Learning about Kickstarter for indie authors

Learning about Kickstarter for indie authors Kickstarter for Indie Authors - Talking to Maris Kreizman of Kickstarter Publishing Just like digital publishing, crowdfunding is something that makes being an indie creative totally feasible. Kickstarter  is basically synonymous with crowdfunding, and the first place anyone should look when they’re getting ready to raise.Kickstarter has a whole section of their site dedicated to publishing projects. This is both an awesome way of supporting the community of publishers, and also a great place to go find cool books by new authors!Maris Kreizman is Publishing Project Specialist at Kickstarter. We talked about what’s most important to running a successful Kickstarter campaign, how you set the budget for your campaign, and everything you need to think about before getting started. It’s a trove of advice for indie authors - enjoy!REEDSYWhat do authors need to keep in mind when they’re trying to get funding for a great publishing project?MARIS KREIZMAN There are three important parts to doing a Kickstarter. The first one is telling a good story. That includes having a wonderful video, and telling potential backers who you are and why you want to do the thing you’re trying to do.The second part is rewards - making sure that potential backers are able to share in the project in some meaningful way.The third part is having a relationship with your backers, which means doing a lot of updates, keeping the lines of communication open, and being really transparent about what you’re doing.REEDSY The relationship creators have with their backers sounds really cool. It’s more than just ‘goodies’ but an ongoing relationship.MARIS KREIZMAN One of the most common misperceptions about Kickstarter is people think you need to have a t-shirt or a tote bag. Certainly those are wonderful, but especially in book publishing projects most people want to get the book, the actual thing that’s being made. Experiential rewards are also really wonderful, whether it’s a Skype chat or a little QA with the author - anything that builds a relationship.REEDSY It seems like there’s two kinds of projects on Kickstarter. You get people coming in with their audience from somewhere else, like Leo Babauta of Zen Habits. And then you get people who are starting without that pre-existing community. Does this affect how creators should be planning to share their projects?MARIS KREIZMAN Regardless of who you are and what you’re trying to do, coming in with some sort of base audience is key. So even if you haven’t fully established yourself, have a base level of supporters. That’s maybe just people you know - sending out a link to your family and your friends who want to support you -or, it could go a little deeper, trying to be a part of the community that you’re writing about, posting to blogs, coming in with an email list, stuff like that. I think that Kickstarter is wonderful in helping you spread your message and making your audience bigger.REEDSY Even if it involves potato salad!MARIS KREIZMAN *laughing* If you look at it, he did a really lovely job in putting the project together! It was very simple, and maybe not the most exciting, innovating way to use Kickstarter, but he did a good job and he was really good at communicating with the people who though his idea was clever! I’ve read you elsewhere talking about ways Kickstarter isn’t just about raising funds to cover publishing costs for a single book - could you talk about that a little?MARIS KREIZMAN There are so many different cool ways to use Kickstarter in publishing. I’ve been talking to a lot of small literary presses and magazines about funding a season - â€Å"Help us do Spring 2015† and whatever that encompasses, whether that’s a couple of books or a couple of issues. Book tours for sure. Being able to do research is a huge deal. Think of Kickstarter like a grant - if you’re writing non-fiction and you have research to do it absolutely makes sense to raise money to do that, even if you’ve already figured out how you’re going to publish.REEDSY You were talking about creators telling their story on Kickstarter - what does that mean exactly?MARIS KREIZMAN I think one of the best experiences about Kickstarter is it allows people to follow the artists and creators that they admire. Telling the story can be simply ‘Who am I, why do I love this project, and why do I want to do it.’ Or, it can be more about ‘Here’s how I make the thing, here are the steps I need to take to actually do this.’ And of course ‘This is what the book is going to be.’REEDSY There seems to be a wide variety of budgets for publishing projects, both very high and very low. How should writers budget their projects for Kickstarter?MARIS KREIZMAN I think the most important thing is to go back and really plan out exactly how much money you’ll need to do the thing that you want to do in the way you want to do it, and ask for that amount. That way, if you don’t raise it you won’t have to worry about doing it half-heartedly. And then if you do go above and beyond you can worry about that whole other great kind of problem!REEDSY How important is it for writers to be investing in specialist help for things like producing an introductory video? Is something with extremely high production values essential?MARIS KREIZMAN This is a challenge for any publishing project on Kickstarter, basically. Kickstarter is a visual platform, and not every writer is going to be good at that kind of stuff. I’d say that it’s very important to give backers a feeling of what you’re trying to do, but also to allow the words to speak for you. If you’re not a video expert or an artist, it’s still OK.I’ve seen projects work with a video taken from a phone that really captures a mood, and I think that is enough. The video is important, but it doesn’t have to be really ‘well-produced’ or ‘beautiful looking’ - I think it’s really helpful to just give a sense of who you are and what the thing you’re making is.REEDSY What sort of things do you like to see in a project?MARIS KREIZMAN Particularly if you’re an individual, it’s very important to talk about how you plan to actually get the thing made.REEDSY What does that plan consist of?MARIS KREIZMAN That they’ve talked to publishers, that they have a price quote for how much it would cost to print x amount of books†¦ I often say that self-publishing is not something that you should really do on your own. The idea that you might have an editor or designer lined up, or that you yourself are already a wonderful designer and can show that to us.It’s about ‘Has this person thought through the practicalities of getting this book out?’ Backers are really skilled at picking out the projects that they think will succeed, and where they’ll end up with whatever reward they’ve put in for. Anything you can do to communicate to backers that you have a plan for this whole thing, and to get them the rewards that they want, is key.REEDSY Do you have any advice for authors on how to structure the rewards they’re offering?MARIS KREIZMAN I would say that rewards should have a few different tiers - like offering the digital version for $10 or so. Depending on whether you’re going to do the paperback or the hardback or both, do one for $20, one for $30. If you want to do a special edition that looks really pretty and fancy, charge an extra $20 for that. Signed copies are good. One of the things that I always tell people is â€Å"Make sure that the thing you’ll be working on is making the best project that you can,† and not so much â€Å"How will I ship out all of these rewards?†REEDSY Are there any resources authors can go check out, or somewhere the can send you questions?MARIS KREIZMAN If you want publishing specific advice, you can email publishing@kickstarter.com. That’s how you can reach me. I would recommend though looking on the Kickstarter site. There’s a creator handbook that really goes into some of the nitty gritty details of how to do a successful Kickstarter project.REEDSY Thanks for your time Maris.Have you ever tried crowdfunding for a book or a series? What have been your takeaways? Do join the discussion in the comments below!

Science Fair Chemistry Project Ideas and Inspiration

Science Fair Chemistry Project Ideas and Inspiration These science fair projects ideas provide information and questions you can develop into a science fair project. Bookmark this page or check back regularly, since new ideas are added. You may submit an idea for a science fair project to be included in the list. Quick Look at Projects by Education Level These projects are grouped according to grade level ranging from preschool through middle school, high school, and college. 12th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas. Senior high school science projects can be fairly advanced. Some seniors have done projects that gain them scholarships or change the world!11th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas. 11th grade is the peak time for students to apply to colleges, so an award-winning or thought-provoking project can gain scholarships or aid during the school interview process.10th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas. 10th-grade science fair projects offer students the opportunity to explore whether they want to pursue college education or a career in science. There are scholarship opportunities at this level, too.9th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas8th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas7th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas6th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas5th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas4th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas3rd Grade Science Fair Project Ideas2nd Grade Science Fair Project Ideas1st Grade Science Fair Project IdeasKindergarten Science Fair Project Ideas

Review of the Management Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Review of the Management Literature - Essay Example There are evidences regarding the differences in the attitudes and interests across these two generations, which would be found throughout the workplace. In today’s world most of the organizations face severe problems. But these problems does not relate to downsizing, foreign competition, change etc. They are having difficulty in handling various generations, which constitute the entire workforce. The generation conflict within the workforce is found to be one of the common problems for most of the organizations. This is not a minor problem and lack of attention in the generation difference would result in reduced efficiencies of the organizations. Thus, a good understanding about the generation differences for strengthening the work relationship between different employees is highly crucial. At first it becomes necessary to understand generation X and generation Y. Generation X: Individuals falling in this category are born in between 1965 to 1980. The people belong to this a ge group work very hard for the betterment of the overall performance of the organization. But at the same time, if better opportunity knocks at their door then they do not hesitate in switching their jobs. The work-life balance is an important factor for this generation. This generation also believes that people would be giving their best output if they are offered the freedom to be innovative and creative in life. People belonging to this particular generation like to explain in details the reason behind any decision making within the organization and they motivate the employees in such manner that they can easily understand all the decisions adapted and have an idea about the reason behind them as well. This generation believes in strengthening of communication within the workplace by means of email. Generation Y: Individuals belonging to this generation are born in between 1981 to 2000. The people belonging to this age group believe that they possess some brilliant ideas and as a result they just want to do give their best (Eisner, 2005; Sujansky, 2004). They believe that the results would follow the performance automatically. They like working in their respective workplaces and enjoy meeting their responsibilities until they get bored out of it. They believe that working from home is equally good like working from office as long as the work is getting completed (Allen, 2004; Johns, 2003). Texting is the best mode of remaining in touch with the generation Y member in the work place. Main problem arising in the work place Generation Y takes more time taking direction for completing their work as compared to Generation X. The Generation Y employees possess a high sense of morality, are sociable and ready to fight for independence. These individuals have high values for their friends and family. These individuals prefer taking intellectual challenges and strive for making differences in themselves (Martin and Tulgan, 2006). They prefer their employers to have such skills, which would help them in their professional development (Brown, 2004). This generation does not get highly motivated by the objective of making good deal of money (Francis-Smith, 2004). They believe in doing meaningful work and want to be appreciated for their performances (Zemke Raines and Filipczak, 2000). Setting personal goals as well as achieving those matters to a great extent to these generation individuals. Moreover,

The usage of accounting numbers in management compensation contracts Assignment

The usage of accounting numbers in management compensation contracts - Assignment Example (4 marks) b) Find a company (other than Qantas) which uses accounting numbers in their management compensation contracts. Identify the company and given an example of an accounting number that they use in their management compensation contracts. [NOTE: the company must be an Australian company, currently listed on the stock exchange. You must not refer to any financial statements before 2012. Any references to financial statements should clearly indicate the number of the page referred to.] (2 marks) c) On the 25th May, 2012, Hastie Group Ltd (http://www.hastiegroup.com.au) advised the market that an employee â€Å"deliberately caused †¦ irregularities in Hastie's accounts in the 2008?09 financial year†, leading to a $20 million dollar adjustment to its full?year profit. Hastie’s announcement to the market indicated that â€Å"some current and former senior management may have participated in the irregularities and failed to apply the required standards of financi al supervision and review.† If Hastie’s executives had received bonuses based on this incorrect figure, do you believe they should have to return this money to the company? Why or why not? (4 marks) Answers a. A management compensation contracts is a type of contract that is designed to connect the shareholder’s goals with those of the executives or CEO. ... In order to diminish the costs, contracts are utilized in the alignment of the stakeholder’s interests as well as actions of the two parties by relying on accounting numbers that provide incentive in maximizing shareholders value (Beatty, Ramesh and Weber, 2002, Pp. 218-227). The strong demand for accounting numbers assist in conceptualizing purpose of accounting information the evaluation as well as making decisions on issues of allocating scarce resources. Therefore, there are accounting oriented measures that are formulated to enable manage compensation contracts. These measures are utilized as a cost effective approaches in providing financial incentives allowing management in earning higher remuneration amounts in order to reach targets that have been set by accounting numbers to maximize shareholder interest. For instance, a management compensation contract stating that a director responsible for performance bonuses is supposed to rely on accounting numbers like equity r atios or net profits in order to direct a director’s compensation. This gives the management an incentive of making decisions liable to increase the shareholders value and at the same time trying to avoid NPV investments as well as reducing the consumption. Therefore, it is appropriate to conclude that accounting numbers utilized in compensation contracts assist in reducing agency costs as well as benefit the shareholders. b. The Woolworths Ltd Annual Report 2012 shows clearly that management is compensated by utilizing Sort Term Incentives Plans (STP) as well as the long Term Incentive Plans which constitute 40% of the remuneration offered to the Executive Directors. The STIP is based on accounting numbers like the

Should People Have Autonomy over Their End of Life Decisions Essay Example for Free

Should People Have Autonomy over Their End of Life Decisions Essay There is a lot of controversy surrounding the issue of people’s autonomy when it comes to the end of their lives. Why somebody would want to end their life prematurely is a question that puzzles people. So therefore is hard to comprehend why people should have autonomy over such a thing. There has been an increase in the interest of euthanasia and assisted suicide for the terminally ill in recent years (Williams 1997). The most obvious reason for someone wanting to end their life is to end the suffering they are going through once the illness goes beyond being bearable. Palliative care is an important part of treating a seriously ill patient. It provides a patient with care, support and any medical treatment they need including pain relief. But is this enough? A person that is extremely sick, for example, a terminally ill cancer patient, or a person that is paralysed from the neck down, or any person that is unable to do things for themselves – such as washing, eating etc., will need to depend on others to help them. This would involve somebody dressing them, washing them, feeding them – or having being fed via I.V., they would need help going to the toilet and may need to be lifted in and out of a bed. These peoples quality of life would be very low. They may be depending on family members for these things or medical professionals that are strangers to them. Either way, this can be an embarrassing and upsetting for a person. They may feel like they have lost all sense of dignity and some might feel like they are just waiting to die. People in these situations may often decide that the best option for them is to end their physical and emotional pain. If a doctor cannot improve an individual’s quality of life and they make that decision to end their suffering, the patient should have right to have their wishes met. Those that request assistance in dying are usually very desperate and do not see any other option. There are vast amounts of arguments against autonomy at the end of ones life too. Religious perspectives. consequences on family, friends and healthcare professionals. Is it ethical? Would it begin a slippery slope towards involuntary euthanasia? But are these arguments and opinions stronger than a person’s right to choose? The Argument The subject of euthanasia is very controversial because there are very strong arguments at both ends of the spectrum. There are any justifications for and against the issue of one’s autonomy over their end of life decision. Paterson (2008) states that religion plays a role in many people’s decisions against voluntarily ending one’s life. Most religions are strongly opposed to the idea that a person should want to end their own life and/or aid an individual in doing so. Other factors come into play such as conscience and morality. Some people see it as unlawful and more often than not, it is a very taboo subject that people would rather not discuss. (Paterson, 2008) On the opposite end of the spectrum, one will argue that those who are terminally ill are going through unbearable suffering, they may need help going to the bathroom, eating and drinking and possibly feel like they have lost their dignity because of this. In an online article written for the Daily Mail, a man by the name of Tony Nicklinson describes his life as â€Å"miserable, demeaning and undignified† (Miller, 2012). The article describes how Nicklinson is mentally sound but physically paralysed from the neck down and took his plea for his right to die to the courts. This emphasises that euthanasia and assisted suicide can be a relief from pain and suffering, or in Tony Nicklinson’s case, an alternative to the quality of life he must struggle through on a daily basis. (Miller, 2012) Many factors come into play when a person decides they no longer want to live. It is not a decision that is made lightly. It is one of desperation. Those opposed to the idea of assisted suicide and euthanasia will argue that a patient in severe pain and suffering in their daily living, will receive the appropriate palliative care thus, rendering euthanasia unnecessary (Anti-euthanasia arguments 2012) But surely palliative care is also a necessary element in figuring out whether or not a person would be deemed eligible if euthanasia were an option for them. Palliative care also provides support for those closest to a patient. If a terminally ill patient of sound mind wishes to end their pain and suffering, does that mean that they and their close family and friends are no longer entitled to the same care and support as those patients that do not choose to end their lives earlier? Under the subtitle ‘Proper Palliative Care’, an article on the BBC website states â€Å"The key to successful palliative care is to treat the patient as a person, not as a set of symptoms, or medical problems.† (Anti-euthanasia arguments 2012) If this is the case, the patient as a person – should be given their dignity, respect and deserve to have their voice heard. â€Å"The judgement – as to whether a life, in the face of intractable pain and suffering, is worth living – can and should be determined by the conscience of the individual patient []† (Paterson, 2008. p16) An article for the Irish Times declares that the attitudes of the irish people towards euthanasia is rapidly changing. A study carried out by a Canadian student, Matthew Carere on final year medical students in UCC, reveals that the majority – almost 60% were in favour of euthanasia, with Carere stating that the reason for this was that patients are more informed these days to make their own decisions and that medical professionals have more respect for patient autonomy (Roseingrave, 2011). Very often, deliberate decisions are made which results in the end of a life. For example, a person could be kept on life support, but instead, a family member or other significant person might choose to switch off the life support machine resulting in the official death of a patient. There is also the case that resuscitation of a patient may eventually prove to be trivial and a doctor might suggest just making the patient as comfortable as possible until their eventual passing. In the above situations, a medical professional’s decisions would not be questioned or doubted. It is conventional practice (Warnock and MacDonald 2008). An organisation called Exit International was set up in 1997 by Dr. Philip Nitschke. They believe that people have the right to make an informed decision about when and how they will bring their life to an end. They provide information and support to those that need it on assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia (About Exit International 2012) â€Å"Exit’s long term goal is responsible and ethical law reform. The Swiss model of decriminalising assisted suicide is the preferred model.† (About Exit International 2012) At the moment the Netherlands is the only place in the world that one can legally take action should they decide it’s their time to go (Griffiths and Weyers 1998). It was legalised fully in the year 2000. Prior to this doctors could still be prosecuted by law. However, there are strict guidelines that must be met. â€Å"1. Adult patients must be beyond any hope of recovery and face continuous unbearable pain. 2. The patient must make repeated, clear and reasoned requests to do so. 3. A second physician must be consulted. 4. The action must be carried out in a medically approved manner. 5. parental consent is required for patients under 16 years old.† (Legalized Euthanasia 2007) In Switzerland, active euthanasia is illegal but with specific consent, doctors may provide the drugs but the patient must be the one to take them voluntarily. (Legalized Euthanasia 2007) A person’s right to choose is very imminent. Considering the criteria that must be met in the Netherlands and Switzerland, it’s very obvious that it is only an option if it is in the very best interest of the patient. This makes sense if one considers prolonging the suffering of a patient both physically and mentally as cruel and unethical. Conclusion The term ‘suicide’ brings with it a lot of negative emotions. The idea that somebody would willingly want to end their lives is a distressing thought. It conjures up the idea that a person is depressed and in deep emotional pain. The idea of suicide is indeed scary. This, perhaps may be why people panic when they hear the term ‘assisted-suicide’ or when they think about euthanasia. What those opposed to the idea of prematurely ending a life do not think about though, is the physical as well as the emotional pain a terminally ill person is feeling. They can empathise but not fully understand, unless they are in the same or similar situation. So, who are they to deny a human being their free will and choice to end their suffering? How do they know that they would not feel the same way if they were the ones going through the unbearable pain and lack of dignity? â€Å"Furthermore it is argued, we ourselves have an obligation to relieve the suffering of our fell ow human beings and to respect their dignity.† (Andre, Velasquez 2012) People against the idea of assisted suicide and euthanasia will speak of the guilt of allowing a person to seek an end to their own lives. But where is their guilt in watching an individual, perhaps a loved one in relentless pain? Where is their compassion for the terminally ill patient? (Andre and Velasquez 2012) Thos people may also talk about a ‘slippery-slope’ to involuntary suicide. the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide under certain circumstances, would mean legislation – criteria that needs to be met, similarly, if not the same as that of Netherlands. â€Å"with safeguards, the law should permit it and people should be supplied with the means to take their own life or a doctor should be authorized to end their life provided the request is made before witnesses.† (Williams 1997) People of sound mind should have autonomy over what they want to happen at the end of their life, they should have the choice. Williams (1997) suggests that if one rationally decides that they want to end their life, they must be prepared to discuss the pros and the cons of their decision and the reasons behind those decisions will be questioned. He writes that we all have a right to make a decision on our own life and once their unit of family and friends is taken into account, then it can be justifiable to deliberately end a life. This is completely understandable and logical. People would no longer have to endure excruciating pain and struggle through the end of their lives without dignity. If they have autonomy, they have the choice to end their suffering and pain.

Essay on Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 -- Sonnet essays

Interpretation of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 Sonnet 73 is a meditation on mortality, and yet it can be interpreted in a number of ways. The first such interpretation is that the author of the poem is speaking to someone else about his own death that will inevitably come in the future. This interpretation has the poem focused on the author, and his focus and concern over himself. This makes him seem very selfish, because we are all going to die sooner or later, and it does not do any good to dwell on or complain about it. The only use that this interpretation really has is to evoke pity in the author, or the speaker of the Sonnet. That is why it was this interpretation of Sonnet 73 that was used in a 1996 production of Shakespeare's The Tempest by the Indiana Repertory Theatre. The director substituted five or six Sonnets for the pageantry scene where Prospero summons island spirits to perform for Ferdinand and Miranda, the last Sonnet in this substitution being #73. Prospero has a plot against his life, and this Sonnet helps to remind him of this, and also to remind his daughter Miranda that soon her father will be gone. Prospero uses the last couplet of the Sonnet directed to Miranda as "This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong." This line could also be the author speaking in the third person, and he is referring to himself as "thou." It is also interpreted as another two people conversing in these last lines by The Francis Bacon Society, they believe that Bacon was the one who wrote this Sonnet. "Here Bacon is meditating on getting old and like a sunset fading away and death like night sealing everything up. That the fire of his youth is like ashes on a fire expiring as on a death be... ...g?" Or why doesn't the action of leaving have as its subject the "I," the poet, who in death would leave behind his auditor?. . . If we read the last line with a stress on "thou," according to the meter, then the grammar and the meaning become consistent, and the reading of the Sonnet insists upon the shift in focus from the speaker's life (and imminent death), to the addressee's imminent loss of youth." These are a couple of different ways that Sonnet 73 can be interpreted. It just goes to show that there are never any definite answers about things that belong to the category of art, and especially everything concerning the work of William Shakespeare. There will always be ideas and theories that will contradict each other, and that is really the only thing that can be excepted as a constant when dealing in projects such as this one.

Genghis Khan

Later on in his life, Genesis Khan decided that, whilst assembling his army, he realized that separating everyone by their rank made no sense, so he separated them thou acknowledgement of their lineage, thus abolishing the distinction between black bone and white bone (37-38 & 52-53); Genesis Khan learned how to travel long distances over long periods of time with little food or water.This benefited them tremendously by letting them cross vast terrain that the enemy wouldn't expect them to cross, creating a surprise attack (86-87); Genesis Khan, after several raids, realizes that the rush to loot the germs of the defeated served as an impediment to more complete victory. Rather than chasing down the warriors of the raided camps, attackers nearly allowed them to flee and focused instead on immediately looting their camps. He distributed the goods along the same lines by which the hunting men of the forest traditionally distributed a kill at the end of a group hunt.This policy not only ensured him the support of the poorest people in the tribe, but it also inspired loyalty among his soldiers, who knew that even if they died, he would take care of their surviving families (50) 6. Mongolia and the surrounding area provided pathways and uncrossed terrain that allowed Genesis Khan to sneak up on his enemies and strike effectively. Also, he loud spare a few people so they can run to other empires and spread fear and panic across the steppes. (3-5) 7. One of the reasons that Timeline killed his older half-brother, Better, is because of how he treated Timeline.He would always steal any fish Timeline caught or killed, and would never share his earnings with anyone. Because of this, Timeline killed him in order to proclaim his dominance, to keep his dignity, and (possibly) to keep the family from starving. (24-25) 8. Timeline had to fight Jan-Kuaka, who was his and and his blood brother. Although Timeline had far less soldiers than Kumar, he used many different effective tactics against him, such as the Tumbleweed Formation, where Mongol warriors advanced toward the enemy in divided groups silently.This caused Genesis Khan's units to strike fast from a single direction, and flee quickly, leaving the enemy wounded but unable to retaliate before the attackers disappeared. Also, Timeline send a guard on a horse so skinny with a saddle so primitive that the captors sent the horse and saddle from camp to camp in mockery to how pathetic the Mongols had become. In another trick, since he had far fewer soldiers than the Kumar, Timeline ordered each man o set 5 campfires every night on the hills where his army camped, in order to make them seem like a much larger army.The Mongols were gaining the advantage, but Timeline did not race to victory. The night before the decisive battle, he told his men to sleep soundly. This is due to the fear inside the Anima, who began to flee in the night. However, Genesis knew that their only escape route was down the steep b ackside of a mountain, and, unable to see, the fleeing men and their horses fell into the gorge. The next morning, Genesis Khan easily defeated the remaining threats, causing Kumar to disappear into the forest. Timeline executed Kumar;s betrayers on the principle that betrayal merits the harshest punishment.The Secret History states that Timeline offered renewal of their brotherhood, but Kumar insisted that just as there was room for only one sun in the sky, there was room only for one Mongol lord. He asked to be executed by dying a noble death without the spilling of blood. His request was granted by having his back broken by Tennis's soldiers. It is said that Timeline buried Kumar in the golden belt that he had given to Kumar when they formed their bond of brotherhood. (61-64) 9. The Mongols were effective in expanding their empire, and used any techniques to do so.These techniques were acquired by Genesis Khan's observations of his enemies' attempts to use one or more techniques to attack the Mongols. After he conquered empire after empire, he would spare one or more people that helped create/develop the machinery/ maneuvers/techniques and would use them against other empires, keeping one or more of the engineers with him during invasions for quick assembling for a swift encounter. Genesis also snuck up on other enemies that, out of pure fear and loyalty, they agreed to side with Genesis and bring more goods to the people of Mongolia, thus benefiting the ranking of Mongols.This instilled fear into Genesis Khan's enemies, and spread word of his terror across the steppes. This increased his dominance and his reign, and whenever people fled to other places to warn them of the unstoppable army of Genesis Khan, it only fueled his hunger for victory with the fear of every empire that would soon be conquered, stolen, and destroyed by the tenacious hands of Genesis Khan. (81-84) 10. Mongol conquests resulted in some of the most destructive wars in human history.In Iran, the Mongol invasion resulted in extermination, disease, and destruction of irrigation yester resulting in mass emigration, famine, and drastic population decline. The Mongols differed drastically from their opponents in the sense of warfare. The Mongols used a variety of attacks, techniques and maneuvers to successfully attack their enemies. The Mongols were viewed as ruthless, brutal and bloodthirsty. In a way, they are ruthless, but their tactics for fighting were far more successful than their â€Å"civilized† opponents, which gave them an enormous advantage, and thus making domination imminent.The spread of word about the Mongols helped others know about the coming of he Mongol army, and would even make many people flee towards them in submission. (144-147) 1 . The Mongols' encounters with religion had a large effect on their lives. Religious tolerance was evident in their society, so there were many people of different religions. Christianity was viewed as a praise d, popular religion by some, but also as a group of hatred by others, due to the killing of Jews by Christians. The Mongols had a system of religious freedom; they required that the needs of the empire be served before there own, however.Christianity was spread effectively around multiple areas, but the Mongols, for the most art, kept their religion and beliefs alive, not letting anything else alter that. (219 and pages from Chi. 9-10) 2. In the book, the Christian Crusaders, when they took cities such as Antioch in 1 098 and Jerusalem in 1 099, slaughtered the Jews and Muslims without regard for age or gender, but merely because of their religion. (116) 3. Genesis Khan used brute force to conquer his enemies. He would destroy empires and steal riches afterwards. Chablis Khan, however, was no Genesis Khan.Chablis, even without the military skills of his grandfather, had clearly outsmarted everyone in his family. He possessed a keen strategic talent and he ability to have, and implem ent, good ideas; he applied these skills to the management of his territory, and its expansion toward the south. In the end, he proved able to achieve though public politics what his grandfather had not been able to achieve through brute force: the conquest and unification of all Chine, the most populous country on earth. (195) 4. Traditionally, merchants were accorded a relatively low social status in China.The Mongols, however, had a more favorable attitude toward merchants and commerce -? their nomadic way of life, which is much reliant on trade with sedentary peoples, ad caused them to recognize the importance of trade from the very earliest times. Thus, the Mongols worked to improve the social status of merchants and traders throughout their domains. The Mongols always favored trade. Their nomadic way of life caused them to recognize the importance of trade from the very earliest times and, unlike the Chinese, they had a positive attitude toward merchants and commerce.Support f or trade characterized not only Mongol policy in China but their policy throughout their domains. The Mongols even tried to introduce paper money -? though this would come merely a failed experiment. Nonetheless, the attempt indicates the desire of the Mongols to provide additional assistance to traders. (250) 5. In the Mongolia Empire, there were common principles/innovations that they created during their rule. Some of these included paper money, international law, diplomatic immunity, primacy of the state over the church, and freedom of religion.These innovations have all led to our advantages in today's contemporary lifestyle: Paper money is used all around the world, making it one of the most common forms of currency used worldwide; international away is used to keep order and peace for everyone; diplomatic immunity is used where there are rulers/leaders, making them ‘immune' to lawsuit/ prosecution under that host country's laws; freedom of religion, which is greatly use d today, helps prevent religious prosecution in our society, and lets people freely practice and be proud of their beliefs. (236) 6.As the people infected with the bubonic plague died, they infected those around them by violent coughing, sneezing and gasping. When the plague broke out in Mongolia and China, the Mongols brought the disease north with them. The disease was carried by fleas, but, even though they don't normally come in contact with humans, they traveled in the food crates of the Mongols. Also, China functioned as the manufacturing center of the Mongol World System, and as the goods poured out of China, the disease followed, seemingly spreading in all directions at once.By 1338 the plague crossed from China over the Titan Shaman Mountains. The same Mongol roads and caravans that knitted together the Eurasian world of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries moved more than mere silk and spices. The roads set up by the Mongols for merchants also served as the accidental t ransfer point for the fleas and, thereby, for the disease itself. With all the luxurious fabrics and more, the caravans brought the fleas that spread the plague from one camp to another, one village to another, one city to another, and one continent to another.In the sixty years from 1340 until 1400, the population of Asia declined from 238 million to 201 million inhabitants, and Europe from 75 million to 52 million. (242-245) 7. Gender the widespread influences from the paper and printing, gunpowder and firearms, and the spread of the navigational compass and other maritime equipment, Europeans experienced a Renaissance, literally a rebirth, but it was not the ancient world of Greece and Rome being reborn: It was the Mongol Empire, picked up, transferred, and adapted by the Europeans to their own needs and culture.The paintings shared a common source in the work of Ghetto did Bonded and his disciples. Although the frescoes of the church depicted events from the life of Christ, more than a thousand years before the Mongol Empire, only shortly before Mongol contact, the artists depicted many of their subjects as Mongols or used Mongol dress and cloth for them. The artists placed Mongols in a variety of Christian paintings with their distinctive clothing, headgear, and bows. Genghis Khan Later on in his life, Genesis Khan decided that, whilst assembling his army, he realized that separating everyone by their rank made no sense, so he separated them thou acknowledgement of their lineage, thus abolishing the distinction between black bone and white bone (37-38 & 52-53); Genesis Khan learned how to travel long distances over long periods of time with little food or water.This benefited them tremendously by letting them cross vast terrain that the enemy wouldn't expect them to cross, creating a surprise attack (86-87); Genesis Khan, after several raids, realizes that the rush to loot the germs of the defeated served as an impediment to more complete victory. Rather than chasing down the warriors of the raided camps, attackers nearly allowed them to flee and focused instead on immediately looting their camps. He distributed the goods along the same lines by which the hunting men of the forest traditionally distributed a kill at the end of a group hunt.This policy not only ensured him the support of the poorest people in the tribe, but it also inspired loyalty among his soldiers, who knew that even if they died, he would take care of their surviving families (50) 6. Mongolia and the surrounding area provided pathways and uncrossed terrain that allowed Genesis Khan to sneak up on his enemies and strike effectively. Also, he loud spare a few people so they can run to other empires and spread fear and panic across the steppes. (3-5) 7. One of the reasons that Timeline killed his older half-brother, Better, is because of how he treated Timeline.He would always steal any fish Timeline caught or killed, and would never share his earnings with anyone. Because of this, Timeline killed him in order to proclaim his dominance, to keep his dignity, and (possibly) to keep the family from starving. (24-25) 8. Timeline had to fight Jan-Kuaka, who was his and and his blood brother. Although Timeline had far less soldiers than Kumar, he used many different effective tactics against him, such as the Tumbleweed Formation, where Mongol warriors advanced toward the enemy in divided groups silently.This caused Genesis Khan's units to strike fast from a single direction, and flee quickly, leaving the enemy wounded but unable to retaliate before the attackers disappeared. Also, Timeline send a guard on a horse so skinny with a saddle so primitive that the captors sent the horse and saddle from camp to camp in mockery to how pathetic the Mongols had become. In another trick, since he had far fewer soldiers than the Kumar, Timeline ordered each man o set 5 campfires every night on the hills where his army camped, in order to make them seem like a much larger army.The Mongols were gaining the advantage, but Timeline did not race to victory. The night before the decisive battle, he told his men to sleep soundly. This is due to the fear inside the Anima, who began to flee in the night. However, Genesis knew that their only escape route was down the steep b ackside of a mountain, and, unable to see, the fleeing men and their horses fell into the gorge. The next morning, Genesis Khan easily defeated the remaining threats, causing Kumar to disappear into the forest. Timeline executed Kumar;s betrayers on the principle that betrayal merits the harshest punishment.The Secret History states that Timeline offered renewal of their brotherhood, but Kumar insisted that just as there was room for only one sun in the sky, there was room only for one Mongol lord. He asked to be executed by dying a noble death without the spilling of blood. His request was granted by having his back broken by Tennis's soldiers. It is said that Timeline buried Kumar in the golden belt that he had given to Kumar when they formed their bond of brotherhood. (61-64) 9. The Mongols were effective in expanding their empire, and used any techniques to do so.These techniques were acquired by Genesis Khan's observations of his enemies' attempts to use one or more techniques to attack the Mongols. After he conquered empire after empire, he would spare one or more people that helped create/develop the machinery/ maneuvers/techniques and would use them against other empires, keeping one or more of the engineers with him during invasions for quick assembling for a swift encounter. Genesis also snuck up on other enemies that, out of pure fear and loyalty, they agreed to side with Genesis and bring more goods to the people of Mongolia, thus benefiting the ranking of Mongols.This instilled fear into Genesis Khan's enemies, and spread word of his terror across the steppes. This increased his dominance and his reign, and whenever people fled to other places to warn them of the unstoppable army of Genesis Khan, it only fueled his hunger for victory with the fear of every empire that would soon be conquered, stolen, and destroyed by the tenacious hands of Genesis Khan. (81-84) 10. Mongol conquests resulted in some of the most destructive wars in human history.In Iran, the Mongol invasion resulted in extermination, disease, and destruction of irrigation yester resulting in mass emigration, famine, and drastic population decline. The Mongols differed drastically from their opponents in the sense of warfare. The Mongols used a variety of attacks, techniques and maneuvers to successfully attack their enemies. The Mongols were viewed as ruthless, brutal and bloodthirsty. In a way, they are ruthless, but their tactics for fighting were far more successful than their â€Å"civilized† opponents, which gave them an enormous advantage, and thus making domination imminent.The spread of word about the Mongols helped others know about the coming of he Mongol army, and would even make many people flee towards them in submission. (144-147) 1 . The Mongols' encounters with religion had a large effect on their lives. Religious tolerance was evident in their society, so there were many people of different religions. Christianity was viewed as a praise d, popular religion by some, but also as a group of hatred by others, due to the killing of Jews by Christians. The Mongols had a system of religious freedom; they required that the needs of the empire be served before there own, however.Christianity was spread effectively around multiple areas, but the Mongols, for the most art, kept their religion and beliefs alive, not letting anything else alter that. (219 and pages from Chi. 9-10) 2. In the book, the Christian Crusaders, when they took cities such as Antioch in 1 098 and Jerusalem in 1 099, slaughtered the Jews and Muslims without regard for age or gender, but merely because of their religion. (116) 3. Genesis Khan used brute force to conquer his enemies. He would destroy empires and steal riches afterwards. Chablis Khan, however, was no Genesis Khan.Chablis, even without the military skills of his grandfather, had clearly outsmarted everyone in his family. He possessed a keen strategic talent and he ability to have, and implem ent, good ideas; he applied these skills to the management of his territory, and its expansion toward the south. In the end, he proved able to achieve though public politics what his grandfather had not been able to achieve through brute force: the conquest and unification of all Chine, the most populous country on earth. (195) 4. Traditionally, merchants were accorded a relatively low social status in China.The Mongols, however, had a more favorable attitude toward merchants and commerce -? their nomadic way of life, which is much reliant on trade with sedentary peoples, ad caused them to recognize the importance of trade from the very earliest times. Thus, the Mongols worked to improve the social status of merchants and traders throughout their domains. The Mongols always favored trade. Their nomadic way of life caused them to recognize the importance of trade from the very earliest times and, unlike the Chinese, they had a positive attitude toward merchants and commerce.Support f or trade characterized not only Mongol policy in China but their policy throughout their domains. The Mongols even tried to introduce paper money -? though this would come merely a failed experiment. Nonetheless, the attempt indicates the desire of the Mongols to provide additional assistance to traders. (250) 5. In the Mongolia Empire, there were common principles/innovations that they created during their rule. Some of these included paper money, international law, diplomatic immunity, primacy of the state over the church, and freedom of religion.These innovations have all led to our advantages in today's contemporary lifestyle: Paper money is used all around the world, making it one of the most common forms of currency used worldwide; international away is used to keep order and peace for everyone; diplomatic immunity is used where there are rulers/leaders, making them ‘immune' to lawsuit/ prosecution under that host country's laws; freedom of religion, which is greatly use d today, helps prevent religious prosecution in our society, and lets people freely practice and be proud of their beliefs. (236) 6.As the people infected with the bubonic plague died, they infected those around them by violent coughing, sneezing and gasping. When the plague broke out in Mongolia and China, the Mongols brought the disease north with them. The disease was carried by fleas, but, even though they don't normally come in contact with humans, they traveled in the food crates of the Mongols. Also, China functioned as the manufacturing center of the Mongol World System, and as the goods poured out of China, the disease followed, seemingly spreading in all directions at once.By 1338 the plague crossed from China over the Titan Shaman Mountains. The same Mongol roads and caravans that knitted together the Eurasian world of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries moved more than mere silk and spices. The roads set up by the Mongols for merchants also served as the accidental t ransfer point for the fleas and, thereby, for the disease itself. With all the luxurious fabrics and more, the caravans brought the fleas that spread the plague from one camp to another, one village to another, one city to another, and one continent to another.In the sixty years from 1340 until 1400, the population of Asia declined from 238 million to 201 million inhabitants, and Europe from 75 million to 52 million. (242-245) 7. Gender the widespread influences from the paper and printing, gunpowder and firearms, and the spread of the navigational compass and other maritime equipment, Europeans experienced a Renaissance, literally a rebirth, but it was not the ancient world of Greece and Rome being reborn: It was the Mongol Empire, picked up, transferred, and adapted by the Europeans to their own needs and culture.The paintings shared a common source in the work of Ghetto did Bonded and his disciples. Although the frescoes of the church depicted events from the life of Christ, more than a thousand years before the Mongol Empire, only shortly before Mongol contact, the artists depicted many of their subjects as Mongols or used Mongol dress and cloth for them. The artists placed Mongols in a variety of Christian paintings with their distinctive clothing, headgear, and bows.

Project Management and Project Management It

Examination Paper: Project Management IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper Project Management Section A: Objective Type (30 marks) †¢ †¢ †¢ This section consists of multiple choices questions and short answer type questions. Answer all the questions. Part One questions carry 1 mark each and Part Two questions carry 5 marks each. Part One: Multiple choices: 1. During _________formal tools and techniques were developed to help and manage large complex projects. a. 1950s b. 1980s c. 1920s d. 1990s 2. PERT stands for: a. Program Evaluation and Reverse Technique b.Progress Evaluation and Review Technique c. Program Evaluation and Review Technique d. None of the above 3. The most basic model of any Operating System is: a. Project Model b. Input-output model c. Output-input model d. None of the above 4. Overall complexity = a. Organizational complexity*resource complexity*technical complexity b. Organizational complexity+technical complexity-resource comple xity c. Technical complexity+resource complexity/organizational complexity d. Organizational complexity*resource complexity/technical complexity 5.Relevant areas of the APM body of knowledge are: a. Quality Management b. Budgeting and cost Management c. Project Cost Management d. Both ‘a’ and ‘b’ MM. 100 1 IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper: Project Management 6. Costs associated with the planning process include: a. Planer’s tools b. Opportunity cost c. Planned labour and associated expenses d. All of the above 7. CPA stands for: a. Critical Path Analysis b. Common Path Analysis c. Critical Path Algorithm d. Common Problem Analysis 8. The project duration with the normal activity time is ____days. . 11 b. 16 c. 17 d. 21 9. The nature of the work organization is important as it: a. Defines responsibility and authority b. Outlines reporting arrangements c. Determines the management overhead d. All of the above 10. Matrix Managemen t was invented by a. Mullins b. Belbin c. Drucker d. Frederick Taylor Part Two: 1. 2. 3. 4. Define ‘Cost Estimating Techniques’. Write a note on ‘Critical Path Analysis’. Differentiate between General Management and Project Management. What is ‘Team Life Cycle’? END OF SECTION A 2 IIBM Institute of Business ManagementExamination Paper: Project Management Section B: Caselets (40 marks) †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ This section consists of Caselets. Answer all the questions. Each Caselet carries 20 marks. Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 150 to 200 words). Caselet 1 It’s a Risky Business Four friends wanted to start a business. After much discussion, they had hit upon the idea of launch a mail-order toys and games business. They were in the development stage of their business plan and wanted to be sure that they had been through with their planning.To reinforce this, they had just received a letter fr om a group of venture capitalists, agreeing to fund the start up. It concluded its review of their plan by stating: The business plan presents a credible opportunity for all involved and we are prepared to approve the funding request, subject to a risk analysis being carried out on the project to start the business. The group was stunned-the funding that they had been hoping for was suddenly a reality. Just one thing stood in their way- that damned risk analysis process. They started with identifying the key risk elements that could face the business during in start up phase.They considered the process between the time that they received the funding and day one of trading. What could possibly go wrong? Lots of things. They brainstormed the possibilities and recorded them. They then considered the effect that these would have on the project as a whole. The list they generated prothings going wrong and not enough making sure that the positive steps towards the business opening were ha ppening. They needed to priorities’ the events. As importantly, what would happen, when they eventually occurred? Who would be responsible for each of them? On what asis could they rank each risk, in order to identify the most important risks for which they would develop mitigation and ownership? They decided to use a table to show the risk event, the likelihood, the severity and by multiplying the two providing a risk priority number (RPN). This would the allow ranking of the risk elements. For the three highest ranked elements, the group then generates a mitigation process with someone in the group taking ownership of that process. As can be seen, the top three risks were identified and mitigation tasks put in place to either prevent the risk event happening or to reduce its effect.The initials of the ‘owners’ of that risk in the last column show who has agreed to monitor that set of events and ensure that the mitigation is put into place before the project suf fers from that event occurring. Questions: 1. What further methods could have been used to generate ideas for the identification part of the risk process? 2. What should happen as the project progresses to manage risk? 3 IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper: Project Management Caselet 2 Fast-track Product Redevelopment at Instron Background Instron designs and manufactures machines for testing the properties of all types of material.One particular plastic testing instrument has been selling around 250 units per year worldwide. In 1992 at the height of the recession, with margins being squeezed and sales volume dropping, Instron decided to redesign the instrument to reduce its cost and make it easier to manufacture. The Project Instron began to undertake change in the late 1980s, which included a programme to institute concurrent new product development. This was accompanied by pressure for cost reduction, the introduction of manufacturing changes, and the breaking of the firm into business teams.The team was highly transient and changing environment, there were few restrictions on the way the redesign project had to be handled. It was one of the first projects in Instron to be run from the beginning as a concurrent engineering project. A small multi-functional team was formed, consisting of a manufacturing engineer, a design engineer, a marketing engineer and a draughtsman. The design rief was to improve the ease of manufacture of the product such tat a cost reduction of 20 percent could be achieved. The team was co-located in an area adjacent to the manufacturing facility.Although there was some initial resistance, the comment was made that ‘they don’t know how they ever worked without it’. The ease of communication and sharing of ideas became a more natural part of working life. Adverse Effects The principles of concurrency were, in general, favorably accepted by departments downstream of the design process and with som e notable exceptions, unfavorably viewed by the design department. Individuals had concurrency imposed on them in the initial projects selected; be tried out. Senior management staff was selected as champions of the cause, with the objective of overcoming the resistance to change that existed.This came in a number of forms: 1. Passive resistance- summarized as ‘don’t show reluctance to apply the new ideas, attend all the group meetings, nod in agreement, then carry on as before. 2. Active resistance- ‘do what you like, but don’t ask me to do it’ 3. Undermining the initiative- through overstating the apparent problems. They began by carrying out brainstorming sessions with manufacturing engineers, buyers, members of the shop floor, suppliers and additional design engineers, to find new and innovative ways to improve the product.The outcome of these investigations was to draw up a list of areas where improvements were thought possible. The Benefits Ach ieved The results of this team’s action were: †¢ Cost reduced by 49 percent †¢ Product range rationalized from 12 to 2 versions †¢ Unique part count reduced from 141 to 98 and total number of parts reduced from 300 to 189 †¢ Assembly/machining time reduced by 55 percent †¢ Project completed on time, with last version being released in April 1994. Once operational, few problems were encountered and those that did occur were minor in nature.The success was attributed by the firm to two decisions: †¢ The selection of the right project- one that made it easy to demonstrate concurrency †¢ The selection of the right people- those who were prepared to be open-minded and have some enthusiasm for the changes. The company now views this as a simple project that restored the profitability of an established product through the use of innovation, ingenuity and new design techniques by the whole concurrent team. What 4 IIBM Institute of Business Managemen tExamination Paper: Project Management is also clear is that the product was subject to technical change in only one area- the materials used. The other benefits have all been due to the approach tat the firm’s management has taken to its new product development (NPD) Process. The firm felt that the project has been a success and that this method of working would become an institutionalized methodology. Questions: 1. Identify the steps the firm took in this project. How did this contribute to the success? 2.How might the main adverse effects be identified? END OF SECTION B Section C: Applied Theory (30 marks) †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ This section consists of Applied Theory Questions. Answer all the questions. Each question carries 15 marks. Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200 to 250 words). 1. What is the role of strategy in Project Management? 2. Identify the different roles that cost, price and profit can play in determining proje ct costs. END OF SECTION C 5 IIBM Institute of Business ManagementExamination Paper: Project Management IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper Project Management in IT Section A: Objective Type (30 marks) †¢ †¢ †¢ This section consists of multiple choice questions and short notes type questions. Answer all the questions. Part One questions carry 1 mark each and Part two questions carry 5 marks each. MM. 100 Part One: Multiple choices: 1. The knowledge areas of Project Management Process Group are: a. Planning and Initiating b. Executing and Closing c.Monitoring and Controlling d. All of the above 2. To create a successful project, a project manager must consider: a. Scope b. Time c. Cost d. All of the above 3. Which one of the following is not involved in the top ten skills or competencies of an effective project manager: a. People skills b. Leadership c. Integrity d. Technical skills 4. Another name of a phase exit is a _______ point. a. Review b. St age c. Meeting d. Kill 5. Which process group includes activities from each of the nine knowledge areas? a. Initiating b.Planning c. Executing d. Closing 6 IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper: Project Management 6. The project team works together to create the ______. a. Scope statement b. WBS c. WBS dictionary d. Work package 7. __________ is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration. a. PERT b. A Gantt chart c. Critical Path Method d. Crashing 8. Which of the following is not a key output of project cost management: a. A cost estimate b. A cost management plan c. A cost baseline d.None of the above 9. CMMI Stands for: a. Capability Maturity Model Integration b. Complex Maturity Model Integration c. Common Maturity Model Information d. Capability Maturity Model Information 10. A proposal evaluation sheet is an example of: a. RFP b. NPV analysis c. Earned value analysis d. Weighted scoring model Part Two: 1. Define Product Life Cycle. 2. What is Project Integration Model? 3. Write a note on Gantt charts. 4. What is Project Quality Management? END OF SECTION A 7 IIBM Institute of Business ManagementExamination Paper: Project Management Section B: Caselets (40 marks) This section consists of Caselets. Answer all the questions. Each Caselet carries 20 marks. Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 150 to 200 words). †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Caselet 1 A preliminary estimate of costs for the entire project is $140,000. This estimate is based on the project manager working about 20 hours per week for six months and other internal staff working a total of about 60 hours per week for six months.The customer representatives would not be paid for their assistance. A staff project manager would earn $50 per hour. The hourly rate for the other project team member would be $70 per hour, since some hours normally billed to clients may be needed for this project. The initial cost estimate al so includes $10,000 for purchasing software & services from suppliers. After the project is completed, maintenance costs of $40,000 are included for each year, primarily to update the information and coordinate the â€Å"Ask the Expert† feature and online articles.Projected benefits are based on a reduction in hours consultants spend researching project management information, appropriate tools and templates, and so on. Projected benefits are also based on a small increase in profits due to new business generated by this project. If each of more than 400 consultants saved just 40 hours each year (less than one hour per week) and could bill that time to other projects that generate a conservative estimate of $10 per hour in profits, then the projected benefit would be $160,000 per year.If the new intranet increased business by just 1 percent, using past profit information, increased profits due to new business would be at least $40,000 each year. Total projected benefits, ther efore, are about $200,000 per year. Exhibit A summarizes the projected costs and benefits and shows the estimated net percent value (NPV), return on investment (ROI), and year in which payback occurs. It also lists assumptions made in performing this preliminary financial analysis. All of the financial estimates are very encouraging.The estimate payback is within one year, as requested by the sponsor. The NPV is $272,800, and the discounted ROI based on a three-year system life is excellent at 112 percent. Discount rate 8% Assume the Year project is done in about is months 0 Costs 140,000 Discount 1 factor Discounted 140,000 costs Benefits Discount factor Discounted benefits Discounted 0 1 0 1 40,000 0. 93 37,037 2 40,000 0. 86 34,294 3 40,000 0. 79 31,753 Total 243,084 200,000 0. 93 186,185 200,000 0. 86 171,468 200,000 0. 79 158,766 515,419 (140,000) 148,148 137,174 127,013 8 IIBM Institute of Business ManagementExamination Paper: Project Management benefits – costs Cumulat ive (140,000) benefits-costs Payback year 1 112% Discounted life cycle ROI—Assumptions Costs PM (500hours, $50/hour) Staff (1500 hours, $70/hour) Outsourced software & services Total project costs (all applied in year 0) Benefits # consultants Hours saved $/hour profit Benefits from saving time Benefits from 1% increase in profits Total annual projected benefits Questions: 1. What according to you are the factors that can hamper the profit growth related with the project? 2. Mention some strategies to further improve the project’s turnover. ,148 in 145,322 272,336 NVP #hours 25,000 105,000 10,000 140,000 400 40 10 160,000 40,000 200,000 9 IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper: Project Management Caselet 2 Many organizations spend a great deal of time and money on training efforts for general project management skills, but after the training, project managers may still not know how to tailor their project management skills to the organization’s particular needs. Because of this problem, some organizations develop their own internal information technology project management methodologies.The PMBOKR Guide is a standard that describes best practices for what should be done to manage a project. A methodology describes how things should be done, and different organizations often have different ways of doing things. For example, after implementing a systems development life cycle (SDLC) at Blue Cross Shield of Michigan, the Methods department became aware that developers and project managers were often working on different information technology project in different ways. Deliverables were often missing or looked different from project to project.They may have all had a project charter, status report, technical documents (i. e. , database design documents, user interface requirements, and so on), but how they were producing and delivering these deliverables was different. There was a general lack of consistency and a need for st andards to guide both new and experienced project managers. Top management decides to authorize funds to develop a methodology for project managers that could also become the basis for information technology project management training within the organization.It was also part of an overall effort to help raise the company’s Software Capability Maturity Model level. BlueCross BlueShield of Michigan launched a three-month project to develop its own project management methodology. Some of the project team members had already received PMP certification, so they decided to base their methodology on the PMBOKR Guide 2000, making adjustment as needed to best describe how their organization managed information technology projects.See a complete article on this project on the companion Web site for this text. Also see the Suggested Reading to review the State of Michigan Project Management Methodology, which provides another good example of an information technology project management methodology. Many organizations include project management in their methodologies for managing Six Sigma projects. Other organizations include project management in their software development methodologies, such as the Rational Unified Process (RUP) framework.RUP is an interactive software development process that focuses on team productivity and delivers software best practices to all team members. According to RUP expert Bill Cottrell, â€Å"RUP embodies industry-standard management and technical methods and techniques to provide a software engineering process particularly suited to creating and maintaining componentbased software system solutions,† Cottrell explains that you can tailor RUP to include the PMBOK process groups.Specifically, IBM Rational, the creators of RUP, found that it could adjust RUP input artifacts with PMBOK process inputs, RUP steps with PMBOK process tools and techniques, and RUP resulting artifacts with PMBOK process outputs. Questions: 1. Accordi ng to you what are the skills that needed for the project management of an organization? 2. How the six sigma project became a helpful tool in very sophisticated kind of project management? END OF SECTION B 10 IIBM Institute of Business ManagementExamination Paper: Project Management Section C: Applied Theory (30 marks) †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ This section consists of Applied Theory Questions. Answer all the questions. Each question carries 15 marks. Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200 to 250 words). 1. What is cost? What is the importance of Project cost Management and explain basic principles of Cost Management. 2. Define the following: a. Resource Histograms b. Project Communication Management END OF SECTION C S-2-260211 11 IIBM Institute of Business Management

Getting Rid of Aids essays

Getting Rid of Aids essays We all know what Lepercy is from the bible, but do you know why it isnt as big as it used to be? The answer to this question is because all these people were put into strict living quarters by themselves. The only people that lived within miles of them were people with Lepercy. My bill states that we should take all HIV positive people and simply either ship them to a remote and deserted area or give them the opportunity to fight for their country in the army or navy. The government will simply provide blood tests to all American citizens. You will be given a short amount of time to make your decision to either stay and fight for your country or be immediately shipped to the Sahara Desert where you will die eventually. After the government gets a majority or if not all the HIV positive people out of the United States or have them fighting in a different country the Aids rate will rapidly fall. The Aids virus is only spread through blood, sex, etc. so if these people are not hav ing sex the virus will simply end after a few years, because I know you and I would both not like to have this deadly virus therefore we would stop it just like they stopped Lepercy. They have the choice of joining the army where they will be fed and have shelter and etc. and they will be helping the U.S. win wars and other problems with neighboring countries. If I was one of these people this is the route I would take. All immigrants that would like to come to the U.S. are more then welcome but will be met at the border by border patrol to inflict a blood test. If they are clean they are more then welcome if they are infected they will be given the choices or be turned away. Scientists have been searching for a cure for AIDS for years, we can simply end all this hard work after we get rid of the problem. I will provide you with an analogy: Lets say you come home one night after a birthday party and you have a piece of pizza which symbol...

Overview of Rider Bills in Government

Overview of Rider Bills in Government In U.S. government, â€Å"riders† are bills in the form of additional provisions added to the original versions of bills or resolutions considered by Congress. Often having little relationship to the subject matter of the parent bill, riders are typically used as an often-criticized tactic intended to gain the enactment of a controversial bill that would probably not pass if introduced on its own.   Other riders, known as â€Å"wrecking† or â€Å"poison pill† bills are used not to actually be passed, but merely to prevent the passage of the parent bill or to ensure its veto by the president. Riders More Common in the Senate Though they are all in either chamber, riders are used more often in the Senate. This is because the Senates rule’s requirements that the subject of the rider must be related or â€Å"germane† to that of the parent bill are more tolerant than those of the House of Representatives. Riders are rarely allowed in the House, where amendments to bills must at least deal with the substance of the parent bill. Most States Effectively Ban Riders The legislatures of 43 of the 50 states have effectively banned riders by giving their governors the power of the line-item veto. Denied to Presidents of the United States by the U.S. Supreme Court, the line-item veto allows the executive to veto individual objectionable items within a bill. An Example of a Controversial Rider The REAL ID Act, passed in 2005, required the creation of something that most Americans have always opposed – a national personal identification registry. The law requires the states to issue new, high-tech driver’s licenses and prohibits the federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes - like boarding airliners- driver’s licenses and identification cards from states that do not meet the law’s minimum standards. When it was introduced by itself, the REAL ID Act garnered so little support in the Senate that is was never even brought to a vote. But its backers got it passed anyway. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R) of Wisconsin, attached it as a rider to a bill no post-9/11 politician would have dared vote against, titled the â€Å"Emergency, Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief.† That bill allocated money to pay the troops and pay for the war on terror. Few voted against the bill. The military spending bill, with the REAL ID Act rider attached, passed in the House of Representatives by a  vote of 368-58, by a vote of 100-0 in the Senate. President George W. Bush signed it into law on May 11, 2005. Rider bills are most often used in the Senate because the Senate’s rules are far more tolerant to them than the rules of the House. In the House, all amendments to bills must generally be related to or deal with the subject of the parent bill being considered. Riders are most often attached to major spending, or â€Å"appropriations† bills, because the defeat, presidential veto or delay of these bills could delay the funding of vital government programs leading to a temporary government shutdown. In 1879, President Rutherford B. Hayes complained that lawmakers using riders could hold the executive hostage by â€Å"insisting upon the approval of a bill under the penalty of stopping all of the operations of government.† Rider Bills: How to Bully a President Opponents – and there are many – of rider bills have long criticized them as being a way for Congress to bully the President of the United States. The presence of a rider bill can force presidents to enact laws they would have vetoed if presented to them as separate bills. As granted by the U.S. Constitution, the presidential veto is an all-or-nothing power. The president must either accept the riders or reject the entire bill. Especially in the case of spending bills, the consequences of vetoing them just to quash an objectionable rider bill could be severe. Basically, the use of rider bills greatly dilutes the president’s veto power. What almost all presidents have said they needed to counteract rider bills is the power of the â€Å"line-item veto.† The line-item veto would allow the president to veto individual measures within a bill without affecting the main purpose or effectiveness of the bill. Currently, the constitutions of 43 of the 50 U.S. states have provisions allowing their governors to use the line-item veto. In 1996, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 granting U.S. presidents the power of the line-item veto. In 1998, however, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional. Rider Bills Confuse the People As if keeping up with the progress of bills in Congress isn’t hard enough already, rider bills can make it even more frustrating and difficult.   Thanks to rider bills a law about â€Å"Regulating Apples† can seem to vanish, only to end up being enacted months later as part of a law titled â€Å"Regulating Oranges.† Indeed, without a painstakingly daily read of the Congressional Record, riders can make keeping up with the legislative process almost impossible. And it’s not like Congress has ever been accused of being too transparent in how it does the people’s work. Lawmakers Introduce  Anti-Rider Bills Not all members of Congress use or even support rider bills. Senator Rand Paul (R – Kentucky) and Rep. Mia Love (R - Utah) have both introduced the â€Å"One Subject at a Time Act† (OSTA) as H.R. 4335 in the House and S. 1572 in the Senate. As its name implies, the One Subject at a Time Act would require that each bill or resolution considered by Congress embrace no more than one subject  and that the title of all bills and resolutions clearly and descriptively express the subject of the measure. The OSTA would give presidents a de facto line-item veto by allowing them to consider only one measure at a time, instead of rider-packed, all-or-nothing â€Å"package deal† bills. â€Å"Under OSTA politicians will no longer be able to hide the true subjects of their bills behind propagandistic titles such as the PATRIOT Act, the Protect America Act, or the No Child Left Behind Act,† stated DownsizeDC.org, in support of the bill. â€Å"No one wants to be accused of voting against patriotism or protecting America, or of wanting to leave children behind. But none of those titles actually describes the subjects of those bills.†

Basic Concepts Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Intoruction to Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intoruction to Islam - Essay Example The predominant language is English (even if it wasn’t always so historically) and the politics of the region are strongly democratic. People in the West won’t specify a religion because that is a personal choice and that choice for the most part is respected in law and in culture. This is where the second challenge comes in. If all Muslims for example lived in one country – like Australia for example, then they might be perceived as a strangely unique culture that lives â€Å"over there†. The problem is that one of the central tenets of Islam is that they should be respectful of other religious beliefs. This has meant that over the centuries there are Muslims in virtually every corner of the world – historically they are traders; they seek to educate and to learn from others, and now as Ernst explains they are the predominant population in more than 50 nations. That means a huge diversity of cultures and this makes it harder for us here in the West to understand the Muslims as a religion when they live â€Å"over there† and â€Å"next