750 words essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

750 words - Essay Example Buddhism summarizes a spiritual life in four tenets. This entails the truth of suffering, the truth of the reason for suffering, the truth of suffering’s end, the truth of the path that leads towards enlightenment. The first tenet means that life must always possess suffering. In turn, suffering is an inalienable part of life that individuals should not hold as strange. Acceptance of suffering does not connote nihilism, but acceptance of the world as it occurs. In such a pragmatic frame, the individual learns how one can rectify the problem of suffering. The religion does not deny the concept of pleasure, but classifies the same as a fleeting value (Ganeri 67). This also applies to happiness, which is a monetary feeling. In the end, sickness, aging, and death are the only inevitable elements. The second truth deals with the cause of suffering. The Buddha states that desire and ignorance are the two main causes of suffering. Desire relates to pursuit for pleasure, material thin gs, and immortality. Since these wants are insatiable, desiring them fuels suffering in people. Ignorance, on the other hand, refers to not perceiving the world as it occurs. When an individual lacks insight and foresight, the mind remains static since it is unable to perceive the true nature of life. Buddhism emphasizes on the mind as the principal precept for attaining Nirvana. This is because the mind is essential in controlling desires and emotions. The texts liken this principle to the act of herding an ox such that it does not stray into other people’s farms. Buddhism recognizes that the senses may become uncontrollable if the individual does not chain them with one’s mind. In this view, indulgence in desires and limited application of the mind in life suffocates the spirituality of a person. Buddhism emphasizes on the need for learning in order to achieve enlightenment. When a person is born,

The Impact of Project Management in Information Systems Essay Example for Free

The Impact of Project Management in Information Systems Essay The explosion in the computing field in the last twenty years forced the organisations to be computerised for achieving most of their operations using Information Technology (IT) systems. The implementation of the systems requires a management program for the IS applications development. Susan Brock (2003) supports that as the data into valuable corporate information has become more viable through information technologies, the application of IT based projects has risen too (Susan Brock, 2003). The organisations use Information System Projects for either updating, or either upgrading or changing the existing system in order to meet users or customers’ requirements. It is supposed that the tools and techniques used in such IS projects will differ independently based on the projects’ requirements. The roles and responsibilities of each contributor to the projects differ as well. The organisations responded to this new challenge by putting into place project management teams that take into account the technological and organisational complexity of their Information System Projects (Vital Roy, 2006). The management of a software development project presents many difficulties. Most Information Systems projects are considered less than successful or many are simply cancelled. Project Management has been introduced as a major factor for controlling and tracking their projects in order to avoid these project failures. On the other hand many IS projects are successful when are completed on time, on budget, on scope and met the customers and users needs and requirements. This could happen by investigating and analysing the key elements of project management required for the successful implementation of these projects. 2. Project Management in IS projects As it stated above, Project Management is the most important tool for managing, tracking and controlling the projects. David Dixon (1988) defined Project Management as the management tool for estimating, planning, scheduling the activities needed to achieve the expected levels of functionality, quality and performance within the specified constraints for cost, time, schedules and resources (David Dixon, 1988). These activities divided into different tasks which must be assigned to the project team and be controlled by the project manager. Although most of the projects are successful, delivered on time and covered the appropriate requested requirements, some of the projects are considered less than successful and many are simply challenged or cancelled. According to the study of Susan Brock (2003), projects’ failures have reduced significantly considering the number of projects has almost doubled between 1994 and 2002, however almost half of the projects remain â€Å"challenged† (Susan Brock, 2003). During the years, IT professionals researched and studied different situations and suggest some key elements and theories for the successful implementation of IS projects such as the documentation of the Project Initiation Document (PID), the important role of the project manager, the project planning, project quality, etc. 1. Organisational Framework First of all an important section to be investigated and analysed is the organisational framework which considers the organisational structure for IS project work. The organisational framework is established at the outset and well understood by all concerned since otherwise it will be impossible to get important decisions made and to get a clear idea about the project (James Cadle and Donald Yeates, 2001). It is very important to know the customer, sponsor and project manager of each project because they are all responsible to make the most important decisions for the project. The other various roles may be organised in different ways, depending on a number of factors including the type of the project and culture of the rganisation. The other principal roles for an IS project could be the analyst, designer, administrator, programmer, testing team and project office. The PRINCE project management method is suggested for the best organisational framework either in the start or during the process of the project. Projects in Controlled Environment (PRINCE) is a structured approach to project management developed by the UK government (James Cadle an d Donald Yeates, 2001). It was originally intended for the management of IS projects and offers a number of beneficial documents in the management of IS projects such as Project Initiation Document (PID), Risk Log Document, Project Quality Plan, Stage Plan Document, Work Plan Document, etc. 2. Project Manager Another key element, may be the most important, is the project manager. The project manager is appointed by the project board of the organisation and is responsible for the management of the project on a daily basis and for the achievement for the project objectives and expected results. . Role and Skills The project manager is totally responsible for the success or failure of the whole project. The role of the project manager is very important, serious and complicated. James Cadle and Donald Yeates (2001) believe that project manager must track, monitor and check the project every day through to completion and also has to: ? Achieve the project’s objectives on time, on cost and quality constrai nts imposed by the project board. ? Take or make timely decisions to assure the project’s success ? Select project team members Create the project team and be ready for any changes in the team during project process. ? Keep the project board and senior management informed of progress and alert them to problems especially if these could affect the organisations’ or business objectives. ? Recommend the termination of the project if necessary. ? Take role of the communicator between the project board, senior management and project team. ? Select, manage and control subcontractors. ? Give permissions about the internal and external resources decided to be used in the project. ? Face and solve any problems or conflicts during the project’s process Generally, the project manager in an IS project has to create a product usually a new IS system incorporating hardware and software. As it stated above project manager should go through a difficult role to achieve the project’s objectives, however some skills are required in order to be a successful project manager such as: ^ Leadership: project managers must be able to stimulate action, progress and change. ^ Technological: project managers need to have a clear idea and accurate perception of the technical requirements of the project so that business needs are addressed and satisfied. Evaluation and decision making: project managers should have the ability to take serious decisions and evaluate alternatives. The members should be developed from a group of individuals, each with their own interests, style and goals, into a project team that works together to achieve the project’s objectives and requirements using the each other’s strengths. The most original and useful method of team effectiveness is Belbin Test, created by Dr. Meredith Belbin, which includes questionnaires for measuring aspects of personality completed by project team’s members. The scores from the questionnaires will help the project manager to assign the team members into the eight â€Å"team roles† suggested by the Belbin Method. According to the definitions given in the Belbin Test Document the eight project team roles are: ? Coordinator: provides consensual leadership, coordinating project team’s effort however lacking in originality. ? Shaper: A dynamic leader of the team, pushing activities forward and bringing â€Å"shape† to the team. The Shaper can be inspiring but can also be abrasive. ? Innovator: A source of original and a creative team member but sometimes forms a personal attachment to impractical ideas. Resource Investigator: Team’s link to the outside world and another source of ideas with the responsibility to identify and investigate resources that will help the team. ? Monitor/ Evaluator: Keeps the team on the right track and separates the practicable ideas from that are not, however sometimes is insensitive to the team members’ feelings. ? Team Worker: Sensitive to personal needs and upsets, works hard and maintains positive atmosphere in the team. ? Implementer/C ompany Worker: Takes an idea and produces a schedule. The company worker works well with plans and milestones but can be inflexible with any project’s changes. ? Completer/Finisher: Worries about what can go wrong in a project, checks up on detail and focuses the team on project’s deadlines (Belbin Test Document, 2006). If all the key roles of the project team are filled, project team stands a very good chance of success. On the other hand if some key roles of the project team are missing, it weakens the team and may lead to failure. 4. Project Plan Another key element of the project management required for the successful implementation of an IS Project is Project Plan. Planning is very important and essential in order to get the expected results and meet all the objectives and goals after the execution of the IS Project. It involves thinking hard about the IS project, what to achieve and how the team will go about it. The beginning for a good Project Plan is the understanding of the project’s requirements and the project manager must be sure that this is available before the start of the planning. The analysis of the work to be done has been made using the work breakdown structure or product breakdown structure. Work breakdown structure is the method that used to break down project progressively into smaller parts until the end up with individual tasks and work packages. After that project manager may create a Gantt chart using Microsoft Project as the tool for assigning the duration, milestone, resources, cost and staff required for each tasks as identified in the Work Breakdown Structure Diagram. Dave Martin (2004) states that â€Å"Of course ‘slippage’ from the plan is ‘a normal, natural trouble’ and its importance or magnitude is measured against the schedule. Where ‘slippage’ does occur, contingency plans are made by reference to possible implications† (Dave Martin, John Mariani and Rock Rouncefield, 2004). According to the above statement, the planning project breakdown should be revised easily especially when the project manager may need to re-estimate and reschedule some tasks in order to meet some missed requirements or to improve the progress of the project in case of ‘slippage’. Project Plan is also a way of communication between the project manager with the users, project team, project board and senior management so they can be informed anytime about project’s progress. James Cadle and Donald Yeates (2001) are suggested that the project plan must always be in electronic version using either Microsoft Visio for the work breakdown structure or Microsoft Project for Gantt chart or network action diagram. Most of the planning tools have facilities to track progress on an IS project. The data may have to be input manually by the project manager or it may be possible to link the planning tool to a time recording system and capture the input that way (James Cadle and Donald Yeates, 2001). The project manager will be able to compare the actual progress with the plan in order to identify where problems seem to be arising and decide how to solve them. 5. Project Risk Management Information System projects are becoming increasingly complicated and are subjects to various risks. Risks cannot be avoided at all but they can be managed in such a way that they are recognised and their impacts are avoided or reduced. First of all the team has to identify the risks of the project, however each project is unique so its risks will arise from the factors that may not have been seen before in the project. There are a lot of project’s areas in which risk could arise and it is difficult for the project manager to be sure that all the possible risks have been identified. All risks must be highlighted even if some of them are unpopular or never arise in similar projects in the past. After the identification and analysis of each possible risk, they need to be described so that it is clear exactly what each risk is all about (Jamie Smith, 2005). Once there is a brief description of the risk, the project team is in a better position to understand its impact and what needs to be done to mitigate it. The following list, introduced by James Cadle and Donald Yeates (2001), provides the starting point for the identification of possible risks in an IS project:  ¦ The Commercial Background- it may be a new business area in which the organisation has little experience or no market research. The possible identified risk is the lack of information about the background and requirements of the projects  ¦ The Contract- is the formal, legal stipulation of the responsibilities and agreement between the organisation and the project team (Dave Martin, John Mariani and Rock Rouncefield, 2004). There may be the risk of delay or underperformance of the project, unclear terms in the contract about the payment or not linked tangible milestones.  ¦ The users- may be unfamiliar with the new technology or unwillingness to change working practises to fit with the new system such as the London Ambulance System (LSA). The management of the organisation and users may hold very different view of what the system supposed to do.  ¦ Acceptance Criteria – The acceptance criteria may not have been clearly defined in the contract or the customer may not accept some or all of the new system. The Project Plan- possible tight timescales, milestones may be too far apart or deliverables may not have been defined enough to work so the product is not the expected result, the project may be bigger so more staff is required than the estimation at the start of the project. After completing the risk identification the project team should take some actions against those risks like the avoiding actions, try to prevent the risks from occurring, and the mitigation actions where the project teams try to reduce the impact of the risks if they occur. Finally the project teams register the identified risks either using the Risk Log Document which is part of the PRINCE or the risk map if they want to highlight only the very important and dangerous risks. 3. Conclusions The impact of Project Management in the Information Systems Project improved the percentages for the successful projects. It is the management tool for planning, monitoring, tracking and controlling the whole process of the project. The IS project to be considered will be the delivery of a specified information system within given constraints of time, quality, resources and cost, however the project organisational framework is also important because the project team has the chance to get a clear understanding of who the customer, the project’s scope and the purpose of the project is. The PRINCE project management method offers an effective structure for the management of IS project. The project manager plays the most important roles in a project team and is the main reason for the success or the failure of the project. Project manager is responsible for the build of the project teams using the most popular method of Belbin Test. Project Plan is also required in order to track, monitor, control and compare tasks with the time. The suggested tool for planning is work or product breakdown structure for break down tasks into smaller subtasks. Project Manager must take decisions about the duration, cost and resources for each task which can be presented in a Gantt chart using Microsoft Project.

Analysis on Postmodernist Shrek

Analysis on Postmodernist Shrek Usually, in most of the traditional fairy tales, ogre is used to be the man-eating beast and the prince is used to rescue the princess and then live happily together ever after. However, in the season of the movie Shrek, especially Shrek I, the makers use decipherable devices to reverse this tradition and use three basic elements to show the idea of postmodernism, i.e. ironic interfacing, intertextuality, and self-reflexivity. Lets begin by explaining the first one, ironic interfacing. To begin with, Shrek I includes a lot of ironic interfacing and one is that its lack of a narrator. Unlike other tales, it is told in a linear custom, but not from the point of view of an omniscient narrator. The story in fact is told through the interactions and dialogue of the central characters, like in the film Shrek, we need to know what Shrek and Donkey would do by watching their action and conversation. It is non-linear narrative technique. But in those Disney movies, for example in Snow White, theres always a narrator telling the audience what is going to happen next and he is omniscient. It results the ironic interfacing between the characters and the authors. Also, at the end of the movie Shrek I, all the audiences see that Shrek, the main character discovers the camera and lots of audiences watching him. Therefore, he turns away the camera and uses his hand to block it before he kisses Fiona. It can be considered as ironic interfacing because it shows the unconventional interaction between the author and Shrek. What Shrek does in the movie lets us recognize that he can look at the audiences and the author through the known camera. So he knows how to maintain his privacy during kissing with Fiona by blocking their view. Besides, from this scene, we all can see clearly that the animation company makes use of Shrek to mock the traditional Disney stories and genre. Shrek uses the stereotypical way of Disney movies and fairytales, which is used to create the distance between the present and the reality. This acts as inviting the viewers to enter another world, a world that can only exist in the stories but not in real. Thus, the company uses it to mimic Disney by including the stories traditional beginning, which Disney always uses. This does not only mock Disney but also helps us to see the unreal world and in the realism of a fairytale. Another stronger example showing Shrek includes ironic interfacing is at the very first part of the movie. At the beginning of the movie, Shrek starts just as a typical Disney cliche fairytale by opening a book and starts with these few words Once upon a time, there is an imprisoned princess waiting for her true love this kind of old style of tales. However, theres a green hand suddenly rips a page from the book, uses it to wipe his bottom and Shrek interrupts it and said to the audiences, Yeah, right! This scene strongly shows us the ironic situation between the characters and the author. Those are the examples of ironic interfacing in Shrek. Next, we are going to talk about intertextuality. Intertextuality means that there are countless references to other movies, texts, plays, and even some parts of the other movies. Especially in Shrek III, there are several main animated Disney characters appearing in the film, but not in their usual form. By referring these Disney characters, the film requires us to have a self-conscious awareness of something that is used to be. Like Snow White and the other princess appearing in the movie, normally they are very delicate and used to be rescued. However, this time, they rescue themselves when they are imprisoned. Also, in Shrek I, Fiona is imprisoned in a castle with a dragon guarding her. In most of the Disney movies, the princesses are used to be so delicate that they cant leave and rescue themselves. But, we notice that Fiona is different from them, as she knows Karate. And the only reason why she does not leave is that she imagines the traditional fairy tale happening to her so she has to wait for her prince. It mocks the Disney movies that those princesses are not really delicate. Furthermore, Shrek has also obtained some scenes from other movies, for example: Fiona freezes in the mid-air like Neo in The Matrix; Shrek fights in a beer-covered ring, making reference to Transporter, Gladiator etc. Last but not least, lets talk about self-reflexivity. At the end of the movie, Shrek discovers that there is a camera shooting at him and Fiona and it means that hes aware of the narrative mechanics or storytelling techniques of traditional fairy tales. Besides, at the beginning of the movie, when Shrek is hunted and chase by the people, he shouts at them and whispers, This is the part you should run away. Although this scene does not directly illustrate that the character does takes notice of the filmmaking process or the camera, it is still a very strong example of self-reflexivity. What he has said does not only remind that group of people how to react, but also reminds the audiences that normally people should run after the ogre yells at them. It shows that Shrek is conscious of the traditional circumstance in fairy tales. In addition, when we focus on the menu of the movie Shrek, it contains details that recognizes you its a movie. Especially when you want to play the movie press the Play button, theres a pig coming out and shouting, Play the movie. It does let you acknowledge that it is a movie. All in all, Shrek is a very excellent example of movies showing postmodernism as the filmmakers has included ironic interfacing, intertextuality, and self-reflexivity. If you want to analyze the cartoon postmodern and feel bored of watching The Simpsons again, Shrek will be a great suggestion for you.

Androgyny in James Baldwins Here be Dragons Essays -- Here Dragons

Androgyny in James Baldwin's Here be Dragons The piece by James Baldwin titled â€Å"Here Be Dragons† was amazing and I definitely recommend reading it. Baldwin’s piece is mainly a plea for understanding. He argues that within every person there is a little bit of the opposite; for instance, inside every male is a little bit of femininity, just as there is some masculinity within every female. Baldwin also mentions how, many times, the things we fear are things present inside of ourselves that we wish were not. In several instances Baldwin discusses how he was made fun of by men standing in large groups and then once alone the men would try to get Baldwin to have sex with them. I believe those men clung to Baldwin because they felt the homosexual impulse within themselves, and felt that ...

Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide

As I stand in front of you, my thoughts go to thousands of patients in the world today that are undergoing intense suffering and tormenting experience for they have been denied to exercise that one great decision regarding their life. My thoughts also go towards hundreds of medical practitioners charged with the responsibility of caring for such patients. To what length should I go to save this patients life? For how long can this patient hold on to life and is the pain worthy it? It is more than certain that almost each and every medical practitioner has ever mulled over these two questions alongside many others. In the same breath he or she has also thought of the ethical dilemma involved should a rash decision be made on the issue. The debate on whether physician assisted suicide should be legalized has raged on for sometime now and has taken an emotion twist (Cook, Earleen H., 1982). It is my opinion that this debate should be put to rest. A look at the positive side of legalizing physician assisted suicide leaves no doubt that it is the only way to go. It is the only way to relieve a patient who is undergoing a moment of immeasurable suffering and whose end is certainly nigh (Beauchamp, T.L., 1989). There are a number of reasons why physician assisted suicide should be legalized. The most basic reason is mercy .As human beings, we are endowed with loads of emotions and a conscience that cannot allow us to sit back and watch as our beloved ones wallow in a miasma of suffering, especially when we have the ability to end such suffering. It hence would be inhumane to watch as patients undergo a slow and painful death. Secondly, we talk abut individual rights and freedom, what more freedom would there be than allowing a patient to make that crucial decision in determining his/her hour of death and quell the bouts of pains tormenting him her. Finally, the huge cost of maintaining life in the face of sure death cannot be rationalized. Why should we spend millions in taking care of people in a vegetative state while million others are dying due to lack of basic drugs? (Kenneth Cauthen, 1998) The opponents of legalizing suicide are only afraid of change. Their arguments do not hold any water. They talk of difficulties in regulation, sanctity of life and further state that sometimes miracles do happen. These arguments are just but empty words and cannot be compared to the suffering our beloved ones go through as they try to grapple with the last painful moments of their lives. It is the high time that bold steps are taken. It the time to bend the Hippocratic oath, at least for a just cause. It is the time to â€Å"change the rules† as Jack Kevorkian, an American pathologist and the pioneer of the latest debate of legalizing physician-assisted suicide, puts it. (Ed Newman, 1996) References Ed Newman, 1996. Making the final choice: Should physician-assisted suicide be legalized? Truth seeker. Retrieved on 03/11/07 from http://www.banned-books.com/truth-seeker/1994archieve/121-5/ts215m.html Beauchamp, T.L., 1989, â€Å"Suicide in the Age of Reason,† in Suicide and Euthanasia: Historical and Contemporary Themes, ed. B.A. Brody (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Cook, Earleen H., 1982.  Euthanasia and the right to die:   the medical and legal viewpoint.   Monticello, IL:   Vance Bibliographies.

Psychological Impact Paper Essay

Cultural diversity is a bonus in the society today. The ability to interact or network with other cultures gives you an opportunity to understand different cultures and how they live their life on a daily basis. Although being culturally diverse may be a positive aspect. It may have complications depending on your race. For example, Racism, Discrimination, and Civil rights are factors that may cause a psychological development, distress, or behavior problem. In my paper I will discuss the potential impact of racism, discrimination, and civil rights on the psychological development, distress and behavior on a cultural diverse African American. Racism â€Å"Racism consists of beliefs, attitudes, institutional arrangements, and acts that tend to denigrate individuals or groups because of phenotype characteristics or ethnic group affiliation,† (Hall, 2010. Pg 88). African Americans faced racism on a daily basis in the 1900s. Lynch mobs and burnings terrorized African Americans, causing them to be skeptical or in fear of leaving their own home. They were denied industry jobs and were forced to work low end jobs. This resulted in to poor living conditions which affected their mental health. Picking cotton was their main source of income. African Americans began to question their self worth because as of minorities they were not able to express their intelligence or communication skills they used to be culturally diverse. African Americans began to think they were useless only because they could not provide more for their families. â€Å"Categorical beliefs about the biological and/or cultural inferiority of some racial groups can attack the self-worth of at least some members of stigmatized racial groups and undermine the importance of their very existence† (Williams and Morris, 2000. Pg 255). African Americans self esteem became to drop, causing them not to be able to function mentally. Racism may have decreased compared to the 1900s but it still exists in present day. Discrimination Discrimination has been known to have an impact on the  psychological development, distress and behavior on African Americans. Discrimination is (Define). â€Å"Recent qualitive studies and journalistic accounts reveal that black experience discrimination in a broad range of contexts in society and that these incidents can induce considerable distress† (Williams and Morris, 2000. Pg 251). Treated unfairly impacted the health of African Americans, causing anxiety or anger. African Americans thought that they were overly qualified for jobs that they were denied. After being denied African Americans would become angry or frustrated because of not being treated equally. African Americans were prideful of their culture and the only way to show people of other cultures is by showing they were inferior. African Americans were inferior but still suffered from mental health problems. â€Å"Racist discrimination is associated with anxiety, anger frustration, resentment, somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal hypersentivity, fear, paranoia, helplessness-hopelessness, and depression among African Americans† (Hall, 2010. Pg 91). Discrimination caused African Americans to lack interactions amongst other races in schools. â€Å"Afrocentrism espouses African ideals at the center of ones approach to problem solving† (Hall, 2010. Pg 92). This was an important factor in the multicultural research. Civil Rights African Americans struggled for years for freedom form slavery. After being free fought for equality and a voice. Movements began to form on behalf of African Americans continued to struggle mentally, only because they felt their voice was not heard. In 1875 the Civil Rights Act was passed giving them the right to equal treatment in public settings. Followed by the 1896 decision to legalize racial segregation of schools. Although the schools were segregated African Americans parents and children feared for their lives. They were afraid that European Americans would hurt their children all because they were attending schools that where made for whites. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 created the opportunity for African Americans to have constitutionals rights without discrimination or segregation. The Civil Rights Act was passed but Racism still exist, causing African Americans to feel hopeless. African Americans then began to search  for another outcome which lead to Affirmative Action. The Black Muslims created opportunities and had a goal of diversity. Goals of Black Muslims were to replace the negative effects of slavery with positive values and behavior and to develop independence from the dominant culture,†(Hall, 2010. Pg90). Hope for understanding African American identity and multicultural relation was offered by psychological theory and research despite political and legal setbacks. Although African Americans were faced with adversities, they managed to overcome them. Africans struggled mentally as well as facing distress and behavior problems all because the way they were treated. African Americans tried to form bonds amongst other cultures, giving them the opportunity to become diverse individuals. Learning other cultures was common for African Americans, like for instance adapting to the American culture after being slaved. African Americans have put the past behind them and continue to become more diverse as well teaching other cultures there values and traditions. Barnes, J. (2004). Unequal Education. U.S. News & World Report, 136(10), 66. Hall, G. C. N. (2010). Multicultural Psychology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall