I'll attach it Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

I'll attach it - Essay Example instances that for these parties will come to a form of settlement; third parties are needed to ensure that there would be a mutual agreement on the standing issues that resulted into the war. The Middle East has been the region seemed to be plagued by wars and conflicts from the latter part of the 20th century up to the time this paper is being written. Other countries, like the United States of America had tried to their utmost capability to aid in situations that seemed to be pointless and either parties or countries involved in the war are fighting a losing cause. This is not the first and only conflict that the USA tried to give a helping hand. Also, the USA also had their hands dirty against other countries that might be using excessive power against the other. USA seemed to be acting like the big brothers of smaller countries especially those who belong to the third world. As constant as change, the countries involved in wars also changes side. Those countries that might be allies for a certain point in time would be the ones involved in another in a not so distant future. An example would be USA and the faction that was led by Osama Bin Laden. Who would have thought that these two parties would end up killing each other’s member? America once fought with Bin Laden against the Soviet Union in the past century. As change took its course, America once again had its hands dirty against the Bin Laden-led organization. Hundreds were killed from both parties, even Bin Laden himself. As Ronald Reagan put it into words, the people including the group of Bin Laden are the brothers of American people. This instance is not the first in the stories heard by many that brothers killed their own brother. The usual reason why a person can commit such crime is envy. There are countless reasons why conflicts and war would start. An example is the Middle East. This region is dominated by Arab countries with the exception of a few, few being one or two countries that are

There Has Always Been Wars and There Will Always Be Wars Essay Example for Free

There Has Always Been Wars and There Will Always Be Wars Essay When we think of war we think of torture, cruelty, suffering and hell. Indeed, there is no denying that war is terrible. The desire for war is generally caused by mans ego, which is part of the physical man, as opposed to the spiritual man. Physical man is another way of describing mans human nature. Man naturally has great tendencies to do according to his desires, and has other people act in agreement to his desires, cultures, and philosophies. As a civilization of a particular culture grows, it is a part of that civilizations nature to dominate the choices of surrounding peoples, in an attempt to bring these peoples into less than one great rule. If need be, man will wage war to forcibly bring others to the awareness of a more enlightened way of living. The only way to truly have peace is for man to ultimately strengthen his spiritual side. When living with true virtue, man is able to have patience, understanding, tolerance, love, forgiveness, gentleness, and goodness, even in the face of fear, intolerance, hate, and anger. Self-defence is necessary, but more times than not, war are waged by men who fight against the free agency of others, and men who will the dominance and manipulation of others. This stems greatly from pride and selfishness, but it can come from any attitude that is against the spirit of true virtues, those virtues which are of God. Most Christians believe that war and fighting are wrong except in the most severe cases. They base their views on Jesus’ teaching about love, ‘a new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another’ but depending on the situation, would it be our fault for self-defence? If one was to strike at our family, would you strike him/her with a weapon? When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, his disciples wanted to defend him, yet Jesus claimed not to fight and put away the swords, ‘When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, ‘Lord, should we strike with our swords? ’ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, ‘No more of this! ’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. ’ In the statement it suggests that because of war in the past we should fight, it is our human nature to fight. Like other animals, humans have an instinct to survive. If this suggests to them that fighting and killing will help, then they will usually do so. Many also fight for pleasure, a rough game of excitement and competition which appeals to most of us. Yet, if we look at the whole of human history, we find that the use of physical force against other animals (including other humans) is a practically universal feature. Now that women have begun to be recruited into the front-line of armies, you might find that you yourself are killing people in a war. Yet simple aggression, or love of fighting, or desire to survive, cannot be seen as the main reason why most individuals have been caught up in warfare in the past. Most wars for many centuries have involved unwilling soldiers. The politicians and generals decide for the troops, through fear, need, loyalty or hope for treasure, apply themselves to capturing or killing the enemy. Clearly wars would not happen if humans were actively planned against the use of all physical violence. On the other hand, no animal would survive for long in this competitive world if they were so planned. Muslim attitudes to war and peace are based on the teachings of the Qur’an. One idea in Muslim that relate to war is Jihad. Jihad is the word used to describe personal struggle of each Muslim against evil as they try to follow the way of Allah. There are two types of Jihad: greater Jihad and lesser Jihad. Greater Jihad is the personal struggle to obey Allah, spiritual struggle lasting a lifetime, winning the struggle gets you to Paradise. Lesser Jihad is the struggle to make the world a better place, against poverty and injustice, and involves defending against enemies only in self defence. When the Prophet Muhammad was asked which people fought in the name of Allah, he said: The person who struggles so that Allah’s word is supreme is the one serving Allah’s cause. The idea of Jihad is often misread by non-Muslims who then see Islam as not being a pacifist religion. Another idea in Muslim that relate to war is Harb al-Muqadis, which is Holy War. Muslims are allowed to fight in self-defence, however they are forbidden to begin in a fight. Therefore, the aim of fighting is to create a circumstance where Muslims are free to worship Allah and live in peace. One aim of Holy War may be to create equality where people are free to live their lives without beliefs and politics being forced on them. There must be no hatred or vengeance in the fighting. As soon as peace is offered, fighting must stop. Once peace has been re-established the differences between people must be resolved. â€Å"Hate your enemy mildly; he may become your friend one day† suggests that we shouldn’t hate our enemies so much as they could help us in life-saving situations. People never know that sometimes your worst enemy can be your friend. We should put aside our differences are combine our thoughts and feelings, and resolve an understanding. On the other hand, even though there have been wars, should we be the ones to continue with them? Should we be the ones who strike our swords in the face of peace? Can’t we be the ones who make peace and shake hands with one and another? Even though there were wars before, there were also non-violent ones. Non-violent is showing disapproval with damaging property or causing any threat, this could be done with sit-ins, strikes, petitions, and peaceful demonstrations. In my opinion, I think that non-violent methods can work. Using a non-violent protest is taking some action to stand-up against and resist oppression, injustice or to make a difference. These people who use non-violent are called Pacifists. There are many famous pacifists: Jesus, Bishop Desmound Tutu, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. These inspire others to fight in non-violence, therefore commit no wars. If we commit no wars, it won’t be human’s nature to fight. As Jesus should us the human qualities he had like forgiveness and mercy, we would know that violence doesn’t solve everything. If the world tried to act as the commandments teach there wouldn’t need to be war. One commandment like ‘Thou Shall Not Murder’ is one that suggests not hurting any living thing. Muslims believe to not hurt living things as foretold in the key concept of Ahimsa. Ahimsa means trying to fight injustice and evil but without using any physical force. It is the key concept that prevents a Muslim from causing harm to any creature, and therefore, many Muslims avoid violence aside from most severe cases. Christians believe Jesus taught that people should not seek revenge when wronged – they should ‘turn the other cheek’. But this doesn’t mean being submissive victim – just that we should base our response on the principles of love and forgiveness. For example, most Christians don’t believe that if someone commits a crime, we should do nothing. They believe punishment can be more constructive. Punishment can be used to reform an offender and to deter others from offending, as well as for retribution. ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. When we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we grow to recognize that everyone is part of His creation. If we love the Lord God with all our heart, soul and mind, loving our neighbour is the natural result. Love thy neighbour is not as hard as it looks on the surface. It simply means respecting others and regarding their needs and desires as highly as we regard our own. Keeping this commandment, however, is likely to require the supernatural assistance only God, through Christ, can provide. How can we learn to love the guy next door with the barking dog, especially when we dont even like him? Perhaps the secret is to recognize that our neighbour, whether its the guy next door, or the cashier at the local supermarket, is someone as worthy of Gods love as you or I. Its human nature to follow those we admire most, so in getting to know Christ, well discover a God worthy of our whole-hearted love, and our neighbour will see that love in us. In conclusion, I think that it is not our human nature to fight, and even though there were wars in the past it is not our responsibility to continue with them. Many inspiring people taught us to love and not hate, and to speak out with non-violence. These inspiring people like Jesus, gives us teachings and quotes for us to base our lives on. Teachings like not to seek revenge when wronged, teaches us that we should forgive and forget, and not remain bitter. If the world tried to act as the commandments teach there wouldn’t need to be war. So, love thy neighbour as he or she may be your friend or save your life. And we should renew friendships and rebuild relationships, and make up after quarrels, and work together again.

Confucius Curry and a Mountain Dew Essay -- Philosophy

As Americans, we ridicule others based on their selection of clothing. We are snobby because of how much money we make or what we hold as an occupation. We chew with our mouths full of macaroni and curse when the soda machine is out of Pepsi. We could use some manners, or maybe just a reintroduction. Confucius thought is constructed on kindness and propriety, as well as holding the morally virtuous to be the ideal person. This philosophy exceedingly expresses value in benevolence, education, and the treatment of other people, but has hidden innuendos that would knock the petals off any flower child. In this reflection paper, I will dabble with how incorporating Confucius thought and practices would help in some areas of American society, but shun the validity of others. Money Over Everything The definition of the American Dream fluctuates from person to person, but can ultimately lead to a broad basis: With hard work and dedication, one can achieve success. And with success, comes happiness. We strive for happiness. In this journey, most come to understand that a college education is the key to becoming knowledgeable, and knowledge is important in becoming successful. Therefore, going to college can lead to success, right? Not a difficult concept to grasp. With the staggering rates of tuition bills and the dwindle of job availability, it would seem the path to success narrows each day. Those with money to cover these costs aren't usually too worried about their debts, seeing as they could squash them like ants. In America, our education is highly valued, but the value of education is incredibly too high. Confucius was not around for colleges and technical institutions, so the subject matter of his teachings did not include di... ...ring 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta  (ed.), URL = . 3.) Dawson, Miles. "Ethics of Confucius." . sacred-texts.com, 10/2007. Web. 17 Apr 2012. . 4.) . "Philosophy 312: Oriental Philosophy Main Concepts of Confucianism." Oriental Philosophy. N.p., 09/2000. Web. 17 Apr 2012. . 5.) Richey, Jefferey. "Gender and Sexuality." Religion Library: Confucianism. Patheos, 2012. Web. 17 Apr 2012. . 6.) Fader, Hallie. "The Chinese Legal Tradition." Rule of Law: The Story of Human Rights in World History. ORIAS, 07/2004. Web. April 17 2012. .

Clothing and Boutique Business

http://www. geo-slope. com/res/price%20list. pdf A boutique is a small retail store which focuses on selling unique items, or items targeted at a niche market. Boutiques are established to sell a wide range of things, although products like clothing, food, or jewelry are common offerings. Many people associate boutiques with elite, special products, and they may pay a premium for goods purchased in a boutique. Many resort towns and areas which cater to wealthy populations have a high concentration of boutiques in their shopping districts. At one point, any small shop was considered a boutique, and most stores were in fact boutiques since merchants usually focused on a single product, like fabric, produce, fish, and so on. The word is French in origin, and derived from the Old French word botica, for apothecary. Around the 1950s, people starting referring to specialized, elite fashion shops as â€Å"boutiques. † This meaning of the word quickly obscured previous usages, and spread to include any highly specialized or fashionable store. Many people think of a boutique as a standalone shop with a single owner. However, some high-end shopping chains actually own multiple boutiques; these stores may be scattered in wealthy areas all over the world. Chain boutiques sell specialized products and target a very specific market, just like their standalone counterparts. These stores may have very well marketed and recognized brands; Tiffany's is a good example of a boutique with international branches, with its distinctive little blue boxes and their contents being prized and coveted objects for some people. Types of Boutiques and their Classification A boutique store is a small retail shop that specializes in merchandise for a particular market segment. These department stores focus on fashionable products such as clothing, accessories, jewelry, and other miscellaneous items. Boutique stores are uniquely positioned to serve a well-defined category of consumers, and are equipped to cater to these niches and themes. As you can see below, there are many different niches that boutique stores can specialize in, and a diverse range of markets to choose from. Boutiques can be classified by their demographic target: Maternity Boutiques Some very successful boutiques target expecting mothers and the unique set of challenges that pregnancy brings to women; one of these challenges is to have clothing that is both stylish and comfortable. Given the dynamic nature of expectancy, dress sizes and how they are managed are extremely important to future moms who want dresses that they can use through the lifecycle of their pregnancy. Boutiques for Children A common way to segment a market is through targeting those of a particular age. If you love kids, then a boutique store for toddlers is calling for you. A boutique for children would carry children clothing, but may also contain toys and games. You can further define this category for just: †¢ Baby: An example is Baby Gap †¢ Toddler: Gap Kids for toddlers is in this category †¢ Pre-teens Casual Teen Boutiques Teenagers are a volatile bunch, and their casual boutiques are a reflection of this. These retail shops can cater to the â€Å"skater† crowd as PacSun does with grungier clothing and pointier jewelry. In contrast, they may cater to the â€Å"sporty† teens like Foot Locker does with sweat pants, shorts, and jerseys. Casual College Boutiques Another strong market is the college crowd seeking casual wear. Examples of such stores are American Eagle, Hollister, and Old Navy. Jeans and t-shirts dominate the shelves of these boutiques, along with the occasional accessories rack. Business Casual Boutiques Retailers like Banana Republic, Gap, and Club Monaco fit this category. Business casual boutiques mainly consist of dress shirts, polo shirts, and dress pants. Accessories that you might find in these stores are belts, cuff links, and ties. Boutiques for Women These might be the most common type of boutiques, and they specialize in the clothing and style needs of women; within this classification there are such specialities as Lingerine with the most known example being Victoria's Secret. Within this type of boutique you will also find boutiques for Mature Women that cater to their specific needs. Boutiques for Mature Men These boutique stores are the Tommy Bahamas that look great on the Pierce Brosnans and George Clooneys. They specialize in casual wear like polo shirts, shorts and sweaters, but also sell sunglasses, watches, and fragrances. These shops are a blend between professional and completely casual, resulting in a fashion line that accommodates men who are near or in retirement. Boutiques by Lifestyle and Theme Boutique stores can also be target markets that go beyond age and function. Thematic boutiques exist that sell tourist souvenirs or religious items. Boutiques can also cater to pets or special occasions like parties or bar mitzvahs. Examples of these lifestyle and thematic boutiques are: Beach Lifestlyle: An example is PacSun, which also caters to the extreme sport crowd Sports Boutiques: Such as Soccer Baseball, Football, or Lacrosse Gothic: Gothic boutiques carry specialized items that target the gothic lifestyle, are usually found in partying sites of town. Music Lifestyle: Rap, Reggaeton and Reggae fans have special dressing needs that boutiques answer. Pet Boutiques: Who said pets didn’t deserve to be stylish? As people devote more time to their pets, they also feel the need for a little style on their pet’s life. Pet sweaters are very popular in parts of the country that are subjected to hard winters. Touristic place Boutiques: A touristic place without a boutique which sells typical items is not as touristic as it should be. Patriotic and festivity date: People like to dress for occasions, and boutiques that cater in a timely matter to these occasions usually become successful. Religious: Think of the religious items and religious dates that are popular with each religion A boutique business is one that is always success and profitable as people need clothes to wear to work, parties at home and dress up. Starting a boutique is as professional as any other business whether you design your own line of clothes or stock some other designers’ clothes. If you are fond of designing clothes, have a creative mind and can design clothes that people love, it is a very profitable business to start. As a boutique owner you get to choose the products you will stock and set the prices and open your doors to eager customers who want to buy your latest creations and show them off. To start your boutique business, you need to be aware of the fashion sense, have a creative streak that enables you to match colors and fabrics together to design heavenly creations and also a substantial sum of money to invest in a shop, clothes and advertising. Read out articles for more information on how to start your own boutique business for a rewarding and satisfying career. Steps to starting a boutique business How to make your boutique a success How to run a profitable boutique business Establishing your boutique business Important factors for opening a boutique business From sportswear to beachwear, t-shorts to lingerie, shoes and sandals to causal dresses and evening wear, there is a large variety that you can offer in your boutique. You can also offer matching accessories like bangles and earning to match with the dresses and attract more clients. From clothes for women to men and children to teenagers, there is a large market you can work on for a successful boutique business. Starting a boutique business is a solid venture with constant demand for new clothing and apparels also there. Boutiques are very in these days and people value the personalized service and attention they receive, the cozy ambience and the unique products they get even if they are at slightly higher prices. You really don’t have to be a fashion designer to start your boutique business, you can sign up with some clothing line that provides you good quality readymade clothes to sell or you can design your own clothes and get them stitched by tailors to sell. You can also make clothes on order on customers’ demand. You can pursue your dreams and become a boutique owner by designing clothes or getting them designed exclusively for your shop and sell them with your brand name. It is very easy to become a part of the lucrative growing fashion industry with your creative designed line of clothes that are trendy, comfortable and durable. While you will not become country’s biggest chain of clothes, yet you will be able to earn a decent living for with a fulfilling lifestyle with a successful boutique business. Steps to Starting a Boutique Business Starting a boutique business is an exciting and fun experience and take planning, a good eye for fashion and ability to talk well. These days owning a boutique is probably one of the easiest businesses to start and makes you a part of the lucrative and even thriving and growing fashion industry. The demand and need of both online and offline boutiques is on the rise and makes it a very selling trade. You can start your own boutique and become a business owner by selling clothing such as evening gowns, formal and casual wear for men and women and even children. People love buying clothes that fit them as if they were custom designed for them. From a small town to a big city, boutiques are a popular place to buy clothes from. Regardless of your education and experience, you can start a boutique business, offer exclusive services to customers and earn a rewarding and fulfilling lifestyle. Fashion boutiques are hip, cutting edge and fresh and can sell anything from children clothing to maternity wear and even men’s fashion. Here are some steps on starting a successful and thriving boutique business. Step 1 First of all, decide on what type of boutique you want to open. From accessories to vacation wear, sportswear to formal or casual clothing to consignment clothing there is a wide variety of things you can sell. You can also sell specialty clothing such as evening gowns or maternity wear. It is important to decide what kind of clothing items you want to sell as it will become your signature and you will be known by the type of clothing you sell. Step 2 When starting a business especially one such as a boutique, it is necessary to get a business licenses. Check out with your local city or county department and ask them about any other requirements for opening a business. You will need to pick up a business name and complete all the necessary paperwork such as opening and account and getting a tax number before you can start. Step 3 You will need to find a nice place to open your boutique. You will need a storefront that has good street visibility and easy access so that customers can find and reach you easily or see the clothes in the window when passing by. A boutique doesn’t need to have very big space and it can have any arrangement or setting you want. However, having a good location is very important for a good business. Find a space that is attractive, located in a clean and respectable area and caters to the type of people who are likely to buy from you. Step 4 Find suppliers who will supply you with the clothing you need for your boutique. Go to trade shows and join organizations to get a list of suppliers who will provide you with the kind of products you want to sell in your shop. You can also contact suppliers who can make clothes according to the designs or styles you give them. While it might be an expensive and lengthy process, it will ensure that you sell clothes that are exclusively your designs and customers will be getting designed clothing. All these steps are very important and play a very crucial role in starting your boutique business. Running a boutique is fun and exciting if you enjoy your work, love fashion and advising others on what to buy that will suit them. With a good clothing line, excelling customer service and communication skills and good location, you can start a boutique business very successfully. How to Make Your Boutique a Success People who are fashion conscious and want to be recognized for their special way of dressing prefer buying their clothes from boutiques that sell something superior and different both in design and quality. Boutiques sell clothes that have their own personality, style and flare and which becomes very popular and trendy. If you are a boutique owner, it is important to sell not only just fashionable clothing but clothing that is at the same tie trendy, comfortable and speaks of class and design. Only these traits can make your boutique business a successful and profitable one. Starting a boutique business needs more than matching shoes with a dress or finding the right belt to go with the purse; it needs the perfect blend of colors and ideas that can make even two odd things look good and make them popular. To make your boutique a success, it is necessary to be well versed in fashion, choosing the best things to sell and an eye for details to help customers select the best thing to suit them. Here are some tips to managing and making a boutique a success. Tips for a Successful Boutique Decide on the type of items that you will sell in your boutique. It is necessary to determine what will be the highlights of your store such as hats, flashy tops or sunglasses. This is something where your personal style as a boutique owner must shine to give a distinctive aura and individual touch to the business. It is important to serve clothes that are at the same time individuals, will look good on everyone and leave a lasting impression others. Customers will only buy your clothes if they are comfortable, look good on them and offer them a chance to look different from others. If you provide all these things, you will definitely have a successful boutique. It is now necessary to have both online as well as offline stores to sell your clothes. While in the past, only a brick and mortar location served well, the rise in buying and selling products and services online has increased the need for an online store and more and more customers are now moving to buying clothes online. Get a website that is attractive, easy to navigate and offers the complete range of variety that you sell. A successful boutique has to remain in the good books of the government by paying all the taxes on time and maintaining a good reputation. Get a tax id number as it will allow you to track expanses paid for employees and remain in compliance with federal government rules. It doesn’t leave a good impression if your boutique name is associated for evading taxes and not following government policies. You will have to carry on schemes and advertising campaigns that keep you in the limelight and attract customers to your boutique to make it a success. From having a great opening event and inviting celebrities to wear your creations, there are many ways to attract attention and make sure people visit your shop regularly. You can also hold a fashion show, a charity function or a barbecue annually to make sure you draw crowds and bring attention to your boutique. This goes a long way in making a business successful and memorable. It is important to be customer oriented and serve customers the best way possible to make them come again. The main goal of having a boutique is to focus on the customers and keep them satisfied with your clothes. Be passionate about your clothes, serve them the best way, offer them great prices and you will see them coming back for more. You can start your boutique business on a small scale if you don’t have much to invest. Start on a scale that is equal to availability of funds or apply for a small loan and expand the business once it gets established and start making customers. Hard work, customer satisfaction and selling good clothing will go a long way in making your boutique a success and profit. How to Run a Profitable Boutique Business How to Make Your Boutique a Success, tips for a successful boutique, offering the best clothing to customers, pay government taxes Running a boutique business is as professional as any other business. From getting the best products to sell to effective marketing campaigns and from a good business plan to serving customers the best way, there is a lot needed to run a profitable boutique. Tips to Run a Profitable Business Here are a few tips to help you run a profitable boutique business: Sell Quality Clothing – The clothes and accessories that you sell should be cost effective. Even if they are expensive, the customers should feel that the clothes you sell are worth their money with the comfortable fitting, trendy designs and styles and their durability. This is one thing that will make your boutique business profitable even if you are a bit expensive than your competitors. Sell at Good Price – While quality is something that surpasses even the cost of products, make sure the cost of your clothing is inline or has an edge over your competitors. Too expensive clothing will only be affordable by rich people and it is important to create your market in all circles so it is better to sell at a good price that gives you a nice profit and customers a chance to wear boutique wear. Excellent Customer Services – Offering excelling customer services is very important as it can make or break a client. A customer might come back next time just because you gave them your full attention and advised them on what would suit them best. Customers prefer going to friendly shops where they are served with a smile. It is necessary to select and train your staff in offering best customer service for customer satisfaction and a profitable business. Offer Seasonal Stock – Every season has its own market and people buy clothes according to the seasons and fashions. Identity them and stock your boutique accordingly for a profitable business. Vacations and festival seasons mean more sales such as summers, Christmas and winters. Make sure you are adequately equipped with proper clothing to for the seasons and fashions to satisfy customers. Avoid Over Stocking – While it is best to be prepared with the seasonal stock to make good sales, it is very important to avoid over stocking as excessive stock means imminent loss. Estimate your future sales from past records and buy your stock accordingly. Proper amount of stock is very essential for the smooth and profitable running of a boutique. Along with all these above mentioned tips to help you run a profitable business, effective and targeted marketing campaign is absolutely necessary for running a boutique business. Plan your advertising to meet the requirements of your potential clients to attract them and offer them great deals they cannot resist. Professional account maintenance will help you to cover the financial aspects of making your business profitable and help you expand the business wisely. Proper account handling plays a very crucial role in avoiding financial pitfalls and ensures a profitable business. From buying stock to paying your employees and setting aside money for rent are not included in the profit. Profit is they left over amount of money that you get after covering all expenditures and it can vary depending upon how you sell your clothes, how you serve the clients and what methods you use to make your boutique business a profitable and successful one. Establishing Your Boutique Business Establishing a boutique needs lots of planning and preparation from selection of a great line of clothing to be sold to finding a great storefront that will attract customers and profit margins to be earned. However, only selling trendy and stylish clothes or having the best location for your shop is something that will not work every time. How to Establish Your Boutique Business the Right Way First of all, make your boutique as inviting and cozy as possible. Remember, it is a deviation from store or supermarket clothing so it has to look personal and give a very inviting look to the customers where the feel comfortable in choosing their clothing. Decorate your boutique and give it a distinct theme or feel that will set it apart from other shops. Make your boutique memorable by adding special little touches to personalize the store and merchandise and to give customers a unique shopping experience. Windows play a very crucial role in advertising and promoting your shop and your line of clothing. It is necessary to put out and display your special items in the windows to entice customers as before entering the shop, every customer takes a look at the window and if they like what they see, they will definitely come inside. Try new variations on clothing to satisfy every customer. You don’t have to stock everything in large quantities but it is best to try everything out and see customers’ response. This way you will be able to judge what sells most and make more profits based on this calculation. Purchase your merchandise from a variety of places such as fashion markets, local designers and even eBay or garage sales. You will find some wonderful items in the most unusual places that customers are going to love. In some cases, creating a specialty store makes it easier to target your marketing campaign such as men’s clothing or sportswear or maternity wear. This limits your clientele to a certain section of society and you can target them only. However, it doesn’t work all the time and in most of the cases, business owners prefer having a large variety to cater to different clients. It is very important to listen to customers’ feedback and try to fulfill their needs. It will help you two ways. First of all, it will give them the feeling that you care and they will come to your boutique for more, secondly, it will increase your profits and your clientele once people come to know about the personalized services you offer. Marketing your boutique is the best way to make it known and popular among customers. Put ads in local newspapers, yellow pages and whatever you can afford. You can also offer special sales or discounts and you will see people flocking to get a look at what you are selling. All these tips to establish your boutique are meant to guide you in making your business a success. However, don’t expect immediate profits as it will take some time to establish your business, earn customers trust and start making money. Explore your options and see what you can do to set your boutique business apart from others to make it a profitable and thriving venture. Important Factors for Opening a Boutique Business Breaking into and succeeding as a boutique owner, running a boutique and selling fashion clothing is a demanding but also a rewarding business. You can pursue your dream of owning a boutique and sell beautiful clothes to women, men, children and even teenagers and become a part of lucrative fashion industry There are all sorts of fashion boutiques ranging from selling everyday items to haute couture evening gowns. It is for you to decide what you want to specialize in and make your mark in. However, whichever form of boutique you choose to start, you will have to work hard, pay attention to and plan meticulously to make your place in the market and beat your competition. From expensive and designer label to low cost items with high turn around, you can start the kind of boutique business you can run successfully. There are numerous important factors that play a very crucial role in opening and running a boutique successfully and help to make it a big name. There are numerous things to do before you can even open your doors to the customers. This article discusses some of the most important factors that can help you open and run a boutique business. Money for Investment The most important factors that play a very vital role in opening a boutique is money for investment. Renting a place, buying stock, decoration of the shop and advertising it, all need substantial amount of money. You will either need to come up with lots of money or need credit. Loans and grants are another way to arrange for money to open your boutique. Calculate how much money you will need for investing into the business before applying for it. Deciding on the Type of Boutique There are many types of boutique from men’s wear to women wear and children wear to specialty boutiques that sell sportswear, maternity wear or evening wear. You will have to decide which type of boutique you want to open. You can also specialize in second hand clothing, wedding or formal wear, clothing accessories or something completely different. Find out your competition and choose a genre that is not very common so you can make your place in the market easily. Go for something that makes your stand apart from the crowd and get noticed. Finding the Right Manufactures and Suppliers Another important factor that can help to open and run a boutique is finding the right manufactures and suppliers who will supply clothing for your boutique. The best way to find them is to search online or attend trade shows and select the best ones. It is necessary to talk to different suppliers and check their merchandise and decide on their cost before actually signing up with them. It is important to ensure that the clothes you are getting are of superior quality, durable and look good as your reputation as a boutique owner depends on them. Advertising and Marketing Advertising and marketing is something that starts even before the store is opened. Put up banners on the shop announcing what you are going to do, give ads in the newspapers, organize a small show or offer discounts on first few days of openings. These are all effective and valuable advertising and marketing tips that help to promote a business and help it get noticed. Opening and running a boutique is as professional as any other business and need careful planning and preparation before you open your doors to the customers. It is important to give due consideration to all the factors that are necessary and play a crucial role in setting up and running a business to make sure your boutique venture becomes successful and gets good returns on investment. Managing A Boutique Business Running your own Boutique Business can be undermined by the very simplest of problems: your ability to manage! Having the product, resource and cash to start a Boutique Business is important but without an ability to get the best from those around you, and of course yourself. then you may be looking at a failure; a costly failure. If you are a business owner and you accept your weaknesses then it is very simply to plan a simpler way for you to manage your Boutique Business. A business plan will help you set out exactly what you need from your customers our suppliers your financiers your staff, and most importantly, you! The first thing a great manager understands is that people are impossible to manage! To try and take a hands-on approach to every single aspect of managing a Boutique Business is impossible; the key to a great business is that it will run without hands-on management. Your systems should run your business; you should write your Boutique Business Plan to clearly set out how you want your business to run. The type of customers you are looking for and how you want to present your xyz business to them. The suppliers you need to help you and how you want those relationships to work. The right level of long-term secure finance and how you will return their money and what they can expect by way of information from you. A clear set of instructions for your staff. A very clear set of instructions to yourself. Great businesses do not rely on people having to make decisions every minute of every day; they are built with a clear system so that everyone knows what is expected. Great Boutique Businesses have a great Boutique Business Plan. The following are several common mistakes that decrease the effectiveness of your management: Depending on unqualified friends or family in key management positions. Assuming that previous success in other industries applies to your current industry. Presenting a â€Å"one-man-team† management philosophy. We all know that it is difficult to wear every hat and successfully run and grow a company. Attempting to attract top managers without sharing ownership. Failing to ensure every person that comes into contact with your Boutique company knows exactly what your business does! Imagine this scenario: You are a private investor searching for that next exciting investment opportunity. A business plan lands on your desk, right next to the sixteen others you have received recently and are in the process of reviewing. Half of the plans present solid business concepts. Some of the plans seem to offer exceptional long-term growth possibilities. But in your opinion, only two of the plans present management teams capable of turning ideas into reality. As you consider your investment options, you eventually eliminate all the business plans except for those with the strong management teams.

Oil Purification

Oil used in cooking foods is commonly derived from vegetables. Cooking oil is commonly used for frying and oil used for frying is usually thrown away. The recycling of cooking oil also provides a form of revenue for restaurants, which are sometimes compensated by cooking oil recyclers for their used deep fryer oil. Cooking oil recycling also results in less used oil being disposed of in drains, which can clog sewage lines due to the build-up of fats. The Procedure This procedure for filtering and reusing cooking oil requires the oil to be heated, so avoid using anything made of plastic throughout the procedure.Another important precaution to observe is to make sure none of the things used during the procedure are moist or wet. To begin with, strain the cooking oil once using a strainer to catch and remove any coarse food particles. Heat the oil to a temperature of about 170 -200 degrees Fahrenheit, and put in the ginger slices. Turn off the heat after about two or three minutes, and let the ginger slices remain in the cooking oil while the oil cools naturally. Ginger will absorb most of the odor and taste of the foods that were cooked in the oil.When the cooking oil has cooled down to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which will be approximately 10-15 minutes afterPurified Cooking Oil for Reuse turning off the heat, it’s time to filter the oil. To make the filter, line the conical strainer with the paper towel, making sure that there is no place from where the oil can leak out without passing through the towel. Next, line it with the cheese cloth in the same fashion. Place the filter on some container that is big enough to hold the amount of oil being filtered, and pour in the heated oil into the filter.Since the filter we’ve made is really fine, it may take up to 15 minutes for one liter of oil to pass through it. When the filtered oil reaches room temperature, you can transfer it to the storage jars. Close the lids tightly and store them in the refr igerator. This procedure for filtering and purifying cooking oil for reuse is fairly simple. And making it a habit to reuse cooking oil can be your small step towards greener living. This procedure can be repeated three to four times before you finally need to discard the fryer oil, which means a little effort can save you some goodly amount of money too.

Does a breakup make sense essays

Does a breakup make sense essays Everyone knew that the government had mounted a strong case in U.S. vs. Microsoft. But nobody expect a complete rout. Yet, when U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Jackson released his finding of facts on Nov. 5, he handed state and federal prosecutors an unambiguous triumph. Declaring that Microsoft routinely used its monopoly power to crush competitors, he portrayed the software giant as nothing less than a social menace. Jackson ¡s fact-findings were so critical of the company that they ¡ve raised the stakes in this battle: Suddenly, the breakup of Microsoft is a real possibility.  ¡If you had asked me how likely a breakup of Microsoft was six months ago, I would have said 10%, ¡ says Robert E. Litan, an antitrust expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.  ¡Now I say it ¡s 50%. ¡ The last time the government broke up a major company was in1982, when it worked with a cooperative ATBreaking them up is not the right answer, ¡ says Benchmark Capital partner David Beirne, a key backer of Red Hat Software Inc., which makes a Linux, based operating system that competes with Windows. Microsoft president Steven A. Ballmer, in an interview with BUSINESS WEEK, also insisted that the company would be  ¡happy to resolve this as quickly as possible. But, he added,  ¡We aren ¡t going to compromise on the principle of the freedom to innovate. ¡ In other words, the Feds can ¡t tell Microsoft what to put in its products. The main argument for divestiture is that Microsoft has so much power, and is so innately aggressive, that nothing else will keep the company from unfairly preying on rivals. If the government tries to break Microsoft up, there are four structural remedies. Horizontal breakup : Breaking Microsoft into th ...

HumanitiesGrecoRoman Culture essays

HumanitiesGrecoRoman Culture essays Aristophanes was a "craft" comedy poet in the fourth century B.C. during the time of the Peloponnesian War. Aristophanes' usual style was to be too satirical, and suggesting the outlandish. He shows little mercy when mocking Socrates and his "new-fangled ideas" which were most likely designed to destroy the cohesiveness of society and lead to The most absurd and humorous of Aristophanes' comedies are those in which the main characters, the heroes of the story, are women. Smart One of the most famous of Aristophanes' comedies depicting powerfully effectual women is the Lysistrata, named after the female lead character of the play. It portrays Athenian Lysistrata and the women of Athens teaming up with the women of Sparta to force their husbands to end the To make the men agree to a peace treaty, the women seized the Acropolis, where Athens' financial reserves are kept, and prevented the men from squandering them further on the war. They then beat back an attack on their position by the old men who have remained in Athens while the younger men are out on campaign. When their husbands return from battle, the women refuse to have sex with them. This sex strike, which is portrayed in a series of (badly) exaggerated and blatant sexual innuendoes, finally convinces the men of Athens and Sparta to agree to a The Lysistrata shows women acting bravely and even aggressively against men who seem resolved on ruining the city-state by prolonging a pointless war and excessively expending reserves stored in the Acropolis. This in turn added to the destruction of their family life by staying away from home for long stretches while on military campaign. The men would come home when they could, sexually relieve themselves, and then leave again to continue a senseless war. The women challenge the masculine role model to preserve...

How to Choose a Major for Your College Application

How to Choose a Major for Your College Application SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’ve recently started the college application process and are looking at particular schools, you might have noticed that some schools want you to know your major before you apply. Or at some schools, even if you don’t have to know your major, you have to apply to a specific undergraduate college such as Engineering, Nursing, or Arts and Sciences. So how do you know which major or school to apply to? What if you have no clue what you want to study in college? We'll give you advice and show you how to navigate admission sites to get the information you need. Applying to a Specific Undergraduate College For many universities, you apply for undergraduate admission and that’s it. Even if the university is divided into several smaller colleges of study, you won't have to choose a school until after you get to campus. For example, at Stanford, I wasn’t required to apply to a major or specific undergraduate division. Once I got to campus, I could choose between the different undergraduate schools: Humanities and Sciences, Engineering, or Earth Sciences. Each school housed its own majors. However, for some universities, you need to make the choice between undergraduate colleges when you are applying as a high school senior. To take a few prominent examples, Northwestern, Cornell, and Boston College all require you to apply to a specific undergraduate college. This can all be daunting when you're just 18 and don't know what to do with your life yet! The choices at those schools are as follows: Northwestern College of Arts and Sciences School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications School of Engineering and Applied Science School of Communication School of Music School of Education and Social Policy Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences College of Architecture, Art, and Planning College of Arts and Sciences College of Engineering College of Business (which is further divided into two schools: School of Hotel Administration and School of Applied Economics and Management) College of Human Ecology School of Industrial and Labor Relations Boston College College of Arts and Sciences School of Management School of Education School of Nursing Which school you apply to could also affect your application requirements. For example, the different colleges at Cornell have different standardized test requirements. So what do you do if you want to apply to a university like this- but aren't sure about your future area of study? The answer to this depends on whether the choice is binding or not. When Picking a College or Major Is Binding If it’s easy to switch between schools once you enroll as a student, then don’t worry too much about the choice you make senior year. Just pick the college that is closest to your current interests.For example, at Cornell internal transfers are generally easy, but requirements vary depending on the college. If it’s hard to make an internal transfer, however, you'll need to think carefully and make sure you are choosing the right school before you apply. For example, at Boston College, transfers into some divisions are harder than others. If you decide as an undergraduate to go into the Management College or Nursing School, it’s hard to get in. As a general rule, if a college has a very specific field of study (engineering, nursing, management) and that particular college had extra requirements for undergraduate admission, internally transferring will be harder. How to Figure Out How Binding a School Is How do you find out how binding the choice is? First, search the undergraduate admission site and see whether it offers any guidance or advice for picking an undergraduate school or division. Usually, this will be on the application requirements page. For example, on Boston College's admissions page for its majors and minors, it explains that all applicants must apply to a specific undergraduate division. Further down, it gives more in-depth information about what to do if you're still undecided about what you want to study, or if you're considering an internal transfer. If you can’t find this information on the admissions website, search "[School Name] internal transfers." Most universities with strictly defined undergraduate divisions will have processes and policies for students who have already enrolled and decided they want to switch. If you can’t find any of this information online, look up the contact information for the school's admissions office and either call or send an email. Also, don't be scared to contact admissions officers- they tend to be very friendly and helpful! Once you've figured out whether the choice of an undergraduate division is binding or not, what do you do next? If the Choice Is Binding ... If a university on your list has a binding admission policy to undergraduate divisions, make sure you have other college options that are less strict. You wouldn’t want to get stuck committing to a college or area of study you later decide you’re not interested in. Therefore, I recommend applying to at least two universities that allow you to choose your school and area of study after you get to campus. If the Choice Is Not Binding ... If you’re really not sure which college to apply to and the choice isn't binding, then pick the most general program. Most universities will have a College of Arts and Sciences or a Humanities and Sciences school with the widest variety of majors. The other schools are usually geared toward more specialized for programs such as engineering and nursing. Therefore, don’t apply to a specific area of study like that unless you’re certain it's a career you want to go into Applying to a Specific Major While some schools have you choose an undergraduate division or college when you apply, others go further and want you to apply to a specific major. Sometimes you'll need to apply to a major if you are interested in a particularly competitive or rigorous field of study. This means you have to know even more specifically what you want to study before you get to college. One example is San Diego State University. When you apply, you choose a major and are ranked within the major. You can apply undecided and declare when you get to campus. However, if you want to pursue a specialized subject such as nursing, you have to apply as a high school senior. Another example is Georgetown. While they allow applicants to apply undecided, they recommend that applicants interested in language, literature, math, or the sciences apply in those majors. So what do you do if a college on your list wants you to know your major before you get to campus? Find Out Whether Switching Majors Is Hard Your first step is to find out how hard or easy it is to switch majors. Use the strategies we focused on above: start by browsing the admission website and then search for "[School Name] switching major" on Google. If neither of these methods pans out, feel free to contact the admissions office and ask them directly. As a general rule, if a major has more specific or harder admission requirements (this is often the case with science, math, nursing, and engineering), it will be harder to transfer into. If changing your major isn’t difficult, don’t agonize over the decision. Choose a major that best aligns with your interests and strongest classes. Admissions officers will want to see that you have the academic chops to back up your intended major, so don’t pick biology if you’ve only taken one biology class and did poorly in it! If switching your major is difficult, make sure to choose a major that is related to a career you want and your personal strengths. Also, don't forget to apply to other colleges that allow you to choose your major on campus so you’ll have some choices. Again, the worst-case scenario is being locked into a major you eventually decide you don’t want to study, thereby making you unable to pursue something you're actually interested in! Favorite High School Subjects and Possible Majors There are often dozens, if not hundreds, of majors you can choose from in college, and some are very different from what you study in high school. This can make it hard to choose a major on a college application, regardless of whether you have to just indicate interest or actually apply to a major. If you want to explore college majors because you have to list one for an application but aren’t sure where to start, this list is a jumping-off point based on what you like in high school. Research interesting-looking majors by looking up their department websites at schools you’re interested in. For example, if you want to learn more about sociology, look up "[School Name] department of sociology." Majors are approached differently across universities, so it’s smart to have an idea of the different ways a major can be taught. Here are the various types of majors you can look for in popular fields depending on the subjects you've enjoyed so far in high school: If You Love English/Language Arts English Literature Comparative Literature Creative Writing Philosophy Journalism Communications Foreign Language Studies If You Love Math Accounting Business Computer Science Economics Information Technology Philosophy Mathematics Engineering (any kind) If You Love Science Biology Chemistry Physics Pre-Medicine Studies Environmental or Earth Science Environmental or Biochemical Engineering Geology Nursing Psychology If You Love History/Social Sciences History Anthropology Sociology Psychology Political Science International Relations Foreign Language Studies If You Love Theater/Fine Arts/Music Theater/Performance Studies Film Photography Art Art History Dance Communications Music Performance If You Want to Go Into Medicine Biology Chemistry Organic Chemistry Neuroscience Physics Psychology If You Want to Go Into Law Criminal Justice Economics English Literature History International Relations Philosophy Psychology Political Science Sociology If You Want to Go Into Business Accounting Business Administration Economics Human Resources Management Science Psychology Again, this is just a starting point. Many students explore classes outside their major once they get to college- and many end up in fields they never expected to. Use this list to help you find majors you might like, but don't feel as though you must study something. Should I Choose a Major or Be "Undecided"? Some colleges don’t require you to apply within a major but do give you the option to say what you want to study. This gives you a choice: should you apply undecided, or indicate a potential major? If you're leaning strongly toward an area of study and have the academic experience to back it up, it’s smart to go ahead and indicate that interest. This can help show colleges where to focus on your high school transcript. For example, if you want to study biology and have excellent grades in natural science and math and have even done a little research, put own biology as a prospective major. Doing this will put your experience in context and show how interested you are in the subject. That said, if you’re really not sure and simply want to explore academic subjects in college, there’s nothing wrong with applying undecided. Many universities expect undergraduates to browse a variety of fields and often require them to take classes in all major subjects. Furthermore, switching your major is very common in college- at some colleges, more than half of undergraduates end up switching! Just make sure that on your application, even if you don’t indicate a major, you demonstrate strong intellectual interests and aptitude, either through your essays or extracurricular activities. Final Tip: Apply to Non-Binding Colleges, Too As a final piece of advice, make sure at least a few of the colleges you apply to do not bind you to a major or undergraduate division before you get to campus. Your goal is to have as many options as possible once you get to April of your senior year. One way to do this is to apply to liberal arts schools. If you really have no idea what you want to study, liberal arts colleges can be good choices, as they encourage students to take a wide variety of classes and don’t expect you to enter knowing exactly what you want to study. Many universities also just accept general undergraduate applicants. Make sure as you compile your list of colleges that you do your research and see where they stand on binding versus non-binding school/major choices. To sum up, apply to a wide range of colleges and universities so you’re not stuck choosing between being a chemistry major at one school and an art major at another come April your senior year! What’s Next? The best way to maximize your admissions chances to the college of your dreams is with a high ACT/SAT score. If you're aiming for perfection, check out our expert guides to getting a 1600 on the SAT and a 36 on the ACT- both written by a real full scorer. Looking for an academically relaxed college experience? Find out what the easiest majors for your bachelor's degree are. Didn't get a good score on the ACT/SAT essay? You're not alone. Learn how to improve your essay on a retake with these ACT and SAT-specific essay guides. Not sure of the ACT/SAT score you should be aiming for? See how to set a target SAT score or ACT score based on the schools you want to get into. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

The Sumerian civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

The Sumerian civilization - Essay Example 42-4). The existing forms of writing were not sufficient enough to be of much use to the Sumerian civilization in its advanced methods of calculation and of setting down thoughts. There were not enough symbols, pictures or word forms in the original modes of communication. Especially, writing was found to be a hindrance when the civilization advanced to the point of sending out trade expeditions to other lands. All of these factors encouraged an advanced form of writing to be developed in the Sumerian Civilization-one in which they could keep official records (McClellan 2006, p. 66-71). Although the systems of the civilization were developing rapidly, there were not many Sumerians who had the ability to read and write. To overcome this problem, the people would hire the services of scribes who would read and write on their behalf. The main use of the written documents was the implementation of the legal system which first established and then further developed laws. The ruling King would make rules that could be consistently implemented throughout the region, as scribes would place their tablets throughout the city and the rules then could be uniformly applied (Sherman & Slaisbury 2008, p. 97-9). This process represented a major step forward. The uses of writings developed beyond just alphabets as people used them to make scaled drawings of inventions, and also used the tablets to record and get the inventions named after them. For example, the first wheeled cart was developed as a drawing on one of the specific tablets. As time progressed, writing found its use in the form of record keeping, news developments, and many other written records put on Cuneiform tablets. The writings were enhanced- to be used, as codes of law and systems of practice, for the lower administrators as well as the general public (Avery 2003, p. 112-7). 2. What were the main political changes that took place in Greek society in the period 700 - 489 B.C. What were some of the causes of these changes In the early seventh century, Greece operated on the legal code of Draco, which attempted to meet the needs that had developed from the dissatisfaction of the lower class due to the controlling power and the rule of the upper class. This conflict in interests resulted in a written code of governance for the lower class, which had become aggravated as the upper class had grown to make themselves forceful rulers of their regions-as when Cylon, for example, had seized the Acropolis (Sherman & Dennis 2008, p. 59-62). This act was the basis of revolt in the 620 B.C by the lower class, and many of the leaders of the upper class were challenged. As the laws were perceived, by the lower class, to be tailored and invented overnight by the upper class, the lower class demanded to have the rules and policies be uniformly set down in written form, in the hope that they would be equally applied to all. In the same era, a judicial system based on appointed judges also came into existence, to be responsible for administering the laws irrespective of class. Courts were established so as to ensure the proper implementation of the laws and a system evolved to establish the political

Corporate Compliance Benchmarking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corporate Compliance Benchmarking - Essay Example B. In order to solve the problem, Toyota introduced new programs for minority employees and plant workers working with old equipment. Under this new arrangement, both the employees and Toyota benefited. The employees received flexible bonus incentives and were able to earn more than they did under previous pay scale (Toyota Home Page 2008).. Toyota, on the other hand, quit losing an estimated $5 million per year on the plant and has a new source from which to purchase roller bearings and help keep the other competitors' prices in line. All workers were proposed additional training in order to meet new standards and requirements. The advantage of this strategy is that Toyota focuses on employees' needs rather than organizational objectives (Kennedy-Glans and Schulz 2005). C. It took time to train minority workers and replaced old equipment in some plants, but this strategy allowed Toyota improved productivity and develop positive climate and morale. Employees felt they were valued by the company, and motivated by fair compensation. These tactics have been applied by top management equally against factory workers and middle management white collar workers. Today, companies strategy assist in making the business case and fixing the reward package. To operate without major disruptions, Toyota must be in compliance with legal requirements, international, federal, state, and local (Kennedy-Glans and Schulz 2005). Ford A. Ford was accused in unfair policies applied to women's compensation and benefits. A successful reward strategy encompasses much more than the compensation package, although that may be the key practical element in ensuring that the appointee, partner and family set off on the assignment with confidence and in a positive frame and is focused strongly on helping partners to resolve dual-career issues. The granting of staff status has been put into effect by a few progressive firms. Effective arguments supporting the issue appear to be pleas or threats to management that if they do not take appropriate action, then the federal government will step in and do it for them through some form of a new legislation. They also argue that business can either pay women an adequate wage or pay instead through welfare programs (Ford Home Page 2008). B. In order to solve the problem, Ford evaluated her abilities and education and came to conclusion that the African-American woman received low compensation because she lacked necessary skills and education for the position she occupied. In order to overcome such problems is future, Ford introduced infringed benefits for production workers (Ford Home Page 2008). The reality is that companies tend to have greater income security because performance evaluations usually are a rather modest determinant of their total compensation package. Also, Ford executives give much of the credit to the blue-collar worker and management and union leadership willingness to listen to them and to work with them in increasing productivity.C. As a result, the company improved its image and avoided legal responsibility. Also, the company introduced special benefits for women (and mothers in particular) including direct benefits: sick pay and

Evolving thesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evolving thesis - Essay Example To a great extent, this claim can be viewed as a logical one and there is evidence all around us that validates and supports it. The acquisition of property and goods is often used as a hallmark of success where the ones who have the â€Å"best†, â€Å"biggest† or â€Å"most† of something are considered most successful. To appreciate that, one only needs to observe the mass media, especially television, magazines as well as online polls. Every year Forbes comes out with a list of the richest in the world, there are surveys to show, for instance which footballer owns the biggest car and art enthusiasts and collectors often strive to have the most extensive collection of paintings, books and many other ostentation goods. For example Bill Gates is ranked as the richest man in the world, this ranking being based on our perception of money as an indirect endorsement for the man as the most successful businessman alive. These measurements do not take into account what he has achieved, how many people he has helped or even how happy he is, all that counts are the possessions he has accumulated. Thus the rest of America works tirelessly to acquire as much as they can and often forget to enjoy it since their primary goal is to be viewed as successful in their circles. The most direct route to that is to buy and flaunt, indeed most Americans according to research would pick money over happiness if they had a chance (Wolfe 32). Twitchell’s (p.285) claim is supported by his own reasoning in regard to poverty in the western world, albeit it applies universally; he states that the poor are labeled as such, owing to their lack of material things and property. Going by the original argument that we use these things to define and give meaning to ourselves, it would then appear that the poor lack meaning and inevitably face exclusion from society. A look at the social stratification will confirm that the more one owns the higher they are likely to go, for instance, I imagine the guards in an exclusive hotel are more likely to open the gate for an expensive looking top of the range car than they are for a homeless man or generally disheveled individual. This is because the consumerist society in which we exist sustains itself by excluding anyone who does not conform to the culture of endless buying and since human beings are social creatures, most of us try to keep up with the consumerist trends (Twitchell 286). The â€Å"cool† and successful individuals and groups at the top of the chain who are the subject of the collective admiration from the less successful are extremely dynamic. This must be so otherwise the materialist culture would come up even if they were to remain static for others to keep up with them. For instance when technology devices such as the new iPhone are unveiled, there are those who can afford to purchase them immediately notwithstanding the price. The rest will save until they can afford the device; however, some months down the line, when they are almost achieving this end, a new more expensive model is unveiled and quickly grabbed by the rich as the rest are left in second place as always. This cycle of changing trends and fashions is what ultimately drives consumerism and manipulates many Americans to keep buying items not for the items own sake but to enhance

The Cold War Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Cold War Economy - Essay Example This is by availing its population with reliable employment opportunities and other essential services like housing, education for the veterans and other services, hence comprises some of the strategies during then aimed at empowering private sector. The American regime during cold war adopted or utilized mixed economy in its quest to evade fiscal anguish evident in the way it boosted the private sector. In order to ensure the then depression did not cripple banking industry, the state intervened with the intention of cushioning loaning process especially. As Mooney explains, â€Å"The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) established during the Great Depression to revitalize the real estate and home construction industries played a central role in creating postwar suburban America (Mooney, 147).† Hence, boosting the housing market by instituting FHA such that private sector did not have doubt in recovering their invested resources. This is through subsidizing long-term loan mo rtgages that acted as a great boost to the private sector towards doubling their efforts. This led to the creation of American suburb areas, which the private sector during then could not manage.It assisted veterans who wanted to go to college or technical school; it also helped millions of veterans purchase homes by guaranteeing mortgage loans made by private lenders (Moony, 139).† The aim of this Bill entailed evading the burden of the returned population from the war as they started to age. Since once they do not have anything to rely on will be the burden of the state to cater for their respective upkeep in terms of medical care. By imparting them with appropriate knowledge and varied skills within few years, they will be able to depend on themselves. In addition, the government will channel financial support meant for their care to other sectors, hence boost the economy. The government also came up with tight laws meant to secure firms’ interests such that employee s backed by their respective unions could not result in â€Å"wildcat strikes† which extremely expensive. According to lecture notes, â€Å"1947 Taft-Hartley Act established certain Presidential powers to be used to retain order in certain emergency situations (such as a strike or lockout that would likely cause adverse effects on an entire industry or would threaten national health, safety or security) (Lecture notes, November 13, 2013).† Hence, showing the then relationship between private sector and the central regime in ensuring both private sectors, which in this case encompassed industries and workers coexisted well. This is by ensuring both parties once there were any misunderstandings they were capable of resolving them adequately and effectively without resulting to injurious incidences. Some of these injurious or detrimental incidences encompassed unnecessary strikes and sometimes firms retrenching workers due to their respective union persuasions.

Occupational Safety & Liability Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Occupational Safety & Liability - Case Study Example   As such, one is convinced that the comprehensive definition of a safe workplace should extend beyond focusing on it being injury free – which is only one facet in adhereing to the standards of safety as prescribed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).Concurrently, it has been revealed that employers were required by OSHA for the provision of a safe workplace that conforms to the following description: â€Å"one that is free of dangers that could physically harm those who work there†¦ requiring employers to inform employees about potential hazards, to train them in how to deal with hazards, and to keep records of workplace injuries†.Overall, other facets of safety and conformity to health standards must be adhered; not only focusing on an injury free definition. Actually, it was emphasized that a safe workplace should consider communicating explicitly to all personnel sources of potential risks and hazards, identifying machinery that could endanger the employees’ lives, preventing illnesses, making sure that lighting, ventilation, emergency exits and fire protective strategies are in place, providing vaccination as deemed necessary, and â€Å"even tracking the effects of workplace conditions on employees’ health through periodic medical examinations†. Thus, the information confirms that workplace safety does not merely mean being injury-free. All aspects of hazards and risks in the work place must be properly addressed.

Consumer law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Consumer law - Essay Example The White Paper policy was formulated to minimise differences in manners of purchase.1 These remedies are discussed below. Right to Reject the Goods When a consumer discovers that the goods hired or purchased from a retailer do not match the description given, or are unfit for purpose intended for, or are not of merchantable quality, they are entitled to reject them and thus terminate the contract. With the contract terminated, they will not be under an obligation to pay for the goods as previously provided by the contract. This right will not be available where the purchase or hiring is within the course of business and the defect is so insignificant that rejecting the goods would be unreasonable. This remedy is available if the defect is noticed within six years from the time of purchase2 and it is shown that the fault has not been caused by ordinary wear or tear or through misuse by the purchaser. Within the first six months, it is for the retailer to prove that the goods in quest ion were not inherently defective. After the six months the burden shifts to the consumer to prove that the goods were defective when they were sold. ... Acceptance is deemed to have taken place when the consumer expressly states that they have accepted the good, when they alter the goods or when they continue to keep the goods for a reasonable duration of time3. Courts’ decisions on what amounts to a reasonable period of time provide varied answers. In the case of Bernstein V Pamson Motors (Golders Green) Ltd4, where the consumer was held to have accepted the car by keeping it for less than four weeks after purchasing it. In contrast, in Bowes V Richardson & Son Ltd5, it was held that the consumer had the right to reject the car even after keeping it for seven months after purchase. The consumer will lose his right to complain of the faultiness of the goods if he purchased the goods more than 6 years ago. They will also not be entitled to complain where they knew the goods to have been defective at the time of sale after it was pointed out to them. Even where the defect was not pointed out to them but the consumer had them exa mined by an independent party and the defect was manifestly visible or should have been discovered from a proper examination of the goods, he will still have no legitimate right to complain about the defect. Also, they will not be entitled to complain if at the time of sale the retailer came out clean and confessed that they were unsure of the suitability of the goods for purpose. When a consumer purchases second hand goods, he still has the right to a product that is fully useable and undamaged and can return the goods if they are found not to be useable. When the consumer knowingly purchases a defective item, even though they cannot return the item on the basis of that particular defect, they can still return the item if

Occupational Safety & Liability Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Occupational Safety & Liability - Case Study Example   As such, one is convinced that the comprehensive definition of a safe workplace should extend beyond focusing on it being injury free – which is only one facet in adhereing to the standards of safety as prescribed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).Concurrently, it has been revealed that employers were required by OSHA for the provision of a safe workplace that conforms to the following description: â€Å"one that is free of dangers that could physically harm those who work there†¦ requiring employers to inform employees about potential hazards, to train them in how to deal with hazards, and to keep records of workplace injuries†.Overall, other facets of safety and conformity to health standards must be adhered; not only focusing on an injury free definition. Actually, it was emphasized that a safe workplace should consider communicating explicitly to all personnel sources of potential risks and hazards, identifying machinery that could endanger the employees’ lives, preventing illnesses, making sure that lighting, ventilation, emergency exits and fire protective strategies are in place, providing vaccination as deemed necessary, and â€Å"even tracking the effects of workplace conditions on employees’ health through periodic medical examinations†. Thus, the information confirms that workplace safety does not merely mean being injury-free. All aspects of hazards and risks in the work place must be properly addressed.

Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness case 5 Essay

Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness case 5 - Essay Example The Chinese markets have also faces a surge as there has been a huge drop in the social and cultural barriers. This has been a major cause for the businesses to be able to set up the businesses and work more earnestly. Also the SMEs of China have been known for supplying parts and services to the world’s top companies. This has formed a main characteristic of the Chinese SMEs. The fact that the parts are supplied from Chinese SMEs across the world simply means that the demand for the SME depends to a very great extent on the demand of the giants where the company provide for the goods and services. It is quite difficult to ignore the significance of the SMEs in the Chinese economy. It has also been noted that the Chinese foreign exchange markets and the foreign experts have estimated that the country has been contributed as much as 60% of the total industrial output. Also it provides as much as 75% of the workforce of the country. SMEs are responsible for creating most new urb an jobs, and they are the main destination for workers laid-off from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that re-enter the workforce. This fact of the companies providing a high level of jobs to the workforce in the country has been recognised by the government however it has also lead to a number of social unrest within the country. Chinese officials have said that SMEs would be more important for preserving social stability than the nascent social security system once increased foreign competition as a result of Chinas WTO entry forces more layoffs from uncompetitive state-owned firms. It has also been noted by the local experts that the employees aged over 40 and 50s are being removed from the jobs, specially those with a lack of skills to be able to compete in the private ventures. The next essential step is to consider the plausible strategy for Chinese SME in the manufacturing industry. There are two main strategies that need to be

John Forbes Nash Jr Essay Example for Free

John Forbes Nash Jr Essay John Forbes Nash Jr. (born June 13, 1928) is a mathematician who worked in game theory and differential geometry. He shared the 1994 Nobel Prize for economics with two other game theorists, Reinhard Selten and John Harsanyi. After a promising start to his mathematical career, Nash began to suffer from schizophrenia around his 30th year, an illness from which he has only recovered some 25 years later. John Nash was born in Bluefield, West Virginia as son of John Nash Sr. and Virginia Martin. His father was an electrotechnician; his mother a language teacher. As a young boy he spent much time reading books and experimenting in his room, which he had converted into a laboratory. From June 1945-June 1948 Nash studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, intending to become a technical engineer like his father. Instead, he developed a deep love for mathematics and a lifelong interest in subjects such as number theory, Diophantine equations, quantum mechanics and relativity theory. He loved solving problems. At Carnegie he became interested in the negotiation problem, which John von Neumann had left unsolved in his book The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1928). He participated in the game theory group there. From Pittsburgh he went to Princeton University where he worked on his equilibrium theory. He received a Ph. D. in 1950 with the dissertation Non-cooperative games. The thesis contained the definition and properties of what would later be called the Nash equilibrium; 44 years later, it would earn him the Nobel prize. His studies on this subject led to three articles, the first entitled Equilibrium Points in N-person Games, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) (1950), and the others in Econometrica about The Bargaining Problem (April 1950) and Two-person Cooperative Games (January 1953). The only official economic lessons he followed were a series about international trade. In the summer of 1950 he worked at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, where he returned for shorter periods in 1952 and 1954. From 1950-1951 he taught calculus courses at Princeton, studied and managed to stay out of military service. During this time, he proved the Nash embedding theorem, an important result in differential geometry about manifolds. In 1951-1952 he became science assistant at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At MIT, he met Alicia Lopez-Harrison de Larde, a math student from El Salvador, whom he married in February 1957. Their son, John Charles Martin (b. May 20, 1959), remained nameless for a year because Alicia, having just committed Nash to a mental hospital, felt that he should have a say in what to name the baby. As was his parents, John became a mathematician, but, like his father, he was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic. Nash had another son, John David (b. June 19, 1953), by Eleanor Stier, but refused to have anything to do with them. An admitted bisexual, he carried on intimate relationships with men during this period. Although she divorced him in 1963, Alicia took him back in 1970. But, according to Sylvia Nasars biography of Nash, Alicia referred to him as her boarder, and they lived like two distantly related individuals under one roof until he won the Nobel Prize in 1994, then they renewed their relationship. They remarried on June 1, 2001. In 1958 John Nash began to show the first signs of his mental illness. He became paranoid and was admitted into the McLean Hospital, April-May 1959, where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. After a problematic stay in Paris and Geneva, Nash returned to Princeton in 1960. He remained in and out of mental hospitals until 1970, and held a research position at Brandeis University from 1965-1967. Illustrative is the 30-year publication gap between 1966 and 1996 of any scientific work. In 1978 he was awarded the John Von Neumann Theory Prize for his invention of non-cooperative equilibriums, now called Nash equilibria. Nashs mental health improved very slowly. His interest in mathematical problems gradually returned, and with it the ability to think logically. He also became interested in computer programming. The 1990s brought a return of his genius, though it lived in a still feeble mind. In 1994 he received the Nobel Prize in Economics as a result of his game theory work at Princeton as a graduate student. He is still hoping to score substantial scientific results. Between 1945 and 1996 John Nash published a total of 23 scientific studies, plus an autobiographical essay, Les Prix Nobel (1994) [1] (http://www. nobel. se/economics/laureates/1994/nash-autobio. html), first published in Sweden. A film titled A Beautiful Mind, released in December 2001 and directed by Ron Howard, dramatically portrayed some events of Nashs life. It is (loosely) based on the biography of the same title, written by Sylvia Nasar (1999) and received four Oscars in 2002. A deleted scene from A Beautiful Mind reveals that Nash (re)invented the board game known as Hex or (at Princeton) Nash or John, as it was often played on hexagonal bathroom floor tiles. A Beautiful Mind has been criticized for its inaccurate portrayal of John Nashs life and schizophrenia. The PBS documentary A Brilliant Madness attempts to portray his life more accurately.

Practices of Agile Methods in Project Management

Practices of Agile Methods in Project Management Abstract This paper describes the practices of agile methods from the viewpoint of project management. The project management techniques are complex processes that require the understanding and coordination of several domains of knowledge. As more and more software projects engage Agile Methods, there are emerging patterns of success and failure. With growing adoption of Agile Methods, project managers increasingly need to understand the applicability to their projects and factors that drive key project performance characteristics. Agile Methods have advantages, especially in accommodating change due to volatile requirements. However, they also present concomitant risks with managing the many dependent pieces of work distributed across a large project. The paper is divided into four parts. In the first part an overview of the project management and its processes and knowledge areas discussed. after that the agile methods discussed following with a short history of RAD(We should mention that just three most used and famous methodologies are discussed). In the second part the project management approaches and a brief definition of each approach are given. In the third part we looked at the agile methodologies from project management areas view such as cost, time, quality and risk management and we compared agile methodologies and we explained their advantages and disadvantages. In the fourth part we discussed about combination of agile methodologies and their utilization in large and complex projects. And finally we propose our own idea about the future of project management in agile methods. Keywords Project Management, Rapid Development Methodologies, Agile Project Management, History of RAD, Project management approaches, Agile Performance Measurement, Investment and Risk, Agile Enterprise Framework, Agile Methodology Fit Introduction What is Project? A human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale A project is a one-shot, time-limited, goal-directed, major undertaking, requiring the commitment of varied skills and resources. A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. A project is temporary in that there is a defined start (the decision to proceed) and a defined end (the achievement of the goals and objectives). Ongoing business or maintenance operations are not projects. Energy conservation projects and process improvement efforts that result in better business processes or more efficient operations can be defined as projects. Projects usually include constraints and risks regarding cost, schedule or performance outcome. What is Project Management? Many have attempted to define project management. One example, Oisen,3 referencing views from the 1950s, may have been one of the early attempts. Project Management is the application of a collection of tools and techniques (such as the CPM and matrix organization) to direct the use of diverse resources toward the accomplishment of a unique, complex, one-time task within time, cost and quality constraints. Each task requires a particular mix of theses tools and techniques structured to fit the task environment and life cycle (from conception to completion) of the task. Notice in the definition are included some the success criteria, The Iron triangle. Those criteria for measuring success included in the description used by Oisen3 continue to be used to describe project management today. The British Standard for project management BS60794 1996 defined project management as: The planning, monitoring and control of all aspects of a project and the motivation of all those involved in it to achieve the project objectives on time and to the specified cost, quality and performance. The UK Association of project Management (APM) have produced a UK Body of Knowledge UK (BoK)5 which also provides a definition for project management as: The planning, organization, monitoring and control of all aspects of a project and the motivation of all involved to achieve the project objectives safely and within agreed time, cost and performance criteria. The project manager is the single point of responsibility for achieving this. Other definitions have been offered, Reiss6 suggests a project is a human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale, and to achieve this while pointing out that a simple description is not possible, suggests project management is a combination of management and planning and the management of change. Locks7 view was that project management had evolved in order to plan, co-ordinate and control the complex and diverse activities of modern industrial and commercial projects, while Burke8 considers project management to be a specialized management technique, to plan and control projects under a strong single point of responsibility. While some different suggestions about what is project management have been made, the criteria for success, namely cost, time and quality remain and are included in the actual description. Could this mean that the example given to define project management Oisen3 was either correct, or as a discipline, project management has not really changed or developed the success measurement criteria in almost 50 years. Project management is a learning profession. Based upon past mistakes and believed best practice, standards such as BS 60794 and the UK Body of Knowledge5 continue to be developed. But defining project management is difficult, Wirth,9 indicated the differences in content between six countries own versions of BoKs. Turner10 provided a consolidated matrix to help understand and moderate different attempts to describe project management, including the assessment. Turner10 further suggested that project management could be described as: the art and science of converting vision into reality. Note the criteria against which project management is measured is not included in that description. Is there a paradox however in even attempting to define project management? Can a subject which deals with a unique, one-off complex task as suggested as early as Oisen3 be defined? Perhaps project management is simply an evolving phenomena, which will remain vague enough to be non-definable, a flexible attribute which could be a strength. The significant point is that while the factors have developed and been adopted, changes to the success criteria have been suggested but remain unchanged. Could the link be, that project management continues to fail because, included in the definition are a limited set of criteria for measuring success, cost, time and quality, which even if these criteria are achieved simply demonstrate the chance of matching two best guesses and a phenomena correctly. Prior to some undergraduate lectures and workshops about project management, the students were asked to locate some secondary literature describing project management and produce their own definition. While there were some innovative ideas, the overriding responses included the success criteria of cost, time and quality within the definition. If this is the perception about project management we wish those about to work in the profession to have, the rhetoric over the years has worked. Has this ho wever been the problem to realizing more successful projects? To date, project management has had the success criteria focused upon the delivery stage, up to implementation. Reinforced by the very description we have continued to use to define the profession. The focus has been to judge whether the project was done right. Doing something right may result in a project which was implemented on time, within cost and to some quality parameters requested, but which is not used by the customers, not liked by the sponsors and does not seem to provide either improved effectiveness or efficiency for the organization, is this successful project management? Project Management Life Cycle The process flow of Project management processes is shown below. The various elements of project management life cycle are Need identification Initiation Planning Executing Controlling Closing out a) Need Identification The first step in the project development cycle is to identify components of the project. Projects may be identified both internally and externally: Internal identification takes place when the energy manager identifies a package of energy saving opportunities during the day-to-day energy management activities, or from facility audits. External identification of energy savings can occur through systematic energy audits undertaken by a reputable energy auditor or energy service company. In screening projects, the following criteria should be used to rank-order project opportunities. Cost-effectiveness of energy savings of complete package of measures (Internal rate of return, net present value, cash flow, average payback) Sustainability of the savings over the life of the equipment. Ease of quantifying, monitoring, and verifying electricity and fuel savings. Availability of technology, and ease of adaptability of the technology to Indian conditions. Other environmental and social cost benefits (such as reduction in local pollutants, e.g. SOx) b) Initiation Initiating is the basic processes that should be performed to get the project started. This starting point is critical because those who will deliver the project, those who will use the Bureau of Energy Efficiency project, and those who will have a stake in the project need to reach an agreement on its initiation. Involving all stakeholders in the project phases generally improves the probability of satisfying customer requirements by shared ownership of the project by the stakeholders. The success of the project team depends upon starting with complete and accurate information, management support, and the authorization necessary to manage the project. The initiation stage should include a plan that encompasses the following areas: Analyzing the business needs/requirements in measurable goals Reviewing of the current operations Financial analysis of the costs and benefits including a budget Stakeholder analysis, including users, and support personnel for the project Project charter including costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedule c) Planning The planning phase is considered the most important phase in project management. Project planning defines project activities that will be performed; the products that will be produced, and describes how these activities will be accomplished and managed. Project planning defines each major task, estimates the time, resources and cost required, and provides a framework for management review and control. Planning involves identifying and documenting scope, tasks, schedules, cost, risk, quality, and staffing needs. The result of the project planning, the project plan, will be an approved, comprehensive document that allows a project team to begin and complete the work necessary to achieve the project goals and objectives. The project plan will address how the project team will manage the project elements. It will provide a high level of confidence in the organizations ability to meet the scope, timing, cost, and quality requirements by addressing all aspects of the project. Project planning generally consists of determining how to plan (e.g. by level of detail or rolling wave); developing the scope statement; selecting the planning team; identifying deliverables and creating the work breakdown structure; identifying the activities needed to complete those deliverables and networking the activities in their logical sequence; estimating the resource requirements for the activities; estimating time and cost for activities; developing the schedule; developing the budget; risk planning; gaining formal approval to begin work. Additional processes, such as planning for communications and for scope management, identifying roles and responsibilities, determining what to purchase for the project and holding a kick-off meeting are also generally advisable. For new product development projects, conceptual design of the operation of the final product may be performed concurrent with the project planning activities, and may help to inform the planning team when identifying deliverables and planning activities d) Executing Once a project moves into the execution phase, the project team and all necessary resources to carry out the project should be in place and ready to perform project activities. The project plan is completed and base lined by this time as well. The project team and the project managers focus now shifts from planning the project efforts to participating, observing, and analyzing the work being done. The execution phase is when the work activities of the project plan are executed, resulting in the completion of the project deliverables and achievement of the project objective(s). This phase brings together all of the project management disciplines, resulting in a product or service that will meet the project deliverable requirements and the customers need. During this phase, elements completed in the planning phase are implemented, time is expended, and money is spent. In short, it means coordinating and managing the project resources while executing the project plan, performing the planned project activities, and ensuring they are completed efficiently. e) Monitoring and Controlling Project Control function that involves comparing actual performance with planned performance and taking corrective action to get the desired outcome when there are significant differences. By monitoring and measuring progress regularly, identifying Bureau of Energy Efficiency variances from plan, and taking corrective action if required, project control ensures that project objectives are met. Monitoring and Controlling includes: Measuring the ongoing project activities (where we are); Monitoring the project variables (cost, effort, scope, etc.) against the project management plan and the project performance baseline (where we should be); Identify corrective actions to address issues and risks properly (How can we get on track again); Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only approved changes are implemented In multi-phase projects,process also provides feedback between project phases, in order to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring the project into compliance with the project management plan. Project Maintenance is an ongoing process, and it includes: Continuing support of end users Correction of errors Updates of the software over time Monitoring and Controlling cycle In this stage, auditors should pay attention to how effectively and quickly user problems are resolved. Over the course of any construction project, the work scope may change. Change is a normal and expected part of the construction process. Changes can be the result of necessary design modifications, differing site conditions, material availability, contractor-requested changes, value engineering and impacts from third parties, to name a few. Beyond executing the change in the field, the change normally needs to be documented to show what was actually constructed. This is referred to as Change Management. Hence, the owner usually requires a final record to show all changes or, more specifically, any change that modifies the tangible portions of the finished work. The record is made on the contract documents usually, but not necessarily limited to, the design drawings. The end product of this effort is what the industry terms as-built drawings, or more simply, as built. The requirement for providing them is a norm in construction contracts. When changes are introduced to the project, the viability of the project has to be re-assessed. It is important not to lose sight of the initial goals and targets of the projects. When the changes accumulate, the forecasted result may not justify the original proposed investment in the project. f) Closing out Project closeout is performed after all defined project objectives have been met and the customer has formally accepted the projects deliverables and end product or, in some instances, when a project has been cancelled or terminated early. Although, project closeout is a routine process, it is an important one. By properly completing the project closeout, organizations can benefit from lessons learned and information compiled. The project closeout phase is comprised of contract closeout and administrative closure. This phase consists of: Project close: Finalize all activities across all of the process groups to formally close the project or a project phase Contract closure: Complete and settle each contract (including the resolution of any open items) and close each contract applicable to the project or project phase Project Management Knowledge Areas with the Related Processes Each of the nine knowledge areas contains the processes that need to be accomplished within its discipline in order to achieve an effective project management program. Each of these processes also falls into one of the five basic process groups, creating a matrix structure such that every process can be related to one knowledge area and one process group. Risk Management Software development projects represent an investment of resources by the projects sponsor, an investment that often yields little or no return. The Standish Groups Chaos Report 1994 states that fewer than 10% of software projects in large companies were successful. Medium sized companies do better with 16% of their software projects being successful, and small companies succeed on 28% of their software projects (Standish 1994). Given these statistics it is worthwhile to invest significant effort in Risk Management for software projects. Research at The Standish Group also indicates that smaller time frames, with delivery of software components early and often, will increase the success rate. (Standish 1994). Integration Management Extreme Programming offers nothing to help integrate the efforts of non-software developers. Unfortunately, some advocates of Extreme Programming suggest that the efforts of technical writers, database managers, and quality assurance specialist are not required. In reality, while Extreme Programming does not explicitly describe how to integrate the work of others, the practices do not preclude the ability to integrate with other efforts. Small Releases make Integration Management a more continuous process in contrast to processes that place deployment, documentation, and testing at the end of the schedule. Continuous Integration At a more tactical level, the Extreme Programming practice of Continuous Integration requires that the work of software developers be integrated on a daily basis. While this practice can cause additional overhead for individual developers, it allows the team to identify problems daily that would otherwise become undiscovered rework accumulating until all developers integrate their individual work products. Scope Management Time Management Ask most software development teams for a copy of their project plan and you will receive an activity list formatted as a Gantt chart. Many times these activity lists will describe several phases of activities such as Analysis, Design, Construction, and Testing. Areas of functionality will be broken out under these headings in order to assign them to specific programmers, but seldom are the assignments identified in the Gantt chart clearly traceable back to a Requirement or other specification documents. All too often, the missing item that would help a team improve their planning practices is a well-constructed Work Breakdown Structure. Extreme Programming focuses almost all of its planning efforts on building a thoughtful Work Breakdown Structure and its constituent Work Packages. Extreme Programming does not teach Work Breakdown Structures and Work Packages explicitly, however, careful study of the Story Cards used in Extreme Programming reveals that they are almost identical to Work Packages in their key attributes. Human Resources Management Often one of the most challenging aspects of project management is managing human resources. For software development projects in particular this includes the complex juggling of technical tasks between individual software developers who have different individual skills, effectively treating each developers assigned tasks as an independent subproject. This type of project plan often suffers from key resource bottlenecks and status meetings reduced to determining which individuals are falling furthest behind. Extreme Programming addresses this head-on by eliminating the dependency on individual developers. Work Packages are scheduled and authorized based on the needs of the business and the users not the needs of the software developers. All developers are cross-trained to work in all areas of the code base. Developers broaden their skills, and project managers stop worrying about keeping individual software developers for the entire duration of the project. The process maintains know ledge of the full code base in the team, not in individuals. Quality Management As programmers move from work authorization to work authorization, and often from one area of the code to another, it is easy to see that maintaining quality in the work product could be challenging. Extreme Programming requires a very disciplined design approach to allow freedom in assigning resources while maintaining high quality. Communications Management When a project manager mentions the need for improved communications on a project, software developers often immediately envision an increased number of meetings and documents. While formal meetings and written documents have their place in a communication plan there are many other tools for facilitation of communication between project participants. The Extreme Programming practices include several simple practices intended to enhance communications. Costs Management Often a Project Manager is evaluated on his or her ability to complete a project within budget. The costs include estimated cost, actual cost and variability. Contingency cost takes into account influence of weather, suppliers and design allowances. How the 80/20 Rule can help a project manager? The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many (80 percent) are trivial. Successful Project Managers know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consumes 80 percent of your time and resources. The History of RAD Traditional lifecycles devised in the 1970s, and still widely used today, are based upon a structured step-by-step approach to developing systems. This rigid sequence of steps forces a user to sign-off after the completion of each specification before development can proceed to the next step. The requirements and design are then frozen and the system is coded, tested, and implemented. With such conventional methods, there is a long delay before the customer gets to see any results and the development process can take so long that the customers business could fundamentally change before the system is even ready for use. In response to these rigid, cascading, one-way steps of Stagewise or Waterfall Models of development, Barry Boehm, Chief SW Engineer at TRW, introduced his Spiral Model. The Spiral Model is a risk-driven, as opposed to code-driven, approach that uses process modeling rather than methodology phases. Through his model, Boehm first implemented software prototyping as a way of reducing risk. The development process of the Spiral Model separates the product into critical parts or levels while performing risk analyses, prototyping, and the same steps at each of these levels. Similarly, Tom Gilbs Evolutionary Life Cycle is based on an evolutionary prototyping rationale where the prototype is grown and refined into the final product. The work of Boehm and Gilb paved the way for the formulation of the methodology called Rapid Iterative Production Prototyping (RIPP) at DuPont in the mid-to-late 1980s. James Martin then extended the work done at DuPont and elsewhere into a larger, more formalized process, which has become known as Rapid Application Development (RAD). RAD compresses the step-by-step development of conventional methods into an iterative process. The RAD approach thus includes developing and refining the data models, process models, and prototype in parallel using an iterative process. User requirements are refined, a solution is designed, the solution is prototyped, the prototype is reviewed, user input is provided, and the process begins again. What is Agility? There is no Agility for Dummies. Agility isnt a silver bullet. You dont achieve it in five easy steps. So what is it? From one view agility characterized in two statements: Agility is the ability to both create and respond to change in order to profit in a turbulent business environment. Agility is the ability to balance flexibility and stability (Highsmith 2002). In an uncertain and turbulent world, success belongs to companies that have the capacity to create change, and maybe even chaos, for their competitors. Creating change disrupts competitors (and the entire market ecosystem); responding to change guards against competitive thrusts. Creating change requires innovation: developing new products, creating new sales channels, reducing product development time, customizing products for increasingly smaller market segments. In addition, your company must be able to respond quickly to both anticipated and unanticipated changes created by your competitors and customers. An example of a product development effort in which all the aspects of agility come into play is that of small, portable DNA analyzers. These instruments can be used for analyzing suspected bio-terror agents (e.g., anthrax), performing quick medical diagnoses, or undertaking environmental bacterial analysis. These instruments must be accurate, easy to use, and reliable under wide-ranging conditions, and their development depends on breakthroughs in nanotechnology, genome research, and micro-fluidics. Developing these leading-edge products requires blending flexibility and structure, exploring various new technologies, and creating change for competitors by reducing delivery time. These are not projects that can be managed by traditional, prescriptive project management methodologies. Some people mistakenly assume that agility connotes a lack of structure, but the absence of structure, or stability, generates chaos. Conversely, too much structure generates rigidity. Complexity theory tells us that innovation—creating something new in ways that we cant fully anticipate (an emergent result) occurs most readily at the balance point between chaos and order, between flexibility and stability. Scientists believe that emergence, the creation of novelty from agent interaction, happens most readily at this edge of chaos. The idea of enough structure, but not too much, drives agile managers to continually ask the question, How little structure can I get away with? Too much structure stifles creativity. Too little structure breeds inefficiency. This need to balance at the edge of chaos to foster innovation is one reason process-centric methodologies often fail. They push organizations into over-optimization at the expense of innovation. Agile organizations dont get lost in some gray middle ground; they understand which factors require stabilization and which ones encourage exploration. For example, in a high-change product development environment, rigorous configuration management stabilizes and facilitates flexibility just as a focus on technical excellence stabilizes the development effort. Overview and definitions The Agile Movement in software industry saw the light of day with the Agile Software Development Manifesto4 published by a group of software practitioners and consultants in 2001 (Beck et al. 2001; Cockburn 2002a). The focal values honored by the agilists are presented in the following: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan These central values that the agile community adheres to are: First, the agile movement emphasizes the relationship and communality of software developers and the human role reflected in the contracts, as opposed to institutionalized processes and development tools. In the existing agile practices, this manifests itself in close team relationships, close working environment arrangements, and other procedures boosting team spirit. Second, the vital objective of the software team is to continuously turn out tested working software. New releases are produced at frequent intervals, in some approaches even hourly or daily, but more usually bi-monthly or monthly. The developers are urged to keep the code simple, straightforward, and technically as advanced as possible, thus lessening the documentation burden to an appropriate level. Third, the relationship and cooperation between the developers and the clients is given the preference over strict contracts, although the importance of well drafted contracts does grow at the same pace as the size of the software project. The negotiation process itself should be seen as a means of achieving and maintaining a viable relationship. From a business point of view, agile development is focused on delivering business value immediately as the project starts, thus reducing the risks of non-fulfillment regarding the contract. Fourth, the development group, comprising both software developers and customer representatives, should be well-informed, competent and authorized to consider possible adjustment needs emerging during the development process life-cycle. This means that the participants are prepared to make changes and that also the existing contracts are formed with tools that support and allow these enhancements to be made. According to Highsmith and Cockburn (2001, p. 122), what is new about agile methods is not the practices they use, but their recognition of people as the primary drivers of project success, coupled with an intense focus on effectiveness and maneuverability. This yields a new combination of values and principles that define an agile world view. Boehm (2002) illustrates the spectrum of different planning methods with Figure 1, in which hackers are placed at one end and the so called inch-pebble ironbound contractual approach at the opposite end: Hawrysh and Ruprecht (2000) state that a single methodology can not work for the whole spectrum of different projects, but instead the project management should identify the specific nature of the project at hand and then select the bes Practices of Agile Methods in Project Management Practices of Agile Methods in Project Management Abstract This paper describes the practices of agile methods from the viewpoint of project management. The project management techniques are complex processes that require the understanding and coordination of several domains of knowledge. As more and more software projects engage Agile Methods, there are emerging patterns of success and failure. With growing adoption of Agile Methods, project managers increasingly need to understand the applicability to their projects and factors that drive key project performance characteristics. Agile Methods have advantages, especially in accommodating change due to volatile requirements. However, they also present concomitant risks with managing the many dependent pieces of work distributed across a large project. The paper is divided into four parts. In the first part an overview of the project management and its processes and knowledge areas discussed. after that the agile methods discussed following with a short history of RAD(We should mention that just three most used and famous methodologies are discussed). In the second part the project management approaches and a brief definition of each approach are given. In the third part we looked at the agile methodologies from project management areas view such as cost, time, quality and risk management and we compared agile methodologies and we explained their advantages and disadvantages. In the fourth part we discussed about combination of agile methodologies and their utilization in large and complex projects. And finally we propose our own idea about the future of project management in agile methods. Keywords Project Management, Rapid Development Methodologies, Agile Project Management, History of RAD, Project management approaches, Agile Performance Measurement, Investment and Risk, Agile Enterprise Framework, Agile Methodology Fit Introduction What is Project? A human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale A project is a one-shot, time-limited, goal-directed, major undertaking, requiring the commitment of varied skills and resources. A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. A project is temporary in that there is a defined start (the decision to proceed) and a defined end (the achievement of the goals and objectives). Ongoing business or maintenance operations are not projects. Energy conservation projects and process improvement efforts that result in better business processes or more efficient operations can be defined as projects. Projects usually include constraints and risks regarding cost, schedule or performance outcome. What is Project Management? Many have attempted to define project management. One example, Oisen,3 referencing views from the 1950s, may have been one of the early attempts. Project Management is the application of a collection of tools and techniques (such as the CPM and matrix organization) to direct the use of diverse resources toward the accomplishment of a unique, complex, one-time task within time, cost and quality constraints. Each task requires a particular mix of theses tools and techniques structured to fit the task environment and life cycle (from conception to completion) of the task. Notice in the definition are included some the success criteria, The Iron triangle. Those criteria for measuring success included in the description used by Oisen3 continue to be used to describe project management today. The British Standard for project management BS60794 1996 defined project management as: The planning, monitoring and control of all aspects of a project and the motivation of all those involved in it to achieve the project objectives on time and to the specified cost, quality and performance. The UK Association of project Management (APM) have produced a UK Body of Knowledge UK (BoK)5 which also provides a definition for project management as: The planning, organization, monitoring and control of all aspects of a project and the motivation of all involved to achieve the project objectives safely and within agreed time, cost and performance criteria. The project manager is the single point of responsibility for achieving this. Other definitions have been offered, Reiss6 suggests a project is a human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale, and to achieve this while pointing out that a simple description is not possible, suggests project management is a combination of management and planning and the management of change. Locks7 view was that project management had evolved in order to plan, co-ordinate and control the complex and diverse activities of modern industrial and commercial projects, while Burke8 considers project management to be a specialized management technique, to plan and control projects under a strong single point of responsibility. While some different suggestions about what is project management have been made, the criteria for success, namely cost, time and quality remain and are included in the actual description. Could this mean that the example given to define project management Oisen3 was either correct, or as a discipline, project management has not really changed or developed the success measurement criteria in almost 50 years. Project management is a learning profession. Based upon past mistakes and believed best practice, standards such as BS 60794 and the UK Body of Knowledge5 continue to be developed. But defining project management is difficult, Wirth,9 indicated the differences in content between six countries own versions of BoKs. Turner10 provided a consolidated matrix to help understand and moderate different attempts to describe project management, including the assessment. Turner10 further suggested that project management could be described as: the art and science of converting vision into reality. Note the criteria against which project management is measured is not included in that description. Is there a paradox however in even attempting to define project management? Can a subject which deals with a unique, one-off complex task as suggested as early as Oisen3 be defined? Perhaps project management is simply an evolving phenomena, which will remain vague enough to be non-definable, a flexible attribute which could be a strength. The significant point is that while the factors have developed and been adopted, changes to the success criteria have been suggested but remain unchanged. Could the link be, that project management continues to fail because, included in the definition are a limited set of criteria for measuring success, cost, time and quality, which even if these criteria are achieved simply demonstrate the chance of matching two best guesses and a phenomena correctly. Prior to some undergraduate lectures and workshops about project management, the students were asked to locate some secondary literature describing project management and produce their own definition. While there were some innovative ideas, the overriding responses included the success criteria of cost, time and quality within the definition. If this is the perception about project management we wish those about to work in the profession to have, the rhetoric over the years has worked. Has this ho wever been the problem to realizing more successful projects? To date, project management has had the success criteria focused upon the delivery stage, up to implementation. Reinforced by the very description we have continued to use to define the profession. The focus has been to judge whether the project was done right. Doing something right may result in a project which was implemented on time, within cost and to some quality parameters requested, but which is not used by the customers, not liked by the sponsors and does not seem to provide either improved effectiveness or efficiency for the organization, is this successful project management? Project Management Life Cycle The process flow of Project management processes is shown below. The various elements of project management life cycle are Need identification Initiation Planning Executing Controlling Closing out a) Need Identification The first step in the project development cycle is to identify components of the project. Projects may be identified both internally and externally: Internal identification takes place when the energy manager identifies a package of energy saving opportunities during the day-to-day energy management activities, or from facility audits. External identification of energy savings can occur through systematic energy audits undertaken by a reputable energy auditor or energy service company. In screening projects, the following criteria should be used to rank-order project opportunities. Cost-effectiveness of energy savings of complete package of measures (Internal rate of return, net present value, cash flow, average payback) Sustainability of the savings over the life of the equipment. Ease of quantifying, monitoring, and verifying electricity and fuel savings. Availability of technology, and ease of adaptability of the technology to Indian conditions. Other environmental and social cost benefits (such as reduction in local pollutants, e.g. SOx) b) Initiation Initiating is the basic processes that should be performed to get the project started. This starting point is critical because those who will deliver the project, those who will use the Bureau of Energy Efficiency project, and those who will have a stake in the project need to reach an agreement on its initiation. Involving all stakeholders in the project phases generally improves the probability of satisfying customer requirements by shared ownership of the project by the stakeholders. The success of the project team depends upon starting with complete and accurate information, management support, and the authorization necessary to manage the project. The initiation stage should include a plan that encompasses the following areas: Analyzing the business needs/requirements in measurable goals Reviewing of the current operations Financial analysis of the costs and benefits including a budget Stakeholder analysis, including users, and support personnel for the project Project charter including costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedule c) Planning The planning phase is considered the most important phase in project management. Project planning defines project activities that will be performed; the products that will be produced, and describes how these activities will be accomplished and managed. Project planning defines each major task, estimates the time, resources and cost required, and provides a framework for management review and control. Planning involves identifying and documenting scope, tasks, schedules, cost, risk, quality, and staffing needs. The result of the project planning, the project plan, will be an approved, comprehensive document that allows a project team to begin and complete the work necessary to achieve the project goals and objectives. The project plan will address how the project team will manage the project elements. It will provide a high level of confidence in the organizations ability to meet the scope, timing, cost, and quality requirements by addressing all aspects of the project. Project planning generally consists of determining how to plan (e.g. by level of detail or rolling wave); developing the scope statement; selecting the planning team; identifying deliverables and creating the work breakdown structure; identifying the activities needed to complete those deliverables and networking the activities in their logical sequence; estimating the resource requirements for the activities; estimating time and cost for activities; developing the schedule; developing the budget; risk planning; gaining formal approval to begin work. Additional processes, such as planning for communications and for scope management, identifying roles and responsibilities, determining what to purchase for the project and holding a kick-off meeting are also generally advisable. For new product development projects, conceptual design of the operation of the final product may be performed concurrent with the project planning activities, and may help to inform the planning team when identifying deliverables and planning activities d) Executing Once a project moves into the execution phase, the project team and all necessary resources to carry out the project should be in place and ready to perform project activities. The project plan is completed and base lined by this time as well. The project team and the project managers focus now shifts from planning the project efforts to participating, observing, and analyzing the work being done. The execution phase is when the work activities of the project plan are executed, resulting in the completion of the project deliverables and achievement of the project objective(s). This phase brings together all of the project management disciplines, resulting in a product or service that will meet the project deliverable requirements and the customers need. During this phase, elements completed in the planning phase are implemented, time is expended, and money is spent. In short, it means coordinating and managing the project resources while executing the project plan, performing the planned project activities, and ensuring they are completed efficiently. e) Monitoring and Controlling Project Control function that involves comparing actual performance with planned performance and taking corrective action to get the desired outcome when there are significant differences. By monitoring and measuring progress regularly, identifying Bureau of Energy Efficiency variances from plan, and taking corrective action if required, project control ensures that project objectives are met. Monitoring and Controlling includes: Measuring the ongoing project activities (where we are); Monitoring the project variables (cost, effort, scope, etc.) against the project management plan and the project performance baseline (where we should be); Identify corrective actions to address issues and risks properly (How can we get on track again); Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only approved changes are implemented In multi-phase projects,process also provides feedback between project phases, in order to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring the project into compliance with the project management plan. Project Maintenance is an ongoing process, and it includes: Continuing support of end users Correction of errors Updates of the software over time Monitoring and Controlling cycle In this stage, auditors should pay attention to how effectively and quickly user problems are resolved. Over the course of any construction project, the work scope may change. Change is a normal and expected part of the construction process. Changes can be the result of necessary design modifications, differing site conditions, material availability, contractor-requested changes, value engineering and impacts from third parties, to name a few. Beyond executing the change in the field, the change normally needs to be documented to show what was actually constructed. This is referred to as Change Management. Hence, the owner usually requires a final record to show all changes or, more specifically, any change that modifies the tangible portions of the finished work. The record is made on the contract documents usually, but not necessarily limited to, the design drawings. The end product of this effort is what the industry terms as-built drawings, or more simply, as built. The requirement for providing them is a norm in construction contracts. When changes are introduced to the project, the viability of the project has to be re-assessed. It is important not to lose sight of the initial goals and targets of the projects. When the changes accumulate, the forecasted result may not justify the original proposed investment in the project. f) Closing out Project closeout is performed after all defined project objectives have been met and the customer has formally accepted the projects deliverables and end product or, in some instances, when a project has been cancelled or terminated early. Although, project closeout is a routine process, it is an important one. By properly completing the project closeout, organizations can benefit from lessons learned and information compiled. The project closeout phase is comprised of contract closeout and administrative closure. This phase consists of: Project close: Finalize all activities across all of the process groups to formally close the project or a project phase Contract closure: Complete and settle each contract (including the resolution of any open items) and close each contract applicable to the project or project phase Project Management Knowledge Areas with the Related Processes Each of the nine knowledge areas contains the processes that need to be accomplished within its discipline in order to achieve an effective project management program. Each of these processes also falls into one of the five basic process groups, creating a matrix structure such that every process can be related to one knowledge area and one process group. Risk Management Software development projects represent an investment of resources by the projects sponsor, an investment that often yields little or no return. The Standish Groups Chaos Report 1994 states that fewer than 10% of software projects in large companies were successful. Medium sized companies do better with 16% of their software projects being successful, and small companies succeed on 28% of their software projects (Standish 1994). Given these statistics it is worthwhile to invest significant effort in Risk Management for software projects. Research at The Standish Group also indicates that smaller time frames, with delivery of software components early and often, will increase the success rate. (Standish 1994). Integration Management Extreme Programming offers nothing to help integrate the efforts of non-software developers. Unfortunately, some advocates of Extreme Programming suggest that the efforts of technical writers, database managers, and quality assurance specialist are not required. In reality, while Extreme Programming does not explicitly describe how to integrate the work of others, the practices do not preclude the ability to integrate with other efforts. Small Releases make Integration Management a more continuous process in contrast to processes that place deployment, documentation, and testing at the end of the schedule. Continuous Integration At a more tactical level, the Extreme Programming practice of Continuous Integration requires that the work of software developers be integrated on a daily basis. While this practice can cause additional overhead for individual developers, it allows the team to identify problems daily that would otherwise become undiscovered rework accumulating until all developers integrate their individual work products. Scope Management Time Management Ask most software development teams for a copy of their project plan and you will receive an activity list formatted as a Gantt chart. Many times these activity lists will describe several phases of activities such as Analysis, Design, Construction, and Testing. Areas of functionality will be broken out under these headings in order to assign them to specific programmers, but seldom are the assignments identified in the Gantt chart clearly traceable back to a Requirement or other specification documents. All too often, the missing item that would help a team improve their planning practices is a well-constructed Work Breakdown Structure. Extreme Programming focuses almost all of its planning efforts on building a thoughtful Work Breakdown Structure and its constituent Work Packages. Extreme Programming does not teach Work Breakdown Structures and Work Packages explicitly, however, careful study of the Story Cards used in Extreme Programming reveals that they are almost identical to Work Packages in their key attributes. Human Resources Management Often one of the most challenging aspects of project management is managing human resources. For software development projects in particular this includes the complex juggling of technical tasks between individual software developers who have different individual skills, effectively treating each developers assigned tasks as an independent subproject. This type of project plan often suffers from key resource bottlenecks and status meetings reduced to determining which individuals are falling furthest behind. Extreme Programming addresses this head-on by eliminating the dependency on individual developers. Work Packages are scheduled and authorized based on the needs of the business and the users not the needs of the software developers. All developers are cross-trained to work in all areas of the code base. Developers broaden their skills, and project managers stop worrying about keeping individual software developers for the entire duration of the project. The process maintains know ledge of the full code base in the team, not in individuals. Quality Management As programmers move from work authorization to work authorization, and often from one area of the code to another, it is easy to see that maintaining quality in the work product could be challenging. Extreme Programming requires a very disciplined design approach to allow freedom in assigning resources while maintaining high quality. Communications Management When a project manager mentions the need for improved communications on a project, software developers often immediately envision an increased number of meetings and documents. While formal meetings and written documents have their place in a communication plan there are many other tools for facilitation of communication between project participants. The Extreme Programming practices include several simple practices intended to enhance communications. Costs Management Often a Project Manager is evaluated on his or her ability to complete a project within budget. The costs include estimated cost, actual cost and variability. Contingency cost takes into account influence of weather, suppliers and design allowances. How the 80/20 Rule can help a project manager? The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many (80 percent) are trivial. Successful Project Managers know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consumes 80 percent of your time and resources. The History of RAD Traditional lifecycles devised in the 1970s, and still widely used today, are based upon a structured step-by-step approach to developing systems. This rigid sequence of steps forces a user to sign-off after the completion of each specification before development can proceed to the next step. The requirements and design are then frozen and the system is coded, tested, and implemented. With such conventional methods, there is a long delay before the customer gets to see any results and the development process can take so long that the customers business could fundamentally change before the system is even ready for use. In response to these rigid, cascading, one-way steps of Stagewise or Waterfall Models of development, Barry Boehm, Chief SW Engineer at TRW, introduced his Spiral Model. The Spiral Model is a risk-driven, as opposed to code-driven, approach that uses process modeling rather than methodology phases. Through his model, Boehm first implemented software prototyping as a way of reducing risk. The development process of the Spiral Model separates the product into critical parts or levels while performing risk analyses, prototyping, and the same steps at each of these levels. Similarly, Tom Gilbs Evolutionary Life Cycle is based on an evolutionary prototyping rationale where the prototype is grown and refined into the final product. The work of Boehm and Gilb paved the way for the formulation of the methodology called Rapid Iterative Production Prototyping (RIPP) at DuPont in the mid-to-late 1980s. James Martin then extended the work done at DuPont and elsewhere into a larger, more formalized process, which has become known as Rapid Application Development (RAD). RAD compresses the step-by-step development of conventional methods into an iterative process. The RAD approach thus includes developing and refining the data models, process models, and prototype in parallel using an iterative process. User requirements are refined, a solution is designed, the solution is prototyped, the prototype is reviewed, user input is provided, and the process begins again. What is Agility? There is no Agility for Dummies. Agility isnt a silver bullet. You dont achieve it in five easy steps. So what is it? From one view agility characterized in two statements: Agility is the ability to both create and respond to change in order to profit in a turbulent business environment. Agility is the ability to balance flexibility and stability (Highsmith 2002). In an uncertain and turbulent world, success belongs to companies that have the capacity to create change, and maybe even chaos, for their competitors. Creating change disrupts competitors (and the entire market ecosystem); responding to change guards against competitive thrusts. Creating change requires innovation: developing new products, creating new sales channels, reducing product development time, customizing products for increasingly smaller market segments. In addition, your company must be able to respond quickly to both anticipated and unanticipated changes created by your competitors and customers. An example of a product development effort in which all the aspects of agility come into play is that of small, portable DNA analyzers. These instruments can be used for analyzing suspected bio-terror agents (e.g., anthrax), performing quick medical diagnoses, or undertaking environmental bacterial analysis. These instruments must be accurate, easy to use, and reliable under wide-ranging conditions, and their development depends on breakthroughs in nanotechnology, genome research, and micro-fluidics. Developing these leading-edge products requires blending flexibility and structure, exploring various new technologies, and creating change for competitors by reducing delivery time. These are not projects that can be managed by traditional, prescriptive project management methodologies. Some people mistakenly assume that agility connotes a lack of structure, but the absence of structure, or stability, generates chaos. Conversely, too much structure generates rigidity. Complexity theory tells us that innovation—creating something new in ways that we cant fully anticipate (an emergent result) occurs most readily at the balance point between chaos and order, between flexibility and stability. Scientists believe that emergence, the creation of novelty from agent interaction, happens most readily at this edge of chaos. The idea of enough structure, but not too much, drives agile managers to continually ask the question, How little structure can I get away with? Too much structure stifles creativity. Too little structure breeds inefficiency. This need to balance at the edge of chaos to foster innovation is one reason process-centric methodologies often fail. They push organizations into over-optimization at the expense of innovation. Agile organizations dont get lost in some gray middle ground; they understand which factors require stabilization and which ones encourage exploration. For example, in a high-change product development environment, rigorous configuration management stabilizes and facilitates flexibility just as a focus on technical excellence stabilizes the development effort. Overview and definitions The Agile Movement in software industry saw the light of day with the Agile Software Development Manifesto4 published by a group of software practitioners and consultants in 2001 (Beck et al. 2001; Cockburn 2002a). The focal values honored by the agilists are presented in the following: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan These central values that the agile community adheres to are: First, the agile movement emphasizes the relationship and communality of software developers and the human role reflected in the contracts, as opposed to institutionalized processes and development tools. In the existing agile practices, this manifests itself in close team relationships, close working environment arrangements, and other procedures boosting team spirit. Second, the vital objective of the software team is to continuously turn out tested working software. New releases are produced at frequent intervals, in some approaches even hourly or daily, but more usually bi-monthly or monthly. The developers are urged to keep the code simple, straightforward, and technically as advanced as possible, thus lessening the documentation burden to an appropriate level. Third, the relationship and cooperation between the developers and the clients is given the preference over strict contracts, although the importance of well drafted contracts does grow at the same pace as the size of the software project. The negotiation process itself should be seen as a means of achieving and maintaining a viable relationship. From a business point of view, agile development is focused on delivering business value immediately as the project starts, thus reducing the risks of non-fulfillment regarding the contract. Fourth, the development group, comprising both software developers and customer representatives, should be well-informed, competent and authorized to consider possible adjustment needs emerging during the development process life-cycle. This means that the participants are prepared to make changes and that also the existing contracts are formed with tools that support and allow these enhancements to be made. According to Highsmith and Cockburn (2001, p. 122), what is new about agile methods is not the practices they use, but their recognition of people as the primary drivers of project success, coupled with an intense focus on effectiveness and maneuverability. This yields a new combination of values and principles that define an agile world view. Boehm (2002) illustrates the spectrum of different planning methods with Figure 1, in which hackers are placed at one end and the so called inch-pebble ironbound contractual approach at the opposite end: Hawrysh and Ruprecht (2000) state that a single methodology can not work for the whole spectrum of different projects, but instead the project management should identify the specific nature of the project at hand and then select the bes