Developing an action plan Essay Example for Free

Developing an action plan Essay The Utah Symphony has proven its ability to generate substantial sums of Revenue with both performance revenues and by securing large sums of income from governmental grants along with generous contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations. The Symphony’s ability to draw large crowds along with their demanding schedule length allows them to offer the community ample opportunities to participate. The Symphony provides sustainability for 83 full time musicians, and this allows them to concentrate on the goals of the Symphony without the worries of looking for other income opportunities. Mr. Lockhart is a very talented and experienced music director that has a personal commitment to his symphony. Mr. Lockhart’s role as the music director comes with many challenges, it is through these challenges that he has elevated the Utah Symphony to the status they enjoy today. The musicians and Mr. Lockhart have developed a relationship of trust and respect, Mr. Lockhart has publicly acknowledged how important they are to the overall success of the symphony and his success as a director. The Utah Symphony has a very demanding schedule and with it comes great expense; the symphony needs to look for cost cutting options to maintain operations. They are relying on generous governmental funding and other contributions that are simply not what the previously had been. The symphony will need to look towards the possibility of reducing its staff’s income and benefits, to overcome this shortfall, which is a hard situation to deal with. Mr. Lockhart will need to take a stronger leadership role and develop a plan to approach the musicians about the dire situation they are in and try to develop a strategy to cut cost, however his personal relationship with them present a challenge that is not easy to overcome. Another concern is Mr. Lockhart does not want be perceived as â€Å"playing second string† when it comes to his Symphony and will need to look at the bigger picture to see what is best for the Symphony. Anne will need to be as straight forward and honest as possible about the  realties that the symphony faces, with regards to budget management and cost saving techniques. She will need to gain the trust of the musicians much the same way Keith has by developing the understanding of the importance the musicians hold within the developing organization for the merger to be successful. She needs to develop a relationship with Keith and his position with the symphony that does not create tension within the merged organization. The Utah Opera has developed a business strategy that works. They are running a very profitable organization that utilizes effective methods for fundraising and obtaining other contribution resources. They have appropriated their budget to allow them to maximize what revenue they attain wisely; they will have very little reduction in governmental grants, and a projected increase in contributions for individuals, corporations and foundations in the year to come. They have a large inventory of costumes and productions sets and own the building and land they operate in. With Anne as the head of the UOC she has grown the budget from 1.5 million to almost 5 million; she’s an accomplished fund raiser for the UOC. Anne bring many talents to the UOC from stage director, to general director Anne is a very crucial part of the success of the UOC. The UOC faces a challenging future with the lack of performance revenues projected for the upcoming season and increase in production cost they may have to make adjustments to staff to maintain their level of security, however they have been running an impressive surplus of nearly half a million dollars. With the merger details made public they have had some staffing concerns and even the resignation of the Director of operations Leslie Petersen. Some members of the UOC staff feel they may be placed in the shadows of the Symphony and end up flipping the bill for the symphonies failures. Anne has undertaken a huge role within the merger of the organizations and she will need to make sure she doesn’t lose focus with the day to day operations of the UOC, since she is currently without a Director of operations. Anne has a proving record of running efficient organizations and may not be sensitive to the needs and desires of the employees from both the UOC and USO, due to her drive for efficiency. Anne needs to place a Director of operations for the UOC as soon as possible. She will need to talk with her current employees and provide the assurance they need in regards to the important role they play in a successful merger. She will want to assure that the organizations will work together as one and the UOC will not be left flipping the bills from the shadows. Anne will want to continue to meet the needs of the UOC to maintain it level of success. Analysis of Company scorecards Financially the goals of the USO and UOC are quite similar they both are concerned with financial stability with increased profitability. Fund raising is realized as being very important to maintain that profitability with the USO focused more on keeping ticket prices the same as last year and the UOC with increasing their endowment being a priority, which has one to think that the UOC is more concerned with money then the artistic exposure aspect that the USO has. Both organizations have goals of increasing profitability, with the USO planning on a significant increased goal, the UOC just wants to increase the reserve funding (there security blanket). Both organization have similar goals with respect to notoriety however due to the size and scope of the entertainment they provide, the USO has a more world vision on success with the UOC is focused on national and regional recognition. Both organizations realize their success depends on great performances and talented performers; they remain very similar in that aspect. The crowds say it all and both the UOC and USO know that feedback and attendance is very important, but they have different views on how to gauge this with the USO focused on feedback directly from exiting customer and the UOC judging this by the ability to producing sell out performances. The internal processes of the two organizations are quite different with the USO maintaining the staff of it musicians tear round, and the UOC gaining new performers for different performances, they face different sets of challenges they both negotiate salaries for the performers and talents with  profitability being a major tactic. They measure the success of the internal process differently as we with the USO depending on improving ticket sales and returning customers the UOC is depending on reviews and profitability measurements for success. With respect to learning and growth, the organizations differ slightly. They are concerned with increasing the amount of performances, with the USO focused more on gaining a younger crowd the UOC is just trying to keep sales growing. They both realize the importance of ticket sales to their success with the UOC again is concentrating on having the increase in bottom line, where as the USO wants greater returning audiences. The scorecard does address some of the strengths and weakness, I developed prior but should have a better focus on what the organizations can do to improve and assure they will be successful in the future. The balance score card may not align with all the strengths and weaknesses of an organization but it more approximately focuses on what direction the organization desires to go to meet its desired outcome. USO UOC Balanced Scorecard Financial  ·Strategic Goal: Being Financially stable with increased profitability  ·Critical Success Factor: Maintaining highly successful fundraising efforts to maintain ticket prices and endowments.  ·Measure: Increase profits providing Surplus deficits. Customer  ·Strategic Goal: Providing Top notch performances and gain Notoriety  ·Critical Success Factor: Acquiring quality performers  ·Measure: Ticket sales and exit surveys Internal Process  ·Strategic Goal: Attracting top talent while improving profitability  ·Critical Success Factor: Negotiating contracts closely to assure profitability  ·Measure: Improved profitability, and ticket sales. Learning and Growth  ·Strategic Goal: Increase of productions to more appealing crowds  ·Critical Success Factor: Increased profitability with Larger demographic  ·Measure: Return sales and exit survey results The weakness of the merged organization with regards to the financial stability will be how to distribute the profits; they both have goals to increase profitability which is a good starting point, they will just need to develop a solid plan. With regards to the customer the organization wants to increase its overall notoriety and exposure to different demo graph’s and this is a great strength they share and can benefit from. With regards to Internal processes the current goals they share to maintain profitability while negotiating salaries is a weakness due to the inherently different classes of talents the organizations face and how they can balance that difference while maintaining peace. The organizations share the goal of increased growth and exposure to a varied age group while increasing production so this should be a strength that they both will benefit from and have little trouble adapting to. With the balance scorecard in place, the financial issue that could arise would be how the profitability of the organization should be allocated, whereas the UOC is more focused on maintaining its endowment the USO is more concerned with keeping ticket sales stagnate while keeping the musicians happy. The Humans resources department will be dealing with two very different groups of talent and with the USO musicians union to deal with they will have a very challenging task with the merger.  When dealing with customer satisfaction, due to the organizations producing very different types of productions they have a level of frustration and confusion with scheduling and production run times. The best way to educate customers on the performances will be through advertisements and customer interactions such as exit surveys and questionnaires. The new merged company executive will want to develop a detailed business strategy that will show how the organization will be able to maintain its level of profitability while achieving all the financial goals it has developed. The new executive must help the Human resources department understand their roles and assemble this department from both organizations to be successful. As with any company customer satisfactions should be a priority and by educating the public about the benefits of the newly merged company and the great performances you provide can greatly increase your exposure to a larger customer base.

Development of Project Management Plan

Development of Project Management Plan LITERATURE REVIEW Having seen in the previous chapter about the Project management is a carefully planned and organized effort to accomplish a specific (and usually) one-time effort, for example, implementing a new computer system. Project management includes developing a project plan, which includes defining project goals and objectives, specifying tasks or how goals will be achieved, what resources are need, and associating budgets and timelines for completion. It also includes implementing the project plan, along with careful controls to stay on the critical path, that is, to ensure the plan is being managed according to plan. Project management usually follows major phases (with various titles for these phases), including feasibility study, project planning, implementation, evaluation and support/maintenance. Comninos and Frigenti (2002 p.72) defines Project management as â€Å" The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Further Haynes (1995 pp. 623) defines project management as â€Å" Project management concentrates on the project . A project is an undertaking that has a beginning and an end and is carried out to meet established goals within cost , schedule and quality objectives . Project management brings together and optimizes the resources necessary to complete the project successfully . These resources include the skills , talents and co-operative effort of a team of people , facilities , tools and equipment ; information systems and techniques and moneyâ€Å" Duncan (1995 pp. 742) has a similar view â€Å"Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements â€Å" Harrison ((1988 pp.62) states these definition as â€Å"The application of modern management techniques and systems to the execution of a project from start to finish, to achieve predetermined objectives of scope, quality, time and cost, to the equal satisfaction of those involved† Cleland and Gareis (1993 pp.58) states that â€Å"Project management is the ability to define, schedule and assign project activities; record project issues; monitor progress and report changes in activity accomplishment and issue resolution; and maintain and control changes to designs, plans and issue lists† Similarly Morris (1997 pp. 221) defines as â€Å"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† Ciborra (2002 pp. 525) defines Information System (IS) as â€Å"†¦the system of persons, data records and activities that process the data and information in a given organization, including manual processes or automated processes. Usually the term is used erroneously as a synonym for computer-based information systems, which is only the Information technologies component of an Information System. The computer-based information systems are the field of study for Information technologies (IT)† Project management is concerned with managing the entity called ‘People. There is no single universal definition of a software project , although some definitions do have similar structure. â€Å" Projects consume a variety of resources , Projects have a specific start and end point (or life cycle), Projects have a owner (i.e. consumer ), Projects have a specific budget , Project have a clear method , Projects have finite objectives. â€Å"A unique undertaking with a concise life cycle , start and end dates , a finite budget , resource allocation and defined outcome or objective † (Gary 2001 p.25) 2.1 Preview of software industry in India The software industry is one of the fastest growing industries and highest earners of foreign exchange in the Indian economy. With help from the Indian Government including tax benefits and the development of infrastructure links, the software sector has grown over 56% annually since 1995. Software exports currently reach about 95 countries and account for 10.5% of Indias total exports.There is, therefore, significant interaction on the global level between IT companies and other countries and companies, which might account for the lead Infosys has taken amongst its peers in the field of CSR (Narayana Murthy CEO Infosys , 2006 15/02/07) The India Software Industry has brought about a tremendous success for the emerging economy. The software industry is the main component of the Information technology in India. Indias pool of young aged manpower is the key behind this success story. Presently there are more than 500 software firms in the country which shows the monumental advancement that the India Software Industry has experienced (IIT,2002 p.4) 2.2 Infosys and its relation to software project management Founded in 1981 in Bangalore by Narayana Murthy and six colleagues, Infosys is positioned to integrate the needs of vendors and service providers, using existing solutions or relying on new product development. The company does the necessary integration, software development, feature enhancements testing, release and third level support. It provides solutions to the financial sector the biggest chunk of its business- as well as to 460 other clients across a broad spectrum of other industries. (www.infosys.com 14/02/08) In terms of project management, software project work is split into two components: onsite and offshore, according to where it can be best done, at the lowest cost, and with the lowest level of acceptable risk, thereby de-coupling capability development and delivery. Although Infosys was not spared by the dotcom crash in 2001, thanks in part to the loyalty built up among employees the business bounced back, and by 2006 its market capitalization was US$18 billion. For Murthy, leading by example is what counts. This translates into three core values: respect for the individual, data-based decision making, and embracing constant change by forcing people to share their innovations. Infosys has established a systematic pattern of succession planning whereby board members remain in the vanguard but are underpinned by a three-tier leadership structure for high-potential managers. Younger employees are viewed as the eyes and the ears of the company, bringing to the forefront contemporary issues that might otherwise be overlooked (Manfred , Vries, Agrawal and Florent-Treacy 2006 p.121) Since incorporation, Infosys annual revenue has rapidly increased and it reached 1 trillion in 2006. Unlike many other Indian IT companies Infosys has concentrated on building software applications and this has contributed to its global success Infosys Technologies employs nearly 17,000 people worldwide, almost 10,000 of whom are software professionals. 116 new clients in the financial year (FY) 2002 added to the already prestigious list that includes Airbus, Cisco, Nordstrom and Boeing. Retail banking services account for around 4% of total revenue. The company vision is to be the best globally, commercially and ethically. As such, Infosys has developed a C-Life principle of core values that it aims to honour in all aspects of its business conduct . C LIFE represents Customer delight , Lead by example , Integrity and transparency , Fairness and Excellence (www.infy.com 15/06/07) 2.3 Project Management Processes (Infosys based approach) Turner J and Rodney (2005 p..43) states that ‘ A project management process is the management process of planning and controlling the performance or execution of a project ‘ Although all projects are different and have unique features m there are elements which are common to most . A process model needs a set of features which Are adaptable to a wide range of applications Provide a complete and adequate definition of any project to which they are applied Are easy to assimilate , with the key tasks and points of interest highlighted Are suitable to act as a memorandum and checklist to ensure that everything is covered Do not impose any unnecessary constraints on the use of tools , techniques and methods during the projects A process model can be helpful to a project manager in planning the project but obviously cannot be followed blindly and must be tailored to meet the requirements of the project . Not all the elements of the process model will be appropriate , but the model can be used as a checklist to ensure that nothing important is missed from the project . The process model is also used to help define what is required of the project manager at each stage in the project and to define the inputs and outputs of each stage . (Van Vliet , 2004 p.52) Infosys executes hundreds of projects each year. Full responsibility for executing a project rests with the project manager, who must make sure that the project team delivers high-quality software to the customer on time and within cost. To help the project manager fulfill this responsibility, support from the organization is necessary. (Mahajan and Ives , 2006 p.231) This section provides a brief background Infosys support for managing software projects. For a project team to successfully execute a project, it must perform hundreds of tasks, many of them interdependent. Effectively managing this process is extremely important for success. (Harvey 2003 p.52)At Infosys, the set of activities executed by a project manager is specified in the project management process. It is fairly standard, having three main stages: Software project planning Software project execution Software project closure 2.3.1 Software Project Planning The key to a successful software project is in the planning. Creating a project plan is the first thing one should do when undertaking any kind of project. Often project planning is ignored in favor of getting on with the work. However, many people fail to realize the value of a project plan in saving time, money and many problems. A project is successful when the needs of the stakeholders have been met. A stakeholder is anybody directly or indirectly impacted by the project. (Lackman 1987 p.57) As a first step it is important to identify the stakeholders of software project. It is not always easy to identify the stakeholders of a project, particularly those impacted indirectly. (Lewis J 1995) Examples of stakeholders are: The project sponsor The customer who receives the deliverables The users of the project outputs The project manager and project team Once understanding who the stakeholders are, the next step is to establish their needs. The best way to do this is by conducting stakeholder interviews. Considerable time can be utilized during the interviews to draw out the true needs that create real benefits. Often stakeholders will talk about needs that arent relevant and dont deliver benefits. These can be recorded and set as a low priority. ( Berlick 1992 p.72) The next step once after all the interviews done and have a comprehensive list of needs it is now to prioritize them. From the prioritized list its important to create a set of goals that can be easily measured. A technique for doing this is to review them against the SMART (specific, measurable, agreed upon, realistic and time-based ) principle. This way it will be easy to know when a goal has been achieved. Once having established a clear set of goals they should be recorded in the project plan. It can be useful to also include the needs and expectations of the end users- stakeholders. (Thomsett 1989 p.51) At Infosys , in the project planning stage, as revealed by Marsh (1998 p.17) , the project manager reviews contractual commitments and creates a plan to meet them. Creating a project plan involves defining a life-cycle process to be followed, estimating the effort and schedule, preparing a detailed schedule of tasks, and so on. It also includes planning for quality and configuration management as well as risk management. In this phase, the major activities of the project manager are as follows: According to McManus (1997 p.69) , the project manager performs startup and administrative tasks and creates the project plan and schedule. He is also responsible for defining the objectives of the project . The suitable standard process for the project execution is identified . Also the standard process to meet project requirements are tailer . Also a process for managing changes in requirements is designed . The estimation of effort involved is undertaken . Also the plan for human resources and team organization is determined . The project milestones are defined and schedules created accordingly. Also the quality of objectives and a quality plan to achieve them are determined . A defect prevention plan in designed. The risks are identified and plans are made to mitigate them. A measurement plan for the project is defined .A training plan for the project is designed . The project-tracking procedures are analyzed for effective execution . Also a review of the project plan and schedul e are performed . Authorization from senior management is obtained . The configuration management plan and defined and reviewed . Also orientation of the project team to the project management plan is executed In addition to the project manager, this phase involves the customer, an SEPG representative, and the business manager for the project. The entry criterion is that the contract or project authorization is available. The exit criterion is that the project plan has been documented and group reviewed (Morgon 1986 p.19) 2.3.2 Software Project Execution According to ,Harvey ( 2003 p.167) ,the purpose of Project Execution and Control is to develop the product or service that the project was commissioned to deliver. Typically, this is the longest phase of the project management lifecycle, where most resources are applied. Project Execution and Control utilizes all the plans, schedules, procedures and templates that were prepared and anticipated during prior phases. Unanticipated events and situations will inevitably be encountered, and the Project Manager and Project Team will be taxed to capacity to deal with them while minimizing impact on the projects CSSQ. Project Execution and Control Kick-off is where the project manager conducts a meeting to formally begin the project execution and control phase, orient new project team members, and review the documentation and current status of the project. The purpose of Project Execution and Control Kickoff is to formally acknowledge the beginning of project execution and control and facilitate the transition from project planning. Similar to project planning kick-off, project execution and control kickoff ensures that the project is still on track and focused on the original business need. Many new team members will be introduced to the project at this point, and must be thoroughly oriented and prepared to begin work. Most importantly, current project status is reviewed and all prior deliverables are re-examined, giving all new team members a common reference point. (Rodney 1999 p.123) Manage CSSQ is where the project manager must manage changes to the project scope and project schedule, implement quality assurance and quality control processes according to the quality standards, and control and manage costs as established in the project budget. (SEI 1996 p.4)The purpose of Manage CSSQ is to manage changes to project scope , control the project schedule and manage schedule changes , implement quality assurance and quality control , processes according to the quality standards revised during project planning control and manage costs established in the project Monitor and Control Risks, where the project manager and project team utilize the risk management plan prepared in previous phases, and develop and apply new response and resolution strategies to unexpected eventualities.Risks are potential future events that can adversely affect a projects Cost, Schedule, Scope or Quality (CSSQ). In prior phases, the project manager defined these events as accurately as possible, determined when they would impact the project, and developed a risk management plan. As the impact dates draw closer, it is important to continue re-evaluating probability, impact, and timing of risks, as well as to identify additional risk factors and events. When the risk event actually occurs, the risk (which is by definition a future, potential event) becomes an issue (which is by definition a current, definite condition) and issue monitoring and control takes over. The purpose of monitor and control risks is to deploy the risk management plans prepared in prior phases to anticipate project challenges, and to develop and apply new response and resolution strategies to unexpected eventualities. (Humphrey 1989 p.92) Manage Project Execution, where the Project Manager must manage every aspect of the Project Plan to ensure that all the work of the project is being performed correctly and on time.Project Execution is typically the part of the lifecycle of a project when the majority of the actual work to produce the product is performed and the majority of the project budget is expended. The purpose of manage project execution is to manage every aspect of the project plan as work is being done to make certain the project is a success. This process is performed concurrently with the manage CSSQ and monitor and control risks processes. The tasks in this process are performed concurrently and repeatedly as various aspects of the product of the project are constructed, tested, and accepted. (Dion 1994 p.172) Gain Project Acceptance, where the Project Manager, customer decision-makers and project sponsor acknowledge that all deliverables produced during project execution and control have been completed, tested, accepted and approved, and that the product or service of the project has been successfully transitioned to the performing organization.The purpose of Gain Project Acceptance is to formally acknowledge that all deliverables produced during project execution and control have been completed, tested, accepted, and approved by the projects Customers and the Project Sponsor, and that the product or service the project developed was successfully transitioned from the Project Team to the Performing Organization. Formal acceptance and approval also signify that the project is essentially over, and is ready for Project Closeout. (Duran 1988 p.49) At Infosys , the second phase, as in the words of Finney ( 1999 p.193) , project execution, involves executing the project plan, tracking the status of the project, and making corrections whenever project performance strays from the path laid down in the project plan. In other words, it involves tracking and controlling the implementation of the project process. This phase is the longest in the project management process, incorporating periodic tasks such as monitoring project status and quality and taking any needed corrective steps. In this phase, as said by ( Harvey 2003 p.62) , the project manager executes the project as per the project plan. , tracks the project status., reviews the project status with senior management. , monitor compliance with the defined project process. , analyze defects and perform defect prevention activities, monitor performance at the program level and conduct milestone reviews and replan if necessary. Other members of the team also participate in this stage. The entry criterion is that the project plan is complete and approved, and the exit criterion is that all work products delivered are accepted by the customer 2.3.3 Software Project Closure The Project closure report is produced at the end of the Project, and provides the Project Board with a review of the overall Project and an assessment of how successfully the Project has met its objectives. This report will be presented at the final Project Board meeting, and must be signed off by the Project Board as part of the process of formally closing the Project. (Watts 1987 p.122) As said by Sanders and Curran (1994 p.623) , a carefully structured project closure phase should ensure that the project is brought to a controlled end. The project manager should prepare the end project report, which details the main findings and outcome of the project and represents a formal review of the projects degree of success. The project manager should organize the project closure meeting and draw up a list of who should attend. This meeting is concerned with reviewing the project and ensuring the completeness of all of the major project deliverables. It is the final formal control point apart from the post implementation review; and should be attended by the project owner and the overall project manager. The basic question facing the attendees is: Did the project deliver its intended end-product within the time and budgetary limits set? According to Thomsett (1989 p.62) , The last stage of the project management process, project closure, involves a systematic wind-up of the project after customer acceptance. The main goal here is to learn from the experience so that the process can be improved. Post-project data analysis constitutes the main activity; metrics are analyzed, process assets (materials, such as templates and guidelines, used to aid in managing the process itself) are collected for future use, and lessons are recorded. Because learning from the project is the main goal, this is a group activity that involves the project manager, the SEPG, and other members of the team. The entry criterion is that the customer has accepted the work products. The exit criterion is that a post project meeting has been conducted. The main outputs of this phase are the project closure report and the collected process assets. 2.4 Capability Maturity Model CMM is a development methodology thats designed to help projects make use of reusable processes . There are some pain involved in making the switch , but the benefits to development staff and the organization make it worthwhile The CMM describes a continuum of characteristics based on how well your company or organization follows common and repeatable processes to get your work done. CMMs have been developed for software acquisition, people, and software (Paulk 1993 p.342) Although the SEI continues to enhance and expand the scope and breadth of various CMM models, the primary focus for most companies continues to be software development. Perhaps the biggest reason for looking at software development is that the process uses a fair amount of creativity, which can lead to unpredictable results. However, much (but not all) of the software development process can be standardized using a common set of processes. Common processes can be set up for the project management side Moving up the CMM levels allows an organization to standardize its software development processes in areas that can be successfully repeated from project to project Organizations that use the CMM for software development describe their level of standardization against CMM benchmarks using a scale of 1 to 5. The low end of the scale describes companies that arent using repeatable processes; much of their work is chaotic and ad hoc. The high end describes companies that use defined and re peatable processes, collect metrics to help them continuously improve their processes, and look for creative ways to do things better on an ongoing basis.(Watts 1987 p.79) Many companies are seeing that they can drive business value by implementing good, reusable processes throughout their organizations. The CMM provides a framework that companies can use to measure themselves on a standard 1 to 5 scale. Most companies today are at level 1 and would love to get as high as level 2. Most managers and organizations realise that they should have common and repeatable processes. However, pain will definitely be involved (Gilb 1998 p.122) Infosys has been assessed at level 5 (the highest level) of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). By extracting project management processes from the set of processes at Infosys, this book also illustrates how projects are managed in a high-maturity organization. Through this illustration, I hope to bring the benefits of the CMM to project managers who have not studied it because of lack of time, because they regard it as being for process folks or because they have found it difficult to relate the CMM to project management practices. (www.infosys.com 02.07.07) 2.5 KPAs and its importance in Project Management Each KPA specifies goals that the processes of the organization must meet to satisfy that KPA. In addition, each KPA specifies a group of activities, called key practices, that collectively satisfy the goals of that KPA. In many senses, the goals for each KPA capture its essence. They specify the objectives that the CMM has set for the processes relating to the KPA. To illustrate the KPAs associated with project management, we briefly discuss here the goals of these KPAs. These goals are taken from the CMM,with some minor changes in the wording of some goals. ( Cooper and Woolgar , 1994 p.589) 2.5.1 Goals of KPAs at Level 2 2.5.1.1 Requirement Management RM Requirements management is all about balance, communication, and adjustment along the way. To prevent one class of requirements from over-riding another, constant communication among members of the development team is critical. For example, in software development for internal applications, the business has such strong needs that it may ignore user requirements, or believe that in creating use cases, the user requirements are being taken care of. (Bevan 1992 p.165) 2.5.1.2 Software Project Planning SPP The purpose of Software Project Planning is to establish reasonable plans for performing the software engineering and for managing the software project. Software Project Planning involves developing estimates for the work to be performed, establishing the necessary commitments, and defining the plan to perform the work (Barker 1992 p.522) 2.5.1.3 Software Project Tracking and Oversight SPTO The purpose of Software Project Tracking and Oversight is to provide adequate visibility into actual progress so that management can take effective actions when the software projects performance deviates significantly from the software plans. Software Project Tracking and Oversight involves tracking and reviewing the software accomplishments and results against documented estimates, commitments, and plans, and adjusting these plans based on the actual accomplishments and results (Budlong and Peterson 1996 p.523) 2.5.1.4 Software Subcontract Management SSM The purpose of Software Subcontract Management is to select qualified software subcontractors and manage them effectively. Software Subcontract Management involves selecting a software subcontractor, establishing commitments with the subcontractor, and tracking and reviewing the subcontractors performance and results. These practices cover the management of a software (only) subcontract, as well as the management of the software component of a subcontract that includes software, hardware, and possibly other system components (ISO 9000-3 p.5) 2.5.1.5 Software Quality Assurance SQA Software Quality Assurance (SQA) is defined as a planned and systematic approach to the evaluation of the quality of and adherence to software product standards, processes, and procedures. SQA includes the process of assuring that standards and procedures are established and are followed throughout the software acquisition life cycle. Compliance with agreed-upon standards and procedures is evaluated through process monitoring, product evaluation, and audits. Software development and control processes should include quality assurance approval points, where an SQA evaluation of the product may be done in relation to the applicable standards. (Kontonya and Sommerville , 1998 p.212) 2.5.1.6 Software Configuration Management SCM In software engineering, software configuration management (SCM) is the task of tracking and controlling changes in the software. Configuration management practices include revision control and the establishment of baselines (Keller et al 1990 p.521 ) 2.5.2 Goals of KPAs at Level 3 2.5.2.1 Integrated Software Management ISM The purpose of Integrated Software Management is to integrate the software engineering and management activities into a coherent, defined software process that is tailored from the organizations standard software process and related process assets, which are described in Organization Process Definition. Integrated Software Management involves developing the projects defined software process and managing the software project using this defined software process. The projects defined software process is tailored from the organizations standard software process to address the specific characteristics of the project (Saiedian Hossein and Kuzara 1995 p.321) 2.5.2.2 Intergroup Coordination IC Intergroup Coordination involves the software engineering groups participation with other project engineering groups to address system-level requirements, objectives, and issues. Representatives of the projects engineering groups participate in establishing the system-level requirements, objectives, and plans by working with the customer and end users, as appropriate. These requirements, objectives, and plans become the basis for all engineering activities (TickIT Guide p.21) 2.5.2.3 Peer Reviews PR In software development, peer review refers to a type of software review in which a work product (normally some form of document) is examined by its author and one or more colleagues, in order to evaluate its technical content and quality When performed as part of each Software development process activity, peer reviews identify problems and fix them early in the lifecycle. That is to say, a peer review that identifies a requirements problem during the Requirements analysis activity is cheaper and easier to fix than during the Software architecture or Software testing activities ( Gentleman 1996 p.92) 2.5.3 Goals for KPAs at Level 4 2.5.3.1 Quantitative Process Management QPM Quantitative Process Management involves establishing goals for the performance of the projects defined software process, which is described in the Integrated Software Management key process area, taking measurements of the process performance, analyzing these measurements, and making adjustments to maintain process performance within acceptable limits. When the process performance is stabilized within acceptable limits, the projects defined software process, the associated measurements, and the acceptable limits for the measurements are established as a baseline and used to control process performance quantitatively (Daly-jones and Thomas 1997 p.142) 2.5.3.2 Software Quality Management SQM Its here were the projects software quality management activities are planned . Measurable goals for software product quality and their priorities are defined . Actual progress toward achieving the quality goals for the software products is quantified and managed (Broad

Are Computers Putting Our Childrens Education at Risk? :: essays research papers

Computers are woven into every aspect of our lives. From the microwave oven that small children can learn to use to heat up a hot dog, to the computers under the hoods of our cars, we interact with computers whether we realise it or not. (Campbell, 1999). But when it comes to the education of our children, the use of computers becomes a controversial issue. Of course, as stated above, computers are an everyday tool in the education of children, but the question being asked is, what effect do these computers really have on our children? Are computers being used in age-appropriate ways? Do program designers take into account the developmental needs of children? Are teachers receiving sufficient technology training? Is "learning software" really what it purports to be, or is it simply "edutainment" that reinforces impulsive point-and-click behaviour in the pursuit of a trivial goal? (Healy 1998) Many people are beginning to wonder about these questions, and are comin g to the conclusion that computers may be very harmful to the development of our children. Academically, physically, socially and emotionally. There are many negative issues surrounding the use of computers as educational tools. These range from ineffective learning, impacts on children’s health, creativity, brain development and social and emotional growth. Also, besides the issue of computers affecting children’s development, there is the ongoing issue of costs of this new and constantly updating technology. These issues, combined with many others, are beginning to emerge, and we can see why many people are reconsidering the validity of computers in education, especially that of young, primary school-aged children. In relation to the issue of the negative effects computers have on the physical development of children, Jane Healy has presented the following fact: The American Academy of Paediatrics has expressed concern about the amount of time children spend in front of various types of screens, and several experts in eye development have stated that computer use is creating problems in children developing visual systems. (Healy 1998, p.18) Healy also cites literature that suggests that during the first six years of life, misuses of technology may adversely affect brain maturation and development. Computers do have physical effects on those who use them, and these effects can be serious and long lasting, even permanent. Moreover, they contribute to a wide range of disorders – to muscle, joint and tendon damage, to headaches and eyestrain, to seizures and skin problems.

Character Profile of Friar Lawrence :: English Literature Essays

Character Profile of Friar Lawrence Most movies portray friars as wise mentors, or strict religion-followers, that lead lawful, moral, and virtuous lives. But this tragic play of Romeo and Juliet begs to differ, as the friar does nothing but help achieve the forbidden plans of two star-crossed lovers. As Friar Lawrence gets involved more deeply into the schemes of Romeo and Juliet, he too begins to warp sly plans out of his head, such as the potion plan. Despite his conscience, Friar Lawrence reveals a potion that will put Juliet to a false death, in the â€Å"Potion Plan† scene. His motivation was caused by the weeping and tears of Juliet who was in the hands of a twisted marriage against her will. She had already been married to her love, but now that promise was in danger of being broken. From the few lines that the friar speaks, the audience realizes that this friar is certainly not the stereotype friar that goes around trying to live an impossible life of perfection. Though it may have been wrong to help children marry against their parents’ permission, and let them fake a death to run away together, Friar Lawrence did the exact thing. Friar Lawrence didn’t think of what was lawfully right, but of the destiny of two people, that were very important to him. He cared for them, and wished Romeo and Juliet well. He valued them as his own children. It goes to show that Friar Lawrence was human, also, and not perfect, since no one can be perfect. Friar Lawrence felt an internal conflict within him – the conflict of self against self. He knew in his mind that it was wrong to help a teen run away with her lover, who happened to be a murderer. But he also felt himself reach out to them, as he had known them as his own children for a very long time. He knew what a desperate situation Juliet and Romeo were in, and knew that he could prevent their lives from being ruined. But the problem was that the only way to solve everything, was to take a ‘wrong path’, that everyone opposed. In the end, he ends up helping his fellow children. But by this decision, he affected the whole plot of the play, and caused it to turn greatly. This plan would have turned out marvelously, but he made a few mistakes. Character Profile of Friar Lawrence :: English Literature Essays Character Profile of Friar Lawrence Most movies portray friars as wise mentors, or strict religion-followers, that lead lawful, moral, and virtuous lives. But this tragic play of Romeo and Juliet begs to differ, as the friar does nothing but help achieve the forbidden plans of two star-crossed lovers. As Friar Lawrence gets involved more deeply into the schemes of Romeo and Juliet, he too begins to warp sly plans out of his head, such as the potion plan. Despite his conscience, Friar Lawrence reveals a potion that will put Juliet to a false death, in the â€Å"Potion Plan† scene. His motivation was caused by the weeping and tears of Juliet who was in the hands of a twisted marriage against her will. She had already been married to her love, but now that promise was in danger of being broken. From the few lines that the friar speaks, the audience realizes that this friar is certainly not the stereotype friar that goes around trying to live an impossible life of perfection. Though it may have been wrong to help children marry against their parents’ permission, and let them fake a death to run away together, Friar Lawrence did the exact thing. Friar Lawrence didn’t think of what was lawfully right, but of the destiny of two people, that were very important to him. He cared for them, and wished Romeo and Juliet well. He valued them as his own children. It goes to show that Friar Lawrence was human, also, and not perfect, since no one can be perfect. Friar Lawrence felt an internal conflict within him – the conflict of self against self. He knew in his mind that it was wrong to help a teen run away with her lover, who happened to be a murderer. But he also felt himself reach out to them, as he had known them as his own children for a very long time. He knew what a desperate situation Juliet and Romeo were in, and knew that he could prevent their lives from being ruined. But the problem was that the only way to solve everything, was to take a ‘wrong path’, that everyone opposed. In the end, he ends up helping his fellow children. But by this decision, he affected the whole plot of the play, and caused it to turn greatly. This plan would have turned out marvelously, but he made a few mistakes.

Child Care and Observation Essay -- Child Psychology Essay

Observation is very important in young children because that is how you get to know a child better. While observing how a child interacts with their peers, adults, and how they behave in different settings, you are getting to know the child without speaking to them. It may be important to observe a child but at the same time it may mislead you into being judgmental, too soon. For instance, if you observe a child misbehaving, not getting along with the other children or talking back to the teacher, you might get the impression that he/she is a 'bad' child and you might treat and act differently with that particular child. From my personal experiences, I have to come to the conclusion that it doesn't always work the way I believe when observing a child. I strongly feel that in order to get to know a child you should not spend most of your time observing him/her. Interacting with the child gives off better results. Not once or twice, this should be a consistent thing. For example, in room seven we have a child by the name of Thomas which most of us have heard about him. He appears to be very aggressive and angry from what we have observed. Even though the child may be difficult at times, I cannot turn my back on him and give up because of this. We can only observe what lies in front of us. No one really knows what goes on when the child is home with his parents. He might be going through some really hard times with his family and this is how he is coping with it but, ...

Black on Black Crime Essay

Today I’m going to talk about How to stop black on black crime. Black on black violence is an enormous problem in the African-American community. Living in a neighborhood that is mostly minority, many may have witnessed a lot of black on black violence. The black on black violence has continued to arise in many communities and continues to be a problem around the world. Black on black violence is ignorant, and many black Americans should be coming together instead of killing one another. African-Americans people should be helping each other in the world. The black on black crimes problem can be solved through non-traditional ways. If we are allowed to illustrate how to present system dominate our lives and the condition that we currently exist. Armed with this knowledge, we will see the problem begin to dissipate. As African American, we â€Å"shout â€Å"when a person commits a violent act against us. We don’t need to display anger and harm against other. African-Americans killing one another, it proves to other races that black people do not know how to act, and that we are truly ignorant in this world. Black on Black crime has been the most insidious killer or black people. It’s not the guns or the drug creating the violence; it is caused by our mentality. We should group ourselves with other who is concerned and willing to sacrifice for the cause of saving our society from imploding. These crimes have always been there, but they are more pronounced because of the black community. African-Americans need to realize that all we have is each other and by killing each other we show that brotherly love does not exist among our own.

Multimedia Courseware Shell Proposal Essay

A new experimental degree program, the Bachelor of Applied Business Program (BAB), was launched Spring Quarter 1994 by Continuing Education and Extension. BAB is a practitioners’ degree for the working adult student. The emphasis in the program is on learning skills and accessing information to apply to solving practical workplace problems in a rapidly changing business world. The program was developed with substantial involvement of the Inver Hills Community College, the business community in the Twin Cities area, and the University of Minnesota’s Continuing Education and Extension (CEE) unit. This is the first degree program offered by CEE, and—if successful—it will serve as a model for redefining â€Å"outreach† in the urban corridor to fulfill part of the land grant mission of the University of Minnesota. We are currently in the process of developing the course materials and selecting faculty to teach in the program for Fall Quarter 1994. Note that the three distinguishing features of the BAB program include a number of technical features, graphic elements, or applications that could be significantly enhanced by multimedia courseware: †¢ Courses are being designed with substantial involvement of area businesses to give students â€Å"hands on† experience, including leading and participating in group work; skills for managing upward and downward business relationships; storing, accessing, and retrieving information; creating and implementing budgets, operations flowcharts, schedules, and staffing plans. †¢ Learning outcomes will be specified for each course and applications-related competencies will be integrated into courses across the curriculum. These will include emphases on writing, speaking, and visual communication; using technology and information management techniques, engaging in applied problem-solving and critical thinking skills, working in teams, quality in the workplace, ethics, and the dynamics and management of a diverse workforce. †¢ Practicum/project work will also be an important aspect of the BAB curriculum and students will be encouraged to develop and maintain a portfolio of their coursework and practical experiences which can later be used as evidence of the competencies that they have developed. Our business partners stressed that the BAB upper division courses must be applied and skills-oriented, making use of interactive learning modules that model actual workplace situations. Moreover, the courses must integrate both medium and message into a fast-paced, electronically connected, multimedia learning environment that requires that students take the initiative and work on real projects with limited supervision. Project Description Under an earlier MinneMac grant the principal investigator, Elizabeth Michaels, collaborated with Deborah Henderson and Ann Douglas to create WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum), a courseware shell, for delivering instruction in writing, pharmacy, and business courses. This shell has been used extensively in the English Department since 1990, at Grace High School since 1991, and for the past two years, in five Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The major shortcomings of WAC are its lack of graphics or visual capabilities and its lack of integration with other software packages. However, if we could integrate the basic principles of text delivery that we have already developed in WAC with the capabilities of the PowerMac 7100—specifically with its AV Video, CD-ROM, and color display, we could develop a powerful multimedia component that will teach students how to manage a business â€Å"from their desktops.† Moreover, by linking to other programs, like Microsoft Projectâ„ ¢, Excelâ„ ¢, or Directorâ„ ¢, we can create a multi-functional learning tool that can be used in labs and for distance learning throughout Minnesota. The multimedia courseware shell we propose to develop will provide an innovative and easily updated method of delivering timely, practical, high quality business courses to working adults. The PowerMac 7100 which we are requesting will be used initially by the multimedia courseware development team: Elizabeth Michaels, Principal Investigator (English); Mr. Pat Lingren, Program Director (CEE); and our project consultant, William Rudel (Carlson School of Management). After the courseware has been developed and alpha tested, faculty designing the target courses will be trained in the use of the courseware shell to develop their own multimedia course modules. The project we propose, therefore, is to design an interactive, multimedia courseware shell, initially for four key courses in the curriculum. The BAB MultiMedia Courseware shell (BAB-MMC) will enable us (1) to develop multimedia case studies and (2) to create course materials which will enable students to integrate various project planning, database, spreadsheet, business graphics, and electronic mail packages with textual information in their classes. The BAB-MMC will serve two purposes: as a training tool for innovative and experimental curriculum development for BAB faculty and as a teaching/learning tool for BAB students. The following is a description of the four courses and how we will use the BAB-MMC in each of them. 1. Planning and Implementing at the Business Unit Level (4 cr.) This course focuses on creating and implementing plans such as operations flowcharts, budgets, schedules, and staffing plans at the business unit level. The BAB-MMC will integrate these flowcharts, budgets, schedules, and staffing plans as well as the presentational software for creating written and oral briefings for presenting, monitoring, and revising these plans. It will also contain strategic planning instruction and forecasting techniques. Moreover, the course will make use of multimedia case studies to give students practice in solving real logistics and planning problems. 2. Project Management in Practice (4 cr.) This course has two objectives: (1) to teach students about project management and the various tools and techniques available to the project lead in such areas as scheduling, coordinating, allocating resources, and monitoring project activities; and (2) to provide students with the opportunity to carry out a field project and put the tools of project management into practice. These projects will be carried out in teams whenever possible. The BAB-MMC will integrate into the course a number of the abovementioned project management tools which will then be used by the students in recording and reporting on their field experiences. The students will also communicate electronically with the instructor and regularly post messages to a class bulletin board as a means of communicating progress and requesting help with problems. 3. Accessing and Using Information Effectively (4 cr.) This course begins with a conceptualization of the role of information in business operations including information systems and data management. The BAB-MMC will serve as a tool for developing short case studies and exercises, which include data-based, text-based, oral, written, and multimedia elements. Students will learn to access external information for the firm through library resources, information search services, CD-ROMs, and periodicals and internal information through desktop database systems, e-mail, or computer conferencing. 4. Practicum (4 cr.) Two of the three forms the practicum could take are (1) to develop a business plan for a new venture or (2) to complete a portfolio of projects which demonstrate transferable skills from previous courses or fieldwork. The BAB-MMC will take the current course materials that we have developed for the business plan and convert them into self-study units which will integrate spreadsheet, cash flow analysis, financial analysis, and graphics packages capable of creating organizational charts and other business graphics to enhance and simplify the preparation of a complete business plan and its pro formas. The third form a practicum could take is a supervised project at the student’s workplace or at another location. For this option, the BAB-MMC will set up a course Website where the students report electronically to the instructor and other students. This will minimize the need for site visits and enable one professor to manage and respond to the individual need s of six to eight students who are enrolled in the practicum in any quarter more efficiently. Evaluation The BAB-MMC will be evaluated by the developers conducting user testing on the shell and sample modules and by instructors developing modules for their courses to determine its ease of use and effectiveness as a classroom tool. Students will be asked to evaluate the BAB-MMC as part of their regular course evaluations at the end of each quarter. We will also have two representatives of the Digital Media Center conduct an independent evaluation of the multimedia courseware shell as a teaching/learning tool. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected.