The 2016 Theodor Seuss Geisel Awards for Books for Beginning Readers

Analysis Of Louie Zamperini As A Hero - 1503 Words

Laura Hillenbrands Analysis of Louie Zamperini as a Hero Peter Parker once said, â€Å"I believe there s a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams†. Peter Parker is an uncooperative teen who was handed the most daunting task of being a hero and protecting the lives of others. His personality quickly changed from this character who couldn’t care less for others, to putting all his worries into the safety of society. Not all heroes have to be bitten by a spider and given a costume. Some are normal everyday people who accept this challenge of protecting a belief. Louie Zamperini exceeds the limitations for the definition of a hero through perseverance and surviving as well as keeping others alive. In Hillenbrand’s novel Unbroken, syntax, tone, and imagery shows that Louie was proven to be an iconic hero. Hillenbrand utilizes the rhetoric device of syntax to better help the reader apprehend just how heroic Louie is through the passage. Louie had just been introduced to the POW camps and has just been observed by Watanabe (The Bird) who knows an abundant amount of information on Louie. Hillenbrand wrote â€Å"From the moment Watanabe locked eyes with Louie Zamperini, an officer, a famous Olympian, and a man for whom defiance was second nature, no man obsessed him more† (238). Hillenbrand utilizes a run onShow MoreRelatedUnbroken By Laura Hillenbrand : Book Analysis1504 Words   |  7 PagesUnbroken: Book Analysis In Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, innumerable controversial issues were addressed. The actions of many men were recited to be judged by the reader. Some actions elicit sympathy and respect while others induce horror and anger. Although the actions of the Japanese in bombing Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war, much of the World War II literature has been focused on the European war. This is primarily because the Nazis are most commonly viewed as the predominate

Influence of Digital Media on Education Free Essays

A great man once said, â€Å"If we teach today’s students as we did yesterdays, we are robbing them of tomorrow. † His name was John Dewey. He was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. We will write a custom essay sample on Influence of Digital Media on Education or any similar topic only for you Order Now This man is the inspiration for many enthusiastic educators, who wish to evolve education as the world around us changes, especially with the rapid reforms bestowed upon the education world through this monster that we call digital media. There is no running away from the fact that digital media has already changed the world. It’s not going to stop altering the world it was created in anytime soon. So human beings have taken advantage of this fact. Since digital media reaches every corner of the globe, man has learned how to influence tremendous amounts of people through digital advertisements, expressed opinions on blogs, massive video sharing (Youtube), Internet radios (Pandora, Spotify), universal shopping outlets (Amazon, Ebay) and even extremely localized seller/buyer ran websites such as Craigslist. The list is never ending. Digital media has grabbed our society by the horns. For this project I have chosen to analyze the impact of Digital media on education. Numerous communications technologies have been, and will continue to connect the expertise of professional educators. Digital media and the numerous communications technologies are connecting millions of people to: 1. Increase opportunities for a quality education. 2. Increase audience networks to jumpstart a synergistic routine for online/afterschool studies. 3. Easily develop effective studying techniques in younger children, which ultimately set children up for success. Education on Digital Media 4. Construct interactive communication for peer-to-peer studies. 5. Give parents a chance to provide their children with an excellent structured education. 6. Develop online programs that are extremely user friendly, for parents and children. 7. Learning everywhere. 8. Introduce children to the safest possible online interactions for educational purposes. 9. Allow children to become adaptive to the changing technologies involving digital media. 10. Discover a student’s strength and weaknesses through computer-generated statistics, graphs and tables. These tables will be available to parents and children, at the discretion of the parents. Also, this will be available for regular adult students, hence online college portals (UMUC’s Webtycho). The incorporation of digital media into traditional education allows convenient learning alternatives, rather than the tradition textbook, notebook and highlighter approach. â€Å"Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. † (Prensky, 2001) These days’ students use tablets and laptop computers, with wireless Internet to their advantage. Digital media offers students of all education levels an enormous treasure chest of social practices, methodologies and even hands on assignments. Expert educators have become readily available to students virtually anywhere in the world (where and internet connection can be found. ) Of course, only digital immigrants who are adept to the use of digital media themselves will be afforded the opportunity to share their teaching skills globally. A learning application on your IPhone will never replace a quality teacher, who truly has a passion for teaching. However, over the past several years, multiple online platforms have given students the opportunity to take the initiative on learning. â€Å"Tools will never outshine a brilliant teacher, but over the past fifteen years many tools, services, and platforms have become easier to adapt for learning purposes, to help command and hold the attention of learners for whom email is no more than an easy way to talk to â€Å"the man. †Ã¢â‚¬  (Scholz, 2011) A website I have used in the past has helped me pass CLEP (College Level Entry Program) exams, which count for 3 college credits. You can earn these credits simply by passing the examinations, which are usually more difficult than easy. The CLEP system allows students to basically take the final exam of an entry-level college course, without ever having to take the course. This website I utilized and came to appreciate is www. instantcert. com. You have to pay a monthly subscription, which is totally worth it if you apply yourself. There is no instructor for the study guides and test samples provided by the websites creators. It’s simply you and the books. Raw learning at its finest. Of course, there are also online tutoring programs, which provide private tutors for virtually all-academic subjects. Live online courses (much like CMST 301) are available to students of all ages. I would like to point out the difference between an online college course, and an online tutoring program. UMUC’s online program is the perfect example of an online college, where students earn actual college credits that apply towards an official college degree. Then there’s academic tutoring programs, such as Instantcert. com, which I mentioned previously. Another fine example of an online tutoring program is the princetonreview. com. The Princeton review does not offer college credits; it simply aids motivated students in their understanding of whatever subject matter they are pursuing. The concept of â€Å"learning everywhere† has never been easier, thanks to digital media. â€Å"Digital learning not only takes place online or in the university classroom but is also situated in high schools, museums, after school programs, home school living rooms, public libraries, and peer-to-peer universities. Learners do not learn exclusively in the university where â€Å"master-teachers† impart their insights under the tree of knowledge. † (Scholz, 2011) I have found the usage of tourist-interactive digital media programs in museums to be quite useful and educational. Learning everywhere is already happening, in homeschools and public schools. One comparison I would like to make known, is the difference in computer usage regarding homeschool and public schools. There is a graph below that sums up some very useful percentages. The graph shows that the percentage of students utilizing computers at home increases, as their parent’s educational attainment increases, but that the percentage using computers at public school is more nearly equal across the levels of parental education. This proves that computer (Internet) usage for public education is on the rise. Some parents prefer their student’s education to remain traditional, hence the homeschooling. A traditional home school program, in the past has consisted of family bought textbooks and teaching material designed for the students parents. Today however, there are multiple programs offered to parents, so they may have access to quality home school programs. Some of these programs involve the use of the Internet, and some do not. Many home school programs make use of DVD’s. You may notice the higher education attainment for parents makes a slight difference between parents who have bachelor’s degree and a graduate education (regarding homeschool and public school). This was expected. What was not expected was the difference between parents with a high school education, compared to parents with a 4-year degree. 5% compared to 82% is a huge gap. I predict that digital media will shorten this gap. User friendly, affordable and independent home school online programs will be developed by digital immigrants, programmers and educators who have grown up in the tech-savvy generation. The gap will naturally shorten as education becomes readily incorporated into digital media. Another surprise (to me personally) was the fact that the highest percentage for computer usage came from home school environments taught by parents with graduate educations. I expected this percentage to be lower, due to the fact that most traditional home school systems tend to fray away from computer usage. But then again, this graph was created in 2003. I can see digital media having a direct effect on education for all these categories. Reason being, as time goes on, digital media usage in nursery school and students in grades K-12 will increase. It will increase because digital media is only furthering its reach. The good news concerning this graph, the percentage of computer usage in public schools remained relatively close in proximity. Ranging from the lowest (78%) to the highest (84%), this shows that computer and digital media usage in public, private high schools and universities has already become very widely available. The graph above displays computer usage in households. The graph below displays the difference between computer usage and actual Internet usage by grade level from Nursery school through 12th grade. In 2003, it was easy to see the dramatic increase for computer and Internet usage ranging from nursery school all the way up to 10th grade. By the time students reached 10th grade, the Internet and computer usage tended to even out at a moderate rate. Basically what this graph is telling us is that students begin learning how to use a computer and Internet as soon as they enter the school systems. The percentage that surprised me the most, was the nursery school computer and Internet usage beginning in nursery school. Even though this graph was originated by the NCES (National Center for Education Statistics), I questioned the fact that computer usage/Internet usage begins in nursery school. It is happening today, and I predict this to be a growing trend. There are two major organizations, which exist today, whose sole mission is to safely incorporate digital media into preschool and kindergarten. The first major organization is the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children). This organization is noticeably the largest, and well-funded organization for early educators in the United States. The 2nd is the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media organization. These two amazing organizations have conducted research, which supports the use of digital media technology in preschool and kinder garden. A very brave statement was released by both organizations. The statement regarded technology and small children up to 8 years old. â€Å"Though the groups discourage â€Å"passive screen technology† usage — like TV and DVDs — with children under two, they don’t suggest a ban on screens for preschoolers or kindergartners as some child-advocacy groups have suggested. Nor do they say teachers should avoid using technology with young kids. Instead, the groups puts the onus on teachers to make smart decisions and use technology appropriately. † (Guernsey, 2012) Conclusion: The digital media’s affect on education is more evident now than ever. If professional educators truly wish to reach their students in the world of pedagogy, I predict that these educators must become more adept to the way these new generations of students are accustomed to learning. Today, students learn on their own terms, with their own study methods. The sooner professional educators embrace technology and digital media fully, the sooner our students will reach their full potential. References Scholz, R. T. (2011, March 31). Learning Through Digital Media  » Introduction: Learning Through Digital Media. Learning Through Digital Media. Retrieved  February  23, 2013, from http://learningthroughdigitalmedia. net/introduction-learning-through-digital-media DaBell, M. , Chapman, C. , Spellings, M. , Whitehurst, G. , ; Schneider, M. U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2006). Computer and internet use by students in 2003 (2006-065). Retrieved from Institute of Educational Sciences website: http://0-nces. ed. gov. opac. acc. msmc. edu/pubs2006/2006065. pdf Guernsey, L. (2012, March 7). Saying yes to digital media in preschool and kindergarten. Retrieved from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/lisa-guernsey/saying-yes-to-technology-_b_1325070. html Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6. Retrieved from http://www. marcprensky. com/writing/prensky – digital natives, digital immigrants – part1. pdf How to cite Influence of Digital Media on Education, Essay examples

Project Execution Planning and Management †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Project Execution Planning and Management. Answer: Project Delivery Method The project delivery method is defined as an efficient process or procedure utilized in any construction project for developing the design, scope, consultants and design sequence for completing the project. Therefore, each project differs in characteristic with the other based on the delivery method used for completion of the project. Currently, in the public funded project, the three major project delivery methods are followed including CM @ risk, Design build and design bid build. The selection of the appropriate project delivery method needs to be considered based on the alignment of the project requirement with the characteristics of the method. The various characteristics of the method of the three project delivery method are illustrated in the section below: Design-Bid Build: The process of Design Bid Build is considered as one of the traditional process used for design and construction. In this process the design of the project is completed before the bidding process, and the construction part of the project is provided for construction project. In this type of delivery method, the errors regarding the design of the construction project becomes the responsibility of the project owner. Design Build: In the project delivery method of Design build, both the design and construction module of the project are being procured. This type of project is being characterized by the contract from one single entity. Usually the process of RFP (Request for Proposals) and RFQ (Request for Qualifications) are being employed in the project. CM @ Risk: This type of project delivery method is characterized with different construction and design procurement for completing the construction. The contract between the construction manager and the construction agency is at risks determining the final time and cost required for the construction project. Based on the characteristics of the three delivery methods, CM @ Risk, Design Build and Design-Bid Build methods has been provided the score in the evaluation matrix. In the project delivery method evaluation matrix, it has been identified that application of design build method would be most appropriate for selecting the appropriate project delivery method for the project for widening the existing highway for the Sydney motorway network. From the case study for the project of widening of the Sydney Motorway Network it has been identified that the working capacity and complexity in widening of the road are the significant factor that needs to be considered while selecting the project delivery method. The M5 motorway has been predicted to have an increase in the traffic of 24 % in the weekdays. Therefore, the construction for widening of the motorway needs to be carried out with utmost care and safety without risking the daily life of thousands of individuals. Therefore, in the evaluation matrix, design complexity has been provided with maximum weightier. In addition to that, the inability or failure to manage the organizational structure associate d with the widening of the motorway carries the potential for slipping out vital activities in the project. Therefore, risk assessment and management in the project is the second most significant factor having the maximum weight. Further, the project has been scheduled to be completed within 2023. Failure to complete the project within set deadline will in turn increase the complexity and budget for construction. Therefore, schedule delivery has been allocated as the second highest weight for the project. Cost allocated and the owner experience has been provided with the thirst highest weight as AUD 16.8 billion has been contracted for the project. Goals/ Criteria Criteria Weight Project Delivery Method Design-Bid Build Design-Build CM @ Risk Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Schedule Delivery 15 4 60 10 150 8 120 Innovation of the Construction 5 4 20 9 45 10 50 Design Complexity 20 3 60 9 180 8 160 Risk Assessment 20 4 80 10 200 8 160 Experience of the Owner 10 10 100 8 80 3 30 Experience of the staffs 5 10 50 8 40 4 20 Contractor Experience 8 4 32 10 80 10 80 Cost 10 3 30 10 100 8 80 level of control 7 9 63 8 56 10 70 total 100 495 931 770 Based on the evaluation matrix, Design-Build has been identified as the appropriate project delivery method that can be employed in the widening of the motorway project. Financial Contract Type The project for the widening of the motor way required the creating four lanes from the exiting two lanes in order o improve the transportation facilities. The financial contact for the construction projects provides a legal agreement binding the contractor and the owner of the project. The contract further provides the detailed information about the type and amount of compensation provided to the contractors and designers for completing the project within the allocated amount of time. In the construction project, there are three major types of contract followed for binding the contractor on the basis of financial amount. Lump Sum Contract: The contract for the lump sum is characterized by the fixed financial amount provided for the completion of the project. Completing the project before the schedule would help in increasing the benefits and profits from the lump sum provided in the beginning. The lump sum is applicable when the scope and objective of the project are mentioned by the project owner. Application of lump sum contract helps in eliminating any risks associated with the contractor. Cost Plus Contract: In the cost plus contract the total budget provided by the owner is based on the actual price required by the activities that have been followed during the construction project. The cost plus contract provides the contractor with the ability to negotiate the financial amount required for the construction project. During the determination of the prince, all the direct and indirect cost are taken into consideration. Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract: The financial contract of Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract are distributed among the contractors based o the total price provided based on the activities and construction module pre-define din the design of the project. in this type of contract, the financial budget can only be increased after formal approval from the owner. The project for the development of the widening of the motor way network needs to be carried out on the lump sum of AUD 16.8 billion provided to the West LINK for completing the entire project. Therefore, the fixed cost criteria have been allocated with maximum weight along with the risks and quality factor for constructing and completing e entre project. Furthermore, the project needs to be completed within the allocated deadline with 2023. Therefore, schedule has been provided with second highest weight for the construction project. Similarly, all the other criteria has been evaluated and judged based in the requirement as mentioned in the construction project. Goals/ Criteria Criteria Weight Financial Contract Type Lump sum contract Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract Cost plus Fixed Fee Contract Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Fixed cost for construction 20 10 200 8 160 7 140 Schedule project 15 10 150 7 105 10 150 increased performance and production 5 8 40 4 20 5 25 bidding analysis 5 9 45 2 10 4 20 risk 20 7 140 5 100 9 180 design 5 4 20 2 10 8 40 higher cost for unforeseen condition 10 8 80 4 40 8 80 quality 20 8 160 4 80 7 140 total 100 835 525 775 Based on the evaluation matrix, lump sum financial contract should be utilized for the construction of widening the motorway of the project. Procurement Method The selection of appropriate procurement methods in the construction project helps in ensuring the project success and client satisfaction. The application of appropriate procurement process helps in improving the quality and standard of the construction project. Based on the construction project criteria, three main types of procurement methods are followed namely best value procurement, negotiated procurement and competitive procurement. Competitive procurement methods: The competitive procurement process allowed the all contractors with the process for judging the contractors in the basis of various characteristics of the contractors on the basis of technical quality of the contractors. The competitive procurement methods evaluated the capability, experience and financial cost of the contractor. Further the experience and technical capability of the contractor are judged before selecting the appropriate contractor. Negotiated procurement methods: In the negotiation procurement process, the contractor can discuss and negotiate the budget with the owner. The profit margin and risk factor associated with the project are considered before selecting the appropriated contractors. This type of procurement methods includes huge amount of financial budget by the contractors. Best Value procurement methods: In the method for best value procurement process, the contractor with the least amount of bid is chosen for the construction project. This process is associated with less risks and future consequences of the construction. Further, the application of the best value procurement process eliminates the assessment of the contractor based on the quality and technical process employed for the construction project. In this project for the widening the new freeway, a fixed amount has been provide by the government and deadline for completion has been set. Therefore, the cost for the procurement has been provided with the highest priority in the methods followed by the schedule. The construction would help in improving the quality and safety of the people using the pathway. In addition to that, mission out of any parts or activities in the construction would increase the risks associated with the project. Therefore, the risks have been allocated to next highest weight in the evaluation matrix. Goals/ Criteria Criteria Weight Procurement Method Competitive Negotiated Best Value Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Cost 20 10 200 4 80 3 60 quality 10 8 80 10 100 10 100 Schedule 10 8 80 6 60 7 70 risk 13 9 117 7 91 4 52 public accountability 5 5 25 1 5 6 30 project size 5 7 35 5 25 8 40 experience of the contractor 15 10 150 8 120 3 45 government policy 5 5 25 3 15 4 20 Decision of the owner 2 3 6 10 20 5 10 expertise of the contractor 15 10 150 8 120 6 90 total 100 868 636 517 Based on the evaluation matrix, competitive procurement method has been selected as the appropriate method for selecting the procurement for the construction project. Therefore the application of the competitive procurement could help in improving the quality and standard of the project. Bibliography Asher, M. G., Sharma, T., Sheikh, S. (2015). Public Procurement Legislation Essential for Improving Public Financial Management in India. da Silva Barboza, L., Gilberto Filho, A. D. A., de Souza, R. A. (2014, August). Towards a legal compliance verification approach on the procurement process of IT solutions for the Brazilian Federal Public Administration. InRequirements Engineering and Law (RELAW), 2014 IEEE 7th International Workshop on(pp. 39-40). IEEE. Gruenen, J., Bode, C., Hoehle, H. (2017, May). Predictive Procurement Insights: B2B Business Network Contribution to Predictive Insights in the Procurement Process Following a Design Science Research Approach. InInternational Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems(pp. 267-281). Springer, Cham. Hawkins, T. G., Gravier, M. J., Berkowitz, D., Muir, W. A. (2015). Improving services supply management in the defense sector: How the procurement process affects B2B service quality.Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management,21(2), 81-94. Hayden, M. A. (2016).Engaging Users through the Application of Value Stream Mapping to Streamline the Procurement Process for Office Equipment(Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University). Jans, M., Alles, M. G., Vasarhelyi, M. A. (2014). A field study on the use of process mining of event logs as an analytical procedure in auditing.The Accounting Review,89(5), 1751-1773. Lawal, S. O. (2016). Procurement Process Design. Lima, F. S., Gonalves, M. B., Samed, M. M. A., Hellingrath, B. (2015, June). Integration of a Mathematical Model Within Reference Task Model at the Procurement Process Using BPMN for Disasters Events. InInternational Conference in Swarm Intelligence(pp. 440-452). Springer International Publishing. Lippman, E., McMahon, M. (2017). Professionalism and Politics in the Procurement Process: United States Civil War Early Years.Accounting Historians Journal,44(1), 63-76. Lozano, R., Witjes, I. S., van Geet, C., Willems, M. (2016). Collaboration for Circular Economy: Linking sustainable public procurement and business models. Mishra, A. N., Devaraj, S., Vaidyanathan, G. (2013). Capability hierarchy in electronic procurement and procurement process performance: An empirical analysis.Journal of Operations Management,31(6), 376-390. O'mahony, B., Noone, D., Prihodova, L. (2015). Survey of coagulation factor concentrates tender and procurement procedures in 38 European Countries.Haemophilia,21(4), 436-443. Wedin Hansson, L., Johansson, S. (2017). Institutional Incentives for Sustainable Public Procurement: a Case Study of Sustainability Considerations in the Swedish Construction Sector.The Public Procurement Law Review,26(5), 220-235. Witjes, S., Lozano, R. (2015, July). Developing a holistic framework to understand the contribution of sustainable public procurement to the development of more sustainable business models. Project Execution Planning and Management – Myassignmenthelp.Com Question: Discuss About The Project Execution Planning And Management? Answer: Introducation Design-Bid-Build the design-bid build consists of three different phases where the designing phase, bidding phase and the building phase. The designing phase consists of steps, which corresponds to the creation of the project plan and architectural design of the project (Park Kwak, 2017).. The owner hires an architect who is given the task of creating the architectural design of the project. If the owner of the project the architect goes on to approves the design produce the bid document that will be the basis on which, the bidding from the contractor will be happening. The requirements of the design has to be met by the architecture to fulfill the criteria of the project objectives (Ramsey, El Asmar Gibson, 2015). After the bid document is created the document is analyzed and the bidding phase starts. Different contractors come for the bidding auction of the project. They place their bidding for them to buy the tender for the project. After the completion of the bidding the owner along with the architect can either select one of the bidders based on the criteria he had put forward, reject all the bidders or start a new bidding process at a later date. After the complete selection of the contractor the project is assigned to them to work on (Park Kwak, 2017).. The contractor has to then start collecting all the permits that are required for the completion of the project. The contractor then produces a detailed timeline for the working of the project and delivers it to the owner for successful authorization. The architect hired by the owner works as a representative of the owner and looks after the working of the project timeline and the quality of the project (Ramsey, El Asmar Gibson, 2015). Design-Build In this process, the owner has to hire a general contractor who would look after the working of the project and an architect who would be in charge of the designing and implementing project in a correct manner (Minchin et al., 2013). This project delivery method lacks the process of bidding procedure, which selects the contractor who would be working on the project tender. These type of projects are mainly the act of joint venture or are completed in partnership with the owner and the architecture or the contractor who is given the contract (Minchin et al., 2013). CM @ Risk the constructor is provided with a project report during the designing phase or when the design has been completed (Fehling et al., 2014). The constructor is then selected based on the past working experience and the lowest bid set forward by the constructors. The company is then assigned and has to complete the whole project from there forward. The project is approved based on the risks taken by the contractor manager (Fehling et al., 2014). The three processes has been critically evaluated and the case study has been studied with care. Upon successful evaluation, it has been found that the best project delivery system to select for the given case study would be the design build process. As the construction time line for the case study is 7 years so the design build would be the best method to be used by the construction company. The tender has many risks and has to be completely evaluated by the contractor who has taken the job. The marking score provided in the table above has been provided based on the case study. Financial Contract Type Lump sum contract the contract is of a stipulated amount that is confirmed between the owners of the project and the contractor who has agreed to work on the project (Minchin et l., 2014). The major risks, which will be considered during the execution of the project, will be left for the contractor to resolve. The payment is paid in full with the consideration of over head costs, profit margin and the labor costs. Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract this contract is evaluated based on the actual cost compensation of the contractor with the addition of the profit margin of the contractor being added to it (Lee Rao, 2015). The contractor is responsible for the expenditures that will be applicable for the project completion. If there is a shortage in the funds provided then the owner has to evaluate the project again and then provide the money required for the task (Burr, 2016). Cost plus Fixed Fee Contract the contractor is paid an amount of money and a separate nominal amount for tasks provided by the contractor (Chen et l., 2015). This in turn provides a margin of profit for the contractor to earn an extra amount of money. The expenses which will be calculated based on the work which will be provided by the contractor. The tender is settled only when both the parties agree on the said statement (Chen et l., 2015). The best recommendation for the case study will be to follow the lump sum contract. As the project is of large deadline the owner will be paying the contractor a handful amount of money and will be done with it. The contractor will then have to go on with the project execution plan. The contractor has to work on all the working procedures and complete the task with the best quality. Higher the marking given to a criteria the higher involvement it has in the project execution. Procurement Method Competitive the use of fair and ethical method of bidding provided by the contractor who are willing to take up the project (Fong, Avetisyan Cui, 2014). The process provides a platform for all the different contractors to provide a bid on the tender and acquire it. The process is targeted to provide an equal shareable platform for all contractor to come and get the tender (Fong, Avetisyan Cui, 2014). This process is helpful for the owner of the project to acquire the best kind of contractors for the work. The interested contractor fill out the form and then places a bid on the tender. The contractor is chosen based on the evaluation of the form-filled out by them and the amount of money quoted by them (Bajari, Houghton Tadelis, 2014). After the successful evaluation, the owner selects the contractor and is provided with the tender contract. The owner can be of price oriented or can be or best quality oriented. Based on these properties the contactor is chosen. The owner also eval uates the past experience and project delivery before giving the tender (Bajari, Houghton Tadelis, 2014). Negotiated the owner chooses a contractor chooses a specific contractor based on their relation of past working experience on based on the reputation of the contractor (Miller, 2014). The cost to be paid out to the contractor is discussed and if the contractor agrees of the quotation of money then the tender is given to the contractor. The contractor then starts working on the project. If the quotation is not agreeable for the owners then a new contractor is called. This method has been avoided for much reason such as huge amount quotations (Yaqub et al., 2014). Best Value the factor of the lowest bidding is not the only criteria that is evaluated by the owner but also the experience of the contractor in working with similar projects (Ballesteros-Prez et al., 2016). The quality of the work needs to be of high specification and the owner would not settle for less. The selection is made prior to the architectural design of the project. The values of the contractor is to be taken up and evaluated before accepting thee working tender. Due to the following of the procedure the owners has less risk involved in the project completion method. Many working owners for their project have used the system (Ballesteros-Prez et al., 2016). This has been chosen due to the fact that there are minimum amount of risks to be considered when the work is being done. There is less amount of decision making to be done by the worker and the owners. There is a certain amount of money quotation from the previous experience then the contractor can quote the amount of money (Tran Molenaar Gransberg, 2016). This would highly eliminate the process of bidding by the contractors for the tender acquisition. The method has been followed by many government agencies who wants to eliminate process of bidding on the project plans. Goals/ Criteria Criteria Weight Procurement Method Procurement Method Procurement Method Competitive Negotiated Best Value Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Bidding 30 7 210 8 240 3 90 Decision of the owner is final 35 7 245 2 70 7 245 Negotiation 15 2 30 8 120 2 30 Risk taken 25 5 125 8 200 3 75 Total 105 610 630 440 The recommended procedure to follow for the case study would be the best value method. The recommendation has been provided based on the evaluation of the case study. The quality of work to be provided by the contractor is very high for this project. The price of the project make it to be of cost effective type. The marks has been provided to the criteria based on the case study. The higher the marks provided the more involved the criteria is in the project. References Bajari, P., Houghton, S., Tadelis, S. (2014). Bidding for incomplete contracts: An empirical analysis of adaptation costs. The American economic review, 104(4), 1288-1319. Ballesteros-Prez, P., Skitmore, M., Pellicer, E., Zhang, X. (2016). Scoring rules and competitive behavior in best-value construction auctions. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(9), 04016035. Burr, A. (Ed.). (2016). Delay and disruption in construction contracts. CRC Press. Chen, Q., Xia, B., Jin, Z., Wu, P., Hu, Y. (2015). Choosing appropriate contract methods for design-build projects. Journal of Management in Engineering, 32(1), 04015029. Fehling, C., Leymann, F., Retter, R., Schupeck, W., Arbitter, P. (2014). Cloud computing patterns: fundamentals to design, build, and manage cloud applications. Springer Science Business Media. Fong, C. K., Avetisyan, H. G., Cui, Q. (2014). Understanding the Sustainable Outcome of Project Delivery Methods in the Built Environment. Organization, Technology Management in Construction, 6(3). Lee, H., Rao, S. (2015). Nevada Demonstration Project: Construction Manager at Risk Contracting for Rehabilitation of I-80 Carlin Tunnels in Elko County, NV. Miller, D. P. (2014). Subcontracting and competitive bidding on incomplete procurement contracts. The RAND Journal of Economics, 45(4), 705-746. Minchin Jr, R. E., Li, X., Issa, R. R., Vargas, G. G. (2013). Comparison of cost and time performance of design-build and design-bid-build delivery systems in Florida. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 139(10), 04013007. Minchin, E., Ptschelinzew, L., Migliaccio, G. C., Gatti, U., Atkins, K., Warne, T., ... Asiamah, S. (2014). Guide for design management on design-build and construction manager/general contractor projects (No. Project 15-46). Park, J., Kwak, Y. H. (2017). Design-Bid-Build (DBB) vs. Design-Build (DB) in the US public transportation projects: The choice and consequences. International Journal of Project Management, 35(3), 280-295. Ramsey, D., El Asmar, M., Gibson Jr, G. E. (2015). Benchmarking the Procurement Performance of Single-Step Design-Build. Tran, D., Molenaar, K. R., Gransberg, D. D. (2016). Implementing Best-Value Procurement for DesignBidBuild Highway Projects. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, (2573), 26-33. Yaqub, E., Yahyapour, R., Wieder, P., Kotsokalis, C., Lu, K., Jehangiri, A. I. (2014, June). Optimal negotiation of service level agreements for cloud-based services through autonomous agents. In Services Computing (SCC), 2014 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 59-66). IEEE.

Management Case Study free essay sample

The case study below takes place at the Sir Charles Wilberforce Hospital’s cafeteria, which is experiencing problems with the change management. Due to the new management undertaken by Keith Davis, there was a major issue of inadequate communication channels, as Keith told his employees what to do rather than consult them, especially with the decision-making. The best alternative to rectify this problem is for Keith to adapt to a consultative management style, in order for employees to take ownership in their workplace through expressing their opinions and feel more valued, however still allowing Keith to still make the final decision. Another major issue addressed in the Cafeteria was the amount of unmotivated staff. As employees feel unsatisfied with their work, the best solution to this issue is Goal Setting. Through employees setting strategic goals they will increase their motivation through achievement of these goals which will lead them to set more challenging ones. We will write a custom essay sample on Management Case Study or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Lastly, the third major issue recognised was Keith’s poor leadership skills which made it difficult for employees to fulfil expectations and find enjoyment in the workplace. The best alternative solution for this problem is to retrain Keith’s leadership abilities so he is able to adopt all the qualities needed to become a better leader in his managing role. Although this may be an expensive method, the new leadership qualities Keith will learn will make a happier work environment for his employees and build a better employer/employee relationship. 3. Problem identification Poor communication channels Keith focuses on top down communication channels, providing a one way communication which is from him to his employees, rather than two-way which provides his employees to communicate ideas with him. This negatively impacts the hospital as the Keith is unable to discuss problems or ask questions amongst employees to see if there are any problems going on amongst the workers and therefore leading to job dissatisfaction employees. Although Keith tried to soothe Julia when the issue between her and Madison was brought to his attention, he did not follow it up or treat it as an importance. Lack of staff motivation Prior to Keith’s managing, Anne’s original foundations of self-satisfaction and close family ties seemed to motivate the employees at Sir Charles Wilberforce hospital. Keith’s changes were made to become more efficient, employees were left struggling to gain satisfaction and motivation in order for themselves to achieve their hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1954). In this hierarchy of needs Maslow developed, employees have five needs, physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualisation, once they fulfil one of their needs they can graduate to the next one to fulfil it and so on. Without fulfilling the social needs of forming social ties or self-actualisation of gaining enough experience within the kitchen to become a supervisor, it became unknown to the employees of what they are capable of and decreased their enticements to complete tasks and feel satisfied. Insufficient leadership abilities Keith lacks major leadership qualities, as the organisational layout he uses is to tell employees what to do, depriving them of guidance and support. The Hersey Situations leadership model suggests that leadership focuses on follower’s readiness (Hersey, Blanchard Johnson, 2001). This theory suggests that at Sir Charles Wilberforce, if the employees feel they are unable to complete a task Keith should give those clear and specific instructions. If they are willing and confident Keith needs to provide them display high task orientation, and if employees feel able but are unwilling Keith would need to use a supportive approach. Lack of teamwork The teamwork environment of delegating tasks amongst of employees was not addressed by Keith. He believed that employees needed to finish work on time, plan menus monthly and take on cleaning responsibilities, whereas, the use of team work would have provided a better suited time managed system. Through having each employee assist with cleaning duties, planning menus, helping out another if time was short as well as assisting each other to get all food out and made the kitchen would be less chaotic. This would have assisted with issues if someone was ill, allowing more than one person to prepare greater portions of meals. 4. Statement of Major Problems The three major problems that are brought to the attention at Sir Charles Wilberforce Hospital are: Inadequate communication channels Unmotivated staff Insufficient leadership abilities The poor communication channel Keith utilises is top-down communication from Keith to his employees. As this is a workplace that depends on seeking ideas from others and support from each other, two way communications between Keith and his employees is necessary. This will allow employees to feel part of the decision making and feel they can share their ideas to improve the workplace. Following this Keith must then improve his leadership skills, putting his employees first and assisting them with any help and support they need in order to achieve a positive workplace. This may involve Keith revising the organisation’s culture, or distinguishing the strength and weakness of each employee so he knows how to assist each of them. Once Keith’s leadership abilities are improved, staff motivation must be identified and given, in order for employees to become productive within the kitchen and gain job satisfaction, increasing their abilities and allowing them to feel the want to work. 5. Generation and Evaluation of Alternative Solutions Inadequate communication channels Regular work meetings Set regular meetings within the kitchen, in order to concerns amongst employees to be discussed as we as evaluation on how the business is going and openly discuss ways to improve or maintain it. Advantages Allows for feedback Employees can listen to each person’s idea and encourages discussion openly Evaluate the earnings to the previous week and that time the previous year, allowing each person to suggest ways to improve or maintain their profit margins. Disadvantages Some employees may not attend May be time consuming to discuss all ideas Consultative management style Implement a Consultative management style in order to increase two-way and open communication between Keith and the employees. Advantages Allows employees to feel ownership in decision making Allows employees to share their ideas and opinions Gives confidence to employees Disadvantages Employees may feel held back to express their opinions because they do not feel comfortable Employees may feel offended if their ideas are not taken into consideration Time consuming Unmotivated staff Goal setting Implement setting goals, which involve employees setting goals that motivate them to improve their capabilities. Advantages Gives self-satisfaction Increases productivity and performance levels Disadvantages Time consuming to distinguish appropriate and achievable goals Goals ay appear as unattainable and lead to employees to give up Job design Mr Dev can alter the job design to assist in identifying and correcting any deficiencies that affect performance and motivation. Advantages Job enlargement, can be used to increase motivation by giving employees more and varied tasks so the employee is motivation to try new tasks Job rotation allows an employee to work in different departments or jobs in an organization to gain better insight into operations motivating the employee to increase his/her skills and knowledge about other jobs. Disadvantages Job enrichment may lead the employee transferred too much responsibility in the kitchen and independence in the planning and control aspects of the job which may suppress motivation levels Reward and Recognition Evaluating each employee to identify which people are performing to their maximum, and rewarding them financially or non-financially for their hard work, therefore motivating other employees to improve their work standards. Advantages Employees will increase performance to obtain more rewards Will produce higher standards amongst the employees Self- enrichment Disadvantages Expensive to keep purchasing rewards and reassess each employee to recognise After a while employees may feel that rewards may not motivate them anymore Keith may not want to undertake the idea of rewarding and recognising employees Insufficient leadership abilities Retrain Keith Retraining programs for Keith within the company or externally will allow Keith to develop better leadership qualities and create a happier workplace. Advantages Positively effects employees to feel trust and support from Keith Keith can evaluate themselves as to what skills are expected to lead the employees Disadvantages May take a while for Keith to learn and adapt to these skills May be expensive Dismiss Keith Dismissing Keith will demolish the issue of poor leadership abilities and will allow the business to replace him with a more experienced manager. Advantages Re-appoint a new manager who possess all correct leadership skills Employees are in a happier environment where they can get the support they need More time appropriate and efficient than retraining Disadvantages May be hard to find a replacement Employees may find it hard to adapt to a new manager and may be resistant to give them a chance due to their bad experience with Keith 6. Recommendation Consultative management style A Consultative management style is the recommended alternative for Keith to address to his employees. The type of management style used by Keith at this point is autocratic, which involves him making decisions for the hospital kitchen unilaterally. Although regular meetings are a good alternative by providing mediation and assistant towards employees, the consultative management style involves a permanent change to the organisation. The consultative style would involve Keith discussing ideas of possible changes to be made within the kitchen, as well as employees being able to give their opinions and ideas. By implementing a consultative management style, employees at the cafeteria will be able to perform to their optimum level, concentrating on increasing common sense approach for Keith to meet the needs and wants of the employees, as well as making employees realise their own abilities and capabilities in performing tasks, (McClelland, 1987). Similarly to regular meetings, the consultative approach gives open communication, however unlike meetings the consultative approach is more permanent in the workplace and is used daily, for example in decision making, gaining assistance with a task or getting support with a concern. This will benefit the kitchen, as the employees will respond more positively to any changes to feel more a part of the workplace and a sense of belonging. Keith will benefit from this style, as he will be given a broader range of ideas as well as maintain his authority to make the final decision. Goal Setting Setting goals is the preferred alternative for Keith to use within the kitchen. Despite the fact being rewarded motivates someone to maintain if not improve performance to be rewarded again, goal setting gives motivation. Goal setting enables employees to measure their processes and work performance. This enables employees to gain feedback on their results, unlike rewards and recognition which just motivates employees to try harder to gain another reward rather than possessing the want to gain the self-satisfaction that they have improved. Edward Locke’s theory of goal setting outlines that in setting specific and challenging goals it enables process and outcome improvement (Locke Latham, 1990). Similarly, job design suggests a different form of motivating to increase their skills of different tasks, however it also does hold the ability to measure the improvement that setting goals do. If goal setting is adapted by Keith, his employees would be able to achieve towards a higher performance, as well as motivating them to set higher goals with increasingly difficult tasks, once they have been achieved. Through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, this can assist in setting goals with Locke and Latham’s theory. Maslow theory suggests that ‘although no need is every fully satisfied, a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates an individual to satisfy that need’ (Robbins, Bergmann, Stagg and Coulter, 2012, p559). This suggests that in identifying each need, physiological safety social esteem and self-actualisation, employees at sir Charles Wilberforce can pinpoint what tasks they need to complete in order to graduate to the next level. For example one of the employees may find that they feel they don’t belong, in order to achieve this level they can set a goal to form relations with other employees on a professional basis. Once this goal is achieved they can move on to develop their esteem needs. Retraining Keith Although, retraining Keith may be considered a time consuming process, compared to the alternative of dismissing Keith, it appears to be a more logical approach. Through retraining, Keith is able to gain leadership skills that he may not be aware are essential skills he needs in order to be a manager. This will transform him from telling his employees what to do, to instead assisting and guiding them through changes. Despite the expenses of this method, it may also be difficult for Keith to cooperate as well as understand the concept of these skills however unlike dismissing, he will be able to improve and allow for a happier work. The trait theory suggests that it is impossible to identify and isolate characteristics from leaders from non-leaders. However there are seven traits associated with leadership, these being ‘drive, the desire to lead, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, intelligence, job-relevant knowledge and extraversion’, (Robbins, 2012, p605). Eventually with the retraining, Keith may possess these seven leadership abilities to involve his employees in decision making process and form a trust bond.

The Eradication of Smallpox essays

The Eradication of Smallpox essays Although it has taken a huge collective effort by many individuals and nations, the eradication of smallpox was mainly brought about by the pioneering efforts of Edward Jenner. Smallpox had been killing humans for over 3000 years and has been referred to as one of the greatest all-time scourges to mankind. One of the first known efforts to fight this horrible disease by immunization was in China where powdered scabs of smallpox pustules were blown into the nostrils of healthy persons through a tube. This method of immunization was called variolation and involved taking samples (which consisted of vesicles, pus from pustules, or ground scabs) from patients who had a mild form of the disease and inoculating the material into other persons through the nose or skin (Hopkins 24). The practice of variolation came to Europe from the East at the beginning of the 18th century by Lady Mary Wortley Montague, and English aristocrat. Lady Montagues husband was an ambassador to the East for England and while in Istanbul, she observed their method of variolation. She was so impressed by the Turks method that she had her 5-year-old son inoculated then her 4-year-old daughter when they returned to England. This was the first variolation performed in England (Hopkins 38). This method of variolation slowly gained general acceptance throughout all of Europe, although it had varying degrees of success. A portion of patients treated with variolation became ill with smallpox and subsequently died from the infection or started a new epidemic, and thus there was a fear that the inoculation did not provide immunity, but just provided infection. A few innovative scientists saw that there must be a better way to provide immunity, and Edward Jenner saw this better way in a correlation between cowpox and smallpox that eventually dubbed him the father of the smallpox va ...

Advantages and Disadvantages of Effective Budget Control

Advantages and Disadvantages of Effective Budget Control This paper will look at what is required of an effective budgetary control mechanism and try to assess the advantages and disadvantages of using a system imposed from above, or externally, over a decentralized system controlled by lower level management as task level. Using an empirical case study from the international banking sector, it will be shown that too much managerial autonomy can lead to disaster not just for the manager concerned but also for the whole organization. In contrast the role of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in imposing nation-state loan budgets will be critiqued to highlight the potential flaws of centralizing and dominating budget control management. Effective budgetary control Henderson (2003) notes that regardless of the situation or workplace, in order to be effective it is crucial that budgetary control systems: Account for money received and spent Make sure that the organization’s financial policies are adhered to Ensure that m oney is not wasted Assist managers to run, and develop, services or departments These controls have developed from the need to account for large sums of money but are equally applicable to any budgetary situation. However, from a managerial perspective they have often been criticised for being insensitive and restrictive at the lower levels of management. As the number of stakeholders increases so does the need to be fully accountable and therefore more controls are also needed. This is particularly noticeable in the public sector National Health Service. Here lower level management are extremely subservient to imposed and tight budgeting restrictions from a distantly senior level. This is arguably a result of the need to satisfy a multitude of stakeholder interests and a concern that empowering lower management with the autonomy to control their own budgets would fail to include the number of interested parties from politicians to doctors and patients. With organisations as comple x as the NHS whether public or private sector – It is safer and easier to plan and control from above using imposed budget control methods. Politically imposed budgeting is preferably because senior managers, directors, or institutions who set the budgets are arguably best placed to recognise the wider implications of budgeting decisions but, according to Marginson (1999), financially imposed budget controls make sense too. Financial losses, which can occur for such damaging reasons as incompetence, error, negligence or fraud, are most likely to be minimised, or avoided altogether, by well constructed control systems. Imposed budgets benefit from the experience, acquired knowledge and full backing of senior management. They arguably encourage a sense of confidence in lower level management to do their job whilst reducing the massive levels of stress that come with having to create and manage your own budget. Another advantage of imposed budgeting is that it encourages regular monitoring, reporting, progress reports and ultimately improvements in the budgetary system. This enables problems to be uncovered and dealt with quickly and efficiently. Henderson (2003) states that it is advantageous to review arrangements occasionally. Even if procedures within your work area operate well, you should ensure that the budgetary responsibilities of staff at all levels are clear and understood by everyone. It would be unfortunate if problems arise because people do not know the extent or limit of their responsibilities (p33).