Monday, September 30, 2019

Matav Case Study

Strategic Crossroads at Matav: Hungary’s Telecom Powerhouse Assignment 1 What is Matav’s Strategy? Has it been successful? Matav, being the Hungarian Telecommunications Powerhouse, had secured their foothold in most of the communications market in Hungary, including business services, residential services, Internet and Mobile. Their parent company Deutsche Telekom wanted them to remain an integrated telecommunications company.Since their objectives were laid out in front of them, they were facing a stagnant fixed mobile market in Hungary with the only scope of expansion being the broadband market. So their primary focus was on competitive response to the core customer base, consolidating financial performance, increasing productivity and expanding the broadband market. The next step that Matav took in implementing their strategy was to split their vast company into smaller business units which could manage their market independently and sufficiently.International expans ion was on the cards as well. Belonging to a greater European powerhouse, they had all the man power and resources to help them step in to a new, less visited, European country where the telecommunications prospects were bright. I personally think that there was no other option but to expand their foothold in the rest of Europe and keep the domestic growth ascending with introduction of new technologies. The fixed line business was decreasing as it is and the competition had reached a saturation point.The strategy hasn’t been as successful as late since, the domestic competition has increased, Matav are losing foothold in the fixed and mobile market, contrary to the fact that they still are the number one Telecomm Company in Hungary. Does Matav have any competitive advantages in its domestic markets? Matav, off late, has faced a lot of domestic competition because the East European Market has seen a heavy increase in the small telecommunications companies’ bracket. The se small companies enter the existing markets and offer low price incentives which inevitably increases competition in the price war.Matav is a telecommunications powerhouse. It has the infrastructure, the ability, the foresight and the manpower to match any competition the foreign companies can offer. Matav is a well-established integrated communications company and has footholds in all the four markets of residential, business, internet and mobile. They already have a lot of customer market in the Hungarian environment. Familiarity with the local policies, business and customers makes Matav even more powerful when it comes to dealing with competition.It could add additional services by implementing new technologies on the current infrastructure to the current customer base and could also attract a lot of customers by giving bundled service like fixed and mobile or fixed and internet together. Do Matav’s international expansion plans make sense? Why? Matav was taken over by a European Telecommunications giant. The line was clear. Since the domestic market was completely overwhelmed by Matav, the only logical place to expand further was another European company. Matav is already an integrated telecommunications powerhouse.There is no new market it can create or develop within its own country to sustain development for it. There has to be competition and scope for expansion by introducing new technology into third world countries. This is very attractive when offered at a lower price than your local provider. Matav’s international plans make sense to me for precisely the same reason. There is scope for expansion and revenue in untapped markets more than expansion in tapped markets. Nevertheless, the domestic market should not be overlooked since that’s the main source of revenue and development for Matav.Matav was also losing foothold in themobile market. It needed to expand and look for new markets. This exhibit will show you why. If you w ere a member of the strategy group, what would you recommend to Andras Balogh? If I was a member of the Andras Balogh team, I would recommend continuing what the company was doing. On top of that, I would ask him to fix his gaze more upon the local market since lately, the competition was increasing drastically. Even if the international expansion makes sense, the company should not lose its foothold in the domestic market.Since the infrastructure and the man power already existed, new technologies should be researched and implemented since, if someone else comes up with it, we don’t want to fall behind the market. A new research division should be created which could work in collaboration with the german giants to implement and try new technologies. This team should constantly be in process of innovating and researching new technologies. They should also keep a watch on the new emerging technologies in the markets across the world.Another division should constantly keep chec k on the local market and try and implement and provide the existing customer base enough to hold on to Matav for the next generation of technologies. This division should constantly help provide information to both the research divisions and the international division about the needs and demands of the local market and what to expect. The international division should concentrate solely on expansion and should set up local divisions to help understand the local market. It should also make sure all the international markets communicate with each other.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Project Audit of the Ottawa-Carleton Water Park Essay

  I have audited the Ottawa-Carleton water park project and analyzed the various stages of the project, the methodologies, techniques and tools of project management that were utilized. The project managers, that are KLSJ Consulting, who had been contracted by the owners Carlington Aquatic park were very effective in the management of the project. They displayed competence and understanding of the key issues that are essential for management of large scale high risk projects like the Ottawa-Carleton water park project. The project was a big success and was completed without major cost overrun and scope creep. The project managers had made very adequate preparation and detailed plans on how to carry out the project. This included different strategies of managing the key aspects of the project like quality, risk and time schedule. Part 1: Case Study Description   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project to be audited is called Ottawa-Carleton Water Park. It is a project that involves putting up of a full size water park in Ottawa area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The design and building of the Ottawa-Carleton water park project will be managed by KLSJ consulting on behalf of the owners Carlington Aquatic Parks. The owners will retain all authority concerning financing, marketing and critical designing of the water park. After the construction the water park was efficiently passed over to an operations management team (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ottawa is the capital city of Canada with a population of over one million. It is a destination for many summer tourists as it has very fine tourist attraction which includes galleries and recreational facilities among others. According the Ottawa-Carleton water park project concept, during summers, about two million visitors come to Ottawa (KLSJ consulting, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Water parks which mostly operate during the summers are very profitable and represent a mature industry. There are many water parks offering recreational services to people in different parts of the world with United States having more than nine hundreds (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Ottawa-Carleton water park will be a full size water park offering a range of recreational facilities to its visitors. It will be situated in the Ottawa area and will consist of facilities like sport court, rock climbing wall, children center, a wave pool, a river, slides, towers, group area with picnic facilities plus other attractions (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the project proposal, the project started in 2003 and will took two years with completion in 2005 (KLSJ consulting, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The challenge facing the Ottawa area is that there is no full size water park in the area, and with the rising popularity of water parks in North America it was a lucrative idea to take the first move to create one for the Ottawa area market. The need for one site that will offer visitors a big range of recreational facilities in the Ottawa area initiated this project to construct a full size water park in the Ottawa area in an easily accessible area. The land will be leased from National Capital Commission Public lands and the water park will be built by a prime contractor with owners and investors acting as supervising agents. The project will take 2 years and is expected to be completed by May 21. 2005. (KLSJ consulting, 2002). The project was completed effectively and successful and the water park was opened on June 2005.   The handing over was very effective though the project completion had delayed with four weeks. The project is considered a big success. According to bi-weekly status report the project started two weeks behind schedule. This time was to be recovered by sourcing the environmental study to the one consultant who had offered the initial environmental feasibility study services. Thus, the project was expected to be complete as scheduled (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The approximate budget for the whole project was set at twelve million four hundreds and forty eight thousands Canadian dollars. The project completed with a small cost overrun of 2.7% (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the project communication plan the project managers had the responsibility of making all the communications to the external parties including politicians, regulators and media. The team leader made all routine project communication and his responsibility which included preparation and delivery of all project performance report (KLSJ consulting 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As stipulated in KLSJ consulting communication plan (KLSJ consulting 2003) the main communication objective was to encourage a positive image for KLSJ and the project to garner support and to generate local interest in the water park. All communications were to be aimed at posing a positive publicity and were to be identified in their work breakdown structure. The team leader was the communication coordinator. The project communication plan was to be evaluated quarterly and at the start of each phase, feedback collected from all stakeholder and improvement done in order to improve the communication plan (KLSJ consulting 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project manager of Ottawa Carleton Water Park was Karen Dhanraj and his primary responsibility as cited in KLSJ consulting Ottawa-Carleton water park project proposal (KLSJ 2002) included: Coordination and communication with outside agencies Interfacing with community groups, the capital district, and municipal, regional and provincial governments. Providing direction and guidance to other team members Maintaining the overall project plan (schedule, cost and resources) Coordinates and producing all project documentation. Coordination and oversight of the market’s agency Membership in the Risk management working group (KLSJ consulting 2002) The project team included three team leaders. Scott Kennedy was the team leader concerned with Design and construction and was responsible for all activities concerned with design and construction. Lavern Fleck was the legal team leader whose responsibilities included legal counsel, contract management and handling the regulatory authorities on legal issues. Steve Jackson was the team leader concerned with Finance. His role was to manage all finance issues related with the project. Jim Harris was the Risk manager whose role was to coordinate the Risk management program. Project marketing was done by an outside contractor (KLSJ consulting 2002) Part 2: Scope, cost and Time management Analysis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project was successful in terms of attainment of the required scope. The water park was completed with all the facilities that were intended. No major compromise were made on quality of the facilities and attractions. This means the objectives of the project were realized.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the post project report 311, 650 Canadian dollars were used in-excess of the budget for the project to be complete. This represented a 2.7% cost overrun. This was contributed by several factors that included: mitigation of an environmental problem, traffic and road upgrades, higher costs for the water park design, and a series of variances in construction (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project was completed four weeks behind schedule. The opening of the water park had been scheduled to take place on 21 May 2005 but it did not until June 15. The major cause for this delay was the late delivery of the water slides and the unfavorable weather condition in early spring of 2005. Hiring of the operations manager and conformation of investors took more time than had been expected but these activities did not affect the overall time frame of the project (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The management of the Ottawa-Carleton water park project used different project management tools and technique to ensure the project was a success.   One thing that worked for the projects success was the good and efficient management of the three major constraints of a project that include scope, time and cost. The project management ensured that proper measures were put forward that helped the project to succeed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Different techniques and tool were used to make the scope of the project to succeed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first strength for the project was that the scope was well defined. The overall objective of the project was well outlined complete with details and estimates of what was needed. The owners wanted a full size water park of a total cost of 12, 450,000 Canadian dollars that will provide recreational facilities to about 7000 visitors in a day (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project management used different techniques and tools to manage scope. The project management strategy was well designed with a very well functioning project management team. The team was of manageable size and represented the functions that were core to the success of the project. The project management team was led by the project manager who lead three team leaders and a Risk manager. The marketing function was contracted from outside. This team was able to handle all the issues that concerned the project hence helping the project come to achieve its objectives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The other technique utilized was good risk management. The Risk manager had a Risk management program that ensured a problem area was identified and acted upon before it became a loss to the project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Communication was also well structured ensuring that all external and internal communication were carried out appropriately. This had been well planned for and duties allocated thus ensuring no obstacles came up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cost management was a major factor for the success of the Ottawa-Carleton water park project. Different techniques and tools were utilized in order to effectively manage costs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first step was having a team leader who was to be concerned with financial issues of the project. His responsibilities included development and monitoring of business plans/s and project cash flows among other responsibilities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The cost was well estimated using a class B estimate which provided a variance of between -10% to +25%. The overall cost estimate was can $12448, 250. A 10% contingency had been provided to cater for expected price variation. The total cost had been analyzed using both functions and phases. The total cost had been divided by project function that included management, contract management, financing, political/legal, marketing and construction. The total cost had also been divided per project phases. The phases included phase 1 to phase 5. These analysis of cost enabled the managers to ensure they had enough finances before undertaking a task or contract in order to avoid stoppage or legal action against them (KLSJ Consulting 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The cost was also analyzed by use of tables, graphs and Gantt charts to help in management. The project management also adopted a cost control strategy that was aimed at avoiding cost overruns. This strategy involved issuing fixed price contractors, including penalty clauses for non-performance in contract and taking insurance for specific perils.   All these efforts were geared toward operation within the budget.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Time was another constraint that was well managed in the Ottawa-Carleton water park project. The management team used a work Breakdown schedule to analyze the duration of the project. The project duration was divided into fine phases. Key milestones were identified in each phase of which some were in critical path and others were non-critical. Deadlines and reviews were done and a schedule change management plan was adopted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The work Breakdown schedule was further divided into tasks thus facilitating easier management of these activities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A tradeoff strategy in some instances was utilized in order to manage competing priorities of scope cost and time. This strategy involved, in some cases allowing tradeoff compromises between scope, cost and time management. However no major compromise was done in term of number or quality of attraction to be installed in the water park. All the structures and facilities that were installed in the water park met the quality and standard that was expected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Different techniques were used for corrective action in the different aspects of the project. One correction action that was adopted was the institution of a deadline for every phase and the end of phase reviews and approvals. Performance report had to be submitted at every end of a phase and change request had to be reported before the deadline. These actions made sure that no activities led to delay of subsequent activities and thus maintaining the whole program on schedule.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cost correction action involved analysis of the cost requirement using charts and tables. Cost was also anticipated in order to make sure enough preparation were done before the time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In assessing the strategies that the Ottawa-Carleton water park project management team utilized we can be able to see some of them went wrong while other worked well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the strategies that never worked well was the security of investment funding. There was a major delay in securing investment funding causing a delay of six weeks and an over expenditure of can$12,000 as a result. This strategy did not work well and more care should have been applied to curb such delays. Only that there was sufficient slack, else this delay could have caused the overall project to delay (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There was also wrong estimation of time to be taken in hiring a suitable operation manager forcing the use of extra resources totaling to can&14000 to recruit the officers before the overall timing of the project was affected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though the delay in delivery of the waterslides as not the responsibility of the project management inclusion of a clause imposing a penalty on late deliveries by contraction could have solved that problem by offering the manufacturer an incentive to deliver on time (KLSJ Consulting 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There was a floe in scheduling in that the bad weather of spring could have been anticipated and provided for to avoid delays in the overall project schedule.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some of the well utilized strategies were cost estimation, project management, quality controls and Risk management. Time was also relatively managed well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The strategy of utilizing budget and cost analysis techniques and tools served the project well to avoid major cost overruns. Proper management was provided with a well functioning project management team and structure that enable efficient operations. The project management was also able to outsource for services outside as well as utilizing their internal resources optimally. Time schedule had been planned well with work Breakdown schedules being utilized and the project being divided into phases to facilitate easier management (KLSJ Consulting 2005). The combination of all these strategies, the ones which worked well and those that had some flaws led to the success of the project. There was no major scope creep and the cost overruns were very low (2.7%). The objectives that had bee envisioned by the initiation were realized though the project was completed four weeks behind schedule. Some of the project management techniques and tools learnt where well applied in the Ottawa-Carleton water park project. Some of these techniques include project schedule setting and breakdown, analysis and good management of the triple constraints factor, outline of the critical and not critical activities, setting and analysis of budgets, use of work breakdown schedule, good management team and clear communication guidelines.   Other analysis tool like Gantt Charts, graphs and tables were used.   There were also measures to manage risk and quality. Management of the three major constraints is always a major factor for success of any project. Proper management will work to avoid scope creep and or cost overruns (Hormozi, Dube 1999). I could recommend that such techniques be used more keenly and fully so as to manage the project more effectively. Part 3:   Project Schedule and Baseline Assessment The Ottawa-Carleton water park project schedule was managed using a work   breakdown schedule.   This was a plan that could take the project through five phases in 32 months.   The project was also divided according to function each function with a team leader.   Besides the manner work breakdown schedule which contained 200 items there were six subordinate work breakdown schedules which were used for clarity in the tasks to be performed. Despite of this superb plan the project closed behind schedule by four weeks because of several other reasons that the project management could not be able to avoid (KLSJ Consulting 2005). Baseline assessment was well planned for with the work breakdown schedules to illustrate how progress was taking place and tables to show the sequence of events and functions.   Budgets had been done to show the funds need by phases, functions and cost category.   This worked to ensure the intended objectives were met.   There was also a clear plan on how change was to b managed. Ottawa-Carleton water park project management utilized several techniques and tools to manage the project schedule and baselines.   One of the critical tool used was a work breakdown structure and schedule.  Ã‚   The team utilized a 200 item master work breakdown structure and six subordinate work breakdown structures.   These subordinate structures were to divide the tasks into shorter and clearer activities so as to ease monitoring and management of the tasks.   The activities had a clear sequence of how they were to take place.   The happening of some activities was to take place only after another activity place.   AT a certain point the construction of the water park had to continue only after assurance of investors support. A critical path was identified and milestone events were established both critical and non critical tables were used to analyze these milestone activities for easier clarity. Financial analysis was well carried out by use of financial estimates.   The financial estimates had been well planned with analysis estimates of cost per phase, cost   per function, cost per project category and cost per cost category well done.   Ã‚  This was meant to act as the baselines and so to avoid cost over runs and to manage variations in prices effectively (KLSJ Consulting 2005). There was also a plan on how to manage change.   This was geared toward management of all constraints to ensure there was no great variation from the baselines. Ottawa Carleton water park utilized the critical path method   to manage schedules and cost.   Some of the techniques and tools used include charts, Gant /charts, tables and work breakdown structures and schedules. The projects management team used different methods to estimate the task duration.   This was most logical consideration of time such activities take including time allowances for any anticipated factor that will affect the tasks duration.   The work breakdown structure and schedule was very important in this aspect.   The Ottawa Carleton water park project had a complete communication plan with communication objectives, plan and manage themes to be passed across to the various audiences. It had also it priorities and constraints identified. The team leader who was reporting to the project manager was responsible for the communication especially internal communication.   The project manager had the sole authority to communicate with external parties which included regulation, government authorities, the public and the media. The team leader was also responsible for all communication regarding the program of the project.   Hew was to report all performance progress to the project manager. This communication plan served a big role to ensure that the project was a success.   Its main objective was to pose a positive image of the project managers that is KLSJ consulting the project and the upcoming water park.   Consequently, the themes of the messages passed were concurrent with this objective.   Thus the communication plan helped KLSJ to get support of the government authorities, the media , the public and more so the investors and the enabled the project to succeed (KLSJ Consulting 2003). The Ottawa-Carleton water park project management team used several methodologies and techniques to carry out corrective action in different situation.   One of the strategy utilized was trade-off between the various major contracts of the projects.   This was utilized when there was delay in securing investors.   More resources were applied to the task in order to speed up the process and so save time (KLSJ Consulting 2005). Another strategy utilized was negotiation.   This was utilized when there was an environmental mitigation.   The manager negotiated with the region and agreed on a cost sharing arrangement and on a program to was aimed at avoid delays in continuation of the constructions.   This served to save both time and cost. Another corrective action taken by the project manager involved sole sourcing environmental studies consultant.   After the delays in the initial stages of the project, the management sole sources the consultant thus saving a lot of time that could have been used up in the recruiting. Different strategies were used by the project management to manage aspects related with project schedule and baseline.   On strategy that was so effective was the change plan.   The plan offered a guideline on how change was to be managed and this ensured that the project was processing according to plan. Other strategy utilized was the closes monitoring of the main constraints, that is time, cost and scope. This enabled the project to proceed well with much delays, scope creep, cost overruns or compromise on quality.   The project management utilized and followed that plan well and utilized took like work breakdown structures, financial estimates and the critical path method. Part 4:   Risk Assessment Quality Assurance and Change Control Management Risk management was a critical issue in the management of success of th Ottawa-Carleton water park project.     This was well done by instituting a Risk management working group early in the project.   This group met monthly to discuss risk-related issues.   Besides that there was a comprehensive risk management plan and assessments of the risk of the different parts of the project.   These measures enabled all risks to be handled before they developed into loss for the project.   The major risks that were dealt with included: Environmental assessment mitigation, delay in hiring of operation manager, delay in securing investment funding, inclement weather, and delay in delivery of the water slide (KLSJ 2005). Change was also well managed during the project performance and this enabled effective changes in order to bring the project to success as expected.   A change plan was set for early in the project and these offered guidelines on how change was to be done if tit was needed. The project management used qualitative and quantitative measures to ensure quality was upheld in the project (KLSJ Consulting 2003).   This was geared towards ensuring that the project met the intended quality.   This was done effectively and no any quality compromise resulted (KLSJ Consulting 2005). The project management different techniques and tools to manage the risks that were inherent to the project.   This techniques and tools were included in a comprehensive Risk control plan.   The technique used included risk assessment before the project began and all through the project.   Tools that were used included a risk evaluation criteria table, impact criteria table, and risk summary tables.   Risk matrixes were also used to assess the various risks (KLSJ Consulting 2003). A risk management working group which was headed by the Risk manger analyzed all the risks facing the project throughout the project duration.   This function grouped managed the risks as they appeared and provided mitigation strategies that enabled the risks to be managed. Ottawa-Carleton water park project had an efficient change control system that used formal scope control processes.   The plan had change cutoff dates schedules in each phase A tracking system was used.   The change plan was aimed at avoid disruptions of events as they had been planned in the work breakdown structure.   Each request for change had to evaluate in order to establish its impact on other variables. One of the changes that was effected in the Ottawa-Carleton water park project was the change of decision on recruiting the environmental study consultant.   The change was effected and KLSJ sole sourced the consultant who had done the initial environmental feasibility to carry out the job.   This was carried out effectively and it resulted to saving of two weeks and one thousand Canadian dollars. The change management plan adopted by Ottawa-Carleton water park project team ensured that it integrated scope management.   This was aimed at making sue that all changes were made within the overall objectives of the project.   The tracking system used also worked to make sure that all the changes that were effected fitted in the overall plan of the project.   Assessment of the impact of the changes on cost and schedule had to be done before any change was effected and this was aimed at making sure that the changes did not have an adverse effect on the other operations o the project. The requirements that on change requests had to written facilitated later reference and tracking of the changes in order to maintain the project on the intended plan.   All this measures worked to ensure there was no scope creep and even cost overrun (KLSJ Consulting 2005). Quality was a key consideration in all the stages of the Ottawa Carleton water park project.   Because of the nature of work and construction that were done, quality was planned for and closely monitored to ensure safety of all facilities.   KLSJ uses 1SO 9001: 200 standards for the project management.   The firm had also to comply with other standards that affected the project which included standards set up by the region and the local authority (KLSJ Consulting 2003). KLSJ consulting had a group of experts on quality management who offered their expertise to the project on an on-call basis.   Within the project team the team leader (finance) was concerned with all matters on quality. Besides that, quality was a responsibility of all people concerned with the project. The ISO 9000: 2000 quality assurance procedures were followed throughout the construction and regular quality status reports were provided.   The planning was well done by the help of a manual of project procedures and a quality management plan.   Verification of all certification of contractors was done as well as auditing of all construction activities in order to maintain high quality in all facilities.   Quality control was done by taking up action immediately as issues of concern arised (KLSJ Consulting 2004). Ottawa Carleton water park project management team used several techniques as corrective actions in aspects of risk, quality and change in the projects.   One technique used over all was constant monitoring, assessment or evaluation. Issues of risks, quality or changes were monitored and evaluated throughout the project life. Another way was having a contingency plan. This enabled the team to contain all the variations within the scope of the project and thus ensuring t6he project objectives were achieved.   The project team was also well prepared with detailed plans on how all the things were to be handled and this helped to manage change effectively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project management team used various strategies to manage these aspects of the project effectively. The first strategy that was used was adequate planning. Enough planning had been done on all aspects related with risk management, quality and change control management. The plans helped the team to prepare all round for the various occurrences that were expected. The plans also provided clear guidelines on how the operations were to be done. This also ensured that all the resources required, in terms of human resource or funding, were ready before the project got into a phase where they were to be used.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The other strategy was the constant evaluation and assessment of the different aspects of the project that were related with risk, quality and change. There was also a risk management program that was carried out all through the project by risk management working group. This ensured that all the inherent risks were identified and dealt with before they resulted to a loss to the project. Quality was assessed through out the project life and one team leader, among other roles, was concerned with ensuring quality was maintained. There were also audit teams that assessed the quality of the various structures that were put up in the water park. The different activities were also continually evaluated in order to handle any change effectively without compromising on quality of the facilities to be put up. Another technique that was well utilized was change management. Change management was well planned for and this facilitated its effective execution. Control was also another strategy technique that was effectively carried out. The project team was able to effectively control the three major constraints namely scope, cost and time. This enabled the project to be completed successfully. There were many tools that were used to manage the aspects of risk, quality and change in the project. These tools include risk matrix, contingency plan, change management plan, quality management plan plus many tables, structures and analysis summaries. According to the strategies that were applied, some were very effective while others had some flaws. The strategies that went very well include the change management plan and the quality management. The different changes that were done within the project were very effective and did not lead to scope creep or major cost overruns. Quality management was very effective and did not result to any quality or quantity compromise. Risk management had been good but things did not go very well leading to delay of deliver of the water slides (KLSJ Consulting 2005). This showed that risk management despite of all the plans had a flaw. Otherwise the planning of the whole project had been well done. Part 5: Conclusion The Ottawa-Carleton water park project was a success and the managers, KLSJ consulting displayed good project management skills and expertise. Many of the techniques, tools and strategies learnt in class were applied effectively in the management of this project. This project represents a perfect example of good use of the techniques and tools of project management that are always taught theoretically in class.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project management team was effective and was able to manage the project processes efficiently without any problem arising. The processes were handled with the maximum professionalism expected and the law was followed to the later. The legal team leader was able to handle all issues that concerned legal contracts and regulations. The strength of the project team always determines the success of a project as this is the team that manages the aspects that matter in a project (Larson, Gobeli, Gray 1991)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management of a project to success is always a combination of use of expertise and practices that bring control to the operations of a project (Reiss 1995)From the various project management methodologies, techniques used in the management of the Ottawa-Carleton water park project I can be able to point out three best practices that enhanced the success of this project. The first practice was the adequate preparation that had been done. Before the project began the managing firm prepared a project charter that outlined the objectives, scope, management plan, financial analysis and the stakeholders of the project. There was also a project plan that outlined how the various aspects of the project were to be managed in the course of the project life. Then there were several other plans that dealt with how the specific aspects of the project were to be managed. For example there was a quality management plan, a risk management plan and a change management plan. The second practice that was well adopted was schedule management. The time concept of a project is usually a critical factor of a project and unless adequate care is given to this aspect from the planning stage of a project a delay of completion is likely to occur. (May, Gueldenzoph 2006) Though the overall project schedule was exceeded with four weeks enough measures had been instituted to manage the project duration. Work breakdown structures and many other analysis tables had been used all in the effort to make the project run in the stipulated time frame. The third practice that was very well done was the approach to risk management. Risk management is a sensitive aspect of any project especially the high risk projects and this requires adequate planning and care in the implementation of the risk management plan. (Hannigan, Browne 2000) The project was considered a high risk project and so to start with a detailed risk management plan had been laid. The risk management plan included a risk management program that was carried out throughout the project duration led by a risk management working group that was headed by the risk manager. The project transition from the operations manager to the team that was to continue managing the water park was well prepared for and was very effective. This is an area which brings problems in some projects and is an important factor that should not be taken for granted (Frame 2002). Another important area of importance to a project is the management of corrective actions. (Hormozi, McMinn, Nzeogwu 2000) I recommend that necessary measures be put up before the project begins on how to carry out corrective action and how to carry out corrective action and how to manage schedules and baselines in order to achieve the project objective.   I recommend that in future projects more care to be given the management of risks especially concerning honoring of contracts by those contracted. Proper management of contracts will ensure that the contract is effected in time and in the condition that was intended. Also other tools and techniques that were not utilized in this project could be of great use to other projects. Reference: Frame J; (2002). The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Complexity, and Other Business Realities. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, Hannigan C. Browne M. (2000) Project Management: Going the Distance: International Journal of Instructional Media, Vol. 27, Hormozi A.Dube L; (1999) Establishing Project Control: Schedule, Cost, and Quality: SAM Advanced Management Journal, Vol. 64, Hormozi A. McMinn R.Nzeogwu O; (2000). The Project Life Cycle: The Termination Phase: SAM Advanced Management Journal, Vol. 65, KLSJ Consulting, (2002). Project Charter: Ottawa Carleton Water Park Project. Ottawa. KLSJ Consulting, (2002). Project Concept: Ottawa Carleton Water Park Project. Ottawa. KLSJ Consulting, (2002). Project Proposal: Ottawa Carleton Water Park Project. Ottawa. KLSJ Consulting, (2003). Communication Plan: Ottawa Carleton Water Park Project. Ottawa. KLSJ Consulting, (2003). Quality Management plan: Ottawa-Carleton Water Park Project. Ottawa. KLSJ Consulting, (2004). Quality Assurance Report: Ottawa Carleton Water Park Project. Ottawa. KLSJ Consulting, (2005). Post-Project Report: Ottawa Carleton Water Park Project. Ottawa. KLSJ Consulting, (2005). Risk control report: Ottawa Carleton Water Park Project. Ottawa. KLSJ Consulting, (2003). Risk management plan: Ottawa Carleton Water Park Project. Ottawa. Larson E.Gobeli D. Gray C. (1991) Application of Project Management by Small Businesses to Develop New Products and Services: Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 29, May G. Gueldenzoph L; (2006).The Effect of Social Style on Peer Evaluation Ratings in Project Teams: The Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 43, Reiss G; (1995). Project Management Demystified: Today’s Tools and Techniques. London. E & FN Spon.

Friday, September 27, 2019

I need a reaction peper for an environmental science class of one page Essay

I need a reaction peper for an environmental science class of one page - Essay Example The study of Dr. Hayes on the effects of Atrazine in frogs is a corollary on an accurate prediction of what could happen on humans. He takes on an almost renegade approach as he goes against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and drug companies for the banning of Atrazine. This herbicide which is used for 80 million lbs. a year in the United States, as he has illustrated, was already banned in many other countries. The primary findings that he proposes are the effects of Atrazine on frogs in different ecological areas including creating controlled groups. He concluded that the frogs exposed have increase in hormonal imbalance and chemically castrating frogs same as how other chemicals cause tumors in rats. Male frogs are actually growing eggs in their testes and they are taking a longer time to metamorphose. This is significant because this can also happen to humans as we drink the very same water exposed to Atrazine. It is undeniable that these same effects already exist in o ur system and this has a generational effect. I ardently believe that in the largeer scale of things, â€Å"it is better to err on the side of caution.† To the end of his talk, Prof. Hayes insisted that it is still the people who now have the power to stop this and in this case time is of the essence.

Managing Exchange Rate Risk Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Managing Exchange Rate Risk - Research Paper Example The article focusses on different types of currency markets. Thereafter it moves to analyze the determining factors of the impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations. Next, the article concentrates on analyzing the different type of foreign exchange rate risks and their impact on firms as well as the economy. The paper also provides some remedial measures or risk neutralizing strategies (popularised as hedging). The article provides a brief description of UAE dirham and the consequences it has faced so far due to this fixation with USD. After having some words on the current volatility of foreign exchange in recent times the article provides a note of caution on the future transaction and a conclusion. This is the era of globalization. Trade is now considered as the engine of growth and the massive increase in global trade volume is a true mark of that. The neo liberals portrays trade as a blessing, but international trade has its own share of evils as well. International trade generally exposes a country to outside risks. This risk comes in terms of demand and supplies side shock as well as the movement of the exchange rate. Exchange rate movement becomes important as international trade transactions involves two different types of currency at a time. Without a one-to-one parity, their numerical relation is bound to change over time depending upon the economic condition, the politial and social unrest and the exposure to other kinds of risks such as terrorist attacks. Standing at this position, exchange rate risk management is a very important decision making action on behalf of every firm and economy. Through this, a firm decides its level of currency exposure. Exchange rate risk stands for the unexpected change in exchange rate affecting the value of the firm. It has been found that exchange rate fluctuations impose both direct and indirect loss in the firm’s cash flows, assets and liabilities; net profits and these entire combine in course of time, affecting the stock price of the firm. Previously, it was mostly the MNCs who were exposed to exchange rate fluctuation risk, but as the world moved towards the path of globalization even the indigenous firms started to feel the heat of such risks. MNCs are the main participants in the currency market and they are not left with many choices because of the nature of their international transactions. On the other hand, the economy itself consisting several firms gets exposed to a greater risk of exchange rate fluctuations as for the economy (all the firms it contains), the risk of the firms get cumulated and stand for the risk faced by the economy.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Is rationalisation a desirable strategy for managing and organising Essay

Is rationalisation a desirable strategy for managing and organising Junction Hotel in the current economic climate Discuss your - Essay Example output in the production activities (Buckley &Casson, 1976). The method has however never been devoid of a critic who sees it as a new way of exploiting workers and dehumanizing them. Despite the critics Taylors way has impacted a lot on the management with various organizations adopting it either in one way or the other. Taylor postulates that the rational design selected by business depends mostly on the size of business running, therefore, small business organization borrows from simple designs because they comprise of les staff and example of such business are small kiosk that are being run solely by one person which is the authority and manager controlling other junior staff (Buckley &Casson, 1976). This simple design shows a pyramid kind of hierarchical control with manager exercising larger control of business. This kind of control put all the responsibility on the manager as being responsible for all matters relating to organization and its workers, it therefore means that th e employee’s only carries out activities assigned to them by the manager. Upon Taylor taking the position of management in a company the management strategy changed significantly breaking away from the past and adopting the new scientific way of management. He was determined to ending the soldiering problem in the company and bringing in change of mind between the workers and their managers based on four principles; Scientifically coming up with a way of performing specific task, picking workers best suited for a specific task, working according to the principal of science and specifying the roles of managers and workers. The scientific management increased the productivity of both workers and managers and in extension increasing their living standard and success due to... Globalization has taken market competition to a whole new level as the dominant companies and organizations in the domestic countries faces competition from new entrants in to their field of specialization. Today there is more efficiency in transport and distributions network this trend has brought ease to the business world because products can easily be distributed to the consumers. Electronic transfers have also made making and receiving international payments faster and more secure. Increase in transport and distribution networks also make it possible for consumers to receive products in good time and in varieties. There has also been increased globalization in the financial institutions making it possible for organizations and individuals to readily access finances. Investors invest in different markets therefore reducing the risks that could be exposed to in concentrating only in one market. Globalization has also escalated the inequality in the world as the rich will continue to become richer and the poor becoming poorer.The rich will be accumulating the wealth and investing in overseas account at the expense of the poor in their home countries. Also Developing countries are not in the limelight of globalization therefore sidelining them further in the development. Conclusion Globalization is on his part brought with it improvement in the markets all around the globe for domestic products hence availing variety of produce in plenty to people with high disposable income. There are however international bodies like the world trade organizations and United Nations which countries have to play by their rules to ensure that there is fair play in the world of trade. Globalization therefore is taking the world a new direction.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Software Team Project Initial Report and describe the role team Essay

Software Team Project Initial Report and describe the role team - Essay Example This report entails the different roles of each individual member in their process of developing the software program. The report goes on to explain the software engineering concepts to be used in the game development in details. The customer interface manager has a task of ensuring a good relationship between customers and the team. This happens by considering the requirement specifications that would enable the software design and ensuring adequate freedom from ambiguities (Dix, 1998). The design manager is obligated to follow the standards of the design documentation in order to present excellent quality of the documentation as well as understanding the problem fully. A full understanding of the problem would enhance its expansion (Sage, 2011). The team members would also be able to provide possible and better solutions. The implementation manager has the obligation of ensuring that members are within the same Java programming level. Given that this is hardly the case, the team member are to be given tutorial videos or books in order to improve their knowledge and extend it as well. The task also include identifying libraries with useful code pieces to reuse it and ensure that the entire project and its implementation are done at a specified time. This manager is obligated to test the created software and guide the testing team. The leader in this case need to understand the testing disciplines and the best way of implementing a testing process that the manager ensured. All software applications, which are successful, require a plan. This implies that whenever a customer is contacting a team for a given product the team first draws out a plan about the same. The planning is done as follows: The manager of the customer gets the needed specifications from the respective customer and then documents it. The customer manager, for ambiguities clarification based

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Introduction to international relations class, summary related to Essay

Introduction to international relations class, summary related to course on Path to War - Essay Example However, Path to War did not only highlight the personal dilemmas that the president had to deal with during the Vietnam debacle. The movie also exposed the two lines of thought and the corresponding approaches in international relations during the time of the Cold War. In fact, many of the scenes of the debates that took place the Johnson administration’s cabinet meetings focus on these concerns. The ‘domino theory’ was a very influential concept among the politicians at that time. The U.S. government itself was its strongest believer. This theory is based on the analysis that if one country becomes communist, the neighboring countries would surely follow, just like the pieces of the domino. In Path to War, Johnson is portrayed to have firmly believed that once South Vietnam is reunited with the North, it would become communist too. Subsequently, the rest of the countries in Indochina and the entire Southeast Asia could all fall under communist regimes. With this theory in mind, the Johnson administration at the onset of the war were all one in arguing for the necessity of preventing the fall of South Vietnam to the hands of the local communist insurgents. To do so, it sent military advisers to the Southeast Asian country in order to train its armed forces.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Jadore Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jadore - Essay Example Applying merely a light portion of it could last the whole day. My neighbor received lots of accolades on the scent of the perfume and many individuals ask for it time and again since it is lovely. The bottle is of oz nature and could last for over one and a half years. The perfume is of diverse versions, one has a silver top and the subsequent one has a gold top. Merely, the one with the gold top is perceived to contain a superior parfum content denoting that the fragrance is undiluted and could be used for long. The sellers habitually give gift sets in special holidays and occasions giving out a set comprising of body wash and oil for almost the similar cost as the real perfume. Ladies are seen travelling around with their perfumes every time in their makeup kits, on airplanes, journeys, et cetera., and its container is incredibly strong and never breaks easily or leak the perfume. The bottle has been designed in a pretty way, and everyone believes it would make a great gift or ham per (Bendix, 2005, 73). A friend of my bought hers from Macy’s except of course it could be bought in merely any shopping store. The stores typically have tiny tasters in a vial for people to try and smell it out. Many people of male gender have been spotted commenting on it and in reality got in love with the smell articulating it as a wonderful scent. Many people never notice or even give attention to adverts in the streets. However, this does not apply to perfume adverts since they are pleasant and attractive. Watching an advert frequently on TV makes it stick in people’s minds. Basically, perfume adverts are usually in Magazines and in an in-store ad. Perfume adverts are by far so trendy compared to other products hence attracting the youth so much. Having articulated this, these adverts could be seen everywhere there is youth attention. Conversely, one person tried the J’Adore parfum, spraying a little in the air and on her clothes and was not pleased with it (Lexisnexis, 2003, 78). She proclaimed that its scent was like chemical and metallic in nature. This smelled like drugstore fragrances and body smells coming from bathing Works J’Adore scented to her like it was a truthful but failed endeavor to craft something that had the scent of fresh blossoms and humid skin. She was annoyed at the fake odor of the â€Å"feel what’s real† cologne, and ejected it very resolutely off her list.   The new fragrance is mainly intended for women. Being launched in 2011, the cologne possesses top notes of citruses in addition to mandarin orange; the cologne’s middle notes are made of jasmine, African orange blossom, ylang-ylang not forgetting the pleasant rose. Moreover, the base notes comprise of woodsy notes in addition to vanille. This is extremely pretty, not as exhilarating as EDP, not accordingly sharp also. It is somewhat lighter, silent and quite floral, well implemented, with a lavish sense to it. It gives the user an uncommon scent and feels of merely being characteristic similar to many fragrances. It is not perhaps as soft as one would deem it to be, but it is genuinely superb! The parfum is womanly and stylish with a contemporary touch giving it a beautiful creation. This perfume is liked by many females since it smells very classy and gorgeous. However, it is very common among the trendy individuals globally. This does not necessarily mean that numerous other perfumes have the same scent but it denotes that many individuals have and use this fragrance. This is not primarily a bad thing, other than individuals who like being unique will rather avoid using it to keep their personality unique. The perfume has an extremely graceful scent which sticks

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Do the Environmentalist Overstated Their Case Essay Example for Free

Do the Environmentalist Overstated Their Case Essay From this article you will see that environmentalists are concern about the environmental catastrophe. Some of them claimed that world was in danger and we shouldn’t neglect about this issue. But Lomborg opposed in his article that the environmentalist have been overstated from the real situation. The author said that some of environmental organizations are using only selective information and also distort the truth. Also from the author research evidence shown that environment is in good condition In my opinion, l agreed with Lomborg that some organization overstate their case. Also one of the word he wrote in his article that â€Å"thing was better now but they are still not good enough†. It is true that nowadays we have more food per person than we need. In contrast food are in increasing in slow rate while the rate of population continue rising. If we don’t control the rate of child‘s birth. Moreover in my point of view the state that fewer people are starving is not true. Because nowadays there are a lot of people in the world suffer from malnutrition. Owning to quality of land, soil and fertility is important for production process but now in response to the increase using of pesticides. Also about deforestation even it is true as research said that globally forest has been reduced in very small portions even so we shouldn’t loss even more forest because forest is the most important resource for living things. Forest is not only providing valuable products but they also keep ecosystem in balance. They reduce problem about air pollution. So why don’t we trying to protect and increase in the forest. Last issue is about global warming. This is a long-term problem. It is true that doomsday not going to happened soon but if we keep ignoring about this issue. This might chase up global warming to happen faster. So for me it is time to concern about environment and plan for our next generation. Because as you see nowadays each of person prefer a high standard of living. But if we serve everybody demand the supply of environment resources must be lower and lower. This is the proper time to care about our earth use the environment resource in economize and benefit ways. Then the story that many environmental organizations keep telling us will not happen in the nearly future like them expected.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Jesus Galilean Ministry Essay Example for Free

Jesus Galilean Ministry Essay Jesus is the one sent by God the Father from Heaven for purposes of redemption of sin and restoration of the lost glory after the downfall of mankind. The four gospel books brings it forth that He is the promised Messiah whose coming was prophesied by prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 9:1-7 (Brown, 1979). He was brought up and began His ministry in Galilee which comprise of the northern regions of Palestine, Sea of Galilee and west of Jordan (Luke 4:14-15). Before he began his ministry, Jesus underwent various activities in preparation of the public launching of the ministry. Among these things include the baptism in river Jordan by the one known to be the â€Å"Voice of the one calling from the desert, prepare the way of the Lord Messiah†. It is after this baptism when the ministry of John the Baptist is no longer seen further in the bible and also the evidenced infilling of the Holy Spirit which enables Him in the execution of the God’s kingdom work (Niswonger, 1992). Jesus Ministry and God’s Kingdom When among the crowds, Jesus used parables which can be said to be wise twisted phrases of teaching but with hidden meaning like the parable of the Samaritan woman in John 4 (Funk et al, 1998). In all the parables he used, there was an intended message that he wanted drive into the followers and the crowds following him (Thomas Gundry, 1988). Healing of the Blind 0717897758 Among the many teachings offered by Jesus during the ministry is the story of the man born blind but healed on the Sabbath (John 9:1-12). From this story, it is clear that many believed that any deformity in a person was the result of a sin committed. Jesus contradicts this acutely in the story and puts it clear that this was purposeful and intended for reasons of God’s work to be seen. This healing raised a lot of concern from the Pharisees who sought an opportunity to persecute Jesus because of His teachings. The healed man openly declares Jesus as a prophet from God something which does not convince the Pharisees of the origin and mission of Jesus as one sent from the Father (God). The Pharisees go farther to enquire from the man’s parents about whether that man was their son. In fear of being chased out of the synagogues, the parents refer the Pharisees back to the man claiming that he is old enough to explain everything. It also raised a difference among the Pharisees some who claim that He is not from God because He keeps not the Sabbath while others are for the view that he is God sent because no sinner can perform the miracles and wonders he did. This serves to show God’s power and ability through the awaited messiah as well as proving the truth in Jesus’ words that He is sent from God. Jesus and Evil Spirits Demons are also seen to give into the command of the power and authority endowed in Jesus. This is depicted by the outright confession of demons in a man during a visit in the town of Capernaum by Jesus. In this case, the demons cry out in total submission to the authority of Jesus and acknowledge Him as the â€Å"Holy one of God, the Jesus of Nazareth† (Mark 1:24). Jesus is seen to command silence among the demons after which the evil spirits vigorously shake the man to the ground and depart immediately. The command by Jesus upon the evil spirits marks the separation of these spirits and the man. The crowds around also noted a difference and see the teachings of this man (Jesus) as one endowed with authority as opposes to those of the teachers of the law. This information is recorded to reach the whole Galilee as the people saw the truth accompanied with authority in work, something highly opposed by the Pharisees (Niswonger, 1992). This act thus advances the kingdom of God as one with power and authority as well as supreme to all other authorities of evil nature. The Calling of Levi The calling of Levi, a tax collector, is another story that focuses on the ministry of Jesus in the elaboration and nature of the kingdom of God. After his call, Levi follows Jesus and prepares a banquet for Him in his house. The fellow tax collectors also came to dine together with Jesus in Levis’ house. The banquet became another platform of criticism from the Pharisees who saw Him dining with tax collectors for they regarded them as outcasts and non candidates of the kingdom of God (Luke 5:27-31). In knowledge of His reason of coming to the world, Jesus answers them by telling them that it is the sick who consult a doctor and not the healthy. With this, He meant that His coming was not for the righteous and blameless but for those in darkness and wilderness of sin and iniquity (Vs 31). This indicates that Jesus came for purpose of redeeming the lost back to the kingdom of God and everyone is welcome as long as she or he is ready to follow and adhere to His commands (Thomas Gundry, 1988). Conclusion In Galilee, Jesus performed various miracles and wonders as well as teaching the crowds in the temple and synagogues (Niswonger, 1992). His ministry threatened much the Pharisees, Teachers of the law and Sadducees who had a lot of opposition. Despite all these oppositions, Jesus did not stop accomplishing the will of the one who sent Him but rather he sees this as fulfillment of the word of God (John 15:25). The crowds made a clear distinction between the Pharisees and Jesus and many are seen to follow Jesus due to the assistance, help, miracles and wonders He performed. At the end of the ministry, He assigns His disciples with one assignment â€Å"Go to the world and preach the gospel of the Lord and tell the people to denounce their evil ways and follow Gods’ righteous way. Also, they were to baptize all believers in the Trinity way† (Mathew 28:16-20).

Friday, September 20, 2019

Statistical Analysis Results of Crime: ANOVA Test

Statistical Analysis Results of Crime: ANOVA Test THE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA), STUDENTS ‘T’ TESTS AND MATRIX ALGEBRA ATUBI, A. 0. Ph.D. Introduction The ANOVA sometimes referred to as the F test (named after the statistician Sir Roland Fisher, the author of this test) is a set of procedures for testing the significance of differences among more than two independent means. This procedure determines the extent to which there are significant differences between the means of three or more samples with a single level of significance. Because this procedure and others like it focus on variances, they are referred to as the analysis of variance or ANOVA One Way Analysis of Variance The step in ANOVA can be illustrated by an example Example 5.1.1 The number of crimes committed in 4 months in various parts of a town are list below: Month Artisan quarters Slums CDB GRA January February March April 20 16 32 16 52 44 56 36 36 40 36 40 16 20 32 20 At 0.05 level of confidence, are crime frequencies related to urban morphology or month of the year? First set up a null hypothesis of equality of the means Let Ho be: â€Å"There is no significant difference between the crimes frequencies and urban morphology or month of the year. Next, find the total of the four areas as listed below then their means Total =Artesan SlumsCBDGRA 8418815288 Mean Next, calculate the Grand mean Next, calculate the sum of squares for each population. Note that in ANOVA the number of samples do not have to be same Table 4.1.1: Means and sums of squares of crimes committed In ANOVA, we determine differences between means by calculating their variability. Three types of variability are estimated: The variation within each sample result The variation between the sample results The total variation of the samples, regardless of the sample grouping to which they belong (Anyadike, 2009) Next, calculate the sums of the sum of squares for each column (i.e Variable): SSW = ∑∑(Xij X)2 = 172+236+16+144 =568 Calculate sum of square between = ? N (X —X)2 =4(21-3 2)2+4(473 2)2+4 (3832)2 + 4(2232)2 = 484 +900+144+400 =1928 Calculate the within group sum of square. MSW = SSW n-rn Where n=no of observations M=no of groups Similarly, the mean s square between will be MSb =SSb M-l Therefore MSW =SSb=568=568 n-m 16-4 12 = 47.33 The ratio between the variance estimate is known as the Snedecor’s variance ratio test or Snedecor’s F Now set up an ANOVA table: Finally, test for significance: The degrees of freedom, V are: V- numerator = M-1=4-1=3 V- denominator = n-m= 16—4=12 From the Table of the F-Distribution, critical value of F at 0.05 3 and 12 =3.49 Calculated value is 13.18 Since the calculated F of 13.58 is greater (>) 3.49, Ho is rejected. Therefore, â€Å"There is a significant difference between crime frequencies with regards to urban morphology or month of the year. THE STUDENT ‘T TEST The most powerful test for the comparison of sample means is the student ‘t’ test. It is a parametric test and is used to determine whether or not the differences between two sample means are sufficiently great as to justify a conclusion that the means of their populations also differ significantly. It is also used for small samples The student ‘t’ is expressed as: T = x1-x ­1 vS12/N1 + S22/N2 Where X1 and X2 are the means of the two sets of data; S1 and S2 their standard deviations; and N1 and N2 the number of observations. The degree of freedom, V is expressed as follows: V = N+N,-2 Degree of Freedom There is often confusion among students about the concept of â€Å"degree of freedom†. Basically, if the sum of a set of elements and the sum of all but one is of its elements are both known, then the value of the last element must also be known, i.e. it is not, unlike the others, free to vary (Ayandike, 2009). For example, if the sum of 8 elements is 30 and the values of 7 of the elements variously add up to 28, then the value ofthe final (i.e. the 8†) element must be (30-28) = 2, i.e. if is not free to adopt any other value. The degree of freedom in this case is thus (8-1) = 7, i.e. in the set of 8 element, 7 of them are free to take on any values to sum up to 28, leaving value inviolate ELEMENTS OF MATRIX ALGEBRA Introduction The matrix is a rectangular array of number arranged in rows n and columns, m i.e Each of the numbers is called an elements. The position of each element is determined by its position in the row as well as in the The size of the matrix is given by the number of rows (n) and number of column (m) for example. A matrix which has the same number of rows and columns is called a square matrix. In the example above, a and c are square matrices. A matrix with a single row is called a row vector, while a matrix of a single column is called a column vector. Example of a row vector is {3 5 7 8} example of column vector is Matrix can be added, subtracted, multiplied and inverted but cannot be divided. However, they can only be divided by a scalar (i.e an ordinary number). Addition of Matrix Matrices to be added must be of the same size as one another. That is they must have the same number of columns and row s. This is because each element of one matrix must be added to the same element of the other matrix e.g. supposing we are adding two matrix [A]  ± [B] [A] + [BI =[C] i.e you add element by element N.B:The number of columns and rows must be the same before it can be added Matrix Subtraction The same rule as addition is applied e.g to subtract [BI from [A] [A] [B] Matrix Multiplication There are two aspect of matrix multiplication namely: a.Multiplication of matrix by a scaler b.Multiplication of matrix by two matrices By Scaler Supposing we are multiplying the matrix below by 4 Multiplication by Two Matrices When two matrices are to be multiplied, the number of columns in the first matrix must be equal the number of rows in the second matrix e.g. 23 matrix can be multiplied by 32 matrix. But a 23 matrix cannot be multiplied by another 23 matrix because the number of rows there is not equal to the number of columns in the second e.g. The result will have as many rows as the first and as may columns as the second. Multiplication of a matrix by vector, example An identity or unity matrix 1, is a matrix where the diagonal consist of l’s and the rest of the elements are zero e.g.: Matrix Inversion In matrix, algebra function of division is changed to that of inversion. The inverse of the matrix is it’s reciprocal i.e. Only square matrices have inverses. A matrix that cannot be inverted is called a singular matrix. Several methods exists for finding the inverse of a matrix. They includes 1.  The classical method This is to set the matrix beside an identity matrix, and to perform all operations simultaneously in both matrices, for example, if you are to invert this matrix [A], you first place it beside an identity matrix You have Step 1 Subtract row 2 from 3, multiply row 1 Row 2(3xrow 1) Step 3 2.  By Determinants This is the more modern one. A determinant is a single number extracted from a square matrix by series of operations. It is represented by either det A or /A/ The process of obtaining a determinant from a matrix is called evaluating the determinant. Using determinant, the inverse of matrix [A] becomes /A/ = ad—bc The adjoint of a matrix is the transposed matrix of co -factors with the signs taken into consideration. The signs are alternating +, -, across and down the element of the matrix e.g. in a 22 matrix So far a 22 matrix, the inverse is the adjoint of that matrix over the determinant of the matrix. The determinant of a 33 matrix The minus for each leading element becomes Uptill i. The Solution of Simultaneous Equation The major interest in matrices (and its greatest strength) is their use in the resolution of the unknowns in simultaneous equations (Anya dike, 2009) SIMULTANEOUS EQUATIONS WITH TWO UNKNOWNS 3x+4y 10 2x +‘7y = 11 Set in matrix form 1.Using the classical method, our equation in matrix form is [A] [x] [B] The matrix of the unknown [x]=[A]=[B] For a 2 x 2 matrix the adjoint of it is Since our matrix of unknown is Check with original equation 3x+4y =10 2x +7y1l Check 3(2)+4(1)= 10 =6+4+10 2(2) +7 (1) =1 4+7=11 1. By determinant method The matrix in our example is [A] [x] [B] This 13 is called the common denominator. Then we find the numerator of x, which is the determinant of the main matrix. :. X2/A1.B/-à ·/A!13113 =1 =y Therefore,Y = 1 X=2 REFERENCES Anyadike, R.N.C (2009) Statistical methods for social and Environmental Sciences. Spectrum Books Limited Ibadan. Anyadike, R.N.C (2009): Statistical methods for social and Environmental sciences. Spectrum Books limited Ibadan. Atubi, A.O. (2010d) Road Traffic Accident variations in Lagos State, Nigeria: A Synopsis of variance Spectra. African research Review, Vol 4(2) pp. 197-218. Ethiopia. Ewhmdjakpor C, Atubi, A.O. and Odemerho F. (2006): Statistics for social investigations. Delsu Investment Nigeria, Limited, Delta State University, Abraka. Ewhrudjakpor. C, Atubi, A.O, and Odermerho F (2006). Statistics for social Investigations. Delsu Investment Nigeria, Limited. Delta State University, Abraka. Spiegel, M.R (1972): Theory and problems of statistics. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Animal Farm: Communism Through The Eyes Of George Orwell Essay examples

Animal Farm: Communism Through The Eyes of George Orwell Throughout history, writers have written about many different subjects based on their personal experiences. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Blair. He is one of the most famous political satirists of the twentieth century. He was born in Bengal, India in 1903 to an English Civil Servant and died in 1950. He attended Eton from 1917 to 1921, and served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927 before moving to Europe.Two of his most famous books, Animal Farm, written in 1946, and Nineteen Eighty-Four, written in 1949, were written about the political and social environment surrounding his life. "The driving force behind his two satires is an intense revulsion against totalitarianism, combined with an even stronger revulsion against its defenders among left-wing intellectuals."1 In most of George Orwell ¹s books and essays, there is a strong autobiographical element due to the fact that he spent many years living with Communists in northern Great Britain (a small number of people started to follow Communism in northern Great Britain when it started in Russia). George Orwell ¹s writing was affected greatly by his personal beliefs about Socialism, Communism, Fascism, and Totalitarianism, and by the revolts, wars, and revolutions going on in Europe and Russia at the time of his writings. George Orwell was a Socialist2 himself, and he despised Russian Communism3, and what it stood for. Orwell shows this hatred towards Communist Russia in a letter he wrote to Victor Gollancz saying, "For quite fifteen years I have regarded that regime with plain horror."4 Orwell wrote this letter in 1947, ten years after announcing his dislike of Communism. However, he had thought a great deal about Communism and what he disliked about if for a long time before he announced it to the public. Orwell "did not expect anything good from the Communist"5 and therefore Communism personally did not affect him, but "He was concerned with it (Communism) only because it was a problem for others."6 In Animal Farm, "an animal fable satirizing Communism,"7 Orwell uses farm animals in England to satirize Russian Communism and its leaders. One animal he uses is a pig named Napoleon, whose counterpart in the Russian Revolution is Joseph Stalin. After Napoleon takes charg... ...r, Alfred G. "Marx, Karl." World Book Encyclopedia.1988 ed. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1949 Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1946 Stansky, Peter and Abraham, William. Orwell: The Transformation. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1979 Stansky,Peter. On Nineteen Eighty-Four. San Francisco, California: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1983 Wadsworth, Frank W. "Orwell, George" World Book Encyclopedia. 1988 ed. Woodcock, George. The Crystal Spirit a study of George Orwell. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company,1966 Voorhees, Richard J. The Paradox of George Orwell. New York, NY: Purdue Research Foundation,1961 "Stalin, Joseph." World Book Encyclopedia. 1988 ed. "Lenin, V.I." World Book Encyclopedia. 1988 ed.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Attitudes Towards the Navajo Tribes Language and Culture Essay

In this day and age, and with every passing day, there are numerous languages succumbing to extinction, falling into disuse and anonymity; being forever lost to the winds of time. But as they say, "Every cloud has its silver lining," the silver lining in this case is the increase and rise in awareness and efforts being undertaken to preserve, revitalize, and revive these languages that are not yet lost to us. Something that is revitalized is defined as "being given new life or vigor to," and should we abide by this definition, it is pleasing to see that numerous fit in this criterion; the criteria of being revitalized. This is a report on the Navajo language. This report will explore how the Navajo language, once a prosperous language with thousands of speakers fell into decline and the efforts that are currently being undertaken to revitalize the language. The language is spoken by the Navajo tribe a tribe of approximately 300,048 people, 170,000+ of whom speak Navajo, who are loca ted in the Northeastern part of Arizona, the Northwestern part of New Mexico, and the Southeastern part Utah, all of whom are located in the USA. The years covered span from the decline of the language in the 1850's to our current time. The scope of the enquiry will range from the history of the Navajo, to the decline of the language, the efforts undertaken to revitalize the language, and its current usage. The thesis of this report is that an endangered language can be revitalized. The conclusion will therefore be that yes, an endangered language, one such as Navajo can be revitalized. The Navajo tribe is one of the largest Native American tribes in the United States. Originally from Canada, and descending from the Athabaskan tribes, they migrate... ... "NAVAJO." Austin Business Computers, Inc. Home Page. Navajo Tourism Department, 15 May 1999. Web. 12 Oct. 2011. . "The Navajo People." Oracle ThinkQuest. Library Think Quest. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. . "The Return of Navajo Boy." The Return of Navajo Boy. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. . Ruelas, Richard. "Navajo Film Reaches across Cultural Lines." Arizona Local News - Phoenix Arizona News - Phoenix Breaking News - Azcentral.com. The Arizona Republic, 08 Sept. 2007. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. . "UCLA Language Materials Project: Language Profile." UCLA Language Materials Project: Main. UCLA. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Your shoes and flight

Flight and Your shoes both have many similarities. They both deal with growing up as the characters change and build up throughout the stories. In Flight the grandfather is stubborn at the start of the story but as the play goes on, he decides to give up and let the granddaughter free. Your shoes deals with growing up as well, but the characters change slightly; this is shown when the mother finally writes her welfares to her daughter despite showing so much love for her which makes it hard for her to say her welfares. Flight starts with grandfather holding onto his favourite pigeon. Grandfather lets the pigeon fly but as soon as the pigeon spreads his wings he captures it again and puts the pigeon into a small box where it can't escape â€Å"He deliberately held out his wrist for the bird to take flight and caught it again at the moment it spread its wings. He would like to lock his granddaughter up the same way he locks up the pigeons to make his granddaughter stay away from Steve. He wants to control his granddaughter like he controls the pigeons. This pigeon is a symbol reflected towards the granddaughter. The granddaughter has an attractive description; this shows that the pigeon is compared to the granddaughter. They both are attractive and he controls them. Your Shoes starts with the mother writing a letter to her unnamed daughter. The mother starts of saying â€Å"I thought I knew you as well as I know this house† this shows that the daughter was hiding something or her daughter has grown up to a point where she has started to keep secrets. Whereas in Flight, the granddaughter doesn't keep secrets, she could've kept secrets and ran away like ‘the daughter in Your shoes' but she was so mature and intelligent, so se decided to tell her parents about he relationship with the postman's son. She did that because she knew she's old enough to make her decisions and her parents won't go against it The main similarities between Flight and Your shoes are comparing non living things or animals with human being. In Flight the grandfather compares his granddaughter to pigeons, while in Your Shoes the mother is comparing her daughter to her daughter's shoes. Flight deals mainly with the relationship between Alice and her grandfather and Your Shoes deals with the relationship between the mother and daughter, but also between the mother and the father; the daughter and her father. Your shoes and Flight use metaphors to describe their relationships, Flight uses the metaphor of pigeons and Your Shoes uses the metaphor of shoes to describe the relationship. Both stories talk about love and loneliness. In Flight the granddad does not want to let his granddaughter leave, because he is scared to be alone. ‘Can't we keep her a bit longer' this quote indicates the strong love which the grandfather feels for his granddaughter. In Your Shoes the daughter has left home and the mother is desperate to have her daughter back, because she loves her and feels lonely with out her ‘I knew you'd come back' this quote indicates the hunger of the mother for her daughter. Both stories also have the experience of past life. In Your Shoes the mother describes her experience with her mother showing how difficult it was for her to live with, but she still did. This actually shows how the generation has changed. Similarly in Flight the mother uses her experience to try to convince the grandfather that how happy she was when she got married to her husband said in the following quote. The theme about freedom is being asked in both stories. In Your Shoes the daughter runs away because the lack of freedom was given to her, although the freedom was too much compared to the freedom her mother was given, but in the eyes of her daughter and the generation she was living in made her feel the freedom was too less. The mother tries to show how little freedom she had and she still cope with it, shown in the following quote. This shows that the mother is trying to use reverse psychology to win her daughter back. On the other hand Flight has the same sort of theory. The granddaughter is asking for freedom although she has given the freedom by her mother, but the grandfather doesn't want her to get married that's because he doesn't want to lose her and doesn't want to lose the moments he once had with his granddaughter. â€Å"Think your old enough to get married hey† this shows he his having a go at the granddaughter and trying to convince her that your not old enough to get married. Both stories deal with maturity and immaturity. Flight deals with immaturity in the way that the grandfather is jealous of granddaughter's boyfriend because he feels the boyfriend is going to replace â€Å"She did not turn. She had forgotten him. Along the road came the young man Steven†¦the old man stiffened as he watched the gate swing back and the couple embrace†. This quote shows that the grandfather feels upset that the granddaughter seems to have replaced him with an intruder. The grandfather is also scared of him being left alone when she leaves, which makes him think that without her he won't be happy. Flight also deals with maturity in the way that the granddaughter is being questioned very angrily but she replies back in a polite manner, ‘and she said in a pert voice': â€Å"hullo, granddad.† ‘Politely she moved towards him, after a lingering backward glance at the road.' The calm and polite manner shows how mature she is. Compared to flight Your shoes only shows immaturity of the daughter who left because of her father having an argument with her, because she went to a night club and came back home very late and was drunk, which made the father very angry, and he called her a dirty slut and other rude comments. By her father calling her a dirty slut made her fell insecure and trapped so she decided to leave. Although the main theme of â€Å"Flight† and â€Å"Your Shoes† are similar, however structurally they are different, because in â€Å"Flight† the grandfather didn't want the accept the choice of the granddaughter but in the end they both came to a solution and the grandfather ends up accepting her choice. While in â€Å"Your Shoes† the mother doesn't want to move on. She constantly refuses to put the welfare of her daughter first, because she knows that she won't get this letter and won't come back. Therefore the relationship between the mother and the daughter is not re-established and doesn't have the happy ending as Flight

Monday, September 16, 2019

History in Africa Before Europeans Essay

There are many examples of great societies in Africa that have documented history and have had very advanced societies for their time. There are three societies in particular whose progressive communities have shattered these Aryan model claims of Roper. Great Zimbabwe, Ancient Ghana, and the nations of the Nile Valley have all shown that they have a proper history that is well documented before the arrival of Europeans, thus impeding on the Aryan model that had been used when first coming to Africa. It is important to understand theories of history to understand why Roper’s statement of Africa having little history before Europeans is wrong. The Aryan model, states that Caucasians are the top of the hierarchy of humans and black people or Africans are the lowest. This model proved to the early Europeans that certain African groups could not have been black because they were advanced and civilized cultures. Vasant states that â€Å"The concept of race†¦was in the 19th and 20th centuries held to be the key not merely to the abilities of a person or group, but an index to the character and potentials of that particular physical type, for all generations past, present and future† (Vasant Kaiwar, â€Å"Racism and the Writing of History, Part I,† 1989. Pg. 33). It is more plausible to refer to ancient theory, which states that essentially that Greeks recognized that their roots were in Africa. This model believes that Greece was settled about 1500 B. C. E. by the Egyptians and Phoenicians. The Greeks’ mathematics, governmental system, language, philosophy, writing and religion were all borrowed from African and Semitic sources. By this model this essay should prove that the Aryan model of thought will be invalid. Great Zimbabwe had a very rich history before any influence of Europeans. There are two theories of the descendants of them, one being that they were part of the Karanga, a branch of the Shona-speaking people. Another is the may be descended from a community that lived less than a hundred miles away from Great Zimbabwe (Story of Africa, Great Zimbabwe). The Great Zimbabwe was prosperous iron-age society and had a wealth generated from cattle. This nation spread from the Limpopo River to the Zambezi. This was a massive area, spilling out into Botswana, Mozambique and northern South Africa. The most famous stone building in southern Africa was made there that is still standing. â€Å"The Great Zimbabwe monument is built out of granite which is the parent rock of the region. The building method used was dry-stone walling, demanding a high level of masonry expertise. Some of the site is built round natural rock formations. The actual structure comprises a huge enclosing wall some 20 meters high† (Great Zimbabwe). Throughout this structure there is circular passageways with enclosures for royalty. Many objects are found throughout the structure, which include: battle axes, gold, and shrines. The Great Zimbabwe was an agrarian society; this put all notions of the Aryan model down since it was thought that all Africans were hunter-gatherer societies. The Great Zimbabwe biggest wealth source was cattle and was the center of an international and national commercial system (Great Zimbabwe). This trade network encompassed most of Africa as well as western parts of India, and as far as China. Ancient Ghana is another example of a society with a documented history before the European era. They were a nation stacked with gold and literary and bookkeeping skills. The Ancient Ghanaians are theorized to be descendants of a cluster of groups from modern Senegal who came together under a leader of semi-divine status. The Ancient Ghanaians had stuck with their traditional faith before some converting to Muslim and others believing a variation of both. Traditionally a virgin would be sacrificed to the Black snake, Bida. This was until a man who was engaged to the intended victim rescued her and Bida took vengeance on the region by causing a terrible drought (Story of Africa, Ancient Ghana). The reason this is important is because up until the 12th century Ancient Ghana had an abundance of goats, sheep, and cows. After that only goats were common. This is an important part to understanding that Ancient Ghana does have its own history before Europeans because it is documented that this ritual sacrifice happened and that the ancient Ghanaians were a society that had grew from merely hunters and gathers to a trading agrarian society. The Ancient Ghanaians also made most of their wealth from gold. â€Å"Al-Hamdani, describes Ghana as having the richest gold mines on earth. These were situated at Bambuk, on the upper Senegal River. The Soninke also sold slaves, salt and copper, in exchange for textiles, beads and finished goods† (Ancient Ghana, GhanaHomePage). The Ancient Ghanaians were mining for gold much before the European intervention and creating a small empire from this trade and most importantly creating a history of its own without European involvement. This leads into the final society and without a doubt has it’s own history without Europeans. This society is Ancient Egypt. Egypt has a long standing history and such an advanced society that Europeans would not believe that they were descendants of Africa. Many Europeans believed that they were descendants of the lost city of Atlantis. Europeans complimented this theory by saying that Egyptian’s skin was light brown as opposed to the rest of Africa with very dark skin. This was accepted until hieroglyphics were found of ruler named Piye who was a very dark skinned African from Numbia. â€Å"On a relief in the temple at the Nubian capital of Napata, only Piye’s legs remain. We are left with a single physical detail of the man—namely, that his skin was dark† (Robert Draper, â€Å"Black Pharaohs,† 2008. Pg. 1). Hieroglyphics are one of the earliest forms of writing in the world. They were used to record crop numbers, stories of the past, or the level of the Nile River. They were also used to inscribe prayer and record the feats and lineages of ruling families (The Story of Africa, The Nile Valley). This disproves Roper’s statement of Africa not having a history before Europeans were involved in Africa because hieroglyphics were recorded and to this day still remain. Ancient Egypt had a very spiritual society made up of polytheistic gods. Many of the temples and pyramids were dedicated to these gods and some of them reaching up to 146. 5 meters in height. This was the tallest building for thousands of years, which made it hard for Europeans to believe that Africans could have built such magnificent structures that are now considered one of the wonders of the world. â€Å"The construction of such buildings showed the Egyptians had an outstanding grasp of the principles of astronomy, mathematics and geometry† (Story of Africa, The Nile Valley). Modern Egyptologist are coming up with new theories that are challenging the notion that the pyramids were built by slaves rather than labourers. Zahir Hawass who is the director of the Pyramids believes that â€Å"fewer than 25 thousand labourers were involved and that far from being slaves they were peasants who were well cared for and proud to take part in a ‘national project’, out of love and respect for their Pharaoh and his divine authority† (Hawass, Nile Valley). This is also a notion of how European intervention has tried to use Egypt’s advancements against them, believing that the rulers were slave drivers rather than kings ruling over a kingdom. In conclusion, it is clear that Hugh Trevor-Roper’s statement about Africa not having a history of its own before Europe arrived is false. There were countless societies and kingdoms in Africa that were advanced for his Aryan model of thinking. These societies were not hunter-gatherer societies but mostly agrarian. These kingdoms mined for gold and traded cattle. Significant events were recorded in certain scribes or hieroglyphics thus telling their own history before the invasion of Europeans. The Great Zimbabwe, Ancient Ghana, and Ancient Egypt are all great examples, but only three, of kingdoms in Africa that made their own history without European intervention. Bibliography 1. Ancient Ghana. (n. d. ). Ghana HomePage, resource for News, Sports, Facts, Opinions, Business and Entertainment. Retrieved April 9, 2012, from http://www. ghanaweb. com/GhanaHomePage/history/ancient_ghana. hp 2. BBC World Service | The Story of Africa. (n. d. ). BBC – Homepage. Retrieved April 10, 2012, from http://www. bbc. co. uk/worldservice/specials/1624_story_of_africa/index. shtml 3. Robert Draper, â€Å"Black Pharaohs,† National Geographic Magazine (February 2008) 4. Reynolds, J. T. , & Gilbert, E. (2004). Africa in world history. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Educational. 5. Vasant Kaiwar, â€Å"Racism and the Writing of History, Part I, † Comparative Studies of Asia, Africa and the Middle East 9, 2(1989): 32-56.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Push and Pull Factors of Immigration

One country’s flaw could attract a person to another country, people tend to look for certain characteristics in one country that theirs does not comprise of, and one country’s push factor can be another country’s pull factor. Emigration is a personal choice, but defiantly there are reasons for everything, they could be as simple as wanting to experience something new, or they could be more complex such as living the life that one wanted but couldn’t have in their homeland or previous country, due to politics, religion, education or work.Push and pull factors are liable to overlap, the stronger factors that help make the choice for the majority of the people to migrate from one country to another are the political differences, religious freedom, education and the future, as well as labor. For example during the first half of the twentieth century Canada was the most preferable places to migrate to because it evoked more freedom, and opportunity to those wi th a poor life. Very similar to today people leave their homeland for a better life, the conditions in their country could be very pitiful, their present and future are being destroyed, and their life becomes cautious.A push factor which most choices revolve around is the political factor, because politics is the most powerful characteristic about a country, and it controls how we live, people just can’t handle their lives with appalling politics so they are rather being pushed away by it, and another country with a more preferred political view is pulling us. Dictatorship is probably the most controlling type of government, where the population does not play an important role, and have no say in political choices. The country as whole is controlled by one group with fixed power.A simple definition of this political government is Dictatorship is a government that can be defined as those countries prohibited by authoritative, absolute leaders. Some countries with that type of government are North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Cuba, and Iran, just to name a few. So there is this population of people whose voice cannot be heard, especially a country like Korea where there is a population of approximately twenty-three million people, and they do not possess the freedom of speech, instead this massive population is controlled by Kim-Il Sung and his son Kim Jong-il.What happens is that the population, does not like having the same ruler for all their life, they do not like a dictatorship government, where they carry no voice, they are basically a mass of people with very little importance to the government. People living in a country like this date it, they prefer to make a choice on government and give a voice that would count to something, and in a dictatorship country that becomes impossible. So these people start to migrate to much freer countries, countries where their voice be heard such as Canada, the United States, countries that are democratic.Anyone w ould prefer living in a country where they can choose the life which they want, rather than living in a country where you are forced to live a certain life, and so the push and pull factor regarding government becomes very clear. A push factor is a dictatorship where one is being controlled mentally, while a pull factor is democracy where you choose your path, you choose a better life. Another big issue that affects people’s lives majority is war, whether it is genocide, or revolutionary, people have that fear in them.Wars often scare people off to another country, because they start thinking twice about their safety, and the future of the country. It is the weaker countries which we see today such as Afghanistan and Iraq who are being thrown into war, or being attacked, these countries are not attacking back, they do not hold the power to attack the country, or defend their own. People are kind of rushed away from political problems like this, people tend to ask for peace, a nd unfortunately for some they do not achieve that peace.A population would not want their children growing up or exposed to such violence. War plays a big part in a push factor, because after a while the population would start to think about their own future, the future of the country, and how could there be a personal future if the future of a country is destroyed? A country’s leader would typically try to put all the pieces back together after the attack is done and the other country has withdrew from the attack, but it would take a lot of patience to wait for those pieces to be put back nd readjust. People find it much easier to try to adjust to a different country with a hopeful future, which insures safety for their kids. A pull factor regarding politics is with a nation which holds peace or a special relationship with other countries, and does not hold many political problems and disagreements. Countries like that are once again Canada, Australia, alongside some other countries in Northern Europe such as Sweden, Holland or Denmark, where we see are already favorable for people who are looking to migrate.Finally the last effective push factor which kind of comes into play as a force of immigration is persecution. Political persecution would go hand in hand with religious persecution. First off persecution is â€Å"a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate a people because of their religion, race, or beliefs† for example â€Å"the persecutions of Christians by the Romans. † So this is more of a force, and the people are not given the choice.We saw in the past that Muslims were killed by the Christians during the crusades. This factor is more of a threat, people of certain religions could be offended in other countries, where people do not believe in the religion in which some would like to practice, and torture would come into play. So people are feared of this act. Instead they are pulled to countries that are mo re accepting of all types of religions, where equality is a factor.Freedom to practice your own religion is very important to those who are religious, and even for people who are considered to be atheist, or do not follow a certain religious path or believes, immigration is a big choice for them, and it comes to a sense where people are now free to start over, and live the life which they wanted, but could not have because they were threatened. So as stated above in some cases immigration is a choice, but where it is a choice or a force, there are push and pull factors that go along with it, in this case political reasoning is the most effective to people’s choice.And because of politics, people have felt threatened, and scared to stay in their own country, and they looked for a more clear path. We live to pursue our dreams, the future, and fortunately for most of us we have been taught to go after what we want, and that could mean escaping many obstacles and challenging ours elves to go from a place where our dreams and preferences were hopeless to a place where our dreams seem to shine bright.Without push and pull factors we there would be no reason to escape one country to go live in another. Politics, types of government, war, genocide, are all push and pull factors and with out them people would not realize why they are immigrating, and if there were no push factors, people are most likely to stay in their homeland and stick with their own culture and beliefs, and have the life they always dreamed of.