My Writing Experience and Thoughts about Different Cultures Essay

First of all, I would like to talk about my writing experience. In China, primary students originally talk about the pictures in primary school. There is no particularly difficult impression in my memory, But when I was in high school, I found a primary school second grade examination paper and I found articles particularly well written. I am surprised, I get so good at writing, but also particularly well written. After, grade level increases, When I was in 5 Grade, the teacher asked me to keep a diary every day, but my mind is empty and I do not know what to write. So I just wrote the diary about what happened each day. I was afraid of my teacher said that I can’t write very well. Later, when I was in junior high school, I still don’t know how to write and what should I write. I remember an unforgettable experience, it is a composition lessons. At that time, my Chinese language teacher ask me to write about the composition of spring as homework, I remembered that I have a book seems to be an article which was written about the spring in my drawer. That’s my cousin’s textbook when he was in high school, I usually read it if I have a spare time. Thus I opened the catalog and found this article, then I excerpt some well written sentences to complete the composition. When I watch the article I accomplished, I wondered how beautiful sentences which I copied form the first paragraph, and it is also especially good at the last. I was so frightened, because I know that if I hand it to my teacher. Not only the teacher didn’t believe I wrote, even I don’t believe it. I should say I was lucky. She was not aware of this problem, but I fe lt so guilty. Later, I found that the author which I copied the original article from is a very famous writer in early China. I think my behavior is disrespectful to him. Since then, I had no interest in plagiarism and I began to write article all by myself. I no longer have a copy of the composition, instead of learning their thoughts. Since that time, I concluded a truth, although the plagiarism is a bad behavior, it is also in the process of looking for good ideas. After that I read a lot of books and learned to analysis and appreciation. It laid the foundation for my future writing, this is a big harvest to me. In the United States, plagiarism is a very serious behavior of cheating, but this is very different to China, In China, language teachers always promote students to learn from those who write a good article, even require students to recite those articles and then students can modify this article into their own article. This is a necessary process in China, a lot of good articles learned in class, the teacher will ask students to recite these articles . For me, writing in English is very different from writing in Chinese, although as a Chinese student I started to learn English when I was very young, and did a lot of English writing since primary school, but English is not my original language. Besides, the English wring practice in China is very limited. Specifically in the model of thinking, Chinese and English are in widely vary. Many times, the sequence of grammar between Chinese and English is the on the opposite, so when we write in English, many sentences are called ‘Chin glish’. It is probably that maybe many Chinese people can understand the meaning but the Americans do not necessarily know the meaning of it. So, English Writing is such a challenge for me, here is the U.S., I wrote the article is not for the Chinese people, it is written for people here to read, I must think the ways in Americanï ¼Å'to let people here know what I say. So the most important thing I have to do is that I must adapt to American life , and learn the way of thinking in American so quickly, then use the thinking of U.S. to writing. Only in this way, I can adapt to life better and complete my studies here . I chose the major of Business Management, so there may be a lot of writing about Business Management in my further study. So I must learn the writing skills and method well in this writing lesson, and then do a better writing in further courses of study. The differences of cultural may cause differences in student’s ability, which is reflected in the students between United States and China very clearly. In China all of the knowledge are imparted to students by teachers, Chinese students only need to remember the knowledge that their teacher told them. If you remember it exhaustiveï ¼Å'you can get a good grades in this course. In the United States , the teachers always train students to focus on the ability which they interested in, regardless of the students’ ideas are correct or not, as long as he has his personal reasons, it will be a good answer. In my opinion, Chinese students have a strong ability to remember so many things though, but they serious lack the ability to think things independently and they lack the imagination. In the classï ¼Å'they are not good at expressing their ideas, because they always looking for the right answer, which could be widely recognized . There are also some differences in writing. In China, junior high school students have a same writing style, The teacher teach them to write with same skills and the contents of the article are almost same at all. Although I do not know the style of American students’ writing, but in my guess, their writing must have their own ideas. In my opinion, whether writing in Chinese or English , we must have our own ideas, Only in this way, articles will be more valuable.

Evidences and Reflections of an Artist

Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1610) was more than the greatest sculptor of the Baroque period. He was also an architect, painter, playwright, composer and theater designer. A brilliant wit and caricaturist, he wrote comedies and operas when not carving marbles as easily as clay. More than any other artist, with his public foundations, religious art, and designs for St. Peter’s, he left his mark on the face of Rome (Strickland and Boswell, 1992). â€Å"The Ecstasy of St. Theresa† and â€Å"Apollo and Daphne† are evidences of Bernini’s outstanding skills.Bernini’s marble sculpture, â€Å"The Ecstasy of St. Theresa†, represented the saint swooning on a cloud with an expression of mingled ecstasy and exhaustion on her face. Since the Counter Reformation Church stressed the value of its members reliving Christ’s passion, Bernini tried to induce an intense religious experience in worshipers (Strickland and Boswell, 1992). On the other hand, few works in the history of sculpture are more admired for the sheer skill of their carving than Bernini’s â€Å"Apollo and Daphne†.Bernini began the â€Å"Apollo and â€Å"Daphne† in 1622 and had largely completed it by 1624, the last year of his employment with Cardinal Scipione Borghese. The â€Å"Apollo and Daphne† has come to stand as the perfect antithesis to the modernist principle of â€Å"truth to materials†, the ultimate illustration of the artist defying his medium’s very nature (Sofaer, 2007). For both works, Bernini used all the resources of operatic stagecraft, creating a total artistic environment (Strickland and Boswell, 1992). Being able to observe Bernini’s extraordinary skills in art is a truly noteworthy and significant experience.Just watching his works through the video made me feel the ecstasy, the pursuit and the love contained within those works. Somehow, it makes me want to sculpt a masterpiece of my own, reflec ting my own skill and my own knowledge. Michaelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s (1571-1610) genius resided in his ability to overlay one principle upon another, to cross aesthetic boundaries seamlessly while seldom calling attention to the means by which he did so. Moreover, even when he was painting the human figure, Caravaggio was a still-life painter at heart.Caravaggio’s â€Å"Basket of Fruit† has been dated by modern scholars to the years 1593 to 1600, with most placing it closer to the end than the beginning of the first phase of his career. If indeed datable to the moment of his emergence as a public painter in the Contarelli Chapel, the little picture was not one of the realistic depictions of â€Å"flowers and fruit†. Coming at a critical juncture in his professional career, one can imagine the â€Å"Basket of Fruit† serving as a polemical expression of his ideas on the nature of creativity itself.In this work, he blended the lowly method of Ligozzi’s mimetic and didactic illustrations with higher-minded emulations of ancient literary and visual sources, prompted perhaps by his awareness of the current fashion for Northern still-life painting among collectors like Del Monte himself (Varriano, 2006). In the first Roman years, Caravaggio was isolated. He was rushed to hospital for a malaria attack, as witnessed in the famous self-portrait â€Å"Sick Bacchus† in the Galleria Borghese (Pomella, 2004). The â€Å"Sick Bacchus† is a meditation on the theme of â€Å"love’s sting†, that is, on the woes of love gone awry.During the Baroque, the awareness of point of view led, for the first time in Western history, to something which can be considered today as self-reflection, a self-consciousness of the human individual (Bal, 1999). Studying â€Å"The Incredulity of Saint Thomas’, also known as â€Å"Doubting Thomas†, it may come as no surprise to learn that Caravaggio failed to w in the commission to paint a resurrection for the Jesuits. By the time he had completed this painting, Caravaggio’s notion of a â€Å"religious† image had already worried Counter-Reformation churchmen.His reputation for painting in a style which has neither sacred, nor profane, but a hybrid of the two, had attracted uneasy commentary among potential ecclesiastical patrons. In this respect, the â€Å"Incredulity of St. Thomas† might almost be read as gauntlet thrown in the face of counter-reformation orthodoxy. This works is an evidence for Caravaggio’s decision to explore the central mystery of the Christian faith, the incarnation and the resurrection, with what might, tendentiously, be termed an almost Protestant literal-mindedness (Porter, 1997).To be able to understand the personality of Caravaggio through his works, as observed from the video, is an unforgettable occurrence for me. It had shown me that sometimes, there are certain things which artists have to do that defies the society and still, defines them as a whole individual or as a skilled artist. It also made me understand that most of the time, the paintings or artworks do not simply show particular sceneries or another model, but reflects the skills, personality and visions of the creator itself. References Bal, M. (1999). Quoting Caravaggio: Contemporary Art, Preposterous History.Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Pomella, A. (2004). Caravaggio: Art Courses. ATS Italia Editrice. Porter, R. (1997). Rewriting the Self: Histories from the Renaissance to the Present. New York: Routledge. Sofaer, J. (2007). Material Identities. Australia: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Strickland, C. and J. Boswell. (1992). The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-modern. Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing. Varriano, J. (2006). Caravaggio: The Art of Realism. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press.

he Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Essay

Identity shows a person’s individuality. A person’s individuality can include how they dress, their beliefs, their personality traits, the way they speak, their culture, their education, etc. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and in my own life, it is evident that when exploring identity, a character must leave and return to his/her roots before truly understanding him/herself. Arnold finds out who he is by leaving and later coming back to Rowdy. In the last scene, before Arnold and Rowdy played their one-on-one basketball game, Arnold and Rowdy repair their lost friendship. It is then that Arnold thinks, â€Å"I would always love Rowdy. And I would always miss him too. † (230) This quote shows how Arnold realizes that he is different from Rowdy. To begin, he has always valued his friendship with Rowdy and so he says that he â€Å"would always love Rowdy. † Even when Arnold had a disagreement with Rowdy when heading to Reardan for a better education, he still thought of how Rowdy would defend him. However, by the end of the book, Arnold realizes that he will have to â€Å"miss† Rowdy because their dreams make them too different from each other. Therefore, Arnold discovers that his life can still include Rowdy, who has been his friend since the beginning, however, he cannot rely on Rowdy to be with him always. By the end of the book, Arnold has returned to Rowdy as a stronger and independent person. Similarly, I found my true identity after leaving and returning to my family. Growing up, I came from a home that was traditionally Chinese. We did not easily express our emotions, we were not allowed to date until after college, and being successful at school would ultimately bring honor to my family. Though these beliefs were deeply ingrained in everything I did, a rebellious side of me wanted to discover what it meant to be American as well. Why were the other families so expressive and communicative towards each other? What mattered beyond grades and doing well in school? These questions led me to leave my family and head to college eight hours away. There, I met many people who did not come from Chinese families. I noticed that some students were not as disciplined at school because their families did not stress education or some students were a little overly expressive with their feelings, which caused drama among their peers. I began to miss my house where my parents had instilled values towards having a good education and protecting our family’s privacy. When returning home, I was thankful for understanding my parent’s values and their intentions for my future. Arnold truly finds himself when he has accepted his origins and absorbed them into his perspective of himself. His reunion with Rowdy and the reservation show how he came full circle in finding himself. Even though Arnold wanted to both physically and emotionally remove himself from the reservation in order to pursue his dreams, he ultimately realizes that it is only when he acknowledges his heritage that he can move forward into adulthood.

Everday Negotiation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Everday Negotiation - Essay Example More often than not, we are expected to keep the peace, acquiesce be the first to make concessions and not make waves. It is important that in everyday negotiations, we learn how not to easily and naively buy into such self-defeating expectations. There are a myriad of reasons why some of us get less or more salary or wages than others, get better or worse deals that other; one of these reasons is because they either reject terms first offered to them and negotiate, or accept terms first offered to them without negotiating. According to Kolb and Williams (24), the effects of failing to negotiation or bargain smart and hard accumulate over a period of time and that this leads to the widening of the gap that cannot even be measure in monetary terms. This may result in the involved person not being able to get the best deal, authority, or resources that would enable them to succeed. Especially in business and in the work place, the effects of failing to negotiate and acquiescing instead of holding down the opposition’s feet and bargaining hard and smart can increasingly become negative with time and result in failed business deals or bad careers. Good everyday negotiation, according to M. R. Carrell, M. Carrell, and Heavrin (46) is a matter of understanding the basic techniques, which include bringing together all your insights and observations about the party that one is negotiating with, practicing, speaking and standing up for oneself on a daily basis, irrespective of how small or big a negotiation is. Most of our day-to-day interactions essentially, are a series of negotiations; thus, not knowing the simple basics is doing a great disservice to ourselves. Every day, we negotiate with our friends about what we would like to do or want done, we negotiate with our families regarding what to eat, who to pay bills, and who does the dishes; we negotiate with sales personnel on the price and cost

A critical review of one other poster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A critical review of one other poster - Essay Example Significant adoption and implementation of business expansion and business operation strategies in several countries helped the organization to increase its overall market share. On the other hand, Volkswagen can be considered as one of the leading automobile manufacturers and distributors in global market places. Both these organizations are strong brand names within the respective industries in this global market place. Volkswagen entered into the emerging Indian market in the year 2011. Since then the organization adopted and implemented several unique business operation strategies in order to attain significant growth rate in Indian market. The demand for both fuel efficient and luxury automobiles has significantly increased among the Indian customers in the beginning of 21st century. Most importantly, demand for fuel efficient cars drastically increased among the Indians due to their price sensitive mentality (Kotler, 2008, p.59). The management of Volkswagen understood this demand quite significantly. They introduced vehicles in India under the big brand names, such as Skoda, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini. This strategy helped the organization to gain huge brand image in India. Therefore, this business operation strategy can be considered as one of Volkswagen’s major strengths in Indian market. Innovative marketing, brand awareness strategy, product innovation and innovative business ope ration process can be considered as its other major strengths. Effective capitalization on vehicle financing opportunity helped Volkswagen to arrange sufficient financial resources in Indian market. In addition to this, capitalization of advanced technological resources and eco-friendly business operation practices helped Volkswagen to gain positive brand image in Indian market. Adaptation and implementation of these strategies helped Volkswagen to enhance its

Negotiation Strategies and the Ethics in the Movie Essay

Negotiation Strategies and the Ethics in the Movie - Essay Example Nick faces strong opposition from Vermont's Senator Ortolan Finistirre, who defends in the Senate the use a skull and crossed bones in the cigarette packs. However, he does his best even as his son comes to know of his immoral venture. Nick Naylor and his friends use many business strategies to survive in their businesses. Nick Naylor invokes many negotiations in line with his duty some of which are successful while others are not. Among the many strategies that Nick Naylor uses, there are negotiating strategies that are so dominant in the movie (YouTube Web). A negotiation is a process that involves two or more individuals with an aim of work together to formulate agreements about the issues in dispute. A negotiation strategy in this case is a pre-determined approach to achieve a desired goal or objective to potentially find and make an agreement or contract in a negotiation with another party or parties (Moore Web). Negotiation strategies also involve ethics that drive the negotiat ions and dictate relations between the negotiators. This paper will address the various negotiation strategies as used in the movie, thank you for smoking and the ethics of the negotiation strategies that apply in the same movie. ... Subsequently one is supposed to plan the best environment for the negotiations and draw a concrete program for the engagement. This procedure is very fundamental in any negotiation process though it varies from one dispute to another. In some cases it even not possible to follow this procedure subject to the urgency of the matter. However, where time allows, professionalism calls for the adoption of this procedure in negotiation. This way desired results have a guarantee. Planning is indeed, very important in implementing any negotiation strategy. One should prioritize his interests in a negotiation process and rank them accordingly. In addition, one should equip themselves with the knowledge about other negotiators. They should also consider the effect of money in a negotiation process. Then plan factual inquiries carefully and plan money moves based on negotiation objective principles (Cronin-Harris, Web). Indeed, among the many factors that can lead to a failed negotiation strateg y poor planning is very significant. Other factors like failing to pay attention to your opponent, paying too much attention to anchors, caving in too quickly, gloating, and thinking the pie is fixed come in handy to the failure of a negotiation strategy (Stanford Graduate School of Business Web). In the negotiation table, one should adopt given attributes to ensure that the negotiating parties focus on the dispute and you win the dispute. It is very significant that one separates the negotiators from the problem so that they can have an independent focus in addressing the dispute. For a winning situation, a negotiator should put informed emphasis on their interests in the dispute and not necessarily on the positions

International Banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

International Banking - Essay Example Measuring bank liquidity risk incorporates the comparison of accumulated expected cash shortfalls for a given period of time with the stock available for funding the cash sources. In accounting, the stock or the asset available in an organization should always be sufficient to fund the financial sources. To measure this risk, the accountant is required to assign the anticipated cash flows to periods in the future that have financial products with unpredictable cash flow timings (Musakwa, 2013). It is important to note that there is no agreed criterion that can be used to assign the cash flows. In other words, there is no common consensus on how to carry out the procedures. The variations in measuring funding liquidity risk are normally caused by the considerations of solvency, immediacy, as well as the cost of obtaining liquidity. First, solvency can only be applied in firms that are solvent. It can be defined in terms of funding liquidity risk as the capability of a firm that is sol vent to make the payments agreed upon in a timely manner. It should be noted that not only solvent banks that are liquid (Musakwa, 2013). At times, even insolvent banks may be liquid and this makes it difficult to use solvent as the main base for measuring banks liquidity risk. Further, a solvent bank can at times be illiquid. Insolvent banks may for instance be liquid in the event of information asymmetry. Such a situation may arise where the bank is fully aware of its solvency status but the public has no clue regarding the same. The distinction between solvency and funding liquidity risk is easy especially in the events of crises capped with information asymmetry. But it should be noted that solvency is normally covered by capital while ion the other hand funding liquidity risk is covered by cash inflows (Ruozi & Ferrari, 2012). Cost of obtaining liquidity is also likely to cause variations in bank liquidity risk. In most cases, funding is obtained with the main objective of cove ring obligations (Matz & Neu, 2007). However, it has to be obtained at an additional cost. The additional cost happens to be the major concern of accountants. In fact, some definitions of funding liquidity risk are based on this cost. For instance, the term funding liquidity risk could be defined as â€Å"the risk that a financial firm, though solvent, either does not have enough financial resources to allow it to meet its obligations as they fall due or can obtain such funding only at excessive cost† (Musakwa, 2013). This definition describes the cost of liquidity in in subjective terms. The defect of the definition is that the costs differ from market to market as well as across various banks. Under this concept, the bank liquidity risk is measured basing in the additional cost for obtaining the funds (Davis, 2004). Finally, the immediacy is an important aspect of funding liquidity risk. It defines the speed with which a bank can be in apposition to meet its obligations. In measuring funding liquidity under this concept, the time frame within which the bank is likely to become unable to meet its obligations is estimated (Hlatshwayo, et al. 2013). As mentioned earlier, known regarding the distribution of run off profile in most financial products for banks. However, there is an increased need for establishing a reliable method of measuring bank liquidity risk so as to avoid bank crises. In essence, the measure of bank liquidity ri

Business Research Methods 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Research Methods 2 - Essay Example Like any other business, it is crucial for American Express Travel Agency to find out two things: 1) whether or not the customers are satisfied with the services, and 2) the nature and/or level of the dissatisfaction. Business research brings up a number of challenges for managers in a global economy. Research is a process through which information is turned into knowledge. This knowledge is vital because it is essential to the decision-making process. The amount of information available to managers to make decisions has exploded in the recent years. Business research is made up of a number of inter-dependant components. The core of the business involves serving the consumers through participating in a value-addition process with give-and-take as its essence. Therefore, business research is a function that is concerned with gathering, analysing, interpreting and reporting information so that the corporate decision makers can perform their tasks more effectively. The scope of the busi ness research is far-reaching, and the areas of phenomena that the researchers study are increasing quickly (Hair, Celsi, Samouel, Page, 2011). The main purpose of the market research is to identify the needs and wants of the customers, find out how these needs and wants can be met, and how we can distinguish ourselves from the competition (Authenticity Consulting, 2011). Often, it is seen that corporations want to know everything about their programs, services and products. The research plan that is adopted often depends on the information that needs to be collected in order to make vital decisions about the product portfolio. The more focused a company is on what it wishes to find out through the market research process, the better the results are. Also, the time taken to collect the relevant information will be shorter, as the time taken to collect irrelevant information is eliminated. There is an opportunity cost regarding the breadth and depth of the information that one wants to collect. Generally, it is seen that the more breadth the information has, the less depth one will get. On the other hand, if a company wants to research on a specific aspect of a product or service, vital information about the other aspects might be lost in the process (Authenticity Consulting, 2011). The two types of marketing research available to any business include primary research and secondary research. Secondary research focuses on gathering information or data that is already available, mostly by studies performed previously by government agencies etc. This kind of information is already available in the libraries as well as on the Web. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages of using secondary research. It might not always be relevant as it was collected for another purpose. Moreover, it might be out-dated or inaccurate if it is very old or wasn’t collected by a relevant source. However, on the upside it is not as expensive as the primary research and it provides guidelines for a customized primary research to be carried out later. Hence, it is a basis for the design of primary research. Secondary research is essential for travelling agencies such as American Express travelling agency because it can provide them with the necessary statistics that are essential for decision-making. The statistics could include the number of people who go on a holiday, their preferred destination, as well as the amount they are

The Importance of Body Art as Part of Young People Identity in Britain Essay

The Importance of Body Art as Part of Young People Identity in Britain - Essay Example From the research it can be comprehended that art has been heavily influenced by faith and status among indigenous people or tribes, and the same for the Vatican. Art is seen on canvases of painters, on sounds of music albums, on cave walls, books, museums. Others say that art is natural within every individual, and how people express themselves is itself a form of art. One of the many kinds of art is the body art of which instead of a canvas, the human body is used. Not so long ago tattooing was considered only among the â€Å"tribal people† and then, in sub-cultures. But in recent years, body piercing became a craze. Its popularity has grown so much that some medical experts alarmed people that piercing could be hazardous. Only to fan its popularity. A sample of this is nipple piercing, which was once practiced by the Karankawa Indians of Texas and is still practiced by women of the nomadic Kabyle tribe in the Mountain of Algeria. In the West, nipple piercing has made a rebi rth, with many famous people having their nipples pierced. Generally the reason was for ‘fashion’ and not for any rituals or ceremony purposes. Today, the traditional body painting, body piercing and body tattooing are part of body art. Cosmetics, jewelleries, and surgeries are now the more conventional versions of body adornment. Even if it is traditional way or more advanced way, body art could produce fabulous expressions. Body art is one thing that gets easily accepted among the young people.

Professional Issues Essay Example for Free

Professional Issues Essay Information technology is defined as the development, installation an implementation of computer systems and applications. It can also be defined as (ITAA definition) the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer based systems particularly software applications and hardware. It deals with use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve information securely. There are a number of IT professionals (information technology degree, 2008): database management, networking, engineering (software and hardware), computer specialist and software publisher to name just but a few. My career interest is in database management. This is because with database management you can work in any well established firm anywhere in the world. Any well established firm has databases ranging from finance records, contacts of business partners, employee or product details etc. Good management of such databases can lead to growth of the firm through efficient operations. To be a competent database manager you need to be privy in the following areas in IT: Networking (to allow authorized officers in various offices to access the database) computer specialist (Repair and maintenance of the computer hence maintenance of the database) and software design (To design security based software to permit/ restrict access to database, change of database etc as a way of ensuring constructive use of database). A database manager requires a number of skills in order to function competently. These skills are broadly divided into two groups: technical skills (e. g. Programming, networking etc) and personal skills (e. g. communication skills, interpersonal skills etc). The technical skills /required by a database manager include: Networking, Programming and ability to design and implement system security and other security measures. (Stein, 2007). Networking skills help in linking all the authorized users of the database to the main system to enable them access, update or delete sections of the database as appropriate. Programming language skills helps the database manager to design software some of which can enable the implementation of system security and other security measures. A close analysis of my technical skills reveal the fact that I am exceptionally good in networking but lacking in programming and consequently the implementation of system security and other security measures. On the other hand, some personal skills are mandatory for a competent database manager. These include (Steiln, 2007) organization skills, management skills and surveillance. Other skills include (job database, 2008): communication skills, strategy development skills, conflict management skills not forgetting (Career builders, 2008) strong analytical skills, excellent project management skills, documentation skills, consulting, partnership and critical thinking skills. Last but not least are the initiative and self starting abilities. Considering the above stated personal skills and on close analysis of my personal skills, I believe that I possess all the personal skills listed above except analytical and project management skills. These skills I possess have been internalized into my subconscious mind by constant application. These are the skills that I have learnt both formally and informally. Formally, I have attended training on a number of personal skills such as conflict management, organization, documentation, presentation, communication (both oral and written), and capacity building skills. The capacity building course enabled me to develop initiative and self starting abilities. Informally, I have learnt to be a team player thus acquiring partnership skills and communication styles that achieve results. On the technical arena, as indicated earlier, I am privy to networking but lacking in programming. I acquired my networking skills through a formal training. The skills have helped me a lot especially when I want information from another computer far from me but linked to the one I am presently using. Self appraisal and Personal Development Plan (PDP) are both aimed at establishing the strengths and weaknesses of an individual. The weaknesses can then be remedied and the strengths improved. According to my PDP, I aspire to correct the deficiencies in both technical and personal skills. The personal skills I lack include analytical and project management skills which I intend to correct by signing up courses in both to bridge the gap. The technical skills that I lack also need the same action (taking courses in them) Having remedied all my technical and personal skills’ shortcomings then I shall be contended as a competent database manager should be.

Determining the Success of a Project

Determining the Success of a Project Success has always been the ultimate goal of every type of project. Many specialists in the field have performed extensive researches in an attempt to try and define what projects success is. Judging the success of a project is rather an elusive concept since most projects we hear may be a failure to one set of stakeholders while others may consider it to be a success. This article makes an attempt to define success in projects based on the work of experts in this field of study. Introduction A project can be defined as a unique venture with a beginning and an end conducted by people to meet established goals within a parameter of cost reduced and quality increased (Field Keller, P.2). furthermore a project has the following characteristics such as specific objectives, required resources, have a budget and schedule, and requires effort of community, measures quality and finally functions within a life cycle. On the contrary, project management can be defined as the way of controlling the success of the project objectives, by the use of existing managerial structure and capital to manage the project by linking a compilation of tools and skill without interrupting the regular function of a company. The word success is a fascinating word as its is known universally and is broad in character; defining it is not easy, because if asked from different individuals its meaning would change according their perceptions. Project success can be considered as one of the indistinct concepts of project management. Since each stakeholder of a project has different needs and expectations, it is common to anticipate them defining project success in their own way of understanding (Cleland Ireland, 2004, p2). The Sydney Opera House project is a typical example of how different stakeholders have different perspectives of a project. The Opera house (Thomsett, 2002) took 4 times more of the original time to finish and its cost went 16 times over budget. But the final impact the Opera House created was so immense it simply made people overlook the projects original unmet goals. The project was a huge hit for the general public even though it was considered as a failure in the view of project management. On the contrary, the construction of the Millennium Dome in London was a project that was completed on time and on budget but the British public considered it a failure because it didnt deliver the glamour that it was originally expected to make (Cammack, 2005). Since there is widespread variance of opinions in the study of success in projects, many learned writers seem to have given diverse views on this topic based on extensive research and surveys. Their works differentiate among project success, project success criteria and project success factors. Project success Jugdev and Muller (2005) in their article pointed out that in order to identify what success means in a project framework is like obtaining consensus from a group of individuals on the explanation of Good Art. Project success is a subject matter that is commonly talked about and yet very hardly settled upon (Baccarini, 1999). Commonly, the attitudes on project success have developed gradually over the years from simple explanations that were restricted to the implementation phase of the project life cycle to explanations that reflect gratitude of success over the whole project and product life cycle (Jugdev and Muller, 2005). Cleland (1986) suggested that project success is significant only if measured from two vantage points: the extent to which the projects technical performance objective was accomplished on time and within budget; the contribution that the project made to the strategic mission of the organization. According to Pinto Slevin (1988) in their research after sampling over 650 project managers concluded that, Project Success is something difficult than just meeting cost, time, and performance specifications. As a matter of fact, clients contentment with the final result has a great deal to do with the perceived success or collapse of projects. Baccarini (1999) discovered two different components of project success: Project Management Success This concentrates upon the project process and specially the successful achievement of cost, time, and quality. Also the way in which the project management process was performed will be considered. Product Success This deals with the effects of the projects final product. A clear difference should be made between product success and project management success, in order to properly identify and evaluate project management success and product success, as they are differ from each other. According to Baccarini (1999), Project success can be summarized as Project success = project management success + project product success With this definition in mind, it is also important to comprehend what measures enable us to judge whether a project is successful or not. These measures are termed as Project success criteria. Project success criteria Crawfords (2002) view is that project success is an important project management issue and also in discussions, a frequently discussed topic is, it is difficult to find an agreement on the criteria by which success is judged. (Pinto and Slevin 1988; Freeman and Beale 1992; Shenhar, Levy, and Dvir 1997; Baccarini 1999). A study of literature also reveals that a greater level of agreement with the definitions given by Baker, Murphy and Fisher (1988) that project success is a subject of perception and it is considered to be an overall success if the project meets requirements such as technical performance specifications, mission to be performed. It also needs a high degree of satisfaction about the project results among the key people of the project team and the key users of the project effort The renowned and famous criteria to measure project success have been known as Golden Triangle or Iron Triangle. Hence Cost, time and qulity is referd to as the central criteria of the Golden Triangle (Atkinson, 1999, p338). Atkinson continues that this method of measuring project success have not been changed or developed in almost fifty years (1999, p338). According to Stuckenbruck (1986), assessment on project success should be done by different stakeholder groups such as customers, managers, employees, stockholders, etc. Thus it was proposed that the criteria for assessing project success should reflect different stakeholder views. Freeman and Beale (1992) presented an appealing example of different perceptions of people. According to their study: An architect may consider success in terms of aesthetic appearance, an engineer in terms of technical competence, an accountant in terms of dollars spent under budget, a human resources manager in terms of employee satisfaction, and chief executive officers rate their success in the stock market. In their study Freeman and Beale (1992) identified and proposed seven main criteria for measuring success of projects. Technical performance Efficiency in project execution Managerial and organizational implications Personal growth Project conclusion Technical innovativeness and business performance Manufacturing feasibility Wideman (1996, p3-4) believes that project success is time dependant and therefore it should be assessed with time taken into consideration. The reason behind time dependency is based on the fact that project success varies with time. Wideman(1996) illustrated four time dependant groups as mentioned below. Internal project objectives efficiency during the project Benefit to customer effectiveness in the short term Direct contribution assessed in the medium term Future opportunity assessed in the long term Shenhar, Dvir and Levy(1997) constructed a universal multidimensional framework that would help in assessing project success. In their methodology, project success is perceived as a strategic management concept where the end result of the project would fit with the strategic direction of a company whom the end result of the project is originally intended to serve. Their study also revealed that project success is time dependant and thus they identified four groups and translated them into measurable criteria. Internal Project Efficiency (Pre-completion) Meeting schedule Completing within budget Other resource constraints met Impact of the Customer (Short term) Meeting functional performance Meeting technical specifications standards Favorable impact on customer, customers gain Fulfilling customers needs Solving customers problem Customer is using product Customer expresses satisfaction Business and Direct Success (Medium term) Immediate business/commercial recognition Immediate revenue profits enhanced Larger market share generated Preparing for the Future (Long term) Will create new opportunities for the future Will position customer competitively Will create new market Will assist in developing new technology Will add/has added capabilities competencies Project success factors As defined by Cooke-Davies Success factors are those inputs to the management system that lead directly or indirectly to the success of the project or business (Cooke-Davies, 2002, p185). In practice, some project managers instinctively determine their own project success factors. However, most of these factors are not clearly documented, thus are not considered to become a part of formal project management literature or historical project data (Rad Levin, 2002, p18). From the 1980s to 2000 many researchers have attempted to identify success factors for projects. Kerzner (1987), Pinto and Slevin (1987-1989), (Sadeh, Dvir, Shenhar, 2000), Cooke Davis (2002) and Muller and Turner (2005) are among the top researchers who have conducted extensive researches in this area of study. The table below (Table 1) points out critical success factors that were identified by specialists, and were later reviewed and tabulated by Belassi and Tukel (1996). Baker, Murphy and Fisher (1983) Clear goals Goal commitment of project team On-site project manager Adequate funding to completion Adequate project team capability Accurate initial cost estimates Minimum start-up difficulties Planning and control techniques Absence of bureaucracy Lock (1984) Make project commitments known Project authority from the top Appoint competent project manager Set up communications and procedures Set up control mechanisms (schedules, etc.) Progress meetings Cleland and King (1983) Project summary Operational concept Top management support Financial support Logistic requirements Facility support Market intelligence (who is the client) Project schedule Executive development and training Manpower and organization Information and communication channels Project review Pinto and Slevin (1989) Top management support Client consultation Personnel recruitment Technical tasks Client acceptance Monitoring and feedback Communication Trouble-shooting Characteristics of the project team leader Power and politics Environment events Urgency Table 1 Critical success factors tabulated by Belassi and Tukel (1996). Belassi and Tukel (1996) in their study, analyzed the above mentioned success factors and grouped them into four areas. Factors related to the project Factors related to the project managers and the team members Factors related to the organization Factors related to the external environment. It is evident that whatever critical success factors that are known, can be grouped under these four areas identified by Belassi and Tukel (1996). Dvir, Raz, Shenhar (2003) conducted a survey among 100 Israeli defense projects, and their findings pointed out a noteworthy positive connection between the projects success and each of the factors listed below. The amount of effort spent in defining and identifying the goals of the project The functional requirements Technical specifications of the project According to Verma (1995, 1996) communication, leadership and teamwork are essential for efficient management of project human resources and are vital to achieve project objectives successfully. Murray, J.P. (2001) identified nine factors that could drive an IT project into success or failure. Proper senior management commitment to the project Ample amount of project financial support A well defined set of project requirements and specifications Cautious development of a all-inclusive project plan that incorporates enough time and flexibility to foresee and deal with unanticipated difficulties as they arise A proper commitment of time and attention from the client, combined with a enthusiasm to see it through to the end Frank, accurate reporting of the status of the project and of potential complexities as they arise A critical assessment of the risks inherent in the project, and potential harm associated with those risks, and the ability of the project team to manage those risks The development of appropriate contingency plans An objective evaluation of the capability and enthusiasm of the organization to stay on the project course Turner MÃ ¼ller (2004, 2005) conducted studies on the impact of project manager and his/her involvement and leadership style on project success. Turner MÃ ¼ller (2005) believe that past literature on the subject of Project success factors, have ignored the impact of a project manager on project success. However, Turner and Muller (2005, p59) has rather given a contradictive conclusion that the leadership style and competence of the project manager have no impact on project success. In concern to project management, project success also relies on the capability to systematize, coordinate, and support a diverse group functioning towards a common target. Project success factors may differ depending on the type of project. Thus it is important to have a clear idea on what factors drives each type of project toward success. This would enable the project stakeholders to accomplish what they perceive as success. Conclusion In the past it was believed that if a projects completion time exceeds its due date, or expenses overran the budget, or its results did not satisfy a companys preset performance criteria, the project was considered to be a failure. At present it is understood that determining whether a project is a success or failure is far more complex. It is important for a project manager to be aware of what the stakeholders consider as a successful project. In order to avoid any surprises at the end of the project, it is important to identify the different perspectives of what success means before the project begins. It is generally agreed that schedule and budget performance may be considered as insufficient measures of project success however they are still important components of the overall constructs. Quality is interconnected with issues of achievement of functional objectives, specifications and issues of technical performance. It is also understood that a projects success varies with time and varies in the eye of various project stakeholders. Thus, a criteria used to assess project success should be time dependent and should be using multiple perspectives of stakeholders. However, future studies may reveal other successful means of success criteria. As for success factors, they can be generally grouped into four distinct sets. General management literature shows how effective leadership is a success factor in organizations, and has revealed that a proper leadership style can lead to better performance. However studies on leadership in project context are contradicting with this perception. A common factor pointed out by many authors is that senior management support is one of the most important factors that can drive projects toward success or failure. Success factors may vary depending on the project type. In conclusion, early classification of success criteria can ensure a definite view of how the project will be judged and early detection of success factors will assure a safe path to deliver success.