Friday, July 26, 2019
Web Services Technology and Information Systems Essay
Web Services Technology and Information Systems - Essay Example The paper offer comprehensive analyses of a profit-making web services software development scheme within the services sector to explain this issue. By means of premise study, an explanatory hypothetical outline of the structure development procedure, facilitated by web services is originated. Its major discovery is the recognition of the primary enabling function of the ââ¬Å"Web services technology on system developmentâ⬠. Actually, Web services technology, being supported by XML, is confirmed to be differentiated by extensible series, which is consecutively proven the basic facilitator of innovative practices within systems study. In addition, results have shown it to be facilitator within systems realization as well about the part of related components, for instance, the target business along with its atmosphere, the project group as well as application software customs. The web services system development practices examined here appear within the possible capacity to assem ble intricate systems during a smaller, economical as well as additionally flexible method as compared to conventional system development ways.Apart from organizational development along with infrastructural development, a ââ¬Ëthird-orderââ¬â¢ of motives could chip in to modify traditional practices for information systems development: the accessibility of innovative software technologies as well as structural designs, and mainly the rising Web services principles and implements. This study explains how the accessibility of Web services principles and tools is revealing fresh techniques of creating information systems.... The web services system development practices examined here appear within the possible capacity to assemble intricate systems during a smaller, economical as well as additionally flexible method as compared to conventional system development ways (Cordiero and Filpe, 2010, p. 55). Apart from organizational development along with infrastructural development, a ââ¬Ëthird-orderââ¬â¢ of motives could chip in to modify traditional practices for information systems development: the accessibility of innovative software technologies as well as structural designs, and mainly the rising Web services principles and implements. This study explains how the accessibility of Web services principles and tools is revealing fresh techniques of creating information systems. This sort of argument may appear relatively old-fashioned and somehow immature. Specially, it may seem to look a lot like the ââ¬Ëtechnically vitalââ¬â¢ view of the primary pragmatic efforts within the field. However, th e explanatory hypothetical agenda formed here, supports the basic facilitating part of technology itself within software improvement practices. In fact, the underlying link is neither simple nor exclusive: Web services technology is an essential, although not adequate fundamental aspect of alteration in practices for information services development (Alkhatib and Rine, 2008, p. 87). This study explains how, apart from technology, additional elementary aspects are engaged, together with software venture marketââ¬â¢s atmosphere, civilizing aspects, and achievement pace, software value as well as associated risk factors. ââ¬ËWeb servicesââ¬â¢ is a component-supported software
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Bush Temporary Workers Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Bush Temporary Workers Program - Essay Example The Program acknowledges that current immigration system in the United States is broken and suggest that a system of ââ¬Å"matching willing employees with willing employersâ⬠will help reform the system. Position: While Bush Temporary Workers Program can be laudable, this is however counter-productive considering the current economic condition of the country. Where we have more than 10 % unemployment rate caused by the 2009 Financial Crisis. The economic health of United States have already changed dramatically and it is no longer as robust as before. Such, it can no longer accommodate additional workers to compete with domestic workers. While I have nothing against foreign workers who are as talented and productive as an American worker, I would prefer that scarce jobs will go to Americans first. Had this proposal of Bush been made during Americaââ¬â¢s economic peak, I would have nothing against it. But just not today where a job that will go to an immigrant worker will be a job that will be taken away from a prospective American job seeker. I understand that having more than 8 million undocumented workers can be a threat to national security. But taking away jobs from Americans who equally needs it, cannot justify the proposed immigration reform.
Value Innovation at Johnson and Johnson Case Study
Value Innovation at Johnson and Johnson - Case Study Example For a large international corporation this would include the ability to manage across multiple dimensions of the business and having open communication throughout the organization. Without strong communication and the ability of skills and creation to move through the organization the value innovation would fail in Tidd, Bessant, and Pavitt's explanation of value innovation. Davilla, Epstein and Shelton (2006 p 15) examine that value innovation is technological: "research and development (R&D), or new product development" and strategic: "defining the business model." The Davilla, Epstein and Shelton (2006) definition offers a linear explanation, where there are two roads to value innovation. However, unlike Tidd, Bessant, and Pavitt (2005), Davilla, Epstein and Shelton (2006) do not examine the need to mobilize across multiple dimensions. They treat value innovation as a bilateral necessity, where one sector of management would focus on innovation of research and development while another management team focuses on strategic value. As with Tidd, Bessant, and Pavitt (2005), communication between the two divergent management sectors would be vastly important to creating and implementing any value innovation. Without it, technology may take a separate road than strategy. This would create confusion for the organization and for the consumer in deciding whic h ideals are concrete and which are fluid throughout the company. In contrast, O'Brien compares business strategies and defines a value innovation strategy as "Finding new ways of doing business" (O'Brien 2004 p 43). According to O'Brien, value innovation includes "the development of unique products and services, or entry into unique markets or market niches [and] making radical changes to the business processes for producing or distributing products and services that are so different from the way a business has been conducted that they alter the fundamental structure of an industry" (O'Brien 2006 p 42). O'Brien's definition is yet again different, where the focus is on the business as a whole and not as a segmentation of skill sets, technology resources, or strategy. Synthesis and Evaluation Is the assumption that value innovation must rely on technology and strategy to maintain a competitive business presence correct Authors Kim and Mauborgne (1999 p 58) do not believe that value innovation should rely on technology and strategy innovation. In fact, they treat value innovation as a separate concept. Kim and Mauborgne (1999 p 58) focus on the need of consumer value, where the "Value innovation links innovation to what the mass of buyers value." Kim and Mauborgne offer a more encompassing definition of value innovation, stating: "Value innovation also differs from technology innovation [] technology innovation is not a requisite for value innovation; value innovation can occur with or without new technology" (Kim and Mauborgne 1999 p 57). This is further supported by Holme, Mangusson and McKelvey (2007 p 32) who state that "One shortcoming is the narrow focus on
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Management and Labour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Management and Labour - Essay Example They can either make or break it. Thus, cooperation between the two, working as one unified body towards the goal of the organisation, is crucial, especially so that what brings profit to the organisation is no other than employeeââ¬â¢s productivity. Yet, the source of strength of any organisation is also its weakest point because the required unity between management and labour is something elusive to achieve. Worse, it is oftentimes the source of hostility that usually brings the organisation down. As management represents the interest of the capital ââ¬â gaining super-profit at the expense of exploiting labour ââ¬â to achieve employeeââ¬â¢s trust and full-cooperation for utmost productivity is a century-old challenge to management. This inherent contradiction between management and labour is seen as the usual reason why do employees restrict the level of their output. But as organisational relationships evolve in the course of time, giving more attention on human relations, and as technology displaces labour giving more leverage to management, problems of lessened employee productivity is no longer attributed to labour exploitation but to poor management. Labour is the most productive force of production because no else has the power to produce but the workerââ¬â¢s productivity. Even with the modernisation of technology, the crucial role of labour in capitalist production remains. Thus, ensuring workerââ¬â¢s high performance rate is key function of management, because anything that may cause reduction in the workerââ¬â¢s level of output is detrimental to the interest of the capitalist. But what makes employee restrict their output level ââ¬âis it the management or the workerââ¬â¢s exploited working condition? To answer this question, it would be best to understand first manââ¬â¢s concept of work. What is work to man? What makes man work? What discourages man to work? Man works not simply to work
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
An Investigation into How a Student with ASD Could Use Media as a Way Case Study
An Investigation into How a Student with ASD Could Use Media as a Way to Inform Others about How This Affects his Life - Case Study Example At the end, a suitable conclusion has been rendered. The Case Daniel is a nine years old boy, who studies in the local special education school. He has been diagnosed with classical autism (a form of ASD) four years back. Daniel continuously has difficulty in making eye contact. According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this is a typical autistic behavior. Atypical eating habits are also a prominent symptom as has been pointed out by Filipek and his colleagues (483). Moreover, lack of social and friendly behavior is another side of the problem (Burgess and Gutstein, 80). Daniel does not prefer to be alone but he is unable to make friends. His eating habits are unusual too. Outline of Support and Related Discussion Daniel has a number of repetitive and restricted interests and activities, although his learning ability has increased through the last year. Computer assisted instruction (CAI) has been an excellent support mechanism for last one year. CAI helps in ââ¬Å"significa nt gains in reading, phonological awareness, verbal behavior, and motivationâ⬠, as has been pointed out by the Committee of Educational Interventions for Children with Autism, National Research Council (US) (63). In school, he has lessons in SULP (Social Use of Language Problem). It uses a combination of verbal interaction in discussion format and CAI can be embedded by using audio visual media. Moreover, SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) is also being utilized, which is ensuring development of emotional intelligence along with IQ. According to the Committee on Educational Intervention for Children with Autism, use of frequent student to student interaction is particularly helpful in this regard (63). Further analysis and critique: The educational intervention techniques applied so far have been rather effective. The relation between the measures of instruction and the childââ¬â¢s performance is proportional in the sense that the intensive socialization and lin guistic intervention approach is helpful in speech and cognitive development. The SULP and SEAL involve choral responding, interaction between students, rotation of materials, and random simulation programs that are effective in teaching language and developing emotional intelligence. Particularly in SEAL, class-wide peer teaching can be helpful to foster friendship among the children and gradually help them to achieve behavioral maturity. Peer tutoring can replace traditional teaching instruction and help to achieve better results. In this context, Weiss and Delmolino further state that these practices can be adopted both at home and at school (104). Using Media to Help in Explaining ASD In this section, we will look at the option of using media in the form of a PowerPoint presentation as an effective way to help a pupil explain his ASD to others. Two questions will be discussed in this milieu: 1. What is the rationale of the intervention and how does this fit with current understa nding of ASDs? 2. To what extent does the intervention address the needs of the pupil in the areas of communication, social understanding, and flexibility of behavior? Using PowerPoint: PowerPoint is a simple MS Office software application that can be taught with relatively less complexity. PowerPoint provides a platform, where text,
Monday, July 22, 2019
Crimes Against Humanity Essay Example for Free
Crimes Against Humanity Essay Saddam Hussein Iraq, a country found in Southwest Asia bordered by Syria, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, has been constantly featured in the news in recent years. Iraq received its freedom from Britain following World War I in 1932 and in 1958 was converted into a republic (Iraq). However, since becoming a republic, Iraq has been controlled by military leaders from Abdul-Karim Quassim to Saddam Hussein (Iraqi Rulersââ¬â¢ Page). The most recent ruler of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, leader of the Baââ¬â¢ath political party, drew attention to the country with his various crimes against humanity. From his ascension to power in 1979 to his execution December 30, 2006, he has been responsible for numerous atrocities, including, but not limited to, executions of communists, murders of Shiite Muslims, tortures and killings of political prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison, Husseinââ¬â¢s most frequently used prison for tortures and murders (Kadragic 85), the Iran-Iraq war, murders of ethnic Kurds, the Gulf War, destruction of Iraqââ¬â¢s marshes, and therefore the destruction of marsh Arabsââ¬â¢ habitats and homes, the control of news as propaganda (The New Global Society), and the deaths of many others. After a rough childhood living with his mother, three stepbrothers, and an awful and immoral stepfather, Hussein moved to live with his uncle, who was an Arab nationalist, when his uncle was freed from jail in 1947 (Saddam Hussein). It was his uncle who introduced Hussein to politics (Saddam Hussein). Hussein joined the Arab Baââ¬â¢ath Socialist Party at the age of 20 in 1957 (Saddam Hussein). He started out as a member of low importance whose chief duty was to organize and fuel riots among his classmates (Saddam Hussein). In 1959 he was promoted to the assassination squad (Saddam Hussein). October 7, 1959, he, along with the rest of the squad, attempted, but failed, to assassinate Abdul Karim-Quassim (Saddam Hussein). This failed attempt resulted in Hussein receiving a shot in the leg and exiling himself from Iraq for over three years to escape prison (Saddam Hussein Ex President of Iraq). Only when the Baââ¬â¢ath Party staged a coup and took over the Iraqi government in 1963 did Saddam return to the country. However, the Baââ¬â¢ath Party only remained in power for nine months and Hussein was arrested in 1964 for his affiliation with the Baââ¬â¢ath regimeââ¬â¢s attempt to regain power (Saddam Hussein). During his eighteen months in prison before his escape in July 1996, Hussein was tortured as well as named a member of Baââ¬â¢ath Partyââ¬â¢s National Arab Leadership in 1965 (Saddam Hussein). Hussein gradually gained power in the party, becoming Deputy-Secretary General of the Baââ¬â¢ath Party Leadership September 1966, and being a key leader in the July 17, 1968 coup that overthrew the Iraqi monarchy and made Husseinââ¬â¢s second cousin, Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, the Iraqi president (Saddam Hussein). Following this incident, Hussein was made Vice President of Iraq (Saddam Hussein). Eventually, Hussein forced al-Bakr to resign and took over the position as president of Iraq (Saddam Hussein). The first crime committed under the rule of Saddam Hussein was the execution of 7,000 Iraqi communists that began the year of 1978 and lasted until 1979 (Saddam Era: The Death Toll). Hussein was not in charge of the Baââ¬â¢athist regime during 1978, but was in power for the latter part of the brutal executions carried out against the communists of Iraq. Though the Baââ¬â¢ath Party was vaguely built on the idea socialism in the 1940ââ¬â¢s and the Iraqi Baââ¬â¢ath Party of Saddamââ¬â¢s time had an important alliance with the Soviet Union, the Baââ¬â¢aths of Saddamââ¬â¢s time were very much opposed to communism. The execution of the Iraqi communists strained the Baââ¬â¢athist Partyââ¬â¢s relationship with the Soviet Union considerably. In the 1980ââ¬â¢s Saddam had 148 male Shiites murdered in the village of Dujail. This crime in particular is the atrocity that Saddam was convicted and executed for December of 2006. The motivation for this crime was the attempted assassination of Hussein while he traveled through the small town of Dujail. After said attempt at assassination, almost 800 people, women and children included, were detained. An unspecified number were tortured during the period of time in which they were detained. 400 of those detained were sent to internal exile in a southern part of Iraq, away from their homes in Dujail. The aforementioned 148 men and boys were convicted of some crime, sentenced to death, and executed in 1985 (Judging Dujail: The First Trial before the Iraqi High Tribunal). During the 1980ââ¬â¢s Saddam instigated the Iran-Iraq war. This war lasted from 1980 to 1989 and was the cause of nearly 1. 7 million deaths of both Iranians and Iraqis (Saddam Era: The Death Toll). Saddamââ¬â¢s motivation for this war was his fear that the new radical leadership of Iran would upset the Sunni-Shia balance in Iraq (Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)). As the Shia Muslims of Iraq are concentrated on and around Iraqââ¬â¢s only access to a body of water, a fifty-eight kilometer coast on the Persian Gulf, dissension among Iraqââ¬â¢s Shia population would cut off Iraqââ¬â¢s access to water, effectively limiting Iraqââ¬â¢s ability to trade as far as exporting and importing goods by ship (Muslim Distribution (Sunni and Shia)). Another of the many influential factors that prompted Saddam to initiate the bloody war was water claims to the Shatt al-Arab waterway which serves as part of the boundary between Iraq and Iran (Iran-Iraq War and Waterway Claims). Again, the Shatt al-Arab is Iraqââ¬â¢s only waterway to the Persian Gulf and is vital to the country as a means for transporting goods. During the Iran-Iraq War, a Kurdish Iraqi, Masoud Barzani, leader of the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party), along with the KDP, sided with the Iranians (The War Crimes of Saddam Hussein). The Kurdish Democratic Party was an ethnic Kurdish revolutionary political party that actively fought against the Baââ¬â¢athist regime (The War Crimes of Saddam Hussein). As retaliation for their actions, Hussein had around 8,000 KDP members, including defenseless women and children, abducted in 1983 (The War Crimes of Saddam Hussein). Though many remain unfound, thousands are known to have been murdered and are now located in mass graves along with thousands of fellow victims (The War Crimes of Saddam Hussein). In 1984 about 4,000 political prisoners were tortured and murdered in Abu Ghraib prison. Saddam used this particular prison as a center for tortures and killings. Some of Husseinââ¬â¢s favorite methods of torture included castration, eye gouging, and acid baths. Mass killings at an Iraqi prison occurred again from 1993 to 1996 when 3000 prisoners were killed by machine gun at Mahjar prison in central. That was one of the last crimes committed under Saddamââ¬â¢s rule before he went into hiding Baghdad (Saddam Era: The Death Toll). The al-Anfal campaign, known by many as genocide, was one of the cruelest and bloodiest initiatives taken by Saddam Hussein. It lasted from 1986-1989 and resulted in the brutal deaths of about 182,000 Kurds, a group of people that make up Iraqââ¬â¢s largest non-Arab ethnic minority (A Kurd from Salah ad Din). Hussein may have felt that the Kurds were a threat to the Sunni, Arab Iraqis as the Kurds are generally Shiites and make up about 19 per cent of the Iraqi population (A Kurd from Salah ad Din). Also, many Kurds were concentrated in Kirkuk, an area of Iraq that is very rich in oil (A Kurd from Salah ad Din). Hussein commanded that any living organism in the Kurdish territory in northern Iraq be killed. Chemical weapons were implemented in carrying this out. Previously, Iraq had been the only country, besides the Soviet Union, known to tolerate the Kurds and their cultural differences. Though Iraq instituted arabization as a way to suppress and contain Kurdish nationalism, the Kurdish people were not persecuted on a large scale by Arab Iraqis until the rise of the Baââ¬â¢athist regime (Shelton 636). In 1988, however, a campaign named Operation Anfal, anfal meaning spoils of war, was initiated and more than 182,000 Kurds were killed with the use of chemical weapons or buried alive in mass graves (Shelton 636) (The War Crimes of Saddam Hussein). In addition, 4,006 villages were utterly destroyed, displacing thousands of Kurdish villagers, and many were arrested and made to live in extremely unhealthy conditions (Shelton 636). In a small town called Halabja alone, 5,000 people were killed with a mixture of mustard gas and a nerve agent called sarin that was dropped from planes on March 16, 1988 (Kurds Look Back with Fear) (The War Crimes of Saddam Hussein). There is evidence that the chemicals used against the Kurds are still affecting people today, as there have been increasing amounts of birth defects, and cases of cancer, respiratory ailments, miscarriages, eye problems, skin problems, and other medical disorders in the affected areas, like the town of Halabja (Kurds Look Back with Fear). People who survived the attacks have recently developed problems that doctors attribute to the chemicals used in the attacks (Kurds Look Back with Fear). The Gulf War was a short war that started on January 16, 1991 several months after Iraqââ¬â¢s invasion of its neighboring country of Kuwait in August 2 of 1990(Saddam Era: The Death Toll) (Gulf War). The invasion of Kuwait occurred after the Iraq and Kuwaitââ¬â¢s disputes over oil production and the debts that Iraq owed Kuwait for Kuwaitââ¬â¢s aid in the Iraq-Iran war (Gulf War). The war ended when President Bush Sr. rdered a cease fire on February 27, 1991 (Gulf War). Husseinââ¬â¢s objectives in invading Kuwait are said to have been to force the smaller country to pardon the debts owed to it by Iraq, to acquire Kuwait in order to obtain Kuwaitââ¬â¢s rich oil fields, and expansion. The justification that Saddam used was that Kuwait was historically part of Iraq in the first place (First Persian Gulf War). The US under the Bush Sr. administration became involved and formed a coalition made up of several Arab countries to achieve a quick victory over Iraq because of fear for Saddamââ¬â¢s ulterior motives. It is estimated that 25,000 Iraqi troops and as many as 200,000 civilians died as a result of the Gulf War (Saddam Era: The Death Toll). Also, many Iraqis civilians suffered because of a lack of food, as a UN trade embargo was put on Iraq when it invaded Kuwait (First Persian Gulf War). After the US won the Gulf War in 1991, Shiites, a Muslim religious minority in Iraq, and the ethnic Kurds were encouraged by the US to rebel against Saddam and the Baââ¬â¢athist regime. However, when Saddam killed more than 100,000 Shiites and made more 200,000 Marsh Arabs homeless or dead, US support was nonexistent (Saddam Era: The Death Toll). Saddam is said to have ordered 2,000 Kurdish rebels to be killed each day (The War Crimes of Saddam Hussein). The Marsh Arabs were made homeless when Saddam began having Iraqââ¬â¢s marshlands intentionally and ruthlessly drained by 30 dams after the 1991 Gulf War, causing the marshes to dry up and practically decimating the way of life of thousands of marsh Arabs that has existed for at least 5,000 years (Hassig and al-Adely 46). Iraqââ¬â¢s marshlands now make up less than 770 square miles of Iraq, when they once had an area 7,700 square miles, meaning that 95% of Iraqââ¬â¢s marshes have been destroyed (Hassig and al-Adely 46). Also, the number of marsh Arabs has decreased from 250,000 to 30,000, but to this day it is unknown how much of the drop is due to migration or starvation, as the lack of food producing marshes means a lack of food (The War Crimes of Saddam Hussein). Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was a truly vile and despicable man for all of the suffering he inflicted on those he was responsible for as the dictator of Iraq. Saddam repeatedly broke rule after rule of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by subjecting prisoners to ââ¬Å"torture or cruel, inhumane punishment,â⬠as he intentionally did with the many tortures committed in the Abu Ghraib jail in particular, by subjecting others to ââ¬Å"arbitrary arrest, detention or exile,â⬠as he did to those of the town of Dujail that were not among the 182 that he killed. In addition, Hussein violated the UDHR by forcing many an Iraqi to be ââ¬Å"arbitrarily deprived of his propertyâ⬠when he decimated the marshes of the marsh Arabs and destroyed 4,006 villages in the Anfal campaign. Furthermore, he violated the UDHR by depriving Iraqis of their ââ¬Å"right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives,â⬠when the Baââ¬â¢ath Socialist Party took over Iraqââ¬â¢s government by force. Saddam was responsible for several more violations- not only of human rights, but of basic human morality. Saddamââ¬â¢s term of leadership in Iraq from 1979 to 2003 has been an ugly, dark, bloody stain on Iraqââ¬â¢s history.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Poor Project Leadership And Lack Of Motivation Management Essay
Poor Project Leadership And Lack Of Motivation Management Essay Leadership is a significant factor in the whole project process. A good leadership will lead to project success. A poor project leadership will cause failure in the project. Project leader who is responsible to the project is someone that sets direction and influences people to follow that direction. Many project leaders were selected because of their education background rather than their experiences. The result is, the project leader will lead the project that exceeds their capabilities. Poor project leadership also the result of project leader that does not see the opportunity and does not listening to the people. One secret to successful project implementation is the project leaders ability to get the diverse background, education and experiences of project team members performing at maximal effectiveness. Consequently, the project leader must be both a leader and a motivator. Poor project leadership was a leading factor of the company failure. A leads behaviours such as excessive ego often lead to a poor project leadership. The lack of leadership skill will result in people get demotivated and eventually reduce their work performance. And because, a project leader does not have a clear vision of the market trend such as soaring of oil prices and credit crunch, the project will cost more and will be delayed. Lack of Motivation According to William R.King (1998) page 756, stated that motivation is important to the project manager from two perspectives. First, the individual must be motivated to be a project manager. If one does not have sufficient intrinsic motivation to take the types of managerial steps required, then one is not likely to success at the project management task. Second, the project manager must be able to motivate others. For this it is crucial that the project manager have an adequate understanding of motivation and techniques for motivating others. Lack of motivation is one of the project failure factors. It will be crucial, if a project leader is demotivated because it can directly influence the project team and give impact to organisational performance. Lack of motivation can be the result of many factors such as company policies, work condition and salary. Lack of motivation equates to less work being accomplished by the employee. The productivity of the employee will transfer to something that does not relate to projects work. Things like internet surfing, personal chat and taking longer lunches cost the organisation time and money. Low employee motivation could be the result of decreased success of the organisation, abrupt changes in organization and economic downturn. No matter what the cause, while working in unpleasant work environment due to lack employee motivation will give an impact to the existing and potential clients and partners. A reputation can be tainted and dictate its future in the industry. Employees are like lifeline to the company. When they are highly motivated, they will do whatever is necessary to achieve the targets and maintain the company stability. An organisation whose employees have low motivation is completely prone to challenges because its employee are not going extra mile to maintain the companys stability. The space shuttle Columbia disaster One of the top project failures cause by poor leadership is Columbia disaster. Columbia was one of the space shuttle owned by NASA. Amy Donahue (2004) stated that on January 16, the Columbia with her crew of seven was lunched to begin a scientific research mission. Sixteen days later, Columbia and her crew were lost during re-entered the earths atmosphere with unknown damage to her left wing. Columbia broke up over the western United states at 200 000 feet and 12 000 miles per hour. Columbias disintegration was both a tragedy and a disaster. A tragedy because the lives of seven heroic astronauts and their lifes work of countless engineers were lost that morning. And a disaster because more than 87 000 pounds of debris from the shuttle was strewn over 2000 square miles of east Texas and western Louisiana. Some material was as small as postage stamps but other pieces weighed some 800 pounds and came in at upward of 1 600 miles per hour, angering several feet into the ground. Just after the 2003 tragedy occurred many experts concluded that technology was to blame. But a more thorough and comprehensive investigation, undertaken by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, CAIB, concluded differently. It maintained that management was as much to blame for the failure as was the foam strike. The Board described an organizational culture in which, at every juncture, program managers were resistant to new information. It was a culture in which people were unwilling to speak up or if they did speak up were never heard. In their report they wrote that the organizational failure was a product of NASAs history, its culture, and its politics. (Columbia Accident Investigation Board, 2003). Engineers requested inspection by crew or remote photo imagery to check for the damage but no actions were taken to ensure space shuttle integrity. Management, however, was apparently confident that there was no safety issue and a decision was made against imagery. Had the imagery been authorized, and the damage discovered, the conjecture is that a rescue attempt would have had a reasonable chance of success. The project leader didnt take the advice from his engineer and still proceed with his decision. Senior management also ignored the flight data from the previous mission where foam had broken on every lunch. This is a typical example of poor project leadership. On top of these problems, the initial leadership structure was diffuse, with federal state and local field offices, operations canters and command posts all directing of the operation. Figure 1 : Foam strike detected in launch Taken from www.aiche.org/uploadedFiles/CCPS//Presentation_Rev_newv4.ppt Denver International Airport Baggage handling System On top of that, one of good example of project failure that caused by poor project planning and poor risk management was Denver International baggage handling system. According to Dr.R.de. Neufuille (1994) Denvers baggage handling system was the worlds largest automated airport baggage handling system. Faced with the need for greater airport capacity, the city of Denver elected to construct a new state of the art airport that would cement Denvers position as an air transportation hub. Covering a land area of 140 Km2, the airport was to be the largest in the United States and have the capacity to handle more than 50m passengers annually The airports baggage handling system was a critical component in the plan. By automating baggage handling, aircraft turnaround time was to be reduced to as little as 30 minutes. Faster turnaround meant more efficient operations and was a cornerstone of the airports competitive advantage. Despite the good intention, the project complexity was underestimated and was delayed by 16 months and cost the city of Denver USD 1.1 Million per day. After ten years of opening, the system never worked well and in august 2005, United Airlines has abandoned the system completely. The root of this failure was Denver international airport failed to estimate the complexity involved. The system which was the first in the world and 10 times larger than any other automated baggage handling system. The project team estimated the project can be done in two years but it took almost four years to complete. Because of the complexity involved, the airport management does not provide enough trolley in case the system failed .They were overconfidence that the project wills success. The system that worked on 100 individual PC that were connected together have no back up if one PC failed to operate. The system also was unable to detect any jams in the system and instead the system keeps piling more and more baggage making the jam much worse. Another project failure factor was poor in risk management. The project encountered a massive technical problem but not action has been taken. The most significant issue was, the system suffered from electrical shock, To resolve this problem, a filter is used in the electrical circuit to prevent current surge. But the delivery and installation of the filter took several months. Such issues were predictable if the project team more focused on risk management. Figure 2 : Denver baggage handling system Taken from http://calleam.com/WTPF/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/denverbag5.jpg Motivation From the PMBOK 4th Edition (2008) page 418 motivating in a project environment involves creating an environment to meet project objectives while offering maximum self-satisfaction related to what people value most. These values may include job satisfaction, challenging work, a sense of accomplishment, achievement and growth, sufficient financial compensation, and other rewards and recognition the individual considers necessary and important. Motivation is the task of the project manager. He has to provide motivation for his project team. He has to motivate them individually and collectively, that they each may produce their best-and then excel even more. The essential tools in the project managers kitbag for the motivation of his team are: Approval, praise and recognition-These will encourage people to do work and keep the focus Trust, respect and high expectation-Trust is the fundamental of project success. The leader should put trust on his people and in return, people will feel encourage to work Job enrichment Good communication-Communication is simply a two communication between top and bottom. A leader should listen for any suggestion from his employees. Most of the project failure was caused by the breakdown in communication structure. With a good communication system between project leader and workers, any problem can be resolved Cash incentives-Money is a good motivator. Good salary and incentive based on performance will encourage people to go extra mile. The project manager has a much better chance of success if he uses persuasion rather than coercion. The former build morale and initiative, whilst the latter quite effectively kills such qualities. Three basic components in persuasion are: 1. Suggestion 2.Playing the persons sentiments 3.Appealing to their logic. Using these tactics, the project manager will achieve his goal quietly, gently with the minimum of real effort. It is, in effect, an effortless achievement. The project leader has a great role to play in respect of the productivity of his team and through them, the productivity of the whole site. It is on this the actual productivity of the people on the site-that the success of his project finally rest. Productivity is an abstract concept and very controversial indeed. According to William R.King (1988) page 764 one very useful model for explaining the changes that have occurred in human motivation over the years is that developed by Abraham Moslow. Maslows hierarchy argues that mans needs come in an ordered sequence that is arranged in the following five need categories: 1.Physical needs : the foods, water ,air 2.Safety needs : the needs for security, stability and freedom from threat to physical safety. 3.Love needs : the need for friend with whom one may affiliate. 4. Esteem needs : the need for self-respect and esteem of others. This includes recognition, attention and appreciation from others. 5.Self-actualization needs: The need for self-fulfilment to be able tp grow and learn The project leader must be able to assess where each of his subordinate and co-workers are on the hierarchy and attempt to appeal to the appropriate needs. some people crave status and recognition. Others wand strongly to be a member of a cohesive team and to belong Herzberg has suggested that they are two types of motivational factors: hygiene factors and motivators .He suggest that the hygiene factors are necessary condition for a satisfied workers, but do not guarantee satisfaction. The hygiene factors include Company policy and administration Supervision Relationship With supervisor Working condition Salary Personal llife Relationship with peers Status Security In other words, the hygiene factors satisfy the lower level maslow needs. On the other hand, there are motivators which are factors that account for satisfaction in the worker. the motivators include Achievement Recognition Work itsef Responsibility Advancement Growth As a conclusion, motivation is a must that drive people to work. Motivation also has to do with human factors. People are willing to do work if they feel comfortable to do it and fell appreciated with their work. Leadership From the PMBOK 4th Edition (2008) page 417 leadership involves focusing the efforts of a group of people toward a common goal and enabling them to work as a team. In general terms, leadership is the ability to get things done through others. Respect and trust, rather than fear and submission, are the key elements of effective leadership. Although important throughout all project phases, effective leadership is critical during the beginning phases of a project when the emphasis is on communicating the vision and motivating and inspiring project participants to achieve high performance. A good leader always lead by example and make the people work under him feel pleasant. According to William R.King (1988) page 741, leadership behaviour can be divided into task behaviour (one way communication) and relationship behaviour (two way communications).These principles of leadership present s variety of sometimes conflicting premises which make it difficult to select appropriate behaviours in practise. Throughout the project, the project team leaders are responsible for establishing and maintaining the vision, strategy, and communications; fostering trust and team building; influencing, mentoring, and monitoring; and evaluating the performance of the team and the project. If the project leader plays a main role, the project will run smoothly. The good concept off leadership will determine whether the project wills success or not. By implementing the basic techniques of leadership, the people that work for the project will put their heart on work. People at lower level also have right to speak up if the feel something wrong with the project. By taking into account various opinions a final decision can be made by the project leader
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