Rewrite Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rewrite - Essay Example If projects are mismanaged, they may result in high rates of turnover, ineffectiveness, poor productivity and low morale. A project is a process with different phases that are collectively referred to as the project life cycle. Different from business activities such as maintenance and operations, projects involve uncertainty and risk because of their unique nature, their complexity, cost and time constraints, as well as limited resources. This paper seeks to discuss the various phases of project management and its importance for organizations. Phases of Project Life Cycle The project life cycle can be defined as a logical sequence of events meant to achieve the goals and objectives of the project. Despite the complexity or scope of any project, it goes via a series of phases in its lifetime. The first phase is known as the initiation phase, followed by the planning phase, then the execution phase, and finally the closure phase. 1. Initiation Phase In this phase, the project’s phase is defined, as well as the approach that will be taken in order to deliver on the desired output (Keller & Field, 2012). The project manager is elected in this phase, after which he selects other team members taking into consideration their experience and skill. In this phase, the most common methodologies used are project charter, project framework, business plan, justification of the business case, and review of the milestones. The needs and objectives of the project are identified in this phase, and an appropriate response to this is documented with recommended options as solutions in the business case (Keller & Field, 2012). A feasibility study is carried out in order to investigate if every option addresses the objectives of the project, with a final solution being recommended. Issues of justification and feasibility are addressed in this phase. On approval of the recommended solution, the project is initiated in order to deliver on the solutions that have been approved. The major deliverables, as well as the participating work teams, are identified. At this stage, the team begins to shape up, and the project manager then seeks approval to start on the planning phase. 2. Planning Phase Project management’s second phase is also the planning phase where the solution for the project is developed further while focusing on detail. The necessary steps needed to complete the objective set out by the project are then set out (Keller & Field, 2012). During this step, the team members identify all the activities, which should be executed. There is also identification of tasks within the project and the strategy to be used in their fulfillment. This process is synonymously known as scope management. A plan for the project is drawn up including the timeframes, dependencies, tasks and activities. A project manager is tasked with coordinating the budget via the provision of cost estimates for materials and labor. The budget that is drawn up is used contro l and monitor cost expenditures during the execution phase. On identifying the work, preparing the schedule and making an estimate of the cost, then the fundamental components of this phase are complete. This phase acts as the excellent time for identification and dealing with threats to

Oman requires Westerners Essay Example for Free

Oman requires Westerners Essay Carrying out business in Oman requires Westerners to rethink their standard working practices. Simply dispatching the companies most highly qualified and intelligent staff without giving any thought to the wider implications of the character of the individuals is likely to cause the companies presence to fail. Patience and resilience are probably the first two qualities needed alongside professional competence by those being considered for employment in Oman. A willingness to change and adopt a more relaxed approach to local ways and methods is important as Omanis can be almost impossibly frustrating in business negotiations, in timekeeping or when bargaining on price. There are many never dos which may seem trivial but whose result is likely to be out of all proportion. Never lie (or be caught lying) to make a point. This will result in immediate distrust of you and the company. Never patronise or talk down and never show impatience or worse, anger during negotiations. These points will guarantee that you will go no further in that project. But furthermore, as the Omani social network extends in wide and diverse areas, you may find that you are unable to do business anywhere else as well! Equally, you may unknowingly be capitalising on that as well with your good trading practices being passed on. The matter of face and saving face has a great deal of importance when dealing with Omanis. Westerners should be particularly cautious when dealing with a situation which might suggest a fault or limitation, especially if the matter is brought into the public arena such as at an office meeting. Quick offence can be taken and will almost certainly lead to immediate dismissal often from the country on that day! The threat of instant removal from the country should not be discounted as a hyped-up story. It is very real and can be invoked by Omani nationals and lead to you being flown out of the country on the morning or afternoon, that is within a few hours, of the transgression. Lack of time keeping is a major cause of frustration for Westerners. Yet Omanis will always say that they are always available and access to them is simple. Westerners have no concept of the absolute duty that Arabs have towards family situations, which is far greater than those expected in Western societies. A phone call from a brother wanting to see them will take an overriding priority on the day. Unfortunately, a call to reschedule a meeting is unlikely to occur, they will just not appear. The Arab culture is so much different to Western priorities that they just simply cannot comprehend the Western fascination with the minor matter of Time. Patience and plenty of it is an absolute requirement. Another source of irritation is the time it takes to get-to-the-point at meetings, even more so if the point is likely to be contentious or controversial. Arabs will way up the mood and feelings of the decision-makers at the meeting and only bring up unpopular items if the mood is right. They see no point in advertising and bringing up these matters if the influential person or persons are not going to be receptive. Therefore, you may have to await several meetings before an item is discussed. Arabs hate to be the bearer of bad news such as saying no. They will hesitate or defer continually, keeping your hopes alive, when they have no intention of agreeing.

America’s Broken Immigration System Essay -- equal rights, human rights

There has been lots of controversy on the issues concerning a solution to America’s broken immigration system. Democratic and republican parties can’t seem to agree with one another, leaving reform at a stand-still. Democrats are focused on giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship while Republicans are focused on border security. The fact is both of these approaches should work in unison with each other to provide the most efficient route in fixing immigration. Providing a path to citizenship has been labeled as granting amnesty. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan introduced an amnesty plan similar to the one being proposed as a solution for America’s current immigration problems. The 1986 bill required immigrants to prove they were not guilty of crimes, enforced stricter employment laws, and only applied to those who were here before 1982. Unfortunately, this bill failed. Fraudulent documents circulated throughout the system and nearly 90% of the 1.3 million agricultural applications were approved even though fraud had been detected in nearly one third of the applications (Swarns). Because of this failure, Republicans are reluctant to vote for amnesty today. Today’s immigration reforms however, have a much better chance than they did twenty seven years ago. Technology improvements will allow officials to more closely monitor and filter the legitimate applications. Electronic computer systems such as E-Verify will be put in p lace to help employers confirm legal status. E-Verify is an online program that compares mandatory I-9 work forms to the records of those that the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security have on the employees (â€Å"What is E-Verify?†). The program will provide employers with instant, secure, an... ...08 Dec. 2013. Matthews, David. "How To Prevent Businesses from Hiring Illegal Immigrants." The Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2013. O'Keefe, Ed. "A Narrow Border-security Agreement Could Pave the Way for Broad Immigration Reform." Washington Post. Washington Post, 29 July 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2013. "Outline of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013." Scribd. Scribd, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. Press, Associated. "Senate Immigration Plan Would Stiffen Border Security, Increase Surveillance." Fox News. FOX News Network, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013. Swarns, Rachel L. "Failed Amnesty Legislation of 1986 Haunts the Current Immigration Bills in Congress." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 May 2006. Web. 08 Dec. 2013. "What Is E-Verify?" Homepage. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.

Compare and Contrast the Characteristics of a Leader and Jesus Essay

What makes a leader? Power? Authority? Status? What characteristics make up a perfect leader? These are one of the hardest questions to have a clear answer as all people have different perspective and standard in the picture of a leader. The best answer only comes from the Words of God which is the Bible. It is only Jesus’ leadership which is true, honest and righteous. Jesus describes a leader like this: â€Å"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be saved, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many† (Matthew 20:25-28, NIV). Jesus’ life was pure, honest and humble. The reason He came down to earth giving up His throne was to save the people from their sins. He gave so many teachings and showed miracles to many people so that they could believe Him and follow His name. He respected others as well as little children and helped people become saved. The relationship of Jesus’ ways and the ways of the skills of normal leader are somewhat similar and different. There are some leaders who are sincere and faithful to his or her people but there are also leaders who are infamous and criticized because of poor leadership skills. The standard of having great leadership is different from Jesus and the world. First to explain the leadership skills of worldly leaders, there are some qualities of being a good leader. They are empathy, consistency, honesty, communication, flexibility, ability to delegate, confidence, commitment, positive attitude and lastly creativity. With these leadership skills, there would be no problem in running a company or leading a union, making lot of followers as well. The skills above show the best way to get along well with the followers. However, the most of the leaders find difficult having all these leadership skills as human by nature become Jesus, as a leader of the 12 disciples and thousands of people who followed him to hear his Words, he showed great skills of leadership and this is shown in the Bible, precisely in the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Some of his distinct actions that showed his teaching were the washing of the disciples’ feet. It is shown in John chapter 13 verses 1 to 20. Although he was in a position of a leader, he humbled himself and showed first to the disciples of how to serve. There are some leaders in the world who followed God’s way to be a leader. One example is Apostle Paul; I would say was a man in history who was very similar to Jesus’ leadership skills. He is one of the important characters who met Jesus personally and completely changed his life according to Jesus’ ways. Apostle Paul was a leader of many churches. He led his people quite differently from the leaders of the normal world today. Apostle Paul, not only served the members of the church by writing letters and spreading the gospel but also he put his leadership into action. He was suffered and persecuted by many gentiles and he tried to tell the truth just as he taught his people to always be faithful in God. Also his important aspect of being a leader like Jesus was praying for his people. Jesus prayed for his disciples and even in his crucifixion, He prayed to God to forgive all the people in the world (Luke 23:34, NIV). In the books of the Bible which Apostle Paul wrote, he greets in the letter by saying that he is praying for all the members of the church (Philippians 1:3~5, NIV). Another leader in the past whom many people admired and respected was Abraham Lincoln who was the President of America. He was a Christian who prayed for his people. He was not self centered but listened to others’ thoughts and opinions. He saw his country in many viewpoints so understood the people in different classes. He was always aware of his weaknesses and asked God to help and guide in whatever problems or situations he was in. He did not forget to share the happiness and grievances of any events that occurred in America. This showed that he was not just acting as a leader but involving all his citizens and letting them participate in his concerns. These are the examples of deal leaders who followed Jesus’ way. Although there were amazing leaders in the past that everyone admired, there were also leaders in the past who were infamous and blamed. Their leadership skills brought pain and suffering to many people. Kim Jung Il, North Korea’s president is one example that shows how he misused the leadership skills and made the North Koreans suffer with poverty. His worst leadership skill is having absolute authority. This totally goes against the characteristics of Jesus’ leadership. Jesus taught in his life to serve others first as a leader and be humble. This can also be seen in the Bible, it says â€Å"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up† (Jacob 4:10, NIV) â€Å"And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him† (Jeremiah 50:32, NIV). President Kim’s haughtiness of having all the authority eventually led the North Koreans suffer and die and also made the country be one of the worst countries in the world. He ruled the country all in his way and order; he received all the goods coming from the foreign countries which tried to help the poor North Koreans; he had serious nuclear obsession and used all the money in inventing new war weapons. He commanded all the North Koreans to worship and bow down before him only and no one else. Kim Jung Il had no leadership skills of serving others, having good communication, and he tried to ignore the conditions of his people. In conclusion, although leading like Jesus can seem the hardest way, it is the real true way to be a leader. There are many aspects in worldly leadership skills which are important and helpful, however I believe that is not the ultimate skill to be a good leader. Just as Jesus showed us through His life of how to live like God’s children as a role of leader, we have to try hard to act in that way so that we could be a true leader who helps the follower go in a correct direction. Jesus’ main emphasis was being a humble leader, serving others first before being served. I believe this is correct that leaders should be examples first before just demanding the followers to do it.

Personal Healthy Living Plan Essay

1. Physical a. I will develop a workout schedule for me to do throughout the summer time and for the rest of my time here in college. b. There are so many reasons to exercise regularly (better health, weight loss, feeling happier all around), and so many reasons to just, well, not (happy hour, errand-filled days, vacations). If the latter reasons are getting the best of you, here are four simple ways to stick to a workout routine. http://www.fitsugar.com/How-Keep-Workout-Routine-22523101 c. My state of change would be preparation. d. I will be doing this scheduling within the next few weeks or month. I will start by writing out the schedule and do specific workouts each day to target different parts of my body. In doing so, I will also write out stretching and cool down workouts as well to balance out the work intake. e. Some barriers that I might face are feeling lazy, in taking the wrong foods which will lead me to not wanting to work out and negativity from people around me. They way that I will overcome these barriers is to avoid having the feeling of laziness, not in taking the wrong types of food and to not listen to any negativity that comes out of others around me. f. The way I will commit this plan is by thinking of the end result; having the satisfaction of being in control of my body and proving people’s negativity wrong. 2. Spiritual a. My goal for spirituality will be to starting going back to church and participating in meditations. b. The benefits of meditation are manifold because it can reverse your stress response, thereby shielding you from the effects of chronic stress. When practicing meditation, your heart rate and breathing slow down, your blood pressure normalizes, you use oxygen more efficiently, and you sweat less. http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/p/profilemeditati.htm c. My state of change would be preparation. d. I will do meditations at least three times a week or when needed to relieve stress. I will start going back to church when I go back home on Sunday and this will continue for the rest of my time there and when I come back to school. e. Some barriers that I might face are not having the time to fit meditation in when I have a busy work schedule and being unable to go to church if I work on Sundays. Ways that I can counter these barriers are rescheduling my work hours around the time me and my family would be going to church and putting aside time for meditation to relieve all the stress from work and school. f. The way that I will commit to this plan is by thinking of how less stress I will be if I did meditation and by going to church with my family will help create a strong bond between us that we haven’t had in quite a long while. 3. Social a. My goal is to create a strong friendship with those who I care for the most; my friends and my family. b. You’re shy or lack confidence, talking to people can be very stressful. That’s why it’s a good idea to work to improve your social skills. Once you feel comfortable interacting with people in a social setting, you’ll see the benefits immediately. You’ll meet new friends, you’ll be exposed to new experiences, and you’ll feel 100 percent better about yourself. Here are some simple steps to help you feel comfortable in public. http://www.wikihow.com/Become-Sociable c. My state of change would be action. d. I expect that I will start be more social with my friends now that school is about to finish. I also intend to be social with my immediate family; spending more time with them, talking and visiting them now that I will be staying home. e. Some barriers that I might face are being unable to hang out with friends because of my busy schedule or because their busy schedule and being unable to visit my family because I have no transportation to get there. How I will overcome these barriers will be to make time for them and put aside things that are unnecessary to do. I’ll do the same for seeing and making time for my family. f. The way I will stay committed to this plan is imagining how happy my family members will seem when they see me after not seeing each other for about two years or so and the same with my friends. 4. Intellectual a. My goal is to studying hard for my finals that are soon to be arriving and do a time management chart to organize all my studying time. b. Developing time management skills is a journey that may begin with this Guide, but needs practice and other guidance along the way. One goal is to help yourself become aware of how you use your time as one resource in organizing, prioritizing, and succeeding in your studies in the context of competing activities of friends, work, family, etc. http://www.studygs.net/timman.htm c. My state of change would be termination. d. I will set specific times to study and organize my work according to the date of the final. Making sure I put the important things to get them done and out of the way for the next study session. e. Some barriers that I might face while doing this would be not getting enough sleep at night because I want to get everything done right away, not being able to retain all the information that I just took in and neglecting to eat. How I will overcome these barriers will be to get sleep to help me retain the information and make time to eat so I get my nutrients that I need to keep going. f. The way I will stay committed is the gratitude of being done and satisfaction of passing all my classes with good grades. 5. Emotional a. My goal to relieve my build-up emotions will be through dancing. b. People can avoid these common emotional traps and improve your emotional health, attitudes, and self-esteem. One method of shifting emotion is called the BARES model. http://www.thenewmedicine.org/health_planner_info/emotions/recommendations_shift_emotions c. My state of change would be action. d. Instead of keeping my emotions to myself, I will relieve them through dancing in my room or by going to a dance party. e. Some barriers that I may face will be not wanting to dance or not wanting to talk to anyone about all the emotions that I have inside. Some ways that I can overcome these barriers is to pick good music to dance to or have my boyfriend be my dancing partner and create a strong bond as well as relieving stress and emotions build-up. f. The way I will stay committed to the plan is knowing that with expressing my emotions, I will become a better person and be less stress especially with finals ahead. 6. Environmental a. My goal is to take less time taking a shower than taking a longer one. b. Your morning or evening shower is very easily the most relaxing part of your entire day. Sometimes it just feels so good to close your eyes and stand under the rain-like flow of your showerhead. The only problem is, sometimes our most relaxing showers are also the ones that waste the most water (and therefore waste the most energy, too) http://ezinearticles.com/?Save-the-Earth,-One-Shorter-Shower-at-a-Time!—Follow-These-Shower-Efficiency-Tips&id=199375 c. My state of change would be action. d. Starting now, taking less time in the shower would be beneficial to the environment because I will be wasting less water and less energy to keep the lights on when showering. e. Some barriers that I can face will be to having the feeling of not wanting to shorten my showers because they feel good to me and because the water feels good when taking it after a sports game or work out. Some ways to overcome these barriers are to tell myself that I will be helping the environment and saving energy. f. The way I will stay committed to this plan is knowing that I’m helping out the world instead of myself.