Life of Indian Education Essay Example

Life of Indian Education Essay 1A 26 October 2010 Life of Indian Education Indian education; it doesn’t necessarily mean to get an Indian education rather to be taught how to be Indian. In Sherman Alexie’s short story â€Å"Indian Education† the main character, Junior, is taught the lessons of being an Indian. The story is about Junior’s life in school from first to twelfth grade with a class reunion at the end. Through each grade we see Junior growing up as well as lessons to be learned. Junior finds himself facing many stereotypes, racism, and discrimination towards him, his people, and culture. The short story ends with Junior beating the odds and overcoming all the obstacles he faced. Throughout the story â€Å"Indian Education† Alexie’s character learns to be an Indian and learns many lessons of how tough it is to be Indian. The first lesson being learned of being Indian is being poor. In the first grade Junior was picked on because he was different than the other boys. â€Å"My hair was too short and my U. S. Government glasses were horn-rimmed, ugly. † The narrator states how he is different by having his hair too short and ugly glasses. We will write a custom essay sample on Life of Indian Education specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Life of Indian Education specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Life of Indian Education specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Having his hair too short shows the other Indian boys that he’s different because in Indian tradition the guys usually grow their hair out. He also states that his glasses are provided by the government which tells the reader that he is poor. Experiencing this poverty is common amongst Indians because many of them aren’t educated enough to get a good job to support themselves. Another example from the first grade is when Junior is given nicknames like â€Å"Junior Falls Down† and â€Å"Cries-Like-a-White-Boy. His nickname â€Å"Cries-Like-a-White-Boy† hints that there is some tension between the Whites and Indians because as said in the story they’ve never heard a white boy cry. These examples show the narrator is learning of being an Indian because being poor is common within the Indian culture and having unfriendly tensions between the Whites is something Indians have had for decades. In the second grade Junior faces racism and discrimination fro m his teacher. â€Å"‘Tell me you’re sorry,’ she said. ‘Sorry for what? ’ I asked. ‘Everything,’ she said. Here, his teacher is punishing him for no reason. This shows the teacher views herself higher than him and thinks of Indians as at the bottom. This is the first time he faces racism and he’s only a young kid at this time. This is one of the many difficulties Indians have to face every day because they look, act, and are viewed differently. In the fourth grade he is shown encouragement for the first of few times. His teacher tells him he should be a doctor, because he is very smart, so he can come back and help his tribe. At this same time the narrator’s mom and dad are sitting in their own darkness drinking and being depressed because of their lives. Junior, having to face his parents like this, knows what he has to do to help not only his family but his entire culture. It’s the first time he looks himself in the mirror and sees himself becoming something and wants to do something with his life. This can be seen by the many difficulties Indians face versus how much encouragement and belief they get from others and their selves. It can also be seen as him breaking away from the Indian culture and fighting to be different than everyone else in his reservation because it’s almost a â€Å"tradition† for Indians to get criticism from others that they’re never going to be anything in life and for the Indians to stop believing in their selves. These were the first lessons he learned of becoming an Indian. Going through the fifth grade the narrator shot his first basketball and air balled everything. However, instead of giving up he looked at the positive and saw math and geometry in it and kept on trying. This can also be seen as a metaphor; As Indians, and the culture of Indians, hardly anything goes right for them. They’re poor, they have poor education, and a lot of them become alcoholics, but for Junior he doesn’t give up, he keeps his head up and despite all of these negative events happening around him he is still able to know that he can choose how his life turns out and not become like everyone else in his tribe. At this same time he shot a basketball his cousin was sniffing cement and his cousin saw beauty and chemistry in this. Junior, learning to be Indian, sees his own family making the wrong decisions on his own because no one is there to tell him what’s right or wrong. Learning to be an Indian can be tough with no supervision and guidance from a more responsible person. He also learns lessons of being an Indian during the seventh grade when he separated from his tribe. â€Å"But on the day I leaned through the basement window of the HUD house and kissed the white girl, I felt the good-byes I was saying to my entire tribe. † Junior left his tribe to get a better ducation at a white school. Leaving your own people to go live with the enemy is a hard thing to cope with for Junior and his tribe. This teaches him lessons of being Indian because he realizes that living on his reservation is not going to get him the education he needs to be successful because Indians have a poor education system. All the way until the twelfth grade Junior faced many obstacles, stereotypes, and racism in the white world. In the twelfth grade the narrator graduates as valedictorian and states that his hair is longer than ever. I walk down the aisle, valedictorian of this farm town high school, and my cap doesn’t fit because I’ve grown my hair longer than it’s ever been. † This shows the audience that he’s very smart and that he beat all the challenges and obstacles put in front of him. This teaches him how to be Indian because it shows the narrator that being Indian is tough and he knows it’s not easy for people with an Indian background to become a successful person out in the world. However, he accomplished things no one believed he could. He beat the odds and proved a lot of people wrong. His long hair symbolizes that he hasn’t forgotten where he’s come from. It’s a symbol his Indian heritage and even though he’s been going to a white school for some years he still hasn’t forgotten about his life back at home. He’s always kept a part of him everywhere he went. Throughout the story Junior grows up to become a new person beating the odds and defeating all the obstacles he had to face. Even though he came from an Indian reservation where people saw themselves as failures, he overcame those odds and saw that he can choose how his life turns out. The narrator is educated of being an Indian facing racism and discrimination. The story talks about the narrator’s education from the first through twelfth grade but doesn’t necessarily give the image of him getting an education but rather it sends out the message of him learning to be an Indian.

How the Beatles influenced America

How the Beatles influenced America Perez 7Gema PerezCara RosenthalWorld History, Period 9May 20, 2014The Beatles' Invasion in AmericaThe 1960's was an era of changing and denying in U.S History. "There has always been a difference in tastes between parents and their children; very often parents do not understand their children's feelings and attitudes. In result, the wealth of material brings the emptiness of spiritual life. The teens saw everything meaningless; they do not want that kind of life" (Fanyi). They sought for a better life than the one their parents passed on to them. However, in the sixties the gulf between these two groups was even wider than it had ever been before. In the world there was a feeling of discontent with the state of society among the young. In their opinion they were consumption-oriented and corrupt. At this time the boundary between mainstream culture and subculture was falling apart.English: Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John ...Music is an exit that gave them a chance to express their thoughts about people, war, government, society and especially Rock music. When The Beatles' arrived in America, they restyled the United States by their use of unique sound, charming appearances, and influence on the youth culture. The group was consisted of John Lennon,[vocals, rhythm guitar] Paul McCartney, [vocals, rhythm guitar] George Harrison, [lead guitar, vocals] and Ringo Starr [drums, vocals, percussion].These fabulous foursome [their nickname] were the most successful Rock band in the 1960's because they became a culture icon to this generation in America and Europe. Their songs fulfilled their spiritual life and had a great impact on the American culture. By understanding how The Beatles' influenced America, the reader comprehends how the development of Rock and Roll music influenced rebellion in youth today.In the 1960s The Beatles' journey started of changing the world...

Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)

Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940) Can the government require people to get a special license in order to spread their religious message or promote their religious beliefs in residential neighborhoods? That used to be common, but it was challenged by Jehovahs Witnesses who argued that the government didnt have the authority to impose such restrictions on people. Fast Facts: Cantwell v. Connecticut Case Argued: March 29, 1940Decision Issued: May 20, 1940Petitioner: Newton D. Cantwell, Jesse L. Cantwell, and Russell D. Cantwell, Jehovahs Witnesses proselytizing in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood in Connecticut, who were arrested and convicted under a Connecticut statute banning the unlicensed soliciting of funds for religious or charitable purposesRespondent: The state of ConnecticutKey Question: Did the Cantwells’ convictions violate the First Amendment?  Majority Decision: Justices Hughes, McReynolds, Stone, Roberts, Black, Reed, Frankfurter, Douglas, MurphyDissenting: NoneRuling: The Supreme Court ruled that statute requiring a license to solicit for religious purposes constituted a prior restraint upon speech violating the First Amendments guarantee of free speech as well as the First and 14th Amendments guarantee of the right to the free exercise of religion. Background Information Newton Cantwell and his two sons traveled to New Haven, Connecticut, in order to promote their message as Jehovahs Witnesses. In New Haven, a statute required that anyone wishing to solicit funds or distribute materials had to apply for a license - if the official in charge found that they were a bona fide charity or religious, then a license would be granted. Otherwise, a license was denied. The Cantwells did not apply for a license because, in their opinion, the government was in no position to certify Witnesses as a religion - such a decision was simply outside the governments secular authority. As a result they were were convicted under a statute which forbade the unlicensed soliciting of funds for religious or charitable purposes, and also under a general charge of breach of the peace because they had been going door-to-door with books and pamphlets in a predominantly Roman Catholic area, playing a record entitled Enemies which attacked Catholicism. Cantwell alleged that the statute they had been convicted under infringed upon their right to free speech and challenged it in the courts. Court Decision With Justice Roberts writing the majority opinion, the Supreme Court found that statutes requiring a license to solicit for religious purposes constituted a prior restraint upon speech and gave the government too much power in determining which groups were permitted to solicit. The officer who issued licenses for solicitation was authorized to inquire whether the applicant did have a religious cause and to decline a license if in his view the cause was not religious, which gave government officials too much authority over religious questions. Such a censorship of religion as the means of determining its right to survive is a denial of liberty protected by the First Amendment and included in the liberty which is within the protection of the Fourteenth. Even if an error by the secretary can be corrected by the courts, the process still serves as an unconstitutional prior restraint: To condition the solicitation of aid for the perpetuation of religious views or systems upon a license, the grant of which rests in the exercise of a determination by state authority as to what is a religious cause, is to lay a forbidden burden upon the exercise of liberty protected by the Constitution. The breach of the peace accusation arose because the three accosted two Catholics in a strongly Catholic neighborhood and played them a phonograph record which, in their opinion, insulted the Christian religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular. The Court voided this conviction under the clear-and-present danger test, ruling that the interest sought to be upheld by the State did not justify the suppression of religious views that simply annoyed others. Cantwell and his sons may have been spreading a message that was unwelcome and disturbing, but they did not physically attack anyone. According to the Court, the Cantwells simply did not pose a threat to public order merely by spreading their message: In the realm of religious faith, and in that of political belief, sharp differences arise. In both fields the tenets of one man may seem the rankest error to his neighbor. To persuade others to his own point of view, the pleader, as we know, at times, resorts to exaggeration, to vilification of men who have been, or are, prominent in church or state, and even to false statement. But the people of this nation have ordained in the light of history, that, in spite of the probabilities of excesses and abuses, these liberties are in the long view, essential to enlightened opinion and right conduct on the part of the citizens of a democracy. Significance This judgment prohibited governments from creating special requirements for people spreading religious ideas and sharing a message in an unfriendly environment because such speech acts do not automatically represent a threat to public order. This decision was also notable because it was the first time that the Court had incorporated the Free Exercise Clause into the Fourteenth Amendment - and after this case, it always has.

Write about the arguments for and against developing a genetic Essay

Write about the arguments for and against developing a genetic fingerprint profile for all members of society - Essay Example The fragments produced are invisible at this stage and so the fragments are transferred to a nylon membrane using southern blotting which involves adding a layer f absorbent paper to the nylon membrane. The DNA is then drawn upwards by capillary motion. The DNA fragments are then denatured by heating to give single stranded DNA. A radioactive isotope f phosphorus with a base sequence identical to one f the VNTR sequences is used to locate the particular bands. This is also known as a DNA probe and it binds to its complementary single stranded DNA. Any excess probe is washed off. The probes are accurately located by placing X-ray film over the nylon membrane. DNA fingerprinting is a method that compares the fragments f DNA. DNA fingerprinting was first invented to detect the presence f genetic diseases. Today, DNA fingerprinting is used in different ways. DNA is analyzed using a Southern Blot, which allows scientists to observe the base pair patterns. DNA fingerprinting can be used in a few different ways. First, to find out if the child belongs to a person DNA fingerprinting may be used. When a child is born, it inherits the VNTR's from the father and the mother. VNTR's are variable number tandem repeats, which is repeated sequences f base pairs. The VNTR patterns are used to determine the father or mother.

Halil Inalcik and Marshall Hodgsons views on the Ottoman Empire Term Paper

Halil Inalcik and Marshall Hodgsons views on the Ottoman Empire - Term Paper Example There was an accepted mode of coexistence that was not occasionally as disruptive as a society as such would be in the modern world. This, however, did not mean that the different religious factions existed in absolute peace without any animosity or bad blood. On the contrary, there were documented cases of massacres and discrimination all over the empire that seemed to have been sparked by hatred and a religious bias.   The breakdown of the empire of the Seljuk Turks was the catalyst in the formation of the Ottoman Empire1 which was one of the few surviving empires at the time. The Ottoman Empire started as one of the small states that were formed after the initial breakdown and existed as thus for a longer period of time before the reign of Muhammad II saw the absorption of all neighboring Turkish states in one unified monarch that was referred to as the Ottoman Empire. The rulers in the Ottoman Empire were primarily the descendants of Ghazi warriors who were very successful in t he formation of a superpower in Europe at the time when all the other empires around them were disintegrating2. The Ottoman Empire existed peacefully with the other nations around it except for the occasional war that was primarily aimed at expanding trade routes or spreading the holy word of Islam. An alliance between the French and the Turks was formed later on with the driving force being a common enemy in Austria Hapsburg and Spain although it did not have much in the bearing of war. The then leader Sulayman (popularly referred to as Sulayman the magnificent) of the Ottoman Empire was responsible for creating this alliance. He was instrumental in the organization of the judicial system among many other accolades that he had and he was arguably one of the most successful rulers of the empire if not the greatest. In addition, his reign saw the flowering of Turkish literature, Ottoman architecture, and arts which served to expand the reach of the empire as scholars were attracted b y them. Furthermore, traders also followed suit as the world was beginning to have an appreciation for the arts and literature although every culture had its own. The leader of the Ottoman Empire was popularly referred to as the sultan. The sultan was primarily charged with upholding the Muslim canonical law among many other implied responsibilities which were overshadowed by the fact that he was viewed as the representative of the Muslim God, Allah, on the ottomans. After the death of Sulayman, the Janissaries, who were largely Christians converted to Islam and trained to be deadly in war gained power and this was the cue for the empire to begin crumbling. Corruption then became the order of the day as the holders of the office of the day were charged with fleecing the people as they scrambled to keep what they would for themselves at the expense of the very people they were meant to be representative of. The first signs of the waning power of the empire lost in the battlefront, wi th enemies aligning with Austria in a bid to ceasing parts of the territory that was initially under the Ottoman Empire.

Project Management and Innovation Past and Future Essay Example for Free

Project Management and Innovation Past and Future Essay It is unsurprising that development of innovation is often run as a project. Yet, theoretically both project management and innovation studies have evolved over time as distinctively separate disciplines. In this paper we make an attempt to conceptualize the innovation project management and past as well as future of same. By doing so, we contribute to the nascent academic debate on the interplay between innovation and project management. This paper is concerned with three topics and the interplay between them, namely â€Å"Innovation†, â€Å"Research and Development (RD)† and â€Å"Project Management†. The interest in these topics has exploded recently as they emerged both on the policy agenda and in the corporate strategies. The contribution of technological innovation to national economic growth has been well established in the economic literature. In the last couple of decades, new technologies, new industries, and new business models have powered impressive gains in productivity and GDP growth. While originally there was a tendency to equate RD and innovation, contemporary understanding of innovation is much broader than purely RD. RD is one component of innovation activities and knowledge creation among others. Innovation emerges as a pervasive and complex force, not only in the high-tech sectors in advanced economies, but also as a phenomenon existing in low-tech industry of developing, or catching-up economies. Still, the link between RD and innovation is often at the core of the innovation studies. Presently, we are witnessing â€Å"projectification† of the world as a growing number of specialists organise their work in projects rather than on on-going functional basis. The connection between RD and project management has a long history. Most tools of project management have been developed from the management of RD, often with military purposes (Lorell, 1995). The most vivid example of managing RD projects in the public sector is the PRINCE2 method (UK OGC, 2005). Due to the above mentioned difference between RD and innovation, RD projects should be distinguished from innovation projects too. Innovation is a non-linear process, not necessarily technology-led and may not necessarily result from formal RD investments. Innovation is the exploration and exploitation of new ideas and recombination of existing knowledge in the pursuit of sustained competitive advantage. Besides, both innovation and RD projects by their nature differ from conventional projects. Thus, there is a need to examine the Innovation Project Management (IPM) as a distinctive area of managing innovation in projects, using the tools and methods of the project management. The Evolution of Project Management Theory The genesis of the ideas that led to the development of modern project management can arguably be traced back to the protestant reformation of the 15th century. The Protestants and later the Puritans introduced a number of ideas including ‘reductionism’, ‘individualism’ and the ‘protestant work ethic’ (PWE) that resonate strongly in the spirit of modern project management. Reductionism focuses on removing unnecessary elements of a process or ‘ceremony’ and then breaking the process down into its smallest task or unit to ‘understand’ how it works. Individualism assumes we are active, independent agents who can manage risks and create ideas. These ideas are made into ‘real things’ by social actions contingent upon the availability of a language to describe them. The PWE focuses on the intrinsic value of work. Prior to the protestant reformation most people saw work either as a necessary evil, or as a means to an end. For Protestants, serving God included participating in and working hard at worldly activities as this was part of God’s purpose for each individual. From the perspective of the evolution of modern project management, these ideas were incorporated into two key philosophies, Liberalism and Newtonianism. Liberalism included the ideas of capitalism (Adam Smith), the division of labour, and that an industrious lifestyle would lead to wealthy societies Newton saw the world as a harmonious mechanism controlled by a ‘universal law’. Applying scientific observations to parts of the whole would allow understanding and insights to occur and eventually a complete understanding. LITERATURE REVIEW In this paper we seek to establish bridges between two distinctive disciplines – project management and innovation management (innovation studies). Despite seemingly interrelated nature of both subjects, these two research domains have been developing relatively isolated from each other. Innovation Studies Innovation studies are rooted in the seminal writing of Joseph Schumpeter in the 1920s-1930s (e. g. Schumpeter, 1934), whose ideas started to gain popularity in the 1960s, as the general interest among policymakers and scholars in technological change, RD and innovation increased. The field formed as a distinctive academic discipline from the 1980s. Scholars like Richard Nelson, Chris Freeman, Bengt-Ake Lundvall, Keith Pavitt, Luc Soete, Giovanni Dosi, Jan Fagerberg, Bart Verspagen, Eric von Hippel and others have shaped and formed this discipline. The seminal publications in the area include, inter alia, Freeman (1982), Freeman and Soete (1997), Lundvall (1992), Nelson and Winter (1977, 1982), von Hippel (1988). Regarding the definition of innovation – a general consensus has been achieved among innovation scholars who broadly understand this phenomenon as a transformation of knowledge into new products, processes and services. An in-depth review of the innovation literature is beyond the scope of this paper (refer to Fagerberg (2004) for such analysis). Our intention is to outline main directions of research. In a recent paper, Fagerberg and Verspagen (2009) provide a comprehensive analysis of the cognitive and organizational characteristics of the emerging field of innovation studies and consider its prospects and challenges. The authors trace evolution and dynamics of the field. Reflecting the complex nature of innovation, the field of innovation studies unites various academic disciplines. For examples, Fagerberg and Verspagen (2009) define four main clusters of innovation scholars. They are â€Å"Management† (cluster 1), â€Å"Schumpeter Crowd† (cluster 2), â€Å"Geography and Policy† (cluster 3. 1), Periphery† (cluster 3. 2) and â€Å"Industrial Economics† (cluster 4). For the purposes of our analysis we shall have a closer look at the â€Å"Management† cluster, since it is here where the connection between innovation and Project Management can be found. In fact â€Å"Management† is the smallest cluster within the entire network of innovation scholars, consisting of only 22 scholars, mainly sociologists and management scholars, with a geographical bias towards the USA. This small number of scholars (22) is in sharp contrast with the biggest clusters ? â€Å"Geography and Policy† (298 scholars) or â€Å"Schumpeter Crowd† (309). In terms of publication preferences, apart from Research Policy, the favorite journal for innovation scholars, members of â€Å"Management† cluster see management journals as the most relevant publishing outlets, particularly Journal of Product Innovation Management, Management Science and Strategic Management Journal. Fagerberg and Verspagen (2009, p. 29) see a strong link between innovation and management and provide a following description: â€Å"Management is to some extent a cross-disciplinary field by default and firm-level innovation falls naturally within its portfolio. †¦. So between innovation studies and management there clearly is some common ground†. Project Management The project management as a human activity has a long history; e. g. construction of Egyptian pyramids in 2000 BC may be regarded as a project activity. However, the start for the modern Project Management era, as a distinctive research area, was in the 1950s. Maylor (2005) determines three major stages of the PM historical development. Before the 1950s, the PM as such was not recognized. In the 1950s, tools and techniques were developed to support the management of complex projects. The dominant thinking was based on â€Å"one best way† approach, based on numerical methods. The third stage, from the 1990s onwards is characterized by the changing environment in which projects take place. It is more and more realized that a project management approach should be contingent upon its context. It is also noted that a shift is observed over time in development of project management – from focus on sole project management to the broader management of projects and strategic project management (Fangel, 1993; Morris, 1994; Bryde, 2003). Reflecting these changes in the managerial practices, the body of academic literature on PM has evolved and burgeoned. International Journal of Project Management and Project Management Journals became the flagship publication outlets for PM scholars and practitioners. A large number of (managerial) handbooks outlining the methods and techniques of PM have been published, e. g. Andersen et al (2004), Bruijn et al (2004) Kerzner (2005), Maylor (2005), Meredith and Mantel (2006), Muller (2009), Roberts (2007), Turner (1999), Turner and Turner (2008). Despite a growing number of publications, there is no unified theoretical basis and there is no unified theory of project management, due to its multidisciplinary nature (Smyth and Morris, 2007). Project management has a more applied nature than other management disciplines. Although the PM has formed as a distinct research field, there is no universal, generally accepted definition of a project and project management. Turner (1999) develops a generic definition of a project: A project is an endeavor in which human, financial and material resources are organized in a novel way to undertake a unique scope of work, of given specification, which constraints of cost and time, so as to achieve beneficial change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives. There have been several attempts to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art research in PM and outline its trends and future directions (e. g. , PMI, 2004; Betts and Lansley, 1995; Themistocleous and Wearne, 2003; Crawford et al, 2006; Kloppenberg and Opfer, 2002). In a recent article, Kwak and Anbari (2009) review relevant academic journals and identify eight allied disciplines, in which PM is being applied and developed. These disciplines include such areas as Operation Management, Organizational Behavior, Information Technology, Engineering and Construction, Strategy/Integration, Project Finance and Accounting, and Quality and Management. Notably, one of these eight allied disciplines is â€Å"Technology Application / Innovation / New Product Development / Research and Development†. The authors found that only 11% of journal publications on the subject of project management fell under the â€Å"Innovation† heading. Yet, importantly, this area showed sustained upward interest, and hence the number of publications, since the 1960s. Overall, Kwak and Anbari (2009) conclude that the mainstream PM research proceeds largely in the â€Å"Strategy / Integration / Portfolio Management / Value of PM / Marketing† direction (30% of all publications examined by the authors). PM AND INNOVATION: THE PAST Projects in one form or another have been undertaken for millennia, but it was only in the latter part of the 20th century people started talking about ‘project management’. Earlier endeavors were seen as acts of worship, engineering or nation building. And the people controlling the endeavors saw themselves as members of groups focused on specific callings such as generals, priests and architects. There is an important distinction to be drawn here between projects: ‘a temporary Endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result’ and the profession of project management; or at least ‘modern project management’. For a discipline to be considered a profession a number of attributes are generally considered necessary; these are: †¢ Practitioners are required to meet formal educational and entry requirements, †¢ autonomy over the terms and conditions of practice, a code of ethics, †¢ a commitment to service ideals, †¢ a monopoly over a discrete body of knowledge and related skills. Within this context, project management is best considered an ‘emerging profession’ that has developed during the last 30 to 40 years. Over this period project management associations around the world have developed a generally consistent view of the processes involved in ‘project management’, encoded these views into ‘Bodies of Knowledge’ (BoKs), described competent behaviors and are now certifying knowledgeable and/or competent ‘Project Managers’. Certainly, if ‘modern project management’ does not qualify as a fully fledged profession at this point in time, it will evolve into one fairly quickly. The Evolution of Project Management Tools The central theme running through the various project management concepts is that project management is an integrative process that has at its core, the balancing of the ‘iron triangle’ of time, cost and output. All three facets must be present for a management process to be considered project management. The evolution of cost and scope control into relatively precise processes occurred during the 14th and 18th Centuries respectively. Time management lacked effective measurement and control until the emergence of ‘critical path’ scheduling in the 1960s. The branch of management that gave rise to the development of the Critical Path Method of scheduling was Operational Research (OR). OR is an interdisciplinary science which uses methods such as mathematical modeling and statistics to assist decision making in complex real-world situations. It is distinguished by its ability to look at and improve an entire system, rather than concentrating on specific processes which was the focus of Taylor’s ‘scientific management’. The growth of OR was facilitated by the increasing availability and power of computers which were needed to carry out the large numbers of calculations typically required to analyze a system. [pic] Figure 1. The Iron Triangle The first ‘project’ to add science to the process of time control was undertaken by Kelley and Walker to develop the Critical Path Method (CPM) for E. I. du Pont de Numours. In 1956/57 Kelly and Walker started developing the algorithms that became CPM. The program they developed was trialled on plant shutdowns in 1957 And the first paper on critical path scheduling was published in 1959. The critical meeting to approve this project was held on the 7th May 1957 in Newark, Delaware, where DuPont and Remington Rand jointly committed US$226,400 to fund the project. The foundations of modern project management were laid in 1957; but it took another 12 years before Dr Martin Barnes first described the ‘iron triangle’ of time, cost and output in a course he developed for his UK clients in 1969 called ‘Time and Money in Contract Control’. PM AND INNOVATION: THE FUTURE Defining PM for Future The biggest challenge facing project management is answering the question ‘what is a project? ’ Until this question can be answered unambiguously the foundation of project management cannot be defined. Current definitions such as the PMBOK’s ‘a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result’ can apply to the baking of a cake as easily as the construction of a multi story building. They are both temporary endeavors to create a unique outcome but in all probability the baking of a cake is not a project. The traditional view of projects embedded in the various BoKs is derived from both the management theories underpinning ‘modern project management’ and the industrial base of early project management practitioners (construction / defense / engineering). The BoKs tend to treat projects as naturally occurring entities that need to be managed. This is an easy enough assumption when focusing on a building or a battle ship. There is a physical presence that occupies a defined space that needs creating in a defined timeframe to a defined scope. This view assumes project exists and project management is about transforming the raw materials of the project into a finished and useful form. Consequently it is the presence of the project itself that defines ‘project management’. The PMBOKs version is ‘The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements’. However, if we cannot precisely define a ‘project’, there is no basis for project management and consequently no foundation for a useable theory of project management. Researchers and academics are starting to reverse the idea that a project is necessary for project management to exist and suggest it is the application of ‘project management’ to an endeavour that creates a project. Some of the ideas being discussed include: †¢ Projects as ‘Temporary Knowledge Organizations (TKOs)’. This school of thought focuses on the idea that the primary instrument of project management is the project team and the recognition that predictability is not a reality of project management. Some key ideas include: o The concept of the project team as a ‘complex adaptive system (or organism)’, living on the ‘edge of chaos’; responding and adapting to its surroundings (ie the project’s stakeholders) offers one new set of insights. o The idea of ‘Nonlinearity’ suggests that you can do the same thing several times over and get completely different results. Small differences may lead to big changes whilst big variations may have minimal effect. This idea questions the validity of ‘detailed programming’ attempting to predict the path of a project (the ‘butterfly effect’, constrained by ‘strange attractors’). The concept of ‘Complex Responsive Processes of Relating’ (CRPR) puts emphasis on the interaction among people and the essentially responsive and participative nature of the human processes of organizing and relating. According to the modern trend in these field, consequence of accepting these theories is to shift the focus of ‘project management’ from the object of the project to the people involved in the project (ie, its stakeholders), and to recognize that it is people who create the project, work on the project and close the project with all innovation. Consequently the purpose of most if not all project ‘control documents’ such as schedules and cost plans shift from being an attempt to ‘control the future’ this is impossible; to a process for communicating with and influencing stakeholders to encourage and guide their involvement in the project. Notwithstanding the advantages of project management, it would be unreasonable to expect all innovation to be carried out through projects. In fact, many ideas are generated by employees in a company on a regular basis, not only within project teams. Thus, there is certainly a room for functional, on-going organization of innovation process. Even more so, in certain situations project management can be detrimental to innovation. Aggeri and Segrestin (2007) show that the recent project development methods in automotive industry can induce negative effects on collective learning processes and these effects have managerial implications for innovative developments. Argument for Managing Innovation in Projects The origins of project management in the manufacturing and construction ndustries determine an engineering perspective, viewing a project as a task-focused entity, proceeding in a linear or similar way from the point of initiation to implementation. This view prevailed until comparatively recently. This view is seemingly in stark contrast with the nature of innovation. It is increasingly being acknowledged that the innovation is a complex non-linear process. The earliest view on innovation process as a pipeline model (whereby a given input is transformed to a specific output) has been largely abandoned. Presently, however, project management is increasingly recognised as a key generic skill for business management (Fangel, 1993), rather than a planning-oriented technique or an application of engineering sciences and optimization theory, in which project management has its roots (Soderlund, 2004). The â€Å"management by projects† has emerged as general mode of organizing for all forms of enterprise (Turner 2003). This new conceptualization of project management enables to embrace the non-linear nature of innovation. Even a creative and non-linear nature of innovation is often characterized as an organizational or management process, rather than spontaneous improvisation. Davila et al. (2006) state, Innovation, like many business functions, is a management process that requires specific tools, rules, and discipline. Hence, a project, with its defined objective, scope, budget and limitations, can be an appropriate setting of innovation. The other closely linked element in the new world of project management with innovation is embracing uncertainty. Writing on paper cannot control the future! Schedules do not control time; cost plans do not control costs. Plans outline a possible future and provided a basis for recognizing when things ‘are not going to plan’. For innovation project management to succeed, both project and senior management are going to need to embrace uncertainty and learn skills to manage it rather than expecting predictability and inevitably being disappointed by the variability of ‘reality’ as it unfolds. Challenges of Empirical Studies Scarcity and unreliability, or even lack of data poses a big challenge in research in both innovation and project management. A macro-level research n PM is obstructed by the lack of data on the number of projects, carried out by firms and public institutions, and their characteristics. Problems stem from the definition of a project and the non-disclosure policy of most companies. In such circumstances, PM research has tended to rely on case-studies or on small-scale tailor-made surveys. There i s a widely acknowledged lack of large-scale empirical research in PM (Kloppenborg and Opfer, 2002; Soderlund, 2004). It is claimed that the Independent Project Analysis (IPA) is the market leader in quantitative analysis of project management systems, i. . in project evaluation and project system benchmarking (IPA, 2007). All IPA analyses and research are based on proprietary databases. As of mid-2009, IPA’s databases contain more than 11,000 projects of all sizes ($20,000 to $25 billion) executed across the world. Each year, approximately 1,000 projects are added with representation from the many different industries served by IPA. Each project in our databases is characterized by over 2,000 project attributes, including technology, project scope, project type, project costs, year of authorization, and geographical location (IPA 2009). All information contained in the IPA databases is carefully protected and kept as confidential proprietary data (IPA, 2009). Due to the issues of confidentiality, access for academic researchers is restricted. In the innovation field, academic community has been increasingly using several sources of data, such as granted patents, tailor-made surveys, as well as other data provided by national statistical offices. European research on innovation uses several instruments to obtain data on innovation indicators and to assess national innovation performance. The two main instruments are the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) and the European Innovation Scorecard (EIS). As of 2009, five successful CIS surveys have been carried out: CIS1 (1992), CIS2 (1996), CIS3 (2001), CIS4 (2004) and CIS 2006. Each new round was characterized by an improved questionnaire, in line with the evolution of understanding of the phenomenon of innovation. The more recent surveys embraced understanding of innovation in a broader sense, and for example, paid more attention to service innovations. Further, it is expected that the future surveys will also include management techniques, organizational change, environmental benefits, and design and marketing issues. We argue that, taken into consideration the growing relevance of innovation projects, a clearer and explicit wording should be used in CIS questionnaire for determining whether innovation is organized and carried out in projects or functionally. CONCLUSIONS Innovation studies and project management as distinctive disciplines have been developing in a relative isolation from each other. The analysis in innovation studies domain has rarely explored the mechanisms and patterns of innovation in projects in contrast to traditional (functional or hierarchical) organization. However, since innovation management in companies is increasingly organized in projects, it is of utmost importance to directly address the interplay between innovation management and project management. In this paper, based on the relevant literature and insights from practice, we conceptually examined the relationships between these two research areas aiming at bridging the gap between them. It is widely acknowledged within the discipline of innovation studies that there is a high percentage of failure of innovation initiatives, in other words, failure is inevitable when managing innovation. The key skill set of the competent project manager will be identifying and managing stakeholder expectations using tools such as the Stakeholder circle to help identify the project’s key stakeholders. Innovation is perceived as a luxury, not as a necessity. Therefore, it is of high priority to manage innovation effectively and efficiently with constrained budgets.

Autism and Implications of Evidence Based Research on Therapeutic Inter

Autism and Implications of Evidence Based Research on Therapeutic Interventions in Youth The field of Autism continues to be an evolving and dynamic theme of exploration and research for professionals in the medical, educational, behavioral, and social science disciplines. The research around evidenced based therapies in these realms guides professional practice, interventions, programs, and long-term care for individuals with Autism. A review of the research studies published within the past five years on the use of positive behavioral interventions and supports in the management of behaviors for students with Autism within the educational setting will occur within this paper. The review of each research study will address the focus of the study, the questions the research study aims to answer, the sample the research study investigates, the experimental or research design used in the study, and finally the statistical tests used to derive the research results. The Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (2009) published the article, Updating a meta-analysis of intervention research with challenging behaviour: Treatment validity and standards of practice, which reviews the previous research pertaining to best practice and the success rate of different strategies to address challenging behavior in children with developmental disabilities. Authors Shane Harvey, Diana Boer, Luanna Meyer, Ian Evan sought to conduct an extensive systematic meta-analysis of the literature published on research studies in regards to problem behaviors in children with developmental disabilities. Harvey, Boer, Meyer, and Evans attempt to replicate as closely as possible a research study first published approximately two decades ago on a ... ...y, S. T., Boer, D., Meyer, L. H., & Evans, I. M. (2009). Updating a meta-analysis of intervention research with challenging behaviour: Treatment validity and standards of practice [Abstract]. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 34(1), 67-80. doi:10.1080/13668250802690922 Kraemer, B. R., Cook, C. R., Browning-Wright, D., Mayer, G. R., & Wallace, M. D. (2008). Effects of Training on the Use of the Behavior Support Plan Quality Evaluation Guide with Autism Educators: A Preliminary Investigation Examining Positive Behavior Support Plans. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 10(3), 179-189. doi:10.1177/1098300708318796 National Autism Center (2009). National Standards Project-Addressing the Need for Evidence-Based Practice Guideline for Autism Spectrum Disorders (978-0-9836494-2-7). Retrieved May 26, 2012, from http://nationalautismcenter.org

Caso Camry Essay

1) There are three types of reference group influence – informational, normative, and identification. Assuming Bianca is a representative for the group consisting of successful, urban, professional African American women, which type(s) of group influence do you see operating in this campaign? Informational influence is a potential since a member of the target group is implicitly saying, â€Å"You are like me and I like this car, so you will too†. Normative influence is not really being utilized in this campaign. There is no threat of punishment or promise of a reward by the group for compliance (buying the Camry) Identification influence is likely the strongest influence being utilized. The goal here is to have the target market identify and internalize group values and beliefs and then act on them. The implicit belief is that Camry is part of an active, adventurous, urban lifestyle. Notice the strategy of showing a member of the target group using the automobile which is consistent with an identification influence strategy 2) What are the primary core American values that this campaign is attempting to tap into Active (rather than passive) – the excitement and adventure aspect of the espionage theme, along with the â€Å"on-the-go† professional woman. Change – this campaign is based on the reality of existing females and African-American professionals as role models, not stereotypes. Individual – this campaign revolves around Bianca and her individual accomplishments. Diversity – this campaign is reaching out to African American professional women and indicating their desire to be their car of choice. Youth – this campaign is clearly targeting a youth audience – Bianca is a young urban professional. 3) What values and aspirations does this campaign tap into relating to the sub-groups of professional women and professional African American women? This campaign taps into both professional women and African American women – values and aspirations relating to modern gender roles and upward mobility and status for women and blacks and so on. 4) In Chapter 5, we describe 11 African American market segments  identified by Yankelovich. Which group or groups do you think the target market of professional African American women best represents? Explain. Answers will vary here and there is no perfect match. The closest would be the female members of the Black Onliners followed by the female members of the New Middle Class. Black Onliners come close in that they fit the age and income demographics and are tech savvy and brand conscious, which fits the description of the target professional African American women, and fits the featured aspects of the car and the Interactive nature of the campaign. While this group trends male, the female members of this group could be targeted. This group is described in the text as follows: Black Onliners (7 percent) – Younger (18-34), male, middle/upper income, brand conscious, place strongest importance on being around people of own ethnicity, most stressed about work, family, academics, and straddling black and white worlds, heaviest users of such technology as blogs and IM.

Art and Philippine Literature Essay

How the Subject Philippine Literature Help the TIP Graduate Attributes? Many important things can be learned in the study of Philippine literature. Studying Philippine literature is important because these are reflections of history. Works of art and literature are not separate from history. In fact, these are intricately intertwined along with the contradictions in the society in a given point in time. Works of art and literature do not stand by themselves. Writers and artists are not creators who fashion words and works. These texts and pieces of art are products of the political institutions and ideological stance of the writers which are shaped by the social conditions. We, students, study literature so that we can better appreciate our literary heritage. We cannot appreciate something that we do not understand. Through a study of our literature, we can trace the rich heritage of ideas handed down to us from our forefathers. Then we can understand ourselves better and take pride in being a Filipino and future professionals. Like other races of the world, we need to understand that we have a great and noble tradition which can serve as the means to assimilate other cultures. Through such a study, we will realize our literary limitations conditioned by certain historical factors and we can take steps to overcome them. We will also learn the value of life and how can we interact with other people properly. Above all, as Filipinos, who truly love and take pride in our own culture, we have to manifest our deep concern for our own literature and this we can do by studying the literature of our country.

Narrative Techniques Used in Shakespeares The Tempest

Narrative Techniques Used in Shakespeares The Tempest There is rigid difference between mimic techniques in theatrical performance and literary representation of the play. In particular, the former allow to demonstrate certain actions and convey feelings with the help of gestures, eye contact, silence, and other nonverbal patterns of behavior.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Narrative Techniques Used in Shakespeare’s The Tempest specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In contrast, literary presentation is narrowed to language resources, imagination, and cultural propriety which are the only tools for understanding the boundaries between supernatural and human actions. In this regard, Shakespeare makes use of specific narrative techniques while depicting certain actions and events in his play the Tempest. The playwright resorts to tricky narrative elements that make the play be reminiscent of palimpsest, a world of illusions and fictitious perception. The protagonists of the play refer to different genres and stylistics decides within one discourse to underscore social subordination and concept of freedom. A density of narrative elements used in the play creates dynamics between the character and the plot, motif and problem by including techniques implied by the sources. Those attractive variations ignite explanation and expansion. Due to the fact that The Tempest is more typical of a â€Å"science fiction† genre, a reader expects to see a male protagonist of great intellectual gifts who appears to be isolated and who should exert all his intelligence and power to solve the problem of survival. His solitary existence, hence, is revealed in deficiency in intercourse and cooperation with other characters in the play. Prospero is unlikely to be engage in dialogues with other characters; so, all his solutions seem to be mechanical and even robotic. While analyzing these aspects in general, it is possible to understand whether a character is a hu man or not, associative or reserved. More importantly, a reader can also understand the extra factors influencing characters’ actions, decisions, making contextual means a powerful literary device as well.Advertising Looking for essay on british literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Protagonists of the play resort to different stylistic genres of communication revealing their social and class affiliation. This can be explicitly viewed in case of Calliban’s speaking in iambic pentameter comparing to Trinculo’s narrative in blank verse. While referring to more advanced and sophisticated verse forms, one can notice Caliban’s superiority and higher social position, which is seen in this poetical expression. In contrast, Trinculo’s narrative is presented in mundane prose, which is typical of working class. Additionally, Caliban’s beauty of the language empowers him with grea ter advantage over Trinculo. His narrative, therefore, provokes more sympathy and compassion as fight for freedom seems much more persuasive when conveyed by poetical means. In general, narrative means that both characters make use of define their social status and affiliation to a particular estate regardless of Calibain’s being enslaved by Prospero. In conclusion, narrative techniques used in Shakespeare’s The Tempest are mostly directed at depicting character’s social affiliation, their intelligence level, and salient features. In particular, through literary representation, it is possible to identify Prospero’s unsociability and reluctance to cooperate with other characters, Caliban’s desperate fight for freedom and rights, and Trinculo’s veritable origin and position in society. Further more, using specific stylistic devices, such as allegory and metaphors, Shakespeare strives to endow the play with a shade of uncertainty, supernatural controlled by the reason. Using language resources and various densities of dialogues and discourses, the author also succeeds in providing fictitious perception of the play.

Hydraulic Fracturing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hydraulic Fracturing - Essay Example Apart from that, the chemicals also prevent corrosion of tools being used, control pH and kill bacteria. Propponants, on the other hand, include frac sand and bauxite and they are usually useful in preventing opened fractures from collapsing (King). Generally, the process has been hailed as a great advancement in the energy sector since it has made it possible for oil and natural gas reserves that in the past were difficult to reach be easily tapped..While some section of people heap praises on the process, another section is quick to point out the risks and hazards that the process posses to the environment and human health (Hassett and Mathar). This paper seeks to support the opinion that the benefits of the process outweigh the risks. Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing After participating in the class debate and carrying out further research, I am of the opinion that the economic benefits derived from the hydraulic fracturing process outweigh the risks and hazards associated with it . Firstly; the process has lead to increased production of oil and natural gas and thereby increasing employment opportunities in the energy sector. ... Apart from that, increased production of natural gas and oil has resulted to a decrease in the prices of the same enabling energy to be cheaply accessed (American Forum). In addition to that, increased production of natural gas means increased usage of clean energy. It is important to note that natural gas usage reduces the production of greenhouse gasses as it is pollutant free. As more natural gas is produced, electricity plants that previously used coal are starting to embrace natural gas since it is cheaper thus ensuring a cleaner environment because natural gas does not emit pollutants (Hassett and Mathar). Increased usage of natural gas will come as a relief to all stakeholders in the mitigation of climate change (American Forum). Concerns raised about Hydraulic Fracturing During the debate, several concerns about the environmental impact of the process were raised, it was argued that the resulting fractures after the process might rub up to the shallow rocks that hold water us ed for human consumption thereby contaminating it. In addition to that, it was stated that in case the wall’s casing failed, the fluids used in the process would come in contact with underground water and contaminate the supply of domestic water. The fluids also risked spilling over the surface thus contaminating surface water (King). This Contaminated water posses a huge threat to the health of people and animals that may consume it since most companies using the process never reveal the chemicals used in it (Hasset and Mathur). The opposition thus strongly insisted that hydraulic fracturing process should be eliminated. More negatives impacts of the process such as the

Feudalism in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Feudalism in Europe - Essay Example During the early feudal system, a network of favoritism dominated the allocation of economic resources. The segregation of resources to loyal parties contributed to economic inequalities and unequal development. The changes that occurred from the early to late systems reformed the methods of resource allocation. The system discouraged a unified system of governance. Resource allocation was by individual lords to subjects lower in the hierarchy. Subjects signed the oaths to remain loyal to and serve their lords. The system discouraged trade among the various European societies. Trade was not a priority since there were no organized trade units. The changes from the early to late feudalism boosted trade. This was advantageous in promoting economic growth. Development of infrastructures promoted trade between different regions, for instance. Closed-state development was characteristic of the feudal systems. The changes eliminated the closed-state development of the economy (Czinkota and Ronkainen 31). Because of the changes, the existence of a unified government unit promoted trade and the economy of the regions. Despite the lack of a central government during the feudalism, the societies (serfs), while operating as units, were stable (Whelan and Laden 325). The creation of the financial stabi lity in stable societies (serfs) was relatively easier than it was after the change. The change, in this regard, was