buy custom Merck essay

buy custom Merck essay Merck is a giant drug company in the US that has been recently caught in the act of trying to defraud the medical fraternity with the involvement of its in house doctors who posed as Independent Scientists in an investigation into the safety of a drug named Vioxx that has been on the limelight for all the wrong reasons. In his testimony, Graham, a senior drug safety researcher observed that Vioxx had killed over 50,000 Americans and caused over 100,000 heart attacks (Adams). Misused Data Since this company had data that included feedback from clients who had been affected by the negative side effects of the drug in question, the management should have worked on making the drug safer. However, its senior management tried to hide the truth so as to win the approval of FDA which is the biggest drug safety agency in the US. The truth of the fraud came into the picture following lawsuits by people who had been affected by the fake drugs. The results After it became pretty obvious that Merck was engaging in a mud smearing campaign to discredit the media, the company went ahead to seek immunity from lawsuits. The company also voluntarily withdrew Vioxx from the market citing cardiovascular risks which it had initially denied (Kaufman, 2004). As a result Merck has lost its credibility as a genuine drug manufacturing company and this has led to lower business profits and associations. Merck had to part with $670 Million as fine for Medcal fraud (Comer, 2008). Limitations and significance of the data Merck engaged in a dire effort to change the label of the drug so as to remove uncertainty over the negative effects of the drug. The company trained the marketers to encourage doctors to provide any issue relating to the drug in a written form so that the management would work on them. This meant that Merck had concealed all the evidence. The significance of this was so that the public would have no idea of the kind of business that Merck engaged in which later on leaked in to the public limelight. Ethical implications Mercks aim was to increase sales and not to educate the public on the negative effects of the drug (Kaufman, 2004). This is an ethical dilemma that Merck did not address and instead trained its sales team to boost the sales of the drug despite their full knowledge about the negative effects of the drug. As a result therefore, congress observed that there was need to give FDA more powers to regulate the drug business in the US. The revelation of the on-going fraud has led to a bad reputation of this one time big company. Role of decision making in business Decision making refers to the act of coming up with an informed conclusion basing on the facts and opinions collected regarding a given issue. It is important in business since it not only acts as the basis of action but enccourages progress as well. For instance, if Mercks Board of Directors made the right decision basing on the information they had about the drug, the company would have progressed to amazing heights. Further, decision making helps in enhancing efficiency of staff and management basing on the available strategies and policies. Roles of emotion and fairness in decision making Emotions play a major role in decision making as it is the thin line that separates logical thinking from emotional decision making. More often than not we fail to recognize the role of emotion in decision making yet it is a reality that we cannot divorce from the decision making process (Dirk). Fairness on the hand is a question of morality which is equally important in decision making. Many business leaders will make decisions that are fair to their clients in order to avoid losing business. If at all business managers in Merck made their decisions basing on emotion and fairness, chances are very high that they would not have been caught red handed in the fraud mess. Conclusion Business organizations should be able to engage its management in serious decision making training that will seek to sell the corporate image of an organization in a rather positive way. In order to avoid such cases like the one that faced Merck, business leaders should be able to instill professional ethics as well as critical thinking in running the business organization. Buy custom Merck essay

Commodore George Dewey in the Spanish-American War

Commodore George Dewey in the Spanish-American War Born December 26, 1837, George Dewey was the son of Julius Yemans Dewey and Mary Perrin Dewey of Montpelier, VT. The couples third child, Dewey lost his mother at age five to tuberculosis and developed a close relationship with his father. An active boy who was educated locally, Dewey entered the Norwich Military School at age fifteen. The decision to attend Norwich was a compromise between Dewey and his father as the former wished to go to sea in the merchant service, while the latter desired his son to attend West Point. Attending Norwich for two years, Dewey developed a reputation as a practical joker. Leaving the school in 1854, Dewey, against his fathers wishes, accepted an appointment as an acting midshipman in the US Navy on September 23. Traveling south, he enrolled at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. Annapolis Entering the academy that fall, Deweys class was among the first to progress through the standard four-year course. A difficult academic institution, only 15 of the 60 midshipmen who entered with Dewey would graduate. While at Annapolis, Dewey experienced firsthand the rising sectional tensions that were gripping the country. A known scrapper, Dewey took part in several fights with Southern students and was prevented from engaging in a pistol duel. Graduating, Dewey was appointed a midshipman on June 11, 1858, and was assigned to the steam frigate USS Wabash (40 guns). Serving on the Mediterranean station, Dewey was respected for his devoted attention to his duties and developed an affection for the region. The Civil War Begins While overseas, Dewey was given the opportunity to visit the great cities of Europe, such as Rome and Athens, before going ashore and exploring Jerusalem. Returning to the United States in December 1859, Dewey served on two short cruises before traveling to Annapolis to take his lieutenants exam in January 1861. Passing with flying colors, he was commissioned on April 19, 1861, a few days after the attack on Fort Sumter. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Dewey was assigned to USS Mississippi (10) on May 10 for service in the Gulf of Mexico. A large paddle frigate, Mississippi had served as Commodore Matthew Perrys flagship during his historic visit to Japan in 1854. On the Mississippi Part of Flag Officer David G. Farraguts West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Mississippi participated in the attacks on Forts Jackson and St. Philip and the subsequent capture of New Orleans in April 1862. Serving as executive officer to Captain Melancton Smith, Dewey earned high praise for his coolness under fire and conned the ship as it ran past the forts, as well as forced the ironclad CSS Manassas (1) ashore. Remaining on the river, Mississippi returned to action the following March when Farragut attempted to run past the batteries at Port Hudson, LA. Moving forward on the night of March 14, Mississippi grounded in front of the Confederate batteries. Unable to break free, Smith ordered the ship abandoned and while the men lowered the boats, he and Dewey saw to it that the guns were spiked and the ship set afire to prevent capture. Escaping, Dewey was later reassigned as executive officer of USS Agawam (10) and briefly commanded the screw sloop of war USS Monongahela (7) after its captain and executive officer were lost in a fight near Donaldsonville, LA. North Atlantic Europe Brought east, Dewey saw service on the James River before being appointed executive officer of the steam frigate USS Colorado (40). Serving on the North Atlantic blockade, Dewey took part in both of Rear Admiral David D. Porters attacks on Fort Fisher (Dec. 1864 Jan. 1865). In the course of the second attack, he distinguished himself when Colorado closed with one of the forts batteries. Cited for bravery at Fort Fisher, his commander, Commodore Henry K. Thatcher, attempted to take Dewey with him as his fleet captain when he relieved Farragut at Mobile Bay. This request was denied and Dewey was promoted to lieutenant commander on March 3, 1865. With the end of the Civil War, Dewey remained on active duty and served as executive officer of USS Kearsarge (7) in European waters before receiving an assignment to the Portsmouth Navy Yard. While in this posting, he met and married Susan Boardman Goodwin in 1867. Postwar Moving through assignments on Colorado and at the Naval Academy, Dewey steadily rose through the ranks and was promoted to commander on April 13, 1872. Given command of USS Narragansett (5) that same year, he was stunned in December when his wife died after giving birth to their son, George Goodwin Dewey. Remaining with Narragansett, he spent nearly four years working with the Pacific Coast Survey. Returning to Washington, Dewey served on the Light House Board, before sailing for the Asiatic Station as captain of USS Juniata (11) in 1882. Two years later, Dewey was recalled and given command of USS Dolphin (7) which was frequently used as the presidential yacht. Promoted to captain on September 27, 1884, Dewey was given USS Pensacola (17) and sent to Europe. After eight years at sea, Dewey was brought back to Washington to serve as a bureau officer. In this role, he was promoted to commodore on February 28, 1896. Unhappy with the climate of the capital and feeling inactive, he applied for sea duty in 1897, and was given command of the US Asiatic Squadron. Hoisting his flag at Hong Kong in December 1897, Dewey immediately began preparing his ships for war as tensions with Spain increased. Ordered by Secretary of the Navy John Long and Assistant Secretary Theodore Roosevelt, Dewey concentrated his ships and retained sailors whose terms had expired. To the Philippines With the beginning of the Spanish-American War on April 25, 1898, Dewey received instructions to immediately move against the Philippines. Flying his flag from the armored cruiser USS Olympia, Dewey departed Hong Kong and began gathering intelligence regarding Admiral Patricio Montojos Spanish fleet at Manila. Steaming for Manila with seven ships on April 27, Dewey arrived off Subic Bay three days later. Not finding Montojos fleet, he pressed into Manila Bay where the Spanish were located near Cavite. Forming for battle, Dewey attacked Montojo on May 1 at the Battle of Manila Bay. Battle of Manila Bay Coming under fire from the Spanish ships, Dewey waited to close the distance, before stating You may fire when ready, Gridley, to Olympias captain at 5:35 AM. Steaming in an oval pattern, the US Asiatic Squadron fired first with their starboard guns and then their port guns as they circled around. For the next 90 minutes, Dewey attacked the Spanish, while defeating several torpedo boat attacks and a ramming attempt by Reina Cristina during the fighting. At 7:30 AM, Dewey was warned that his ships were low on ammunition. Pulling out into the bay, he soon learned that this report was an mistake. Returning to action around 11:15 AM, the American ships saw that only one Spanish vessel was offering resistance. Closing in, Deweys squadron finished the battle, reducing Montojos fleet to burning wrecks. With the destruction of the Spanish fleet, Dewey became a national hero and was immediately promoted to rear admiral. Continuing to operate in the Philippines, Dewey coordinated with Filipino insurgents led by Emilio Aguinaldo in attacking the remaining Spanish forces in the region. In July, American troops led by Major General Wesley Merritt arrived and the city of Manila was captured on August 13. For his great service, Dewey was promoted to admiral effective March 8, 1899. Later Career Dewey remained in command of the Asiatic Squadron until October 4, 1899, when was relieved and sent back to Washington. Appointed president of the General Board, he received the special honor of being promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Navy. Created by a special act of Congress, the rank was conferred on Dewey on March 24, 1903, and back-dated to March 2, 1899. Dewey is the only officer to ever hold this rank and as a special honor was permitted to remain on active duty beyond the mandatory retirement age. A consummate naval officer, Dewey flirted with running for president in 1900 as a Democrat, however several missteps and gaffs led him to withdraw and endorse William McKinley. Dewey died at Washington DC on January 16, 1917, while still serving as president of the US Navys General Board. His body was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on January 20, before being moved at his widows request to the crypt of Bethlehem Chapel at the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral (Washington, DC).

Thesis of both Essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Thesis of both Essays - Essay Example The necessity of such respect is the thesis of her essay â€Å"Respect for Life†. Wildness should exist and be protected. In the essay Jane describes the experience she gained studying chimpanzees. Goodall calls for protection of animals, chimpanzees in particular. She wants all the people to know that these animals are in danger and this danger is caused by the lack of respect for animals. People are too selfish and take care only about themselves and other humans forgetting about other living organisms, which exist on the planet. The study of chimpanzees proves that they also have the divisions into cultural groups and their way of life is very close to the life of humans. â€Å"My thirty years working with chimpanzees has taught me humility: we humans are not after all, set apart, separated from the rest of the animal kingdom by unbridgeable chasm† (Goodall). Goodall not simply states that we should take care about animals, but provides facts based on her valuable ex perience. She calls not for protection based on sympathy, but for protection based on respect. Edward Abbey in his Eco-Defense wants to draw attention to threat and offers the ways to overcome it. He provides the list of possible threats and addresses rich individuals asking to defend the wildness. Wildness should exist and be protected. The author presents an example. He asks us to imagine our actions in case if anybody penetrates our house. â€Å"If a stranger batters your door down with an axe, threatens your family and yourself with a deadly weapon, and proceeds to loot your home of whatever he wants†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Abbey). In this case humans have a right to defend themselves by calling the police, applying to court, etc. There are many ways humans can defend themselves with. But what about the nature? If humans penetrate the Mother Nature’s territory and destroys it, our nature also should have a right to defend itself. The environment is changing and this

Sustainable management futures Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sustainable management futures - Assignment Example The concept of CSR consists of attractive or good business ethics and is associated with what could be evaluated ethically or morally good (Robins, 2008). According to Waddock (2004) CSR is â€Å"The separation of company responsibilities which associates with a corporate discretionary/voluntary associations with its community and societal stakeholders.† Corporations view integrating an active CSR subsistence as a contrivance to boost their gung ho benefit with exterior and interior stakeholders (Branco & Rodrigues, 2006).This essay examine the CSR activities and behaviour of Sainsbury in its home country and overseas and evaluates it ethical and environmentally responsible behaviour by applying relevant moral theories and sustainability replicas to date and create recommendations. Sainsbury plc is UK’s leading food merchant with interests in financial and non-food services. The group consists of Bells Stores, Sainsbury’s Supermarkets, Sainsbury’s Bank and Jackson’s Stores. It has more than 145,000 employees working under various groups. The business of Sainsbury business is constructed on a dedication to services and quality since 1869 and its main is to give the best products to its customers at an affordable price. In the year 1996, Sainsbury began official reporting with regards to ecological impact. This reporting was further broadened to Corporate Social Responsibility as reply to greater demand among its shareholders. This essay is further divided in various sections that will help us evaluates it ethical and environmentally responsible behaviour by applying relevant moral theories and sustainability replicas to date and create recommendations. Corporate Social Responsibility and Sainsbury CSR means a lot to Sainsbury, as it means offering their consumers abundant range of good and quality food products at a reasonable price. Besides this it also means offering a fair price to it suppliers a reassurance that they have a consumer for their goods. To Sainsbury, this means enriching their communities via career and employment development prospects along with making profits for their shareholders. Moreover the right usage of valuable resources such as electricity and water and perseverance of the local surroundings is yet another aspect for them. Sainsbury’s major CSR objectives are as follows: Perk up energy efficiency Heave colleague responsiveness of energy expenses and ecological effect Transporting produces more economically by reducing the miles travelled by deliverance fleet and utilising electric motor vehicles in its domicile delivery flotilla. In the theoretical structure Sainsbury’s rank greatly for its Corporate Social Responsibility activities particularly with regards ecological issues. Sainsbury’s has spent in energy competence projects, as well as refrigeration, lighting, ventilation and heating showing the corporate enduring financial dedication to CSR actions. Wi th the help of Carbon Trust, Sainsbury has also made a 5 site waste and energy study in order to perk up existing practice in waste and energy management. In addition, in 2010 they drew strategy to alter 20 percent of its house delivery flotilla to electric motor vehicles (Mintel, 2008) which justifies its high score in the theoretical structure for its inbound logistics. Sainsbury’s CSR Strategies The 1st monitoring strategy in order to assist dairy

Holyrood Project Case Study

Holyrood Project Case Study ABSTRACT: The need to adequately implement a project successfully with the required Project Management indices has ensured that project managers are continuously seeking ways of ensuring that projects meet and satisfies customers cravings. A project is said to be successful if it is implemented with an efficient and effective cost, quality and time management approach thereby meeting customers expectation; it is a failure when it fails to met these set objectives. The Holyrood -Scotland Parliamentary Building project management approach is critically analysed in a post mortem approach in this paper with a view to discussing how each of the stages in the project lifecycle culminated in the failure of the project to meeting certain criteria of an effective project. INTRODUCTION The Holyrood: A project of the Scottish government which was undertaken to provide a magnificent structure for the use of the Scottish Parliament. The advent of the Devolution proposal in 1979 gave rise initially to the project, however, the project became main-stream in 1998. The project became a key issue for the stakeholders due to key project management controls. A successful project is judged to be efficient, cost effective, quality, on time, and meet customers satisfaction. An appraisal of the Holyrood project indicated that some of these indices were not achieved especially in terms of cost and duration, hence the need to evaluate and analyse the entire project life cycle from initiation to closure to ascertain what went wrong and what could have been done. This paper aims to diagnose the indices of a successful project with respect to the Holyrood project, and critically evaluates how the project deviated from the expected project management indices. It identifies the problems of project management associated with each stage of the Holyrood project life cycle using project management theories of the like of P. Gardiner 2005 and J. Westland 2006 to define each stage of project life cycle Initiation Definition; Planning Development; Execution Control and Closure and analyse it to the Holyrood project. The first section reviews the background of the Holyrood Parliament building project. Section two identifies the problems associated with each stage of the project Initiation and definition; Planning and development; Execution and control and Closure. Section three analyses the problems that are most significant to cost increase and schedule slippage using the Auditor General report as well as other authors. Section four will evaluate the problems identified in section 3 and relate it to PM writers (Cimil J.K 1997), (Pinto 1998), (OGC, 2005) to identify why project fails; section five is a summary of findings and conclusion. Chapter 1 1.0 Background of the Holyrood Parliament Building Project The devolution proposals of 1979 may have given room for the incoming labour administration in 1997, to implement the proposal which included the building of the Scottish parliament. The Scottish parliament was and is still an important symbol for Scotland. It is expected that the parliament building should possess the best of quality, durability as well as represent civil importance. The Holyrood project from the initiation process faced enormous challenges starting from the quest for early completion and the high expectation in terms of quality. The major hindrance started with first, the cultural difficulties in the joint venture which did not allow them to work effectively. Secondly, the construction management approach of the project adopted, and the selection criteria for design procurement. Harnessing the ideas of different project team was a major concern for the project, as virtually all teams had different ideas indicating no clear direction, leadership, and project stage c ontrol. This ensued that there were lot of scope creep during the implementation of the project. A major creep was the cost creep: the initial capital cost was estimated at  £40million in 1997, which rose to  £90 million and from then rose to  £195 million. By April 2001 the cost had crept again to  £359 in June 2003 and the  £414.4million by 2004 resulting to a 20month delay. Lord Fraser report and the Auditors Generals report have scrutinized what must have gone wrong with the project. Chapter 2 2.0 Problems with the stages of the Project For a proper evaluation of what went wrong with the Holyrood Project, it is important to understand what really makes up a project life cycle. According to Paul D.Gardner (2005) the project life cycle indicates the phases a project has to go through from beginning to completion in an orderly from ensuring that the successful completion of one stage leads to the beginning of another, till the end of the project. It is imminent to state here that a well structured project phase of a project help in proper controlling and monitoring of the project, and ensure that timely corrective actions are implemented when deviation from plans are observed. 2.1 Initiation and Definition stage This stage kick starts the lifecycle of the project and establishes the ‘sum of the products and services to be provided by the project (PMI 2000). The business justification for the project is firmly established at this stage. The sponsors strategic plan is investigated by conducting a feasibility study which includes the project assessment in terms of its cost and benefits. For the Holyrood project whose objective was to provide a home fit for the Scottish parliament indicated a right step as a business case was made to justify such a proposal. However, the project encountered political problems which included the selection of an appropriate site to house the parliament, the PM drawing a time table to fulfill the political objective of early completion. It is of note mention that given the proposed cost estimate of the project one would have concluded that a poor feasibility study was conducted which drew a budget that can never have been a realistic estimate for anything other than a basic building for the new parliament. It also showed that adequate risk assessment was not carried out as the time frame approach for the completion of the building indicated. Overall impression for the initiation stage indicated that the project scope was not well defined, which would have indicated where the priority should be laid on , either on cost, quality, or early completion of the building . The project did not put into consideration the evolve of the clients need which does not fit into Cimil success criteria. 2.2 Planning and Development stage In this phase of the project three elements are important and they are; the creation of all the required plans to support the project (the scope management plan, the work plan, timeline, risk management plan and quality management plan), the mobilization and organization of all resources required for the project and infrastructure to support the resource as well as ensuring effective communication across the network of project stakeholders. The project lacked a sense of appreciation of plan, which made the project budget under estimated. A key setback for the planning stage was the disparity in choosing the proper design procurement approach. The selection criteria for the chosen procurement approach designer competition showed that the entire process lacked clarity; as a systematic approach was not adopted towards the handling of PQQs. This attributed to the lack of coordination from personnel undertaking visits in verifying the applicants/Competitors informations thereby leading to unfairness in choosing the appropriate candidate. This singular act ensured that all applicants including the joint venture partners presented drawings that extended outside the required size in the brief- a major signal of a possible project scope creep. Secondly in a project of this magnitude the choice of a project sponsor a very vital role to the success of a project should not be guided by political undertone as it appears in the choice of Mrs Doig who lacks expertise in matters of projects and construction. This to a large extent gave room for a lot of poor decisions which is evident in the choice of adopting construction management as the building option. Another problem at this stage in the project was that the project initiator, Mr. Dewar was too attached to the project. This often made him opt for unpopular choices like the choice of opting for a designer competition as against a design competition as specified by the RIAS team. Moreover, the competition process was conducted in an unprofessional manner that lacked finesse and proper coordination. For a project of this nature with very high risk content the lack of a contingency risk plan is inexcusable. The critical path of the project was not mentioned. The project lacked proper communication and coordination at this stage, sight of the terms of the brief was lost 2.3 Execution and Control stage (Westland Jason 2006) described this phase as the longest phase of a project. This is the stage were the deliverables are physically built and presented to the customer for acceptance. (Paul D. Gardiner 2005) described it as the phase where new information from other phases can lead to change, and a good project manger should know that some changes are inevitable, therefore there is need to maintain control over these changes to the project plan. Change Management for this project was out of control as most changes done in execution stage of the Holyrood project was not agreed by the parties involved. This exhibited the lack of good leadership, control and good management associated with the project. The reporting system did not encourage effective communication as well as flow of information between the teams which lead to the resignation of the 1st PM (Mr Armstrong) and subsequent managers. This lack of control saw the cost of the project skyrocketing with a lot of changes done in the design plan. 2.4 Closure stage Closure is the last phase of the project life cycle; it represents the end of a project. Money is no more paid out, all documentation and administration of the project is closed and opportunity for evaluation and performance review. The finished product is transferred to the care, custody and control of the owner (Paul D Gardnier 2005). In the Holyrood project, there were delays in the project handover as conflict between the contracted parties remains unresolved till the end of the project. The project closure and handing over lack some merits as potential risk elements were ignored in the final documentation. Some examples are 45,000 defects were discovered after handover and issues regarding the infrastructure. Chapter 3 3.0 Problems with the most significant cost increase and schedule slippage 3.1 Significant Cost Increases The project from inception has suffered successive increases in its cost forecast, but the most significant is in the construction stage (Execution and Control phase). Increase in construction cost was (caused by) as a result of design development and delay in construction process as the project progressed. The construction cost increases fall into three main areas Design development  £68m Prolongation, disruption and delay  £73m Inflation and Risk certainty  £19m Most of this cost was incurred from the year 2000, though this increase was as a result of poor planning, control and management attributed at the planning and development stage. 3.2 Significant Schedule Slippage The rush for early delivery of such huge project resulted to lot of schedule slippage. The complexities in the design variation as well as the late communication/supply of information during the construction phase were the most significant cause of the 20 months delay of the project. This delay started in 2000 and this still fall under the Execution and control phase. Apart from the complexity and late supply of information, other factors also attributed to the schedule spillage are 19-24 weeks delay in the Foyer roof, Glazing and assembling of the windows 15 Months each for the debating chamber and Canon Gate There was no contingency plan for spillage in the initial timetable. Chapter 4 4.0 Evaluation of the Project Management Problems Corresponding to those Identified in the Literature This section brings us back to the question why do project fail? And the writer is going to relate some of this failure to the problem associated with the Holyrood project. Writers like (OGC, 2005), (Cicmil 1997), (Carlos 2005) theory of why project fail will be used to evaluate the Literature. OGC, 2005 gave eight reasons why project fails and some of the reasons are lack of clear senior management and ministerial ownership and leadership. In the literature it was seen that was no clear direction, control as well as leadership among the different civil servants groups that handled the project. The project manager had no single point of authoritative command and could not use his authority and influence to control the project. In the literature decisions were made without communicating them to the stakeholders, this shows lack of effective engagement with stakeholders. Also there was lack of skills and proven approach to project management and risk management. The project sponsor knew very little about construction and this showed when no further inquiry was done on the construction management choice which has much risk on the client was not appreciated by the sponsor because of her incompetence. Risk was never incorporated in any of her decisions. (Cicmil 1997) also researched on principal sources of project failure where he talked about poor understanding and identification of client need. The joint venture never understood the clients need that was why from the beginning they never adhered to the clients brief, which would have minimised the risk that exists in undertaking a project with tight time frame. (Cicmil 1997) talked about organizational behaviour factors. The organisation of Holyrood project d id not provide the necessary clear direction and leadership and this led to lack of control, communication and poor management that existed in the project. The project was conceptualized as one without any provision for change. Such deficiency highlights the lack of (Cicmil 1997) bounded rationality approach to project management. The literature is rife with instances where proper procedures were not adhered to. Examples include the architects (Snr Miralles) reluctance to fit his designs into the project brief even when he was informed to. (Carlos 2005) talked about why project fails and most of it boils down to what existed in the Holyrood project which was lack of teamwork, cultural differences, communication, politics, control and poor management. This inevitably led to cost increase, and delays seen in the project. 4.1. RECOMMENDATIONS (Gardiner 2005) Valuation should have been applied to all the stages of the Project life cycle by PM The important key positions should not have been handled by Civil Servants Plan for contingency risk should have been made. The implementation of multi perspective framework on projects. In my opinion if this had been used issues like the choice of construction management would not have been made the content context and organisational character would have been analysed and a more suitable method like PFI/PPP would have been selected 5.0 Conclusion The Holyrood Project in the long run became a huge success, however most critics believed that the time and cost slippage would have been avoided if proper project management indices were followed. The author has been able to diagnose this key indices and is of the opinion that the success of every project is dependent on the effectiveness of the project manager , a major problem of the Holyrood Project .It is also worth mentioning that my recent visit to the Parliament Building afforded me the opportunity to have my personal take on the building and it is indeed a magnificent piece and so despite the many problems encountered it met the clients expectations of quality, â€Å"Past Glory of Scotland flowing within the present into the future† PRIMARY SOURCE Lord Fraser, Holyrood Inquiry, Blackwell Bookshop, (2004) Reid G., The Scottish parliament: Holyrood project closure (2007) Books Andersen E.S, Grude K.V, Haug T, Goal directed project management: effective techniques and strategies Kogan Page 3rd edition (2004) Gardiner P.D, Project Management: A strategic planning approach Palgrave Macmillian (2005) Kerzner H. Project Management, a systems approach to planning scheduling and controlling (John Wiley and sons Inc) (2006) page 66 Leech D.J, Turner B.,Project Management for profit, Ellis Horwood publishing (1990) Lockyer K.and Gordon J, Project management and project Network Techniques (6th Edition Pitman Publishing), (1996) Page 3 Lock D, Project Management Gower publishing limited, Pg 6, 12-14 Maylor H, Project Management (Pitman Publishing ) (1996) Page 25 Nickson D Siddons S, Project management disasters: And how to survive them, Kogan Page Limited, (2006) Page 25-74 Westland J., Project Management lifecycle: A complete step by step methodology For initiating, planning, executing and closing the project successfully, Kogan Page (2006) Articles Cicmil S.K , Critical Factors of effective project management the TQM magazine Volume 9 Number 6 1997,390-396 INTERNET SOURCES Architecture week, http://www.architectureweek.com/2005/1019/news_1-3.html ( Last visited on 20th July 2009)   BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4343690.stm ( Last visited on 25th July 2009) Project Management, http://www.pmhut.com/project-phases (Last visited on 20th July 2009) The Scottish Parliament, ,http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/corporate/spcb/publications/docs/Holyrood_closeout_report.pdf http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/audit/or-04/au04-1402.htm (Last visited on 20th July 2009)

A simple exchange of niceties

A simple exchange of niceties An insecure, pregnant, presumably young woman, who finds a certain security in a bench – that is what the short story, A simple exchange of niceties, written by the author Joanne Feeder, is about. The narrator makes everything depend on how the bench defines her and what it brings to her life. When it is occupied, she walks past it and accepts it. When it is not, she feels as if it is hers entirely and gets annoyed when other people come and sit next to her.So the day that someone does sit next to her, and not only that, but also talks to her about their problems, she again lets the bench decide err fate and destiny. The Story is written in first person narrator's point Of view. The narrator is a presumably young girl, who got pregnant. She did not plan her pregnancy. She is a very insecure girl, who throughout the story uses a lot of negative language towards herself. In general her language is very young, informal and very much spoken language.S he uses terms like â€Å"to be scraped out of me† (page 1 line 5) â€Å"it was a bucking cigarette that got me into this mess at the first place† (page 2 line 51) when talking about her future abortion and how smoking is bad for a pregnant woman. The story is filled with her thoughts and inputs such as â€Å"Did it look like didn't mind† (page 2 line 72). This makes the readers get a more personal connection with the narrator, since not only her situation, but also her thoughts about it are explained. That the narrator is insecure is showed during the story.How the guy she got pregnant with and her best friend, Barbie, calls her a trashy where and she just accepts it. She has no opinion of her own. This may have started with her bad relationship with her mother. She feels unloved by her mother, feels as if she were a mistake that should have never been born. She feels she is someone who would never go anywhere in life, someone who could never accomplish anything . Again she is very hard on her insecure self, never even asking the mother if this was the actual case. The narrator does not like other people, is shy and afraid of sharing her bench.The bench is her safe place, something that is always there, almost like a friend she has. The bench might stand for how she is afraid to share intimacy. The intimacy of sharing a bench, sitting next to each other and having a conversation. The intimacy of sharing a relationship. Whenever money sets next to her on what she sees as â€Å"her bench†, she gets upset and feels like her personal space has been invaded. In the text she explains how she does not mind sharing, it is not that, she just wants to have an exchange of niceties and that is it. It's not that I don't like sharing. I'd give anyone the shirt off my back or the food off my plate†¦ I just like to be consulted first† (page 1 line 20). But how can she not be okay with sharing her bench, when she is okay with sharing other stuff? Even with the exchange of niceties, she still gets annoyed and feels invaded of her personal space. But as she meets the other woman in the story, this changes. She is annoyed at the beginning. We hear about all her prejudices, such as how the other woman is drinking from a water bottle and how the narrator finds this pretentious.Again the need to be alone shows, she is trying to avoid the woman's crying and sharing of personal problems. But the woman's problem affects the narrator. They are similar. They both have an obsessive relationship with that particular bench. They both feel it's their own. But beyond that, they are opposites. She is going through the beginning of an unwanted pregnancy while the other woman has en trying to conceive for years. Hearing these problems on the bench seem to affect her, because she gets the idea to â€Å"share† her baby -? or rather give it away to the other woman.She wants to do something nice, and since she does not want it anywa y, why not give it to someone who wants it very much? For the first time, she could do something with a purpose and it was because of what she experienced on her dear bench. â€Å"It was the first time I ever thought about coincidence and fate and all that stuff; you know, where all the pieces just fall together† (page 4 line 35) – she explains how she never thought about fate before, when in reality she had always been letting the bench decide for her, letting the bench be there for here.And this was no different. As she carried the child to term, she never saw the other woman again. But it did not really matter; she had started to grow maternal love for her unborn child. â€Å"I was never tempted, not even once, to spend it on myself' (page 5 line 165) she explains when talking about how her mother sent her money for the child. Her fate was now to keep it, for the child to be hers. The moment on he bench had changed her fate about aborting it. But the fact that she never met the other woman again changed her fate again -? she was now meant to keep it.After she has giving birth, she is at the hospital with her mother. It is the happiest we hear her being throughout the entire text, so being on the bench that day really changed her life. But maybe now she would not need to visit it so often? Her messy life might still be messy, but in the end of the story, she has a lot of different people to also rely on to be friends, to be the one that waits for her when no one else does. She is not so lonely anymore.

Wollstonecraft s Vindication Of The Rights Of Women

There are strong contrasting views on the concept of education and relation when reading Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women, Rousseau’s Second Discourse, and The Analects of Confucius. While Wollstonecraft and Confucius have similar views on the necessity of education to achieve virtue, Rousseau views education as a source of corruption and vice. In Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Right of Women education is a tool used to gain freedom and be proactive in determining one’s fate. Wollstonecraft states that it is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason (12). This means that in the eyes of Wollstonecraft is being proactive in determining your fate, which she considers a virtue. However, the only way to control your fate is to educate themselves about the society they live in(11). Through this education one is able to come to their on conclusions on what is right, and wrong as well as define virtues for themselves. With this freedom an individual has the ability to lay laws upon themselves and follow them, which Wollstonecraft considered a great virtue. This relationship between virtue and education greatly contributes to her belief that women should be able to receive an education like that of a man. For Wollstonecraft education equates to freedom and freedom to determine one s life is virtuous. However, under oppressive patriarchy women are restricted from receiving equal education, which inShow MoreRelatedMary Wollstonecraft s Vindication Of The Rights Of Women928 Words   |  4 PagesMary Wollstonecraft’s famous book, Vindication of the Rights of Women, is â€Å"one of the earliest expressions of a feminist consciousness.† Wollstonecraft claims that women are upset mainly due to the fact that they are not receiving the education they deserve, and goes on to explain how women are notorious for being weak, and mentally unstable. She blames the education system for this since all the books are written by men, and they claim that women are barley humans and are treated as another speciesRead MoreThe Vindication Of The Rights Of Women1369 Words   |  6 Pages Mary Wollstonecraft, a Futuristic Feminist This research project addresses the work of Mary Wollstonecraft, The Vindication of the Rights of Women. 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