I Believe That Every Thing Happens for a Reason Essay

But now I have learned that it is true. I can’t really explain how I came to realize, because I don’t really know. I guess it was just through my parents and through me becoming more mature and understanding as I grew older. I have learned through my own experiences and struggles of accepting things that happen in my life that I didn’t expect. In my opinion, there is no such thing as luck. Everything that God does has its own special purpose in each of our lives. Acceptance is a very difficult concept to gain. For people who have lost a loved one or had something tragic happen to them, they don’t want to go around saying that there is a good reason that happened, because it doesn’t make sense to them. They don’t understand how something good could come out of all of their trouble and heartache. But God doesn’t make mistakes. Maybe this struggle will help them to understand their purpose in life; something that they never would have realized any other way. He knows what is right for you, even if you don’t think its right for you at the time. Through our experiences and the things that we think go wrong in our life, God reveals things to us. He shows us our weaknesses and the things we need to work out in our lives. Sometimes, God puts us in these situations to bring us closer to Him; so when things don’t go the way we planned, even if we are upset at first, we will run to Him for comfort and strength to get us through it. A lot of times, we don’t see clearly God’s reasons for the things that he does. And we may never know! Maybe it was to create a relationship with someone that you would have never met, or maybe something bad, in your eyes, happens to create something better in the long run. The things that go on in your life create a chain reaction; everything that you say and do leads to something else, which leads to something else. Everything that God does in your life fits in to that process somewhere, even if you don’t understand why. You have to remember this when things do go the way you had planned, because there is probably a really good reason why things happened the way they did. It’s a lot easier to understand through smaller situations. If you don’t get accepted into the college that you were hoping to get in to, maybe it’s because you are going to meet your future husband/wife somewhere else. Sometimes you may think that just because your parents won’t let you go to a party or spend the night at your friend’s house, your life is ruined, but you are wrong. Maybe God laid that on your mom’s heart to avoid you from getting in trouble with the police or in a serious car accident. You will never really know the true reasons for why these things happen, but all you have to do is remember that he has a reason for everything and have trust. If you put your trust in the Lord, you don’t have to question things in your life. You just know that he will take care of everything. Every day, I apply this to my own life. I pray that things will go according to His plan and that I will accept the things that happen and learn from the experiences I have as a teenager, and even as I become an adult. Although my beliefs get me through my struggles, I still have problems with the acceptance of situations sometimes. Sometimes our selfish human nature makes us want to question God and ask him why things happen the way they do. But he is the one who knows what is best for us and his way will be a lot better for you in the long run.

Motivating and Rewarding Employee Performance

Motivating and Rewarding Employee Performance *Mars Model A model that outlines the four factors that influence an employee’s voluntary behavior and resulting preformance. The motivation,ability,role perceptions and situational factors. *Motivation The forces within a person that affects his or her direction,intensity,and persistence of voluntary behavior. *Ability Consists of both the natural aptitudes and learned capabilities required to succesfully complete a task. Role Perceptions Employees who feel engaged in their jobs not only have the necessary motivation and competencies to perform their work but also understand the specific tasks assigned to them. *Situational Factors Include conditions beyond the employees immediate control that constrain or facilitate his or her behavior and performances. Motivating Employee: A Three-Part Process Part 1: Managing Motivation through Drives and Needs *Drives Instinctive tendencies to seek particular goals or maintain internal stabili ty. Needs Mostly conscious deficiencies that energize or trigger behaviors to satisfy your needs. *Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory A motivation theory of needs arranged in a hierarchy,whereby people are motivated to fulfill a higher need as a lower one becomes gratified. Four-Drive Theory A motivation theory based on the innate drives to acquire,bond,learn and defend that incorporates both emotions and rationality. *Drive to Acquire This is to seek,take,control and retain o bjects and personal experiences. Drive to Bond This is to drive to form social relationship and develop mutual caring and commitments w/ others. *Drive to Learn This is to drive to satisfy our curiosity,to know and understand ourselves and the environment around us. *Drive to Defend This drive creates a â€Å"fight-or-flight† response in the face of personal danger. Part 2: Managing Motivation through Goals,Expectations and Feedback *Goal Setting and Feedback The process of motivating employees and clarifying their role perceptions by establishing performance objectives. Prepared by:Harieth Velasco

Colonization of Mexican Americans in the United States Essay

Colonization of Mexican Americans in the United States - Essay Example (p. 303) Being a major minority group, Mexican Americans are now facing different challenges coping with contemporary American society, given that the nation is still fairly divided regarding the policies on ethnic minorities and immigrants in the United States. As stated by Healy (2006), â€Å"Of all the challenges confronting the United States today, those relating to minority groups continue to be among the most urgent and the most daunting† (p. xix). In this case, this paper aims to look into the different issues faced by Mexican Americans in the United States, in the context of them being a major minority group in this ethnically-diverse country. Specifically, this paper would try to glance into the following controversial issues: the historical background of Mexican colonization in the United States; of Mexican immigration into the United States (both in â€Å"legal† and â€Å"illegal† immigrants); major socioeconomic indicators of Mexican Americans (especi ally poverty), and the conditions of Mexican culture and ethnicity in the context of a multiracial society. In order to understand better the social context of Mexican American minority groups in the United States, it is important to look at the historical context of Mexican colonization and immigration in the country. ... e of the first Mexican presidents, the former rebel general Santa Ana† actually lost it â€Å"to the United States after a two-year war that ended in 1848† (Geographia.com, 2008). This may be one reason why, even up to the present, most Americans of Hispanic descent lives in this region, and why most Mexican Americans choose to migrate in the southwestern part of the United States. One of the main motivations why dominant group Americans conquered this area in the 19th century is because they actually needed a â€Å"cheap labor force in agriculture, ranching, mining, railroad construction, and other areas of dominant group economy in the Southwest† (Healy, 2006, p. 306). Also, because of the proximity of Mexico to the United States, there was a constant population movement across the border (Healy, 2006, p. 306). It can be seen therefore that the presence of many Mexican Americans in the American southwest, as well as their continued immigration into the area, has been largely due to both historical circumstances and economic conditions as major motive factors. This would continue to the trend as Mexican legal immigration, as well as â€Å"illegal immigration† into the United States, would continue well into the present. Concerning the immigration of Mexican Americans into the United States, Healy (2006) actually argues that By and large, the policies of the federal government have responded to these (immigration) conditions and have encouraged immigration during good times and clamped down during bad times (p. 310). As described in the history of Mexican Americans in the United States, dominant groups actually had the initiative of conquering parts of Mexico in the Mexican-American War (which later became the American Southwest), and used its population to serve as

Can an effective crisis management plan in PR be prepared beforehand Essay

Can an effective crisis management plan in PR be prepared beforehand - Essay Example The aim of crisis management plan is to reduce the damage that occurs from crisis. Public Relation strategies for crisis management help to limit the damage that occurs due to crisis. Organizations should monitor the facts due to which the crisis occurred and listen to their stakeholders during a crisis situation. Management of the crisis by deciding on the key messages is exceptionally important as it is the best way to reach each group quickly. Managing spokesperson and responding to media quickly is also essential to reduce effects of crisis. A quick response regarding a crisis situation does not allow public and media to speculate rumours. Rumours are very dangerous because they impact the brand image of an organization. It is also important for employers and managers to develop proper platform that can help to prepare an appropriate communication with different stakeholders. Most of the organizations, in the contemporary era emphasize on the development of crisis management plan that can be incorporated beforehand. Public Relation has become an important tool for business organizations, non-profit and government organization because it helps to limit the chances of crisis related situations. While crisis cannot be avoided by organizations every time but with appropriate planning with help of public relation strategies and preparations, they can be managed. Marketing experts have many different opinions regarding the planning and execution of crisis management planning in Public Relations. Some people believe that crisis management planning cannot be incorporated beforehand, which is not appropriate. This essay elabor ates the crisis management techniques and provides evidences that prove that those techniques can be implemented before crisis occurs in organizations. There was a lack of implementation of theories on Public Relation practices in the past. This factor limited the research as there were no guidelines set for crafting

The Restructuring of Royal Dutch Shell Research Paper

The Restructuring of Royal Dutch Shell - Research Paper Example This paper seeks to discuss and analyze these developments, as well as an attempt to recommend further actions that Shell management could take. Royal Dutch Shell PLC is a multinational joint venture corporation comprising two founding companies, Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. of The Hague, Netherlands., and Shell Transport and Trading Co., PLC, of London. Although starting as rivals, the two companies merged in 1907 as Royal Dutch/Shell Group, which acquired producing concerns in the Middle East, the Americas, and Eastern Europe, including Romania and Russia. It is engaged mainly in oil and natural gas. At present its five business segments are as follows: 1) exploration and production (E&P), an upstream activity that explores, recovers, and produces oil and natural gas worldwide; 2) gas and power, where it liquefies and transports natural gas to customers, as well as turns natural gas into cleaner-burning synthetic fuels; 3) oil sands, where bitumen is extracted and converted into synthetic crude oils; 4) oil products where a range of petroleum-based products are sold for domestic, transportation and industrial use; and 5) chem icals, which produces petrochemicals for industrial use. (Company report). Renewables were recently added to its range of business activities. Complexity. The organizational structure of Royal Dutch Shell prior to 1995 was unique in its complexity: It was a joint venture that had been in existence for over a century, at the apex of which was a Committee of Managing Directors that provided a link between them. From the viewpoint of ownership and control, the CMD exercised what it referred to as governance responsibilities. The Group was managed on a day-to-day basis by officers who had been given executive responsibilities. Coordination and control were vested in the CMD, composed of 3 members from Royal Dutch Petroleum and 2 members from the  Shell Transport and Trading. The chairmanship was rotated between the two counterparts.

Boundaryless Career Deined Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Boundaryless Career Deined - Essay Example Though the new boundaryless career era brought along with it a number of exciting features, along with the benefits, there are a number of challenges created by it for the modern graduates. The challenges in the new business world According to scholars like Brocklehurst (n.d.p. 3-4), there are certain fundamentals that people seek in their jobs. Some important aspects are security, community and self-fulfillment. Admittedly, gone are the days when an employee was hired by a company for his lifetime, and once employed, the employees felt considerable amount of security in their jobs. However, in the modern workplace, one is not in a position to feel secure as there is a possibility of change at any time. Companies change their strategies on an everyday basis, they change technologies and consequently the employees are met with a flood of newer and newer information that they fail to grasp fully. While the ones who are able to assimilate and adapt according to the changes manage to sta y afloat, the ones who cannot are left behind. The second point is the community feeling. Evidently, as the work place is volatile, it is a place of discontinued events, and hence, the employees normally find it difficult to grow and retain lasting relationships. The last point is the feeling of self-fulfillment. Admittedly, having some relations and the feeling of belonging are essential for the feeling of self fulfillment. However, when the career ladder is ever-climbing, one feels restless and helpless. Thus, admittedly, the first challenge for the young graduates in the modern business arena is to learn to live without the security that is given by a single employer. The second major challenge for the graduates is the need for life-long learning. To illustrate, gone are the days when a fresher joined a company and went on doing the very same job throughout his life. Now, even a person who wants to pursue the same job will have to learn new and new things as technology goes on ch anging and as newer and newer forms of technology go on assaulting the workplace. For example, if an accountant in the past only required accounting skills, the present-day accountant has to do it using computer and modern software that change every now and then. Thus, for a modern day employee, learning has become life-long, and they have to continue applying the skills and knowledge they learned in one situation in another. The third issue facing young graduates is that they should be adaptable in the modern business world. For example, a manger in a multinational firm will have to work in various cultures and various geographical areas, and the skill of a manager is usually assessed by his readiness to get used to the situations. The one who has foreseen the situation is the best and he epitomizes the modern day employee. The one who is able to adapt immediately will also change and survive. Without the ability to adapt, the employee does not get any feeling of security. In other words, as Sullivan and Emerson (n.d., p.3) point out, ones feeling of security is decided by ones own ability to improvise, not by the employee’

Assignment prompt Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Prompt - Assignment Example â€Å"Cask of Amontillado† bears a setting of a city which is anonymous and probably the time period is somewhere in or around 18th century. The point that triggers a query regarding this story in mind is about its anonymity. Is this anonymity deliberate or just for the sake of plot development? The question that â€Å"The Tell-Tale† raises is about the extreme use of psychological element in Gothic and what exactly the symbol of vulture, or the eyes of a vulture to be more precise, stands in the story. A thorough and a close introspection into the stories will easily inform its readers that the plots of both the fictions are constituted deliberately in a format that will arouse the feeling of suspense among them. In the story, â€Å"Cask of Amontillado†, the use of flashback is to put stress on the episode on which the total mystery of the story is banking upon. Montresor’s motive of murder is for the readers to solve and detect the mystery without a detective in the story and hence, the use of flashback in this regard becomes more essential. The last few sentences of the story clarify the motive of the writer. The expression of Montresor and his mentioning about the period of murder builds horror in the story and recalling of the hanging of Fortunato’s body from the chain in the niche, where Montresor abandoned it, almost takes the breath of the readers. All these effects are incorporated in the plot of the story through the help of the flashback mechanism. I n â€Å"The Tell- Tale Heart†, the revelation of the crime and the recovery of the body also take place by the use of flash back which is brilliantly represented and would not have been at all possible to wind up the story so brilliantly without the mechanism of flashback. Imagery in Poe’s story can definitely be compared to the images of Keats’ poem. The only difference with the images of the great romantic Keats with that of Poe is that Poe’s images

Nursing Research Article Critique Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nursing Research Critique - Article Example A good article provides information on the geographical location of the study as well as the type of target population being explored. Although, the authors do not share any information on the location of the study but they mentioned the target population, the surgical patients. The article narrates the problem statement in a clear way; mentions the study variables as well as the population involved. The authors want to assess the impact of the education of nurses in the hospitals over the care and eventually the mortality status of these patients. This is an important area which is feasible to carry out and will result in interesting findings which will be generalized on similar hospitals. Since a researcher has to present a new idea, hypothesis or pose a research question based on some violence. This can be constructed once there is no information, or the previous research suggests some new research activity or previous evidence raised new questions. Whatever be the case, literature review becomes significantly important to build the situation! This literature review, actually, favors and opposes some of the issues and new research is proposed, in a way to decide the conflict. Yes, literature review in this article is comprehensive. The sources are very much relevant to the topic and almost all are primary ones. Both types of viewpoints, supporting and opposing, have been added which lead to the development of a rational for the next study, the current one! Theoretical/conceptual framework The authors have not described anything explicitly as theoretical or conceptual framework. But the way rational is developed based on the existing evidence and the arguments in the favor of testing the research question are impressive. The authors have taken up various concepts related to the topic and discuss them clearly; they also link these concepts. They have not provided the formal definition of various terms but have described them well. There is no information which suggests that the framework is strong enough to make judgments. Hypothesis/Research Questions This article does not state any research question or hypothesis right away as a question or hypothesis but build a rationale and make statements which go in the direction of a research question or hypothesis. Actually, an explicit hypothesis is important for making the future research design and analysis. In this article when the authors write the statement of hypothesis they take into account the variables, independent and dependent. In fact, research questions have not been raised or stated in real sense but the issues which need to be explored have been described very well. Strictly speaking, the research questions have not been written in the article so they cannot delineate the study. Quantitative Designs This study was carried out using cross-sectional design which has been mentioned clearly in the methodology section. For this hypothesis, design is fine as far as the determination of association is concerned between the independent and dependent variables are concerned. But this design cannot determine the cause and effect association as

Article review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Review - Article Example The concept of fetal tissue transplant has been one of the most controversial aspects in recent medical research. The very fact that the tissue comes from aborted fetus has raised myriad questions especially amongst bioethical campaigners who feel it is certainly inappropriate to use aborted fetus as a panacea in a medical situation. Well, considering such arguments, it is imperative to realise that upon successful confirmation and development of fetal tissue transplant, it would really create the need to provide the fetal tissues in abundant supplies in order to address the growing demand. That would create a dilemma in the medical fraternity. Conventional ethics basically fails to concur with such a proposition. The situation becomes more intricate given that no consent is obtained from anybody when the fetus is used in the treatment. The greatest challenge that confronts the medical fraternity in the present age is the unavailability of other options with regard to the treatment of Parkinson disease. Sure enough, as a challenge to humanity, the disease needs to be addressed. In the United States, the issue had become so publicised to the extent that the president was forced to intervene and give a national broadcast with reference to the whole research undertaking. The common argument on ethical grounds regards the fact that the research will accelerate and encourage unnecessary abortions in the face of the growing need to treat patients through fetal tissue transplant. On the same account, bioethical researchers argue that a woman who accepts to conduct an abortion cannot authorise the use of the fetal tissues in the medical treatment because she will have abdicated her parental responsibility in the first place. Sure enough, that point holds water given the challenges that are likely to be realised with women conducing abortions in order to

Description of Composition Essay Example for Free

Description of Composition Essay I have many wonderful moment in my life, in my home country with my family and my friends. we lived in a beautiful areaand Were pleased with our neighbors. during Have the holidays left all the campaign. However, I remember a good experience that i still can not forget. During this spring break I made a visit to my cousin Matthew who live in Dallas, tough spending years without seeing I was very pleased to be able to spend this time with him. Dallas is a great city and wonderful buildings are very large in the city center. During my stay Mathieu showed me around the zoo of the city of dallas a place where we encounter several species of animals that are found throughout the world, among other gorillas, snakes, parrots. That day was the first time in my life I saw a gorilla who was nearly two meters long, this animal was really impressive both for its size and its weight. At the end of the visit to the zoo I wanted to eat some things. We went to Matthew and me in a fancy restaurant in the city. This restaurant is located near the city center in a large building with a beautiful cadre. ur map for this restaurant we could see dishes from different origins Africa, Europe and America. We took each European dishes and we talked about our childhood. When we finished eating we took several photographs in the restaurant throughout the city of Dallas to keep in memory of this moment of reunion between my cousin and me. I really enjoyed the spring break this year because i had a lot of fun. i there fore look foward to the summer break and i hope i twill be even more beautiful than i will to live.

Case Study: Ryanair | Analysis

Case Study: Ryanair | Analysis The report is mainly a case study analysis based on Eleanor OHiggins review of Ryanair conducted in 2007. However, other secondary research has been analysed and used to support the arguments put forward in this document. Purpose of this case study is to conduct a strategic analysis of environment and the industry as well as the company. Firstly I conducted a critical evaluation in-order to figure out the critical issues of the five restructurings of Ryanair. Next I have conducted an environmental scan to analyse the external and internal environment of the organization. Then I took my attention to carry-out a SWOT analysis in-order to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the firm that would shape the competitive advantage of Ryanair. In sorder to justify my argument I will be using strategic management models and theories such as, PESTEL analysis,Poters 5 forces model,Market segmentation analysis,Strategic grouping model, Value chain analysis etc.. After concluding the analysis I will deliver my recommendation for Ryanair. Overview of the Company Ryanair started in year 1985 with only 57 staff members and with one 15 seater turboprop plane from the south of east of Ireland to London-Gatwick which carried 5000 passengers on one route. In 1986, inspired from the story of the company go after the big guys for a slice of the action and end up smashing theor British Airways high fare cartel on the Dublin-London route. The staff increased from mere 57 to 120 staff members and the plane carried for about 82,000 passengers on two routes. In 1989, the company employed 350 staff and their average maximum passengers increased to 600,000. In 1990-1991, the company has 700,000 passengers. However, despite of the increase of passengers, the company is not so good in managing cost that the company has lose its money. A new management team is brought in to sort it out and re-launch as a low fares or no frills airline, closely modelling the Southwest Airlines model in the U.S. And in 1994, Ryanair bought its first Boeing 737 aircraft which carried over 1.5 million passengers. In 1995, Ryanair is the biggest passenger carrier on Dublin-London route, the largest Irish airline on every route being operate and carried 2.25 million passengers in the year. In 1997, the EU air transport deregulation allowed the airline for the first time to open up new routes to Continental Europe with over 3 million passengers on 18 routes carried. Ryanair launched services to Stockholm, Oslo, Paris and Brussels and took time out to float Ryanair plc on Dublin and NASDAQ Stock exchanges. The company was awarded as Airline of the Year in 1999 by the Irish Air Transport Users Committee. In 2000, they announced the launch of 10 new European routes for the summer 2000 after much deliberation and watching others burning money. The company has also jump onto the internet with the launch of their new online booking site and in just 3 months the site is taking over 50,000 bookings a week. By 2001 there are more than 1500 employees working for Ryanair and more than 10 million passengers are carried to 56 cities in 13 European countries. The company has opened Frankfurt-Hahn in 2002 as their second continental European base and announce a long term partnership with Boeing which will see the company acquiring up to 150 new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft over an eight year period from 2002-2010. The booking in their web accounts have increased to 94% which has probably has something to do with opening another 26 routes. In year 2003, the company is characterised by rapid expansion and the start the year by announcing that the company has ordered an additional 100 new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft to facilitate the rapid European growth plans. They acquired Buss from KL M in April and re-launched 13 buss routes in May. In February they opened their first base in Italy at Milan-Bergamo and launched their Stockholm base in Sweden with six new European routes. In all 60 new routes are added throughout 2003 to bring the company a total of 127 routes. By 2004, the company is named as the most popular airline on the web by Google and they launched their 10thand 11th bases in Rome Ciampino and Barcelona Girona and continue to add more routes to their already extensive network. The company has also passed out British Airways to become the UKs favourite airline in United Kingdom and throughout Europe. Critical Issues Although the company had encountered different problems, specifically in line with its cost structures, the company had been able to survive and grow in the marketplace. Ryanair implement different marketing strategy to make the company survive in the competition and to be able to gain competitive position in the airline market. It is said that the company was regarded recently as the most punctual airline between Dublin and London. And because of the strategy of the industry, Ryanair is now recognised as the second largest airline in United Kingdom and Europes largest low-fares airline having a network of over 57 routes in 11 countries and served by a fleet of 31 Boeing 737-200 and -800 aircraft with over 1,400 staffs and personnel. In order to position itself in the marketplace the company continuously concentrates on driving own its costs to offer the lowest fares possible and remain profitable. In addition, Ryanair offer minimum standards of service and very low prices for point-to-point, short haul flights. The goal of Ryanair is to meet the needs oftravellingat the lowest price. The Critical Success Factors (CSFs) are as follows in airline industry: the strategic focus of having the lowest prices, being reliable within the marketplace, comfort and service and frequency. It is noted that low-cost companies concentrate on this first critical success factor by trying to offer the lowest prices. Although Ryanair has eliminated extras such as in-flight meals, advanced seat assignment, free drinks and other services, it still prioritises features which remain important to its target market. Such features include frequent departures, advance reservations, baggage handling and consistent on-time services.(Ryanair vision,mission,goals and objects has been elborated in Appendix 01 External Environmental Analysis By using a PESTEL Analysis we scan the macro environmental factors that would influence the performance of an organization. It is often used to generate market ideas and product ideas. PESTLE Analysis of Ryainair (P)olitical/(L)egal Change of government/policy Ryanair have been involved in various legal disputes with governments both in this country and the EU regarding their business deals with airports and airline regulatory bodies Political changes in countries where they have routes to (could also be affected by above point) Governments in countries they fly to may support their own flagship carrier Local councils objecting to noise and new runways being built as in past Governments looking to increase tourism might welcome Ryanair and therefore act in their favour. (E)conomic Potential economic recession, Irelands economy has already been stated as growing however this may suddenly change. Because of above main customers wouldnt fly for business as would be cost cutting Energy and fuel costs are cause of uncertainty Economic change within countries they fly to or would hope to open new routes to, for example war with Iraq has shut off any hope of tourism there for the foreseeable future and other factors such as SARS (OHiggins, 2004) and more recently, Bird Flu. (S)ocial Because of economic growth at the moment it has become normal to fly away for holidays therefore market has expanded and new opportunities for tourism have opened in previously unconsidered countries. Business trips, although Ryanair do not offer luxury they are possibly more attractive because less cost to a company means they can travel more frequently. Lower costs means attract a wider demographic of consumer (T)echnological Main threat to business market is video conferencing To a lesser extent VOIP Online check-in, self service check in at airport OHiggins, (2004) discusses that Ryanair currently have a fleet of mainly Boeng 737s which are one of the best known and used commercial aircraft. Thus, the company is able to obtain spares and maintenance services on favorable terms thanks to economies of scale, limit costs of staff training and offer flexibility in scheduling aircraft and crew assignments (E)nvironment Using more environmentally- friendly aircraft. Aviation represents 2.6 per cent of carbon emission in the EU and airline industry should pay environmental taxes for the contribution they make to global warming. Deploying more efficient aircraft that use less fuel and produce less pollution. Industry Analysis Industry can effects profitability and the competitive positions of members. To identify it we can use, Market Segmentation Ryanair lay claim to their market segment by stating they were Europes first no frills airline, www.ryanair.com. Ryanair have made strategic decisions based on increasing their competitive edge, the main one becoming involved in attracting customers at both ends of their routes. Haberberg and Rieple , support this by showing that Ryanairs key source of revenue from as far back as a decade ago has been in enticing passengers from France, Italy and Scandinavia. This has had the advantage of increasing their market share as well as the added bonus of creating a well recognised brand name across Europe. Competitive Advantages Their main competitors are carriers including easyJet, BMI baby, FlyBe and ThomsonFly all of who try to attract potential customers by emphasizing their low cost tickets. This makes the competition in this market segment fierce as in order to offer the lowest fares, costs must also be kept to a minimum. The well discussed fact that Ryanair possesses a more than favourable relationship with airport operators has benefited the carrier in a time of industry growth and aggressive pricing. The carrier continues to pay little or no costs despite being the focus of the EU Commission in February 2004, which ruled that Ryanair had been receiving illegal state subsidies for its base airport at publicly-owned Charleroi Airport, OHiggins (2004). Ryanair and the airport in question defended themselves by declaring they paid a fee for every customer and therefore complied with the EU state aid rules. OHiggins (2004) claims that Michael OLearys main argument was that the state aid rules allow the Wallonian government to stimulate traffic at an unused airport facility in exactly the same way that every private airport reduces its charges it if wishes to grow its business. However, although these decisions by the EU Commission went against Ryanair, it also made them even more of a household name across the EU. The free publicity was an added bonus, as well as the position Ryanair took, of being almost a savior of the lesser known airports, bringing them trade and tourism and then being persecuted for it. Porters Five Forces Model Porters five forces analysis is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. It uses concepts developed in Industrial Organization (IO) economics to derive five forces which determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Attractiveness in this context refers to the overall industry profitability. Porters five forces model has been fully elaborated more on Appendix 02 Threat of substitutes is medium for Ryanair and is basically in the form of land,travel. Barganing power of buyer is high as low budget air travel is almost a commodity today and carriers are many. Buyer are well informed at prices and deals via internet and other mediums. Barganing power of the suppliers as Ryanair with its large scale holds the power to switch suppliers and demand better terms, especially to cut cost.Threat of new entrants is medium- as entrance to tarvel industry needs special licenses etc as well as high capital investments.Existing Rivalry is high with Ryanair competing against national carriers as well as low budget carriers for their share of market. Overall the industry witch Ryanair in is of medium attractiveness. Strategic Group Analysis The value of strategic group analysis as a tool for understanding industry dynamics and structure. Studing strategic groups, but that the analysis can help a firm in effort to understand the industry in which it competes and to identify its most relevant competitors. Internal Environmental Analysis Resources There are two kind of resources, tangible and intangible again movin further it can be categarise as financial, human, physical resources. Physical Resiurces and Human Resources has been fully elaborated more on Apendix 03 Financial Resources In the low cost structured airline industry Ryanair was the highest profit making airline.(ratioes has been fully elaborated on Appendix 04) Value Chain Analysis An analysis of an organisations resources can include its financial, physical, human, intellectual and reputational resources. In the deployment of these resources, it is also important to understand the competences and core competences of an organization. Porters (1985) value chain concept is an important part of this process. Ryanair strongly manages and forms relationships with various suppliers e.g. Boeing and food/beverages etc, to ensure goods are received of requirement standards and on time in-order to add value throughout its value chain In addition to this by forming strong relationships with Boeing, they are able to obtain spares and maintenance on favorable terms reducing costs, thus offering lower prices to passengers and safer flights (adding value). In-order to add substantial value for its service by providing low-fares, they closely monitors relationships with airports around Europe, so they provide subsidies to the airliner in order for them to provide low-fares and seen as adding greater value for customers. Furthermore they have agreed with these airports to provide storage hubs as to when a plane enters these sites its automatically refueled and beverage/duty free products are reloaded at negotiable prices reducing costs and quicker turnaround timing is achieved, thus seen as adding val ue. For the airliner to provide low-fares to consumers it contracts staff for aircraft handling, ticketing and baggage handling to third parties at competitive rates as well as engine repairs and heavy maintenances of its aircrafts. Thus reduces direct exposure to employee relationships and disputes reducing costs all through value chain. Additionally, to add greater value for customer, the aircraft staff e.g. pilot, cabin-crew, they holds close relationships, giving the right training making them competent enough to feel confident to answer on flight questions. The airliner has a commission placed for its aircraft crew linked with the sales of duty-paid goods (rewarding mechanisms).Thus close management with aircraft crew ensures good labors turnover reducing the threat of staff being absent for flights, thus seen as adding value for customers.(more on Appendix 05) SWOT Analysis of Ryanair Factor Ways which factor applies to Ryanair (S)trengths Marketing strong branding and reputation, aggressive price strategy. Low costing due to airport operator deals. Reputation as biggest budget airline. Lots of publicity due to OLeary and controversial issues. Air Transport World magazine announced that Ryanair was the most profitable air line in the world. 2006 Annual Report, Ryanair desinged itself as the Worlds Favourite Airline. (W)eaknesses Cash tied up in purchase of new planes. Entire company based on European low cost airline market. Shock profit warnings may have used cash reserves and weakened fiscal structure Refusal to back down over issues such as EU Commission Poor employee relations Total dependance on the CEO Michel O Leary (O)pportunities Possible new routes, New planes = larger capacity. Advertising space on website and planes, more revenue International Airline colloborated EU expansion (T)hreats Competitors BMI baby, Easyjet, ThomsonFly. Economic recession would mean less disposable income. EU Commission could put restrictions on company if do not adhere to state aid rules Subsitute transpotation like car and high speed trains. Fluctuatioans in fuel prices Conclusion On the whole Ryanair seem to be following a strategy which works for them. They are obviously aware of their business environment and understand the importance of monitoring it as they took advantage of the opening in the market when they restyled themselves over a decade ago. However they need to be aware that this environment is constantly shifting and evolving and therefore maintaining a close eye on it and being ready to adapt to any changes should be a fundamental part of their strategy. Recommendation Ryanairs aim to keep fares low, mainly by not introducing fuel surcharges. Actions like this, which were of course highly publicised, ensure Ryanair is constantly attracting customers. Part of Ryanairs success is made possible by the fact they are such a lean company, both in the way they operate and the services they offer. OHiggins (2004) claims that when the carrier dropped their cargo services, although they were going to be losing  £500,000 of revenue a year, they decreased the turnaround time of their aircraft from 30 minutes to 25 minutes to attract more business travellers who required the punctuality. Innovativeness like this has ensured Ryanairs sustainability and will carry them forward into the future. To recommend any major changes would be to predict how the airline industry will change which ultimately cannot be foreseen. However it has been concluded that the budget airline will continue enjoying its boom, with many passengers now enjoying the short breaks away at a low price. Also the advent of new routes will bring more custom, from both departure points. If there was to be a drop in demand Ryanair would certainly suffer and subtle shifts in their strategy could be appropriate. For example offering drinks vouchers onboard for the customers next Ryanair flight might entice more people back, or making alliances with hotel groups in order to offer a complete package, rather than just selling advertising space on their website. References Finlay, Paul (2000), Strategic Management. An Introduction to Business and Corporate Strategy. Pearson Education. ISBN 0 201 39827 3 Haberberg, Adrian Rieple, Alison (2001), The Strategic Management of Organisations. Pearson Education Ltd, ISBN 0 130 21971 1 Lynch, Richard (2000), Corporate Strategy 2nd Ed. Pearson Education Ltd, ISBN 0- 273-64303-7 McManus, John, Maybe its time for Ryanair to jettison OLeary, Irish Times, 11 August 2003 OHiggins, Eleanor, (2004), Ryanair OHiggins, Eleanor, (2007), Ryanair the low fares airline www.ryanair.com www.grin.com Appendix 01 Company Vision Ryanairs CEO, Michael OLeary, has a vision of a world where the fare could drop to nothing as local communities would subsidize the airline to bring a steady traffic of business people and tourists to their region. Main Aim To firmly establish itself as low fares,scheduled passenger airline through continued improvements and expanded offerings Rayanairs Main Objective Ryanair will become Europes most profitable lowest cost airline by rolling out the proven `low-fare-no-frills service in all markets in which we operate, to the benefit of our passengers, people, and shareholders (Ryanair Report, 1997). Ryanairs other objectives GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR 6 YEARS TILL 2012. To raise the market share within the low cost sector up to 40%. Fleet of 200 airplanes in 2012, To double the annual passenger transportation to 80 million by 2012. To eliminate the rest of our costly call centers To base the distribution only on online booking. To quadruple its annual profit up to  £1,230 billion in 2012. (www.grin.com/ebook/ryanair.) Appendix 02 Suppliersbarganing power low Competitor Rivalry High Threat of new entrants Medium Threat of Subsitutes Medium Buyers barganing power low How poters 5 force analysis effect Ryanair; Appendix 03 Physical Resources The physical resources which Ryanair possess is the 196 Boeing aircrafts. The huge amount of money being spent by them on their physical resources for the maintainance. They need to keep resources proper and running to make sure that these will not harm their low cost structure. They also have the youngest fleet in whole Europe with a highly fuel efficient capacity. Human Resources Human resources can be considered one of the most important functions of a business. The vast majority of organisations all employ staff and Ryanair is no exception especially due to their size. When the carrier was established over twenty years ago they only had fifty one members of staff on their payroll. (www.ryanair.com.) With this amount of staff they have to ensure that, in order to have operations like call centres and cabin crews running smoothly, they keep their staff happy and motivated. They do this by offering incentives and a share option scheme which allows employees to participate in the success of the company overall. Ryanairs technical operations should mainly revolve around their aircraft as this is the core of their business. In February of last year they announced an order placed with Boeng for 70 firm aircraft as well as 70 options, www.ryanair.com. This means that between now and 2012 Ryanair will have 225 firm aircraft and options for another 220, allowing them to grow to over 70 million passengers per year. Due to this excellent deal negotiated by the carrier their growing amount of aircraft will not add huge amounts to depreciation costs as they will be depreciated over 23 years. Technical operations have to run smoothly for obvious reasons, if a plane scheduled to make a flight for technical problems, for example, then this will impact on all of Ryanairs operations and functions and also cause disharmony amongst their passengers, possibly costing them future ticket sales Appendix 04 Financial Ratios Net Profit Margin Net Profit Margin (NPM) tells us how much profit a company makes for every $1 it generates in revenue. Net profit margin indicates, when compared with GPM, how well a firm is managing its indirect costs in addition to cost of goods sold. Return On Assets Return on Assets (ROA) provides a view of how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earnings. ROA for all three primary competitors is virtually the same. Therefore, we can say that all three companies are generating similar revenue per dollar of assets. Current Ratio The current ratio is a financial ratio that measures whether or not a firm has enough resources to pay its debts over the next 12 months Inventory turnover Inventory turnover ratio shows how many times a companys inventory is sold and replaced over a period. This should be compared against industry averages. A low turnover implies poor sales and, therefore, excess inventory. A high ratio implies either strong sales or ineffective buying. High inventory levels are unhealthy because they represent an investment with a rate of return of zero. It also opens the company up to trouble should prices begin to fall. Here are unreasonable Inventory turnover ratios of each company. However, the inventory in the motion picture industry is not so important compared to other manufacturing companies.

Prisoner :: essays research papers

The courage and human compassionate that Daru showed towards the Arab prisoner is commendable on all levels. Some people might have considered Daru justified in neglecting and even abusing the prisoner. Instead he treats the man as a guest. He provides him with adequate food and shelter and even comfortable amenities. The two men live in friendly cohabitation for the prisoner's entire stay at Daru's house. One would assume that the prisoner was reasonably terrified at his capture and was extremely uncomfortable being away from his home and his family. Instead of making the situation worse by treating the prisoner as an animal, Daru made the prisoner's captivity almost comfortable (if imprisonment could be called such a thing.) Instead of punishing the prisoner for his past wrongs, which might have made him bitter and violent, Daru rehabilitated the prisoner. He taught him values such as patience, kindness, and generosity from example. His success in doing so was illustrated through the prisoner's decision to attend his trial instead of going to live freely with the nomads. Daru treated the prisoner as a man, with dignity, and not as an animal; thus, this was exactly how the man acted. He made the right moral choice because he had learned good morals from the schoolteacher.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the end of the story, Daru's life is threatened by the kin of the very person he protected; it appears as if his kindness has gone unmerited. This, perhaps, is true in an earthly sense. However, there are martyrs for every cause, and it is said that martyrs hold a special place in heaven. In a sense, Daru can die with the satisfaction of knowing that he made a difference in the life of one person. While some may consider this a minuscule consolation in the face of death, it is exactly the kind of thing that would be most important to someone with such high moral standards as Daru. He was taking a risk in treating a prisoner with kindness; he was taking a greater risk in giving the prisoner the option to go free.

Desertification :: essays research papers

Essay: What is desertification, where is it found, and what are the causes? Desertification is the process by which land dries up eventually over time and the land turning to desert. This is common in Africa where most of the terrain is a desert. It is believed that the Sahara desert was once fertile ground but now it is dried up. Sand as far as the eye can see and very little rainfall occurs in this region. About 2500 B.C., the climate of the Sahara changed. Africa was once a fertile plain but where the Sahara lies was once a fertile plain capable of harvesting foods nearly anytime of year due to the warm weather. But it slowly dried up. As the land became parched, the desert spread. The process of desertification devours thousands of acres of cropland and pastureland each year. As the region dried the people retreated. With no water and little food the land became inhabitable. Most people migrated south towards the marshlands and the savannah. It is believed on of the causes of the Sahara is due to over harvesting of crops. It is believed that the Paleolithic people had learned how to cultivate in the Nile valley then spread out and established permanent villages. Archeologist say quite a few of the villages existed on the Sahara. Due to the farming over many years the land dried up due to the lack of minerals and lack of water. The Bantu is what is believed to be the remnants of those who use to farm in the Sahara region. And archeologists have been able to track their migration by studying their language patterns. The Bantu were originally nomadic herders who traveled throughout Africa caring for their flock.

The Importance of Freedom in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” Essay

Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour† grabs its readers from the start and creates an unexpected twist at the end of the short story. Louise Mallard is given the news that her husband has died in a terrible train accident. To her surprise, he arrives home and â€Å"did not even know there had been one† (Chopin, 607). Upon the death of Louise who once believes she was a widow only to find that her husband is still alive, the confusion begins. The death of Louise is questioned by many critics as a state of shock, depression, and sadness. However, Mark Cunningham’s criticism of Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour† states that her death was instead a discovery of freedom from the physical strains of her marriage with her husband and societal views on women. Cunningham argues that at the sight of her living husband, â€Å"Louise’s death lies elsewhere: in the joy† (Cunningham, 49), that she had finally escaped her marriage a nd the burdens it placed on her life. Cunningham also states that it’s possible that Louise didn’t actually even see her husband but that it doesn’t necessarily matter. Lastly, Cunningham argues that not only does she escape the strains of the marriage, but Louise also escapes society’s natural and degrading views on women and the place they hold in society. In best judgment, Cunningham does an exquisite job at defining the meaning of the significance of Louise’s death. However, I will argue that Louise Mallard’s sight of her husband is important to study because it emphasizes her desperate escape from her physically dangerous marriage, which also needs to be considered. I think emphasis should be placed on the idea of symbolism and the role it played in explaining Louise’s freedom from her marriage. It could be beneficial to ... ...opin, 607). Finally, Cunningham stated that it’s not important whether or not Louise saw her husband before she died. But, I think its important to address that she did see her husband, because this symbolizes her final stretch to freedom. Cunningham’s criticism was certainly successful in creating an understanding of why Chopin wrote the short story in the nineteenth century. Women were in a very tough place in society, but for some like Louise Mallard, there may have been other factors that made freedom such a desirable hope. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"The Story of an Hour†. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. Eds. Alison Booth & Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. 607-608. Cunningham, M. â€Å"The autonomous female self and the death of Louise Mallard in Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour.† English Language Notes. 42.1 (2004): 48-55.

Oedipus: a Tragic Hero

Oedipus: A Tragic Hero Aristotle’s tragic hero is one of the most recognizable types of heroes among literature. A tragic hero combines five major points all of which have to do with the hero’s stature in society, his faults, how these faults effect him, the punishment his faults gets him, and how he reacts to this punishment. Aristotle explained that the story of Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is a perfect example of a tragic hero. In the play, Oedipus is given a prophecy in which he is told that he will kill his father then marry his mother. As in many Greek plays, Oedipus tries to run from his prophecy and ends up fulfilling exactly what it is foretold. Through the play we see that Oedipus posses many of the characteristics of a tragic hero such as: he is of noble stature, his downfall was his own fault, and that his punishment was not wholly deserved. The first trait that Oedipus possesses that makes him a tragic hero is that he is a man of noble stature. Within the first lines of the play, Oedipus immediately supports this in saying, â€Å"Here I am myself-/you know me, the world knows my fame:/I am Oedipus† (7-8). This quote shows that Oedipus is so confident in people knowing who he is that he is willing to put this out there, though he is not being overly confident. This quote is later given reason to when we hear from other characters such as the Priest when he explains things that Oedipus has done such as, â€Å"You freed us from the Sphinx, you came to Thebes/and cut us loose from the bloody tribute we had paid/that harsh, brutal singer† (44-46). The Priest depicts when Oedipus defeated the Sphinx, which is the task that gains him the position of king of Thebes. The next characteristic that Oedipus possesses that makes him a tragic hero is that his downfall is of his own doing. The act that ultimately contributes to Oedipus’ downfall is that of when he kills his father and he explains to Jocasta that he killed everyone, â€Å"I killed them all-every mother’s son! † (898). Since he is talking about his father’s caravan it shows that he, indeed killed his father even though he was unaware that it was his father at the time. That is only the beginning of his downfall though as he earlier told the Chorus that anyone harboring the murderer would be cursed, even if it was himself, â€Å"†¦if by any chance/he proves to be an intimate of our house†¦may the curse I just called down strike me! † (284-287). This shows just how serious that Oedipus was about punishing this person and even though he doesn’t understand that it is himself, and takes awhile for him to realize, that he was responsible for what happened to him. The final discussed characteristic that Oedipus possesses is that his punishment was not wholly deserved. There are three main punishments that Oedipus has to go through because of his crime. Those punishments are his exile from Thebes, the suicide of Jocasta, and the loss of his sight. However, the punishment that pushes everything over the edge is when Oedipus strikes out his own eyes. When he appears to the Chorus he comes out and speaks of how horrid he feels for everything in saying, â€Å"The blackest things/a man can do, I have done them all! † (1541-1542). During this very scene the Chorus speaks, not to Oedipus directly, but to each other and the literally shrink away from him. It is obvious that they don’t believe he deserves this through their words, â€Å"O the terror–/the suffering, for all the world to see/the worst terror that ever met my eyes,/what madness swept over you? † (1432-1435). The Chorus continues to speak of how Oedipus cursed himself by the gods and that this is his punishment, but cannot understand what god would force such a punishment on any man. Works Cited Mifflin, Houghton. Language of Literature World Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. Print.

Effects of youth indiscipline Essay

The effects of indiscipline among the youth are manifold. Indiscipline is defined as a lack of discipline. Some of the effects of indiscipline among the youth include lack of respect for teachers, parents and other senior figures. It could be argued that the indiscipline of certain individuals has reduced the morality and ethics of many young people. The effect of the downfall in morals and ethics are caused, in part, by the education of the young people, in that teachers are no longer responsible for setting limits, merely for ensuring that certain targets are met. As discipline is no longer present, the lack of discipline does not present any sense of shame as the indiscipline is not tied to immorality anymore. The lack of guidance given to young people means that the conduct they show is not an important facet of their lives anymore. General consensus is that the values that have influenced morality are instilled inside the family, and that it is improved family values that will reverse the current trend. Most young people today believe in having things their own way. If they don’t get their own way then they often go off the rails. Parents seem more afraid of children and they do not seem to realise that by constantly giving in to their demands they are making them uncontrollable and undisciplined. Indiscipline is classed as a behavioral disorder and is the cause of mental, emotional, and in some cases, physical damage. Some would argue that parents, teachers and society should shoulder some of the blame for the indiscipline currently evident amongst today’s youth. Parents may be to blame as they give their children too much freedom, whereas teachers could be to blame for not focusing on things that the child is good at. Society is also to blame as the current education system does not prepare a child for employment. The curriculum is so varied that children are not gaining enough practical knowledge. BY: Ofondu Pearl

Psychoanalysis of Hamlet

There are always three sides to a coin when it comes to psychology. Two being the heads and tails, the other being the thickness of the coin represented here by the why factor. No action is ever considered to be an accidental behavior, thus making Hamlet an intriguing subject of analysis. Critics of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet often debate the cognitive processes of young Hamlet’s mind. To examine Hamlet through a psychological perspective, one must use knowledge of behavioral psychology, which is the study of behavior that reveals inner thoughts.Hamlet is a complex character full of deep emotions and developmental problems it is revealed through his actions, thoughts, and words portrayed during the play. Traumatic experiences in a person’s life can have serious mental repercussions, such as disconnection from others, self-blame, or permanent mental instability. Accordingly, Hamlet’s behavior demonstrates textbook symptoms of emotional and psychologi cal damage. With the loss of his father, and the quick remarriage of his mother, the dramatic changes in the familiarity of life become the triggers for Hamlet’s change in behavior.These psychological triggers are very relevant in patient cases today such as the remarrying of a parent, the death of close friend, or development during adolescence. The triggered behaviors become dangerous, as the ability of being able to confide in someone else does not seem a possibility to Hamlet. Losing a loved one is never easy, in Hamlets case the loss leads to a downward spiral of behavior that ultimately affects many different people in his kingdom. This problem of seeking comfort or advice in times of need is crucial for the development during adolescence.Psychologists agree that bottling up emotions can cause explosive and irrational behavior, such as in the case of Hamlet. â€Å"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go. † A person’s actions revel to the world what is going on in his or her mind to a tremendous extent. Hamlet’s actions in the play depict a mix of complex planning with sporadic displays of mental instability. Such actions such as the hesitation of killing Claudius, the murder of Polonius, and Hamlet’s interactions with Ophelia reveal Hamlets true mental state. Many critics have scrutinized the delay of Hamlet not killing Claudius over the years.â€Å"Freud offered what seemed to many a decisive answer to this riddle for the ages: that Hamlet is stymied by the weird coincidence of Claudius's crime with his own oedipal wishes. † (Kilgore) This quote represents the deep internal conflict of Hamlet’s actions because of his obsession with his mother’s sexual behavior. â€Å"Hamlet is able to do anything but take vengeance upon the man who did away with his father and has taken his father's place with his mother — the man who shows him in realization the repressed desires of his own childhoodâ €  (Kilgore).This quotation suggests that Hamlet wanted to be like Claudius subconsciously. In addition, this quote answers why Gertrude’s quick remarriage to Claudius is taken so heavily by young Hamlet. â€Å"Freud considered this complex the cornerstone of the superego and the nucleus of all human relationships. † (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia) Next, the action of killing Polonius is one example of Hamlet’s temporary insanity. Moments after Hamlet fails to kill Claudius as he prays because he is unshriven; he slays Polonius under the impression it was Claudius.The contradictory nature of these two decisions shows in behavioral psychology that Hamlet is emotionally unstable. This action also demonstrates that aggression has taken over reasoning. Emotions are one of man’s greatest strengths but can cause the greatest downfalls. For example, In Hamlet, Polonius’s murder eventually leads to Hamlets death at the hands of Polonius’s son. Hamlets lack of cognitive reasoning ultimately conflicts with his short-term plans as Hamlet is sent away from the kingdom by the man who he is trying to murder.This shows that the catastrophe occurs as a result of instinctive reactions rather than pre-meditation. â€Å"To inhibit actively one’s behavior is stressful and disease related; when individuals do not or cannot express thoughts and feelings concerning a traumatic event (i. e. , when they engage in behavioral inhibition), there is an increased probability of having obsessive thoughts about the event and of having illnesses in the long run† (Kelly). Keeping secrets from people or being burdened by others secrets is an action that can be harmful in every aspect of health.Hamlets action of keeping secrets from others is representative of his mistrust in people. Hamlet has no one to confide in which leads to irrational decisions and obsession. Most psychologists agree that having someone to confide in is crucial in the developmental process. The act of not revealing such traumatic information destroys Hamlet from a mental perspective and causes Hamlet to slip in and out of sanity. The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is an example of the destructive nature secrets can cause.Good relationships are built on the fundamentals of trust and communication; neither of which is demonstrated in their relationship. Hamlet’s subconscious mistrust in the ability of people to keep secrets is projected into the communication of their relationship. Ophelia thinks that Hamlet has gone insane, and this lack of communication drives her into madness and her death. Secrets can inadvertently destroy many people, making them more dangerous through the subconscious influences. All authors project their own life experiences and thoughts subconsciously in to their literature.â€Å"Shakespeare had a son named Hamnet who died of the bubonic plague years before the play Hamlet. †(Wheeler 127-153) I t is through this loss of Shakespeare’s own child that the play takes on a deeper psychological aspect. Hamlets â€Å"to be or not to be† soliloquy can be viewed as a projection into the troubles facing Shakespeare during his own life. The loss of a loved one is a powerful influence and subconsciously can cause feelings of depression and suicide. This soliloquy is one of the most recognized worldwide due to its contemplation of life and death due to the struggles that face Hamlet.â€Å"To be, or not to be–that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them†. (Shakespeare) Hamlet is clinically depressed and overwhelmed by the troubles in his life. Not even being able to kill the murderer of his father, he is unlikely that to kill himself. â€Å"Shakespeare presents us with a vivid recital of the thought processes of a man making up hi s mind about a critical step in his life†.  (Kilgore)Thus many people believe that hamlet is overthinking the problem. Thus if this soliloquy was recited to a psychiatrist he would recommend anti-depressant medication. Contemplating life and death is a process that we all do at different points in life. However, it is the manner in which we approach our lives and deaths that define us as individuals. Hamlet has received a liberal education; thus his learned critical thinking and questioning about every action causes obsessive self-criticism. Hamlet’s soliloquy of Act 2 Scene 2 shows hisinnermost feelings of self-disgust about his inaction. â€Å"But I am a pigeon-livered and lack gall to make oppression better, or ere this I should have fattened all the regions kites with this slave’s offal. † (Shakespeare) Thus, this harsh self-criticism leads to Hamlet making irrational decisions. In teenagers the frontal lobe is still in the developmental stages, and affecting his self-perception in addition to his decision making. Hamlet is the perfect storm of decisions based on pathos rather than logos.Hamlet’s decisions, although sometime requiring calculation, often are unrealistic and impetuous representing the trial and error method of learning. Hamlet’s words are invaluable to the shaping of his character. His attitude towards the murder of Polonius disconnects him from the norms of society. Making jokes about the body of someone whom he just murdered demonstrates almost a psychopathic tendency brought about by intense levels of stress. In addition to this, Hamlet is in a position where his actions do not have repercussions evidenced by the town looking the other way on his actions.The psychological effect of having no consequences for actions starting at a young age can have disastrous effects of the development during adolescence; and often in cases can lead to the development of Oppositional defiance disorder children. C hildren with ODD â€Å"have little (or no) regard for what their parents or society expect of them. †(Abraham) Hamlet does not care about how he should behave in society and does as he pleases. Hamlet feels entitled to manipulate the lives of others for his own personal success and has no regard for anyone’s welfare but his own.Hamlet was set up for failure in societal norms from childhood. Other insights into Hamlet’s mental state can be examined through Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship. The words† I loved Ophelia forty thousand brothers/ could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum. † (Shakespeare 296). Hamlet is under false pretenses of what love means due to his adolescence, demonstrated by his harsh words to Ophelia and inability to communicate his distresses and concerns with her.In addition Ophelia’s and Hamlets relationship is skewed by how he perceives own mother and women in general. This is demonstrated by Hamlet ’s command â€Å"Get thee to a nunnery,† which reveals that he holds the belief that all women are whores. Nunnery was a colloquium, which meant brothel in Shakespeare’s day. The projections of past experiences to present experiences dramatically affect his relationships. Hamlet’s unkind attitude and words to others ultimately affect the lives of people around him substantially.In conclusion, Hamlets complexity and behavior is attributed to adolescence and going through life crises that trigger developmental and textbook psychology issues. Using Hamlets actions, thoughts, and words gives the reader a microscope for further examination the character. Shakespeare was a master of creating complex characters, some based on his real life experiences. Hamlet’s reactions to the changes in hi+s life much reflect the type of behavioral changes people in real life experience after similar trauma. Hamlet has been a popular subject for psychoanalysis since the discipline became popular.

Project Audit of the Ottawa-Carleton Water Park Essay

  I have audited the Ottawa-Carleton water park project and analyzed the various stages of the project, the methodologies, techniques and tools of project management that were utilized. The project managers, that are KLSJ Consulting, who had been contracted by the owners Carlington Aquatic park were very effective in the management of the project. They displayed competence and understanding of the key issues that are essential for management of large scale high risk projects like the Ottawa-Carleton water park project. The project was a big success and was completed without major cost overrun and scope creep. The project managers had made very adequate preparation and detailed plans on how to carry out the project. This included different strategies of managing the key aspects of the project like quality, risk and time schedule. Part 1: Case Study Description   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project to be audited is called Ottawa-Carleton Water Park. It is a project that involves putting up of a full size water park in Ottawa area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The design and building of the Ottawa-Carleton water park project will be managed by KLSJ consulting on behalf of the owners Carlington Aquatic Parks. The owners will retain all authority concerning financing, marketing and critical designing of the water park. After the construction the water park was efficiently passed over to an operations management team (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ottawa is the capital city of Canada with a population of over one million. It is a destination for many summer tourists as it has very fine tourist attraction which includes galleries and recreational facilities among others. According the Ottawa-Carleton water park project concept, during summers, about two million visitors come to Ottawa (KLSJ consulting, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Water parks which mostly operate during the summers are very profitable and represent a mature industry. There are many water parks offering recreational services to people in different parts of the world with United States having more than nine hundreds (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Ottawa-Carleton water park will be a full size water park offering a range of recreational facilities to its visitors. It will be situated in the Ottawa area and will consist of facilities like sport court, rock climbing wall, children center, a wave pool, a river, slides, towers, group area with picnic facilities plus other attractions (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the project proposal, the project started in 2003 and will took two years with completion in 2005 (KLSJ consulting, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The challenge facing the Ottawa area is that there is no full size water park in the area, and with the rising popularity of water parks in North America it was a lucrative idea to take the first move to create one for the Ottawa area market. The need for one site that will offer visitors a big range of recreational facilities in the Ottawa area initiated this project to construct a full size water park in the Ottawa area in an easily accessible area. The land will be leased from National Capital Commission Public lands and the water park will be built by a prime contractor with owners and investors acting as supervising agents. The project will take 2 years and is expected to be completed by May 21. 2005. (KLSJ consulting, 2002). The project was completed effectively and successful and the water park was opened on June 2005.   The handing over was very effective though the project completion had delayed with four weeks. The project is considered a big success. According to bi-weekly status report the project started two weeks behind schedule. This time was to be recovered by sourcing the environmental study to the one consultant who had offered the initial environmental feasibility study services. Thus, the project was expected to be complete as scheduled (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The approximate budget for the whole project was set at twelve million four hundreds and forty eight thousands Canadian dollars. The project completed with a small cost overrun of 2.7% (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the project communication plan the project managers had the responsibility of making all the communications to the external parties including politicians, regulators and media. The team leader made all routine project communication and his responsibility which included preparation and delivery of all project performance report (KLSJ consulting 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As stipulated in KLSJ consulting communication plan (KLSJ consulting 2003) the main communication objective was to encourage a positive image for KLSJ and the project to garner support and to generate local interest in the water park. All communications were to be aimed at posing a positive publicity and were to be identified in their work breakdown structure. The team leader was the communication coordinator. The project communication plan was to be evaluated quarterly and at the start of each phase, feedback collected from all stakeholder and improvement done in order to improve the communication plan (KLSJ consulting 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project manager of Ottawa Carleton Water Park was Karen Dhanraj and his primary responsibility as cited in KLSJ consulting Ottawa-Carleton water park project proposal (KLSJ 2002) included: Coordination and communication with outside agencies Interfacing with community groups, the capital district, and municipal, regional and provincial governments. Providing direction and guidance to other team members Maintaining the overall project plan (schedule, cost and resources) Coordinates and producing all project documentation. Coordination and oversight of the market’s agency Membership in the Risk management working group (KLSJ consulting 2002) The project team included three team leaders. Scott Kennedy was the team leader concerned with Design and construction and was responsible for all activities concerned with design and construction. Lavern Fleck was the legal team leader whose responsibilities included legal counsel, contract management and handling the regulatory authorities on legal issues. Steve Jackson was the team leader concerned with Finance. His role was to manage all finance issues related with the project. Jim Harris was the Risk manager whose role was to coordinate the Risk management program. Project marketing was done by an outside contractor (KLSJ consulting 2002) Part 2: Scope, cost and Time management Analysis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project was successful in terms of attainment of the required scope. The water park was completed with all the facilities that were intended. No major compromise were made on quality of the facilities and attractions. This means the objectives of the project were realized.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the post project report 311, 650 Canadian dollars were used in-excess of the budget for the project to be complete. This represented a 2.7% cost overrun. This was contributed by several factors that included: mitigation of an environmental problem, traffic and road upgrades, higher costs for the water park design, and a series of variances in construction (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project was completed four weeks behind schedule. The opening of the water park had been scheduled to take place on 21 May 2005 but it did not until June 15. The major cause for this delay was the late delivery of the water slides and the unfavorable weather condition in early spring of 2005. Hiring of the operations manager and conformation of investors took more time than had been expected but these activities did not affect the overall time frame of the project (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The management of the Ottawa-Carleton water park project used different project management tools and technique to ensure the project was a success.   One thing that worked for the projects success was the good and efficient management of the three major constraints of a project that include scope, time and cost. The project management ensured that proper measures were put forward that helped the project to succeed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Different techniques and tool were used to make the scope of the project to succeed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first strength for the project was that the scope was well defined. The overall objective of the project was well outlined complete with details and estimates of what was needed. The owners wanted a full size water park of a total cost of 12, 450,000 Canadian dollars that will provide recreational facilities to about 7000 visitors in a day (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project management used different techniques and tools to manage scope. The project management strategy was well designed with a very well functioning project management team. The team was of manageable size and represented the functions that were core to the success of the project. The project management team was led by the project manager who lead three team leaders and a Risk manager. The marketing function was contracted from outside. This team was able to handle all the issues that concerned the project hence helping the project come to achieve its objectives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The other technique utilized was good risk management. The Risk manager had a Risk management program that ensured a problem area was identified and acted upon before it became a loss to the project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Communication was also well structured ensuring that all external and internal communication were carried out appropriately. This had been well planned for and duties allocated thus ensuring no obstacles came up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cost management was a major factor for the success of the Ottawa-Carleton water park project. Different techniques and tools were utilized in order to effectively manage costs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first step was having a team leader who was to be concerned with financial issues of the project. His responsibilities included development and monitoring of business plans/s and project cash flows among other responsibilities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The cost was well estimated using a class B estimate which provided a variance of between -10% to +25%. The overall cost estimate was can $12448, 250. A 10% contingency had been provided to cater for expected price variation. The total cost had been analyzed using both functions and phases. The total cost had been divided by project function that included management, contract management, financing, political/legal, marketing and construction. The total cost had also been divided per project phases. The phases included phase 1 to phase 5. These analysis of cost enabled the managers to ensure they had enough finances before undertaking a task or contract in order to avoid stoppage or legal action against them (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The cost was also analyzed by use of tables, graphs and Gantt charts to help in management. The project management also adopted a cost control strategy that was aimed at avoiding cost overruns. This strategy involved issuing fixed price contractors, including penalty clauses for non-performance in contract and taking insurance for specific perils.   All these efforts were geared toward operation within the budget.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Time was another constraint that was well managed in the Ottawa-Carleton water park project. The management team used a work Breakdown schedule to analyze the duration of the project. The project duration was divided into fine phases. Key milestones were identified in each phase of which some were in critical path and others were non-critical. Deadlines and reviews were done and a schedule change management plan was adopted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The work Breakdown schedule was further divided into tasks thus facilitating easier management of these activities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A tradeoff strategy in some instances was utilized in order to manage competing priorities of scope cost and time. This strategy involved, in some cases allowing tradeoff compromises between scope, cost and time management. However no major compromise was done in term of number or quality of attraction to be installed in the water park. All the structures and facilities that were installed in the water park met the quality and standard that was expected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Different techniques were used for corrective action in the different aspects of the project. One correction action that was adopted was the institution of a deadline for every phase and the end of phase reviews and approvals. Performance report had to be submitted at every end of a phase and change request had to be reported before the deadline. These actions made sure that no activities led to delay of subsequent activities and thus maintaining the whole program on schedule.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cost correction action involved analysis of the cost requirement using charts and tables. Cost was also anticipated in order to make sure enough preparation were done before the time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In assessing the strategies that the Ottawa-Carleton water park project management team utilized we can be able to see some of them went wrong while other worked well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the strategies that never worked well was the security of investment funding. There was a major delay in securing investment funding causing a delay of six weeks and an over expenditure of can$12,000 as a result. This strategy did not work well and more care should have been applied to curb such delays. Only that there was sufficient slack, else this delay could have caused the overall project to delay (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There was also wrong estimation of time to be taken in hiring a suitable operation manager forcing the use of extra resources totaling to can&14000 to recruit the officers before the overall timing of the project was affected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though the delay in delivery of the waterslides as not the responsibility of the project management inclusion of a clause imposing a penalty on late deliveries by contraction could have solved that problem by offering the manufacturer an incentive to deliver on time (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There was a floe in scheduling in that the bad weather of spring could have been anticipated and provided for to avoid delays in the overall project schedule.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some of the well utilized strategies were cost estimation, project management, quality controls and Risk management. Time was also relatively managed well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The strategy of utilizing budget and cost analysis techniques and tools served the project well to avoid major cost overruns. Proper management was provided with a well functioning project management team and structure that enable efficient operations. The project management was also able to outsource for services outside as well as utilizing their internal resources optimally. Time schedule had been planned well with work Breakdown schedules being utilized and the project being divided into phases to facilitate easier management (KLSJ Consulting 2005). The combination of all these strategies, the ones which worked well and those that had some flaws led to the success of the project. There was no major scope creep and the cost overruns were very low (2.7%). The objectives that had bee envisioned by the initiation were realized though the project was completed four weeks behind schedule. Some of the project management techniques and tools learnt where well applied in the Ottawa-Carleton water park project. Some of these techniques include project schedule setting and breakdown, analysis and good management of the triple constraints factor, outline of the critical and not critical activities, setting and analysis of budgets, use of work breakdown schedule, good management team and clear communication guidelines.   Other analysis tool like Gantt Charts, graphs and tables were used.   There were also measures to manage risk and quality. Management of the three major constraints is always a major factor for success of any project. Proper management will work to avoid scope creep and or cost overruns (Hormozi, Dube 1999). I could recommend that such techniques be used more keenly and fully so as to manage the project more effectively. Part 3:   Project Schedule and Baseline Assessment The Ottawa-Carleton water park project schedule was managed using a work   breakdown schedule.   This was a plan that could take the project through five phases in 32 months.   The project was also divided according to function each function with a team leader.   Besides the manner work breakdown schedule which contained 200 items there were six subordinate work breakdown schedules which were used for clarity in the tasks to be performed. Despite of this superb plan the project closed behind schedule by four weeks because of several other reasons that the project management could not be able to avoid (KLSJ Consulting 2005). Baseline assessment was well planned for with the work breakdown schedules to illustrate how progress was taking place and tables to show the sequence of events and functions.   Budgets had been done to show the funds need by phases, functions and cost category.   This worked to ensure the intended objectives were met.   There was also a clear plan on how change was to b managed. Ottawa-Carleton water park project management utilized several techniques and tools to manage the project schedule and baselines.   One of the critical tool used was a work breakdown structure and schedule.  Ã‚   The team utilized a 200 item master work breakdown structure and six subordinate work breakdown structures.   These subordinate structures were to divide the tasks into shorter and clearer activities so as to ease monitoring and management of the tasks.   The activities had a clear sequence of how they were to take place.   The happening of some activities was to take place only after another activity place.   AT a certain point the construction of the water park had to continue only after assurance of investors support. A critical path was identified and milestone events were established both critical and non critical tables were used to analyze these milestone activities for easier clarity. Financial analysis was well carried out by use of financial estimates.   The financial estimates had been well planned with analysis estimates of cost per phase, cost   per function, cost per project category and cost per cost category well done.   Ã‚  This was meant to act as the baselines and so to avoid cost over runs and to manage variations in prices effectively (KLSJ Consulting 2005). There was also a plan on how to manage change.   This was geared toward management of all constraints to ensure there was no great variation from the baselines. Ottawa Carleton water park utilized the critical path method   to manage schedules and cost.   Some of the techniques and tools used include charts, Gant /charts, tables and work breakdown structures and schedules. The projects management team used different methods to estimate the task duration.   This was most logical consideration of time such activities take including time allowances for any anticipated factor that will affect the tasks duration.   The work breakdown structure and schedule was very important in this aspect.   The Ottawa Carleton water park project had a complete communication plan with communication objectives, plan and manage themes to be passed across to the various audiences. It had also it priorities and constraints identified. The team leader who was reporting to the project manager was responsible for the communication especially internal communication.   The project manager had the sole authority to communicate with external parties which included regulation, government authorities, the public and the media. The team leader was also responsible for all communication regarding the program of the project.   Hew was to report all performance progress to the project manager. This communication plan served a big role to ensure that the project was a success.   Its main objective was to pose a positive image of the project managers that is KLSJ consulting the project and the upcoming water park.   Consequently, the themes of the messages passed were concurrent with this objective.   Thus the communication plan helped KLSJ to get support of the government authorities, the media , the public and more so the investors and the enabled the project to succeed (KLSJ Consulting 2003). The Ottawa-Carleton water park project management team used several methodologies and techniques to carry out corrective action in different situation.   One of the strategy utilized was trade-off between the various major contracts of the projects.   This was utilized when there was delay in securing investors.   More resources were applied to the task in order to speed up the process and so save time (KLSJ Consulting 2005). Another strategy utilized was negotiation.   This was utilized when there was an environmental mitigation.   The manager negotiated with the region and agreed on a cost sharing arrangement and on a program to was aimed at avoid delays in continuation of the constructions.   This served to save both time and cost. Another corrective action taken by the project manager involved sole sourcing environmental studies consultant.   After the delays in the initial stages of the project, the management sole sources the consultant thus saving a lot of time that could have been used up in the recruiting. Different strategies were used by the project management to manage aspects related with project schedule and baseline.   On strategy that was so effective was the change plan.   The plan offered a guideline on how change was to be managed and this ensured that the project was processing according to plan. Other strategy utilized was the closes monitoring of the main constraints, that is time, cost and scope. This enabled the project to proceed well with much delays, scope creep, cost overruns or compromise on quality.   The project management utilized and followed that plan well and utilized took like work breakdown structures, financial estimates and the critical path method. Part 4:   Risk Assessment Quality Assurance and Change Control Management Risk management was a critical issue in the management of success of th Ottawa-Carleton water park project.     This was well done by instituting a Risk management working group early in the project.   This group met monthly to discuss risk-related issues.   Besides that there was a comprehensive risk management plan and assessments of the risk of the different parts of the project.   These measures enabled all risks to be handled before they developed into loss for the project.   The major risks that were dealt with included: Environmental assessment mitigation, delay in hiring of operation manager, delay in securing investment funding, inclement weather, and delay in delivery of the water slide (KLSJ 2005). Change was also well managed during the project performance and this enabled effective changes in order to bring the project to success as expected.   A change plan was set for early in the project and these offered guidelines on how change was to be done if tit was needed. The project management used qualitative and quantitative measures to ensure quality was upheld in the project (KLSJ Consulting 2003).   This was geared towards ensuring that the project met the intended quality.   This was done effectively and no any quality compromise resulted (KLSJ Consulting 2005). The project management different techniques and tools to manage the risks that were inherent to the project.   This techniques and tools were included in a comprehensive Risk control plan.   The technique used included risk assessment before the project began and all through the project.   Tools that were used included a risk evaluation criteria table, impact criteria table, and risk summary tables.   Risk matrixes were also used to assess the various risks (KLSJ Consulting 2003). A risk management working group which was headed by the Risk manger analyzed all the risks facing the project throughout the project duration.   This function grouped managed the risks as they appeared and provided mitigation strategies that enabled the risks to be managed. Ottawa-Carleton water park project had an efficient change control system that used formal scope control processes.   The plan had change cutoff dates schedules in each phase A tracking system was used.   The change plan was aimed at avoid disruptions of events as they had been planned in the work breakdown structure.   Each request for change had to evaluate in order to establish its impact on other variables. One of the changes that was effected in the Ottawa-Carleton water park project was the change of decision on recruiting the environmental study consultant.   The change was effected and KLSJ sole sourced the consultant who had done the initial environmental feasibility to carry out the job.   This was carried out effectively and it resulted to saving of two weeks and one thousand Canadian dollars. The change management plan adopted by Ottawa-Carleton water park project team ensured that it integrated scope management.   This was aimed at making sue that all changes were made within the overall objectives of the project.   The tracking system used also worked to make sure that all the changes that were effected fitted in the overall plan of the project.   Assessment of the impact of the changes on cost and schedule had to be done before any change was effected and this was aimed at making sure that the changes did not have an adverse effect on the other operations o the project. The requirements that on change requests had to written facilitated later reference and tracking of the changes in order to maintain the project on the intended plan.   All this measures worked to ensure there was no scope creep and even cost overrun (KLSJ Consulting 2005). Quality was a key consideration in all the stages of the Ottawa Carleton water park project.   Because of the nature of work and construction that were done, quality was planned for and closely monitored to ensure safety of all facilities.   KLSJ uses 1SO 9001: 200 standards for the project management.   The firm had also to comply with other standards that affected the project which included standards set up by the region and the local authority (KLSJ Consulting 2003). KLSJ consulting had a group of experts on quality management who offered their expertise to the project on an on-call basis.   Within the project team the team leader (finance) was concerned with all matters on quality. Besides that, quality was a responsibility of all people concerned with the project. The ISO 9000: 2000 quality assurance procedures were followed throughout the construction and regular quality status reports were provided.   The planning was well done by the help of a manual of project procedures and a quality management plan.   Verification of all certification of contractors was done as well as auditing of all construction activities in order to maintain high quality in all facilities.   Quality control was done by taking up action immediately as issues of concern arised (KLSJ Consulting 2004). Ottawa Carleton water park project management team used several techniques as corrective actions in aspects of risk, quality and change in the projects.   One technique used over all was constant monitoring, assessment or evaluation. Issues of risks, quality or changes were monitored and evaluated throughout the project life. Another way was having a contingency plan. This enabled the team to contain all the variations within the scope of the project and thus ensuring t6he project objectives were achieved.   The project team was also well prepared with detailed plans on how all the things were to be handled and this helped to manage change effectively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project management team used various strategies to manage these aspects of the project effectively. The first strategy that was used was adequate planning. Enough planning had been done on all aspects related with risk management, quality and change control management. The plans helped the team to prepare all round for the various occurrences that were expected. The plans also provided clear guidelines on how the operations were to be done. This also ensured that all the resources required, in terms of human resource or funding, were ready before the project got into a phase where they were to be used.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The other strategy was the constant evaluation and assessment of the different aspects of the project that were related with risk, quality and change. There was also a risk management program that was carried out all through the project by risk management working group. This ensured that all the inherent risks were identified and dealt with before they resulted to a loss to the project. Quality was assessed through out the project life and one team leader, among other roles, was concerned with ensuring quality was maintained. There were also audit teams that assessed the quality of the various structures that were put up in the water park. The different activities were also continually evaluated in order to handle any change effectively without compromising on quality of the facilities to be put up. Another technique that was well utilized was change management. Change management was well planned for and this facilitated its effective execution. Control was also another strategy technique that was effectively carried out. The project team was able to effectively control the three major constraints namely scope, cost and time. This enabled the project to be completed successfully. There were many tools that were used to manage the aspects of risk, quality and change in the project. These tools include risk matrix, contingency plan, change management plan, quality management plan plus many tables, structures and analysis summaries. According to the strategies that were applied, some were very effective while others had some flaws. The strategies that went very well include the change management plan and the quality management. The different changes that were done within the project were very effective and did not lead to scope creep or major cost overruns. Quality management was very effective and did not result to any quality or quantity compromise. Risk management had been good but things did not go very well leading to delay of deliver of the water slides (KLSJ Consulting 2005). This showed that risk management despite of all the plans had a flaw. Otherwise the planning of the whole project had been well done. Part 5: Conclusion The Ottawa-Carleton water park project was a success and the managers, KLSJ consulting displayed good project management skills and expertise. Many of the techniques, tools and strategies learnt in class were applied effectively in the management of this project. This project represents a perfect example of good use of the techniques and tools of project management that are always taught theoretically in class.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project management team was effective and was able to manage the project processes efficiently without any problem arising. The processes were handled with the maximum professionalism expected and the law was followed to the later. The legal team leader was able to handle all issues that concerned legal contracts and regulations. The strength of the project team always determines the success of a project as this is the team that manages the aspects that matter in a project (Larson, Gobeli, Gray 1991)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management of a project to success is always a combination of use of expertise and practices that bring control to the operations of a project (Reiss 1995)From the various project management methodologies, techniques used in the management of the Ottawa-Carleton water park project I can be able to point out three best practices that enhanced the success of this project. The first practice was the adequate preparation that had been done. Before the project began the managing firm prepared a project charter that outlined the objectives, scope, management plan, financial analysis and the stakeholders of the project. There was also a project plan that outlined how the various aspects of the project were to be managed in the course of the project life. Then there were several other plans that dealt with how the specific aspects of the project were to be managed. For example there was a quality management plan, a risk management plan and a change management plan. The second practice that was well adopted was schedule management. The time concept of a project is usually a critical factor of a project and unless adequate care is given to this aspect from the planning stage of a project a delay of completion is likely to occur. (May, Gueldenzoph 2006) Though the overall project schedule was exceeded with four weeks enough measures had been instituted to manage the project duration. Work breakdown structures and many other analysis tables had been used all in the effort to make the project run in the stipulated time frame. The third practice that was very well done was the approach to risk management. Risk management is a sensitive aspect of any project especially the high risk projects and this requires adequate planning and care in the implementation of the risk management plan. (Hannigan, Browne 2000) The project was considered a high risk project and so to start with a detailed risk management plan had been laid. The risk management plan included a risk management program that was carried out throughout the project duration led by a risk management working group that was headed by the risk manager. The project transition from the operations manager to the team that was to continue managing the water park was well prepared for and was very effective. This is an area which brings problems in some projects and is an important factor that should not be taken for granted (Frame 2002). Another important area of importance to a project is the management of corrective actions. (Hormozi, McMinn, Nzeogwu 2000) I recommend that necessary measures be put up before the project begins on how to carry out corrective action and how to carry out corrective action and how to manage schedules and baselines in order to achieve the project objective.   I recommend that in future projects more care to be given the management of risks especially concerning honoring of contracts by those contracted. Proper management of contracts will ensure that the contract is effected in time and in the condition that was intended. Also other tools and techniques that were not utilized in this project could be of great use to other projects. Reference: Frame J; (2002). The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Complexity, and Other Business Realities. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, Hannigan C. Browne M. 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