Value of Project Management Essay Example for Free

Value of Project Management Essay In the pursuit for effectively managing complex IT projects in a competitive wireless industry, the value of project management to Verizon enhances the brand identity through strategic management. The Verizon Wireless Corporation is the nation’s most dependable and reliable wireless network with the largest retail customers in the industry. The Verizon Wireless internal and external demographic is their customer base at 67. 2 million, fulltime employees at 69,000, and the annual revenue at $43. 9 billion. The success of Verizon Wireless offered the opportunity to have a joint-venture with Vodafone to expand the network and available services. Therefore, the need for a project management protocol for successful strategic measures empowered the Verizon stakeholder planned initiatives. The role of strategic planning to the Verizon organization is the proactive activity for RD strategies emphasizing the importance of technology and product-market decisions. The value of project management enhances the objectives of the strategic planning initiatives set forth to accomplishing the corporation goals. The strategy implementation from stakeholders offers the benefit to instill a direct assessment of strengths and weaknesses in the corporation (Hunger and Wheelen, 2007). Therefore, the utilization of strategic planning reinforces the primary outliers identified in the initial strategy assessment. The strategic planning provided the RD initiatives for new IT technology to make consumers wireless experience more efficient. The project management technical aspects offer the means to identify what tasks are needed to be delivered within the set timeframe and budget. The value of project management benefits Verizon Wireless to performing the necessary application, in which, to significantly improve the consistency of outcomes resembled what the organization anticipated. Furthermore, the emphasis on project management for Verizon is the security for adapting to the complex needs of an IT special project. The value of project management provided the integral parts necessary in the desired deliverable for a new updated LG Voyager phone. The project management satisfied the many and variety of tasks that meet specific and unique characteristics for manufacturing, sales, and marketing initiatives for a new phone with advanced technical capabilities. The project management value is managing each specific task and uniqueness with a specific deliverable that is aimed at meeting a specific need or purpose. The value of project management created the success of a temporary endeavor undertaken for the strategic planning of an updated product. Verizon Wireless success is the creativity and technology advancement to staying competitive in the market, in which, the strategic planning for utilizing project management methodology successfully organizes the project activities. These activities are in-depth and several departments in the organization assist the project management team by providing resources for a successful delivery of deliverables. Therefore, the true value comes into play when the market demand for newer technology drives the need for an updated product roll-out that the project management activities are required within the organization’s normal operational limits (PMBOK, 2004). The role of strategic planning structured the tasks centrally on improving the current state in the demanding market, customer brand identity and brand equity for Verizon Wireless. The strategic planning implementation empowers the principles of project management to provide value in each required tasks. Therefore, the strategic planning for manufacturing the advanced technology phone answers the market demand identified in RD at Verizon Wireless – that presents the project management framework in accomplishing the management approach. The Verizon Wireless strategic planning is an ongoing measure that continues the identification on certain initiatives needed in enhancing projects objectives. The overall concern for a successful strategic planning is the support from stakeholders at Verizon Wireless that coordinate with the project management team. The cooperative strategies are the means for gaining competitive advantages within the industry by all teams working together. The primary type of cooperative strategy is the strategic alliance, in which, the core objectives are mutually achieved and beneficial. Moreover, the project management value to the company Verizon created a synergy of resources within the organization that incorporated all skills and talents for a productive product deliverable. The alliance of the RD divisions with other departments intensified the strength of Verizon Wireless as well as limits the identified weaknesses to manufacture a new advanced cell phone. The Verizon Wireless RD intensity is a principal means of gaining the market share in a domestic and global competitive market share. Respectively, the RD business unit at Verizon exposed the technological competence and technology transfer to assure a successful capability to the strategic planning of innovation (Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, and Sutton, 2008). The underlying value of project management continuity of deliverables within a complex IT environment reinforces the Verizon Wireless strategic planning. The constant changing of consumers needs and desires for a productive, easy-friendly, and with many options product strengthen the notion for Verizon Wireless to apply a direct approach to the project. The strategic planning fundamental role is in securing the core aspects for infusing the company’s advantages into the market through project management for securing brand identity and brand equity.

Extraversion on Academic Achievement in University Students

Extraversion on Academic Achievement in University Students University fosters an environment encouraging both academic achievements and personal developments. Each individuals experience differs due to their choice of engagement in academic and social events. As academic events are still more important in an academic institution, achieving excellence in academics should be the priority for every student. The choice of participation and degree of academic involvement may depend upon an individuals personality. Thus, the relationship between personality traits and an individuals university academic achievement will be examined. To be more specific, extraversion will be the target personality trait in this study. Extraversion is the independent variable in the study; it refers to an individuals energy level and tendency to interact with others in a social setting (Costa McCrae, 1992).In this study, the Big-Five Personality Inventory which defines human beings personality traits through five dimensions was used (Goldberg Rosolack, 1994). Extraverts tend to be social, talkative, and emotional. Introverts, on the other hand, are less emotional and more likely to stay alone (Costa McCrae). By reviewing the past studies, there seemed to be more than one explanation in explaining the relationship between the above independent and dependent variables. However, they were not conflicting with each other. A variety of factors has been taken into account to thoroughly examine the impact of extraversion on an individuals academic achievement. For example, in 1966, Estabrook and Sommer (1966) conducted an early and classic study. The results revealed that more extraverted students preferred to study in a leisure manner. For example, they liked to study in an informal space, such as on a bed or a couch. They also took frequent breaks and tended to study in a group setting, while the introverts enjoyed the contrasting habits and settings (Estabrook Sommer). The results of the study revealed that the extraverts had a lower average compared to the introverts (Estabrook Sommer). It also further demonstrated that an individual with a higher score in extraversion had worse study habits, which might have contributed to its less satisfactory academic performance in university. A similar study was conducted on the same topic but with a third variable involved, peak activation time (Beaulieu, 1991). This study examined the relationship between an individuals peak activation time, extraversion/introversion and academic achievement. Peak activation time is the time period in which, people tend to be more efficient in activities. Participants were a group of adults enrolled in a junior-level organizational behavior course. Along with their academic grades, a survey was also conducted to collect their extraversion score and sleeping habits. As a result, it was clear that extraverts tended to go to sleep late and had a peak activation time at night, while the introverts preferred to sleep earlier and had a peak activation time in the daytime (Beaulieu). Because most university courses are taken place in the day, the hypothesis predicted that introverts would do better than the extraverts given their daytime activation peak pattern. The result was consistent with the prediction extraverts had poorer academic scores than the introverts. However, there were findings that extraverts paid less attention in academic activities, because they contributed more time engaging in social events given their social and energetic nature. Less attention might be paid to daily academic activities. A recent study, conducted by Infant and Marin, investigated a sample of unsuccessful Spanish students focused on their personalities (2008). Here, unsuccessful students could be defined as students with low averages, high failing rates and potential to drop out. As discussed in the previous two studies, Infant and Marin predicted that individuals scoring high on extraversion would be likely to experience poorer academic performance given their ineffective study habits. Similarly, this study revealed that extraverts had a higher chance to experience neuroticism, lack of motivation, and low conscientiousness, they were more likely to result in academic failure in university and become pessimistic about their future. Thus, this result emphasizes upon the fact that an unsuccessful university students had a higher chance of being more extraverted. This study also illustrated a further relationship between the two variables an extravert experienced poor academic results from their ineffec tive study habits, and these results could trigger the development of negative attitudes towards their future academic experiences in university. A recent meta-analysis found that the extraversion and intelligence are negatively correlated . Although the result exemplified no relationship between the two variables, there might be a potential correlation. Additionally, Morris and Carden (1981) examined the relationship between internal-external locus of control and extraversion-introversion. This study was conducted through gathering university undergraduate students data. The group assignments were based on survey results that differentiated the participants as external or internal locus of control and extraverts or introverts (Morris and Carden). These participants were then given out a test, and consequently their time spendt on the test and their overall grades were recorded (Morris and Carden). Later a feedback was written by the students about their feeling on their overall grades. The results demonstrated that the extraverts were impulsive (more satisfied or more unsatisfied in terms of emotion like happiness or sadness) even when their grades were not necessarily lower or higher than others (Morris and Carden). In combination with the external-internal analysis, it was clear that an extravert with external locus of control ten ded to do the poorest of the four groups (Morris and Carden). This model suggested that participants high on extraversion tended to be more emotional in problem solving or critical situations. In addition, if exhausted participants had external locus of control in dealing with problems, they had a higher chance of doing poorly. Conversely, an introvert with an internal locus of control was more emotionally stable and more likely to believe in his or her own abilities. However, results were quite different when the students own perspectives and grades were taken into account in rating the degree of their own success. Irfani (1978) developed hypothesis stating that a students perspective on his or her academic performance would be influenced by their personality. It was tested through three different groups of participants assigned based on their personalities, extraversion, psychoticism and neuroticism (Irfani). These students were asked to answer a question that simply required their answer about whether they categorize themselves as successful or unsuccessful with respect to their academic performance (Irfani). Extraversion ratings seemed to affect the rating of academic success the most. A large number of extroverts in all three groups rated themselves as academically successful (Irfani) as they might have been more impulsive about their achievements. Thus the result supported the hypothesis to some degree. One could conclude from the result tha t an extrovert might view himself or herself as successful even when they are not. This conclusion also supported Morris and Cardens (1981) research that idicated extroverts had the tendency to be more emotional in performing academic activities. Moreover, this research also demonstrated that an extroverts perception and satisfaction derived from academic performance may encourage them in continuing their study habits, and thus less likely to make improvements in the future due to constant inefficiency. This could be another reason why the extroverts have a higher chance of doing poorer than the introverts do academically. In conclusion, students scoring high on the extraversion test may perform poorer than those who score low on extraversion. This result can be explained by a combination of factors. From the literature reviews collected on this topic, an extravert tends to be social, energetic, and easy-satisfied, which may contribute to their poor academic performance through their peak activation time at night and ineffective and lazy studying habits. In addition, extraverts high emotional levels may increase their tendency to be impulsive in reacting towards both successful and unsuccessful events. Thus, these factors together may make them less capable of handling university academic life successfully. Therefore, the hypothesized result is that students who score high on extraversion test will have less successful academic performance than those who score low on the test and vice versa. In this study, the Big-Five personality test will be employed to measure the independent variable, and only the extraversion parts will be used to calculate the score. An extrovert will naturally receive a higher score on the test, while an introvert will get a lower result. The questionnaire and the scoring keys used in this study are attached in the Appendix B and C (John Srivastava, 1999). Moreover, the dependent factor of this study is an individuals academic achievement, which is measured by his or her cumulative average from first year. In order to maximize reliability of data and avoid skewness, only first-year students will be sampled since their courses are mostly compulsory. Method Participants The sample were composed of 36 undergraduate students from the University of Western Ontario (UWO), ranging from the age of 18 to 27 (M=20.64, SD=1.76). This group of participants was randomly selected at UWOs University Community Centre (UCC) from 12:00 to 15:00 and from 21:00 to 23:00. In addition, researcher employed the method of convenience sampling in approaching participants and requesting for their cooperation and completion of the questionnaires. However, this sampling method did provide a perfect random selection, so the results might be confounded as students choices of going to the UCC in the selected periods may be highly dependent on their personalities. Thus the problem of generalization might appear in this study. For compensation, a more distributive sample was taken as the result of going for participant in large time gap. That is, going for individuals randomly, trying to avoid large group which would result in a similar personality and grade. Materials First, participants will be required to complete a Demographic Questionnaire (See Appendix A). This form contains items relevant to a students personal background, such as age, gender, ethnic background, birthplace, and average grade of each participants first year courses. First year average was selected as a measure of academic achievement. This was to reduce the external variable by limiting the course selection Most first year courses are compulsory. Therefore, there would be less freedom for participants to pick easy or challenging courses that may vary the average too much. Then personalities of these participants was assessed through their completion of the Big-Five-Inventory (BFI) forms, which contain 44 items and eight extraversion items will be used in this study (John Srivastava, 1999). For each item, a score of 1 to 5 was used as 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree. The scoring key is provided in Appendix C for interpretation of items used. Also this study was completed by paper and pencil and within approximately 15 minutes. For this questionnaire, the extraversion part has a score of 40 being highest on extraversion and 8 being lowest on extraversion. Procedure This survey was conducted on a one-to-one basis at the first floor of UCC. All participants was approached randomly. Although there was no time limit, it should be completed within 15 minutes. Verbatim Instruction was given to participants as the researcher approaches them (see Appendix D). Followed by this, participants was given the Letter of Information and Consent (see Appendix E). Then they filled out the Demographic Questionnaire (see Appendix A), which contain the studys first variable their first years averages. Immediately upon completion of this form, participants was asked to read instructions on the BFI (John Srivastava, 1999) form and rank all the necessary items. After this stage, data for the second variable, the extraversion score, was collected (see Appendix B). Finally, Debriefing Form (see Appendix F) was given to the participants, while the researcher verbally asked if there are any questions or concerns. After being debriefed, all participants was thanked for their cooperation. Results The means and standard deviations for two variables, the first year averages and the extraversion scores are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Descriptive Statistics for two variables involved in the research ­Ã‚ ­ Variable M SD Extraversion Score 27.25926 4.40202 First Year Average 77.22222 6.680937 A bivariate correlational design was used in order to determine if extraversion and academic achievement were correlated significantly. An alpha of .05 was used. The Pearson Product Moment coefficient was used in this research for the relationship between extraversion scores and first year averages. The results showed a relatively significant correlation between these two variables (r = -.48359,  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­r2 = 0.23386, p Later, a regression analysis was conducted, the formula of the regression line was obtained ( y = -.73396x + 97.2294, Appendix H). Figure 1 shows the graph of this regression line Figure 2 The Graph of the Regression Analysis y = -.73396x + 97.2294 These results was able to provide a sufficient amount of evidence to support the hypothesis that extraversion is negatively related to academic achievement. That is, individuals scoring low on extraversion tend to perform better academically and vice versa. The summary data is shown in Appendix I. Discussion This study hypothesized that students scoring low on extraversion scale tend to have high academic achievement. This hypothesis was based on previous studies that indicated that extraversion correlates with academic achievement negatively. This finding was illustrated in different ways. For, example, Estabrook and Sommers (1966) study addressed this problem by explaining the basis of education, a students study habits. In this study, students scoring high on extraversion showed relatively poor behaviors comparing to what students scoring low on extraversion did. This finding may explain from the foundation why extraversion might correlate with academic achievement. That is, if a student does not study in an efficient way, the result may be poorer than that of those students with good study habits. This study demonstrated a possible explanation for this problem, but it did not address the reason why study habit is correlated with extraversion, nor did it give any cues about the directionality of this correlation. In addition, there are other studies addressing this problem from different perspectives. Peak activation time was another point studied in this area. Beaulieu (1991) tried to examine the relationship students peak activation time and their extraversion scores. The results showed that students scoring high on extraversion might have a peak activation time at night. Relating back to authors study, this finding may suggested that as most of the courses are taking in day time, students scoring high on extraversion may not do well in them because of their peak activation time. Another study on this problem was conducted by Morris and Carden (1981). It provided another explanation on this problem. That is, students scoring high on extraversion may overestimate their academic results. For example, they may feel satisfied about their mark more easily than those students scoring low on extraversion scale may. Due to this, they may not try to compensate an academic failure about which they consider only as an occasion. As what previous studies have predicted, this study generated a significant result that students scoring high on extraversion may do poorer in their academic field. The reasons for this result may be a combination of different reasons. In university, students have to regulate themselves to adapt the pace of the courses they have taken. This is, developing a schedule that fits the university life. Academic results can be highly influenced by a students study habits. In this case, students scoring high on extraversion may not have a standard study habit for university life. Therefore, they may have some problems in different academic activities, like note-taking, reviewing, going to class regularly etc. In addition, when they constantly receive their academic feedback, they may be emotional oriented to rationalize their failure as not so important to them. As the result, not much improvement can be obtained in it. Moreover, as they have rationalized their behaviors, they may not contribute the poor result to personal reasons. That is, they are less likely to change their study habits to improve their mark. Another reason was related to the peak activation time. The students scoring high on extraversion have a peak activation time later in the day. This means, they may not perform their best during a common daytime course or exam. At the same time, as with a peak activation time at night, many social activities can draw their attention from their academic interests. For example, going to a club or bar is a very common leisure activity for university students. As so, an even worse condition may be produced for the next day as the result of over participating in a leisure activity at night. When the author was distributing the survey, he asked some general questions about the students nightlife after finishing the questionnaire. There was a general trend that whatever personality the students have, nowadays going to a club or a bar is a huge part in university life. Thus, although not included in this study, the topic about the relationship between the nightlife and academic achievement i s worth studying on. Another interesting finding was that a student who scored high on extraversion contributed the highest academic score. At the same time, the student who scored low on extraversion had the lowest academic score among all the participants. This may be due to the sample-size in the study. They can be viewed as outstanding results, not concluding any generality in the study. However, it can also be explained in terms of the limitation of this study. As this study merely generate a relationship between academic achievement and extraversion. The major of the students were not taken into account. Considering about different majors, different personality may fit differently. For example, a major involved many social tasks may be well fitted with extraversion personality. That is, as the students scoring high on extraversion are more sociable, they may be easier to communicate their opinions and participate in activities like presentation and election. This may need further analysis in order to rationalize the findings. Another limitation is that the time was set only at noon in UCC. This setting was for both the convenience and availability of maximum participants. However, as mentioned above, students scoring high on extraversion may have a peak activation time at night; this may make them prefer more to night-class. In addition, many students may not come to UCC regularly regardless of their personality. Therefore, this study did not have an equal probability for its participant selection. Furthermore, as considering about the setting of the questionnaire, the academic achievement section merely required one average for the students performance. This may rule out the differences in course difficulty and major module. It cannot generalize that each score obtained was based on a same standard. Thus, the study may fail to make a wide generalization on this topic. In addition, although the first year average required was to minimize the difference in course selection, for the students from higher grades, it may be difficult to call back the precise marks. In this situation, as the author required, they may make up one mark from their false memory or remember it less accurately. Overall, this study was to help on the understanding of study behaviors. The results from the study yielded a statistical significance. Extraversion was found to be negatively related to academic achievement. As there are several limitations in this study, further research should be taken to make a more generalize conclusion.

The Notion of Good and Evil in Stevensons Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay

The Notion of Good and Evil in Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde The book entitled 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' was published in 1886. Although in the book Stevenson does not ever state the exact year, it was at the time recognized immediately as a grand work. The main theme running throughout the book is about the duality of human beings and the battle in all humans between good and evil. This book is very allegorical because the characters and events are representing other things and symbolically expressing a deeper spiritual and moral meaning. For humans the battle between the potential for extreme good and extreme evil is in the mind, but Jekyll's experiment has given one man a split personality of the two extremes in the physical realm. The book also involves a theme of hypocrisy, as shown by Jekyll and Hyde of Victorian society. On one hand it was pleasant society, respectable, conventional, deeply religious, and polite. On the other was a much more bohemian England, symbolized by dishonesty and darkness. The combination of the two aspects in contrast to each other made an impression on Stevenson. This was a world of appearance not truth with Victorian oppression, fighting against basic human nature. Throughout the story is an omniscient narrator who tells the story from full view of different people with different perspectives (e.g. the view of the maid lets us into her feelings and attitudes towards Hyde). The author could have chosen another route by possibly telling the story as a confession from Jekyll's point of view. The author chose not to write in this way because he wanted to give a view of... ...This is a warning from Stevenson to the reader not to take the easy way out. It also proves that Stevenson wants the reader to judge Jekyll harshly as he was weak and took the "cowards" path out, which lead to his death. Although Jekyll seems to have no control over Hyde, once he has transformed, it is Jekyll's original attitude towards evil in the first place, which brings him trouble. He sees the ability to lose moral control and be free from the ties of society as a kind of liberation, which is why the transformation into Mr Hyde is so appealing to him. It is not that he has no regard to society as a whole, or he wouldn't need to turn into Hyde, but that he cannot tolerate that certain behaviour is prohibited. By becoming Hyde, Jekyll can follow his wildest imaginations without worrying about the consequences.

Christinaity In Middle Ages Essay -- European History

Christianity in the Middle Ages Christianity played a major role throughout the Middle Ages in society and politics. The Middle Ages, classified from 600 AD to 1350 AD, was significantly effected by Christianity because of the impact it had on the daily lives of people of the time. The beginning of the Early Middle Ages, after the Fall of Rome in 476 AD and the period known as the Dark Ages, the reorganization of the empire brought a desire for faith and religion, primarily Christianity. This trend of Christian importance was apparent until 1350, when the Black Death caused the end of a systematized era. The church is often viewed, during this period of time, as a center of corruption, greed, and evil, with materialistic popes and unholy acts. Even though there were immoral times, the presence of Christianity brought hope and stability to the empire politically and socially. In the Late Age of Antiquity, Christianity had started its rapid spread becoming the state religion in the fourth century, and emerging as a & quot;cultural trend" (212). It became further defined, and was the bases of the Western World's proceedings. Christianity's popularity influenced the church by people's newfound ability to concentrate on faith and a better life. With this foundation, the Middle Ages expanded religious importance by employing it in day to day life. Christianity was consistently present in the social arena of the Middle Ages. There were many controversies over Christian beliefs. The engrossment in Christianity in the eighth century had a non peaceful turn because of the Iconoclastic Controversy. It divided the Western and the Byzantine Empires additionally with the dispute over the use of icons in religious worship. This quarrel resulted in religious vigor through exploration of religious traditions and mysticism. The division between the empire was a constantly present with the arousal of disputes . The view of the Christian Church by the people varied from agreeable to immoral. In the Early Mid dle Ages, the church was disorganized and non-established. Although the progression of the Middle Ages led to the furtherance of the Church, there were many set backs in the reputation of the papacy. The weakness of the papacy was a result of ineffective and corrupt churches. The tenth century was a period of religious decline with privately owned monasteries and chur... ...ecline of papal power. The First Crusade was a successful venture for the papacy as it was considered an "armed pilgrimage" (325). To gain the support of the Christian community, Urban II promised an afterlife without purgatory and a direct ascent to heaven for Crusade participation. This "plenary indulgence" (325) made the First Crusade a favorable undertaking. On the other hand, the papal monarchy suffered from the additional Crusades that forced people to question the unity of the Christian Church. Christianity was an effective theme in the Middle Ages because it implemented most people and events of the time period. Socially, Christianity effected people's daily lives because faith offered another consideration for how life progressed. The introduction of new intellect and innovative advancements were growing with religious influenced. Politically, the emperor's were aided and impaired. The support of the papacy was useful in the coronation of emperors and the influence over the common people. On the counter-side, the papal monarchy offered competition for power. Christianity was always present in the Middle Ages, and it changed concepts and faith for all.

The Roswell Ufo Crash Essay -- essays research papers

The Roswell UFO Crash   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1947 a UFO was seen near the town of Roswell, New Mexico. It was witnessed by many of the residents and was described as something not of this planet. The government denies any evidence of this event occurring and has covered it up for may years. Now that more information has become available to the public, it is clear that something extraordinary happened.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The town of Roswell, New Mexico was the location of many UFO sightings in the later 1940's and was supposedly the location of a secret military base. Most of the local people had a story or two to tell about their experiences with these sightings, but are now coming forward with stories about how the government threatened them not to speak of the incidents that occurred. Some felt as though their life was endangered if they dared to speak of what they saw.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One incident in particular which has sparked a craze in the study of UFO's is when a flying disk allegedly crashed in the deserts of New Mexico near Roswell on the night of July 8, 1947. According to Roswell expert Henry Ritson, many civilians arrived at the crash scene and witnessed the bodies of alien beings (Roswell Reporter pg. 2). These witnesses report to have seen humanoid beings with large, pear-shaped heads and bulging black eyes being hauled away by government and military agents and to have been debriefed of the entire occurrence by these agents (Roswell Reporter pg. 3). Some witnesses were threatened not to speak of the incident again. The object in question was later classified by the government as a weather balloon and discounted all evidence and eyewitness reports of the UFO scene (pg. 3).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The farmer whose field the UFO crashed in was offered a large sum of money by a local radio station to tell his story on the air. He spoke of strange alien materials and a seemingly invincible square of foil which could not be cut or damaged. He also described the alien beings and the craft in which they traveled (Roswell: What are We Talking About? pg. 2). He was later arrested by the military and held at the government base. The first officer to the crash site, Lt. Jesse Marcel, was told to make a public restatement about the crash scene and report that he had mis... ...example of this new technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The controversy about aliens and the incident at Roswell, New Mexico will most likely continue until either aliens make contact with humans publically or until the government admits to the cover-ups in Roswell and other UFO sightings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This crash was a very important historical event in the eyes of many, and the government has done a good job of keeping the details of the event a secret. No matter what the object was, it certainly opened the eyes of the public. The people involved in the incident and those who witnessed it are the only ones who know for sure what really happened on that memorable evening. They have been silenced by the government, and may never speak of the events that occurred that night. They are the few who have seen exactly what is out there. The rest may never know.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Who can the american people trust? If their own government keeps one of the most important events in human history a secret, there is no telling what else they know. It is right of the public to know what is history and what is a misguided weather balloon.

A Roman Senator and the Ides of March

A Roman senator heard a rumor of an assassination attempt against Julius Caesar. There were two things in his mind: 1) if the assassination succeeded, should be declared legitimate by the Roman senate, and 2) assuming Julius Caesar is a power hungry tyrant, should the assassination a matter of public policy be endorsed by the Roman Senate.Now this senator approached the Great Forum to explain his views of Julius Caesar. In his mind, Caesar is a tyrant inclined to destroy the Roman aristocracy. Although Caesar conquered lands for Rome, it does not suffice to declare him â€Å"dictator for life.† In his thoughts, if Caesar was a true leader of the Roman world, he must learn to relinquish power when required by the state.The Roman senator approached one of the benches of the Roman Senate, and began to talk. He concealed his thoughts about Caesar in metaphors and ironies, offering the Senate both the opportunity to criticize Caesar (in the form of satire) and the chance not to be killed by Caesar. Now came the Ides of March: the day of Caesar’s assassination. A senator born from a noble Roman family, this senator decided to join Brutus and Cassius.Before the assassination, he argued that â€Å"killing Caesar should be thought off as an honorable duty to the state.† Only an assassination can save the Roman Republic from the sting of a new â€Å"kingship.† Then appeared flashes of Pompey in his mind: the true champion of the Roman Republic. The Ides of March to him was his greatest achievement; that is, the means to liberate the Roman world from the bonds of a tyrant.Work CitedGibbon, Edward. The Roman Republic. Ed. By Nero A. Saunders. London: London Publishing House, 1790/1967.

Strategic Management Business Case Study for Insight Magazine

{draw:frame} {draw:g} {draw:g} INSIGHT’s MISSION, VISION & PHILOSOPHY {draw:text-box} Insight is a local social magazine founded to satisfy different appeals in the Egyptian society. It are committed to face our challenges by embracing and creating change, through innovative solutions to extend the overall content distribution and marketing model to include websites, digital magazines, virtual events, and other new technologies to establish positive relations and credibility between the magazine and its readers. It is committed to providing an informal yet professional working environment that encourages and rewards creativity, teamwork and enthusiasm. Insight’s operation is environmentally friendly. {draw:text-box} ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING When setting the mission, Insight had to first understand the â€Å"big picture† of the environment, in which it is operating, and the opportunities and threats that lie within. Such understanding of the surrounding environment will enable us to take advantage of the opportunities that will come in our ways and minimize the threats that will face us along the way The Big Picture (PEST ANALYSIS) PEST Analysis helps understanding the â€Å"big picture† of the Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environment, it ensures that what we are aiming for in our mission is aligned positively with the powerful forces of change that are affecting the press media. Political factor: Understanding the political environment in Egypt is almost the most important step in the scanning phase, the freedom of press in Egypt is not â€Å"as free† as it may seem because of the following: The political environment might not be stable within the next five years due to the presidential election which may negatively influence the market. Egypt's state security investigation apparatus empowered to interfere in almost every area of public life under the state of emergency in force for the last 28 years which forms a barrier for writers to speak up their minds freely. On the other hand, there are some positive changes in the political environment such as the reform program that is a work in progress. Egypt has made substantial progress in developing its legal, tax and investment infrastructure, over the past five years; Egypt has passed, amended and admitted over 15 legislative pieces one of which was the reform of the country's presidential election law, paving the way for multi-candidate polls in the upcoming presidential elections. Economical factor: The financial crisis and the recession which has recently struck the world all over definitely had an impact on the Egyptian job market in many versatile ways such as: The downfall of the western economy forced the expatriates working abroad consider twice before asking for a high salary, this made the hiring of foreign calibers easier and resulted in the layoffs of many local employees and the increase of unemployment and job market instability. Unemployment in the Egyptian society has aggressively increased during the last five years affecting indirectly the press industry. Many organizations started to adopt the policy of cost cutting and benefit minimization; this as well had the same effect as the precedent point resulting in unemployment and instability. The worsening state of the global economy makes 2009 a â€Å"horror show† for advertising-dependent newspaper and television companies, with some analysts predicting that businesses may have to wait until 2011 to see positive ad growth. It must be noted as well that the Egyptian economy has been gaining, thanks to the wide-ranging amendments & reforms that the country began implementing in 2004 and due to such amendments and administration of many legislative pieces the economy is expected to grow by about 4% to 6% in 2009/2010. Technological Factor: We are living the technology era, every day, a new invention, revolution or innovation strikes the market in every business, if Insight is not open to apply new operational strategies that can help to address the effects of both technological streamlining and better developing meaningful ways of generating an exchange of ideas, it won’t last before its competitors, with a daily increasing pace in the world of technology. The rise of online media presents another challenge: reliability. The internet has become the fastest and easiest way for the readers to get the type of info they claim, low-priced and as diverse as they want, and this rise is obliging the media world to give attention to online advertisement as much as or even at a higher interest that normal printed magazines. Socio-cultural Factor: A cultural change has came into the surface, with he increase of the coffee shops outings, the topics that were point of interest to readers have been changed , Insight carried out new researches to cover a broad range of topics to attract readers. Over the last 5 years, the interest in football, politics and religion ruled over many areas in life, Insight being a social lifestyle magazine it has to cope with the new interests in our society. Given that English is the language of the magazine in an Arabic speaking country; this has enlarged the difficulty of the magazine’s distribution in the Egy ptian market. Environmental Factor: Global warming that became perhaps the most complicated issue facing the world of magazine production after study showed that the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the production and distribution of one copy of an average sized 0. 39 pound magazine total about 0. 95 kilograms including paper from trees, materials, production, shipping and customer use; henceforth, the loss of natural habitat potential from the 0. 39 pound magazine is estimated to be 0. 3 square meters. This has led to a huge increase in the prices of the papers which is the most important element of the magazines industry. {draw:frame} The Small Details (SWOT ANALYSIS) SWOT Analysis is a simple but powerful framework for analyzing the magazine’s Strengths and Weaknesses, and the Opportunities and Threats it faces. Thus, helping Insight to focus on its strengths, minimize threats, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available. Strengths: Insight magazine enjoys a very good image that has a business idea and credibility amongst its competitors. It has an extensive advertising and good promotions that withhold good value and quality. The magazine enjoys good cash flow through advertising which provides space for innovation and expansion. Most of Insight’s staff is between 20-25 years, at these young ages the ability to cope with new challenges of life is much more flexible than older generations and this provides the space to innovate & improve in many fields. Weakness: Any organization has its weaknesses; Insight suffers from the lack of a good distribution plan compared to its rivals. Another weakness facing Insight is the fact that the teams are self managed by junior staff which lack knowledge and experience leadership of its junior staff. Threats: Insight’s main threat is the strong competitors dominating the market and how quickly they can adapt to market changes. The inability to cope with new technologies may also lead to the magazine’s failure. Opportunities: Giving that Egypt is in a state of transition and economic growth, our good cash flow will enable us to seize any opportunity of hiring excellent calibers and adopting new technologies. {draw:frame} STRATEGY FORMULATION Strategy formulation is the process of determining appropriate courses of action for achieving the organizational objectives and thereby accomplishing organizational purpose. The strategies formulated should reflect environmental analysis previously discussed, lead to fulfillment of the mission, and result in reaching our organizational objectives. TOWS MATRIX The TOWS Matrix is a relatively simple tool for generating the strategic options, using it, will enable us to look intelligently at how Insight takes the best advantage of the opportunities open, at the same time that we minimize the impact of weaknesses and protect ourselves against threats. By analyzing the external environment (threats and opportunities), and the internal environment (weaknesses and strengths), we can use these techniques to think about our corporate, business & functional strategies. Corporate Strategy Corporate strategy is one, which decides what business the magazine should be in, and how the overall group of activities should be structured and managed, it is as well a description of the magazine's overall direction in terms of its general attitude toward growth, stability or Retrenchment and the management of its various businesses and product lines. Following the change of the external major forces as well as the declining performance of the distribution unit and the marketing department, the top management had to consider formulating an alternative strategy other than the previously followed growth strategy. A stability strategy is now the new corporate strategy followed by Insight, it is decision of doing nothing new in the worsening situation but instead to act as though Insight’s problems are only temporary, and it is an attempt to artificially support profits when sales are declining by reducing short term discretionary expenditures. Insight magazine is currently following the stability strategy as its corporate strategy knowing that it will be temporarily adopted until Insight settles its weakness in the marketing area and regains a significant position in the Egyptian market. Business Strategies In light of the ongoing economic crisis besetting the world, many business leaders had to consider just exactly how they are going to put together a winning business strategy to help overcome the hard times. Insight’s business strategy is a competitive one, it involves making the right choices in order to achieve cost leadership, differentiation and focus; this is achieved by invest our money and strategies in this area as well as coordinating properly Insight’s distinctive competencies in the provision of the service we provide. In order to sustain our competitive advantage, Insight has to determine the durability and imitability of its main distinctive resources which are the human and the financial resources. Business Model Insight serves English reading customers in Egypt by providing them with the latest lifestyle information; Insight’s Insight sustains a competitive advantage through recruitment through the strong cash flow from advertisements made by top class brands, young calibers who adapt easily with any changes in the external environment, thus allowing diversity in writing materials and articles. draw:frame} Functional Strategies Functional strategy is the approach taken by Insight’s functional departments to achieve corporate and business unit objectives and strategies by maximizing distribution. In each functional area, the manager is concerned with developing a distinctive competence to provide Insight with the competitive advantage that it aims to obtain. Marketing & Sales Strategies After 14 years Insight is still struggling and to maintain, capture larger market share, and continues market penetration. It is very hard to achieve now days especially in our case and similar to many magazines and newspapers in the region and world wide. Insight relies heavily on advertising money for revenue since the price consumers pay when they purchase a copy of the magazine has never been sufficient to cover the production costs much less creating any profit. Insight Magazine’s marketing strategy consists of market and product development as well as dealing with pricing, selling and distributing the magazine through the following: Creativity Launch new campaigns with developed layout and logo. Distribution Generate new distribution plans to cover different venues; hotels, bookshops, newsstands, supermarkets, airports, cultural centers, advertisers, numerous Egyptians and international business peoples and VIPs. Make a deal with a well known distribution agency to circulate the magazine on a wider scale on one hand, and on the other hand to put booths in many different areas and offer special gifts to people in order to attract the readers. Sales Give free issues on special occasions in order to encourage and attract customers Instead of selling space to marketers for print ads, we started selling services that marketers want to have. Diversification To focus more on topics that have overwhelmed people lately especially football. Emphasize profitable material and realign their content production costs with where the revenue is generated. A publisher will need to find the unique and defining material that attracts their readership. Go Green Despite the economic state and the rapid increase of paper prices, the Marketing head suggested to the top management to use recycled papers and environmentally friendly materials in order to save cost and maintain same quality of the product that the customer got used to and at the same time to cope with the green trend of the world. Technology & Innovation Digital marketing media and web publishing have become a very tangible area for improvement and market enlargement, Insight’s strategy for development in print media magazine world is mainly based on enriching Insight’s website, with new means of advertisements such as online purchasing of a wide range of products starting from pictures all the way to specific non published exclusive articles. HR Strategies Giving that a good human resources management practice enables organization to achieve higher profits and better survival rate than do firms without these practice, Insight’s strategies towards its most valued asset-the people had to be reviewed and amended to the following: Insight being owned and managed by a sole proprietor, have always followed a top-bottom strategy, as a new practice, the top management is now opening the door for a bottom-top strategy thus taking advantage of any new ideas, innovations and changes that can increase the magazine’s share in the Egyptian Market. Insight magazine is considering the hire of a mix of young generation, skilled reputable writers and foreign calibers as well, no matter how high they get paid. This mixture will help the different teams at Insight to properly manage themselves and thus achieving high productivity to the magazine. Encouraging the hire of part time employees and free lance writers; it will save cost since they will not be paid for health care benefits, pensions and many allowances offered to the full time employees. Promote new company traditions such as family outings, annual dinners. Improve the communication level between the top management and staff by involving employees in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the company whenever possible. Recognize excellent performance by implementing new exercises such as employee of the month, additional rewards for high performers. Promote career & personal growth perspectives such as succession planning, trainings, education, challenging, assignments and more. Assign a development team to cope with the recent technologies. Insight’s Culture & Behavior Insight enjoys a very friendly and supportive work environment, everyone is free to speak up their minds, and all new ideas are being appreciated, but giving that the top management of the magazine is being held by the owner, the last word is always up to them. This gives Insight’s a mix of Supportive and Autocratic behavior, any suggestions are being carefully interpreted but the final decision is always up to the owner. Insight’s culture is a Multi-directionalone, being a relatively small organization that has only four distinct function, each department member considers themselves as a part of his function only forgetting that they are a member of a whole body. Insight’s Organization Structure Insight’s organization was structured based on functional groups centered on clusters of titles each led by chief function officer with complete responsibility for their respective business unit as per the below chart. draw:frame} STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION The implementation of organization strategy involves the application of the management process to obtain the desired results. Particularly, strategy implementation includes designing the organization's structure, allocating resources, developing information and decision process, and managing human resources, including such areas as the reward system, approaches to leadership, and staffing. Strategy mplementation skills are not easily mast ered, unfortunately. In fact, virtually all managers find implementation the most difficult aspect of their jobs – more difficult than strategic analysis or strategy formulation. Marketing & Sales Strategy Implementation: Implementing a rock-solid marketing strategy is probably the most important factor contributing to the long-term sustainable success of any business and the one that will set Insight ahead of its competitors. Insight’s main task is to get its message across the market, make sure that its unique selling proposition is articulated in all of its marketing messages, campaigns, and sales channels through the following implementation: HR Strategy Implementation The HR Strategy has at its core maximizing the potential talent of Insight’s staff. Each of these strategic themes are interlinked and are the strategic objectives for each of these themes facilitates the delivery of the Institutional Strategy, the Financial Strategy, enhanced organizational performance and Operational Plans. This is illustrated as follows: {draw:frame} In implementing the desired strategy of Insight to resolve the sales and distribution, The HR function have done the following: â€Å"Get the big picture â€Å" of the whole company, to provide the readers with the ultimate life experience through lifestyle magazine and becoming No. 1 magazine the Egyptian market; Recruit a mix of the young generation and skilled reputable writers and employees who receive high pay and are trained to participate in self managing teams. By implementing this strategy it will result in employee satisfaction and high productivity to the magazine. Hire part time employees and free lance writers; it will not save cost since they will not be paid for health care benefits, pensions and many allowances offered to the full time employees. Encourage diversity in nationality, and age as in aligning with the Egyptian labor law, this strategy has proven higher productivity inside the magazine. Respect employees at all times. Listen to them deeply; use their ideas. Offer performance feedback and praise good efforts and results. Involve employees in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the magazine whenever possible thus increasing the loyalty and sense of belonging to the magazine Recognize excellent performance, and especially, link pay to performance. Value and encourage the magazine traditions through events and gatherings like Family day and annual company dinner. Increase the employees’ skill by providing them with the best training opportunities to enhance their competencies and develop their skills. Outsource professional distributors in an attempt to reach the target. EVALUATION & CONTROL Although the term â€Å"monitoring and evaluation† tends to get run together as if it is only one thing, monitoring and evaluation are, in fact, two distinct sets of organizational activities, related but not identical. Monitoring is the systematic collection and analysis of information as a project progresses, aimed at improving the efficiency of organization. If done properly, it is an invaluable tool for good management that provides a useful base for evaluation. Evaluation is the comparison of actual project impacts against the agreed strategic plans. It can be formative (taking place during the life of a project or organization, with the intention of improving the strategy or way of functioning of the project or organization). It can also be summative (drawing learning from a completed project or an organization that is no longer functioning) During the planning and implementation phases, it was crucial to conduct a reporting mechanism to monitor whether the right milestones have been taken towards the targeted goals or not as well as to ensure that employees are keeping pace with the progress. This monitoring was done by Chief executives submitting a monthly report to the Chairman as well as scheduling a quarterly meeting to continually keep an eye on the sales, client feedback, foresee what could be done for improvement of any new ideas that would help in increasing the sales of upcoming editions, and finally to ensure that the business and functional levels are keeping track with the corporate objectives and goals. On the other hand, daily meetings are held in each functional department to continually monitor and evaluate work quality and business progress. After an extensive monitoring process the HR strategy was found week in the following points: No HR interview was made any manager interviews his calibers from his own aspects and cultural background. Huge cultural gaps between foreign and local employees No relatively clear difference between the full time and part time employees in term of salaries and benefits which creates unfairness and injustice among them. The rewards were not given in great value and are not fairly given to all employees. Trainings were not fairly distributed among employees. In order to evaluate the magazine performance we have found the following diagnostic checklist items: CONCLUSION Insight is a local English magazine which has been in the Egyptian market for more than a decade. Although Insight enjoys good cash revenue from the top class advertisements it provides, it is struggling with a marketing and distribution setback which gave the top management the sufficient motives to alter the current strategies followed in order to reclaim its top position in the Egyptian market. Insight’s top management first steps of creating new strategies started by setting a new mission of developing the marketing function followed by an external and internal scanning of all possible threats and opportunities that could in a way or another affect the strategies. The scanning that was done helped Insight distinguish its competitive advantage which consequently assisted in the formulation of new corporate, business and functional strategies. After implementing the previously formulated strategies precise monitoring and evaluation were done in order to conclude the gap areas that resulted in the implementation. One of the gap areas that were found was the wrong implementation of hiring foreigners without giving them a proper induction on the Egyptian culture which lead to a huge conflict in ideas between the local and foreign staff. As a final conclusion to the previous report, Insight top management should investigate what went wrong during the implementation of the HR strategy that lead such gaps and how to overcome these gaps to properly implement the functional human resources strategy that will ultimately reflect its success in Insight’s overall performance. {draw:frame}