Invasion Of The Zebra Mussels Essays - Dreissenidae,

Invasion Of The Zebra Mussels Invasion of the Zebra Mussels There has been an incursion into the sovereign territory of the United States of America. The Zebra mussel, an animal much akin to the clam, has colonized nearly every hard surface in the Great Lakes area, and many rivers and streams attached to them. These invaders arrived on ships from England, pumped out through the ballast. Zebra mussels are from a different environment (England), thus they are classified as an exotic species. These pesky animals threaten the entire Great Lakes ecosystem. The invasion has created many problems for the local ecosystem. First of all, Zebra mussels take the food for which native species already compete. Each mussel consumes about a liter of different types of plankton. Small fish lose their food, and their numbers dwindle. Big fish no longer have small fish to eat, and the entire food chain is disrupted. Now that the natives don't have enough food to go around, mortality rates are going up and they are starting to die out. Another problem they've created is clogging on industrial units. They reproduce en mass and attach themselves to anything they find, including docks, boat ramps, and waste pipes. All the industries in the area now have to worry about scraping these mini-invaders off. Yet another problem they've created is contaminated drinking water. The intake pipes in Lake Michigan and elsewhere are covered with mussels. Without being removed, they contaminate water and move on to clog up city pipes. Still another problem is their co lonization of rock reefs. With the mussels being several inches deep in places, their waste is poisoning the area and fish that would normally lay their eggs there must look elsewhere for nesting areas. Now natality is down and mortality is up. A final problem they cause is damage to property. By latching onto boats and other floating objects, they can and will damage them. They cause innumerable problems, so now the question has become one of prevention and removal. Several methods are being used to attempt to prevent the mussels from establishing themselves, and to try to reverse the problem. One method being tried is protective coatings on surfaces, such as paints containing TBT or copper have been tried. The problem with this is the paints often erode aluminum and other materials, and some are even illegal. Another method is heat. Zebra mussels are extremely sensitive to heat. They have a 100% mortality rate after 5 hours at 90?, or after only 15 minutes at 104?. The problem with this method is simply the fact that it is hard to apply. A final approach that has been tried is the application of chlorine. The chlorine works well in wells and bilges, but cannot be applied to lakes or streams due to its nature of being toxic to living things. The mussel's history in England is no help, for they have native predators there, diving ducks for example, that help control them. Populations of ducks like these European ducks in the Great Lakes are small , so our situation is quite different from theirs. Some method must be developed to combat these invaders; they are out competing all the native species. They are such a good competitor in the Great Lakes community because they have no natural predators. Nothing eats them! Combined with the fact that they can exist nearly anywhere, this lets them breed and breed and not worry about anything other than breeding and eating, while local populations must concern themselves with escaping predators, finding food, finding shelter, and many other bothers simply to survive. Overall, the Zebra mussels are bad for the Great Lakes biological community. Countless ill effects have been listed, and a single benefit has yet to be listed. They impact everything in the food chain with their negative effects. They eat the bottom of the local food chain, and the top has nothing to eat. They coat everything conceivable. They take up habitats, forcing local populations to look for new territories. Unless this incursion is fought back, the Zebra mussel may well be the cause of the destruction of large sections of the local ecosystem. Nothing nature has produced has the capability to

Summarize Ibn Khaldun Essays - Sunni Islam, Madhhab, Mujaddid

Summarize Ibn Khaldun Essays - Sunni Islam, Madhhab, Mujaddid Alexandra Tolhurst Ibn Khalduns narrative on the history of Islamic law is one that paints the history as almost an intricate depiction of natural selection: one that started with many schools and religious scholars, but with passing time, rising dynasties and caliphs, and majority opinions, was reduced to four main schools of legal thought. Before we reach this reduction in the history, we first must talk about the rise of jurisprudence and the main ideas behind Islamic law. The beginning of Islamic law can be traced to the Koran and the Sunna, which is where the laws of Islam are derived from. The original laws are derived from texts written in Arabic, which becomes important in the more recent history of Islamic law when many less scholars know Arabic. While the Koran cannot be disputed, the traditions, or Sunna, vary widely because of the reliability of the transmitters, but originally, the only differences in opinion that occurred in Muslim society were due to the need to know exactly what to reference in new cases that Muhammad himself was not there to give an answer for. This is what gave birth to the first jurists (though they were called readers at first) and marked the real beginning of Islamic law. Men who were deeply versed in the Koran and its ambiguity were the first to give legal decisions since they had learned from Muhammad himself or from His companions, which deemed them worthy. They were the ones called readers, who were by technical t erms the first jurists, and were rare by the fact that they were literate. Each playing a role in the rise of the schools of legal thought were the differences in opinion between the first religious scholars, the first ideas of the jurists, and mainly the rise of cities and literacy. With the rise of jurists and religious scholars came the add-on of the two less accepted approaches to jurisprudence: the use of opinion and analogy, highly used by the Iraqis, and the use of traditions, highly used by Hijazis. The first schools to form were the Iraqis, centered around Abu Hanifah; Hijazis, centered around Malik; Zahirites, centered around Dawud; and the Alids and Kharijites. Of these, the Hijazis and Malik was most followed, as Malik was a distinguished scholar in the religious law world at the time because he thought the practice of the Medinese was evidence for law, therefore he added a source of law. Following Malik, ShafiI founded another school combining Hijazi and Iraqi schools of thought, who was then followed by Hanbal, then by Hanifah. Eventually, all schools that didnt represent the use of opinion and analogy or tradition were abandoned, leaving the four main schools of legal thought recognized in the Muslim world: Hanbals school, Hanifahs school, ShafiIs school, and Maliks school. Hanbals school of legal thought is mostly concentrated in Syria after a clash with Shii in Baghdad, and is known for the knowledge of the Sunna and the traditions. Hanifahs school is wide-spread through India, China, and non-Arab countries. Maliks school was prominent in Egypt until the ShiI dynasty brought the return of a more orthodox law to Egypt, which eventually brought ShafiIs school to be the dominating school in Egypt, which is where most of the followers of the school are. After the fall of the Malikites in Egypt, the school was narrowly restricted to Maghribis and Spaniards, where their paths would not cross with ShafiIs or Iraqis. While silently flourishing in these areas, Maliks school developed three separate schools within, one of which (Iraqi) was previously followed in Egypt, but later on, the three schools merged. Its important to recognize that the science of jurisprudence, especially the need for it, is a relatively new concept and is very important in religious law. The need wasnt apparent until multiple generations after Muhammad when there was no longer a clear way to decide which transmitters of tradition were reliable, which was necessary to derive laws from evidence. The first scholar to write on this was Shafii. After ShafiI, Hanafite jurists wrote works to verify rules and perfect the technique of jurisprudence. The differences in the opinions of the four schools led to the first debates.

How to Read and Convert Dates in Old Documents

How to Read and Convert Dates in Old Documents Dates are a very important part of historical and genealogical research, but they also arent always as they appear. For most of us, the Gregorian calendar in common use today is all we encounter in modern records. Eventually, however, as we work back in time, or delve into religious or ethnic records, it is common to encounter other calendars and dates with which we arent familiar. These calendars can complicate the recording of dates in our family tree, unless we can accurately convert and record the calendar dates into a standard format, so that there is no further confusion. Julian vs. Gregorian Calendar The calendar in common use today, known as the Gregorian calendar, was created in 1582 to replace the previously used Julian calendar. The Julian calendar, established in 46 B.C. by Julius Caesar, had twelve months, with three years of 365 days, followed by a fourth year of 366 days. Even with the extra day added every fourth year, the Julian calendar was still slightly longer than the solar year (by about eleven minutes per year), so by the time the year 1500 rolled around, the calendar was ten days out of sync with the sun. To remedy the deficiencies in the Julian calendar, Pope Gregory XIII replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar (named after himself) in 1582. The new Gregorian calendar dropped ten days from the month of October for the first year only, to get back in sync with the solar cycle. It also retained the leap year every four years, except century years not divisible by 400 (to keep the accumulation problem from recurring). Of primary importance to genealogists, is that the Gregorian calendar was not adopted by many protestant countries until much later than 1592 (meaning they also had to drop a varying number of days to get back in sync). Great Britain and her colonies adopted the Gregorian, or new style calendar in 1752. Some countries, such as China, did not adopt the calendar until the 1900s. For each country in which we research, it is important to know on what date the Gregorian calendar came into effect. The distinction between the Julian and Gregorian calendar becomes important for genealogists in cases where a person was born while the Julian calendar was in effect and died after the Gregorian calendar was adopted. In such cases it is very important to record dates exactly as you found them, or to make a note when a date has been adjusted for the change in calendar. Some people choose to indicate both dates - known as old style and new style. Double Dating Before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, most countries celebrated the new year on March 25th (the date known as the Annunciation of Mary). The Gregorian calendar changed this date to January 1st (a date associated with the Circumcision of Christ). Because of this change in the start of the new year, some early records used a special dating technique, known as double dating, to mark dates which fell between January 1 and March 25. A date such as 12 Feb 1746/7 would indicate the end of 1746 (Jan 1 – March 24) in the old style and the early part of 1747 in the new style. Genealogists generally record these double dates exactly as found to avoid possible misinterpretation.   Next Special Dates Archaic Date Terms Julian vs. Gregorian Calendars Feast Days Other Special Dating Terms Archaic terms are common in older records, and dates dont escape this usage. The term instant, for example, (e.g. in the 8th instant refers to the 8th of this month). A corresponding term, ultimo, refers to the previous month (e.g. the 16th ultimo means the 16th of last month). Examples of other archaic usage you may encounter include Tuesday last, referring to the most recent Tuesday, and Thursday next, meaning the next Thursday to occur. Quaker-Style Dates Quakers typically did not use the names of the months or days of the week because most of these names were derived from pagan gods (e.g. Thursday came from â€Å"Thor’s Day†). Instead, they recorded dates using numbers to describe the day of the week and month of the year: [blockquote shadeno]7th da 3rd mo 1733 Converting these dates can be especially tricky because the Gregorian calendar change must be taken into account. The first month in 1751, for example, was March, while the first month in 1753 was January. When in doubt, always transcribe the date exactly as written in the original document. Other Calendars to Consider When researching in France, or in countries under French control, between 1793 and 1805, youll probably encounter some strange looking dates, with funny-sounding months and references to the year of the Republic. These dates reference the French Republican Calendar, also commonly referred to as the French Revolutionary calendar. There are many charts and tools available to help you convert those dates back into standard Gregorian dates. Other calendars you may encounter in your research include the Hebrew calendar, the Islamic calendar and the Chinese calendar. Date Recording for Accurate Family Histories Different parts of the world record dates differently. Most countries write out a date as month-day-year, while in the United States the day is commonly written before the month. This makes little difference when the dates are written out, as in the above examples, but when you run across a date written 7/12/1969 it is hard to know whether it refers to July 12th or December 7th. To avoid confusion in family histories, it is standard convention to use the day-month-year format (23 July 1815) for all genealogical data, with the year written out in full to avoid confusion about which century it refers to (1815, 1915 or 2015?). Months are generally written out in full, or using standard three-letter abbreviations. When in doubt about a date, it is generally best to record it exactly as written in the original source and include any interpretation in square brackets.

Obama and Romney 2012 campaigns Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obama and Romney 2012 campaigns - Assignment Example The author states that using social media to gain attention of the general public is similar to knocking at the doors of the voters. He states that a speech that President Obama conducted in the region of Romnesia was well advertised on social media outlets including Twitter and Facebook and due to this the video of the speech was able to gain more than 0.5 million views. Furthermore, the author states that mostly after the end of the elections those who are with the losing side end up losing their appearance in the eyes of the public. But social media has helped such individuals including Richard Grenell remain relevant even after the elections. The third lesson that the author learned through the Presidential social media campaigns of 2012 was that on the internet political news regarding events and other political stories spread at a very fast pace and people are thirsty to talk politics over the internet. Furthermore, social media marketing has even benefited the candidates of third party. This is because even after the elections the candidate of the Libertarian party can continue to gain attention of the general public and remain engaged with them. The fifth point that the author noted is that it is very difficult to measure which of the political party or the candidate has an upper hand in social media at the time of the campaign. The author states that various metrics used to measure victory on social media have failed. For example, if the number of followers is taken into account to measure victory then the individual making the analysis misses the sentiments and other factors involved. Another important point to note is that social media has the ability to spread any mistakes made by the candidate during the campaign at a very fast pace. These mistakes are highlighted in quite a sarcastic manner. The seventh learning outcome of the campaigns was that the use of GIF images during debates that were used by

Gun Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gun Control - Essay Example He went past the crowd, straight to the senator’s table and he shot her point blanc in the head before anyone could comprehend the situation. After Giffords was shot, Loghner continued with the violence and opened fire at the people present. In the next 15 seconds, six people were kiled while thirteen lay wounded. The killing spree stopped only when Loughner stopped to re-load his weapon and some brave bystanders overpowered him and kept him pinned to the ground till the police arrived. This is the latest incidence in gun-related violence that has revived the gun control debate in the United States (Huffington Post 2011; Doeden 2012). Gun control has been a debatable issue in the United States of America and has sparked many controversies with many people upholding the significance of stricter gun control laws whereas others advocate the permission to lenient gun laws. Loughner had been in trouble with the law many times in the past. He was a troubled student and many of his f riends and neighbours described him as mentally unstable. How is it that despite a criminial backgorund and dubious mental health was he able to legally obtain a firearm? Gun control is a complex issue in the United States. Incidences like this have taken place in the United States either in schools, in homes and on the street. ... Everyone is of the opinion that when wrong people get hold of guns, tragedies happen. Those in favor of gun control say that more guns mean more gun-related deaths. The best way to stop gun violence is to make it more difficult for people to get guns in the first place. Those in favor of gun rights have a simple counter argument- â€Å"guns don’t kill people, people kill people†. They argue that people need to more educated and then allowed to keep and use their guns. The real question here is how to identify those who are dependable enough to use their guns responsibly from those who may end up being dangerous with guns? (Doeden 2012). When President Regan was shot in 1981, the bullet landed in his lung and he recovered from it soon. However, his press secretary Jim Brady was not so lucky and a bullet ended up in his head paralyzing him for life. (Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: Jim Brady). The shooter was John Hinkley Jr. who had bought the revolver used for s hooting at a pawnshop in Dallas, Texas using false information. After the shooting of her husband, Jim Brady’s wife Sarah became an active advocate for gun control saying that if Hinkley had been subjected to a background check, his criminal history would have been detected and this tragedy could have been avoided. Sarah Brady became the Chair of the board of Handgun Control Inc. (HCI) and in 1987 introduced the Brady act in U.S. Congress. Once the Brady law was passed HCI was renamed to the Brady Centre for Gun Control and it is still actively working on getting guns off the streets (Brady and McLoughlin 2002). According to information from the Brady Centre, up to 3042 young children and adolescents lose their lives owing to gunfire in the Unites States. This figure

Love at First Sight Essay Example for Free

Love at First Sight Essay Love at first sight is a common trope in Western literature, in which a person, character, or speaker feels romantic attraction for a stranger on the first sight of them. Described by poets and critics from the Greek world on, it has become one of the most powerful tropes in Western fiction. In the classical world, the phenomenon of love at first sight was understood within the context of a more general conception of passionate love, a kind of madness or, as the Greeks put it, theia mania (madness from the gods). [1] This love passion was described through an elaborate metaphoric and mythological psychological schema involving loves arrows or love darts, the source of which was often given as the mythological Eros or Cupid,[2] sometimes by other mythological deities (such as Rumor[3]). At times, the source of the arrows was said to be the image of the beautiful love object itself. If these arrows arrived at the lovers eyes, they would then travel to and pierce his or her heart, overwhelming them with desire and longing (love sickness). The image of the arrows wound was sometimes used to create oxymorons and rhetorical antithesis. Love at first sight was explained as a sudden and immediate beguiling of the lover through the action of these processes, and is illustrated in numerous Greek and Roman works. In Ovids Metamorphoses, Narcissus becomes immediately spellbound and charmed by his own (unbeknownst to him) image. In Achilles Tatiuss Leucippe and Clitophon, the lover Clitophon thus describes his own experience of the phenomenon: As soon as I had seen her, I was lost. For Beautys wound is sharper than any weapons, and it runs through the eyes down to the soul. It is through the eye that loves wound passes, and I now became a prey to a host of emotions[4]Love at first sight was not, however, the only mode of entering into passionate love in classical texts; at times the passion could occur after the initial meeting or could precede the first glimpse. Another classical interpretation of the phenomenon of love at first sight is found in Platos Symposium in Aristophanes description of the separation of primitive double-creatures into modern men and women and their subsequent search for their missing half: when [a lover] is fortunate enough to meet his other half, they are both so intoxicated with affection, with friendship, and with love, that they cannot bear to let each other out of sight for a single instant.[5]

Study Skills Essay -- essays research papers

STUDY SKILL SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN ELMENTARY SCHOOL The reason that most people High School don’t have good study skills is because they were not taught proper study habits in Elementary School, where this should be taught. To achieve good grades in high school a person must be disciplined in their study habits. Once a person reaches high school these habits must be ingrained into the personality of the young person so that they are second nature or it is to late. Part of the Elementary school teaching there must be a course that teaches children as young as grade 1 or 2 how to do homework. This has to include how to break down a project into manageable pieces so that a child will know how to meet deadlines for major projects once they reach middle school and they are expected to hand work in on time without help from the teachers. To achieve this the following lessons must be taught. How to take notes in class. Taking accurate note is a major responsibility for people and without proper notes homework can and is a challenge. Here are a few simple steps to note taking. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Go to class prepared. This means having all the materials that you will need to participate in the class fully. Having pencils sharpened and enough paper to take all the notes that are needed. Nothing will hurt you more than having to stop and find more paper or pencil/pen in the middle of a lecture because once you have found what you are looking for the lecture has moved on and you have lost your concentration, or you have missed some of the points being lectured on. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Avoid distractions. By this I mean - no eating, drinking or talking. You are there to take notes and that should be the only thing you are doing. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Class Discussions. These are often more helpful than the lecture them self. When the class is discussing the subject ask questions and get clear answers because often the teacher is talking so fast that you will miss a point or two in the class discussions will be the time to clarify anything in the lecture that you didn’t understand in the lecture. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pick out key word phrases. Then the teacher says things like â€Å" the main point is †¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å" to summarize†¦.† These are the main points to write down don’t miss them. Also if something is repeated... ...ld. Write this down and ask the teacher for help organizing your projects. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ELEMINATE ALL DISTRACTIONS. This means the TV off, No talking on the Phone no Load music, even send your little brother and sister out of the room if they don’t have homework too. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Good health. Part of getting good study skills is to be healthy. Get the proper amount of sleep of your age and eat three good meals a day. The brain works better when it has been fed. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally, take breaks from homework when you need to. Stretch, get something to munch on, or have a drink. When you feel yourself getting frustrated this is a sign you need a break. Once you are stuck on a problem for a few minutes take a break for a minute or so and go back to it, this will help you refocus on the problem and give you a better prospective on it. If these simple study skills were taught to young children in elementary school, teachers in high school will have less trouble getting their students to do their homework. I know if I would have been taught how to study maybe my homework would get done and handed in on time.

Amba 604

Acme Home Improvement de Mexico, SA de CV Project Plan Team Four: Folasade Bamidele Alibaloye John C Caputo Garner Frederick Hixson Hector G Rosado AMBA 604, Section 9093 Professor Stewart February 6, 2004 Acme Project Plan Table of Contents Section I. II. III. Executive Summary Introduction Project Organization Organization Chart Project Responsibilities Staffing Plans IV. Management Process Management Objectives Priorities Monitoring/Controlling Mechanisms V.Technical Process Plan Computing System Project Plan Modification Process Computer Usage Policies Construction Guideline Support Project Acceptance Process Lessons Learned Documentation VI. Work Packages, Dependencies, Schedules & Budgets Work Packages Dependencies Project Budget Summary Tasks on the Critical Path Assignment Matrix 3 4 5 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 13 14 14 17 20 23 24 25 2 Page VII. Appendix A Appendix B Acme Project Plan I. Executive Summary Acme Home Improvements has determined it essential that expa nsion into international markets take place immediately.Acme Home Improvements has initiated a joint venture with local partners in Mexico City to form Acme Home Improvements SA de CV. The intent of this partnership is to open Acme's first ‘Do It Yourself’ – (DIY) home improvement store outside of the United States, to meet the competition head on and establish a foothold in international markets. This document spells out our plan for the project's success. The project's sponsor is the Acme CEO, Alex R. Fitzgerald. This project is the first step in his strategic initiative to expand Acme into international markets.Based on assessments, it is critical that Acme SA de CV complete the opening of this store in 12 months or less with a budget of up to $7. 5 million. A key risk is Acme's lack of experience in international markets. As a result, we will rely heavily on our partners to help us mitigate ‘soft' cultural issues and navigate local nuances of business. Because of the soft issues, remaining on schedule is a key driver of project success. To mitigate risks to the project's critical path, we have built feeding buffers into the schedule, and added a project buffer to the project end.Our plan outlines staff responsibilities and a staffing plan for project execution. This staff has strong support from corporate headquarters, a defined scope, budget, timeline, and 3 processes by which to execute the plan. Included in these processes is a structured change control process that ensures changes are relevant, followed through, and controlled. In addition, this document, and the accompanying project plan clearly identify dependencies that can impact project execution. We have separated these dependencies into mandatory, external, and discretionary dependencies (Schwalbe, 2004).Doing this has enabled us to maximize scheduling efficiency. Acme SA de CV has an established technology infrastructure to draw upon. Our plan will leverage this techno logy through wireless local area networks, corporate servers, and use of project management software. Finally, we will utilize a feedback process to capture lessons learned for our future expansion into international markets. Acme Project Plan II. Introduction Acme Home Improvements de Mexico, SA de CV intends to build a 100,000 sq ft retail 4 facility in Mexico Distrito Federal (DF).This effort is part of Acme's strategy to expand into the international home improvement markets. Our Mexico City store will be the initial push into Mexico to meet our competitors head-on outside the United States. This project is critical to Acme's long-term strategy to expand beyond the US borders. Headquarters has allocated $7. 5 million to complete this task. Strategic alignment with Acme's long-term goals, experience with similar projects, and an assessment of the competition dictates that we complete this project within 12 months. Our project is a joint venture with local interests.The project wi ll be challenging for Acme, with inherent risk laying in our inexperience in international joint ventures. ‘Soft' issues, cultural human resource issues will be as much of a driver of cost and schedule as the ‘hard' issues like planning and execution. It is critical to the success of this project, and perhaps the organization's international growth strategy, that this project be completed on time, and on budget. The organization anticipates possible schedule delays and cost overruns due to cultural assumptions and misunderstandings.Knowing that schedule delays will affect costs and international expansion strategy, we pay particular attention to the project's critical path (see Appendix A, and the accompanying MS Project file's network diagram view). To deal with these risks, the team has built several feeding time-buffers into the work breakdown schedule, at constraints along the critical path (Goldratt, 1998). A large project buffer has also been added to protect the e nd of the project. Attention to the safety buffers along the critical path will contribute to the team's successful execution of the project.This plan presents an overview of the project organization, including the team's organization chart, project responsibilities, and staffing plans. Next, the plan addresses the organization's management process related to this project. Management's objectives, priorities, Acme Project Plan and monitoring and control mechanisms are covered in this section. The project's technical process plan is covered next, reviewing such things as the IT support and guidelines for the project, processes for modification, and acceptance of the plan, and the process for documenting lessons learned on the project.Lastly, this plan discusses the work packages, dependencies, schedules and project budget. We begin with a look at the project organization plan. III. Project Organization Organizational Chart: 5 Acme Home Improvements de Mexico Site Construction & Openi ng Project Organization Chart Prepared by: John Tarea, Project Manager John Tarea Acme Projects Project Manager Sade Venda Acme Store Manager Anita Socio Acme Mexico HR Manager Donna Promueva Acme Mexico Marketing Fred Conde Acme Finance Joe Martillo Construction Manager Maria Diseno Architectural ContractorThis organizational chart shows the authority and communications organization for the project. Every one of the team members reports to the Project Manager. Team members are from different knowledge areas and each will contribute with their knowledge and skills to the project. Acme Project Plan Project Responsibilities: Project Sponsor, Alex R. Fitzgerald, CEO Acme Home Improvements. Mr. Fitzgerald 6 has been CEO of Acme Home Improvements for 10 years. He started with the company 25 years ago, working in one of the first Acme Stores. He started as a traditional department manager and worked his way up through Acme's chain.He attended business school at the University of Maryland University College. Mr. Fitzgerald has unsurpassed expertise in the DIY Home Improvement business and has lead Acme through an unprecedented period of growth. Mr. Fitzgerald has a strategic vision that mandates Acme's expansion into international markets. His high level of interest in this project cannot be overemphasized. His role as project sponsor is to take ultimate responsibility for the project. He must sign off on the project charter, confirm successful completion of project milestones, and provide leadership and support to the project manager.At a recent executive retreat, Mr. Fitzgerald commented, â€Å"With the growth of technology, and productivity, the world has never experienced the level of wealth and opportunity for homeownership that it is experiencing now. Our ability to remain competitive and grow is completely dependent on our ability to expand into international markets. † John Tarea, Project Manager: John is in charge of managing the whole project, and th e members that are in charge of the project activities. Also, he is in charge of working with the sponsor and any general people involved with the project.His role is important since he should be able to manage the problem in an effective manner for the project to meet its goal. Joe Martillo, Construction Manager: Joe is in charge of managing the construction activities of the project. As a heavily tasked team member, project planners will watch for constraints associated with this project resource. To enable Joe meet the construction project schedule, he has been allocated the necessary budget to contract various local trades-people and construction specialty firms. Acme Project PlanMaria Diseno, Architectural Contractor: Maria is the architect that researched 7 competitive stores in Mexico, became familiar with Acme store designs in the U. S. , and designed the store to be constructed in this project. Fred Conde, Acme Finance: Fred is in charge of financial oversight of the projec t. He will assist team members in analyzing bids, projecting costs, and controlling expenditures. Sade Venda, Acme Store Manager: Sade will be in charge of managing the store when it is operational. She will also collaborate with H. R. anager, Anita Socio, and Anita's staff in the recruitment, interviewing, and training of new employees. Anita Socio, Acme Mexico HR Manager: Anita will be in charge of the recruitment effort and training of the personnel hired to work in the store. She will work closely with the Store Manager. Donna Promueva, Acme Mexico Marketing: Donna will collaborate with Maria Diseno and Sade Venda on the design and layout of the store interior, displays, and inventory. She is to ensure the store reflects the marketing strategy for the Mexico City market.She is in charge of performing local market analyses, selecting products, and designing merchandising, advertising and promotional efforts for the store. An assignment matrix can be seen in appendix B. Staffing P lan The following charts illustrate the project's staffing and training plans from three perspectives. The first graph presents baseline staffing plans, not taking into consideration feeding buffers that will likely push the actual dates closer to the store-opening deadline of March 1, 2006. The second chart depicts preliminary training targets, and the third illustrates contractor staffing needs.Acme Project Plan 8 Acme Staffing Plan 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan Mar May Jul Sept Nov Project Managers Acme- Accts, IT, Supt Lead Contractor Sub-Contractors Sub-Contractor Laborers Training Team Functional Leads Department Heads Store Employees 1 Dec as opening goal Acme SA de CV Training 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan Mar May Jul Sept Nov Training Team Functional Leads Department Heads Store Employees Acme Project Plan 9 Acme SA de CV Construction Team 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Jan Mar May Jul Sept Nov Lead Contractor Sub-Contractors Sub-Contractor LaborersNow that we have discus sed the project staffing and responsibilities, we turn to the project management processes, including the objectives, priorities, and monitoring and controlling mechanisms of the project. Acme Project Plan IV. Managerial Processes This section of the project plan provides an overview of Acme's perspective of this 10 project from the point of view of the top managers. Included in this section will be a discussion of top management's objectives, priorities, Management Objectives The Acme de Mexico project has three primary objectives: 1) Complete the six site component preparation activities on time and at/below cost. ) Execute the Acme Mexico FD site opening with a staff fully trained and integrated into the company. 3) Leverage success in Mexico FD to expand and compete across the greater Mexico. Priorities The first priority is completing the construction site on schedule. Operations must quickly assess the impact of unknown and unexpected events as they occur. Delays to the schedu le drive up our costs. The second priority, which becomes the first priority as the site nears completion, is the hiring and training of a store staff. The staff must be fully knowledgeable and fluent in Acme's processes and procedures.Monitoring/ Controlling Mechanisms Acme is new to Mexico and thus requires some very specific tools and techniques to ensure that we remain in control of the project. Given the amount of variables that we may come up against in this project we will have a very strong change control process. This change control process will meet three main goals (Schwalbe, 2004): 1. Influence the factors that create change; ensure that the change is beneficial and impact to time, scope, and budget is understood. 2. Determine that the desired change has occurred.Acme Project Plan 3. Manage the changes as they occur; trying to minimize the number of changes the project is subjected to. (p. 122). 11 There are specific criteria that will drive changes. Specifically, we hav e a management reserve pot set aside. The reserve will be called upon if our SPI falls below 90%. The additional capital spent will be tightly focused upon the current problem and prevention of reoccurrence. Should both our SPI and CPI fall below 90% senior management will become involved to assess status and affect needed changes. V.Technical Process Plan Having now seen the project's organization plans and managerial process plans, we turn now to a few technical aspects of the project. This section describes the technical approaches to control and support this project. In it, we describe the technical processes and approaches relating to this project's computing system, computer usage policies, plan modification processes, construction guidelines, acceptance process, and documentation process of lessons learned. We begin with an overview of the computing system used to support the project.Computing System This project will utilize Acme's wide area network, via wireless access at t he construction site, temporary office locations, and residences. Utilizing portable personal computers, the project manager and team will access the various project tools using MS Project, synchronizing local copies with the master file on the company server. Acme will utilize MS Project Server and MS Project Web Access features to allow project team members to view, collaborate, and update project information from various remote locations and connections. All project plan outputs will be date and time stamped.Modifications to the plan will be tracked electronically, logging a record of who changed what, and when the changes were made. Acme Project Plan Project Plan Modification Process Only the Project Manager will be able to modify the schedule, budget, and the work 12 breakdown structure (WBS) portions of the work plan. Changes resulting in delays greater than five workdays or adding more than $5,000 to the budget estimate must be approved first by the project sponsor. All other changes may be made at the discretion of the project manager. Individual team members will be able to update task completion progress in the work plan.All changes must be requested on the following Change Request Form: Change Request Form Project Name: Date Request Submitted: Title of Change Request: Change Order Number: Submitted by: (name & contact information) Change Category: Scope Schedule Description of change requested: Events that made this change necessary or desirable. Justification for the change/why it is needed/desired to continue/complete the project: Impact of the proposed change on: Scope: Schedule: Cost: Staffing: Risk: Other: Suggested implementation if the change request is approved: Required approvals: Name/TitleCost Technology Other Date Approve/Reject (Schwalbe, 2004, p. 630) Computer Usage Computer use will comply with Acme Home Improvement, Inc. ‘s corporate computing policies, available online to employees on the company intranet. Employees can access the corporate intranet through the company server WAN, or over the Internet. Acme Project Plan Construction Guideline Support Standards for implementing the site construction will comply with Acme Home Improvement, Inc. ‘s Construction Guidelines. Since the guidelines were developed for use in U. S. onstruction projects, however, the project team will consult Mexico City based law firm, 13 Goodrich, Riquelme y Asociados (anonymous, n. d. ). The team will coordinate activities related to zoning, environmental practices, and compliance with other local and federal regulations with the law firm. Project Acceptance Process The project manager is responsible for obtaining sign-off from the project sponsor and project manager at each milestone, and at project completion. The following form will be used to document acceptance of the project:Client Acceptance/Project Completion Form Project Name: Project Manager: I (We), the undersigned, acknowledge and accept delivery of the work co mpleted for this project on behalf of our organization. My (Our) signature(s) attest to my (our) agreement that this project has been completed. No further work should be done on this project. Name Title Signature Date 1. Was this project completed to your satisfaction? Yes No 2. Please provide the main reason for your satisfaction or dissatisfaction with this project. 3. Please provide suggestion on how our organization could improve its project delivery capability in the future. Schwalbe, 2004, p. 633) Lessons Learned Documentation: Acme Project Plan The project manager is responsible for completing a summary of lessons learned throughout the project. The lessons will be documented on the form below, added to Acme Home Improvement's repository of project lessons learned, accessible through the company intranet. Lessons Learned Report Prepared by: Project Name: Project Sponsor: Project Manager: Project Dates: Final Budget: 1. Did the project meet scope, time, and cost goals? 2. Wha t was the success criteria listed in the project scope statement? . Reflect on whether or not you met the project success criteria. 4. In terms of managing the project, what were the main lessons your team learned? 5. Describe one example of what went right on this project. 6. Describe one example of what went wrong on this project. 14 7. What will you do differently on the next project, based on your experience working on this project? (Schwalbe, 2004, p. 624) VI. Work Packages, Dependencies, Schedules and Budgets Work Packages The seven major activities of which Acme’s construction project consists, involve various work packages.By definition, work packages are tasks at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure or WBS (Schwalbe, 2004). The preparation of the site and laying of the foundation is the first course in the construction process. The foundation is the most important part of construction and requires a substantial amount within the apportioned budget for bui lding materials, as well as time. This stage involves the preparation of the site, which may involve some weeding, smoothing and sectioning, before the laying of the sewer pipes, concrete slabs and the sectioning of drainageAcme Project Plan 15 gutters. These different tasks are altogether estimated to take a total of about 50 days, a little over 5 weeks or over a month. Factored into the time is the acquisition of the necessary materials and labor. The next step is the building of the walls, floor and roof of the structure. Once the foundation is underway, the next step is to start building the actual store structure. This involves several work packages including the framing of the floor and walls, and the construction of the roof of the building.The carving out of the different sections of the store, such as the offices, break rooms, greenhouse and bathrooms also occur here. The estimated time here is about 45 days. The dependency here is of the ‘Finish to Start’ type (Schwalbe, 2004), which necessitates that the construction of the walls, floors etc, will not take off before the completion of the foundation. Since these construction work packages are on the critical path, and the construction resources could become a constraint, we inserted a fifteen-day feeder buffer to ensure any delays in the critical path construction activities do not delay the rest of the project.Next is the installation of the electrical and plumbing fixtures. Pipes are run through the building at this point for water outlets at designated spots, including the break rooms and bathrooms. Plumbing fixtures such as water closets, toilets, sinks and drinking fountains are installed. Electrical work is being done at this point, with the installation of wiring, cabling, outlets, the installation of electrical generators, and subsequently the connection to service for both electricity and water. Work here is slated for a total of 45 days.Building construction wraps up with the finishing of the interior, and the stocking of inventory. Here, the necessary dry walling, painting and finishing is applied to the interior of the building, thereafter, the interior decorators take up the job of smoothing and designing to the specifications provided. Other work packages at this point are floor planning for product location and shelf arrangement. The last part of the interior is the stocking of the shelves with products; after all interior fixtures have been tested for safety and durability. Acme Project Plan 16The building of the garage is not directly dependent on most of the preceding processes up to this point, but does necessarily occur after the preparation for the site has taken place. So, this portion of the project starts after the foundation for the site has taken place and the adjacent wall has been erected. The construction of this, like the main building, will involve installation of the garage foundation and the framing of its walls, which are then pai nted, and ending with the marking of parking spaces. The schedule for finishing the store and the garage allows for 155 days, which includes another feeding buffer of twenty days.Acme's construction plan includes an outer garden, and landscaping for this is for 10,000 square feet. This activity will involve the landscaping of the already sectioned area, which entails the layering with soil, rock and concrete slab placing as designed; paving installation and finally, the planting of selected plants and flowers. This is scheduled for a total of 40 days. This time takes into consideration the various needs of the selected plants and the time needed to ready the soil for planting. Throughout these activates, the marketing and promotion planning proceeds.Scheduled to conclude as the store becomes ready for opening, the marketing work package begins with an analysis of the market, including a competitive analysis, a consumer analysis, and an analysis of Acme's strengths and opportunities in the market. Next, the project calls for the development of a product, pricing, and promotion plan. Last comes preparation of the merchandising, advertising, and grand opening promotion plan. These marketing activities are scheduled to take 180 days, but they do not fall on the critical path, nor do they require resources that appear at risk of being a project constraint.The last order of the project is to hire and train the employees for each of the departments. This process will involve the advertisement of vacancies. It will also involve a selection process of interviewing, checking of references and candidate consideration. The training may likely be done in groups and will entail customer service dynamics and necessary need-to-know information on products being sold. This takes time and has been scheduled to Acme Project Plan take 65 days, twenty of which are a feeding buffer at this potential constraint along the critical path for a timely store opening.Dependencies Work on the site is dependent upon several things and based on several assumptions. There is an assumption that we have a specific piece of commercially zoned real estate selected 17 and purchased. There is also the assumption that we have, in hand, the required permits to begin construction and open for business. Acme could not begin the joint venture with its local partners without these items in hand. We would rely heavily on our partners' knowledge of local and regional governmental processes and procedures. Our 12-month timeline could not start until this initial hurdle was cleared.With permits in hand, construction could begin. The mandatory dependencies are such that a natural progression of events must occur for the completion of the structure. Each event is a unique task, however, many are highly dependant on other activities. Certain tasks, like laying the foundation, have finish-to-start relationships with their predecessors. The foundation cannot be poured, obviously, until the site is cleared, leveled, and otherwise prepared. Other activities, like establishing a mobile construction site office, can start simultaneously with another activity, such as beginning to prepare the site, but no sooner.This would be an example of a start-to-start relationship. Of course, other dependencies are also possible. Some tasks must finish along with other activities, while others must finish before another can start. Following is a look at dependencies in the project. As already mentioned, the site must be prepared before the foundation can be laid. Similarly, construction of the walls and floors is dependant upon the foundation being established first. Another finish to start dependency involves building the roof. The walls must be finished before a roof can be constructed.Any delay in completing the wall will push back the start of constructing the roof. A feeding buffer is inserted at this point on the critical path to guard Acme Project Plan against slippage on the p roject schedule by the construction resource, which is used heavily at this point of the project. Likewise, the walls must also be constructed before wires and plumbing can be run 18 throughout the building. Wiring is designated as having a start to start dependency with installing the generator and electrical circuit boxes. Installing the electrical fixtures, however, is dependant on three predecessors being completed first.Wires must be run, walls must be dry-walled, and electrical service must be established with the utility provider. Much like the electrical fixtures, plumbing fixtures cannot begin to be installed until the pipes have been run, drywall installed, and water service established with the utility provider. Finishing the interior presents another series of finish to start dependencies. Walls and roof must be up before they can be dry-walled. The dry wall must also be installed before they can be painted. Painting is a necessary precedent to installing the shelves and display units.Since these activities fall on the critical path where resources are close to being overloaded, an additional feeding buffer is added here. If any of the string of finish to start dependant activities falls behind schedule, the feeding buffer will help maintain the project schedule. Stocking the inventory cannot begin until the interior is finished. We, therefore, have another finish to start dependency. The construction of the garage is a task that would drive how much inventory we can handle, assuming it is used partly to store inventory.With the interior complete we could stock a certain amount of inventory but the garage would have to be complete before we could finish taking receipt of our entire inventory. This would really be a both an external dependency and discretionary dependency. It is a discretionary dependency in that we could stagger our inventory ordering to take receipt based on how the store is completed. If for, example the lights take the longest t o receive, from an inventory perspective, we could stagger the completion of the Acme Project Plan 19 interior portion of the structure.We could order our lighting inventory while completing a different area's interior first and stock it, then come along and finish the interior of our lighting department in time to take receipt of the inventory. It is also an external dependency because we do not control the timetable that our suppliers deliver on. There is inherent risk in setting up a ‘just-in-time' approach to taking receipt of inventory. If, for example, our supply of wiring for electrical instillation is unstable or unpredictable, we may not be able to wire-up our lighting department in time to take receipt of our staggered inventory order.The extent of discretionary dependency that we establish is contingent on our tolerance for risk. Completion of paving and landscaping is purely discretionary. We could build the parking lot and landscaping almost entirely independent o f the rest of the project but it would not make much sense. This task must simple be finished prior to opening the business. Most of our vendors would need the paving completed for access to the property. It would be a start-start for our inventory.It seems sensible to pave the parking lot simultaneously with paving the garage, making this a start-to-start dependency with pouring the garage concrete. Hiring and training employees is both a discretionary and external dependency. At a macro-level it is externally dependent upon the retail and construction job market in Mexico City, it we hire, rather than contract for, construction workers. If the construction market is soft in Mexico City in the window where we are to hire employees, it is likely we will have many applicants with construction expertise applying for work, in an effort to supplement their incomes.If the construction market is brisk when we are to hire, we may have a harder time finding experienced construction labor. A cme Project Plan 20 As a discretionary dependency, we can begin hiring and training when we deem best. While it is optimal to train most of the floor employees in a fully stocked facility that is nearly operational, we could train the core of the store's management/ department heads at one of our American stores.It would be desirable for these new managers to see how a fully functional store runs and meet with US counterparts to gain lessons learned. Acme SA de CV will groom promising managers at its Mexico City site to open new stores across Mexico, so it is to our advantage to train new managers as early as possible. Having discussed the work packages, and task dependencies in the project, we turn now to a breakdown of the $7. 5 million project budget. Project Budget Acme Home Improvements de Mexico, SA de CV 12 Month Construction Budget DIRECT COST DESCRIPTION 1.Construction Materials Temporary Utilities/Rentals Excavation / Blasting Footings / Drainage Foundation/Waterproofing R etaining Walls Underground Utilities Trenching, Backfill, Rough Grading Concrete Slab City Water / Well & Pump City Sewer / Septic System Sewer/Septic/Underground Connections City Water/Underground Connections Gutters and Downspouts Interior Masonry Rough Framing Materials Structural Steel Trusses Lumber &Other wood types Plumbing fixtures Fire System HVAC Electrical – Lighting, Cabling, etc.Electrical Generators SUBTOTALED AMOUNT 1 Acme Project Plan Exterior Stairs Rough Framing Labor Roofing materials Windows & Exterior Doors Garage Framing Garage Doors Exterior Stucco Exterior Siding/Masonry Exterior Painting Insulation Sheetrock/Taping Vanities Cabinets Interior Trim Interior Doors Hardware – Bolts, screws, cords, etc. Carpentry Landscaping Soil Granite / Rocks Plants Walkway Slabs Interior Shelving units Equipment rental Safety Equipment Other Total Materials Cost 2.Overheads and Other Costs Personnel salaries – Direct Project Workers Consultants / Professi onals Administrative personnel Construction Laborers Accommodation Travel Utilities (Phone, electricity, water) Supplies (Stationery, postage, printing, etc. ) Insurance (Workers Compensation) Teachers / Trainers Other Total Overheads and Other Costs 3. Inventory & Labor Costs Shipping Products Truck rentals Loading & Off loading Other Labor Duties (Customs & Excise) Total Inventory Costs 40% or USD 3. 0 million 3 20% or USD 1. 5 million 2 40% or USD 3. 0 million 21 Acme Project Plan 2 Considerations: 1 The percentages and USD estimates are based on a USD 7. 5 million budget. Wages and Salaries may vary significantly, especially with the current exchange rate of 1USD = 11. 1345 MXN and the difference in the cost of living between both countries. This is cheaper in Mexico and since most labor used will be local, the cost of it may be lower than estimated. 2 3 It is possible that the cost of inventory may vary from the above stated due to considerations such as; delays and pressures o f delivery, but with more of a leaning towards an increase.Assumptions: The assumption of the total cost for construction materials is derived from the size of the facility to be built and all that will be required to build it, with a sizeable amount of the cost gong towards the materials for the foundation and walls. Mainly personnel wages and salaries rule the total budget amount for the overheads, with a majority of this going to the professionals or experts in charge of various sections of the project. The total number of people working on this project, aside from its management committee, is estimated to be in the neighborhood of 78.The division is as follows: Approximately 60 for all construction activity and interior work. Among these, professionals are estimated to be five, with a distribution of 1 garage expert, 2 interior designers and 2 building experts. Approximately eight for landscaping duties, with one professional among them. Approximately 10 company professionals fo r the initial hiring and training of employees. The products to be for inventory will likely cost about as many dollars as the construction effort, if not more, due to shipping, handling and the payment of duties on them. Acme Project Plan VII.Summary Acme Home improvement's international expansion strategy begins with this project. The 23 company's joint venture in Mexico City, will lead to the company's first store outside the United States. Within twelve months, and $7. 5 million, the project team is expected to plan, locate, construct, and open the company's first international home improvement store. This plan provided an overview of the project organization, management processes, technical processes, work packages, dependencies, schedules and project budget. Accompanying this document is a MS Project work plan, and Project Charter.We believe the information contained in these documents lay out a realistic plan to enable Acme Home Improvements to successfully open its first sto re outside the U. S. By executing the plan above, we believe Acme can complete this strategically critical project on time and on budget. Acme Project Plan Appendix A: 24 Tasks on the Critical Path Task Prepare site Lay foundation Site & Foundation Ready Build walls Construct roof Feeding Buffer Install floors Dry Wall Paint Feeding Buffer Stock Inventory Duration 40d 10d 0d 15d 5d 15d 10d 10d 10d 20d 10d Start Finish Dependncy 3 4 6 7 8 9 22 23 25 26 27FF 37 38 39 40 Resource Construction Concrete & Paving Joe Martillo Construction Construction John Tarea Concrete & Paving Drywall Painters John Tarea Stock Workers Joe Martillo Human Resources John Tarea Human Resources Anita Socio John Tarea Mon 2/28/05 Fri 4/22/05 Mon 4/25/05 Fri 5/6/05 Fri 5/6/05 Mon 5/9/05 Fri 5/6/05 Fri 5/27/05 Mon 5/30/05 Fri 6/3/05 Mon 6/6/05 Fri 6/24/05 Mon 6/27/05 Fri 7/8/05 Mon 7/11/05 Fri 7/22/05 Mon 7/25/05 Fri 8/5/05 Mon 8/8/05 Mon 9/5/05 Fri 9/16/05 Mon 8/8/05 Fri 9/2/05 Fri 9/16/05 Fri 9/16/05 Fri 9/1 6/05Interior Finished & Inventory Stocked 0d â€Å"Recruit, interview & hire employees† 30d Feeding Buffer Train employees Employees Hired & Trained Project Buffer 20d 15d 0d 82d Mon 9/19/05 Fri 10/14/05 Mon 10/17/05 Fri 11/4/05 Fri 11/4/05 Fri 11/4/05 Mon 11/7/05 Tue 2/28/06 Note: Feeding buffers have been inserted along the critical path where resource constraints exist, and a project buffer has been added to protect the end of the project. Acme Project Plan Appendix B: Responsibility Assignment Matrix: Responsibility Assignment Matrix for Acme Home Improvements de Mexico Site Construction and Opening Project 25Prepared by: John Tarea, Project Manager Date: 2/5/05 1. 1 Joe Martillo Donna Promueva Anita Socio Construction Concrete & Paving Electricians Plumbers Drywall Painters Stock Workers Landscapers Human Resources P R 1. 2 R 2. 1 R 2. 2 R 2. 3 R 3. 1 R 3. 2 R 3. 3 R 3. 4 R 3. 5 R 3. 6 R 3. 7 R 3. 8 R 4. 1 R 4. 2 R 4. 3 R 5. 1 6. 1 R 6. 2 R 6. 3 R 7. 1 R 7. 2 8. 1 8. 2 R R R P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P R P R = Responsible for task P = Performing task P Acme Project Plan Resources: Anonymous. (No Date). Mexico business opportunities and legal framework. Retrieved February 4, 2005 from http://www. exico-trade. com/firm. html#gra. Anonymous. (No Date). Mexico business opportunities and legal framework. Retrieved February 4, 2005 from http://www. mexico-trade. com/sense. html#zon. Goldratt, E. (1998). Critical chain. Great Barrington, MA: The North River Press. Hampton Group, The. (2001). PMTalk newsletter. The project management knowledgebase http://www4pm. com. Retrieved February 3, 2005 from http://www. 4pm. com/articles/PMTalk07-24-01. pdf. Rigby, Ken (2003). Technical Management – a pragmatic approach. 2nd Edition. Retrieved February 3, 2005 from http://home. btconnect. om/managingstandard/techman. htm. 26 Reed Construction Data. (2004). RSMeans ® preliminary cost estimate. Retrieved January 29, 2005 from http://www. firstso urceonl. com/Means/members/result. asp? prname=&project=300&gsf=100000&zip=&Calculate. x=24&Calculate. y=2&Calculate= submit. Schwalbe, K. (2004). Information technology project management (3rd ed. ). Boston: Course Technology. State of Texas, Department of Information Resources. (2003, April 17). Planning guideline: Template project development plan. Retrieved February 2, 2005 from http://www. dir. state. tx. us/eod/qa/planning/projplan. htm#techplan.

World War 1 and Peace Plan

———————– President Woodrow Wilson had a plan for peace in the war known as the Fourteen Points. It was also called â€Å"Peace Without Victory. † The plan meant to prevent international problems from causing another war. To promote his plan for peace, Wilson visited Paris, London, Milan, and Rome in Europe. However, the Allies were against Wilson’s Fourteen Points. The Allies wanted to punish Germany for the war. One idea of Wilson’s peace plan was an end to secret treaties. One issue that caused World War I that was addressed in that idea was entangling alliances between the countries.Another idea was a limit on weapons. The issue that lead to World War I that was addressed in that idea was militarism. The most important of Wilson’s Fourteen Points was a League Of Nations, to protect the independence of all countries. The issue that caused World War I that was addressed in that was also the entanglin g alliances. The final treaty that was agreed on was the Treaty Of Versailles. Germany thought they were getting Wilson’s peace plan but instead, they got this. The Treaty of Versailles consisted of many ways of punishing Germany.The war guilt clause was a part of the treaty. The war guilt clause stated that Germany had to accept the blame of causing the war. Another part noted that Germany had to give up it’s colonies. It also consisted of the fact that Germany had to pay all war costs. This means they had to pay their war cost, as well as the Allies‘ war costs, which was over $200 billion. The Allies also wanted to disarm Germany. This meant that they wanted to cut off Germany’s army and navy, so they wouldn’t be able to fight another war for a long time. Did the Treaty of Versailles lead to World War II?The Treaty of Versailles was the way of the Allies to punish Germany. To surrender, Germany accepted Wilson’s Fourteen Points but Germany didn’t get anything close to a peace plan. The treaty resulted in bitterness, betrayal, and hatred between Germany and the Allies. Italy was also not happy with the treaty because they did not get the territory they were promised for helping the Allies. Therefore, the Treaty of Versailles did â€Å"plant the seeds† of World War II because Germany and Italy wanted revenge. Priyanka Dongare Social Studies Mr. Ranalli 2 April 9, 2010World War I was one of the bloodiest wars fought in history. The two sides were the Allies and the Central Powers. The Allied countries were Great Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, and Italy. The Central Powers were Austria Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. There were many reasons the war started, such as militarism, entangling alliances between countries, imperialism, and nationalism. Militarism was the policy of building up a strong army and navy to prepare for war. Alliances were agreements between nations in which they pro mised to support one another in case of attack.Imperialism was the policy of powerful countries seeking to control weaker countries. Nationalism was extreme feelings of pride in one’s country. At the beginning of the war, the United States was a neutral country. However, the neutrality of the United States was tested and it entered the war. The entry of the United States into World War 1 marked the turning point of the war and changed the outcome. However the postwar goals of the Allies may have lead to the outbreak of World War II. For most of World War I, the United States was a neutral country. One reason for neutrality was President Washington.Washington warned to stay out of European affairs and entangling alliances. Another reason for the United States to stay neutral was the Atlantic Ocean, which acted as a natural barrier between the United States and Europe. The neutrality of the United States was soon tested. One reason why the United States entered World War I was Germany’s strategy during the war. Germany used submarines called u-boats and sunk any ship without warning near the Allies’ countries, which was the war zone. Therefore, Germany cut off supplies to Allies, while the United States was supplying the Allies.Germany also sank the Lusitania, which was a British passenger ship, in which 128 Americans died. The Zimmermann Telegram also enraged many Americans. The Zimmermann telegram was sent by Germany’s foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, to the German minister in Mexico. The secret note urged Mexico to attack the United States if the United States declared war on Germany. In return, Germany would help Mexico win back it’s lost territories from the United States, such as Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Therefore, the U. S. entered the war on the side of the Allies.

Vladimir Zworykin essays

Vladimir Zworykin essays Cathode Ray Tube (called the kinescope in 1929) Born in Murom, 200 miles east of Moscow, Zworykin at age nine started spending summers as an apprentice aboard the boats his father operated on the Oka River. He eagerly helped repair electrical equipment, and it soon became apparent that he was more interested in electricity than anything nautical. At the Imperial Institute of Technology, Boris Rosing, a professor in charge of laboratory projects, became friendly with the young student engineer and let him work on some of his private projects. Rosing was trying to transmit pictures by wire in his own physics laboratory. He and his young assistant experimented with a primitive cathode-ray tube, developed in Germany by Karl Ferdinand Braun. Significant Dates and Related History of Develpments which preceded the invention: Zworykin invented the cathode-ray tube called the kinescope in 1929 Zworykin also invented the iconoscope in 1923 a tube for television transmission used in the first cameras. On November 18, 1929, at a convention of radio engineers, Zworykin demonstrated a television receiver containing his kinescope. The only preceding technology to this was the work he did in the Imperial Institute of Technology with Boris Rosing. There is no way to measure the impact of the Television on or society. It plays an important part in almost everything we do. It has somewhat balanced the transportation of media so giving all members of our society the same information in a timely and informative manner. TV has influenced us in so many ways its impossible to list. Not a day goes by when most people have seen at least half an hour of Television. Most recent developments and/or changes in the invention: We have moved from the basic black and white screen to projection Televisions to movie theaters. The cathode ray tube has been adapted to be u ...

Case study of the Web Index

The renowned organization called World Wide Web Foundation produced and designed the Web Index. The purpose of the Web Index is to measure contribution of World Wide Web to economical, social and political development within nations across the world[1]. In order to make the people understand how the nations maximize the impact of the web, Web Index compiles data across several different Web healths’ dimensions and makes it available free. The annual country-ranking format continuously improves the understanding of the people regarding the Web’s value for humanity[2]. The study includes the description of the Web Index in accordance with Singapore. Singapore ranked 22 nd in the Web Index ranking and has the value of 75.16. Every key areas of the Web Index are described in detail in the study. The provided recommendation implies that there are five things that Singapore must carry out in order to achieve better ranking. Universal access is a sub-index and it measures that countries have devoted in reasonable access to high quality internet infrastructure[3]. In addition to that, it also suggests that countries are investing in skills and education that its people require to make use of the Web well. Figure 2: Universal Access in Measurement Singapore is in ninth position in the list of Universal Access as per the data of Web Index.   The score of the country is 91.69 [6]. This score clearly says that the Singapore has clearly provided extreme interest in its Web Usage. There are various regains within which Singapore need to improve. As per the definition of the Universal access, Singapore devoted in reasonable access to high quality internet infrastructure. The facts and figures support this statement. In order to make most use of the Web Infrastructure of a country, the people must be able to improve the skills. In addition to that, having the proper knowledge is also crucial. The country can categorize the web users into three categories such as academics, professional and entertainment usage. The most of the use is done for the entertainment purpose. It can be assumed that almost all the countries within top fifty make same amount of use of the web for the entertainment purpose. This suggests that the use of the w eb for the academic and professional purpose places it at 9 th position in the list. These sub-index, freedom and openness, refers to the extent to which the people of a country enjoys privacy online, rights to information, expression and opinion[7]. On other orders, it can be stated this sub-index is the measure of the interaction of the citizens with the Web. Figure 3: Freedom and Openness Graph of Singapore Figure 4: Freedom and Openness Measure of Singapore The score of Singapore in this sub-index is very low relative to the other sub-indexes. The country is in the 41 st position in the world ranking in this category [10]. The citizens of Singapore are not that much interested in interacting with the Web. It is may be because of their conserved nature but it is none of the concern of the study. Singapore, needs to make its citizens more educated and skilled so that they can also share their thoughts, believes and opinions. As the people of Singapore will learn to accept the views of the others, they can argue on different things. Social media sites like, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and many more provide the great opportunity to all the people of the world share their knowledge and views. Singapore, has to make its citizen more enthusiastic regarding interact with the Web. The relevant content is the sub-index that uses both the factors, content present within each country and the Web utilization by the people. These two factors must be residing within a prominence on the amount to which several stakeholders can be able to access information. In addition to that, the data must be relevant to the purpose of use of the people[11]. The content must be in the form of that language within which the people of the specific country is most comfortable. These contents can be accessed through the channels and platforms that available broadly. Figure 5: Relevant Content Graph Representation of Singapore Figure 6: Relevant Content measurement of Singapore The score of Singapore within this category of sub-index is 76.48. The country is in the 21 st position, followed by Estonia (75.72) [14]. These score is slightly more than average. Still Singapore has managed to produce content that most of its people can make use of. It will foolish to consider all the people within the region of the Web using category. It has be assumed that a certain amount of people actually make use of the Web. The people who make use of Web for entertainment and professional works are tend to use content that are written in English, not all but for majority. The reason this Country is lacking behind other countries is its mother tongue. There are very smaller chance of growing within this rank. As per the definition of the Relevant Content provided in the above section, the country’s content must be within the particular region so that the citizen can access the contents easily. In addition to that, the content, the citizen will be making use of and co nsidered while measuring score, must be relevant for the targeted audience or people of Singapore. This sub-index reflects the most powerful and complex activity of the Web that is empowerment reflects the difference that the Web is bringing with the lifestyle and thought process of people of a country. This sub-index is also used for reflecting the impact of the Web on the society, politics, economy and environment[15]. Empowerment relates to these key four areas of any Country in a strange way. Figure 7: Empowerment Graph Representation of Singapore Figure 8: Empowerment Measurement of Singapore Singapore has raked 19 th and 15 th in the empowerment respectively in the political area and economical area. The rank of Singapore in the overall empowerment is 18 th [18] .   The score of this country in empowerment is 75.17. It says that the impact of Web on the social, economic, environment and political regions. The most of the impact of the Web on this country can be viewed in the economical areas as it makes use of the Web for communicating with the whole world. The Web can be a very good tool for making some move in the political region. One citizen can connect to different citizen who is hundreds of miles away and share their view on some political agenda. This way a thought or view of one person can grow from one region to completely region in a very rapid pace. In terms of evaluating the four sub-indexes of the Web Index regarding Singapore, it is important to analyze all the sub-indexes. The biggest lack in the freedom and openness is the restricted mind of its citizen. The government is required to provide sufficient amount of knowledge to the citizen so that they can empower their view upon the citizen of other countries. This will allow Singapore to score more on the freedom and empowerment sub-index. There is not much limitations regarding universal access and the score reflects it. Gaining the ninth position in the world list is a significant matter. There are various areas that can be utilized the government for making more score in the empowerment area. The empowerment consists of four key areas and impact of Web on these regions is different. Universal Access: The universal Access of Singapore is 91.69 and has the world fastest internet average speed. The country has invested a lot in the internet infrastructure for providing internet service to its citizens. Nowadays internet is considered as a most essential service for public and facilitates for management of the utility services in the country. The citizens should have a reliable internet access and it is essential for the access of knowledge, finance and agriculture. Increasing the universal accessibility decreases the gap of governance and provides public access to the internet. It is recommended that a good technology is required to be selected and the integration issues are required to be identified for the improvement of the universal access. Relevant Content: The relevant content of Singapore is 76.48, i.e. the stakeholders and the citizens can search the web in the language they prefer and find the most relevant content. The posting of the unnecessary web content and increase in the awareness can be used for the improvement of the relevant content. The online resources must not contain any junk files that the user does not find useful and maintain a good relationship with the citizens for understanding their requirement and providing them the most relevant content they needs. The establishment of a good trust is also important for engaging the user to use trusted sources of information. Freedom and Openness: In freedom and openness Singapore have the value of 42.24 and there are lots of possibilities of improvement. The freedom and openness can be improved with maintaining transparency with the government rules and regulations. The management of the economic methodology and aligning the regulatory efficiency with the economic freedom criteria is also important for the increase in the freedom and openness of the internet access of the citizens and the stakeholders of the country.   Controlling the financial sector and public investment programs can also eliminate the inefficiency of the current system. Empowerment: The current empowerment value of Singapore is 75.17 and it is used for the measurement of the self determination in the citizens using the internet. The internet is making a huge difference for making a positive change in the society, politics, environment and economy. It is recommended that the all the information regarding the social life, economy and others mentioned in the key areas for bringing a positive change in the country must be available in the internet. The users should have access to all the resources that can bring a change in their life and the government authorities must monitor the web content and take an initiative to increase the digital literacy of the country. From the above study, it can be concluded that Singapore is a strong country according to Web Index. According to the results of the organization, various countries are making the use of the Web significantly more than other countries. The Web can be seen as a great source of medium that can generate power and economy. The use of the interact can allow the citizen of Singapore to communicate freely with the citizen of the other countries. Keeping in mind the end goal to comprehend the connection amongst correspondence and worldwide understudy streams in the data society, it is basic to research the impacts of the Internet. The Web Index is the main multidimensional measure relating the World Wide Web to worldwide improvement and human rights. The pointers of Web Index incorporate zones of widespread get to, flexibility and openness, pertinent substance and strengthening. The people who make use of the internet for entertainment purposes do the most use of the Web in the Singapore. Th is scenario can be seen in other countries too. Instead of this fact, it can be strongly stated that the most of the interactions with the Web is done for knowledge gathering and sharing purpose. 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Alvarez Rodr?guez. "Validating statistical index data represented in RDF using SPARQL queries." In  RDF Validation Workshop. Practical Assurances for Quality RDF Data, Cambridge, Ma, Boston. 2013. Jiang, Ke. "International student flows between Asia, Australia, and Russia: a network analysis."  Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia  13, no. 1 (2014): 83-98. Ojino, Ronald, Luisa Mich, Patrick Ogao, and Simon Karume. "The Quality of Kenyan University Websites: A Study for the Re-engineering of the Masinde Muliro University Website."  Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society  9, no. 3 (2013). "Data | The Web Index". 2017.  Thewebindex.Org. https://thewebindex.org/data/?indicator=INDEX&country=SGPhttps://thewebindex.org/data/?indicator=INDEX&country=SGP. Jiang, Ke. "International student flows between Asia, Australia, and Russia: a network analysis."  Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia  13, no. 1 (2014): 83-98. 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Caux Round Table Principles for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Caux Round Table Principles for Business - Essay Example The researcher states that the general business’s objective is to keep prices low as to give the highest quality services to the customers. In consideration, the business uses its resources effectively and prudently to benefit the business and the community in a whole that rank with a score of 5. It conducts its business with faithfulness and keeps its promises to the stakeholders and its level of adherence amounts to 4 by 3 that equals 12. Lastly, it creates value for its stakeholders as it adheres to domestic and international laws amounting to a score of 3 each in three categories that amounts to 9. The total amount of the score on the general principles equals to 26. The company seeks to improve customer satisfaction daily both on goods and services offered. They treat customers with respect, which is an added advantage of maintaining potential clients while converting the first time clients to frequent ones. Whenever possible, they communicate with our clients on the need s to be met urgently and what could wait for fairly that amounts to a score of 3 and 3 in providing quality that enhances customer requirements. This ensures that our clients’ needs are attended to and consequently boost their satisfaction towards our services. Using the Paine checklist, our score is outstanding ranking at score 4 as they offer quality that meets customer requirements. Still, the score aims at minimizing adverse safety and health impacts and communicate them to clients when appropriate. The total score amounts to 14. As mentioned, the company is a family owned business owned by the author’s father at present. At the present, they have no investors but they hope to have them in the future. Although the score ranks the least, they hope to score the highest score as per Caux roundtable checklist. The table checklist interprets the score as the least with a score of 1 as it does not respect investor’s input to the business.