Merit Pay Essay Example for Free

Merit Pay Essay Merit pay is any salary increase in an employee pay based on the performance of the employee . A bonus is not considered to be merit pay because this is a one time thing and merit pay becomes a part of the employees salary. I think this award is a great idea, this allows the employee to know their efforts of achieving their companys goals has not gone unnoticed. This gives employees the incentive to want to learn more and continue to perform well in order to keep receiving their pay raise. In today’s workplace there are numerous reasons for low productivity. Employee conflicts are one of the main culprits to this problem in the workplace. Employee conflicts not only affect productivity, it also affects coworker’s attitudes, customer service, and it changes the work environment for coworkers that are caught in the backlash of the conflict. Employee conflicts were not as complex three decades ago as they are now. If the boss did not want to deal with the conflict he or she would fire the employee, my way or the highway. Now employee conflicts are more complex than not eating lunch with a coworker because she did greet the group this morning. We now have workplace violence, sexual harassment, and competition for limited resources, and dealing with difficult employees. Now there are laws in place that protect employees from being fired because their boss did not want to solve the conflict. . I have enlisted the help of two people to help me see different aspect of employee conflicts within their work environment. Their background deals with the retail industry and the food industry. Both of these environments deal with employees being knowledgeable of the product they are selling, team work and customer service. I spoke with them about employee conflicts in their workplace and how they overcame the issues. After listening to the situations and their solutions, I noticed some of the solutions for resolving their conflict were sensible and other resolutions should have been handled differently.

The Great Gatsby Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby Essay The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald argues that the novel is a perfect example of the great American love story, but that is a negative. The Great Gatsby is not a tale about perfect love, throughout the story we follow multiple corrupted relationships. Tom and Myrtle they are both objects to one another. Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby when the wait is longer than expected and he’s offering her fortune. This is a tale of love and lust corrupting individuals, and of an American dream that is never fulfilled. Many people dream of being rich and famous in this time era because they want to be honored and idolized by people. This is the goal of Jay Gatsby, the protagonist in The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby throws all these parties to get known as this â€Å"big timer† a well-known rich man he thinks that will attract Daisy. â€Å"If love is only a will to possess, it is not love†, there are three main relationships in â€Å"The Great Gatsby† and they are all unsuccessful because they are not based off of love, but on materialism. An example of an unsuccessful relationship in The Great Gatsby is the adulterous affair between Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan. Tom and Myrtle meet on a train when Myrtle was on her way visiting her sister that lives in New York and the two were both infatuated with each other’s appearances, and neither of them could take their eyes off one another. Myrtle is married to a man unsuccessful man named George B. Wilson. She joins into a conversation with Catherine explaining how she feels about her marriage , which I feel makes it so easy to cheat with Tom Buchanan. â€Å"Well, I married him,† said Myrtle, ambiguously. â€Å"And that’s the difference between your case and mine. † â€Å"Why did you, Myrtle? † demanded Catherine. Nobody forced you to. † Myrtle considered. â€Å"I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,† she said finally. â€Å"I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe. † â€Å"You were crazy about him for a while,† said Catherine. â€Å"Crazy about him! † cried Myrtle incredulously. â€Å"Who said I was crazy about him? I never was any more crazy about him than I was about that man there. † She pointed suddenly at me, and every one looked at me accusingly. I tried to show by my expression that I had played no part in her past. â€Å"The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never even told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out. ‘oh, is that your suit? ’ I said. ‘this is the first I ever heard about it. ’ But I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried to beat the band all afternoon. †(F. Scott Fitzgerald 34-35). Myrtle is unsatisfied, annoyed, and aggressive. She is disgusted with everything about her marriage because she has so much hatred towards her husband, he is poor man. Myrtle is a superficial materialistic vacuous bitch! That’s the only way I can put it. Myrtle deserves every bad thing that comes to her for the betrayal of her husband. Tom only uses Myrtle for sex that’s all she’s good for and in return she receives gifts and money, not because Tom cares about her, but because he just have money to blow. Myrtle believes Tom will leave his wife for her, but to Tom she’s just a sexual toy, sexual object, nothing just being used. Tom makes it pretty clear that he isn’t leaving Daisy for her from the way he treats Myrtle at the party, especially when he breaks her nose for having the nerve to mention his wife Daisy’s name. Daisy! Daisy! Daisy! shouted Mrs.  Wilson. Ill say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand (Fitzgerald 43). The pathetic nature of their relationship is reinforced when she dies. After a fight with her husband, Myrtle runs away towards a golden car that she thinks is Toms. The gold color of the vehicle symbolizes money, the fortune that Myrtle craves for. When Tom hears that she was hit by the car he has no emotional reaction to her death. He hurries to tell her husband that he was not the one driving the car so he can get away from the situation clean. The relationship between Tom and Myrtle is best symbolized by an expensive dog leash Tom bought for Myrtles puppy. It deliberates on the fact that Tom is her master, the one who controls his pet with money. As the dog, Myrtle is rewarded treats (gifts and money) for acting accordingly. The unequal status of Tom and Myrtle demonstrates that their relationship was bound to have a lack of success from the inception. Daisy and Tom Buchanan marriage is also a complete failure. Daisy only marries Tom because the war separated her and Gatsby. However, the most important reason for her marring him is because he comes from money. Tom is from a wealthy family and has statues. He also wins Daisy over by giving her everything she wants, especially at their wedding ceremony. â€Å"In June [Daisy] married Tom Buchanan of Chicago, with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before. He came down with a hundred people in four private cars, and hired a whole floor of the Muhlbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars (Fitzgerald 82). †

Aligning Business Strategies and Project Management

Aligning Business Strategies and Project Management Project management has become very important topic all over the world. Literature shows that more than 30 companies fail to accomplish its project with success due to misalignment between business strategies and project management. Many companies face this problem of missing link of business strategies and project management. Alignment is necessary for getting competitive advantage and goals of its business. Top management also play important role in alignment of business strategies and Project management. Keywords: Business strategies, project management, alignment, project portfolio management Introduction: Project management has become very important and also serves as core function in many organizations. Projects are any temporary activities that have starting and finish point, it has performance parameters. Projects face triple constrains (1) time (2) budget and (3) performance. It was assumed that for attainment of organizational goals one has to meet triple constraints of time, budget and performance. Project management plays a vital role in achieving organizational goals and considered as backbone of organization. Project management is knowledge that meets the requirements of projects. Project management plays important role in accomplishing strategies, business goals and desired outcomes. Organizations link their projects with business strategies to achieve the goals and objectives. Strategies are activities that guide and direct the use of the resources to accomplish the organizations vision and goals and sustainable competitive advantage. Mostly these components comprising the strategies of the business like internal analysis, organizational structures, control systems have strong links to project management processes and activities. Project management includes project portfolio management (PPM). PPM is about how organizations controls its projects and align them with business strategies. Many organizations are working on numerous projects and they are conscious to get maximum return of their business. PPM also includes the maximization profit which is main objective of all organization. Basically projects are bases of any organization to build up business strategy and project management relation. When organizations link their projects to their business strategy, they are better able to accomplish their organizational goals. Companies should align their business strategy with the project management action to implement the strategies in the projects. Such alignments are difficult because the objectives of business strategy are sometime not clear and well-communicated with project management. Misalignment may cause an organization to missing goals, communication gap and missing link of business strategy and project management. The lack of alignment of business strategy to the project management leads to the project failure and has adverse effects on organization performance as well. . There is need of systemic approach to align the projects with business strategy. So important in managerial challenges involved that aligning project management and business strategy and encouraging individuals to participate in using emerging strategies to create new ideas and renew existing strategies. Literature indicates that some factors that helps in creating link between business strategy and project management if there is any gap between the bridge of business strategy and project management that should be filled to achieve high returns and competitive advantages. As literature shows that SPL elements such as spirit, strategy, organization, tools and processes that elements should be align between business strategies and project management and in depth understanding of factors that are missing and relationship of these factors with business strategies and project management. Portfolio management play important role in project management and business strategy linking. Implementation of strategies with formulation, receive less attention than formulation so there should be proper emphasis on the implementation as well as. Therefore, this paper examines the linkage between business strategy, project portfolio management, and business success to finish the gap between strategy formulation and implementation and linking them in a bridge. There is seen a lot of importance of project portfolio management in evaluating, prioritizing and selecting projects in line with business strategy. It is choosing the right projects and important part of strategic management in organizations. So there are a few studies exploring single aspects of the linkage between strategies, project portfolio management. Business strategy describes the way in which a firm decides to compete in the market compared to its competitors and close the gap of these strategies with project management. Project Management: Project management has become an important issue for many corporations worldwide. Many implementations of project management have been successful, while others have been considered as failure. Projects in any organization have clearly became a central activity in many companies and considered as a backbone of organization and its success means a lot for an organization to prevail in the competitive arena. A project can be defined as a planned set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations. Project management is often termed as the science and art of organizing the different project phases which may be launch of new service, a marketing campaign, building a an entire new floor of a building or a wedding. According to Milosevic and Srivannaboon (2006), the essence of project management is to support the execution of an organizations competitive strategy to deliver a desired outcome. Project management is defined as management that supports the execution of an organizations competitive strategy to deliver a desired outcome. Six-step approach can be helpful course that avoids the worst storms: Step 1: Identify the project Step 2: Determine the desired outcome Step 3: Describe each of the projects component tasks Step 4: Identify the key players. Step 5: Determine a time lines for each project component. Step 6: Review, revise and reallocate. Successful initiation of projects and its execution mostly depends upon strategy. Many companies are suffering from misaligned projects and a lack of a systematic approach to align project management with the business strategy. When organizations link their projects to their business strategy, they are better able to accomplish their organizational goals. Project strategy should be related to the projects goals and objectives in order to attain the preferred position in its competitive environment. Business Strategy: Strategy is defined by Patton White (2002) as a comprehensive set of actions or activities, which guide and direct the use of the firms resources to accomplish the organizations vision and goals and enable sustainable competitive advantage. Turning strategy into action to operationalize strategic objectives to achieve competitive advantage includes in the strategic management. Several scholars suggest that the success of project should be considered in the context of the achievement of the strategic goals of the organization (Dietrich Lehtonen, 2005; Kenny, 2006) and that organizations are better able to accomplish their goals when they link their projects to their business strategy. To ensure strategies are translated into actions they should be operational and includes some of the characteristics like structuring an organization to support successful performance and enabling success through the way in which the various resource areas like people, information, Finance, IT, etc. of an organization. Better implementation of strategic plans results in the better performance of sales growth, earnings growth, deposits growth, return on assets, return on equity, return on sales and return on total invested capital than those companies that do not implement their strategic plans. However, in any organization there are different levels of strategies presented by different level of a business which includes Corporate Strategy: It involves high level of strategic decision making and purpose of this strategy is to achieve the expectations of the stakeholders. Business Unit Strategy: The purpose of this strategy is to achieve the competitive advantage for the services and products which are produced and the decisions in this level is concerned with the choice of products, gaining competitive advantage, to meet the needs of the customers and create new opportunities. Operational Strategy: Its concerned with the coordination and improvement of resources which results in the effective and efficient implementation of the business unit level strategy. Implementation of strategies requires actions and completing tasks, and should focus on how to realize these strategies. Implementation must include attention to the following key points: Executing the work requires allocation of resources such as funds, people, and equipment. Organizational resources are limited. Implementation process requires project supportive organizational structure. A project selection and priority system to ensure strong linking between projects and the strategic plan. Managerial challenges involves aligning project management and business strategy which encourages individuals to participate in using emerging strategies to create new ideas and renew existing strategies. There is no such research regarding the framework for aligning project management and business strategy comprehensively. The literature has highlighted that there are many projects which have been executed without implementing the strategies as it has been formulated by executives in the corporations level without the involvement of the project manager. Aligning Business Strategy and Projects: Aligning the companys projects to maximize their contributions to strategic objectives takes a highly coordinated effort. Integration requires a process for prioritizing projects by their contribution to the strategic plan. The organizations to become more competitive, efficient and profitable they will need a business and project management experts working together to attain the business goals. Both, business and project management experts will work towards aligning projects with business strategy. Alignment of business strategy and project management is a major concern for any organization. Such alignments are challenging because the objectives of business strategy are not always clear or well-communicated or consistent with project management actions. Misalignment may cause an organization to miss goals and objectives. Understanding the alignment may be one of the major challenges to effective project management process. Alignment is not a onetime task but it is achieved through p rogression, which demands dominant leadership, top management support, efficient communication, collaborative work environment, trust, proper prioritization, technological setup and comprehensive knowledge about the operations of the business (Luftman, 2000). In order to achieve desired outputs from the selected projects organization should have the ability to build up competencies and then allocate those competences to the preferred projects. To help make sure the corporate projects are aligned to corporate strategy following can be kept in mind: Is the corporation committed to using project management strategically? In most companies, hundreds of projects are underway at any given time so there must be corporate commitment to the art and science of managing projects Is there a policy of formally preparing project charters? Since projects are the means by which corporate strategies are executed, it is critical that they be guided by the original corporate philosophy, strategy, and intent. Project charters are the instrument for doing this. Is there synergy between the business group and those responsible for project implementation? There needs to be early involvement by project implementation people. While this principle may seem sound, the practice of it presents a challenge. First, business planning people may prefer to plan without the help of perceived outsiders. Then, theres a good likelihood that the right project people might not be sitting about just waiting to brainstorm and analyze the early stages of a business proposal. The value for the organization to aligning projects with business strategy in a research by the Athabasca University was conducted in more than 60 organizations around the world and results showed that there were some benefits the organizations which include: Saved money and resources Increased profitability Retained customers Increased market share Prioritizing a project on the bases of its contribution to strategic achievement does not provide guarantee of project success but consistent allocation of resources is also a major task (Hrebiniak, 2006). A key point to make sure the alignment between project management and strategy included as: to carry out the appropriately chosen projects in an efficient ways organizations should make sure that have ability to do deliver the projects and programs. Top management plays a major role in projects alignment. Role of Management: Management is of central importance for the success of projects. Pinto and Slevin (1998) suggested that all the researchers agree that absence of support from management especially top management and by important stakeholder are most important among all other factors. Hacker and Doolen (2007) role of top management was studied in the perspectives of vision of the project and alignment of the scope with business strategy and project sponsorship and its impact on the triple constraint of the project i.e. cost, performance and cost. Researchers various different views about the extent of knowledge of senior managers should be in relation to project management. Some researchers suggest to the technical expertise and knowledge about the projects necessary for senior managers to develop and implement projects. Others felt that determine the line of control and to make available all relevant resources for project managers are the main functions of the senior management. There are different methods of how senior managers can be involved in the project management process. One of the approaches is not to interfere in which the project manager to all the rights of the planning to the implementation of projects. Responsibilities of project managers and executive managers is that project managers are primarily responsible for projects that are being implemented while the executives of the strategic alignment of business functions and projects with the organizations goals. Top managers should possess same skills and expertise as do the project managers Top management must carefully analyze which project should be prioritized in the allocation of resources. Resource allocation is one of the critical parts of the project management. These resources include financial, human and other resources necessary for the successful completion of the projects. Top management should carefully analyze which project should be prioritized in terms of resource allocation. Resources must be allocated to projects that are aligned with corporate strategies of the organization. More simple criteria for prioritizing compliance can be or should do projects should receive the highest priority, then the strategic projects, and then the other. With the start of the training programs, coaching and mentoring for project managers, top management can help build leadership skills, so that they can manage project activities responsibly and effectively. Problems of Alignment: Often projects fail to support business strategies and business goals it is due to the missing link, so that it should be align. Some processes factors that affect the business strategies and projects linking such as communication, top management support, competency of project manager are some of the major factors are the necessary ones to consider which solves or even creates hurdles in the alignment process. Business directors and top management are responsible for the three processes such as business planning, portfolio management and prioritizing projects while the project managers are responsible for the process of planning and executing the projects. Prioritizing projects Portfolio management Business planning Project Project portfolio management, business planning and support of business manager to the project manager while project manager is responsible to handling the projects. Choosing project from the AMCs projects and aligning that project with the business plans and top managers suggestions. When these processes are aligned the strategic elements like goals, objectives, vision, mission, values and norms feeds the portfolio element, the portfolio element feeds the project management element like strategies, organization processes, culture, and the project management element feeds projects and the teams execution of project. But in many cases, these processes are not aligned; as a result, organizations may fail to tie their projects either to their business strategy or to their portfolio, which may cause them to terminate the project or to continue executing projects that do not contribute to the organizations goals, thus wasting important organizational resources. Project Portfolio Management: The project portfolio is defined as a group of projects that compete for scarce resources and are conducted under the sponsorship or management of a particular organization. The three main well-known objectives of portfolio management are, the following: maximizing the value of the portfolio, linking the portfolio to the strategy and the continuous monitoring/assessment of the portfolio. Project portfolio selection is an important management task activity of the organization, the project team should consider all details carefully to enhance performance of organizational assets and customize them with the strategic objectives of the organization, although there are usually several projects available for selection than can be completed within the physical and financial limitations of fixed, so choices must be made to make up a suitable project. Management problems are related to the following factors, selecting, portfolio strategy and appropriate plans. The following reasons can be related with the difficulties on managing, and on selecting, the proper projects to the portfolio a) no relationship between project selection: projects entirely with the organizations strategic goals are not related to the impact on organization performance b) poor quality portfolios: organizations, generally, applicable to underdeveloped ideas for projects selected is not fair quality. To work on the building, d) scarce resources, lack of attention and executive skills, resources properly balance, often causing pressure to multitask ; f) Information overflow and lacking quality of information: Regardless of the quality and sophistication of the portfolio selection and decision tools, it is fundamental to obtain the proper information to make accurate decisions; g) Decision making based in power: Usually the decision is an exercise of power, whi ch means that there may be situations in organizations where decisions tend not to reflect the organizational future success. The portfolio management team is normally concerned and overwhelmed with issues like the prioritization of projects and the continuous distribution of personnel from the different projects to overcome the urgent crises. Although, most of the time, however, there are no resources available and when they were redistributed it often produced negative effects on unexpected places in the project portfolio. Project Selection There are more than one hundred tools and techniques for project portfolio selection hence it is not difficult for organizations to select suitable tools. It is important to adapt or develop an appropriate framework to evaluate project proposals and select a project portfolio which is aligned with the corporate strategy. Recent literature focuses on approaches rather than tools and techniques. Common principles from these approaches can be described as followings: Firstly, they suggest dividing the project proposals into subsets (Englund Graham, 1999; Sommer 1999; Cooper et al., 2001a; Rădulescu1 Rădulescu 2001; and Crawford etal., 2006). Each project subset can be a group of projects which will share the same strategic buck as discussed by Cooper et al (2001a) or different categories of projects which have similar characteristics (Crawford et al., 2005, 2006). This will help the organization easily compare projects by same criteria or same tools and techniques. T his is similarly applicable to ensure the balance of the project portfolio. Framework by Englund Graham (1999) 4 steps producing interrelated outputs make this approach truly systematic. The 4 steps are described as follows: a. What the organization should do: Upon identified to lead the process, the team members start listing newly proposed and on-going projects. They, then, clarify or develop the expected goals of projects, taking into consideration of organizational strategies (vision, mission, objectives) and current as well as potential capabilities (either developed or acquired). It is advisable to classify projects into categories for the benefit of looking at projects from the view of big picture inclusive of out-of- the- box thinking, completeness, gaps, opportunities and compliance with strategy. Projects classified/organized into the strategic buckets (e.g. extent of product change: new- enhancement; and extent of process change: new incremental) enable the team focus efforts on selecting the best set of projects within the categories, which constitute the right and balance mix. In order to facility decision making process, a set of criteria with weight or score reflecting requirements of orga nizational objectives (e.g. market positioning, available capacity, etc.) should be determined, modified and agreed upon for comparison and choices of projects. b. What the organization can do: the team members critically screen and evaluate projects based on consolidation and analysis of current or historical data, as a result certain new projects will be eliminated and ongoing projects will be adjusted or terminated in respect of strategic priorities; availability of resources and technology challenges, etc. The authors describe the critical few with n screen subject to criteria sets agreed upon in step 1 e.g. screen 1- fit to goals; screen 2 market size, competence etc. c. Analyze and decide on projects: based on the comparison between resources available and resources required, projects are analyzed, prioritized and selected. The team should consider opportunity costs, project benefits before costs, return value when making decisions. With the sets of criteria agreed upon in step 1, the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy is recommended. Dedicated resources and contingencies should be committed to ensure the successful implementation of selected projects. Besides, communication loop should be developed and utilized to keep changes updated. d. Implement the plan: staffing and allocating committed resources for implementation selected projects. A database should be created for monitoring, reporting and sharing. The plan is used as a communication tool to help management team and those who are involved quickly respond to change and take corrective actions in terms of identifying new opportunities and leveraging resources. It can be interpreted that completion of the first 3 steps in this process reflects the achievement of the three goals determined in the project portfolio selection by Cooper (2005): step 1 with should representing project portfolio in alignment with strategy; step 2 with can representing portfolio value maximization using most effectively its resource and capability; step 3 analyze and decide representing right balance and mix of projects; and step 4 with implement belonging to the next phase of execution and management in project portfolio management. The 4 steps reveal a loop of continuous stages, which is recognized as systematic approach. Challenges in Project Portfolio Selection Organizations face many problems such as lack of information, unreliable data of cost, time to completion, availabilities of resource, and benefits of projects. Project proposals are randomly arriving, not at one time. This requires the model or process to be flexible so that organizations can select projects without waiting until annual planning meetings. In large organizations with many business units, each business unit has its own list of priority and preferences. Besides, project portfolio selection is not always rational but it is biased by human being factor such as lobbying. People resist when there is absence of strategy or vague strategy or they find difficulties in pursuing the strategies. Changes necessary for the aligning the projects with the strategy might win approval of all the members of the organization, but when it comes to implementation, no one will be ready to take the lead. Ten Reasons why Strategy Implementation Efforts Can Fail: 1. The so-called strategic plan is nothing more than a collection of budgets and vague directions that do not provide clear guidelines for action. 2. The strategy does not correspond to market realities because it has been developed by strategic planners with no grass roots input. 3. The strategy does not enjoy support from and commitment by the majority of employees and middle management because they do not feel consulted in the development of the strategy. 4. Middle management does not think the strategy is the right one, or does not feel it has the requisite skills to implement it, so it sabotages the implementation. 5. Insufficient top management time is spent on communicating about, selling the new strategic direction, and managing the organizational changes involved. 6. No provision is made for developing the new skills and competencies required by the employees successfully to make the transition and operate within the new strategic direction. 7. No provision is made for instituting the appropriate organizational systems for the selection, motivation and reward of people in accordance with the new strategy. 8. No provision is made for creating a close fit or coherence between the business-level strategy and the various functional-level strategies that can operationalize it. 9. There are factions in the organization which disagree with the strategy because if implemented it would reduce their power and influence, so they sabotage it by deliberate actions or inactions. 10. No attempt is made to analyze the culture of the organization and identify Literature review examines four selected models that assist organizations in bridging the gap between organizational strategic objectives and project management: Model #1 Model of strategic project management is comprised of four main aspects of higher-level project management practices: 1. Strategic alignment of project: This practice refers to the extent to which an organization ensures that the projects it pursues are directly tied to the organizational strategy. This is very important in terms to see whether the project going to start is intact with the strategies of the organization for its successful implementation. 2. Project portfolio management. This practice refers to the identification of a project investment categorization scheme to assist the organization with prioritizing projects. Project portfolio management forms one of the building blocks in relating projects to strategy and can be considered as a key driver for aligning projects or programs to organizational objectives. It also helps in prioritizing and in the selection process of a project for its successful alignment. 3. Program management. The Project Management Institute (2004) defines the concept of program management as the centralized coordinated management of groups of projects to achieve the programs strategic objectives and benefits. Program management practices are inherent within the pursuit of strategic project management and are demonstrated as the management of groups of projects and the management of interactions between projects (portfolio coordination). 4. The business results of projects. Since projects are financial investments, organizations should estimate and measure project impacts on organizations from a business results perspective which may include return on investment, sales growth etc. Model #2: Project managers contribute to competitive advantage due to their skills in managing relationships and an organizational willingness to foster these skills and leverage them throughout the organization, and learn from them how to manage people and relationships across organizational functions and boundaries. Greens model of strategic project management is based on the constructs of competitive advantage, strategic capabilities and tacit knowledge management. Model #3: Model suggests that adopting strategic project management to select, manage and support multiple projects gives companies the best chance of moving the organization forward by keeping the company vibrant in the marketplace and returning maximum value for shareholders. Further, it identifies the following key characteristics of strategic project management: 1. Alignment of the following key business processes: strategic planning, strategic goal setting, and enterprise project management 2. Functions as a well-managed portfolio of investments as it: (a) allows for the most effective use of constrained resources; (b) ensures a high return on investment since projects are managed collectively; (c) it maintains alignment between the projects and the organizations short, medium and long term goals 3. A new management process embedded between strategic planning and project execution that manages project investments strategically and combines business planning and management with project management best practices Model #4: The term strategic project management as the management of those projects which are of critical importance to enable the organization as a whole to have competitive advantage There is a gap between aligning project management competencies to the selection of projects that will give organizations a competitive edge. Specifically, strategy is formulated at the senior management level and for it to be implemented; it should be broken down into discrete projects. Project management becomes a source of competitive advantage when an organization outperforms other companies through the experience and knowledge built up over time through managing projects. Also, project management yields competitive advantage through the actual selection and prioritization of projects that organizations engage in and secondly, through implementation and execution of the projects. Furthermore, project portfolio management is essential and the prioritization of projects should be based

The Unnamed Wife in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay -- Sir Gawai

The Unnamed Wife in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the green knight’s wife plays a pivotal role in the story. Yet, she is never given a name and it is unclear what motivates her actions. She could simply be following her husband’s orders to seduce this visiting knight. She could be under the tutelage of Morgan le Fay. Or she may be acting under her own guidance and using her sexuality to carry out her own desires or gain power. In light of this uncertainty, the unnamed wife’s role in the bedroom scene is also hard to decipher. As a woman she should be submissive, and yet it is Gawain who is forced to defend himself against her advances to which he eventually submits. The multiple readings of the wife’s role also inform the notions of Christian and pagan in the story. Female power and sexuality are aligned with the wife, Morgan le Fay and paganism, while Gawain seeks protection and chastity from Mary and Christianity. Despite the power the wife may gain from pagan traditions, she could also be perceived in a Christian, patriarchal context as a sexual object who is commanded by her husband’s authority. As a result the green knight’s wife represents the duality of Christian and pagan and its prevalence in medieval society. In the bedroom scenes the wife appears to be playing the role of a submissive woman, but is in fact using her position to dominate Gawain, who is limited by his pledge to the Green Knight. The wife tells Gawain, â€Å"My body is here at hand, Your each wish to fulfill; Your servant to command I am, and shall be still.† Here the wife is literally submitting her body to Gawain to use as he desires. Yet, she is making this proposition in order to entice him to... ...ere her true allegiance lies. On the other hand, her position in this story provides insight into medieval society. Her antics with Gawain in the bedroom scenes reveal that her position as lady of the house is superior to Gawain’s as a knight. This situation further illuminates medieval gender roles especially when examining the lady’s relationship with her husband. Even if he may use her as a sexual pawn, she is able to assert herself thought the tactics she uses to persuade Gawain to break his oath. She is also intrinsically linked with Morgan le Fay and pagan traditions. This bond is balanced by Gawain’s connection with Mary as a figure for guidance. The wife’s position in this story epitomizes the dualities of medieval society. The conflicting social and gender roles and Christian and pagan traditions are somehow able to operate in this complex society.

Fate in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet :: Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Fate is one of the main themes in Romeo and Juliet, described as having power over many of the events in the play. Fate is often called upon, and blamed for tragic things that happen. Human weakness, the loss of self-control, is always the direct cause of a bad choice, and not fate itself. one of the most noted event is where fate is blamed for an accident, is when Romeo cries out the he by all accounts is fortune's fool. He claims that fate has brought on Mercutio's death, and has lead him to kill Tybalt in payback. In Act 3, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is upset at Mercutio's death and predicts that the â€Å"days black fate on more days doth depend.† Tybalt then re-enters and Romeo becomes more upset that Tybalt is proud with Mercutio being dead. Tybalt responds as expected and threatens Romeo. Romeo takes the threat, then fights Tybalt until Tybalt is finally killed. while many people may say that Romeo's sadness caused him to kill Tybalt, there is no evidence that fate had anything to do with it. Leaving was a choice that Romeo had, and would most likely have spared Tybalt's life and the penalty of his own death. Romeo's comment on black fate is a thought that foreshadows ill events in the future. While fate is viewed to have played an significant part in Juliet's death, it is instead Capulet's failing in loss of control, and the Friar's weakness to stay true to the reason that causes her death. The scene starts with Friar John entering to see Friar Laurence. When Friar John tells that he went to visit the sick first, Friar Laurence realizes the serious penalty of what may happen. As a result of Romeo not getting the Friar's letter, Romeo comes to believe that Juliet is dead and then kills himself. While at first it seems as though Romeo missing the letter is just pure bad luck, it is actually Friar John's choice not to go directly to Mantua, as ordered by Friar Laurence. maybe the final part of made-up fate neighboring the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is in the Capulet family tomb when Juliet awakens. Fate in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet :: Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Fate is one of the main themes in Romeo and Juliet, described as having power over many of the events in the play. Fate is often called upon, and blamed for tragic things that happen. Human weakness, the loss of self-control, is always the direct cause of a bad choice, and not fate itself. one of the most noted event is where fate is blamed for an accident, is when Romeo cries out the he by all accounts is fortune's fool. He claims that fate has brought on Mercutio's death, and has lead him to kill Tybalt in payback. In Act 3, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is upset at Mercutio's death and predicts that the â€Å"days black fate on more days doth depend.† Tybalt then re-enters and Romeo becomes more upset that Tybalt is proud with Mercutio being dead. Tybalt responds as expected and threatens Romeo. Romeo takes the threat, then fights Tybalt until Tybalt is finally killed. while many people may say that Romeo's sadness caused him to kill Tybalt, there is no evidence that fate had anything to do with it. Leaving was a choice that Romeo had, and would most likely have spared Tybalt's life and the penalty of his own death. Romeo's comment on black fate is a thought that foreshadows ill events in the future. While fate is viewed to have played an significant part in Juliet's death, it is instead Capulet's failing in loss of control, and the Friar's weakness to stay true to the reason that causes her death. The scene starts with Friar John entering to see Friar Laurence. When Friar John tells that he went to visit the sick first, Friar Laurence realizes the serious penalty of what may happen. As a result of Romeo not getting the Friar's letter, Romeo comes to believe that Juliet is dead and then kills himself. While at first it seems as though Romeo missing the letter is just pure bad luck, it is actually Friar John's choice not to go directly to Mantua, as ordered by Friar Laurence. maybe the final part of made-up fate neighboring the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is in the Capulet family tomb when Juliet awakens.

Anne Frank and Frederick Dougalss Essay example -- essays research pap

Anne Frank and Frederick Douglass Everyone has hope in something whether it is possible or seemingly impossible. Anne Frank and Frederick Douglass, among many differences and similarities, both had hope in something others may not have believed to be possible. They never gave up their hope that they so desperately clung to when they were in bondage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anne Frank and Frederick Douglass were both held in bondage, each in a different way. Frank was kept from the public eye for fear she would be caught and killed by the Germans. Even before she went into hiding she had to abide by so many restrictions that she had no freedom at all. On the other hand, Douglass was born a slave and had never known what it was like to be free, kept in bondage by his master. Despite everything they both kept their hopes that they would be free one day and people would no longer discriminate against them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also, while Frank and Douglass were in bondage they had several people who helped them along the way. They couldn’t have made it without these helpers. Douglass had his master’s wife and the young white boys who helped him learn his alphabet and his basic reading. He also had the Underground Railroad abolitionist to help him on the road to freedom. Frank also had help from some friends of her dad, Kraler and Koophuis. They helped hide them and bring food and supplies to Frank and her family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In addition to having helpers, Frank and Douglass both were good writers. Even th...

Advantages and Disadvantages †Studying Abroad Essay

Nowadays, there are many people continuing their studies outside their country. They think that educations in other countries are better than in their own country. Studying abroad offer so many life-changing and enduring academic, career, and social benefits, therefore students consider studying abroad. Studying abroad lets you experience things you have never faced them before. It gives you the opportunity to communicate with different people who have different religions and speak different languages. This will improve your social skills. In addition, when you graduate from a university in a foreign country, It will make you more prestigious. In work life and in your personal life, It will bring more respect for you. To them, you are a person who experiences a different world with different inhabitants. . Exploring cultures and civilisations, which may happen when studying abroad. Few other experiences in life have proven such a positive and sustainable impact on the youth . Overseas education offers many good foreign universities to international students. These universities often have advanced teaching facilities and other resources. In addition, teachers also have higher professional standards On the other hand, when the youth leaves his hometown and migrate to another country to continue study, some obstacles may show up. he must be away from the family and intimate friends for a while. No doubt, the relationship will fade away if he don’t try to keep in touch with them. Moreover, the person is exposed to an environment where everybody else acts and behaves different from what the student has learned before. So far the costs of living and studying are most likely higher then your income in the country and you barely find an appropriate job with a high salary at first.