonald and Ruckert 2009). The existing literature seems to suggest that there is far more continuity than change in the gendered underpinnings of â€Å"new† social protection programs. Feminist research on conditional cash transfers (CCTs)—a key innovation associated with Post-Washington Consensus social policy in the region—has tended to stress the persistence of maternalism (e.g., Molyneux 2007; Bradshaw 2008; Tabbush 2009), a set of ideas and practices with a long and ambiguous history in the region. Yet there is more to Post-Washington Consensus social policy than CCTs. Several Latin American countries are experimenting with other care-related policies alongside cash transfer schemes— including the introduction of full-day schooling, the expansion of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, maternity/ parental leave reforms, and in recent pension reforms, the introduction of child-rearing credits. While some of these programs take the unpaid care by women for granted , others point to an increasing awareness of gender inequalities that shape women’s and men’s differential access to labor market income and public social beneï ¬ ts. That these initiatives have received little scholarly attention leaves the impression that Latin American social policy is stuck on a maternalist track, when national and regional trends are likely to be more varied and complex. Against this broader backdrop, the main aim of the paper  is to provide a better understanding of the complex and contradictory  ways in which women’s productive and reproductive roles, social rights, and obligations are constructed and (re)deï ¬ ned in the context of recent equity-oriented reforms. I argue for a two-tiered approach. First, I propose to move beyond single policy analysis towards a more systemic view that takes into account and compares developments across sectors. Second, I aim to assess these reforms according to the ways in which they have dealt with three key legacies: marketization, maternalism, and male-breadwinner bias. I apply this approach to the recent reforms in Chilean social policy, a particularly intriguing case. First, Chile is often cited as the Latin American country where neoliberal principles have been most comprehensively applied. Its 1980s social sector reforms–particularly in pensions and health–have long been promoted by international ï ¬ nancial institutions as a model for other countries to emulate (Taylor 2003; Orenstein 2005). Recent innovations in Chile’s social policy regime thus merit close attention. Second, Chile combines market liberalism with strong social conservatism, particularly with regards to gender roles. We would expect these two legacies to create mounting tensions and contradictions –for example over whether mothers should be at home (maternalism) or in the market (liberalism)–that social and employment policies have to navigate. I have chosen to focus on the recent reforms in pension, ECEC, and parental leave policies, issues which have been high up the public agenda in Chile and elsewhere. This is reï ¬â€šective of both broader global discourses spearheaded by international organizations such as the World Bank and the OECD, as well as a regional trend to revising social protection frameworks with an emphasis on increasing the coverage of hitherto excluded groups.1 The selection thus consciously combines two more traditional policy areas associated with social protection/consumption (pensions and maternity leave), with an emerging area geared towards social investment (ECEC). While the former were directly undermined by structural adjustment and deliberately restructured following the advice of international ï ¬ nancial institutions (Orenstein 2005; Brooks 2009), the latter have acquired prominence over the past decades as a means of reducing poverty by facilitating women’s labor force participation and as a cost-efï ¬ cient tool to promote human capital development by investing in early childhood development. These ideas form part of an emerging global paradigm (Jenson and Saint-Martin 2003; Jenson 2010; Mahon 2010) and seem to have ï ¬ ltered down to the national level with several Latin American countries experimenting with childcare-related reforms.2 The combinat ion of protection and promotion implicit in this selection is also highly relevant from a gender perspective. While childcare services and parental leaves can facilitate women’s engagement in paid employment, pension systems can be designed in ways that translate labor market inequalities into unequal entitlements in old age. They thus represent two sides of the same problem, namely the extent to which the gender division of labor affects women’s and men’s differential access to income and social security. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The next section brieï ¬â€šy illustrates the rationale for choosing marketization, maternalism, and male-breadwinner bias as key dimensions for assessing continuity and change. It takes a historical and  regional perspective to show how they became embedded in Latin American systems of social provision. The second half of the paper then provides a detailed analysis of recent reforms in Chilean pension, childcare, and maternity leave policies. The ï ¬ nal section draws out some comparative conclusions about the extent to which the recent reforms have dealt with the key legacies of marketization, maternalism, and male-breadwinner bias. Maternalism, Male-Breadwinner Bias, and Market Reform  Trajectories of welfare state formation and change in Latin America are in many ways different from those of advanced economies in Europe or North America that have formed the basis for theory building. The most important difference is probably the dynamism and radicalism with which development strategies have been recast over the last century (Sheahan 2002, 4). Thus, many countries moved from state-led import-substituting industrialization (ISI) in the post-war period to the rather radical application of neoliberal prescriptions following the recessions and debt crises of the late 1970s and early 1980s. These transitions left distinct legacies in systems of social provision. From the often incomplete formation of welfare institutions in the post-war era, governments in the region turned to retrenchment, deregulation, and privatization. Redistributive and universalist aspirations—however exclusionary or stratifying these had been in practice (Filgueira and Filgueira 2002)—were buried with the shift to market-led development and the region moved closer towards liberal-informal welfare regimes (Barrientos 2004). As the state was scaled back, reforms empowered business interests which became directly involved in education, health, and pension systems.3 Gender roles and norms as well as pervasive gender inequalities across states, markets, and households mediate women’s and men’s exposure to social risks as well as their speciï ¬ c need for social protection and services. Women face particular challenges due to  motherhood and other caring responsibilities that societies largely assign to them (Lewis 1992; O’Connor 1993; Orloff 1993). Yet, these risks and responsibilities have rarely been taken into account in the design of social policies. Thus, Bismarck-style social insurance systems, such as those founded across Latin American countries in the post-war period, had an inherent male-breadwinner bias.4 Women, in turn, tended to access social beneï ¬ ts as wives of a male breadwinner or as mothers whose maternal functions had to be safeguarded and protected (Gimenez 2005). Motherhood became the  ´ very basis on which women staked their claims to citizenship rights and states deployed their efforts to mobilize female constituencies. At the heart of this â€Å"civic maternalism† was the belief that women– and in particular their biological and social function as mothers– had to be recognized, valued, and protected (Molyneux 2000).5 This was, in Nancy Folbre’s words, the â€Å"patriarchal trunk† onto which market reform was grafted, but which â€Å"continues to inï ¬â€šuence the shape of the tree† (Interviewed by Razavi 2011). A large body of literature has documented how struc tural adjustment increased the overall burden on women. Thus, where privatization and trade liberalization triggered a rise in male unemployment, women were pushed into (largely informal) paid employment to make up for lost wages. Meanwhile, retrenchment and commercialization of social services shifted more responsibilities for social provision to the domestic sphere, where the prevailing gender division of labor meant that women spent more time on unpaid reproductive work (BenerÄ ±a and Feldman 1992; Sparr 1994; and Elson 1995). In  ´ social protection systems, the move from risk sharing to individualization exacerbated already existing gender inequalities. By tightening the relationship between contributory patterns and pension beneï ¬ ts, market reforms effectively deepened male-breadwinner bias (Dion 2008). In health, private insurance companies were given plenty of rope for deï ¬ ning premiums based on gender-speciï ¬ c â€Å"risks†, such as pregnancy (Gideon 2006). As a result, the costs of biological and social repr oduction were further individualized and passed on to women. Paradoxically, maternalism remained a strong theme in the neoliberal era, at least at the level of public discourse (Molyneux 2000). In short, market reforms layered new gender inequalities onto the already existing legacies of maternalism and male-breadwinner bias. As a result, conservative elements exist alongside (neo)liberal elements in the contemporary welfare architecture of many Latin American countries. How are these legacies challenged or compounded by the current wave of policy innovations and reform? If the state is indeed assuming greater responsibility for social  provision, does this trend provide a more favorable context for redressing gender inequalities? More particularly, does it reï ¬â€šect a greater recognition and redistribution of the responsibilities for and costs of care and social reproduction? The existing literature suggests that there is far more continuity than change in gendered assumptions even as new social programs are being rolled out: Recent studies have argued, for example, that new social programs have paid scant, if any, attention to the underlying structures of gender inequality in labor markets and households (Razavi 2007); that economic and social policies continue to place the burden of social reproduction on families (read: women); that the particular design of social programs tends to reinforce traditional gender roles without providing long-term strategies for women’s economic security through job training or childcare provision (Molyneux 2007; Tabbush 2009); and that new social policies increase social control and surveillance of mothers’ child-rearing behavior and performance (Luccisano and Wall 2009). Feminist research on CCTs, in particular, has tended to stress the persistence of maternalist orientations (e.g., Molyneux 2007; Bradshaw 2008; Tabbush 2009). This literature has been central for understanding the gendered nature of â€Å"new† social policies in the region and much remains to be learned about the actual diversity of  ´ these programs (MartÄ ±nez Franzoni and Voorend 2009) and their impact on women from different ethnic groups (Hernandez 2011;  ´ Rivera 2011). Analytically, however, the focus on a single scheme is insufï ¬ cient to assess the processes through which women’s productive and reproductive roles, social rights, and obligations are currently being (re)deï ¬ ned. Several Latin American countries are experimenting with other social policies alongside the much-cited CCTs, including the introduction of full-day schooling, the expansion of ECEC services, maternity/parental leave reforms, and the introduction of child-rearing credits in recent pension reforms. In each of these areas, equity-oriented reformers struggle with the legacies of maternalism and male-breadwinner bias, on the one hand, and the (ideological and de-facto) importance of markets, on the other hand. I argue that these struggles shape reform processes and outcomes in ways that are more complex and contradictory than the existing literature on CCTs suggests. The following analysis of Chilean social policy sets out to unravel some of these complexities by looking at the recent reforms in pensions, childcare, and leave regulations. Implicit in this approach is an understanding of the state as a concept that helps to contextualize present political conï ¬â€šicts and policy processes (Hay and Lister 2006). In other words, previously enacted policies, institutional choices, and strategic interactions constitute a â€Å"strategically selective terrain† (Jessop 1990, 203) that structures present political conï ¬â€šict, rendering it more conducive to some  demands than others. While not determining their behavior, the ensemble of institutions and policy frameworks that comprise the state offer opportunities to and impose constraints on, the political agency of those wishing to effect policy change. The three legacies outlined above form part of the institutional landscape of the state. As such, they are shown to play a signiï ¬ cant role in current attempts of reform and policy innovation. While these legacies constitute the main focus of this paper, they are by no means the only factor that shape change and continuity in Chilean social policy. In fact, sector-speciï ¬ c actors, partisan politics, and particular political contingencies come into play to differing degrees. Furthermore, the continuity and deepening of an economic model based on trade openness, macroeconomic stability, monetary, and ï ¬ scal discipline and ï ¬â€šexible employment, forms the backdrop against which more expansive social policies have emerged as a response to persistent inequality. However, the full meaning of recent reforms cannot be understood without taking into account the gender-speciï ¬ c legacies in each sector.  (En)gendering Change and Continuity: Recent reforms in Chile Chile is a particularly intriguing case for analyzing continuity and change in social policy. On the one hand, it is often portrayed as the country where neoliberal principles have most profoundly transformed economic, social, and political institutions (Kurtz 1999; Filgueira and Filgueira 2002). While radical market reforms were carried out under the aegis of a military dictatorship (1973–1989), many of the model’s features were maintained with the return to democracy. Consequently, the country’s policy framework is often represented as particularly resistant to equity-oriented change. On the other hand, Chile combines market liberalism with social conservatism—two features that conventional welfare regime analysis tends to locate in different clusters (the conservative and the liberal variant, respectively). Female labor force participation is among the lowest in the region (ECLAC 2008), the country’s welfare regime has been described as inherently â€Å"gender biased† (Pribble 2006, 86), and conservative social norms  regarding women’s role in the family loom large (Contreras and Plaza 2010).6 Despite this rather unfavorable context, recent reforms suggest that these frameworks are not carved in stone. Since the early 2000 s efforts to expand social protection, to improve access to and quality  of social services and to strengthen social rights have featured prominently on the country’s social agenda, leading some to argue that Chile may be approaching a â€Å"point of inï ¬â€šection† (Illanes and Riesco 2007, 406). The following sections shed light on the complex and contradictory ways in which the triple legacy of maternalism, male-breadwinner bias, and market reform is addressed by recent reforms in pensions (adopted in 2008), childcare services (signiï ¬ cantly expanded since 2006), and maternity leave (reformed in 2011). Before delving more deeply into the developments in each sector, it is necessary to brieï ¬â€šy describe the broader economic and political context since the country’s return to democracy in 1990. Context of Recent Reforms and Policy Innovations The return to democracy did not entail a drastic transformation of the institutional foundations of economic and social policy inherited from the military regime (Moulian 2002; Taylor 2003; Borzutzky 2010). In fact, in macroeconomic terms the center-left party coalition Concertacion that governed the country from 1990  ´ to 2010 validated and deepened the neoliberal model based on trade openness, macroeconomic stability, monetary and ï ¬ scal discipline and ï ¬â€šexible employment. To offset some of its worst effects, social spending increased steadily which, together with economic growth and employment creation, dramatically reduced absolute poverty from 38.6 percent in 1990 to 13.7 percent in 2006 (ECLAC 2008), although it did relatively little to improve income distribution or lessen social inequalities and fragmentation in education, health, and social protection (Solimano 2009). Explanations for this continuity are manifold, including the formidable constraints placed on  the autonomy of the ï ¬ rst Concertacion governments by authoritarian enclaves in the political  ´ system that granted right-wing political opposition important veto powers; the resistance of business interests whose power increased as a result of market reforms; the weakness of other civil society actors, particularly labor; a political culture eager to avoid the kind of political confrontation that preceded the military coup; and the adoption of market-oriented ideas by key decision makers within the centerleft coalition itself (e.g. Kurtz 2003; Castiglioni 2005; Borzutzky and Weeks 2010; Ewig and Kay 2011). The result of this complex and contradictory process has been described as a Chilean â€Å"Third Way† characterized by an â€Å"unwavering commitment to trade liberalization and privatization despite considerable public opposition† and a â€Å"predisposition to a policy process that discourages participation by civil society and rank-and-ï ¬ le party members, while affording business access to the  highest reaches of government† (Sandbrook et al. 2007, 164–65). This set-up makes some policy areas more amenable to equity-enhancing reforms and innovations than others. As the economic model rests upon a ï ¬â€šexible and restrictive labor regime (Frank 2004), social policy is largely conï ¬ ned to enhancing workers’ ability to compete on the market and to mitigating some of the worst risks that unregulated and precarious employment entails. This goes a long way to explain why the two socialist-led governments of Ricardo Lagos (2000–2006) and Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010) spearheaded health reform, pension reform and childcare service expansion in order to enhance equity, while shying away from reforms related to the country’s labor market where many of the fundamental social inequalities originate. While the  Bachelet administration’s employment policy and labor relations have been described as disappointing, (Lopez 2009;  ´ Sehnbruch 2009), it did turn social protection into a key priority. The concept ual pillars of her strategy included a life-course approach to social protection and the attempt to introduce a rights-based perspective (Hardy 2011). The latter materialized in a gradual lifting of budgetary restrictions on social assistance7 and the progressive relaxation of eligibility requirements for accessing a range of beneï ¬ ts. The life-course approach, in turn, is captured in repeatedly stated commitments to create equal opportunities and protect citizens â€Å"from the cradle to old age†. Tellingly, its translation into policy focused on the two extremes of the life course, namely the reform of the pension system and Chile Crece Contigo, an integrated early childhood protection system that included the massive expansion of childcare services. The working-age population remained caught in the middle with persistently low employment quality, including a high level of job instability and the limited reach of employment-based rights and beneï ¬ ts, a scenario that disproportionately affects women workers (Sehnbruch 2009). 8 Thus, the attempt to square greater equity and social inclusion with an open economy inï ¬â€šuenced the scope and locus of policy change during the Bachelet administration. While acquiring greater visibility, social protection remained subordinate to macroeconomic goals, including those related to employment, understood as not interfering with job creation through greater regulation and rights for workers. In this context, it is particularly surprising that a highly controversial employment-related reform was introduced under the new right-wing government of Sebastian Pinera (2010) which, in ËÅ"  ´ 2011, expanded (women) workers’ rights through a reform of maternity leave regulations.

East Asian and American Education Essay

One of the phenomenon I experienced and observed a lot is East Asian students, comparingly, speak less in class than American students. More precisely, the students impacted by western education is more talkative (in a class discussion) than the students learned under East Asian education system. Besides the language issue, I am more interested in the foundation of different that drove behind this phenomenon. And I believe this is a good example of how culture affects our mind, further, our behavior. To explore this question, I will discuss the differences between East Asian and Western education system in several aspects: First, the major cultural difference existing in two cultures. Why western education values discussion and why does east asian education value lecture? The difference in professor-student relation, Students’ expectation in learning, and finally, the benefit in each education system. For the major cultural difference between East Asian and Western education system, we can look at the core difference of two culture. That East Asian culture values homogeneous and society as a whole while Western culture emphasizes dynamic and individual. So what does this apply to learning? Amy and Jin, both writers in cross-cultural education field, pointed out that East Asian education values self to be perfect morally and socially while Western education emphasizes creativity and critical thinking. (Chua, 2011, Li, 2012) The purpose of learning shaped education so differently from east to west, that it reflects on every aspect of learning. Teaching method, for instance, American school usually has seminar and East Asian school has mostly lecture. In a seminar, it is the students who are the presenters, so one can hear others opinion and the professor has only a limited role for leading the discussion. It forces students to participate and think about what he/she is learning, and helps students to reform the new learned knowledge with the old ones. It perfectly fits the purpose of western education: think critically and absorb dynamic thoughts. Contrary, students have a more passive role in a lecture, professor being the only role that deliver the knowledge. Students take everything from and only from the instructor and usually not question it even if they doubt it. In East Asian education system, teacher is the center of knowledge (Whang, 2002). Which is not the idea of the Western education system. This can be traced back to ancient China and Confucius culture, which advocated students to respect the teacher. And students were educated to trust everything a teacher gives and should see it as the only truth. Thus, the role of teacher is also a huge factor that affects two education systems. As described, the role of the teacher in East Asian education is majestic, teacher has abso lute authority, and students revere their teacher. Because students believe everything the teacher taught, any concepts that different from the teacher is considered to be wrong, making East Asian students tend not to talk in class unless he/she is sure about the things he/she is going to say is right or meaningful to class. What do students expect in the class? In a research done by a foreign language teacher in China, she pointed that â€Å"students expected to be provided with a detailed systematic plan pertaining to the course provision and delivery to enhance mutual understanding between teachers and students.†, and â€Å"Students show great respect to teachers, but they also expect teachers to have thorough knowledge of the subjects they teach.† (Xiao, 2006), showing that students is prepared to be taught instead of participate in the teaching process. In other hand, in Western education system, student is the central and is required to participate. Learning happens while teaching. When in a class, teacher hope students can integrate into the teaching-learning environment. There’s no absolute right and wrong in a seminar, students speak to express their thought, this is the most important thing in a class. Teacher’s role, more like an introducer of learning, is to lead students into the topic, and students are the decision maker of what he/she wants to take out from the class. Finally, discussing about the benefit of each education system. Teachers have more control in a lecture and in East Asian education, can better delivering ideas. Students can get instant answer and more details for the subject they’re learning. Learners usually develop an independent personality under this kind of education system, are used to know and absorb the answer and theory itself than to understand the reason of the theory. People like to explore and solve the problem by themselves before asking for help. In the Western education system, seminar helps to broaden the subject of learning, student learns not only from the teacher but also the classmates and are exposed to ideas come from different background of aspects. This helps a person to develop creative, confidence and the ability to cooperate with others. Learners under this kind of educating system also care about the reason and principle of a theory than just knowing the theory itself. Reference 1. Chua, A (2011). Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. United States: Penguin Group . 2. Xiao L (2006). Bridging the Gap Between Teaching Styles and Learning Styles: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. 10, . 3. Li, J (2012). Cultural Foundations of Learning. Rhode Island: Brown University. 4. Whang, Y (2002). Research in Applied Psychology. Taiwan: Wu-Nan Culture.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Aristotle & Socrates Essay

Philosophy comes from the Greek roots meaning â€Å"the love of wisdom. † Philosophers are persons who have a compelling need to pursue wisdom. Since the beginning of time, wise man and women have dedicated themselves to asking â€Å"Big Questions†. Depending on the questions, there are various areas of philosophy including metaphysics, epistemological, axiology, ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, social philosophy, and logic. Homework Make a â€Å"Creative† representation of someone (fictional or real) you consider a wise person. Be prepared to present it in class and explain what characteristics make a person wise. Archetypes Archetypes are basic images that represent our conception of the essence of a certain kind of person†¦. usually considered to be shared by all of humanity throughout time. Philosophical archetypes are philosophers who express an original or influential point of view in a way that significantly affects subsequent philosophers and non-philosophers. Western philosophy has been dominated by males of European ancestry. Relativism- Relativism is the belief that knowledge is determined by specific qualities of the observer. In other words, absolute (universal) knowledge of the truth is impossible; â€Å"one opinion is as good as another†. Philosophy week 2 Pre- Socratic philosophy: Asian sages and the sage The Sage The sage is an archetypal fig. Who combines religious inspiration with a love of wisdom? Found in ancient Asia, they are the oldest philosophical archetypes, identifying happiness and teaching the good life. Asian cosmology is not based on empirical (numbers, data, statistics) or scientific evidence. It contends (argues) that everything is working  harmoniously, following the Tao (Force or flow of energy in life), or the â€Å"path† or the â€Å"way† There is no separation between heaven and earth, divine and human, but is working together; all is one reality containing yin and yang. Yin represents earth, weakness, darkness, negative, and destruction. Yang represents heaven, strength, light, positive and construction. One cannot live without the other, keeping the universe in balance. Think Lao-tzu Confucius Siddhartha Gautama The Sophists (Meaning Wise in Greek) First professional educators, Charged fee to teach. Argued that the difference between a good and bad argument is custom and individual preference, nothing is bad or good in nature. They argued for relativism, both cultural and individual. Journal 3 Read pages 59-60 Reflect upon ways you have been a victim of ethnocentrism. Reflect upon ways you are ethnocentric Reflect ways America is ethnocentric. Since 911. The Person Socrates (470-399 B. C. E) was the first major western philosopher. He wrote no philosophy and what we know of him comes chiefly from his pupils Plato and Xenophon. Socrates challenged the sophists doctrines of relativism and moral realism he often taught that beauty and goodness determined by utility (If it serves a purpose) His Teachings Socrates is most famous for his style of philosophical inquiry known as the Socratic Method or dialectic. Education is supposed to draw knowledge out of you instead of riding with you like an empty vessel. Among his teachings, his most persistent command was know you. Believing an unexamined life was not worth living, he saw himself as a kind of â€Å"Physician of the soul. † He believed that the real person is not the body, but the physics-mind-soul. Journal 5 Read the trial and death of Socrates on pages 110-115 How does death and his art of dying relate to his teachings History Plato was a member of the Athenian aristocracy and Socrates’s most favorite and important student Athenian democracy was irrational mob rule. Founded famous academy to educate wise rulers In Plato’s metaphysics, the highest level of reality consists of timeless â€Å"essences† called forms. Platonic forms are independently existing, noncapital â€Å"some-things† Plato divided reality into to two world’s dualism. The highest level of reality is eternal and changeless being. The other is the evolving physical world, known as the coming According to Plato the sophists could not discover truth because they were preoccupied with the world of ever changing perceptions and customs. For Plato the chief distinction between knowledge and opinion is that knowledge is fixed, absolute and eternally true. Whereas opinion is unanchored and changeable. According to plait opinion lives in the realm of becoming truth and knowledge are found on the level of being. The Divided line 133-135. The simile of the sun 135-137 The Allegory of the cvae137-139 The divided line A+B= World of Forms (Being, Knowledgeable) C+D= Physical world (Becoming Opinion) Metaphysics | Epistemology(study of knowledge) | Higher Forms(Example: the good) | A: Understanding | Lower Forms(Example: Form human) | B: Reasoning | Sensible Objects (Example: Mother Teresa) | C. Perception | Images(Example: Mother Teresa’s Photograph) | D. Imagination | Simile of the sun Plato compared the absolute form of the good to the sun; the good makes the existence of everything else possible. The good cannot t be observed by the five senses and can be known only by pure thought or intelligence. It is the source of both the value and the existence of all other forms. Allegory of the cave In the allegory for the cave, Plato categorized three levels of awareness by referring to three distinct levels of reality: two levels of becoming and one ultimate level of being. Lowest Level: No imagination or perception Informed level: Wider range of basic understanding. Awakening Highest level: Soul has no need for perception or interpretation. The Republic (Socrates book for perfect utopia) Plato agreed that there is a reciprocal relationship between the individual and the kind of society in which he or she lives. The ideal state, for Plato, meets three basic characteristics 1) Nourishing needs, 2) Protection needs 3) Ordering needs These needs are best met by three classes: Workers, Warriors, Guardians or Philosopher – Kings. The republic contrasts two views of morality. The instrumental theory of morality asserts that right and wrong must be determined by the consequences our actions produce. The functionalist theory of morality holds that right and wrong can only be understood in terms of the way they affect our overall functioning as human beings. According to Plato, the just state functions fully; the unjust state is dysfunctional, only when all classes of people are virtuous according to their natures is the state whole, healthy, balanced and just. In order to be a just human being, balanced. Virtuous. – temperance, courage, wisdom, justice(essence and balance of the soul) Plato thought the worst kind of Gov. was a tyranny. And democracy was a tyranny. Democracy makes little tyrants out of everybody. Journal 6 According to Plato’s philosophy, please answer these questions: Carefully explain the relationship of the individual to the state in Plato’s Republic. Why is the relationship significant? What does Plato see as the most unjust type of person and state? Do you agree? Explain. Explain the origin and nature of democracy according to plan. Aristotle The person Aristotle was Plato’s most illustrious student and went on to be the personal tutor of Alexander the great. He eventually created his own school called the lyceum. In contrast to Plato, Aristotle introduced the idea of naturalistic or scientific knowledge gained from collecting facts and usual factual info to make the world a better place. Aristotle was a naturalist. Naturalism if the belief that reality consists of the natural world and that the universe is ordered. Everything follows discoverable laws of nature. His Philosophy Aristotle believed that form and matter can be intellectually separated but cannot live independently in reality. The form of something is called its essence. Matter is the common physical material stuff but it has no distinct characteristics without a form. Aristotelian form is that which is in matter and makes thing is what that is. So, individual things are â€Å"formed matter. † Aristotle argued that complete understanding of a thing required identifying its â€Å"four causes. † 1st cause: Material cause, the material thing is made of Cause: formal cause. The form the thing takes cause: Efficient cause, the triggering motion that begins the thing Cause: Final cause, the Telis, or the ultimate purpose for which the thing exists. In living things, Aristotle called the final cause, Entelechy, meaning having its purpose within. He believed every living thing had an â€Å"inner urge† or a drive to become its unique self. He believed nature was ordered and guided internally. Journal 7 Consider the quotes on page 153. Please write a few paragraphs for each one describing what they mean to you and how they relate to you. For Aristotle, psyche or soul is the form of the body. Soul is entelechy. Like every other instance of form and matter, for Aristotle the soul can’t be separated from the body and its body and it’s impossible to affect the body without also affecting the soul or to affect the soul without affecting the body. Aristotle taught that humans had a hierarchy of three kinds of souls, each higher level containing the aspects of the lower levels: 1st level: Lowest soul called vegetative or Nutritive, responsibility for absorption 2nd Level: the sentient or sensitive soul, registers all info regarding form of other things. 3rd Level: Highest Soul found in humans only, called rational soul, and includes the other two plus the capabilities for analysis, understanding relationships and decision-making. According to Aristotle the good is that which all things aim. It is their entelechy Eudemonia which often translated to happiness means being really alive rather than just existing. According to Aristotle happiness requires activity good habits and practical wisdom. Aristotelian moderation is based on the concept of wisdom hitting the mark between too much and not enough Virtue consists of hitting the mark or the mean but vice consist of being off by too much (excess) or too little (Deficiency) Journal 8 Read pages 172-176 Explain the importance of hitting the mark and character to Aristotle’s concept of happiness What is the principle of meaning? Philosophy study guide Academy- Alexander the Great An Unexamined Life Aristotelian Forms Aristotle’s Hierarchy of souls Aristotle’s Idea of a Good life Aristotle’s Teacher Entelechy Hitting the mark Lyceum Naturalism Plato’s 3 classes of people Plato’s feelings toward democracy Democracy Plato’s four cardinal virtues Plato’s teacher Platonic Forms Simile of the sun Socrates Death sentence Temperance The republic Three levels of human souls Tyranny journal 1 Wisdom | Knowledge | Theoretical Knowledge | Practical Knowledge | Belief | Mere Belief | Willed Ignorance | Definition and Examplesjournal 2 Write how each of the eight paths are relevant in today’s world journal 4 · Socrates’ â€Å"electric shock† effect on Athens resulted in death, however it gave him a place in history as a great thinker wise sage. From pages 87-95, read each quote in the margins · Please write the quote that shocks you and Reflect upon its meaning to you. Absolute truth is â€Å"Truth† with a capital T. What do we know so far? Modern Philosophy(How do you know that it’s true? ) After Christianity began to grow, most Europeans turned to god as the ultimate source of wisdom and the church as the ultimate authority. However, by the 17th century scientific ad advancements and the decline of the authority of a single church began the era of modern philosophy. It was a shift from metaphysics to epistemology. Rene Descartes(1596-1650) is the father of philosophy. He came up with rationalism. Dcccd. edu> then go to student services, then libraries. 3 ears of Western Philosophy- 1 Classical, what is truth? essentialism; Modern- How do you know it’s true? Rationalism; Rationalism is the epistemological position in which reason is said to be the primary source of all knowledge. Rationalist believe in the coherence theory of truth: that new or unclear ideas should be evaluated in terms of rational or logical consistency and in relation to already established truth. Rationalism says that abstract reasoning can produce absolutely certain truths about reality and that some truths can be discovered without observation, experiment or experience. These truths are innate ideas or a priori ideas. A priori can be known without experience or experiment but Posteriori ideas are derived from experience and experiment. However he arrived at the cogito, ergo sum, latin for â€Å"I think, therefore I am. † This, along with a satisfactory belief in god, stood as his undoubtable truth. Journal 9 Please do the philosophical queries(Green Boxes) on pgs. 252 and 253 Jeremy Bentham- resurrected hedonism, in direct response to the conservative ruling class in Britain. The result he created the â€Å"greatest happiness† principle also known as the Principle of Utility, that states we should always act to promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Benthams hedonic calculus was a crude method of reducing stress to simple calculation of units of pleasure versus units of pain. Psychological hedonism- pain and pleasure determine what we shall do Ethical hedonism- pain and pleasure point to what we ought to do. Bentham extended the ethical reach of the pleasure principle beyond the human community to any creature with the capacity to suffer. He argued that insisting that animals lack moral worth was akin to racism. John stuart mill He believed that there is an empirical basis supporting his claim that refined pleasures to crude ones. Mill disagreed with Bentham that all motives are egotistic and based his more refined philosophy in the social feelings of all people for unity with each other. Mill believed in the possibility of altruism, the capacity to promote wellbeing of others, he argued that the lack of altruistic feelings and ignorance of the higher pleasures were products of poor education and harsh conditions, not quality of human nature. According to mill, the selfishness and lack of mental cultivation are the chief causes of unhappiness, and can be cured with a proper education and legislation.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The Future of Nigerian Advertising Industry Essay

The Future of Nigerian Advertising Industry - Essay Example Therefore, current researches and studies in the field of advertising are focused on different strategies and tactics of advertising campaigns. It can be said that in the future brands of Nigeria will look in a different manner. Why? Of course, because of globalization! Such phenomenon as globalization caused many changes even in the most developed and powerful countries. That is why the economy of the countries, which were not considered the powerful players on the global market before, was influenced much and this influence is considered as positive as it brought many new opportunities. The dynamic world of development and rapid changes and outcomes in the world of marketing can lead to shifted paradigms in Nigerian advertising. Thus, it was relevant for the advertising company in the past to develop brand promising name, to provide the process of advertising with control, stability and monopoly; to unite customers and markets etc. All these strategies of advertising could have bee n realized by means of printed media, TV or radio broadcasting. Now, look around and you will see outside billboards, sms informing, Tweet updates and other forms of instantaneous ads! Therefore, nowadays brand values should be considered from another perspective: brand fulfillment, interactivity and transparency, as well as trust, innovations and creative execution. There are different key issues in the concept of brand value. Modern Nigerian advertising companies find it necessary to offer new products and services as the only possible option for brand advancing. Moreover, their primary means of advertising is Internet, online media, social networks etc. Actually, these global innovative and technological changes are caused by an abundant excess of information technologies. Brand people and customers should realize numerous perspectives for outstanding rights for ownership new clothes, goods and services. Online media is a helpful tool to do this. Current strategies of advertising in Nigeria Social media of Nigeria do not provide the customers with relevant information about their firms and products. There is no total transparency and brands often need control. There are different aspects and possible solutions for the market changes in Nigeria. Democratization of technology is a favorable background for technological advancements and innovations realization in the context of advertising. Nigerian advertising market goes global and that is why, it is evident that this market has included some changes. Different technologies are well correlated with CD sales or YouTube promo video ads. Ethical concerns of Nigerian advertising have always meant much. A human-centered approach is one of the most important issues for the Nigerian advertising market. It can be claimed that branding of new services and products in the market of Nigeria are evoking numerous controversies for the products and services’ presentation both locally and internationally (Ekwelem, O kafor, Ukwoma, 2009). According to Jimi Awosika, "no matter what trends potters may have assigned to the shape of the future, the basic fabric of advertising will not change†¦" (Latest news, breaking news, business, finance analysis, comments and views from Nigeria). Brand distribution should be properly analyzed with respect to the current trends and tendencies. Moreover, many things depend on the users of the production themselves.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Investigating the environemtal impacts from plastic bags Research Paper

Investigating the environemtal impacts from plastic bags - Research Paper Example The Case Against Plastic Bags The manufacturing process requires 12 million barrels of oil per year, creating over 100 billion plastic shopping bags (Gamerman). With only about a 5% recycling rate (inspiration green), the landfills will overflow with bags that are not recycled or reused. A number of wildlife groups report discarded plastic bags are eaten by a variety of land and sea creatures with fatal effects. These concerns and other create the larger argument for environmental stewardship: The Tragedy of the Commons (Hardin, 1968) and TANSTAAFL (Dolan, 1971). Both of these writings warn of the economic â€Å"free rider† problem that is the bane of environmental stewardship The free rider problem refers to the polluting or overuse of the natural resources since no tax or fee is associated with dumping. The tragedy of the commons is the overuse and overgrazing of the common land. Since each herdsman wanted to maximize profits, they exploited the free grazing land by adding m ore and more cattle. Soon, the grazing land was destroyed, unable to recover and nobody could feed their cattle. The herdsmen who believed in proper stewardship either went broke or joined the others in selfish overuse. Pollution and contamination work the same way. Traditionally, industry would dump waste into rivers, bury toxins on site and spew horrid smoke into the air because the water, land and air were considered a common good; and companies could dump waste at â€Å"no cost†. With the Environmental Protection Agency and State environmental departments cracking down on polluters with fines and criminal penalties, this practice has abated, but does continue to a lesser extent. The neo-tragedy argument includes recycling and the after-effects of environmentally resilient products. TANSTAAFL (Dolan) originated in science fiction by Heinlein; the acronym means â€Å"there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch†. Dolan adopted the acronym in order to present his economic argument that pollution rights should be sold as an economic good. A calculation of the maximum mass of each pollutant potentially and immediately sorbed into the environment would lead to an inventory of polluting rights. These rights would be sold at auction to industries with a waste disposal problem. Other constituents would have to design non-polluting mechanisms to compete. Obviously, the cost of pollution would be set by the market. (Dolan) The money raised through the auction plus fines on pollution cheaters would pay for remediation. The plastic bag opponents take this argument one step further and assign responsibility for individual litter and recycling to the manufacturer. As much as 4% of trash in landfills consists of plastic bags. (DOE) As consumers use more and more plastic bags, even to contain trash, the landfills will take longer to naturally reclaim the natural resource of land. In an interesting study, small communal group, the Hutterites, were observed . (Hardin, 3) The finding was that when the colony size approaches 150, individuals begin to under-contribute and over-demand. Smaller groups manage by shame; however, larger groups lose that capacity. The commonistic approach of the Hutterites loses manageability in larger

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The Significance of Food in My Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Significance of Food in My Life - Essay Example By understanding our own food choices and the significance of food in our own lives, we can gain a clearer understanding of ourselves. For myself, I was born in South Korea and I lived there for the first 19 years of my life. This was very important to how I feel about food because the culture there is very focused on food as a way of bringing the family together and expressing honor and love to each other. Food is a very important way that the mother can express to the father, the elders and the children that they are important. In South Korea, it is still the elders who are most important in the home and so they are always the ones who get the best helpings of food. As a small child, if I got the best helping, I would feel very, very special, like I was the most important thing to my mother and the one she loved best. My mother always made sure we had enough to eat when we lived in South Korea. One of the things she made for every meal was Kimchi. Kimchi is a kind of food that is pickled vegetables that have been seasoned to be very spicy. I love to eat Kimchi because I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day back at home. It makes me feel happy to think about spending time with my family and sharing meals together. Another kind of food that I like to eat because it reminds me of home is spicy soup. Like Kimchi, it was a kind of food that my mother would serve every day. When I eat these kinds of foods, the spicy flavor reminds me of home and the heat makes me feel very loved. Since I came to the United States, though, I have learned more about proper nutrition. I learned that a lot of spicy foods are not good for the body and that salt intake should be kept low. The kinds of food my mother made were great-tasting and ensured that we had plenty to eat all the time so that we felt loved, but the nutritionists in the United States indicate that it wasn’t the

Monday, August 26, 2019

Industrial Corn Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Industrial Corn - Essay Example Although the massive production of industrial corn has revolutionized the food industry, it has also been associated with several problems. The availability of cheap industrial corn has made it to be used as a diet for animals and this has made it possible to gather many animals and feed them on corn. This has led to the availability of cheap meat and more families can now afford meat. Pollan (2006) explains that when fed to livestock, they fatten quickly, get more energy and their flesh marbles well giving it a good texture and taste. It has also helped to sustain the prices of corn as the grain gets more utility as a stable food in many countries. Despite the above-mentioned benefits of industrial corn, we cannot ignore the dangers it poses to man and livestock. First, it is important to note that the cow, an animal created to forage, has now been turned into one of the biggest disposers of corn. It is next to man in this. This un-natural change in diet has led to increased health problems among livestock. The most serious among these is bloat. This occurs because of less roughage and more starch in a ruminant’s stomach. In serious cases, the inflated rumen presses against the animal’s lungs causing suffocation. Another animal health problem is acidosis. This occurs because corn makes the stomach acidic and yet the stomach environment is normally neutral in PH. The use of grains has also encouraged the use of antibiotics on animals and this is a health risk both for the animals and mankind. Even though we may celebrate the increased availability and affordability of meat, there are problems associated with the use of cheap meat. According to Pollan (2006), cheap corn-fed meat contains less omega-3 fatty acids and more saturated fat than grass-fed meat. As a result, more problems related with the eating of feed are associated with corn-fed beef. Increased use of corn feeding to livestock through the Concentrated Animal

Sunday, August 25, 2019

The Concept of Ethical Obligations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Concept of Ethical Obligations - Case Study Example Bush. He is considered to have an exemplary public administration and leadership skills that had been both his strengths and his weaknesses (White, 2008, p. 420). Tenet’s career can be considered unprecedented due to his achievements but there are challenges and dilemmas he had to face when he became the director of Central Intelligence (DCI). There are factors then considered to be the main reasons why in the end his efforts failed. These factors also caused ethical dilemmas on his part. The first dilemma is setting his leadership priorities and holding a highly multitasking position as DCI. Due to the fact that a DCI holds numerous roles, he had to answer to different groups and stake holders. The DCI’s role includes manager of CIA, president’s principal intelligence advisor, and the head of the entire intelligence community of 15 agencies. Tenet’s job is highly complex that even an expert would find it very challenging (White, 2008, p. 421). In his case though, the role is difficult because he is considered as an outsider in the institution. Tenet’s leadership can be considered handicapped due to his lack of experience in different expertise required in the role because â€Å"he had never run for political office, managed a large organization, worked as an intelligence officer, shaped American foreign policy, earned academic credentials by authoring a scholarly publication, or served in the military† (quoted White, 2008, p. 421). His perspective is different from the perspectives of the DIC before him which resulted to a more diplomatic type of leadership. The second dilemma he had to face is related to the prioritization of his ethical concerns. Due to the numerous agencies and institutions with different missions, visions and priorities he has to answer to such as the decision making process in White House, CIA’s intelligence priorities and his own conscience. At different points in

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Sport and media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Sport and media - Essay Example Therefore, twitter and the like of Facebook and Instagram have become a powerful tool more than any other news medium. For sports journalism, Twitter does not only provide a medium of relying messages, but also it is a source of information from influential people in leadership and corporate bodies. Moreover, Twitter allows people to respond to news bite and express tier feeling on any particular topic that is relayed to them. It thus becomes efficiently for journalist to follow-up on their stories and get back with an informed judgment (Sanderson & Hambrick, 2012). Moreover, because journalist has focused on framing as a practice to shape what people perceives of the news, it has become efficient for this to happen via Twitter because it target specific group of people. In conclusion, the use of social media has had a great influence in the sport as was evidenced by the reporting of Penn State University Story. It demonstrated that Twitter and other social sites offer interaction as well as delivering news. It thus has become convenient for both journalist and the consumers as it does not require too much spending and resources to convey messages. Sanderson, J., & Hambrick, M. E. (2012). Covering the Scandal in 140 Characters: A Case Study of Twitters Role in Coverage of the Penn Stage Saga. International Journal of Sport Communication,

Friday, August 23, 2019

Business value of information Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business value of information - Assignment Example option for its customers through a partnership with PayPal, where the customers could now be able to pay their bills owed to the company through PayPal (Telstra Exchange Technology, 2013). This was later enhanced through Telstra introducing another electronic billing option for its customers in June 2014, where the customers are now able to pay their bills electronically directly to the company (Cameron, 2014). Through the newly introduced electronic billing system, Telstra sends it’s the customer bills to the customers electronically, and the customers in turn pay their bills to the company electronically. This system has enabled Telstra to save on its operational costs, through reducing the need for the paper work required in billing the customers and sending them printed bills, as well as the costs involved in processing the paper receipts once the customers pay their bills. Nevertheless, while the electronic billing service is instrumental to reducing the operational costs of the business for Telstra, it can be enhanced even further if operated as part of the overall Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system of the company (Varajao, Cruz-Cunha & Trigo, 2012). Thus, Telstra has an opportunity to improve its electronic billing services through the integration of the electronic billing option into the overall ERP. The benefits associated with the integration of the electronic billing services of the company into the overall ERP system of the company is that the costs of operating this system will be reduced further. The integration of the electronic billing system of Telstra would reduce the costs associated with both the implementation and maintenance of the systems (Varajao, Cruz-Cunha & Trigo, 2012). Further, the accountability of the electronic billing system would be enhanced when it is integrated and operated as part of the whole ERP system of the company. This is because monitoring and auditing the system would be easier, as opposed to when it is done

Ducati Sports and Cruisers Bike From Buyers Point of View Research Paper

Ducati Sports and Cruisers Bike From Buyers Point of View - Research Paper Example Research design can be considered as one of the most important tools in conducting the research in the quest for positive results. Ader et al  stated that the research design is concerned with what question to study, what data are relevant, how to collect those data and how to analyze those data in an effective and efficient manner. Usually, qualitative and quantitative research plays an important role in the research design. The qualitative research design is based on the theoretical aspects of the chosen topic based on analyzing the literature while quantitative research design is based on analyzing the collected data through statistical tools to derive conclusion and results based on the result question to achieve the proposed aim and objectives of the research. In quantitative research design, it is important to assess the variables along with relating them to the research question. Variables in this particular research can be personal attributes, likeliness and personality, op inions and personal and brand image. All these variables can be analyzed through primary research and data collection methods through the use of questionnaires and interviews. However, in this particular research, interviews can be considered as a feasible and appropriate option. Interviews will help in communicating with the riders on a personal basis along with analyzing their preference and likeliness for the sports bike and cruisers. Questionnaires can be of great help in analyzing data and variables using statistical tools and methods.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Everyday Use by Walker Essay Example for Free

Everyday Use by Walker Essay Although I enjoyed â€Å"Everyday Use† by Walker, I did not find the first person point of view to be as effective as I would have liked it to be. By writing the story from mama’s point of view Walker denies the reader a chance to gain insight to how the other characters are feeling about the situation. The story tends to give the reader a bias opinion of the events that occur in the story. I believe that if Walker had used an omniscient point of view instead of a first person point of view the story would have been a lot more effective. Mama had a very bias opinion of Dee and by using her point of view for the story the reader may adopt her opinion. But had Walker used an omniscient point of view the reader could have gained insight into Dee’s thoughts and feelings. With the gained insight the reader would be given the chance to form his or her own opinion of Dee. Further insight into Dee’s thoughts and feelings would explain to the reader why Dee acts so superior to Mama and Maggie. The reader would get an idea of whether she really did feel superior or if she was trying to hide her true feelings. An omniscient point of view would also give the reader insight into Maggie’s thoughts and feelings. Being a younger sister myself I couldn’t help but wonder how Maggie felt about her sister. Mama gives the impression that Maggie feels about Dee the same way she does. With an omniscient point of view the reader would know whether or not this is true. When given more personal insight into characters I find that I feel more empathy towards them and enjoy the story more. It makes it more memorable and meaningful for me.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Analysing The Effect Of Mobile Phones

Analysing The Effect Of Mobile Phones Mobile phones has always been one of the most important and great devices of all times. Martin cooper, the cell phones inventor has changed the world in both positive and negative sides in different life matters. The effect of Mobile phones has reached every single person in the universe, Professors and doctors knew that there will be a huge change in the societies after this great invention; however, they never expected that mobile phone will make a new world with a lot of new advantages but also some disadvantages. Nowadays, Mobile phones are affecting the infrastructure of this world or Students in other words in all life matters, Mobile phones became a big part of students life. As they are considered one of the society categories, you should expect that the effect of the mobile phones has played an important part in their daily life. Therefore, they need it to communicate with each other in terms of their many studies matters. Talking about how good or bad is the mobile phones r eflection on students life, health and also results can open an endless discussions, full of different ideas and thoughts, Some might say yes mobile phones has built a new wide vision for students and also their colleges and universities so everything can be done way faster and easier than before; for example, Students in old days when there was nothing called a cell phone had to write everything wrote or presented on the board ,while it is much easier and faster now with mobile phones cameras, It would not take more than five seconds to capture a clear detailed photo. Some say Wow how can people live without a Bluetooth in their cell phones!? Yes, those who think that mobile phones is a big part of students life have another strong thick point that supports their idea, photos and files can be delivered from a mobile phone to another or from a mobile phone to a pc in no time! So Students can share their notes, Lab pictures and videos easily. In addition, Mobile phones provide a grea t way of communication, which is the most important advantage you can use. Students now became closer to each other due to the amazing technology that mobile phones offer, It made things easier for students in many different study aspects, meetings are now conducted with one single SMS; also, they can reach their lecturers during their consolation hours even if the student was too busy to meet his/her lecturer. In case on emergency, Mobile phones can be very useful as they allow Students to deal with emergency cases; for example, one group member was late to an essential presentation, in this case the leader can contact him easily, or during a sport activity in the campus someone was badly injured so; thus, his friends can call the ambulance to avoid any Complications. Despite the huge amount of advantages, there has to be some disadvantages as well. Some people go against the fact that Mobile phones is a must in students life given that it has direct and indirect influences which m ay affect the students health and effort. For instance, the mobile waves can destroy our brain cells and cause disease like brain cancer. Besides, it can be addictive in a way that can drag the student not to pay attention in his class which may disturb other students in the class. Also, some students might use the phone camera in offensive matters that create tension among the students which will affect their output and productivity. In this report we are going to put a literature review which will provide this report with rich information which and that will guide us to better results. One more important section will be the findings part, which will come before the conclusion to allow the readers to know our final view after doing this report. Moreover, we are going to study the fact that mobile phones is very important for students; for that, we are going to list the results that we came out with from our questionnaire. Least but not last, we will summarize the results and outcom es attached with some recommendations to provide a better understanding for the readers, and also to cover all the advantages and disadvantages of the mobile phones to students that has been mentioned in all the report. Literature Review Mobile phones and wireless technologies are a well known part in the lives of many teachers and students in Multimedia University today. This technology has provided us with a very fast and quick access too many information and also not to forget that that with the help of these technologies we can talk to our friends by calling them or sending a text message or an Email. The world is going towards technologies and everyone is seeking towards what makes his life easier, for that reason we see people caring mobile phones, because it gives them a quick way to communicate with each other. These devices which can fits in our pockets are very powerful tools because it provides us with a variety of information sources and it enables us to communicate almost anytime and everywhere. Seeking for communication and information is the main reason why students are using mobile phones. This review provides us with the main reasons and effects of mobile phones to the students of Multimedia University. A recent study shows to what extend did mobile culture penetrate college classrooms, Fried (2008) had students complete a weekly survey, throughout a whole semester, related to the ways they used laptops and mobiles is a psychology course (n=128). The course was based on lectures with no laptop or mobile activities utilized in any organized fashion by the lecturer. About 64% of the students reported using their laptops and mobiles at least during one class period. Those who used laptops used them, on average, about half of the class period. Users reported that about 50% of the time they used the laptops it was for non-academic activities. In other words, close to 25% of the lecture time was spent by students, using their laptops to do other things then taking lecture notes. Similarly, in a large survey (n=1,162) conducted among American college students, one third of the students surveyed admitted using their laptops and cell phones playing games that were not part of the instructional activities during classes. There is a long tradition in cognitive science studies that demonstrate that human mental resources are limited and that there is a performance decrement under divided attention conditions (Roda Thomas, 2006; Gopher, 1993; Kahneman, 1973; Craik Lockhart, 1972; Posner, 1982). However, one might suggest that current students are digital natives, who are savvy and efficient multitaskers, thus their academic performance shouldnt necessarily be compromised by using laptops and mobiles during lectures. A study conducted by Hembrooke and Gay (2003) tried to address such claims. The study took advantage of a project where all students were issued laptops. Students (n=44) were randomly assigned, during a communication course class, to two experimental conditions: an open laptop vs. a closed laptop. At the end of the class students took a recognition and recall quiz. The closed laptop condition outperformed the open laptop one. Moreover, students who used their laptops to look for lecture re lated materials did not do better than their friends who used the laptops for non-academic purposes. Fried (2008) reports similar results she found a negative correlation between the amount of time students reported using their laptops during the psychology lectures throughout the semester and their final grade. Moreover, when asked, at the end of the course, what were the factors that might have interfered with their ability to learn lecture materials laptop use by fellow students was the single most reported distracter, followed by the interference caused by ones own laptop use. Hembrooke and Gays (2003) and Frieds (2008) studies suggest, therefore, that laptop multitaskers pay an academic price for their use to these technologies. The claim that laptops distract students and impair their academic performance refers to classrooms where laptop activity is not directly relevant to academic needs. Obviously, when laptop activities are pedagogically integrated into the course, for in stance, when communication between students is required in a web-based collaborative activity laptops could provide enormous advantages. Under such circumstances there is evidence that laptop and mobile activities can increase engagement, active learning and meaningful interaction among students and between them and the instructor (e.g., Driver, 2002; Barak et al., 2006; Demb et al., 2004; Gay et al. 2001). Decrease in academic performance due to off-task multitasking refers, therefore, mainly to non-structured use of laptops and mobiles during lectures. Resent study with the same interests from Holon Institute of Technology about the use of mobile appliances during lectures, Ronen Hammer (2010) Most of the students who own laptops (91%) reported that they use them during classes for activities that are not related to the lesson, while 25% said that they always do so. The distribution of the activities is presented in Table 1. It seems that instructors have a realistic and accurate perception of the activity carried out by students with the mobile devices during their lectures (Table 1). Students too believe that the instructors are usually aware of what they are doing with their computers (17% always, 77% sometimes). As to cell phones: most of the student (93%) report that their cell phones are on quiet mode 6% leave them open and less than one percent completely shut down ! This behavior might not be surprising when compared to their behavior when attending a public show (movie or theater): none would leave it open (not socially accepted) but only five percents would shut it down completely (fear of not being connected). Most students (83%) state that they try to hide their activity with the cell phone from the instructor. About half of the students (46%) state that they would answer calls that are not urgent and when doing so they leave the class (94%). Students state that they use their portable devices for other, non related activities when they are bored (portable computer 97%, cell phone 74%). Students and Instructors Views: The main paradox surfaces from the data presented in Table 2. Students and instructors views on the harmful effects of using portable computers for other activities during lessons seem to be quite similar. Nevertheless, their attitude regarding the legitimacy of such action is very different. There seems to be a clear relation between students age and their views on the issue of legitimacy of using portable devices during lectures for non-academic purposes. The correlation between views regarding legitimacy and age found for cell phones was significant (r=0.22, p=0.008) and for laptops marginal (r=0.145, p=0.058) while, as expected, both views were significantly correlated (r=0.3, p=0.004). Students opinions regarding the legitimacy of mobile devices usage during class was not found to be related to owning laptops. Another study from Health Libraries Group (2005) indicates that most mobile technology applications were occurring in the United States. At the time of the review the most prevalent mobile technologies were PDAs, laptops, WAP phones. A range of advantages and disadvantages to the technology were discovered. Mobile technologies were mainly being used for clinical rather than learning applications. The students showed a low level of awareness of the technology but placed great importance to accessing learning resources from the community. Many students embarking on a University course bring with them one or more mobile computing devices, including smart phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and laptop or tablet computers. The software on these devices is designed primarily to support the world of office work. Typical applications include time management, communication and productivity tools. Whilst these are of some use to students, they are not designed specifically to support their activities, such as attending lectures, reading course content, revising for exams and meeting course deadlines. As these handheld computers and smart phones become more widely used there is an opportunity to harness them to benefit learning, as well as to provide appropriate institutional support for their use. In the shift from mass teaching to support of personal learning, it is also the responsibility of educators to ensure that students have the relevant skills and environments to succeed as self-directed learners. Focusing on PDAs, the study described below has investigated whether students would find a handheld computer useful for supporting their learning, and in particular whether a specially designed, integrated learning organizer would be more suitable for supporting learning than the existing set of mobile office tools, such as a digital calendar, contacts list and to-do list. A Mobile Learning Organizer has been developed at the University of Birmingham (Holme Sharples, 2002) and was evaluated as part of this study. A group of seventeen MSc students at the University of Birmingham were loaned wireless PDAs. The department in which the students were studying has wireless coverage throughout its five storey building. In addition to running standard Pocket PC applications, the PDAs provided a Mobile Learning Organizer which comprises an integrated suite of tools for Students to access course material, view their timetables, communicate via email and instant messaging and organize ideas and notes. The tools were based on the Pocket Outlook Personal Information Manager (PIM), with a custom-designed interface to present the information in a form that matches the structure of student learning. For example, the calendar was presented as a series of teaching slots corresponding to the standard University timetable. The mobile phones play as an important device in these days, since is the mobile phones is very important we choose to do a research about this topic among the Multimedia FOE students. A method section is one of the important sections in our research report it is typically describe all the action taken by the group to do this research. This section should involve all the information about our research to allow for the other researcher to replicate our study among this topic. The main purpose of the whole method section is to allow for the reader to understand what is the main point from the research and how we done with this research. Method section should describe the research participants, the materials that we used and the procedure taken by the group. Participants: Communication technology is the most important things in the world. It is playing an important role in the life of people nowadays. It can make the life easier by allow the people to communicate with anyone in the world. It allows you to communicate with your family, friends, and other. In other world it can keep you in touch with each other in the world. Mobile phone is the one of the greatest communication technology in the world. Mobile phone is an electronic device which is allows you to communicate with anyone in the world. Nowadays, mobile phone playing an important role in the life of people and people cannot live without it specially the teenager. The teenager used the mobile phone in the positive side and the negative side. However, the mobile phone is important for everyone specially the student. We have done a research on the importance of the mobile phone for the students. We have done this research to know how the mobile phone is importance for students nowadays speciall y the engineering students. Firstly, our research will be done on the faculty of engineering only in the Multimedia University. Secondly, our research will be done on 5% of the FOE student, that mean we randomly selected 200 students from the faculty of engineering from the all level no matter what is the gender of student and their nationality. Material: In this section of the report we are going to describe all the materials we were use it in our research. There will be two types of data collecting which are primary data, and secondary data. In the primary data we collect our points based on our knowledge so that can we start our research. In the secondary data we will collect the data from books and from internet websites. Moreover, we will come out with a questionnaire based on our search on books and internet. In the questionnaire we will used a general question for the mobile phones, question regard the education purpose can be used in the mobile phone and we use several questions such as yes/no question and strongly disagree to strongly agree. After we design the questionnaire paper we were try on our group member who is 8 members, then we will distributes among the FOE student. Procedure: This section is to show for the reader how the presses were. First of all, we do a meeting at the end of January 2010 to put done our idea about what is our topic for the research, after we choose a topic we started so search in the websites about any information or articles can help us in our research. At 5th February 2010 we wrote the proposal report which contains the mean information about out topic. After that, we come out with a questionnaire and distribute it among the students then we started analyze the data we got from the questionnaire. Finally, we wrote our report for the research. Results and discussion There are 96 % cannot live without mobile Im talking about myself I agree no one can live without Mobile, Because it is the means of communication between people and no one can live alone You must be in touch with friends and family. There are some people use phones in the class Takes Video camera in the lesson, even if he returned home and want to study can review Lesson Video, recorded by the existing mobile, and also can be related to the family at anytime in order to ask about their Health is possible that the student is in Problem cannot Solve it alone so It will contact a friend or family even help what would he do if it does not have the Mobile? And there are some students can not enter to the internet because they do not have a computer why do students in this problemØÅ ¸ I think they will use the phones in the entry to the internet some students love the music and not have Device mp3 or mp4 or.. so Put the music in Mobile And listen music at any time they like him And al so there at the university joint work between the students and some students How will meet your friends If you do not have the Mobile. There are 4 % Can live without a mobile are very few I think they do not have any friendship with any of the people or students And always in problem It is possible some of these Relaxes Because there is no Facing the problem of in their personal lives. There are 46.50 % agree that calls the best communication of mms and SMS and GPRS because it is faster and shorten the time and the cost is not expensive, but there is a problem if he wants to call friends or family International It is very expensive. And there are 38.50 % agree that SMS the best communication of calls and mms and GPRS because it is its very cheap and Does not differentiate between whether you are sending to the outside or inside. If you sent the message to anyone and he is busy he can read it. There are 9.50 % agree that mms the best communication of calls and SMS and GPRS because it is cant send pictures and video only in this way which is not expensive nor cheap is it normal. All these means of communication are available in the mobile phones. And there are 5.50 % agree that GPRS this Ratio is very low so this property is not available in all mobile. There are 60 % Always put Mobile on the silent in the class I think this is better because students need to Concentration To understand what the teacher say And especially mathematics and physics This material is very important or he has a test in the class . And also there are 16 % very often put Mobile on the silent in the class Possible that he might forget or this class is not very important. And also there are 16 % sometimes put Mobile on the silent in the class Possible he have meeting in the class. Also there is 8 % never put Mobile on the silent in the class Confirmation It did not give any attention to any of the class. There are 60 % Always put Mobile on the silent in the class I think this is better because students need to Concentration To understand what the teacher say And especially mathematics and physics This material is very important or he has a test in the class . And also there are 16 % very often put Mobile on the silent in the class Possible that he might forget or this class is not very important. And also there are 16 % sometimes put Mobile on the silent in the class Possible he have meeting in the class. Also there is 8% never put Mobile on the silent in the class Confirmation It did not give any attention to any of the class. There are 20 % very little Using the mobile phone to access the internet education matters Have Laptop there are 56 % little Using the mobile phone to access the internet education matters balance is not enough There are 74% normal Using the mobile phone to access the internet education matters I think poring There are 12 % above normal Using the mobile phone to access the internet education matters I think is very poring. There are 38% a lot using the mobile phone to access the internet education matters check website Attendance and grades material. There are 25 % very little using the mobile phone to access the internet social network networking net low at. . There are 12 % little using the mobile phone to access the internet social network Do not like a lot of friendship formation. There are 59 % normal using the mobile phone to access the internet social network sometimes busy. There are 61 % above normal using the mobile phone to access the internet social network Have relations hips with people. There are 43 % lot using the mobile phone to access the internet social network is not doing anything. . There are 41% very little using the mobile phone to access the internet banking do not know how to use the service. There are 62% little using the mobile phone to access the internet banking do not need this service. There are 23% normal using the mobile phone to access the internet banking Net on Mobile is weak. There are 32% above normal using the mobile phone to access the internet banking because they are footmen business. There are 32% a lot using the mobile phone to access the internet banking can transfer money from one account to account easily and Can charge card phones in a very short time. . There are 15 % very little using the mobile phone to access the internet gaming Do not like to play. There are 27% little using the mobile phone to access the internet gaming Completed the battery quickly. There are 60% normal using the mobile phone to access the internet gaming they have a lot of time. There are 26% above normal using the mobile phone to access the internet gaming Search is faster on some games. There are 72% a lot using the mobile phone to access the internet gaming Love the games at any time and have time for that much. There are 19% very little using the mobile phone to access the internet browsing Costing high enough. There are 36% little using the mobile phone to access the internet browsing Posted unavailable in all places. There are 36% normal using the mobile phone to access the internet browsing whether there nothing necessary. There are 18% above normal using the mobile phone to access the internet browsing have much free time. There are 91% a lot using th e mobile phone to access the internet browsing because the provision of time and you can browse the Internet at any times there is a network of net found. There are 49 percent agree that communicate for educational purposes daily less than 30 minutes could be in charge of a project and I want to take some information from someone. There are 32.50 percent agree that communicate for educational purposes daily 30 minutes to 1 hour If there is an issue not understand, and I want one to me. There are 18.50 percent agree that communicate for educational purposes daily more than 1 hour If there was a graduation project. There are 27percent very little use short massages as a communication method because it means tired. There are 19percent little use short massages as a communication method because it is an old means of communication. There are 27percent normal use short massages as a communication method I think their mother have a balance in the mobile. There are 11percent above normal use short massages as a communication method to learn the English language. There are 5percent very much use short massages as a communication method do not like to waste time to speak in non-beneficial. The pie chart above indicates the percentage for number of FOE student who use the mobile phones cameras for educational purposes. As the graph showing that more than half the FOE students uses their mobile phones camera for education purposes. On the other hand the percentage of the student that not using the mobile phones camera is almost half which make both percentages close. The percentage of the students that are using the camera for education is 51% because of the new high resolution cameras that comes now a day in most of mobile phones in which allows the students to photograph the whiteboard if they didnt have the time to take notes and copy them at the time that he want, however the rest also high percentage and its because some of the students may not have a camera in their mobile phones or it could be that the camera that they have is not that high to take clear photo for what they need to document. As the new technology in the mobile phone in which give the student the ability to use the internet in the mobile phones at any time we want. The pie chart above shows that most students dont access the internet throws their mobile phones, however the chart above indicates that the percentage of the internet users is not bad. The high percentage of the students who are not using the internet because the mobile phones that have the ability to connect to the world wide web and has a built-in Wi-Fi are more expansive than the ordinary mobile phones, and some students dont use it because of the small mobile screen so they prefer the PC or the laptops to access the internet. The mobile phones signal should be blocked in the class rooms to minimize the disturbs. The bar graph shows that most of the students disagree with this idea. Next the lowest percentage who are nether agree or disagree, after that there is a respective %age of the students whom agreeing with the idea. Most of the student disagrees because they may be needed by a friend is case of an emergence, and other agrees because of the disturb that the mobile phones causes in the class rooms when of the students mobile phone rings. The signal shouldnt be block all the time in the case of any emergence as most students thinks.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Enterprise Project Management

Enterprise Project Management 1. Describe the metrics and characteristics of projects using a specific example. When you focus on creating something new and unique temporary with definitive start dates and end dates. it means that you are working on project .you can say your project is completed when you reach the goals and objectives that define before by stakeholders. Sometimes you cannot achieve to the goals or result of the projects is no longer useful and the project is canceled. Let me bring one example and explain all characteristics of the project .For example you are working in a clothing factory, you receive an order from school for design special uniform for students now you will ask yourself is it project? The first question is about uniqueness? yes ,it is new because you design something different . what about limit time? Yes, you have a short time to hand in your order exactly before the school starts and when you ship your order, the project will be completed and you will achieve the goal when the manager and students become happy by seeing clothes and always remember A successf ul project is one that meets the expectations of your stakeholders. PROJECT METRIC What is metric? Metric is a standard measurement .It will help you to check your project base on efficiently on performance and progress ,productivity,. By using metric you can improve the ability of making decision in your organization and you can understand your situation and asking yourself which way is working within the organization and apply the guide and go forward to right direction. Project management metrics can help Project managers to: Understand your situation in terms of schedule, cost and profitability. Be aware of risks Overcome problems before becoming serious Keep an eye on project profitability Estimate the performance of your team Evaluate your work product base on quality Complexity and nature of each project can create different project management metric. We have five group of metric performance .These five attitude can cover all aspect of project in execution process. 1. Cost variance The purpose of this metric is to measure projects progress and performance against signed baselines. By using this method, in a certain point of time, we can conclude the expected cost and duration of the project. Planned Value (PV): is about how much you planned to spend for the planned work. PV at any period = (Planned % Complete) X (BAC) Earned Value (EV): how much you planned to spend for the work you actually did. Actual cost (AC): Actual cost is the exact cost that happened during the project to complete or in WBS process and the cost was recorded. . Schedule Variance (SV):by this method we will measure our project schedule performance. The difference of Earned value and the planned value SV = Earned value- Planned value If you get Positive answer. It means that you are ahead of your schedule. If you get Negative answer. It means that you are behind your schedule. Cost Variance (CV): is the measure of cost performance on the project. earned value (EV) deduct from actual costs (AC).if you get negative CV .It means is too hard to recover to the project. CV = Earned value Actual cost 2. Effective use of resources To measure how we use our resources base on productivity Utilization% = Total Effort spent by resource/Total Budgeted Effort for the resource 3. Change requests to Scope of work. For the whole project we use the sign scope by customer , so if any change happen to the sign scope should happen in controlled way. 4.Quality of project and meet customer needs As you can see quality is a very import factor and quality control will happen during the life cycle if we detect defects in latest stage it will affect more .we have several defects such as Defect density = Total number of defects found/ Measure of size and defects age(Number of days since the defect is open and not fixed) and Defect resolution rate = Total number of defects resolved/ Total effort spent and Number of defects reported by customer. 5: Gross Margin Shortest way to understand if your business in on correct track or not and be aware of situation to put in place margin improvement initiatives. 2. Explain the differences between project, program, and portfolio management? Let me explain the differences of them by graph and example Project program portfolio Project will create product or service for example developing software and process will create result Imagine we want to develop a software for managing our document we will consider this work as a project then assume that we want to improve our documents management in other words access in a faster, better way to documents this work is program because we focus on result not product. What about portfolio when we improved our access in documents management this result will bring benefit such as decreasing in current liability or increase companys credit we will consider this benefit as portfolio. In summary: programs are group of related projects, we will apply similar techniques. Sometimes programs involve aspects of ongoing operations.Portfoliosare collections of programs, sub portfolios, operations, and projects that support strategic business goals or objectives Programs and projects within a portfolio are not necessarily related to one another in a direct way. 3. Describe how processes relate to process groups and knowledge areas in the PMBOK Guide. Provide a specific example of a process that we covered in one of the first 6 chapters of the book? There are five Process Groups: Initiating Define goals/specifications Planning Plan the project Executing Schedule the project Monitoring Controlling Manage the project Closing Finish the project We have ten knowledge areas 1. integration 2.Scope 3.time 4.cost 5.quality 6.HR 7. Communications 8 risk 9 .Procurement 10.stakeholders Ten knowledge areas: Knowledge Areas are used on most projects most of the time. It is up to the project management team to define the appropriate depth of implementation for each project. We have 44 process the relationship between five process group and ten knowledge .summarize in following table Now let me give you an example to clarify the connection between project management and knowledge area . For example: imagine you are a project manager working on project team for a software instruction project. The six factors that you have to calculate in project management software are as fallows : 1.Task duration 2.start time 3.finish time 4.precedence relationship 5.resources 6.unit allocation For example: we go through following process to finish the project 1.In the first step of the project ,which includes approving and developing the project charter. 2.In the second step make the project management plan which help you to cover several project activity 3.Third step accomplish the project and it is the step that actual work and time happened . 4. This step is controlling and monitoring the project 5.In the last step , we finish the project. Knowledge areas are separated to keep the same type of accomplishment set in one group. For example you are developing and planning process of the plan for your project. In this process ,to compute the budget you will use two processes: calculate costs and determine budget. 4. Describe the purpose and contents of a project charter? Project charter can be very powerful tool because it will give you proper visibility , because it will inform you exactly the roles and responsibilities and put the project in the way of the strategic goals and objectives of the organization. The Project Charter will sign by project sponsor so that the Project Manager is given clear authority by the one sponsor.. According to the (PMBOK), a Project Charter results from one of the following needs, or business requirements: 1)Demand of market 2)Need of business 3)Request from customer 4)Advance in technology 5)Social need 6)A legal requirement Let me bring one example and explain the contents of project charter imagine we want to renovate a hotel what will be in project charter first The purpose for the project through a description of the business needs that the project is going fulfill then we will explain about background and then about high level project approach in this case the project will be divide to two phase first renovation and construction (about 9month) and then re-opening (about 12 month) and then we will clarify business goal for example in this case we have two goals restore the property to profitability and Disassociate the hotel from its previously tarnished image and then what is project goals for example Complete renovation of the hotel onetime . A project charter can be as short as 1 page, and as long as 200 pages. Writing too much detail in early stages is difficult, as too much detail may not even be available. 5. Describe three classic business level strategies. What is the relationship between business level strategy and project selection? Porter (1980) claimed that there are three generic strategies: 1)cost leadership2)differentiation and focus. Cost leadership: It inform us organization fallowing a cost leadership strategy in order to access competitive advantage and enhance their share in a market by using low cost producers. Differentiation: Organizations fallowing differentiation method in order to satisfies the desires of their customers This differentiation let the organization to charge more. Best-cost: many researchers believe that a combination of strategies could be the best approach. As a result you can create a sustainable competitive advantage in your organizations and it can effect on your efficiently ,when you combine cost leadership and differentiation, when they provide low-cost products and address customer values . Multiple competing projects, limited skilled resources, dispersed virtual teams, time to market pressures, and limited capital serve as forces for the emergence of project portfolio management that provides the infrastructure for managing multiple projects and linking business strategy with project selection. Many business man belief that connecting project management with business strategy can significantly enhance the achievement of organizational goals, strategies, and performance. We have mathematic model that can help us to choose better project for investment. Cost-Benefit Analysis Comparing the cost of production or services with the benefit Scoring Models According your priority you will allocate weight to the criteria then you will decide which one is more suitable for you. Cash Flow Analysis Techniques 1.1 Payback Period The length of time will take you recoup your initial investment. 1.2 Discounted Cash Flows The amount of money you invest now in future what will be your value of your money FV = PV(1 + I)n 1.3 Net Present Value value of future monies received into todays dollars 1.4 Internal Rate of Return projects with higher IRR values are generally considered better than projects with low IRR values. 6.Describe the purpose and contents of a project management plan? The purpose of project management is to tell you how you manage well execution and monitoring and controlling and closing process in your project and will describe how documents the processes you apply during project . The first process you have to do in planning process group is project management plan ,actually this process base on knowledge area focus mostly on defining and preparing ,coordinating , and connect all the various subsidiary project plan into overall project plan.as we know for creating document the plan we need to collect input .Project charter, output from other process ,Enterprise environment factors and organization process asset are input of project management plan. From chapter one we know the meaning of tailoring in project management we use tailoring to determine which processes to apply to best manage the project. Project charter:as we know the charter will tell you about goals of project and the requirements need to get satisfaction from stakeholder. Charter is an input for project management plan why? Because we use the information in charter such as project objective , milestone schedule, requirements, summery of budget for determining which project management processes to use . Output from others processes :project management processes include all individual processes that create the process group. Enterprise Environmental factors: you have to consider some element when you choose processes to perform project .standard ,company culture and organization structure ,personal administration are elements. Organization process asset: some critical elements you should pay attention during choosing processes are plan template, change control procedures, performance measurement criteria, historical information, standards, procedures also you should consider about change control processes I mean your organization has existing change control processes in place ,about templates or financial control .You can use historical data and organization past project in order to decide which process is more suitable for the project . Documenting the project management plan for each processes we do we need output .output usually present in a shape of report or document .in this case you end up with document the project management plan explain about integration, coordinated and subsidiary plans for the processes you apply for the project. According to PMBOK the subsidiary are: 1) scope management plan2)Requirements management plan 3)schedule management plan 4)cost management plan 4)quality management plan 5)communication managements plan 6)risk management plan 7)procurement management plan 8)processes improvement plan 9)human resource plan 10)Stakeholder management plan. Actually it not easy to finalize some of these subsidiary plans without thinking or doing processes they are associated with first we should remember updates should occur to the project management plans as subsidiary plans are created or changed. 7.  Describe the purpose and contents of a work breakdown structure? The purpose of WBS is decompose and break complex activities in smaller components. this is important for the project manager because ,they can see the tasks more effectively than the complex activities. The purpose of developing a WBS and WBS Dictionary are :1)It can help project team to plan logically and complete the project 2) It will help to gather documents and information about work that needs for doing the project 3) some activities are so complex WBS can cause these activities become organize and manageable so we can achieve project objectives. The WBS and WBS Dictionary are not the schedule, but rather the building blocks to it. The progression of WBS and WBS Dictionary development is as follows: The contents of WBS are scope management plan, project scope statement , requirements documentation, Enterprise Environment Factors, Organizational Process Assets. WBS include some items, those items are approved through scope statement should detail the full scope of work needed to complete. Breaking down can help us to estimate project cost and time and allocating resources, determining quality control. We need two tools for create WBS process 1)decomposition 2)expert judgment Decomposition :is involves breaking down the deliverables into smaller The first level of decomposition is the major deliverable level or subproject level, the second level of decomposition is a further elaboration of the deliverables. Decomposition will occur in five process 1)Identify the deliverables and work 2)Organize the WBS 3)Decompose the WBS components into lower -level4) Assign identification codes.5)Verify the WBS WBS levels: Project manager will determine the number of levels of WBS base on complexity of the project .In a WBS, every level item has a unique assigned number so that work can be identified and tracked over time. A WBS may have varying numbers of decomposition levels, but there is a general scheme for how to number each level so that tasks are uniquely numbered and correctly summarized. Below is the general convention for how tasks are decomposed: Level 1 Designated by 1.0. This level is the top level of the WBS and is usually the project name. All other levels are subordinate to this level. Level 2 Designated by 1.X (e.g., 1.1, 1.2). This level is the summary level. Level 3 Designated by 1.X.X (e.g., 1.1.1, 1.1.2). This third level comprises the subcomponents to each level 2 summary element. This effort continues down until progressively subordinate levels are assigned for all work required for the entire project. 8.Describe the purpose and contents of a project schedule Scheduling will tell us how to finish in a certain time usually with defined stages, and defined resources. schedule can help us to calculate cost, set expectations plans and coordinate track and report. The schedule shows where you are along the road to done, how much work is left to be accomplished, how much has been accomplished, who is doing this future work, what they are delivering, and when they plan to deliver it. How to make schedule : Step One: Define Activities The goal of the activity definition step is to identify all the tasks required to accomplish the product. In level 3 of WBS(data base) create tables and populates tables. Step Two: Sequence Activities 1) Do I have anytime to constraint? 2) What is the relationship between activities? 3) Which activity can be done in parallel? Step Three: Estimate Activity Resources Step four: Estimate activity duration 1) Which is the sequence? 1)what is the level of skill of each resource assigned 2) Which are my restrictions (cost/time)? 2)To finalized each activity do we need 3) For each activity who do I need? Step five: develop schedule: 9) Describe the purpose and contents of a project budget? The purposes of budgeting are for resource allocate resources, planning, coordination, control and motivation. It is also a vital tool for decision making method and monitoring business performance and forecasting income and expenditure. With proper budgeting, limited resources are managed efficiently. Input for determined budget : Cost Management Plan: It will show us how we can develop , manage , controlled project costs during project. Scope Baseline: Scope baseline includes the project scope statement, the WBS, and the WBS dictionary. The scope escribes the constraints of the project you should consider when developing the budget Basis of Estimates: It will cover all detail about estimate such as indirect costs. Project schedule: Project schedule will give you helpful information about start and end dates , milestones and by these information yon determine budget expenditures . Resource Calendars:Resource calendars will help you define costs in calendar periods and over the length of the project .They help you to what resources you need. Risk Register: Before preparing budget you should consider list of risk that could happen during the projects. Specially risks with high impact or high probability they could add cost to the project. Agreements : all cost information such as buying product , services, Organizational Process Assets will assist you with the work of this process include cost budgeting tools, the policies and procedures your organization (or PMO) may have regarding budgeting exercises. Budget Process Outputs: 1) Cost baseline 2) Project funding requirements 3) Project documents updates Weve covered the project documents updates in other processes. For Determine Budget, you may need to update the risk register, cost estimates, and/or the project schedule. 10. Describe the concepts of probability and impact in risk analysis using a specific example Analysis Risk When the risk identified, the next step is risk analysis. By using risk analysis, we can transform the identified risks into decision-making information. As a result , each risk is considered and a judgment made about the probability and the seriousness of the risk. For each risk, the team must do the following: 1) Assess the probability of a loss occurring. Some risks are very likely to happen and in the other hand some are very unlikely. Apply a scale that can reflects the perceived likelihood of a risk. Depending upon the degree of detail desired and/or possible, the scale can be numeric, based on a percentage scale, such as 10 percent likely to lose a key team. Team should apply a set numerical probability for each qualitative value (e.g. very improbable= 10 percent, improbable = 25 percent) 2) Assess the impact of the loss if the loss were to happen. Then we can estimate the result of risk Impact possibility Trivial Minor Moderate Major Extreme Rare Low Low Low Medium Medium Un likely Low Low Medium Medium Medium Moderate Low Medium Medium Medium High Likely Medium Medium Medium High High Very likely Medium Medium High High High Risk management is a very important function in todays business world. A probability impact matrix is one of the management tools to evaluate risks in terms of their probability and extent of their impact. In addition, it is a useful framework to decide which risk requires more attention in an organization. The inputs in the probability chart are derived from risk assessment form. So, it can be said the process of making this chart is simple. Probability chart is a table shaped form which incorporates various colors to indicate the probability and impacts of various risks. It has categorized risks into four groups as extreme, high risk, medium and low risk. The detailed explanation of these risks are given below: Extreme: These risks are marked with R (red color) in the chart and considered as high priority of importance. Company should give close attention and take early steps to eliminate this kind of risks completely. High risk: These kind of risks also require immediate actions or risk management strategies. In the probability impact matrix, these are characterized as H symbol and highlighted in the pink cells. If it is not possible to act immediately to reduce these risks then strict time line should be made to avoid the adverse effects produced from these risks. Medium: These risks are denoted by the first letter of medium M and marked in the orange cells. As the name suggested, these kind of risks are characterized middle in the scale of importance. Company dont have to resolve medium risk immediately like extreme and high risk categories. Smart thinking, logical planning these strategies work best to reduce medium risk in an effective manner. Low risk: These kind of risks are marked as L and placed in the green cells in the probability impact matrix. Low risks require less attention compared to other categories and can be ignored without having any adverse effect. But company can implement any available controlling mechanism to reduce low risk. the risk exposure can be calculated. Risk exposure is calculated as follows Risk Exposure (RE) = P ÃÆ'- C EXAMPLE: Imagine furniture factory Rank Risk Probability Impact Risk exp Action 1. Delay in shipment 50% $ 1000 $ 5000 Weekly status meeting 2 Requirements changes 40% $ 7000 $ 2800 Bi-weekly deliverables. 3. Aggressive performance requirements 30% $ 9000 $2700 Prototyping, performance testing