Materials Requirements Planning

A material requirement planning is a soft ware based planning and inventory system used in management of manufacturing system. It simultaneously meets three main objectives: plan manufacturing activities, deliver schedules and purchasing activities; it ensures that materials and products are available for production and delivery to customers; it also maintains the lowest levels of inventory.At the same time, it also schedules procedures for production process with several levels of production. When fed with the information describing the production requirements for finished goods of the system, the structures of the production system and the inventory for each operation, the material requirements planning determines raw materials purchasing and schedules for the   operations (Friedman 1997,pg 16).In business activities, it should be realized that, time is money. Material requirements planning come up with dynamic decision technologies. It acts as a necessary tool for applying to a wider range of managerial decisions successfully whereby time and money are directly related. With increased technology, the normal divisions between manual and intellectual labor are collapsing. This has been due to the fact that many industries are moving towards controlling and mediating work using computerized tools.A greater number of workers are being compelled to conceptualize on a very different level of abstraction than before. Materials requirements planning describes how decision making is done through analyzing three level of workers in a large manufacturing factory. The important issue may not be identification of which should or can learn the system but how learning occurs. The main concern here is to explore how workers ways of thinking and understanding are affected by changes in the nature of work and work place organization.Through application of this new technology in business, the decision making would be very easy because MRP would be doing the critical part of work. What is more important is only to feed the required production information to the material requirements planning.Bill of materials is module that is part of the manufacturing software solutions. It is designed to create and maintain the parts needed in completion of end products. Such includes all sub assemblies, and assemblies and also shipping supplies if required. Bill of materials can be created as products are ordered, designed, build or maintained. In material requirements planning, bill of material describes the part list of components required to complete a saleable end item. BOMs are naturally hierarchical where the top level represents the sub assembly or the end term.Modular Bill of materials defines the component materials, parts, documents and engineering drawings required to complete sub-assembly (Friedman 1997,pg 56). (MPS) Master Production Schedule operates within a single level of the BOM. If the MPS is run on a material, it implies that necessary orders one planned at that certain level.   If any dependant requirements they are placed on the next Bill of materials level down and the process stops.   The master production scheduling is a form of material requirements planning that stresses planning on the parts of products that have great influence on company profits or which dominates the entire process of production through raking critical resources.These items are marked as â€Å"A† parts and are planned with extra attention. The items selected for a separate MPS ran before the MRP ran. The Master Production scheduling ran is conducted without a bill of materials exposed so that the material requirement planning controller can ensure that the master schedule items are planned correctly before the running of the detailed material requirement planning takes place. Once the changes in MPS occurs in any business, loses are bound to be incurred because company relies on this part for entire process of production through critica l resources.At the same time, a change in lot size should create a negative impact in the production. Better protection for larger lots can be justified by that, for large lots, the rejecting cost is good where by the cost of accepting bad lots are higher. When the lot size reduces, it then implies that the cost will reduce thus reducing the profits.Case ii. What is the relationship between inventory and MRP? What is the relationship between capacity and MRP?The relationship between inventory and MRP is that, inventory refers to the list of materials and goods or those goods and materials themselves, which are held available by any business. They are held in order to manage and hide the consumer so that the manufacture’s delay is no longer than the delivery delay. They also serve the purpose of easing the effect of imperfections in production process. On the other hand, MRP is a method of effective planning of all resources of any manufacturing organization of company (Friedm an 1997, pg 67).The relationship between capacity and MRP is that, capacity is the point of production at which an organization either industry or firm’s average cost or per unit begin to raise due to fixed factors which are land or capital. Its relation with MRP is in that, economically both stress on production where by MRP can be used in improvement of capacity in the firm.Case iii. Why is it important to have MRP reflect what you actually want to build? How can we use information about the material parent/child relationship and pegging in MRP and PAC (Production Activity Control)? Material requirements planning should reflect what is actually indented to be built. This is because it integrates many fields of manufacturing enterprise in to a single entry for planning and control purpose. It builds on closed loop material requirement planning through adoption of feedback principle and extending it to additional areas of the primarily manufacturing related enterprise.Materia l requirement planning and production activity control are measures used in company’s production which aims at maximization of incomes. The information about the material parent/child relationship can be only be applicable to these measures if at all they are business oriented and aims to improve production. Such a relationship should be large enough for the practices to be carried within the firm otherwise they cannot work in small firms.Case iv. How do set-ups impact capacity planning? How can capacity planning support operational strategies and decision making?Capacity planning is the process that determines the production capacity required by a firm so to sustain the changing demands for its products. When set ups are put in place, they affect the process of capacity planning because at early age, it is very difficult to determine the firms output and its changes in demand. Once a new firm has been set up, it should be given some duration so as to gain establishment to th e clients. During this period, capacity planning cannot be applicable to such a firm.Capacity planning can support operational strategies and decision making in an organization through various ways. Because it aims at minimizing the discrepancy, any factors that may lead to failure in the firm are noted (McCarthy 2002, pg 34). Because capacity is increased through introduction of equipment and material, new techniques, increased number of workers and machines, increased number of shifts or acquiring extra production facilities, it is very easy to identify where there is a loophole through use of capacity planning and make the required change in decision making.Case v. In Production Activity Control, why are their multiple ways to prioritize work to be done?   How are they different?   What are their advantages and disadvantages?In production activity control, multiple ways to prioritize work to be done are applied. This is because with increasing concentration on optimizing capa city to planning, drive down costs and controlling shop floor an activity is a must. Production activity control ensures provision of the flexibility to structural standards expectations and quick adjustments to unexpected changes. By display of all work orders currently in the process, and ready to be processed in the work centre, not unless multiple ways are employed to prioritize the work, accuracy cannot be arrived at (McCarthy, pg 89).Production activity control differs form one another through the size of firm being dealt with. For instance the measures employed in a small scale manufacturing enterprise cannot be compared with the ones applied in a large organization. Although they may serve the same purpose their scope is quite different. The advantages of production activity control include that, there is flexibility in re-prioritization on the fly ensured production competition in accordance with customer deadline.There is also quick adjustment to the temporary adverse circ umstances which are eliminated. Also there is enjoyed long-term effect of production bottle necks. On the other hand, some of the disadvantages include availability of complete new sales orders of products which demand client within a limited deadline.Case vi. How does variation in performance to anticipated standards of set-up, run and availability of equipment/people impact the schedule, inventory levels, customer service and costs?Once a new set up is established the inventory level definitely goes up so as to meet the requirements for the new customers. In the organization the schedules also has to change so as to manage the large number in the market. The main role of inventory planning is to translate the plan of production in to a detailed component orders. It determined the items to be produced and when such productions should be done. This enables the customers to get what they want at the right time.The inventory program also has a function of recommending order priorities thus making capacity requirements planning easier. It assumes that adequate capacity will be available when needed. Suppliers encounter problems due to schedule instability. As a result suppliers have to react to the unexpected changes in requirements. This problem in turn results to high costs because of increased time. As a result, increasing uncertainties and dynamics in the environment of planning system should react to unexpected developments. The variation in performance to anticipated standards of set up and availability of equipments and people impact the schedule inventory levels, consumer services and costs (McCarthy, pg 132).This happens in that, once new set ups are established definitely the inventory levels should go up so as to meet the demand of new consumers. The schedules should also change in order to be able to handle large number in the market. The customer service should be improved also to have more customers through use of motivations.Work Cited.Friedman L, (1997). The Developmental Psychology of Planning: Why, How, and When Do We Plan? Mahwah.McCarthy B, (2001).Human Performance in Planning and Scheduling. London.

Main Theme of Lord of the Flies Essay

I think William Golding purposely chose the same setting as The Coral Island, but with a different ending of course, showing readers that us humans beings, as hard it might be to admit, unfortunately we have a wicked side and without supervision castigation to keep it in check. This sophisticated society that we live in would’ve turned into a barbaric anarchy instantly and still today, we have people who choose to ignore the civilization, take the risk and act like savages despite the â€Å"sophisticated society† but those people end up in jail. One of the major themes, isolation. What better way can you put it? The boys are stranded on an island, not mentioning the fact that they are still kids, innocent kids without adult supervision. This was obviously slowly making them hopeless as they realize that there is no way they’ll be rescued. But if you give it some thought, the island is similar to our society in many ways. Firstly, Golding makes the conch delineate power and authority, like the government today, because whoever held the conch in the story had the authority to speak. That rule is official when Ralph says â€Å"And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have hands up like at school then I’ll give him the conch.† (Golding 31) This shows the effort Ralph was putting into bringing rules and order so it could bring all the other boys closer together as a society. The island is basically a microcosm, Golding uses it to imitate our world while giving comments and his own view of human nature and how it is. For that to happen, he uses objects that are symbolic referring to his ideas like the previous example I gave about the Government. Golding also uses the characters that duplicate historical and/or religious people and finally the setting where all the conflicts happen, having parallels in the real world and society. The boys show what happened in the story isn’t just a story. They help present Goldings belief that humankind is savage and evil under all that civilization. So, Lord of the flies is a microcosm, just in a smaller civilization. The physical location (the remote island) which Golding set to serve the theme of constructing civilisation. However, as the stranded boys progressed on this island together, savagery eventually invaded their instincts and this helped develop the theme of loss of innocence. Again, this story was set on an isolated island, it had all you needed, food, wood for shelter and fire and no dangerous animals, there werent any humans either, the boys were probably the first to set a foot on this island. As Ralph, Jack and Simon were climbing the hill for the first time together, they noticed the tracks and started wondering who them. They started following. â€Å"Animals† were Ralph’s answer. The setting here was kind of like paradise for the boys, it took all of society’s rules and orders on behavior and allowed the boys to do whatever they want, since they were in charge this time.

Smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Smoking - Essay Example Smoking is badly affecting the society and steps need to be taken to solve this problem. Smoking is a global issue that needs to be dealt with. Increasing the number of taxes on cigarettes as well as the implementation of bans can prove to be useful for the purpose of discouraging the smokers from smoking and this fact has been proven as many smokers have quit smoking following these regulations. On the other hand proper education regarding the harmful effects of smoking among certain age groups can also prove to reduce the number of non smokers from smoking. The daily news reporter quoted in the year 2008 that the ban on smoking had led to 400000 people quitting smoking in England. A survey in Sweden also indicated the fact that the easy availability of cigarette should be restricted as this might also prove to be helpful for the reduction in the number of smokers as well as subsequent reduction in the passive smokers (Landes

English topic paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English topic paper - Essay Example In case the high schools students are not required to wear school uniforms, parents will be required to spend money on buying fancy clothes for their children. Children will also force their parents to buy fashionable and branded clothes for them so that they could impress their class fellows at school. Hence, if the high school students are required to wear school uniforms, they will not feel the need to spend money on trendy clothes. This will lead to an immense saving on the money spent on buying expensive clothes to be worn at school. Students will not feel the urge to appear cool at school. Thereby, they will not expect their parents to spend money on costly clothes. School uniforms will promote a sense of equality amongst the students. In the schools that do not require their students to wear uniforms, students do judge each other on the bases of the clothes they wear. This promotes superficial values amongst students. Students prefer to make friends with those students who dress up like them. They do avoid students wearing affordable or simple clothes. This leads to the formation of groups and cliques at schools and gives way to much bullying and harassment. However, in case the high school students are made to wear uniforms, they will rather try to judge their class fellows on the basis of their talent and qualities. This will encourage and promote equality amongst students. School uniforms are the best way to protect schools from outsiders. In the recent times there have been many incidents of violence and crime at schools. Many a times the schools are not able to identify the outsiders that enter their premises. This makes it possible for the criminal elements to enter high schools and to commit crimes in schools. School uniforms will help the school authorities identify the outsiders entering their premises. This will allow them to take timely action and will make the schools much safer and secure. Thereby, for the high school

Naturalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Naturalism - Essay Example In theatre, it has come to mean a ‘natural’ depiction of characters, as if they are not actors on a stage but instead real people undertaking normal activities without a darkened theatre audience observing them. To understand how one term can apply to all of these genres, it is helpful to look at each one separately. Naturalism in art was perhaps given its greatest emphasis during the Italian Renaissance as artists began learning the mathematics and sciences of the ancient Greeks and Romans. â€Å"Henceforth, the surrounding world was to be represented as it appeared to the eye. To this end, a new basis to pictorial composition was given through the invention of linear perspective †¦ Depth was suggested by depicting the progressive decrease in the size of objects and figures as their distance from the observer increases – an illusion which in painting becomes truth. (Lemaitre & Lessing, 1993, p. 17). Raphael (1483-1520) also pushed the idea of naturalism with his focus on composition, balance and unity. â€Å"The movement of the body was now understood as an analogy for the animation of the spirit or the emotions; the external structure of a scene proclaimed its inner content. Everything in the picture was aimed at harmonious balance; each individual figure became an inseparable pa rt of the whole† (Toman, 1998). In literature, naturalism referred to an attempt to explore the base, or natural, causes of events, reactions and personality traits. This was a popular concept in the nineteenth century as writers began exploring the difference between realism and naturalism. â€Å"The main difference between Realism and Naturalism is that Realism seeks to simply explain things as they really appeared to be while Naturalism tries to explain scientifically the cause† (Realism and Naturalism, 2007). Emile Zola and Jack London are two well-known naturalist writers. While

International Political Economy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Political Economy - Assignment Example The labor product in this case was alien from the producers themselves (Mandel and Marx 69-72). The introduction of capitalist system opened trade to global world with the employment of huge masses of people to work in industries. However capitalist still remains exploitation of the workers by the ruling class the wealth produced by the workers is of benefit to the ruling class. Working in industries has exposed workers to poor working conditions. With the increase in market competition the workers who are viewed as commodities are turned to work under strict rules. This has had an adverse effect to human beings who in turn are subjected to harmful chemicals in the industries, which may lead to contraction of diseases (Scott 71-75). It is impossible to prevent some circumstances in capitalist. The overgrowing use of machines enhances high productivity of goods which creates employment opportunities for workers to work in those industries. It will however be difficult to avoid the use of child labor to work within these industries. Huge gap of social inequalities has also continued to widen further. The exploitation of the workers has constantly resulted into wars and crises which has been difficult to prevent (Scott 81-82). The division between the owners of production and the workers meant there is likelihood of war eruption which in this case is inevitable as a result, impairing the development of a capitalist economy. With huge concentration on capital whereby small retail units had to pave way for the enlargement of wide markets agriculturalists had to suffer. It should however be noted that this system of capitalist makes it very difficult to control the economic crises. Transition to communism is related with the struggle of class. Whether it is a violent or peaceful transition, it cannot be achieved through reforms that are isolated.

Final Project- Google Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Final Project- Google - Research Paper Example This company is also unique in its marketing strategies compared to others and the management formulae as well. However, just like every other company, it does not go without facing major challenges from both within and without which require to be fixed so that the company can progress. The company has a unique management structure in each area. They have expanded in different parts of the world and therefore cannot afford to risk making loses due to wrong IT management structure. As a result, each region has its own head manager, team of directors and chain of employees going down. This enables the addressing of the needs of each region in a manner that best suits those living there. There is also a unique factor about the way in which the Google Company advertises itself. This is done in each region uniquely depending n the cultural values and religious beliefs of the region. Dividing this forms of advertisement enables the company first perform a research on what is considered ethical within eh community in order to ensure that he marketing advertisements they do not offensive to the public. Each region has different needs and it is important that the company present their product in a manner that seems to address these needs. As a result, there are different fo rms of advertisement in each region aimed at capturing the attention of many and winning numbers of users of the Google search engine. Even though the Human Resource department of the Google Company views the employees as an important asset and offers compensation and benefits such as basic salary, medical facility, a bonus, gratuity fund, social security and pick and drop, the company still faces challenges. One of the major challenges facing this organization is that both the employees as well as the management may have lost a clear direction and a common purpose for the company. There was low morale within the company as a result of several attempted

Islam religion and christianity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Islam religion and christianity - Essay Example Islam is a monotheistic religion which is considered to be the second largest world religion with over 1 billion followers in the world, the term Islam refers to submission to God. Muslims believe that Muhammad was a prophet who revealed the Quran.They believe that Christians altered text with regard to Moses and Jesus.This paper is an analysis of an interview undertaken on a Muslim male who volunteered to give information regarding religious practices and believes. The following is an analysis of the information provided by the respondent and also an analysis of the differences and similarities that exist between Islam, and Christianity. The interview was undertaken outside a mosque on a Friday afternoon, a believer volunteered to take the interview that entailed taking note of some of the believes and practices of Islam religion, the respondent was briefed on the importance and purpose of the study and this ensured that information was provided for this report.A guiding questionnai re was prepared in order to undertake an interview. This questionnaire was prepared in order to understand the Islam religion. The first question was the description of Islam faith, the respondent stated that Islam believe in One God who was Allah and Mohammed was a prophet, he stated that there were five guidelines and most important features of Islam, this include Shahadah which is a creed that is required to be recited by those converting to Islam and also Muslims recite it in player. The other is Salah and this is a player that Muslims are required to recite five times in one day. The thirst is Sakat which is a financial obligation that entails giving Allah some of the wealth accumulated. The other believe is the fasting in Ramadan, this entails fasting durian the nine month in the Islam calendar for the purpose of asking Allah to forgive sins, provide and protect. Finally is Hajj which is a requirement that Muslims must visit Mecca once in their lifetime. The other question was to determine what the Quran signified and who wrote the holy book, according to the respondent the Quran was dictated to Islam by God through Angel Gabriel, the Quran was never edited and is the original work. it describes the will of God and therefore is the most important icon in Islam religion. The other question was aimed at determining the individual view on other religions especially Christianity, according to the respondent Christians were non believers because they believe in the trinity, Muslims believe in one and only God Allah and that Christians considered Mohammed to be the son of god whereas Mohammad was a prophet. He also stated that Christians consumed pork which Islam considered to be unclean and for this reason Islam was the true religion stating that Christians had altered with the word of God which is the bible, he however stated that Christianity and Islam were similar but Islam was the True religion. He provided information about the origin of Islam, according to him Mohammed started Islam and that he was considered to have ascended into heaven and never died as Christians put it, he stated that Mohammed was born of a virgin and Muslims believe that he would come again. When asked about their believe in the holy war and heaven he stated that Jihad was a fight in the way of God and that anyone who died during such a war is considered to go straight to heaven, he stated that Muslims believed in heaven and hell and people went to heaven only if they were true believers and that their good deeds outweighed their bad deeds on earth, when asked about baptism and the original sin, he stated that Adam is considered a prophet in Islam and that he was righteous and never sinned, he added that when babies are born they are free from any sin and when they reach puberty an account in heaven is opened to record their bad and good

The Role of Parenting in Henry Roths Call it Sleep Essay Example for Free

The Role of Parenting in Henry Roths Call it Sleep Essay In the novel Call it Sleep, by Henry Roth, one of the hardest tasks is to truly understand the character of David Schearl. Written from the perspective of a young child, the reader has to wade through rambling streams of consciousness filled with significant meaning, as well as, well-developed mature thoughts. However, you cannot truly comprehend a character like David unless you fully understand his familial structure and the effects it has on him. Davids parents are important because they prove to be the source of his rejection and confusion with the world around him. By rejecting his parents and their culture David is only left with confusion, guilt, and loneliness. The Schearl household is filled with secrets, blame and denial that shake the basic foundations that a family depends on. Davids home is lacking openness and intimacy, and that forces David to look towards other places, such as religion, for such needs. Upon examining the effects the familys dysfunctions have on David; one can better understand the true nature of his character and his search for a personal identity independent of his parents. Davids relationship to his mother, Genya, is filled with love. However, as David gets older this love is sometimes replaced by shame. David, who formally took comfort in being near his mother, is trying to free himself from only feeling safe in her arms. At the beginning of the novel, David needed his mother to wait in the stairwell while he came up stairs because he was so terrified. While later in the novel, David is proud of himself for walking up the stairs and not being afraid of anything. However, there were times during this period when David wanted his mother waiting, and he felt shame in needing his mother to feel safe. Davids deep connection to his mother is the result of the father, Albert, rejecting both. Albert is not a good father figure, in the sense that, he doesnt fulfill any of Genya or Davids emotional needs. This absence of a strong husband/ father figure creates the tight and awkward bond between Genya and David. Alberts absence in Genyas life creates a huge emotional gap and for comfort she latches onto David. Another factor playing into the deep connection between David and Genya is the alienation both feel in America, a strange land, where neither feels as though they belong. Genyas inability to assimilate to the American immigrant lifestyle has left her sheltered and alone in an apartment all day. Having no peers or equals to spend here time with, Genya is constantly babying David to ensure that he will not turn elsewhere for his needs. As a child David thrives on this close relationship because he hates the ugly outside world. David seeks shelter in his mothers arms from people like Yussie and his sister, Annie, who wants to play bad. David, however, has more interaction with the outside world and finds his adventures there comforting as he grows older. Davids escape to the roof and the journey he took when he got lost replaced his need to find comfort in his mothers arms. The distance between David and his mother grew when she divulged her great secret to Aunt Bertha. The two women spoke half in Yiddish and half in Polish creating a huge gap not only in David s understanding but also in his connection with his mother. His mothers Polish and Davids increasing English vocabulary prevent them from sharing a common language in which they feel comfortable expressing themselves. David who used to feel at home in his mothers world inside the apartment finds himself growing up and rejecting Genyas inability to grow and change. Genyas world is becoming unfamiliar to David, whose experiences in the modern world are foreign to Genya. Davids rejection of his mothers world and her inability to understand his world force David to look for fulfillment and acceptance outside the home, in school, religion and with street kids like Leo.

Indian Institutes of Management and Interview Essay Example for Free

Indian Institutes of Management and Interview Essay With academic internships on Internshala (likes of CERN, JNCASR, EPFL etc.) ruling the roost, we have been inundated with requests for tips on how to write an impressive Statement of Purpose (SOP). The kind which grabs selection committee’s attention and forces them to accept you in one go. We present, a been there and done that, expert telling you the finer nuances of how to write an effective SOP. About the author: – Nirmal Jayaram graduated from IIT Madras in 2006 post which he did his M. S Ph.D from Stanford University. Whether Nirmal is synonymous with the term Academic Brilliance or coined it; I am not sure. Sample this – he graduated with a CGPA of 9.54 from IIT Madras (last 4 sem GPA being 10/10), he had calls from all 6 IIMs and attended interviews of only 2 and converted both including IIM Ahmedabad. But of course he did not join it. He had admits with full scholarships from Stanford, MIT, Berkley, Cornell, UTA, Purdue. Rumors has it that MIT admission committee stalked him for weeks to swing his decision in their favor and sulked for months when he went to Stanford instead. With these credentials, if I were you I would pay VERY close attention to what he has to say on SOP writing. Happy reading†¦ 1. Understand what a statement of purpose means: You’ve probably been in situations where you have to choose one among several exciting alternatives. Recruiters face the same scenario while dealing with several good resumes intended at the same job opening. The statement of purpose gives you an opportunity to connect all your application materials together and express to the recruiter why you fit the role the best. To understand what goes into a good statement of purpose, you need to put yourselves in the recruiter’s shoes, and try to get a feel for the two burning questions a recruiter has: 1.Why are you interested in the opening? Sometimes the answer to this might be obvious. You current area of study/ work could well be closely related to the job opening, but it still can’t hurt to clearly enunciate your interest in this area of work and how that helps you move further in your intended career path. Naturally this is much more important whe n the job opening is in an area unrelated to your current area of work, although you might believe that the new area is really your calling. The end goal is that the recruiter needs to believe that you are very serious about this opening and you would give it your all once you actually get the job. More on this later. 2.What do you bring to the table? So, you have shown the recruiter that no one could be any more serious about the opening than you are. You’ve won half the battle, but you still need to prove that you are not all bluster and you are capable of performing the work at a very high level. Your resume does this for you partly, but the statement of purpose gives you an opportunity to highlight some of your major achievements and skill sets that are closely related to the job of interest. 2. Tell a story, your story! Let’s talk about structuring your statement of purpose for a bit. Your statement of purpose needs to tell your story in such a way that the recruiter clearly understands your background, your capabilities and your suitableness for the job. There are many ways to structure a statement of purpose, and this would be one: †¢Who are you and what do you do currently? Start out with your current education background and what got you there. Maybe you were inspired by pure science as a kid and ended up as a physicist. Maybe you were excited by the world of algorithms in high school that inspired you to pursue the field of computer science. Or maybe you even wanted to build the next Eiffel tower and decided to become a Civil Engineer! †¢What are your current academic credentials? Dedicate some part of your statement of purpose to explain your academic achievements and credentials in your current education program. If you did great in your college entrance exam or in your college exams, state it here and explain how this reflects your dedication to your current field and the hard work you are ready to put in. If you won scholarships through, for example, the National Talent Search Examination, make sure the recruiter kn ows that. †¢What is your current state of knowledge? Most disciplines are very broad and diverse, and it is imperative that you explain your specialization in more detail. Discuss your coursework and explain why you chose to specialize in the area that you did. Suppose that the job opening requires an intern that pursues research in the analyses of large data sets. You could be a mathematician and might have pursued a diverse set of courses, but you need to explain why the field of data mining excites you the most. You need to specifically identify your data mining-related coursework that clearly illustrates that you have the theoretical background to succeed at this new job. †¢Discuss your past projects: This is particularly critical for research based jobs that require that you be creative, comfortable working in open-ended problems, good at communicating orally and in written, and will not get easily frustrated by occasional difficulties in furthering the project due to research complexities. Some jobs also require that you be capable of working without much guidance or work as part of a large team. The most obvious way to communicate that you possess the above-mentioned skills is to provide a brief description of all your past proj ects and the skill sets you demonstrated along the way. Any journal or conference papers that you published as part of your projects will go a long way in helping you get a research-oriented job! †¢Discuss your non-technical skills: A lot of successful people are technically sound but also charismatic and possess excellent interpersonal skills. These are almost essential qualities in modern work places and activities that you’ve been part of where you have demonstrated these skills should help you big. Such activities include playing a leadership role in a department or college level association, being part of NSS, or maybe even running your own small startup! †¢Identify yourself with the company/ university: It is of utmost importance that your statement of purpose does not look generic, rather seems well crafted to the specific job opening. It would be wise to discuss briefly about your interest in the specific workplace and not just the nature of work, and in particular detail the attempts you’ve made to learn m ore about the workplace. 3. Ensure that the statement of purpose is written in a professional manner: A poorly worded statement of purpose with spelling or grammatical errors is a big turn off that would certainly hurt your cause. Request help from friends and colleagues regarding possible wording changes that would make the essay look more professional. Avoid terminology and wording that aren’t obvious to the reader, and remember that different countries may use different terminologies to refer to the same word. Keeping these sensitivities in mind will help. 4. Be brief: Recruiters do not have the time or energy to read through a rambling 4 page essay. The statement of purpose shouldn’t exceed a couple of pages and should be to the point. We are not trying to author the next Lord of the Rings here! Statement of Purpose (SOP) is a document containing one’s personal and professional details which makes the task of knowing a candidate for the MBA school much easier. It is a concise essay about one’s career goals, identified means to achieve them, and accomplishments so far in reaching towards those goals. An SOP often acts as the yardstick for assessing the capabilities of a prospective student of the MBA School. What should your SOP contain? According to top experts the answers to the following queries must be there in your SOP: You, your background and personality The reason or reasons for making a particular career choice Your hobbies Your short-term and long-term career goals Social initiatives taken by you, if any Leadership qualities demonstrated by you How you have dealt with failure Example of teamwork at the workplace Strengths and weaknesses Ethical dilemmas faced by you Preparing for writing the SOP Some suggestions on how to prepare for writing the SOP: Think deeply about matters concerning you, your choices and aspects of personality. Adopt pre-writing strategies and jot down thoughts as they occur Prepare a rough draft and proofread it to remove any errors. Start well in advance. While writing the SOP SOP is an extremely important document that you will have to prepare before you will be accepted into any MBA School. You must ensure that your SOP lacks any kind of spelling or grammatical error. Your ability to write at an acceptable level will tell a great deal about you as an overall student, so do not neglect to proofread your document before submitting it. The SOP must make an interesting read; otherwise it won’t leave any impact on the readers’ minds. Integrate your knowledge about the B-school with your career goals, as this will make it seem as though there is really no other school that you are thinking of attending. Some important points to keep in mind while writing the SOP: Originality The answers have to reflect the distinctive ‘you’ all the way. So, be original. Copy –Paste exercises will do more harm than good as one shoe size does not fit all, especially in terms of personality. Relevance Read the question very carefully before you start framing your essay. Consider the question: â€Å"Please detail your long-term career goals. Why have you classified them as long term? Do you foresee any change in these goals in the future?† Now, you must be careful in crafting a reply to each question in a convincing manner. Concentrating only on the first segment will make the statement lopsided and put off the admissions panel. Conciseness Every word, every sentence should be present in the essay for a purpose. Rambling and undirected thoughts are a no-no as your essay will be given a couple of minutes within which the panel member has to locate something memorable and distinctive. Imagery Imagery means using words that enable pictures to form in the minds of the reader. For example, the phrase ‘turning point’ is better than writing ‘The course of my life changed decisively at that point because it succeeds in giving rise to a picture in the mind of the reader. Avoiding jargon Using too much jargon clichà ©s or long-winded sentences obscure the point you want to convey. Professional tone and elements of standard usage There is a world of difference in the way we speak and the way we write. You should avoid informal style or slang while penning the academic essay. Keeping the standard elements of usage in mind will go a long way in ensuring admittance in the MBA School. It takes a lot of time and engages your mind to undergo lot of thinking before you come up with the perfect SOP. So you should start much before. All this takes time, so begin writing the SOP well in advance. Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more on MBA admission tips! CAT Toppers share their GD, PI WAT experiences When a student is selected by a top B School, it is ensured that he has not just scored well in CAT but has also performed well in the Group Discussion, Personal Interview and or Written Ability Test (WAT) or Essay Writing rounds. This page will give you the GD, PI WAT experiences of the CAT 2011 toppers who are now students of the academic year 2013-15 of the top B schools. I had an enjoyable WAT PI experience of IIM Ahmedabad B Sekhar Anand IIM Ahmedabad Tricky WAT by IIM Indore Vishal Vyas IIM Indore My interview at XLRI lasted for 15 minutes Arjun Gupta XLRI Jamshedpur I had a grilling interview session at Common Admission Process of new IIMs Siddhant Gupta IIM Raipur WAT PI experiences of top 3 IIMs Anusha Subramanian IIM Bangalore If you are a fresher, be thorough with your subjects for PI Parag Poddar IIM Indore My WAT topic was on foreign coaches at Indian sports Aditya Agar IIM Bangalore My interview experience was different in the top four IIMs Mohit Srivastava IIM Bangalore There was no stress at my interview; it was a candid conversation with learned men Tanishq Goyal IIM Ahmedabad I had an enjoyable WAT PI experience of IIM Ahmedabad, B Sekhar Anand IIM Ahmedabad Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: My WAT/PI experience was very enjoyable. The topic for WAT was on corruptions affects- a topic that I was comfortable with. The PI on the other hand was skewed towards my academics. A lot of preparation beforehand helped me answer most of the questions. Though I could not answer a few, the interviewer was fairly satisfied with my approach to those questions. Tricky WAT by IIM Indore, Vishal Vyas IIM Indore Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: WAT and PI were the two vital stages of IIM Indore selection process. WAT was somewhat tricky with a question on prà ©cis writing and another asking about my opinion in a given situation where a choice was to be made between a family managed business and a professionally run organization. PI probably was the most challenging part, with the interviewers asked extensively about by job profile and nature of work apart from a good amount of general knowledge. Work experience was somehow a difficult part to tackle with questions ranging from basic programming concepts to industry quality standards and their constituents. Overall, it was a mixed kind of interview which had its own high points and lows. I was hoping to convert with a good performance on almost all the measures which I later did. My interview at XLRI lasted for 15 minutes, Arjun Gupta XLRI Jamshedpur Q: How many GDPI rounds have you had? Please share your experiences in detail. A: I attended the GDPI rounds for the following institutes: †¢ NMIMS, Core †¢ XIMB, PGDM PGDM(HRM) †¢ SPJIMR(FIN) †¢ XLRI (BM HRM) SPJIMRs admission process is unique in the sense that they call you on the basis of your profiles. In the group interview rounds also, the emphasis is on ethics and values. They question you comprehensively on your work-experience, if any. XLRI has a single PI round for the BM program. The interview covers all the important points, viz., work-experience, Graduation subjects (Math, especially for Engineers), current affairs and ethics. Highly unpredictable stuff, I must say. The HRM program has both GD PI components. My interview went on for around 15 minutes in which I was questioned a lot about cultures, economies and technologies. I was asked to relate the factors citing suitable instances. Some questions on work experience and mathematics were also there. GD topic was related to IT sector. It was pretty basic hence I did not face any problem during the GD. XIMB had a single GDPI round for its BM and HRM programmes. The GD was related to Income disparity and was manageable. The interview again revolved around my work-experience. We had a very candid discussion instead of an interview. I could easily answer all their queries related to work. NMIMSs GD was related to the airline sector. The interview was about Petrol/Diesel pricing, Basic Share Markets term and history about my parent company. For all the above GDPIs, I brushed up my Graduation Subjects well. Read about the major issues which are plaguing the nations, basic indices to measure economic health society, knowledge about the parent company, its product profile, job role, etc. I had a grilling interview session at Common Admission Process of new IIMs Siddhant Gupta IIM Raipur Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail A: I had my WAT/PI in Delhi. I was given a topic on financial crisis in Europe. I was asked to speak on any topic from current affairs during the interview. I chose to talk on KFA bailout. I explained the problem and was asked for possible solutions. I suggested some solutions and a few cross questions were fired. Then I was asked a few questions on chemistry (I am a chemical engineer). Towards the end, I was grilled on â€Å"Which IIM will I choose if I happen to get multiple converts†. I linked it to the question related to the meaning of name and the panel seemed impressed. WAT PI experiences of top 3 IIMs, Anusha Subramanian IIM Bangalore Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: Let me share my experiences of attending IIM Calcutta, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore. IIM Calcutta – I had a good WAT and GD. My interview was mostly about events doing the rounds, a few maths questions, logic puzzles and some general questions about my future plans, etc. IIM Ahmedabad – The WAT was tricky as we were given only 10 minutes to complete the essay. I was questioned on a wide range of topics ranging from work, recent happenings in the software industry and academics. IIM Bangalore – My interview with IIM Bangalore was almost entirely based on the statement of purpose submitted earlier. I was quizzed in great detail about specific points in my SOP, regarding my work experience and future plans. If you are a fresher, be thorough with your subjects for PI, Parag Poddar IIM Indore Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: The WAT process for IIM Indore involved summarizing an article in one-third word limit and was followed by essay writing. I had been practicing essays during my GD/WAT preparations and this helped me perform well in the WAT section. This was followed by PI. Being a fresher, I was questioned thoroughly on my subjects. Professors checked every aspect of my personality through questions on general awareness, GK, current affairs and my background. The interview was a great learning experience and helped me gauge myself better and identify areas of improvement. My WAT topic was on foreign coaches at Indian sports, Aditya Agar IIM Bangalore Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: At IIM Bangalore’s WAT/PI process, I was asked to first write an essay on ‘Foreign coaches are a waste of money in Indian sports.’ My interview was centered on my experience at work and I was asked a lot of questions on the contributions I made to the organization. All in all, the interview was a big test of finding out what I gave to the organization I worked for and to the college I came from, which, trust me is very difficult to comprehend. My interview experience was different in the top four IIMs, Mohit Srivastava IIM Bangalore Q: How was your WAT/PI experience? A: The interview experience was very different at all the four IIMs. IIM Lucknow was focussed more on general affairs. IIM Bangalore was mostly academics and SOP based (they actually asked me an algorithm) IIM Calcutta was purely quant based in terms that the first five questions were based on Permutations and Combinations. After I satisfactorily answered them the interviews started asking me questions on Seattle and where all I had been in Seattle. IIM Ahmedabad was very unpredictable in terms that most of the questions were not from my strength. It was somewhat less academic. There was no stress at my interview; it was a candid conversation with learned men, Tanishq Goyal IIM Ahmedabad Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: I got calls from all 13 IIMs, but I gave interviews for the top four only. In IIM Ahmedabad, the WAT topic was In today’s world, business and ethics don’t go hand in hand. The questions ranged from my work experience, solving math problem, my hobby tennis to politics. The entire interview was like a candid conversation with learned men on some random topics. There was no stress at all. Personal Interview A personal interview is aimed at knowing a candidate more intimately assessing the clarity of thinking process, future goals and the fit with the B-school. A personal interview is aimed at knowing a candidate more intimately – assessing the clarity of thinking process, future goals and the fit with the B-school. Personal Interview What does it test? Analytical Skills †¢ During the personal interview, Interviewer will check the analytical skills of the candidate in ways that cannot be done with a written test. Certain questions during the personal interview are devised to see how the candidate can analyze a situation and create a solution. For example, an employer may ask a candidate to explain a time when the candidate had to work quickly against a pending deadline. In the personal interview, the employer can ask follow-up questions to dig deeper into the candidates critical thinking process, to see if he/she fits to be a part of the Institute/organization Goal Clarity †¢ Why do want to do an MBA? How does it fit into your career goals? What do you wish to do after your MBA? These are some hard questions that you will have to answer almost invariably in all Interviews. These questions search the inner motivations of a candidate, and there are no right answers. The only way to answer these questions is to introspect: what excites and motivates you; what makes you perform your best; what would you really like to do in your life, and how do you genuinely see an MBA helping. Tough questions, but answering them honestly is critical for your success! Why MBA? is the most important question that MBA aspirants need to answer. There is no good answer for this. The answer needs to be your answer. In other words, you need to think deeply, introspect and find out what it is that really drives you. So put on your thinking cap, do some soul searching and then jot down the answers to whats your goal questions. Communication †¢ When an employer is engaged in a personal interview with a candidate, he will listen to hear how the candidate gives answers to questions, watch for body language that can indicate the candidate is not being truthful or is uncomfortable; determine confidence by gauging eye contact. Is the student is able to effectively communicate using his entire body, etc and these skills can only be judged during a personal interview. Domain Knowledge †¢ Given that a good MBA is a demanding programme, B-schools would like to know how you will be able to cope up with the academics and the extra-curricular 24 x 7 demands of your new campus. They are also keen to assess how you have utilized the earlier learning opportunities. Be prepared to discuss different specialty areas in business and their responsibilities. Interviewers will also expect you to discuss current issues in business, including the economy, taxation, foreign competition, the role of technology and ethical challenges in the field. So be careful about the gates you open, and be very sure you have in-depth knowledge about whatever you mention. For e.g. if you say you have an avid interest in Badminton, be ready for questions pertaining to Prakash Padukone, Deepika Padukone, plastic shuttles v/s feather shuttles, Saina Nehwal etc. It is advisable to brush up 2-3 subjects from your graduation thoroughly if you are a student fresh out of college. Also, contextual knowledge of the environment around you as well as general knowledge comes quite handy. Presentation †¢ Candidates who do not take the time to create a professional presentation for a personal interview can hurt their chances for getting the job. A personal interview gives the employer the opportunity to see what the candidate considers to be professional grooming, professional attire and a professional attitude. A candidates resume may be impressive, but if he shows up to the interview 30 minutes late and is not dressed in professional interview attire, then he may not be the candidate you are looking for. Attitude †¢ In a personal interview it is not always the answer you give to a question that is important, but how you give that answer. An interviewer is well aware of the corporate culture within his institute and a personal interview gives the interviewer a chance to gauge the candidates attitude to see if there is a match with the institute. Importance of an Interview: Who Conducts MBA Interviews? Every business school has different policies when it comes to MBA interviews. Typically, an MBA interview is conducted by one or more members of the admissions committee. However, it is not unusual to be interviewed by current students or alumni. Professors do not normally conduct admissions interviews, but there are a few schools who do assign faculty members to the task. No matter who interviews you, expect a lot of questions and an evaluation. Most admissions committees have a form that they work off. They will ask you specific questions from the form. If you are being interviewed by other students or alumni, dont expect anything different. They have probably been trained by the admissions committee to use the form or ask specific questions. Read more about the different types of MBA interviews. Personal Interview can also turn out to be an opportunity to sell yourself. While intimidating for some MBA-hopefuls, the personal interview represents a prime opportunity. Interviews allow you the chance to not only put a face and personality to the name and credentials on your application file, but also to express your academic, personal, and professional accomplishments, experiences, and intentions.

Scottish Architecture Building

Scottish Architecture Building The Scottish Parliament Building- A report into Project Failure Introduction Sitting within the UNESCO World Heritage site, the new home to the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood from its outset has proven to be controversial. Opening in 2004, politicians, the media and the Scottish public have criticised many aspects of the build. Aside from cost controversy surrounded the decision to construct a new building, the choice of site, the selection of a non-Scottish architect and the selection of Bovis as a construction Manager after being earlier excluded from the shortlist. In amongst its criticisms the building has seven awards, including the 2005 Stirling prize, the Vill Biennial of Spanish Architecture and the RIAS Andrew Doolan award for architecture, and after being shortlisted for the Stirling prize in 2004 was described by judges as a ‘statement of sparkling excellence. The building finally opened in 2004, three years after its scheduled opening with a final estimated cost of  £414 million, exceeding the originally estimate of between  £10m - £40m. In 2003 the former Lord Peter Fraser chaired a major public inquiry into ‘the cost over-run and delays in the construction of the Scottish parliament building finally concluding in September 2004, criticising the management of the project. Lord Fraser said his inquiry had been hampered by the unwillingness of those involved in the project to take responsibility for what went wrong. The ancient walls of the Canongate have echoed only to the cry of, it wisnae me, he said. He concluded that there is no single villain of the piece behind the Holyrood building fiasco. This report looks at the fundementals of what went wrong and to what extent project management could be held responsible. Strategic and Operationall project management actions that could have been taken to better control the project and increase its chance for successful delivery against time and cost targets are discussed. The report finally concludes by indentifying the key lessons that project management can learn from the experience. I do not wish to pass comment on the subjective viewpoint of the aesthetics of the building yet rather seek to analysis the reasons to explain the delay and cost over run of the project. This report has been broken down into the following sections. Delays and Cost The role of the Project Management Strategic and Operations Management Conclusion Delays and Cost There are many factors that attributed to the cost and delay of the building which when added together led to disastrous consequences: Primary Coast and Brief The primary cost projection by the Scottish office for housing MPSs in a new Scottish parliament were never achievable from the outset. The estimate took no account of either location or design of its buildings. Lord Frasier concludes that the figure of  £40 million which appeared in the white paper was informed by a range of costs put forward in a minute of 10th June 1997 which was based upon very general assumptions and for a ‘bog standard and new building.  £40 million was never a realistic estimate to cover anything other than a basic build, certainly not a complex building such as the building which was finally procured when considered it was based upon a cleared site of 16,000sqm on Brownfield land in either Leith or Holyrood, a basic design and was unclear if this sum included professional or construction fees. Consequently as the project progressed and the design of Enric Miralles was chosen, the cost projection increased dramatically, being revised to include VAT, acquisition costs, contingencies, site costs, and consultancy fees. Over the course of the five year build it is reported that 18,000 design changes occurred resulting in a three year delay. There was clearly an inadequacy of the brief and a failure to adequately investigate the size requirements of such a building, with the gross area of the building having to be increased by 35%. The increase of security features such as the incorporation of bomb-proof cladding in October 2002, may have amounted to as much as nearly  £100 million. Security requirements envisaged for the new parliament building were contained in the building user brief of 1998, however rather than designing to a security specification, the ‘nature of the concept meant that a realistic assessment of the detailed security requirements could not be undertaken until the detailed design of the building had commenced. This would have the greatest impact in regards to cost and programme on the project. Architect Selection In July 1997, it was announced that a competition would be held to select ‘the best design for a new Scottish parliament, with the press release stating ‘we want value for money as well as quality. We will be looking at ways in which the cost of the parliament can be kept to a minimum. The time frame was set with a designer to be in place by early 1998 and for the building to be complete for the new Millennium. As such, it seems the Scottish parliament was unable to decide where there priorities lay with respect to quality, cost and time. The panel selected designer Enric Miralles with the work being awarded to EMBT/RMJM (Scotland) Ltd, a Spanish-Scottish joint venture design company set up specifically for the project. The two practices found the two different cultures and ways of working difficult to adapt to, especially since they were also working from two different locations and communicating mainly via fax. In 1998, Bill Armstrong, Project Manager to the project, resigned from his position due to not receiving the support necessary to enable him to carry out his job and heavily criticising Miralles saying ‘a stand must be taken to either bring Miralles to heel or to accept his inadequacies. He does not believe he has any. The programme will drift, the cost will increase, the design team will make claims, the contractors will make claims and the project will become a disaster. Project communication was also hindered by the multi-headed client comprising of the SPCB, the presiding officer and an architectura l advisor. The project was also further complicated by the deaths of the architect Miralles in July 2000 and Donald Dewar, first minister in October of the same year. Procurement path The decision to procure the building under Construction Management is said to be ‘one of the most significant, if not the most significant decision taken during the course of the project. The choice of procurement was chosen rather than under a Private Finance Initiative for its speed in construction by overlapping design, tendering and construction. The Holyrood Inquiry criticises that the choice of procurement was not properly identified or evaluated, describing it as ‘beggars belief that ministers were not ask to approve the proposal to adopt construction management. The Scottish office publicly declared that they would be working to a fixed budget and where highly ‘risk adverse, yet they followed a procurement path which had no fixed budget and also a route where a high degree of risk lies with the client. In an attempt to achieve early completion the management contractor produced an optimistic programme from which the flow of design information was destined to fail to meet expectations. As such, construction cannot proceed in accordance with the programme and cost entailed. While some failures have been attributed to the architect arising from co-ordination and communication in differences between Edinburgh and Barcelona the client should have been made aware that high quality design work takes time and that the programme was un realistic given the complex nature of the design. The appointment of the Construction Manager Although initially rejected on tender price, Bovis were readmitted to the selection on the basis of past performance on the Museum of Scotland. On finalising the contract the Scottish Office left themselves open to large construction fees if the project over ran by not processing Bovis agreement in regard to their fee. Bovis proposed a Construction Management Fee of 1.25% to be converted to a lump sum on agreement of the Project Cost Plan. A formal letter of intent was issuedby the Scottish Office of their intention to enter into a contract with Bovis on 19th January with the formal legal Memorandum of Agreement not being signed until October of the same year. Although Schedule 1(J) confirmed a fee of 1.25% it failed to make provision for conversion of that fee to a lump sum on agreement of the cost plan. Had a lump sum value been stipulated, it would have have acted as a powerful incentive for Bovis to complete the project on time .  The Auditor General in his 2000 report makes the point that a tapering percentage scheme could have been implemented in that the percentage fee would reduce as a proportion of construction cost as that cost increases, although Lord Frasier also makes the valid point that this would not have been as significant as the possible conversion to a lump sum upon agreement of the cost plan. As demonstrated above the project was a catalogue of errors resulting from a number of decisions at a relatively early stage of the project that were ‘fundamentally wrong or wholly misleading and it was those decisions that caused massive increases in cost and delays. The next section in this report looks at to what extent the project manager be held accountable. The role of the Project Management Brief After the identification of the requirements of a new parliament building by civil servants in June 1997, a project manager was engaged for the specific task of developing a brief for a parliament building. The project brief is a comprehensive statement of the requirements of the project which enables construction professionals to understand the scope and extent of the project and quality requirements. The outcome of any project relies on the quality of the briefing provided. The project brief in this instance had many failings, proved by the fact that it was necessary to increase areas due to under estimating the actual requirements of the parliament and its end users. The Auditor General was complementary about the user brief in that it presented a ‘clear vision of the requirements of the new parliament, however it failed to address the potential conflict between cost, time and quality. More time should have been spent developing the brief at an early stage taking into account risk and requirements which would have reduced the likelihood of changes later which could have direct cost implications and knock-on effects with regard to programme. Communication The relationship between the project manager and architect and also the project managers relationship with his employer is vital. From reports submitted to the Holyrood inquiry it is concluded that the project manager did not succeed in developing constructive dialogue with the architect. Indeed from the time of the architects appointment the project manager had reservations and serious misgivings about the appointment and subsequently resigned in 1998. Although the project manager had been praised on an earlier project Victoria Quay, for his commitment, organisation, single mindedness and attention to systems and detail which had served the project well, these qualities which carried with them rigidity and inflexibility were not enough to develop and sustain a productive relationship with the EMBT/RMJM design team. Again this recurring theme was echoed in late 2000 when the Project Director also commented that he found it difficult to develop a constructive relationship with the architect. Procurement Choice- Construction management The Holyrood Inquiry notes that while the timetable was developed by the project manager ‘using his considerable experience of project management the tight deadline was undoubtedly driven both by the political objective of an early completion and the occupancy of the parliament building. While the programme may have been a given factor which dictated a ‘fast track construction method, greater investigations and evaluation should have taken place to appropriate the best procurement path. Construction management is a procurement option for high quality, potentially high cost projects if the client is fully engaged and has a clear goal. The Holyrood inquiry however found that the project managers were not fully engaged and failed to appreciate cost downsides and risks involved with managing 60 contractors according to an everlasting brief. The project manager should have given better understanding and advice to both the client and non construction professionals involved in the project about the significantly higher client risk and cost uncertainty that both construction management and management contracting entail over traditional procurement methods. Risk could have been passed to the contractor under another route. Although tender prices are likely to have been higher there would have been a greater degree of cost certainty. Sir Michael Lathem believes that full partnering should have been used to share the risk between client and contractor. The conceptional design work could have been complete by Miralles than novated to a major design and build contractor to work out construction drawings as part of the construction team. The client could have had proper cost control while bringing in value management at an early stage to design out things that adds cost but no value. Prime contracting could possible have been another option. Although still evolving in the late 1990s it benefits from joined up team from inception with the supply chain on board. Project Execution Plan There was a failing by project management to finalise the draft Project Execution Plan, as highlighted in the Auditor Generals September 2000. The Project Execution Plan is a key document governing the project with fundamentals such as project strategy, organisation, control procedures and responsibilities. The HM Treasury describes this document as ‘a live management document, regularly updated to be used by all parties both as a means to communication and as a control and performance measurement tool. The Auditor Generals main findings in his 2000 report highlights there should have been change control procedures based on a detailed cost plan agreed between all parties at an early stage. Cost reporting was also deficient in a number of areas, such as an absence of an arrangement requiring project management to provide full cost information on regular and systematic basis and also in a departure from good practice in the failure to identify and quantify a separate allowance for the major risks potentially affecting the project. Strategic and Operations Management For project management to be effective, it must incorporate both strategic management and operational project management techniques. Strategic management planning at its simplest produces both primary goals for operational plans and also the framework within which they can be realised. Cole (1997) describes strategic management as being much about vision and direction as about mechanisms and structures. At strategic level, project management is concerned with the provision of the organisational and integration structures while at operational level, project management is concerned with how particular processes common to all projects should be executed and controlled. With the application of a clearly defined Body of Knowledge, project objectives can be appropriately defined and objectives successfully delivered. When looking at the Scottish Parliament project there are a number of strategic and operational management actions that could have been undertaken to better control the project and increase its chance for successful delivery against time and cost targets.. Project Organisation Burke (2005) comments that projects are performed by people and managed through people. Therefore it is essential to develop an organisation structure which reflects the needs of the project (task) and the needs of the project team, just as importantly as the needs of the individuals. Central figures within the Holyrood project organisation were the project owner, the project manager and the project sponsor. The project owner sat within a steering group of senior civil servants who took strategic decisions on behalf of the client. The project manager was responsible for the day to day management of the project and reported directly to the project sponsor and acted as the interface between project sponsor and the supply chain. It is the project sponsors role to act as the clients representative and act in the clients interest in the project. In the case of the Holyrood project the project sponsor was not familiar with construction or sponsorship of major construction projects. On a project of such complexity and playing such an important link within the organisation structure the project sponsor should have had sufficient knowledge of both. In my opinion this ultimately had a impact on both the projects successful delivery against time and cost. Decision making mechanisms of the project structure were criticised during Lord Frasiers summary of the Holyrood inquiry. Frasier recommended that where independent advisors are retained, their views should not be filtered by civil servants but put to ministers alongside any disagreement officials may have with the judgements expressed by those advisors. Ministers did not have any formal indication of the apparent threat to the agreed budget of  £50 million during late 1998 and early 1999 when officials were aware of the ‘evolving situation. Forecasting the future, Scenario Planning Cole (1997) describes forecasting in a strategic context as referring to ‘any attempt whether qualitative or quantitative and usually based on past performance, to predict future outcomes and trends in the internal and external environments of an organisation in order to limit the risks involved in devising and implementing strategy Forecasting at an operational level may be focused on the next few months to a year and need a considerable level of exactness, whereas on a strategic level a reasonable level of predicted trends is required in the longer term often on the basis of a 3 or 5 year plan. There is a number of techniques that can be used when forecasting the future such as such as Delphi technique, brain storming and scenario development. Scenario planning, essentially provide a framework for formulating strategy under conditions of uncertainty. Porter (1985) comments that when combined with ‘substantive conceptual tools for understanding industry structure, competitive behaviour, and competitive advantage, the scenario tool can be an important part of the strategists arsenal. The most important difference between rational approaches to strategic planning and scenario planning is that the past is not always representative of the future as continuity cannot be assumed. By challenging assumptions and questioning things that we sometimes take for granted, the Holyrood project team could have been provided with the flexibility it needed to cope with the uncertain times ahead such as the death of the architect and factors such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States of America which has been suggested had a direct effect to the increase in security requirements including bomb proof cladding at Holyrood. Conclusion Although the choice of construction management was heavily criticised in Lord Frasers report many of the decisions that contributed to the massive costs and delays attached to the project were made at a relatively early stage due to the project not being managed properly. With an unrealistic estimated budget and programme the project was destined to fail from the outset. It would be unfair to compare the end cost figure to the original  £49 million cited in the white paper because as previously discussed this was not an accurate figure. Had these estimates derived from final designs and contingencies for the variations then a more realistic comparison for the end cost versus the estimated cost could have been made. It would be fair to say that during the project there were a number of unforeseen circumstances that were unavaioidable which had an effect on both time and cost of the build, notable the deaths of Miralles and Dewar in 2000 and the existence of a multi-headed client (consisting of the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body, the Presiding Officer, and an architectural advisor), who took over the project from the Scottish Executive (formerly the Scottish Office) while it was already under construction. Although events like these cannot be predicted they can be properly managed if the correct contingency measures are in place to effectively manage the risk. It seems that project management can be successfully implemented as seen in other industries such as aerospace and manufacturing, however as both the Latham and Eagn reports outline, the construction industry is behind in terms of performance improvements. In order to be successful project management must implement management at both strategic and operational level. If systems and tools that are used at an operational level to implement project management are not used in conjunction with corresponding integration and organisational aspects of strategic management, then problems are bound to occur. 6.0  Ã‚  Ã‚   References Books Burke, R (2003) Project Management, Planning and Control Techniques. Wiley Cole, G, (1997) Strategic Management, Letts Educational Porter, M (1985) Competitive Advantage- Creating and sustaining superior performance, The Free Press Reports Journals Lord Fraser, 2004.   Holyrood Inquiry, Final Report.   Available from: http://www.holyroodinquiry.org/FINAL_report/report.htm [7 Nov 2006] R. Bayfield, 2004.   Insights from Beyond Construction:   Collaboration The Honda Experience.   Available from: www.scl.org.uk [15 Nov 2006] Websites http://scottish.parliament.uk

Free Essays on Terrorism: Europes Contempt Toward the U.S :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

September 11 and Europe's Contempt Toward the U.S Lest we forget the heroic resolve of our many European "allies," the French surged forward into the fray last week. Well, perhaps "surging" isn't quite the word, and the "fray" has become a meager affair as of late. Their token gesture to join the U.S. and Great Britain in orchestrating a Northern Alliance victory amounts to little more than tactical cowardice, a dashing display of minced words and foot-dragging that only the French seem capable of. However symbolic the gesture, the French and their European counterparts tend to deliver such offerings of goodwill sealed with the usual stamp of anti-Americanism. The irritating Euro-superiority complex recently surfaced over the issue of extraditing captured terrorists to the United States. In September, Spanish authorities infiltrated the Soldiers of Allah, a radical Islamic group based in Madrid with links to al Qaeda. The operation led to 14 arrests of key al Qaeda operatives and shed new light on the financing of bin Laden's operations preceding the September 11 attacks. Hundreds of millions of pesetas (i.e. millions of dollars) flowed through this unit of al Qaeda's financial network. Despite this damning evidence, Spain still sniffs at the thought of extraditing the detainees to the U.S. And what is the source of Spain's moral indigestion? The "backward" American justice system, of course. After all, the U.S. still employs such barbaric anachronisms as the death penalty (and even worse, a solid majority of Americans seem to support it). As evidenced by the continual stalling of Spanish diplomats, the moral burden of any extradition to a country as primitive as the United States is simply too much for the collective Spanish conscience to bear. The fate of al Qaeda operatives must not be abandoned to the crude methods of American jurisprudence. Instead of rejecting such anti-Americanism, the 15 members of the European Union echoed Spain's sentiments in their sanctimonious reports to the press. The Bush administration's establishment of military tribunals further inflamed the E.U.'s righteous indignation. Several countries kindly reminded the U.S. that sending the al Qaeda henchmen across the pond would violate the EU's extradition ban against countries that use the death penalty. This was consistent with what seems to be the E.U.'s role of the meddling whiner, seizing some disputable moral high ground to voice complaints instead of solutions. Perhaps the most annoying aspect of most European indignation is its paternalistic tone, as if the Americans were still reckless colonies in need of a scolding.

Red Badge Of Courage Paper -- essays research papers

During the Civil War, a Union regiment rests along a riverbank, where they have been camped for weeks. The tall soldier Jim Conklin spreads a rumor that the army will soon march. Jim is a man who is very sure of himself and his own opinions. Henry Fleming, a recent recruit with the 304th regiment, worries about his courage, thinking that if he were ever to see a battle, he might run. Henry joined the army because he was drawn to the glory of military conflict, but since he joined, all the army has done is wait.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At last the regiment is given the orders to march, and the soldiers spend several wearying days traveling on foot. Eventually they near a battlefield, and they begin to hear the distant roar of battle. After taking their positions, they were charged by the enemy; Henry, boxed in by his fellow soldiers, realizes that he could not run even if he wanted to. He fires mechanically, feeling like a gear in a huge machine. The blue regiment defeated the gray soldiers, and then men congratulate one another. Henry wakes from a brief nap to find that the men are being charged again. This time, terror overtakes him, and he leaps up and flees from the line. As he dodges through the landscape, he tells himself that he did the right ting to flee, that his regiment could not have won, and the men who remained to fight were fools. But he passes a general on horseback, and overhears the commander saying that the men have held back the enemy charge. Feelin...

Government Aid in Africa’s Education Essay

America has had a great influence on Africa’s developing education system. The reason I have chosen this article is because it gives a brief look into how American organizations have played a big role in the advancement of Africa’s education. The article informs me that some of the same educational programs African-Americans are provided with in the U. S. were exported to Africa. The cities that already had a decent economy received them first. In the 1970’s Europe and America promoted education to Africa but many rejected the programs. They supported missionary and independent African schools because they provided higher training and education. Within the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, it states how the books that William borrowed from the library were donated by an American organization. Without those key books on physics and engineering William probably would not be where he is today. This article proves how much of an influence America has had on the rise of Africa’s education. I wanted to know how much assistance did Africa’s education development received from America. The article shows how American organizations have made a great impact in Africa’s education. Unfortunately the article didn’t give me all of the exact information that is needed. Indeed, it states the programs that have basically helped Africa stats its educational foundation. It lacks information on America’s current government help. It also does not tell the current state of Africa’s educational system. Information on more organizations and grants that have helped is also need. Research Improvement Completing this assignment has improved my research strategies exponentially. The school advance search has helped me out a lot with this assignment. At first my research strategies were poor and not at the collegiate level but now they are improved. I believe they will enhance throughout my years in college now. I am extremely proud of myself and thankful for the librarian showing us this great way to do research.

Music publication through what was relevant in society

Dear Miss Bethany Sharp, I have done extensive research into the following magazines in order to conclude their success as a music publication through what was relevant in society. NME 1950's What was Society like? It was the end of wartime rationing from World War 2 and there was now a consumer society. Teenagers had now been given spending power but no means of entertainment but magazines. Rock ‘n roll hit the scene with a new audience, the emerging youth culture had now taken the music scene and Rock was now dismissed by older generations. This type of music was popular mostly with teenagers who were trying to break out of the mainstream idea of the middle class. Also, The US had now created their own Hot 100 Music Charts – NME responded to the change in Society so because teenagers wanted to break out of the idea of middle class that Editors decided to publish adds in the magazines content ‘wanted: hip young gun slingers'. NME did this so that they could get new, fresh writers who represented part of the audience; therefore they were part of the music scene and would have a more informal mode of address, therefore relate as well as appeal to them, creating success for the magazine. – NME responded to the change in Society that the US had now created a music chart, so NME they decided to introduce the first British Pop charts. It appealed to the audience and created success as it was the best selling singles chart in the UK and in a sense influenced the audience in what to listen to and what was part of the music scene. 1960's What was Society like? London spent much of its time swinging and dancing as much of the music scene. The nation became more obsessed with political and cultural events. The British invasion of rock and roll, beat and pop performers now appeared by performers such as The Beatles. – NME responded to the change in Society to embraced the new British groups emerging at the time; The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were arguably the two most renowned groups to emerge during this 60's and they were frequently featured on the front cover. – NME responded to the change in Society because it was between January and June 1964, NME's sales peaked to 306,881 that as the Beatles and the rolling stones were taking on the music scene, NME was left to track the new rock music. 2000's What was Society like? Society has now become multi-platform and fast paced because of all the new mediums and the use of synergy – technology has now become a necessity to everyday life – NME responded to the change in Society as technology was becoming more used in everyday life, i.e. the internet, NME felt that it might lose sales as factors such as piracy and easy accessible information can come about, so NME absorbs part sister/rival publication melody maker in 2000. – NME responded to the change in Society because technology was becoming more widespread that NME decided to feature on radio and television coverage in order to become more multi-platform and thus making it more successful – It appealed to the audience because NME had coverage on NME awards and weekly NME chart show on MTV2. NME had taken further steps than being just a magazine. – NME responded to the change in Society so the NME magazine as the music scene was becoming younger, NME introduced Club NME nights across Britain and to the US. Smash Hits Late 1970's/1980's What was Society like? Society was now full of mass unemployment and there were now a social unrest- people where now angry at the government and there were now anti-rebellion teens. Punk was introduced and the idea of being rebellious, bands like the sex pistols started to make the music scene. – NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine As the new music scene was young socialites and looking good was important, Smash Hits was a new glossy magazine for younger audiences . It used niches which appealed to younger audiences because it focused around â€Å"trivia† (What is your favourite colour? etc.) they used this informal mode of address to create success – It appeals to the audience to create success because it talks about lives and gossip, something the audience was looking for. – NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine as the magazine was talking to a new audience it created a new mode of address; it was now informal and colloquial – chatty because it had to represent the audience in order to create success. 1980's What was Society like? Cable and MTV were introduced; it had an enormous impact on the music and young people. The CD revolutionized the music industry. Music such as Pop, Rock, new wave, Punk, country, Rap and Hip-hop became popular. – NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine It was because the music scene had became widespread and there were much more genres that Smash hits went on to hire many respected journalists 2000's What was Society like? Society has now become multi-platform and fast paced because of all the new mediums and the use of synergy – technology has now become a necessity to everyday life – NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine a whole new range of platforms including Television, the internet, mobile and so on were introduced, the magazine became multi-platform as the audience became more industrialised to create success – It appealed to the audience because Today's teens wanted faster, deeper information about music at a faster rate of accessing information, they were now able to do so. – NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazines started to notice that the group allegiances to pop and rock had changed, magazine realised it had to change so became more multi-platform – Magazines became more synergised, using television, radio, websites etc. This was because technology was growing and so was the young audience. – NME responded to the change in Society so the Smash Hits magazine Because the audience and the music scene were changing, the magazine had to change. Smash hits decided to keep the genre the same although it became multi-platform. – It didn't appeal to the audience and the audience moved on, however it managed to continue using different mediums such as television, digital radio and website services Sniffin' Glue Late 1970's/1980's What was Society like? Society was now full of mass unemployment and there were now a social unrest- people where now angry at the government and there were now anti-rebellion teens. Punk was introduced and the idea of being rebellious, bands like the sex pistols started to make the music scene. – NME responded to the change in Society so the Sniffin' Glue magazine Young socialites wanted to be part of the music scene, so they wanted to belong to a group, The Sniffin' Glue publication is one that is a fanzine – It appealed to the audience because this means it is exclusively made by fans for fans for a specific genre – Punk Zine, this meant the audience could relate to Gigs and so on. It also appealed to the audience because it meant that it could remain very Punk and shocking through the mode of address such as the aggressive and vulgar language but managed to remain very political toward the audience through the points it made. – NME responded to the change in Society so the Sniffin' Glue magazine It was because the audience wanted to be heard that the publisher Perry encourages reader to make their own fanzines so sniffin' glue had less circulation – It appealed to the audience because it Introduced the British punk culture and DIY Punk ethic so fans created their own fanzines. By doing this they kept the audiences demands and met theirs, overall creating success – It appealed to the audience as the mode of address was very opinionated, they were able to say what they wanted a it was a non-profit fanzine – They appealed to the audience as they represented them through the cover as it very punk and shocking almost making a political statement

Abortion: a Practice of Contraception Essay

Abortion is the deliberate killing of the weakest and most defenseless among us. Unfortunately, for the last few decades, the practice has been recognized as a fundamental human right by the highest court of the land. Many people are fervent supporters of abortion. Their reasons for support are varied. However, I believe that support for abortion is not possible for those who understand our dignity as human persons under God. We were made by God, and it is from Him that we derive our worth The issue of abortion is one of the most commonly used as a topic for academic argumentative papers. Definitely, abortion is a very sensitive issue from the moral and ethical points of view, and there are numerous proponents and opponents of abortions in the US. See more: Examples of satire in adventures of huckfinn essay Writing an academic paper on abortion can give the writer a great field for arguing and discussing numerous pros and cons of this controversial issue. At the same time, writing argumentative essay on abortion can help author formulate own point of view on this problem and demonstrate own opinion and position regarding abortion legalization. Many people consider abortion as a cruel, unnatural, and absolutely immoral human act, that is why they are arguing for banning abortions. They qualify it as a murder of an unborn child and argue for launching criminal responsibility to those who intend to do abortion. They are convinced that such thing as abortion can never be considered ethical and it infringes all moral norms and postulates on which our society is based. They believe that abortions as a concept is very unhealthy and even dangerous to normal development of our social life. Those are the most important con factors which can be mentioned when working on argumentative essay on abortion. There are also numerous proponents of the abortion issue, who believe that there is nothing wrong about it and it is a personal matter of every modern woman whether to keep the unborn baby or not. Such individual point on numerous incidents of rape or incest which sometimes simply require abortion as a salvation from the situation. Also, they say that some pregnant women choose abortion since they are not ready for motherhood or do not have funds to rise the child properly. These are quite strong pro arguments which should also be mentioned in any academic paper on abortion.

Paper Analysis Twenty Hubs and No Hq

This article tries to propose advantages of an alternative strategy of global business management for MNCs. According to the authors the previous strategies of management from the Head Quarters (centralized) or Head Quarters for most functions with regional offices and country managers (decentralized) are not as efficient as management without any Head Quarters and twenty strategically placed hubs. There are compelling reasons to follow this strategy. Firstly developing countries account for a much larger chunk of the net revenue. Secondly there are untapped markets in the form of economically weaker sections in these countries and the full potential of these can not be exploited with the prevalent management strategies. Thirdly there is a huge cost saving advantage with manufacturing in low cost countries and outsourcing is just one way to realize it. The basic concept of this strategy as given by the authors is to have 20 hubs in 20 different countries – 10 developing and 10 developed which account for 70% of the population of the two worlds in each case and on the whole and much of the economic activity. According to the authors having hubs in these 20 countries MNCs can serve all the markets in the whole world more efficiently than using any of the previous strategies. These hubs will serve as a gateway for these MNCs in these regions. As such all management and manufacturing functions required by the region can be shifted to these gateway countries. This will allow the MNCs to serve customers on every level of the income pyramid. Also it will reduce the sourcing cost by 20% and corporate overhead cost by 2/3rd. The gateway hub structure can be flexible with new countries becoming hubs as and when they reach the requisite level of development and each hub sourcing goods manufactured in other hubs. According to the authors in the gateway hub model risk can be spread over 10 or more locations with manufacturing and R&D in multiple locations. This article augments the learning by teaching to challenge any concept even the concept that look as basic as the centralized management and Head Quarters. INNOVATIVE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES The article tries to find the most relevant dimensions to use to cluster innovative international strategies to arrive at typologies that can be interpreted and used further. GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF THE INDUSTRY INTERNATIONAL DEV IN THE PAST†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦YEARS INTERNATIONAL DEV IN THE NEXT†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. YEARS INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY OF THE COMPETITOR IN THE INDUSTRY INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY OF YOUR FIRM In this study they find out the most relevant dimensions and cluster cases according to these dimensions and identify some empirical types. The authors found the four main dimensions as Process of internationalization Segment scope Level of coordination across borders Fragments of narratives where an Innovative International Strategy WAS DESCRIBED by respondents were collected Content of fragments in the transcripts related to a firm was analysed to find the concepts used to characterize its strategy Cases that were similar to each other were clustered and formed an empirical type of IIs Major influences Footwear Competitive action :-relocation and innovative international strategy Cables and wires Struct forces:-technological intensity; new high growth markets; government intervention;comparative advantages(in cases) Paint Structural forces:- technological and marketing intensity Chocolate sugar and confectionary Structural Forces :- Marketing intensity and diff in consumption pattern across industries Competitive action:- MAA; Innovative International Strategy The authors arrived at six innovative international strategy typologies across these four industries. The main value addition from this article is how a study can be carried out to scientifically figure out the main innovative strategies and to gauge the scope of innovation and strategic management in the industry. It also helps find out the relation between strategy and the constraints under which it is developed.