The Teachings Of The Buddha - 1263 Words

You never know. Siddhartha Gautama, or simply the Buddha, a wise being whose teachings attributed to him were passed down for thousands of years, was born in Lumbini, Nepal in the 6th century BC. Gautama is the founder of Buddhism, and is thought to have lived and taught the religion and philosophical ways that produced a great culture throughout much of southern and eastern Asia between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Buddha, meaning â€Å"the awakened one† or â€Å"the enlightened one†, is a title, not a proper name and signifies the first awakened being in an era. Many people say that this ideology goes against any other major belief, like Christianity, since Buddhism does not look toward a divine figure, but instead looks toward a place, a†¦show more content†¦It teaches the individual to strive for a greater state of consciousness called Nirvana; it creates a constant goal of reaching self-enlightenment. Nirvana simply means total and complete peace. This state of mi nd brings a sense universal peace, without the aggression and hatred. The Buddhism religion strives for total peace and harmony for ones self and all living creatures. When Buddhists study the Bible and what is said about the Christian Lord, they are confused, since they do not pray or acknowledge God the way Christians do, this in itself is a concept that Buddhists cannot conceive. While Buddhism rejects the Christian concept of God because it cannot be proven and therefore is viewed as insignificant, they also reject it because it seems much more inferior to their own ideal. To add, Buddhists shun the Christian God because of the fact that the Bible is incorrect in its passages, as God cannot be perfect. With the many dimensions that carry a profound difference in these, each is a complex religion. The furthermost distinction between Buddhists and Christians are that Christians believe that man lives in a world of conflict, with only one solution, to better man in order for his su rroundings to change. The Buddhist affirmation is to the contrary, that our perception is distorted and life in the world should be accepted as is. â€Å"The first teaching ever given by the Buddha was to five student monks in a deer park. The Buddha spoke of the Four Noble

Living with Congestive Heart Disease - 804 Words

According to Center for Disease Control, one in nine people die from Congestive Heart Disease. Patients who have been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Disease are more likely to have one of these other disorders; Diabetes, Hypertension, or Coronary Artery Disease. Patient who have hypertension are at an increased risk for developing congestive heart failure during their lifetime. This is because it puts more workload on the heart than is needed. My patient has been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Disease with a secondary diagnosis of hypertension (Center for disease control and prevention, 2013). The body needs a certain amount of cardiac output to maintain its basic functions. In congestive heart failure the body needs more output than the heart can put out. To make up for the lack of cardiac output, the heart sends all of its output to the essential organs such as the brain and lungs. It neglects to send as much blood to the extremities. This is why in congestive heart failure pate nts, edema is usually present. Fatigue results from the heart having to work extra hard to send blood to only a few essential organs. This is why fatigue is considered the first symptom of congestive heart failure. Congestive Heart Disease can happen on either side of the heart, or it can effect both sides. When the heart cannot keep up with what the body needs capillary pressure increases. When this capillary pressure increases it causes sodium to build up, and the body does not excrete theShow MoreRelatedCongestive Heart Failure1590 Words   |  7 PagesCongestive Heart Failure Toni Belsito Brookdale Community College HESC 105 Medical Terminology Congestive Heart Failure Congestive heart hailure, also known as CHF or heart failure, affects the lives of 5 million Americans each year with 550,000 new cases diagnosed yearly. (Emory healthcare, 2013) CHF is a medical condition in which the heart has become weak and cannot pump enough blood to meet the need for oxygen rich blood required by the vital organs of the body, less blood is pumpedRead MoreChf Essay1735 Words   |  7 PagesCongestive Heart Failure Introduction Everyone loses pumping ability in their heart as they age. The serious case of heart failure develops when other health conditions cause the heart to work harder or become damaged due to increased stress. Heart failure is usually a chronic disease. It gradually tends to become worse. By the time someone is diagnosed with it, the heart has most likely begun to lose pumping capacity for quits some time. Nearly five million Americans are living with heartRead MoreLiving With Congestive Heart Failure901 Words   |  4 PagesLiving With Congestive Heart Failure Nutrition and Lifestyle Recommendations Learning Objectives ïÆ' ¼ Understanding congestive heart failure, the symptoms and risk factors ïÆ' ¼ Food and nutrition recommendations for the patients ïÆ' ¼ Changing or improving lifestyle ïÆ' ¼ Getting the right support ïÆ' ¼ Live with Congestive Heart Failure ïÆ' ¼ Questions and answers session ïÆ' ¼ Fun uiz What is Heart Failure? ïÆ'Ëœ Is the condition where the heart is not pumping the right amount of blood to the rest of the body as it should beRead MoreCongestive Heart Failure1589 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Congestive Heart Failure Congestive Heart Failure is a condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the needs of the rest of the body (Department of Health Human Services, 2012). The failure can occur in on either side of the heart. In left-side heart failure, fluid backs up into the lungs, causing shortness of breath, due to the fact that the blood entering the left side of the heart comes from the pulmonary artery, and when the left ventricle cannot pump fluid out of theRead MoreCardiovascular System Of The Human Body967 Words   |  4 PagesThe heart is one of the most important vital organs to sustain life in the human body. The heart is a muscle pumping organ that generates two different types of circulatory loops within the human body. These include the Pulmonary Circulation and the Systemic Circulation. The Pulmonary arteries brings blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs where then the blood picks up oxygen and returns to the left side of the heart. The pumping chamber s that support the pulmonary circulation are theRead MoreBeing Black And Living With A Heart With Problems1460 Words   |  6 PagesDecember 2013 Being Black and Living with a Heart with Problems According to the National Institution of Health News, as many as 1 in 100 black men and women develop heart failure before the age of 50, 20 times the rate in whites in this age group, heart failure developed in black participants at an average age of 39, often preceded by risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, and chronic kidney 10 to 20 years earlier. Black mean that most likely developed heart failure were either obese orRead Morecongestive heart failure2121 Words   |  9 Pages Congestive Heart Failure Olasumbo Dada Liberty University Abstract The prevalence of congestive heart failure is on the increase both in the United States and all over the world, and it is the leading cause of hospitalization in the elderly population. Congestive heart failure is a progressive disease generally seen in the elderly, which if not properly managed, can lead to repeated hospital admissions or death. Heart failure means that the heart muscle is weakened. A weakened heart muscleRead MoreSymptoms And Treatments Of Aspirin878 Words   |  4 PagesIf you ve been diagnosed with heart disease, the chances are you ve been told to take low-dose aspirin every day as a preventative measure against heart attack and stroke. It s most commonly prescribed for patients with congestive heart failure. This is the inability of your heart to pump as much blood as your body needs. And this is a big worry to me, because there is very little evidence that aspirin helps. In fact, regular use of aspirin -- even baby aspirin -- can do you more harm than goodRead MoreCongestive Failure Of Congestive Heart Failure1832 Words   |  8 Pages What is congestive heart failure? Congestive heart failure which is simply referred to as heart failure is a chronic progressive disease that affects the heart s ability to pump blood effectively. Specifically, it means the heart is weakened to the point that it is not able to contract and circulate blood adequately. This weakened pump creates a backup of circulation and gives rise to a host of symptoms and debilitating conditions. The word â€Å"congestive† heart failure derives its meaning fromRead MoreEssay about Congestive Heart Failure Case Study2095 Words   |  9 PagesRunning head: CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE Congestive Heart Failure – Case Study Pathophysiology – BSRN – 420 Instructors: October 10, 2010 Report on Congestive Heart Failure The heart is a muscle, the most important one in the body. It works like a pump; it receives blood from the body and pumps the blood into the lungs, where it receives oxygen. This oxygen rich blood is then pumped out in to the body system to nourish the body. Congestive heart failure occurs when this pumping

Essay on Government Spending Free Essays

Fall 12 Fall 12 Brigham Young University Brigham Young University 08 Fall 08 Fall Essay #3 Nguyen Bui A HTG 100, # 103 Essay #3 Nguyen Bui A HTG 100, # 103 People should be treated indifferently regardless of their wealth and social standings. Yet, in reality, societies have experienced economical inequalities due to pay scales, tax brackets, and education level. A research study on 23 developed countries and 50 states of the US has shown that countries with higher degree of inequality tend to have higher rates of health, social problems and lower rates of social welfare. We will write a custom essay sample on Essay on Government Spending or any similar topic only for you Order Now To resolve such inequality, the U. S government has consistently intervened by alleviating poverty and redistributing income in different forms of transfer payments such as welfare, Medicare, Social Security and employer-provided health insurance. Despite the good intentions, these programs, which involved large spending, haven’t been entirely effective in helping the poor. Therefore, even though the poor might suffer from an extensive economic inequality, the government cannot intervene by levying these transfer payments to focus on the equal outcome rather than personal freedom. Many studies have shown that transfer payments didn’t help to redistribute income. According to Dwight R. Lee, only 25% of $500 billion spent yearly on public assistance and social insurance programs were distributed through Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security, etc and 75% were allocated regardless of need. This suggests that a large portion of financial aid from the government went to those who were not in need. These programs were therefore proven ineffective since their means were to help the poor but the poor didn’t actually receive the exact benefits the taxpayers gave up. One of the reasons was that these transfer payments’ policy wasn’t specific enough, so their main purpose of feeding only the poor hasn’t been accomplished. In addition, when taxpayers were taken money away to help the poor, their personal freedom was constrained because they couldn’t do whatever they want on their earnings completely, even in helping the poor themselves. More importantly, many poor people receive no more than the average income people and the transfers they get are worth less to them. Out of the 25% payment transferred that were means-tested, only about 30% was in cash and the remaining 70% came in the form of in-kind transfers such as food stamps, housing, and medical care. These in-kind transfers are less preferable to the poor as cash provides more spending flexibility. For every dollar the government spends, only 25 cents are transferred to the poor. Out of those 25 cents, only 75% or 19 cents is the actual cash the poor can receive and use for whatever they need. Even though the poor still receive a cash portion through these transfer payments, the cash amount is not enough to satisfy their daily need. Those programs don’t help the poor as much as expected and as a result, the poor are still poor and the income inequality still remains unresolved. Also, it is disappointing to taxpayers because they can no longer use their own money to help the poor, and the money they give up doesn’t maximize the poor’s utility either. Some of the basic supporting arguments for transfer programs are that they help to reduce income inequality and social stratification. Particularly, the mathematical function explains this argument: W= min (Y1, Y2, †¦, Yn). This function states that society’s utility (W) is dependent on the least of individual utility, which is the poorest in terms of income. Thus, the poor have to be prioritized when income is distributed until all are equal. This is totally reasonable since a society would be fair only if the bottom individuals were also well taken care of. The advocates of these transfer payments also argue that transfer payments even though can’t help to redistribute income equally, at least they help the poor become better and thus, social welfare would increase as a whole. However, they probably never pay attention to the result. They probably haven’t asked themselves this question: is the money actually transferred from the rich to the poor? Many studies have shown a striking fact that most government transfers are not from the rich to the poor. Instead, government takes from the relatively unorganized parties, like tax payers and consumers, and gives to elderly, sugar farmers, and steel producers, considered as the relatively organized parties. As mentioned above, only 25% of all the money spent yearly on public assistance and social insurance programs were distributed through Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security, and 75% were allocated regardless of need. People tend to believe that whatever tax amount they pay, either federal or state or social security tax, the money would be fully transferred to the poor. But they have failed to recognize whether the transfer payments go to the poor or people who don’t need it. They end up losing their spending flexibility to only help the poor a little. Would people still see the necessity of these programs if they realize that the poor don’t get as much as they really need? Overall, the redistribution of income is important because inequality can only cause complex issues for society as a whole. But the most effective way of income redistribution remains controversial. While most people believe transfer programs are helpful because they help to balance income between the rich and the poor, I believe this is not an ultimate solution for such a long-standing issue. The statistics are self-explanatory; these programs didn’t result in a good outcome for the poor and the poor were still unsatisfied after all. It’s the time for us to make changes, whether to alternate these programs or totally get rid of them so that taxpayers no longer have to pay a large sum of money to help only a little to those in need. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better [ 2 ]. Dwight R. Lee, Redistribution of Income How to cite Essay on Government Spending, Essay examples

Project Management and Culture Innovation

Question: Discuss bout the Project Management and Culture Innovation. Answer: Introduction: A project is whole work of developing a new product or service. In order to get succeeded in a project, the project managers need to manage all the activities and the team members of the project. After the post development analysis of many projects, it has been found that the projects have exceeded that the planned time and costs that was preplanned. Behind of the success and failures of the projects, the organizational culture and project culture play a vital role. The success factors of a project are associated with the project culture, organizational culture and the culture of the team members of the project. The attitudes of the managers towards the cultural management is very important in the area of a project management. In the era of globalization, the cross cultural management has gained a high level of importance to complete international projects. In this paper, the concepts of project culture and organizational culture have been analyzed in details at the beginning. Different types of factors associated with the project culture management in general have been discussed with the help of previous literature available in this area. The importance of project culture management in the international projects and different types of challenges faced in this area have been reviewed and analyzed in this paper. What are the important components of project culture and what are the possible ways to minimize the challenges regarding the project culture management? Project Culture: Project culture is a very important and influential factor for getting success in project implementation in organizations. It is actually a part of the overall organizational culture defined by the general attitude to the project within the business. Maximum projects do not implemented in separate environments. The project development activities should be operated in a business environment in a collaborative way. The project culture has great impacts on the strategic planning, management, implementation and all other necessary activities of the project. According to Yazici and Hulya Julie, the project culture determines the way of interacting and supporting each other in a project development phase for achieving the corporate goal of the project. In this context, Larson et al. mentioned that commitment of the employees towards the achievement of the project goals are influenced by the overall culture of the organization and the project. This also has significant level of influence on the whole planning process of the project and the estimation of the required resources for the project. After concluding all the viewpoints of the researchers in this topic, it can be said that the overall management and evaluation of the projects by the project managers is highly affected by the project and organizational culture. As per Henrie et al., co-operative culture is the most wanted one for supporting each other in a project development team. The interface between the project managers and the line managers should be efficient enough for getting the desired level of success in a project development. In a co-operative culture of project development, both the line managers and the project managers are responsible for establishing a good culture for the project development and to built high level of trust among the employees. Schwalbe and Kathy mentioned another important aspect of the project culture, which are the organizational tools and principles. The project management methodology must be aligned with these. Organizational Culture: Organizational culture is one of the most responsible attributes of the working environment and the prime force for driving a business of an organization. It is associated with the method of realizing the tasks, setting the goals of business activities and guiding the people for achieving the objectives of the business of the organization. The organizational culture affects the decision making approach, thinking and feeling of the employees regarding the workplace activities. The project culture is the part of the organizational culture. Crawford and Kent mentioned that culture is rooted in the people and affects their behaviour. In the workplace of an organization, the overall organizational culture get influenced by the individual culture of the employees. The culture is formed by a set of values such as beliefs, values, norms, thinking methods, way of understanding, attitudes and tradition of the people. In the area of project management, the organizational culture influence the way of selecting people for the managing the projects, the way of thinking and setting the objectives of the project work and the methodology chosen for completing the project. According to Mir et al., the way of getting succeeded in the organizational business activities the individual culture of the employees should be respected. However, the employees need to work within a unique organizations developed in an efficient way by managing all the factors related to the peoples individual cultures. Cultural Differences in Project Teams: In most of the cases, it can be found that people with different cultural backgrounds are working in a same project. In this type of case, managing the cultural differences in the project teams is a vital job of the project managers. They are needed to clarify the cultural differences also for facilitating their understanding for enhancing the team performance of the project. Discussion of the extremes of cultures and stereotypes may be helpful for understanding these cultures. The different aspect of the cultural difference management in the project teams are described in the section given below: Power Distance: This attribute describes the degree to which the members of the organization with less power can be accept and expect that the power has been distributed unequally within the organization. The fundamental problem faced in this context is the degree of inequality of the human, which underlies the functions of each of the particular society. The attitudes and values are mostly found at the time of contrasting low-PDI countries with high-PDI countries at the national level. This is mostly found in case of international projects. Uncertainty Avoidance: This refers to the degree of cultural fact that the members are comfortable or uncomfortable in unknown, novel, surprising or unstructured situations regarding the project management settings. It is also associated with the degree to which the society tries to control the situations. Individualism and Collectivism: This factor refers to the extent to which individuals are expected to look after themselves for remaining integrated into groups. Individualism refres to the tendency of looking after only about themselves and the collectivism refers to the tendency of looking after the whole group. Generally, the project management activities are group works, where great level of support from the team members is required. In order to get the desired level of success in the project development work, the collectivism is required among the team members. Convergers and Divergers: These two attributes of culture are different in many aspects. According to (), convergers are mostly try to work in the manageable framework and with well-defined problems. They tend to find out one best solution for the workplace problems. In the area of problem solving they try to use the general ideas. The problems and objectives of the activities are non-specific, but convergers try to use the specific solutions. They are good at using the conventional methods for concluding one best solution for the workplace problems. The way of thinking of these people are more analytical and focused on the information gathering for identifying the well known factors of the problems and scope of applying a known set of techniques to solve those. They focus on some specific parts of the problem rather than thinking about the whole picture of the problem. They are able to manipulating the abstract solutions for the different types of problems. Basically they give the focus on the pattern of pro blems and try to solve the similar types of problematic situations at their workplace. On the other hand, the divergers have the ability of working on unstructured and vague problems. They try to find to best possible solution from a set of alternative solutions. They try to understand the root of the problematic situations and develop several alternative solutions for solving one specific problem. According to Hill and Gerard, the divergers are more creative and their substantiality is also better regarding the problem solving techniques. The thinking method of these people are more synthetic and use the combination of several process of problem solving method. They used to try open ended tests for solving the difficult problems. Liu et al. also mentioned the creativity of the divergers as they are able to develop and use several ways of problem solving for one problem. The divergers are associated with continuous learning as they work regarding different types of new problems in the area of the workplace problem solving. In the practical field of the project management, the employees need to face different steps of problems. The problems cannot be expected before the occurrence at the practical field. In this context, the project managers need to understand the convergers and divergers at the project development team. They need to assign the members according to the types of the problems for solving. Divergers are able to solve the difficult and unknown problems by applying their ability of critical thinking. If the problems are well defined and follow a similar pattern, then the convergers are able to solve the problems within short time period. Cultural Management of International Projects: Shields et al. have distinguished between the cultural pattern at three different levels. The levels are organizational, professional and national level. In the context of globalization, the cultural aspects expand over the national boundaries. When the project management works are associated with different organizations and people with different types of nationalities, then the cultural aspects like the PDI, individualism and collectivism affect the sustainability of the projects. The concept of the convergers and divergers also has some crucial impact over the project management at the international level. As an example of this fact, have argued that American and Europeans have different types of thinking ways. The method of thinking of the Americans can be considered as the convergers and the thinking way of the Europeans as divergers. As discussed in the earlier section of the paper, both the divergers and convergers are used in the project management. However, it is quite diffic ult to manage the project culture in the international projects. The international project management works consist of team members with different national culture. According to Anantatmula, Vittal, and Parviz Rad, the important factors of the international project culture are: cultural awareness or knowledge of the project management professionals and empirical research on the culture of the project management professionals. Jeston, John, and Johan Nelis have said regarding the outsourcing of the IT projects. The outsourcing of the these projects is highly associated relevance of culture and underlying factors that are associated with the general project management context. Training and Motivation of Multi-Cultural Project Teams: According to Baa, Amndio, and Jos Marques, one of the primary causes of misunderstanding in between the members of the project team is essentially the differences in cultural and social practices that exist between them. On the other hand, Carvalho et al. has commented that such misunderstandings tend to reach the peak, often affecting the progress of the project in consideration, when employees belonging to non western cultures are made to work with those who belong to the western society. Researcher Gido, Jack, and James seconds the ideas expressed by the authors mentioned above. In his scholarly article, the author describes a situation that he experienced in China. The author speaks: it was difficult to get participants to answer to questions in class. Although the scenario appeared to be quite strange to those belonging to the western society, the Chinese are used to with the policy of prioritizing groups way above individuals and thus do not express their interests in such activities that might highlight an individual over the others. The author has also pointed out the strategy that can be effectively utilized in such circumstances: any project activity, instead of being assigned to an individual, should be assigned to an entire group. On the other hand, researchers Hill and Gerard point out the fact that in the regions that lie Sub-Saharan Africa, the extended family is considered as one of the essential parts of the work culture. However, the researchers have also pointed out the fact that although the influence of this very concept is not much beneficial to organizations that conduct business in this region, yet all training facilities made available to the workers are developed while considering this factor. Thus, it can be said that the motivation and training facilities are available to the members of multi cultural project teams require to consider the cultural traits of the team members. Challenges in International Project Management: This section of the essay would highlight those challenges that are experienced by managers in charge of international projects. The task of developing an unified team is the first and foremost challenge that the higher management of an international project experiences. The authors are of the opinion that the most challenging issue lies in the process of making the dispersed team work together in spite of the differences in geographical locations and time domains. Besides, making the team members support each other in troubled situations (all the while working from remote locations and not pointing fingers at each other) before difficult when the team members are practically unknown to each other. On the other hand, researches () consider the maintenance of effective communication processes as one of the most commonly indentified issues associated with international projects. The researchers are of the opinion that maintaining efficient and fast communication processes in between the members of an international project becomes difficult due to the very fact that the members of the team besides being located in distant locations, also speak in different locations. Language is indeed one of the strongest barrier to the process of effective communication in between the members of a dispersed project team, but it is definitely not the single one. Along with language, the differences in the cultural practices of the team members affect the communication process to a considerable extent. Researchers Kerzner, and Harold point out that the working hours of professionals operating in the non western countries are significantly longer than that of those who work in the European nations or in the US. Thus, effective communication and collaborative work procedures are indeed affected significantly due to the differences in the working culture that exist in between the said regions. On the other hand, researchers Binder and Jean have commented that even in cases in which the above mentioned cases can be avoided, there exists one particular challenge that is near about impossible to overcome. The authors say that members of dispersed international project teams indeed experience huge differences in time domains, thus making the task of making arrangements for team meetings significantly difficult. According to Henrie, Morgan and Andres, the primary difference that lies in between members of an international and dispersed project is that of the differences in culture existing at the various locations at which they are based. The authors have also commented that in spite of being the most important factor that leads to other differences, much effort has yet not been noticed in avoiding the same. Conclusion: Project culture is one of the most important factors that affect the development and management of various types of projects. As per the analysis of many researchers it can be said that the project culture is an integrated part of the overall organizational culture of the organization. The individual culture and attitudes of the members of a project development team are the important parts of the project management activities. Different factors of the project culture are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, convergence, divergence, individualism and collectivism. The project managers should manage these cultural factors properly for fulfilling the project objectives. As per the analysis of this report, it can be concluded that the project culture management in the international project is very difficult as there exist project team members from various national cultural background. It has been also found that the culture and behavior of the project team members is highly associated with the nationality. Because of these issue, same type of project management methodology cannot be applied in a different project with national difference without checking the compatibility of the culture of the nations. This is basically associated with the convergence and divergence tendency of the project team members of different nations. In this area, he project managers have the high level of responsibility regarding the selection of the members for solving the different types of workplace problems with their ability of critical thinking. References: Ajmal, Mian M., and Kaj U. Koskinen. Knowledge transfer in projectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ based organizations: an organizational culture perspective.Project Management Journal39, no. 1 2008: 7-15. Anantatmula, Vittal, and Parviz Rad. Linkages among project management maturity, PMO, and project success. InEngineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE) IEEE International Technology Management Conference, 2013 International Conference on, pp. 1-12. IEEE, 2013. Atkinson, Roger, Lynn Crawford, and Stephen Ward. Fundamental uncertainties in projects and the scope of project management.International journal of project management24, no. 8 2016: 687-698. Baa, Amndio, and Jos Marques. The Influence of Culture on Project Management-Case Study: Brica Portugal.International Journal of Arts Sciences7, no. 6, 2014: 705. Binder, Jean.Global project management: communication, collaboration and management across borders. CRC Press, 2016. Carvalho, Marly Monteiro, Leandro Alves Patah, and Digenes de Souza Bido. Project management and its effects on project success: Cross-country and cross-industry comparisons.International Journal of Project Management33, no. 7, 2015: 1509-1522. Crawford, J. Kent.Project management maturity model. CRC Press, 2014. Gido, Jack, and James P. Clements.Successful project management. Nelson Education, 2014. Henrie, Morgan E., and Andres Sousa-Posa. Project management: a cultural literary review. Project Management Institute, 2015. Hill, Gerard M.The complete project management office handbook. CRC Press, 2013. Jeston, John, and Johan Nelis.Business process management. Routledge, 2014. Kerzner, Harold R.Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons, 2013. Larson, Erik W., and Clifford F. Gray. Project management: The managerial process. 2012. Liu, Junying, Fanye Meng, and Richard Fellows. An exploratory study of understanding project risk management from the perspective of national culture.International Journal of Project Management33, no. 3, 2015: 564-575. Mir, Farzana Asad, and Ashly H. Pinnington. Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success.International Journal of Project Management32, no. 2, 2014: 202-217. Morris, Peter WG.Reconstructing project management. John Wiley Sons, 2013. Pemsel, Sofia, and Anna Wiewiora. Project management office a knowledge broker in project-based organisations.International Journal of Project Management31, no. 1, 2013: 31-42. Pinto, Jeffrey K.Project management: achieving competitive advantage. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2012. Schwalbe, Kathy.Information technology project management. Cengage Learning, 2015. Shields, Patricia M., and Nandhini Rangarajan.A playbook for research methods: Integrating conceptual frameworks and project management. New Forums Press, 2013. Unger, Barbara N., Johannes Rank, and Hans Georg Gemnden. Corporate innovation culture and dimensions of project portfolio success: The moderating role of national culture.Project Management Journal45, no. 6. 2014: 38-57. Wiewiora, Anna, Glen Murphy, Bambang Trigunarsyah, and Kerry Brown. Interactions Between Organizational Culture, Trustworthiness, and Mechanisms for Interà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Project Knowledge Sharing.Project Management Journal45, no. 2, 2014: 48-65. Yazici, Hulya Julie. The role of project management maturity and organizational culture in perceived performance.Project Management Journal40, no. 3 2012: 14-33. Young, Trevor L.Successful project management. Vol. 52. Kogan Page Publishers, 2013.

Teamwork

Introduction Teamwork is a very important and relevant contributor to the success of any business around the world and this is why top business executives are paid a lot of money to utilize the skills of teams and make important business decisions that are critical to business performance (Brayden, Teppo Whetten 2010, 1-20).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Teamwork specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The success of an organization does not only depend on how good a team leader is but also how good the various teams that consist of employees are able to come together and integrate their skills and talent for the benefit of their organization. The success or failure of a business usually depends on how good employees who are part of a team are able to come together develop ideas play their part and additionally how good managers or organizational leaders are able to make quick and relevant decisions resulting from th e input of the team to increase positive outcome (Taylor, 2010). Today’s business environment is very volatile and therefore it is imperative that both leadership and employees work together hand in hand in order to ensure that organization can successfully peruse their mission and vision while at the same time compete with other competing companies. Thus, by acknowledging and building consensus that business environment is highly dynamic and volatile, it demands organizational leaders to come up with mechanisms that allow the company to quickly embrace change and this is attained by dividing the staff into teams and assigning them duties that will ensure that decision making capability of leaders is maximized (Shah 2008). New trends emerge in the business world and may either present themselves as either problems or opportunities depending on how personnel within the organization respond. From that rationale, the creation of value and satisfaction, which consumers demand end up pushing companies to develop strategies that govern their marketing mix and overall business strategy and go a step further to create general corporate strategies that will preside over their whole business processes to make sure they succeed in today’s fickle business ambiance (Campbell, Stonehouse Huston 2002, 177-184).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Trends should not be seen as not threats but rather frontiers of new business possibilities and it is the duty of organizational leaders and their staff to work together as a team to make decision making for managers more certain and free of risk. It is with the same intent that the manager intended to use the help of his team to launch a new division that manufactures liquid soap brands for the market by using the potential of the entire team and the rational decision making process to make critical marketing bus iness decision. The liquid soap division will consist of brands that will cater to the needs of consumers who require liquid soap for both the kitchen and bathroom. Decision making approaches and impact on strategy A participatory approach was used and the entire the team was required to fully participate by being part of the problem solving process but the last decision was left to the team leader/manager to carry out (Jones 2010, 44). Such a technique of team work and decision making is known as consensus building whereby subordinates who are part of a team come up with multiple ideas and discuss their viability together with the team leader but leave the last decision to the team leader. The way in which groups interact whether informal or formal will obviously impinge on the way a business functions and the way strategic choices are made in both the short and long-run. Successful companies like Google and Apple focus their development efforts by encouraging groups and teams to b rainstorm and develop ideas that form a basis for the decisions which are made by top management (Koontz Weihrich 2009, 58). Following this premise, the companies have adopted quite aggressive business models because managers are able to make quick decisions simply because the groups usually supply them with all relevant knowledge and information that allows the managers to quickly evaluate the pros and cons of each strategic choice to choose the best action. It is as a consequence true to assert that the way groups and managers interact and the different approaches of making decisions within organizations can ultimately affect the future of an organization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Teamwork specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Marketing companies, for example are required to be quite flexible due to the volatile nature of consumers and competitors and thus, this is why many marketing companies have their st aff working in groups simply because the conception of ideas and the need for quick decision making is quite critical for the success of a company in the market. According to Kotler and Keller (2011, 144), the most important aspect of teamwork and decision making in a marketing environment is simply to ensure that all decisions and team work efforts are made with the consumer on mind. Additionally, it is important that there is a very clear channel of communication between the team members to ensure that each member is up to speed and is armed with relevant information. The consumers are the pivot of all decisions and ideas that a business comes up with in the course of doing business. Keeping this aspect in mind, the team leader ensured that the team clearly knew that the customer is the goal and the main criteria of measuring how effective the teams efforts and decision making process was (Jones 2010, 135). This is whereby the team leader empowers his team to use their knowledge, skills and talent to in order to gather factual options that will assist in the decision making process. When employees explain all their options and contingent plans, the team leader him/herself is then expected to use his managerial skills to choose the best option that emanates from the output of his/her team. Considering that the company division is a newly born venture it is necessary for the team leader to be vigilant and aggressive to ensure that the whole team’s shares one vision and that the expectations of the entire team are in tandem with that of the team leader and the organizations corporate, business and functional goals. The advantages associated with participatory type of teamwork approach is that the organization and the manager can collect many ideas and develop many strategic options that are likely to increase positive outcome within the organization. Additionally the process of decision making is made simpler by the fact that consensus building takes pla ce prior to the final decision being made.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Team Working approaches and impact on strategy A participatory approach was used and the entire the team was required to fully participate by being part of the problem solving process, According to Buchanan and Huczynski (2010, 131), it is vital that a team leader ensures that the vision of the entire organization is clearly known by the entire team/staff from the initial stage because any ambiguity may become a future source of conflict and discomfort amongst the team members in the future and may henceforth compromise the chances of success for the new division and affect the decision making process. Consumers are driven by needs, wants and desires and hence their consuming behavior can be attributed to these. Companies that define consumer needs and motives with a high degree of accuracy usually end up being the market leaders and enjoy a huge market share and revenue streams (Michael, Yasemin Joseph 2009, 123). Managers are often aware of how important consumer motives are and therefore ensure that their brightest minds who make up the team come together and create ideas that will further the performance of the company. Being the team leader, communication was made clear that all other team members collectively come together so that the process of problem identification and problem solving can start using the rational decision making process. The rational decision making process is a problem solving technique that allows managers and the respective teams to carefully and sequentially make decisions based on facts that present themselves as a result of the problem solving process (Koontz Weihrich 2009 69). Business executives in working with the leading companies are usually trained to use logic and facts in the process of making decisions by identifying problems and opportunities and creating multiple solutions/strategies to tackle the problem. Managers/ team leaders thereby use the rational decision model to reduce the number of risks and uncertainty be cause this process is highly factual and logical in nature. Figure 1: The Steps involved in the Rational Decision making process. By bringing together the skills and talents of all individuals of the team, the team leader expected that it would be possible for the team to create a good marketing strategy that would allow the new company to effectively price, place, and promote its products to compete with other existing companies (David, Cindy Masco 2008, 5). As a result, the five members of the team were each assigned to deal with each facet of marketing and gather relevant intelligence on pricing, product, and promotion and distribution trends of related liquid sap product within the industry. The data that would result from this process would prove crucial in the rational decision making process. The launch of a new product is not easy at all and for new products/ new divisions to succeed in selling products as soon as they enter the market it is important for the managers and their teams to ensure that all relevant data is gathered. Knowing this the team was to gather competitive intelligence that would be used to finalize the marketing mix of the new liquid soap. With the task of each and every team member already clarified the group was given a time frame of one week to bring back their feedback. Every suggestion of product design, price, placing and promotion strategy was to be backed by tangible evidence of pros and cons to justify why team members so it as the best alternative. This will therefore require every team member to identify problems and opportunities that present themselves, gather all the relevant data pertaining to either the problem or opportunity, critically analyze the volume of information that was gathered and then using the information to develop options that are most suitable. According to Kotler and Keller (2006, 415), it is important for business executives to create numerous options so that management can make more informed ch oices. After the numerous options are made the rational decision making process requires that the numerous options that were developed are analyzed and that actions which are weak or unsuitable are filtered and eliminated. It is at this process the managers/team leader to become an effective decision maker and use his/her skills to choose the best decision. The team was required to sit together and analyze the various options but this process was slowed down due to the fact that one team member left the tem before she had a chance to finish carrying out her research on pricing. Being an effective team leader the team leader quickly decided to split the remaining task of gathering pricing data from the market. As soon as all the relevant data was gathered, each group member was required to analyze data clearly explain the implications of the data which was collected. According to Buchanan and Huczynski (2010, 122), it is the duty of the team to bring to the table all alternate option s and ensure that there is full disclosure of facts so that the team leader can make the relevant decisions. The team, therefore went ahead and shared information and data which they gathered and presented to the team leader all the relevant data necessary for creating marketing mix for the brands falling under the liquid soap division. The entire problem solving process took the team one whole week and the team presented multiple solutions to the team leader and consensus building took place but the final decision making process was left to the manager. Effectiveness of the team The team’s effectiveness is highly commendable because each and every member of the team was in tandem with the vision of the division at the beginning of the practice. With the vision of the division in mind, the team operated with utmost openness and trust that was enabled by clear lines of communication (Lancaster Withey 2006, 94). Decision making at the lower level was left to the team members t hemselves thus saving time, the ability to meet regularly in the one week during afternoons made it possible to analyze the data gathered by the team members. It is at these sessions that all team members communicated and exchanged notes making every team member fully aware of the facts and relevant information in respect to the whole project and with every team member well informed it was easier to brief the manager (Koontz Weihrich 2009, 73). The level of skill and talent together with operation of the team is also commendable because the competitor intelligence which they gathered made it quite simple to compare currently existing liquid soap brands overall industry trends and thus use it in the final marketing mix of the brands that were to be developed by our new division. In summary the company’s brands will be better designed and packaged, priced, promoted and distributed to compete with the current market leader. The only shortcoming of the team is that the level of competition and hostility between the members trying to outshine each other got on the way of achieving the mission but after the leader made it clear that such behavior is injurious to the group and not appropriate the team members apologized to each other. Conclusion Team work is a very important aspect in organization for the reason that organizational output depends on talent, skills and knowledge of the staff. The output of teams usually contributes to the quality of decisions that managers make. If a team is ineffective in operation then most probably a manager will have fewer facts to support the kind of decisions that he/she makes. When poor decisions are made then this may affect future revenue streams, market share, costs and efficiency of the organization. â€Å"A team-leader is someone who steps back from the entire system and tries to build a more collaborative, more innovative team that will work over the long term.† – Robert B. Reich American Politician and Writer The above statement suggest the synergy that managers can create by using more collaborative and participatory approaches that are rational to work together with teams to guide their decision making process. References Brayden, K. G., Teppo, F. Whetten D. A., 2010. â€Å"Perspective—Finding the Organization in Organizational Theory: A Meta-Theory of the Organization as a Social Actor.† Journal of organization science volume 21 issue 1, 1-20. Buchanan, D. A. Huczynski, A. A., 2010. Organizational Behavior 7th ed. New York: Trans-Atlantic Publications. Campbell, D., Stonehouse, G. Huston, B., 2002. Business Strategy an Introduction 2nd edn. Linacre House, Banbury Rd: Butterworth-Heinemann. Charles, W. et al., 2002. Essentials of Marketing. Natorp Boulevard: South Western Cengage Learning. David, A. J., Cindy F. R., Masco, C. J., 2008. â€Å"Personality predictors of teamwork behaviors and decision-making style.† Review of Business Research, 1-5. Jon es, G., 2010. Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Koontz, H. Weihrich, H., 2009. Essence of Management an International Perspective. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. Kotler, P. Keller, K., 2011. Marketing Management 13th edn. New York: Prentice Hall. Lancaster, G. Withey, F., 2006. Marketing Fundamentals. London: Butterworth-Heimann. Michael P. L., Yasemin K.Y. Joseph M. T., 2009. â€Å"A theory of change in turbulent environments: the sequencing of dynamic capabilities following industry deregulation.† International Journal of Strategic Management, Volume 1, Number 3, 186-211. Shah. K., 2008. â€Å"Decision Making.† Submityourarticle.com. Web. Taylor, J.T., 2010. â€Å"Making effective decisions.† Team building USA. Retireved from http://www.teambuildingusa.com/articles/making-effective-decisions/ This essay on Teamwork was written and submitted by user Desmond Q. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Cheating Your Way Through Exams Best Tricks

Cheating Your Way Through Exams Best Tricks Everyone knows that cheaters never prosper, but that doesn’t stop people from trying. In fact, some students are willing to put in more effort in finding ways to avoid learning than it would ever take them to actually study. Here are some of the more amusing ways that college students have invented to cheat their way through school. The Water Bottle Trick If your exam room has an open food and drink policy, this is one of the more creative options. Simply take the label off of a water bottle the night before your test. You can write your notes and answers on the white portion of the bottle and then stick it back on. Whenever you need an answer, all you have to do is take a drink. Of course, spending most of class gazing longingly at your water bottle may also make you look like a psycho. Beauty School Dropout For women, cheating can be as easy as writing infinitely small words on your fingernails. All you have to do is find a tiny pen or pencil, whittle it down to the size of a human hair, and then write your notes. Okay, so maybe it’s not so easy. Also, if you have the patience and determination to write the Pythagorean Theorum on your nails, maybe you should consider putting all that effort into studying. Hats Off to Cheating Another great way to cheat is to write your notes on the inside brim of a baseball cap. When your head is down looking at your desk, your teacher can’t see that your eyeballs are actually faced up towards the ceiling. But remember: if you don’t normally wear a baseball cap, it will look weird if you start on the day of your test. Also, anyone sitting next to you will be able to see your notes and nark you out. Sitting Pretty If you know where the exam will take place, go ahead of time and write the notes you need on the desk or the chair in front of you. This is a great option if your classroom is left unlocked and there is no chance for passersby to see you modifying the desk like a creeper. Also, you run the risk of the teacher seeing and erasing your hard work before the test even starts. Legstravagant Although this tactic can work for guys, it’s most effective for girls who don’t look weird lifting up their skirts in public. For this creative cheating method, you write the answers on your knees or thighs. Then, when you get stuck, you lift up your skirt to check the answer. While this can be a great method if you have a lot of information to review, this method often captures the attention of both the teachers and the distracted guys sitting next to you. Keeping It Kleenex If acting is your forte, the Kleenex notebook is the way to go. You can write your notes ahead of time on a single sheet of Kleenex and then stuff it in your bag. When you come into class, sniffle, cough, and sneeze your way to an A. Just be careful not to use your Kleenex for real – at least, not unless you want the answers all over your face. Sticky Situation Writing on your hands, legs, or ankles has the unpleasant side effect of not being easily removed when your teacher asks to see them. An alternative is to write your notes on a piece of clear tape and then attach it to your clothing. When you’re done, you can just throw away the evidence. That is, assuming you can still find it. Lasting Impressions If your teacher usually gives out a piece of scratch paper, this trick is perfect for you. The night before, write out your notes on a piece of paper with the blank piece underneath. Although your paper will look blank from far away, you’ll be able to read the impressions easily. But, test it first. Your teacher will get concerned if you’re randomly staring and mumbling at a blank piece of paper. Mirror Glasses Anyone who wears glasses knows that you can catch a reflection in the very upper corners if you try. You can make this even more pronounced by cutting up a small mirror and sticking two little pieces in the corners. But, make sure you sit next to someone who knows the answers. Otherwise you’ve ruined a perfectly good pair of glasses for a â€Å"D†. Cheating isn’t going to make you smarter or more capable in the long run. It can lead to failure and potential expulsion, not to mention the loss of respect of your peers and professors. But, if you truly have nothing left to lose, it can be fun to see what you can get away with! Have you ever cheated? Do you know some funny cheating tricks? How do you feel about cheating in general? Were looking forward to your comments! Feature Image Credit: Oxfordlearning

Internet Censorship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Internet Censorship - Essay Example However, other promoters of internet freedom has openly opposed internet censorship stating that curtailment of access to some information runs counter to provisions of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States (Qazi), specifically regarding freedom of speech. Initially, one is firmly opposed to internet censorship as an avid promoter of freedom of personal expression and speech. However, the recent online video of Jin Lin, a university student in Montreal, being murdered made one awefully disgusted that someone can use the internet as a stage to fuel selfish interests and the desire for attention. One thereby discovered that there are websites that specialize in showing viideos of people being killed, tortured or committing suicide. Uncensored sites allow sex offenders and cyber stalkers closer contact to children; these also allow children to research how to hurt themselves or other; and, being exposed to inappropriate online content could have long term negative impact on children. In this regard, the essay aims to contend that internet censorship should be enforced. Government policies and regulations are designed to ensure protection from Internet users from piracy (through Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)), Protect IP Act (PIPA), and illegal electronic activities through the recently proposed Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). Some groups aver that SOPA, PIPA and CISPA present arguments that curtain freedom and therefore considered bad. One supports the objectives of these legisltations since these are mainly trying to protect people from losing mone and from being abused. However, despite these regulations, the Internet continues to become a tool for crime, terrorist activities and source of inappropriate materials. The Internet has been the source of pornographic materials which can be easily accessed by children; therefore it should be appropriately censored. The Top Ten Reviews website featured â€Å"Internet Porno graphy Statistics† which revealed that as much as â€Å"90 percent of children ages 8-16 have viewed pornography online† (par. 1). The tabular illustration below provides significant statistics on childen internet pornography, as cited from the Top Ten Reviews: Children Internet Pornography Statistics Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography 11 years old Largest consumer of Internet pornography 35 - 49 age group 15-17 year olds having multiple hard-core exposures 80% 8-16 year olds having viewed porn online 90% (most while doing homework) 7-17 year olds who would freely give out home address 29% 7-17 year olds who would freely give out email address 14% Children's character names linked to thousands of porn links 26 (Including Pokemon & Action \ Man) Source: Top Ten Reviews This information was corroborated by statistics gathered and published by the Enough is Enough, a website funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention that exposed staggerring information on children being intentionally or unintenionally exposed to pornographic, violent and obscene websites and have