Children Should or Should Not! Be Paid for Good Grades

Children should or should not be paid for good grades? I believe that children should not be paid for good grades for several reasons. First of all, To get good grades depend on how each student learns and handles with the result he or she will receive at last. According to Sylvia Rimm, a child psychologist, money does not play an important role in achievement but consistency does. To illustrate, successful students always try to maintain their scores with unchangeable effort while others who once fail give up easily because they believe that there is no second chance to get rewards and compliment. Another reason is that paying for good grades does not mean paying for any knowledge at all. Like a case of Kasama and her 13-year-son, each grade in the report card has its price – laptop, cellphone, portable DVD player and even money. Thus, many children are so eager to have tutorials just to get ‘A's and then what remain in their heads will be soon replaced with what they want and eventually receive as a prize. Finally, paying for good grades can ruin children's confidence. For instance, I had never pay for better better grades until high school when almost all of my friends paid for tutorials. I felt like I could not be good enough without taking extra courses in spite of the fact that I could succeed my self-studying. To sum up, with these reasons given above, a lot of money should not be spend on getting only good grades.

Jd Wetherspoon

Business Culture & Strategy 1. External environment EXTERNAL MACRO POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT â€Å"Tied House’ system had been broken – the number of pubs which a brewer could operate has been limited† – Companies have been forced to choose between brewing and retailing, which resulted in selling brewing operations or chains of public houses and hotels. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT â€Å"Supermarkets began selling drinks at loss-leader prices† -Supermarkets become competitors to other pubs by selling drinks, particularly premium larger, at cheaper prices and encouraging customers to buy them. SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT Government concern about binge drinking and anti-social behaviour† -Pubs have bad publicity by binge drinking and the consequent anti-social behaviour of customers, especially in city centres, the busiest places. TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT â€Å"Installed TV and sound systems in pubs† -Majority of pubs have installed TV screens and sound syst ems, especially to show football matches. EXTERNAL MICRO CUSTOMERS â€Å"Customers with families want to dine out together† – Pubs now have a dedicated family area, which is restricted and limited to meal times only. Children are not allowed in the bar areas, which work good with the rest of customers. LOCAL GOVERNMENT â€Å"Change in smoking law† -Smoking inside the buildings has been banned in whole industry. All pubs have to comply with law and they cannot have smoking areas inside their pubs. All smoking areas have to be outside the buildings. INTERNAL AUDIT HUMAN RESOURCE AUDIT â€Å"Involvement and communication with managers and staff† – JD Wetherspoon places great importance on listening to, acting on and receiving feedback from members of staff on all aspects of the business. All companies trying to motivate their staff to work by offering different benefits, providing training and meetings. PHYSICAL RESOURCES AUDIT Size and location of premises† – Majority of JD Wetherspoon pubs are located in city centre in high streets, where are visible and easy to find. All organisations try to be fairly large in order to provide the atmosphere and facilities for customers. FINANCIAL RESOURCE AUDIT â€Å"Slowed down in sales and profit growth† -Companies figures shows that sales and profit slowed down in last years. There is a risk of sales and profit falling down in the next years. OPPORTUNITY EXTERNAL MACRO – POLITICAL â€Å"Tied House’ system had been broken – the number of pubs which a brewer could operate has been limited† Why is it opportunity? The company as a new retailer can bring new customers to pubs. THREAT EXTERNAL MACRO – ECONOMIC â€Å"Supermarkets began selling drinks at loss-leader prices† Why is it threat? – The company might lose many customers, who will prefer to buy cheaper drinks and drink them at home instead of buying them in the pub. THREAT EXTERNAL MACRO – SOCIAL â€Å"Binge drinking and anti-social behaviour†Ã¢â‚¬  Why is it threat? – The company might lose money for repairing damages and good customers who will be scared to come again to the pub after seeing anti-social behaviour. OPPORTUNITY EXTERNAL MACRO – TECHNOLOGICAL â€Å"Installed TV and sound systems in pubs† Why is it opportunity? – Customers prefer sitting in pubs during football matches with other people, which increase sales and make nice atmosphere in the pub. OPPORTUNITY EXTERNAL MICRO – CUSTOMERS â€Å"Customers with families want to dine out together† Why is it opportunity? – By nice atmosphere and place to seat with children, families will go dine out more often, which will make bigger profit for organisation. THREAT EXTERNAL MICRO – LOCAL GOVERNMENT â€Å"Change in smoking law† Why is it threat? – J D Wheterspoon might lose its customers. If the organisation will not prepare a smoking areas, customers, who are smoking might go to other pubs. STRENGTH INTERNAL – HUMAN RESOURCES AUDIT â€Å"Involvement and communication with managers and staff† Why is it strength? – The organisation has better communication with staff and managers and also they gain knowledge about staff needs for development and training. It leads to better morale and lower staff turnover. STRENGTH INTERNAL – PHYSICAL RESOURCE AUDIT â€Å"Size and location of premises† Why is it strength? – Good location and bigger size of premises will bring more customers into the pub. They can more often come in for a dinner or for a drink in the town. It is also easier to meet with friends in the city centre. WEAKNESS FINANCIAL RESOURCE AUDIT â€Å"Slowed down in sales and profit growth† Why is it weakness? –The J D Wheterspoon cannot open as many new pubs as they have planned, which will bring less profit than it was planned. LIST OF INSTRUCTION FOR DEVELOPING A SWOT: 1. TO IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS YOU NEED TO ANALYSE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT BY USING â€Å"PEST FACTORS† 2. TO IDENTIFY STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES BASED ON FIRM’S PAST OPERATIONS, ANALYSE INTERNAL AUDIT 3. STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS CAN CHANGE AT DEPENDENCE OF TIME 4. SWOT HAS SOME SUBJECTIVITY, THEREFORE WHEN YOU ARE INTERPRETING A DATA, YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL 5. REMEMBER: SWOT ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS THOSE FACTORS, WHICH HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED! IT IS NOT A PART OF ORGANISATION'S STRATEGY 6. ORGANISATION DOES NOT HAVE TO FOCUS ONLY ON WEAKNESSES OR THREATS WHEN ANALYSING SWOT. THEY CAN TAKE ACTION ON ANY OF THEM OR MORE IF THEY NEED IT. 2. Organisational Culture CORPORATE CULTURE It is the feel of the organisation, the way people act and behave towards each other and the way things get done.

ASIA PACIFIC BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

ASIA PACIFIC BUSINESS - Essay Example Looking at the economic growth and development of Asia Pacific, clearly, such developments were due to state policy recommendations (Kraemer, Gurbaxani and King, 1992). For instance, in China and South Korea it emerges that the competitiveness of the economies was sharpened by an active role played by the state in both cases. In the realization of economic development in Asia Pacific region, the state is active in pursuing trade and industrial policies, fostering of human resource development, and in managing the financial sector. As such, the transition of most economies in this region from import-substituting to export-led growth strategies was a strategy to move from interventionist economy to market free economy. The countries affected included Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Although this was a measure put in place, no doubt the state intervention continued to arbitrate in the pursuit of trade and industrial policies especially in the period of 1960s through 1970s. The refore, the involvement has continued to manifest through the protection of import-competing sectors in the Asia Pacific region. The region in the 1980s had higher real tariff rates for imports in order to spur their growth rate and protect their industries. The real tariff rates in China and Taiwan, for instance, was 7.60 in 1983 as compared to that of US, which was at 3.24 while Singapore was at 1.83. This was an indication that Taiwan among other countries of Asia Pacific region was ready to protect their locally produced goods. During the transition period to export growth in the region, the states supported numerous mechanisms, which included the creation of uniform and almost equilibrium exchange rates. These exchange rates would then replace the multiple rate structures that were in operation at the time. The support of the state was evident during the time they waited for share of permissible imports to increase then they

Org chemistry drawing assignment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Org chemistry drawing assignment - Coursework Example 3) Draw trans-1,3-dimethylcyclohexane and cis-1,3-dimethylcyclohexane as their most stable chair conformations. Label all non-favorable interactions, describe why they are unfavorable, and to what value (energy). Which is more stable, the trans or cis structure? All non-favorable 1,3-diaxial interactions are presented in the figure above. Such interactions are unfavorable because both methyl groups and hydrogens try to occupy the same space, which leads to destabilization of the molecule. Structure (I) should be highly unfavorable due to interaction between two methyl groups. As in the previous case, this destabilization is expressed in a value of several kJ/mole. Cis-1,3-dimethylcyclohexane represented in the rectangle is the most stable because both methyl groups occupy equatorial positions. 4) Draw trans-1,4-dimethylcyclohexane and cis-1,4-dimethylcyclohexane as their most stable chair conformations. Label all non-favorable interactions, describe why they are unfavorable, and to what value (energy). Which is more stable, the trans or cis structure? Non-favorable 1,3-diaxial interactions are shown in the figure above. Such interactions are unfavorable because both methyl groups and hydrogens try to occupy the same space, which leads to destabilization of the molecule. As in all previous cases, this destabilization is expressed in a value of several kJ/mole. Trans-1,4-dimethylcyclohexane represented in the rectangle is the most stable because both methyl groups occupy equatorial positions. Bromine is significantly bigger then ethyl substituent. For this reason, it will produce less steric interactions if bromine is in the equatorial position. For this reason, the conformation represented in the rectangular will be the most stable. It is expected that the most amount of cis-1-bromo-4-ethylcyclohexane will be with the equatorial

Critically assess the proposition that Muslims have become the main Essay

Critically assess the proposition that Muslims have become the main focus of official efforts to exclude Others from the s - Essay Example 5 Muslim communities of the 20th/21st centuries based on three typologies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Multiculturalism†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Differential exclusion / guest worker system†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 Assimilation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 8 Terrorism as usually associated with Muslim people†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Social exclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 13 Introduction Islam is the religion for more than 2 billion people on the earth. Only in Western Europe there are about 10 million Muslims, who are considered to be the largest religious minority in the region and the third largest religion overall growing much faster than traditionally dominant Catholic and Protestant religions. As a result, Islam became a significant religious and social force in the Western European countries, including France, Germany, United Kingdom, and others. In Great Britain, for example, Muslims are the second largest faith group after Christians. More than half of them were born in the United Kingdom having such ethnic backgrounds as Turkish, Arab, Indian, Asian, Kurdish, and Pakistani. Muslims coming to live in France are usually from francophone countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco (Castles and Miller, 2003). Finally, Germany has many Muslims with Turkish and Kurdish origin. Since the number of Muslims living in Western Europe and the United States continue to grow and more and more people become converted into Islam religion, anti-Muslim sentiments and movements started growing across Europe when Muslims have become the main focus of official efforts to exclude them as â€Å"others† from the states of Europe. The main reason for such actions is the fear of a ‘Muslim invasion’ when European national identities can be threatened by the ongoing processes of European integration and immigration from the developing countries (Ferrera, 2005). While in the past immigration rules were less restricted for certain countries, they became tougher recently due to the increased number of immigrants living on the unemployment compensation from the government, which raises concerns and complaints from the citizens who work hard and pay taxes. Even if immigrants find a job, the employers pay much less salaries and wages for them than for national citizens. So, it shifts preferences for employment toward immigrants. In such a way, socially excluded â€Å"national† citizens compete with socially excluded ethnic minorities or immigrant ‘others’ for limited national resources of welfare (Castles and Miller, 2003). Such current situation in the Western European countries can be associated with a â€Å"social regression† or a â€Å"social crisis† in addition to a growing political and cultural crisis based on the established national identities. In such a way, recently there is a strong tendency to exclude Muslim immigrant â€Å"others† out of the European countries to make it â€Å"nationally pure† again. Syncretism Syncretism, which means "combining", is the att empt to reconcile contrary

Zinc and immunity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Zinc and immunity - Research Paper Example iciency also manipulates development of the acquired immunity by averting the outgrowth along with some functions of T lymphocytes like production Th1 cytokine, activation and B lymphocyte aid.2 Similarly, development of B-lymphocyte and production of antibody, mainly immunoglobulin G, is tampered. The macrophage, which is an essential cell in most immunologic roles, is negatively affected by the zinc deficiency. It can deregulate cytokine production, intracellular killing, and phagocytosis. The impact of zinc on the main immunologic mediators is based in the myriad duties for zinc in essential cellular duties like RNA transcription, DNA replication, cell division, as well as cell activation. Zinc deficiency potentiates Apoptosis. Zinc as well acts as an antioxidant and is able to alleviate membranes.1-2 In people suffering from trivial zinc deficiency, the clinical signs are impaired smell and taste, depressed immunity, impairment of memory, onset of night blindness and reduced spermatogenesis in males.2 Rigorous zinc deficiency has the characteristics of frequent infections, rigorously depressed immune function, bullous pustular dermatitis, alopecia, diarrhea, and mental disturbances.3 Comparable effects of mild as well as rigorous zinc deficiency occur in laboratory animals that are zinc-deficient. An uncommon genetic disorder, called acrodermatitis enteropathica, happens in humans and cattle, resulting in reduced zinc absorption followed by attribute hyperpigmented skin lesions, deprived growth, and low concentrations of plasma zinc.2-3 This research investigates the features of zinc ecology of the immune system and tries to offer a biological foundation for the changed host opposition to infections seen in zinc deficiency as well as supplementation. Am J Clin Nutr 1998;68(suppl):447S–63S. Many human and animal studies show that zinc shortage reduces resistance to infectious diseases. Animals that are Zinc deficient have concealed immune responses. They

Weekly essay 9 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly 9 - Essay Example To complement the African decolonization process, Fanons brings in the concept of change in order. An order where the colonized rise up against the colonial masters and taking over. This was witnessed in several African countries with Ethiopia being a good example. Ethiopia through violence resisted Italians surge into their territory. After many years of political oppression, Africans get united with a common course to drive out colonizers out of the African continent. This wave sweeps through the entire continent that led to most countries being decolonized in the 1960’s (Fanon and Philcox 80-85). Violence is an inevitable process according to Fanon in the decolonization process. The colonizers rule, its police, its army and colonial representatives are all violent to the Natives. They posses all the best and live all the worst to the Natives. The Natives also want to be there and this is not through negotiation. Violence begets violence; the harsh rule of the colonialists does not elicit obedience but violence in return. Furthermore, violence is the only way the colonized reclaim their values which they regard not as a favor but their fundamental

Writing an online news story about a speech in AP style Article

Writing an online news story about a speech in AP style - Article Example The realization however was not immediate. He did not even expect to learn it. He even had an unusual and different reason when he joined the military service. He signed up because college tuition was expensive and joining the military would help him get his degree. Wes Moore had no appetite for fighting or war even when he joined the military service. He just wanted to finish school through the help of military service. But when 9/11 came, it dramatically changed the role of military and that included Wes Moore’s role in the service. The 9/11 attack was about that unforgettable day in September 11, 2011 when terrorists simultaneously hijacked airplanes and slammed it to various structures the most famous of which was the World Trade Center that collapsed for the world to see (www.history.com, nd). From schooling in UK, he rejoined the Army and was sent overseas to fight as an officer. Wes Moore did not talk in details about his tour of duty as most servicemen would indicating that he had his share of the fight. Suffice to say that he could relate with the experience of a war to speak candidly about it and to also tell what many veterans are struggling. The speech was told in a manner that the listeners could relate. In the speech, Wes Moore bared the humanity of these struggles and the brotherhood forged in combat in the name of service without the heroic or stern military faà §ade. No adventurous combat stories were told but only the sacrifices made by the men and women in uniform in the name of service. And these experiences changed them with some still haunted by it. Thus, his apologies for what they have become (such as avoiding big crowds) that most of us would find odd solicited understanding and sympathy. And Wes Moore advocated that from the understanding and appreciation of these struggles should the words â€Å"thank you for your service† be contextualized and said for

Summary for one page Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary for one page - Essay Example The clerks rattle me; the wickets rattle me; the sight of the money rattles; everything rattles me† (Leacock, 2012, p. 100). The readers will be introduced to the narrator right from the beginning of the story allowing them to relate with the plot of story. Moreover, the interesting beginning given to the story involves a bank manager and narrator who would go on in the story to discuss about bank account and as little money as fifty bucks. The way author has used allegory in the story further adds beautification of characters. Dialogue has been kept minimal making it sound more humoristic by the end of the story. Careful intimidation is done in such a way that it allows the narrator to overcome the fear of bank by the end of the story for readers. As it notes by the end, â€Å"As the big door swung behind me I caught the echo†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..my savings in silver dollars in a sock† (Leacock, 2012, p.

Balanced score cards Essay Example for Free

Balanced score cards Essay Scorecards are more like performance graphs utilized to monitor progress toward attaining goals. Scorecards typically show monthly snaps of summarized information for business managers who monitor long-term and strategic objectives or weekly and daily snapshots of information for executives who need to graph the progress of their team of project toward attaining goals. In Orange Ltd, the data is fairly summarized so consumers can observe their performance standing at a glimpse. Scorecards make use of visual graphs and charts to show performance condition, variance against goals, and trends. However, most scorecards in Orange Ltd contain a great deal of textual commentary that deduces performance outcomes, describes action taken, and projects future outcomes (Ishikawa, 1976). 1. 1. 1 Dash Boards Dashboards are just like automobile dashboards. They enable operational experts and their managers monitor activities generated by core business procedures. But unlike automobiles, most company dashboards display no real times for activities, as they happen; they display them in right time, as customers need to see them. Dashboards mostly show performance visually, by use of simple graphs or charts, such as meters and gauges. However, dashboard charts are mostly updated in place making the chart to change dynamically (Genichi, 1998). 2. 0 Conclusions Many news headlines concerning the poor quality of IT projects illustrate that quality is a big issue. Some mission-vital IT systems have resulted to deaths, and quality complications in many company systems have lead to major financial crisis. Clients are at the end responsible for defining quality. Significant quality approaches include conforming to requirements, delivering products that are fit for use, and satisfying implied or stated stakeholder requirements. Project quality management involves performing quality assurance, planning quality, and performing quality control. Quality planning singles out quality standards relevant to the project and how to satisfy them. Quality control involves tracking specific project outcomes to ensure that they conform to quality standards and also identifying methods to enhance general quality. There are many techniques and tools linked to project quality management. The seven common tools of measuring quality are: control charts, scatter diagrams, run charts, cause-and-effect diagrams, histograms, flow charts, and Pareto charts. Many people contributed to the creation of current quality management. Juran, Ishikawa, Taguchi, and Crosby all made vital contributions to the sector. Many firms today utilize their ideas, which also influenced balanced scorecards, spider charts, and dashboards. There is much room for enhancing IT project quality. Well founded leadership aids emphasize the significance of quality. References Crosby, K. (1979). Leadership for Quality: An Executive Handbook, NY: Free Press. Foster, S. (2004). Managing Quality: An Integrative Approach, 2nd ED. NJ: Prentice Hall. Genichi, J. (1998). Planning for Quality in IT firms, NY: Free Press. Ishikawa, K. (1976). Guide to Quality Control, Asian Productivity Organization, Tokyo 1976. Juran, J. Frank, M. (2002). Juran’s Quality Control Handbook, 4th Ed. San Francisco: McGraw-Hill Book Co. Juran, J. (1992). Juran on Quality by Design: The New Steps for Planning Quality into Goods Services, NY: Free Press. Kathy, S. (2008). Information Technology Project Management, NY: Free Press. Taguchi, M. (2004). Quality Control Handbook, 4th Ed. San Francisco: McGraw-Hill Co.

Avoiding Project Failure Dissertation

Avoiding Project Failure Dissertation ABSTRACT Project management have become increasingly important in the development of any nation. Various organisations have used project management techniques as a means of bridging the gap between failure and success in implementation of projects. Despite this increasing awareness of project management by organisations, projects still fail. The purpose of this dissertation is to systematically investigate the causes of project failure and how these can be prevented, managed, or controlled. Research studies investigating the reasons why projects fail, has been ongoing for years, with various researchers, organisations and project management institutions, providing lists of reasons, which they believe, are the cause of project failure. However, despite these lists projects continue to fail, Atkinson (1999). This research is done with the anticipation of not only adding information to the body of knowledge already in existence, but also examining the major issues currently causing project failure; this will help organisations effectively manage projects. To determine how to avoid project failure the criteria for measuring project success has to be properly determined and agreed upon; the major criteria commonly used are; cost, time and quality. Then the causes of project failure need to be determined. This study also examined generalisations made from existing literature about causes of project failure and methods of avoiding project failure using three construction case studies in United Kingdom. This is a secondary or desk research, which involves the collecting and analysis of secondary data, or data that already exists, from which inferences have been made, and conclusions drawn. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1Research background Projects make a vital contribution to industrialisation and hence the growth of a nations economy. The importance of projects in the development of any nation cannot be overemphasized. This is demonstrated in various literatures explaining the success and failure of projects. Although projects are said to be important, its implementation can be an uphill task. Various researchers have discussed project management as a technique to help prevent against failure in projects. Others have established checklists to help prevent failure. Despite the increased project management awareness and these checklists, some projects still fail, Atkinson (1999). All projects are constrained by inherent risks; knowledge of these risks will play an important role in achieving success and avoiding failure. Usually projects consist of three stages consisting of the approval, execution and evaluation stages. If any of these stages is not managed properly it may result to the failure of the entire project. Failure or Success in projects is a multi-dimensional issue and may be influenced by so many factors. Some projects may have failed in project management practices including cost overrun, scope creep, delay in schedule etc, and other projects may fail in procurement practices. Despite these failures in the following areas the project may still be perceived as successful by the end users. An example is Wembley Stadium; despite all the issues associated with the project in terms of project management and procurement practices, it is still perceived to be successful and a state of the art stadium by the end users. This may result from the fact that it has hosted world class sporting events. Usually, projects are designed to meet stakeholders objective. These objectives define the criteria for success of that project, and projects not satisfying these objectives are deem to fail. Effective communication and clarity in the stakeholders objective is vital to the project manager. This thesis examines the causes of project failure and how these can be prevented, managed or controlled. It discusses project failure and success with the help of case studies in order to identify the critical success factors and reduce failure in the implementation of projects. This research is done with the anticipation of not only adding information to the body of knowledge already in existence, but also in defining the criteria for project success and identifying the variables involved. This will help organisations effectively manage projects. 1.2 Aim The aim of this research is to carry out appraisal on the causes of project failure and the appropriate methods of avoiding project failure. This aim is intended to be achieved with the following objectives. 1.3 Objectives To provide a review of project management To analyze success criteria for projects To explore factors that causes project failure or success To examine methods of avoiding project failure 1.4 Scope This research is based on construction projects executed in the United Kingdom over the last two decades. 1.5 Research Structure Chapter One, Introduction this introduces the research; topic highlighting the aim, objectives and scope of the research. Chapter Two, Literature review critically reviews the existing Literature regarding the subject. It establishes the definition of project success and the success and failure criteria / factors. Chapter Three, Methodology describes the methodology used to undertake this research. It demonstrates the fact that secondary data was mostly used in undertaking this research. Chapter Four, Case Studies Case studies on projects from the UK construction Industry were discussed in this Chapter. These case studies were analysed and linked to the literature review chapter. Chapter Five consists of the analysis of the discussion and findings. This is derived from critically analysing the Wembley, Heathrow terminal five (T5) and Holyrood case studies. Chapter Six, Conclusion and Recommendation: This chapter concludes the research and suggests directions for further research. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The importance of avoiding project failure in a rapidly evolving project-driven 21st century cannot be over-emphasized. Attempts to understand the causes of project failure and/ or success have proven problematic, despite attempt by many practitioners and academics over the years. Project demands have constantly increased over the last decade and have driven our society into a constantly changing environment. Despite attempts to make project appraisal and delivery more rigorous, a considerable proportion of delivery effort results in project that does not meet user expectations and are consequently rejected. In our view this can be attributed to the fact that few organisations have the facilities, training and management discipline to bring project to successful completion. Project success does not come easily; much has been contributed over the last decade to our understanding of the nature of and reason for successful and unsuccessful project completion. In addition many projects fail to complete at all. Sometime failure to satisfy all the original goals of a project can still be regarded favourably if the main sponsor is not satisfied with the outcome and the key stakeholders have gained in some way. Generally, the key development considerations are to have the goal clearly defined, to plan how to realize the goal and implement the plan. Developing an alternative methodology for project management founded on stakeholders, senior management support and proper planning should lead to a better understanding of the management issues that may contribute to the successful delivery of projects. This literature review is aimed at carrying out appraisal on the causes of project failure and the appropriate methods of avoiding it. It begins with key definitions, then analysis of causes of project failure and project success. Then it looks at success factors and criteria; also examine ways of avoiding project failure. The chapter ends with summary of the discussion. 2.2 What is a Project? Gary and Larson (2008:5) defined project as â€Å"a complex, non routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget and resource, and performance specifications designed to meet customer needs. This is in contrast to how an organisation generally works on a permanent basis to produce their goods and services. For example the work of an organisation may be to manufacture a vehicle on a continual basis, therefore the work is considered functional as the organisation creates the same products or services over-and -over again and people hold their roles on a semi permanent basis. A project can be defined as having constraints (usually centred around time and resources, but also including all aspect of the process and the outcome); projects are processes that in many circumstances are core business for organisation. The diagram below show different levels in project management. 2.3 What is Project Management? According to Gray and Larson (2006) Project management is a task derived from an organisation that enables professional project managers to use their skills, tools and knowledge to plan, execute and control a unique project within a limited lifespan by meeting the specification requirements of the organisation. Since the outcomes of the capital projects have strategic implications on the success and profitability of the business, the ability to deliver based on pre-determined objectives should be critical to the companys success. And yet one-third of all the oil and gas projects exceed budget and time projections by more than 10 percent. Failure to deliver big projects on budget and on schedule is highly publicized and damage the companies profile with capital markets that predictability and strong returns. Continual use of traditional project management techniques will not alter this trend. Companies that want to change and improve on their performance with critical capital projects will need to adopt new techniques. Munns and Bjeirmi (1996) also defined project management as a process used as a control to achieve the project objectives by utilizing the organisational structure and resources to manage a project with the application of tools and techniques, without disrupting the routine operation of the company. ‘Project management is the discipline of managing all the different resources and aspects of the project in such a way that the resources will deliver all the output that is required to complete the project within the defined scope, time, and cost constraints. These are agreed upon the project initiation stage and by the time the project begins all stakeholders and team members will have a clear understanding and acceptance of the process, methodology and expected outcome.(http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/introduction-project-management.html accessed on 30/06/09) Project management has been defined as â€Å"the process by which projects (unique, complex, non- routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, and resources) are defined, planned, monitored, controlled and delivered such that the agreed benefits are realised† (APM, 2006:3) Other definitions have been offered, Reiss suggests that a project is a human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale, and to achieve this while pointing out that a simple description is not possible, he suggested that project management is a combination of management and planning and management of change. Despite all the suggestions about what is project management, the criteria for success, namely, cost, time, and quality remain and are included in the actual description. Meaning that Oisens definition of project management was either correct, or as a discipline, project management has not really changed or developed the success criteria over 50 years. Therefore project management is a learning profession. The significant point from all the definitions and suggestions of project management is that while the factors have developed and adopted, changes to the success criteria have been suggested but remain unchanged. In 2008, a survey undertaken by Booz Allen Hamilton (project management consultant) which comprises of 20 companies in engineering, procurement and construction; shows that 40 percent of all projects executed where faced with cost overruns and behind schedule. These overrun in cost and schedule has led to clients dissatisfaction on project performance; this view also agree with the research of M J Lang (1990). Therefore effective project management is very vital in such a volatile business environment. 2.4 Project Management Methodology Generally, projects are split into three phases Initiation, implementation and closure. Every stage of a project has multiple checkpoints which must be met before the starting of the next stage. The degree to which a project will be managed depends on the size of the project. For a complex project in a large organisation that involves a number of people, resources, time and money, a more structural approach is needed, and there will be more steps built into each stage of the project to ensure that the project delivers the anticipated end result. For a simple project in a small organisation, agreed milestones, a few checklists and someone to co-ordinate the project may be all that is required. 2.5 Defining Project Failure From Penguin English Dictionary (1992), failure is define as unsuccessful project that fails to perform a duty or an expected action, non-occurrence or non-performance. Whereas success can be defined as the achievement of something desired, planned or attempted (Cambridge Dictionary, 2007). It is also said that success is an event that accomplishes its intended purpose (dictionary.com, 2007). Anything short of that is failure. Project failure is an unpleasant event that cost large amount of money to the organisation. 2.6 Causes of Project Failure Pinto and Mantel (1990) carried out a research on the causes of project failure and revealed a good explanation that encompasses both internal efficiency and external effectiveness. They state that project failure is a vague concept, which has evoked much as to its definition, as the case with the definition of project success. A project is considered a failure â€Å"whenever a project does not meet the expectations of the stakeholders†. This has lots of impact to both the organisation and all stakeholders to the project. They include: cost and time overruns, quality degradation, frustration and stress, sometimes resulting to people quitting, low corporate market value, low public opinion and negative media campaigns. The total effect can be very costly to the organisation; at times even force the company into closure. Bienkoski (1989) identified ten factors that can lead to project failure and they are: * Lack of change management- happens when there is no method to handle or recognise changes. * Communication- causes delay or even failure since team members do not have the information they needed, issues or changes do not get escalated, project reporting is sluggish * Inadequate resources- Task take longer than expected to complete, deadlines and milestones get missed, and project completion date comes into jeopardy, one end of working more than necessary (double shift) to get the work done * No one is in control, not even the project manager, who is assigned to the project but not given the free hand to manage the project. This is most problem encounters in matrix organisation * Project lacks structure caused by things such as critical tasks being under rated * Inaccurate estimates. A top- down plan causes constraints on the prediction of the cost of the project * Poor risk management. The project initiation stage is not properly planned * Insufficient non-resources are not allocated to the project; for instance, it is not possible for a project to succeed if the right resources are made available for that project * Incompetent project management skill * Project changes from its original objective and goals. This can occur due to additional requirement from the client Pinto and mantel (1990) argue that the major causes of project failure are changes in the project environment, as it goes out of hands of the management. 2.7 Defining Project Success Lewis (2005) states that project success can be defined as meeting the required expectation of the stakeholders and achieving its intended purpose. This can be attained by understanding what the end result would be, and then stating the deliverables of the project. Shenhar et al. (2001) state the opposite: that project success is commonly judged by time and budget goals criteria, whereas in some cases this does not apply to some projects. Thiry (2006) argues that project success can only be defined if executives are able to consider the contribution of benefits and if the project is able to achieve these measures in relation to resources, competencies and complexity within the project parameters. 2.8 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as a Measurement for Project Success The purpose of the KPIs is to enable measurement of project and organisational performance throughout the construction industry (The KPI Working Group 2000). Collins (2000) advocates that the process of developing KPIs involves the consideration of the following factors: * KPIs are general indicators of performance that focus on critical aspects of output or outcomes * Only a limited, management number of KPIs is maintainable for regular use. Having too many (complex) KPIs can be time-and resource-consuming * The systematic use of KPIs is essential as the value of KPIs is almost completely derived from their consistent use over a number of projects * Data collection must be made as simple as possible. * A large sample size is required to reduce the impact of project specific variables. Therefore, KPis should be designed to use on every building project. * For performance measurement to be effective, the measures must be acceptable, understood and owned across the organisation * KPIs will need to evolve and it is likely that a set of KPIs will be subject to change and refinement * Graphic delays of KPIs need to be simple in design, easy to update and accessible. Key Performance indicators for measuring project success can be illustrated with the help of the diagram below (Albert Ada, 2004). They identified the following as the measurement of project success: Cost, time, quality, commercial profitable/value, environmental performance, user expectation/ satisfaction, health and safety and participants satisfaction. This will help in explaining what the project success might mean to different stakeholders. Key Performance Indicators Dvir et al. (2003) state that the ranking of success is a one-sided judgement, as the definition of success is difficult to define, because it has different meanings for different people; thus, the criteria of success should reflect the diverse interest and view that lead to a multi-dimensional and multi-criteria approach. Baccarini (1999) states: that success entails â€Å"hard† criteria which often linked with cost, time and quality. He also states that hard criteria which can be easily measured can lead to some form of substantial agreement. In contrast, soft criteria are known to be one sided, restrained and not easily assessed. This implies that project success is a fantasy of the mind and only an individual can turn such vision into reality. A contrasting view from Westerveld (2000) defined project success as â€Å"the satisfaction of all the stakeholders, meaning that as long as the stakeholders are pleased with the outcome and gain profits or revenue from the project, then it is classed as a success. One of the Squares root corners, organisational benefits, drew much attention because of its significance and it was further analysed. Kerzner (2001, p6) suggests three criteria from the organization perspective in order for a project to be successful. The first is that it must be completed with minimum or mutually agreed upon scope changes, even though stakeholders constantly have different views about projects results (Maylor, 2005, p288). Secondly â€Å"without disturbing the main work flow of the organization because a project has to assist organisations everyday operations and try to make them more efficient and effective. Finally, it should be completed without changing the corporate culture even though projects are almost exclusively concerned with change with knocking down the old and building up the new (Baguley, 1995, p8). A project managers main responsibility is to make sure that he delivers change only where is necessary, otherwise he is doomed to find strong resistance from almost all organisational departments (Kerzner, 2001, p158) which ultimately could lead to project failure. A more structured approach to project success is grouping the criteria into categories. Wideman (1996, p3-4) describes four groups, all of them time dependent: internal project objectives (efficiency during the project), benefit to customer (effectiveness in the short term), direct contribution (in the medium term) and future opportunity (in the long term). The characterization of ‘time dependent is based on the fact that success varies with time. Looking at the future benefits of the organisation can be really difficult, because in some cases they dont even know what they want, yet it is vital to know what the project is trying to achieve after completion time so that success criteria are clearly defined in the early stages. This is quite a different approach, because the focus moves from the present success criteria to the future, in a way that a project can be unsuccessful during execution if it is judged by criteria like cost and quality, but in the long term it can turn to be a thriving story. A good example of this hypothesis is hosting the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, which received mass criticism both during the planning period, due to delays in construction time, and when it was finished, due to huge cost. But the benefits that Greece will gain from the Olympic Games can be fully understood after 5 or maybe 10 years from the hosting year (Athens2004.com). All the above success criteria should be simple and attainable and, once defined, they should also be ranked according to priority (Right Track Associates, 2003). Straightforward criteria are easy to understand by everyone involved in the project and therefore commitment is guaranteed. Unrealistic criteria can put a ‘failure label on many projects because of the unreachable standards, can generate low team esteem and team performance in future projects and finally generate unfair disappointment among stakeholders. As for priority issues, it is inevitable that things will go wrong and the project manager will be in a tough situation where he must make the right decision having in mind that he has to sacrifice the least important success criterion. Also Shenhar et ‘al (1997) are of view that project success can be seen from the four area: Project efficiency, impact of the project to the customer, business success and finally what the project holds for the future. This was further explain in the diagram in 3. 2.9 Defining Project Success Factors and Project Success Criteria Muller and Turner (2007) defined the two components of project success in relation to the use of project management as follows: Project success factors are the elements of a project that can be influenced to increase the like hood of success; these are independent variable that makes success more likely. Project success criteria are the measures by which judge the successful outcome of a project; these are dependent variable which measure project success. We often hear or read about various success stories. But what is success and what criteria should organizations use to identify success? What factors lead to a successful project? The purpose of this study is to define project success criteria, clarify their difference with success factors and analyse their importance in project management methodology. One of the vaguest concepts of project management is project success. Since each individual or group of people who are involved in a project have different needs and expectations, it is very unsurprising that they interpret project success in their own way of understanding (Cleland Ireland, 2004, p2). For those involved with a project, project success is normally thought of as the achievement of some pre-determined project goals (Lim Mohamed, 1999, p244) while the general public has different views, commonly based on user satisfaction. A classic example of different perspective of successful project is the Sydney Opera House project (Thomsett, 2002), which went 16 times over budget and took 4 times more to finish than originally planned. But the final impact that the Opera House created was so big that no one remembers the original missed goals. The project was a big success for the people and at the same time a big failure from the project management perspective. On the other hand, the Millennium Dome in London was a project on time and on budget but in the eyes of the British people was considered a failure because it didnt deliver the awe and glamour that it was supposed to generate (Cammack, 2005). In the same way that quality requires both conformance to the specifications and fitness for use, project success requires a combination of product success (service, result, or outcome) and project management success (Duncan, 2004). The difference between criteria and factors is fuzzy for many people. The Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary describes a criterion as a standard by which you judge, decide about or deal with something while a factor is explained as a fact or situation which influences the result of something. Lim Mohamed applied those definitions to project success and illustrated the difference. It is clear now that critical factors can lead to a series of events which ultimately meet the overall success criteria of the project, so they should not be used as synonymous terms. Project success can be seen from two different perceptive, the micro and macro viewpoint (Lim Mohamed, 1999). This can help in better understanding of what project success means to different people. 2.9.1 Success Criteria Many lists of success criteria have been introduced in the previous decades by various researchers. Primal success criteria have been an integrated part of project management theory given that early definitions of project management included the so called ‘Iron Triangle success criteria cost, time and quality. (Atkinson, 1999, p338) Atkinson continues that as a discipline, project management has not really changed or developed the success measurement criteria in almost 50 years. To meet the urgent need of modernizing the out of date success criteria, he suggest the ‘Square Route ( 3) success criteria instead of the ‘Iron Triangle, where he groups the criteria that other academics have proposed. The main change is the addition of qualitative objectives rather than quantitative, namely the benefits that different group of people can receive from the project. These benefits are seen from two perspectives, one from the organisational view and one from the stakeholders view. It is obvious that each part will have benefit differently from projects. For example one organisation can gain profit through achieving strategic goals when a project is completed and at the same time these goals have a serious environmental impact in the stakeholders community. This means that a successful project must bargain between the benefits of the organisation and the satisfaction of end users. The fourth corner of the ‘Square Root is the Information System which includes the subjects of maintainability, reliability and validity of project outcomes. Belassi and Tukel (2001) are of the opinion that criteria for measuring project success/failure can grouped into two groups: the factor and system response groups. The identified factor groups are: factor related to project manager, factor related to project team members, factor related to the project itself, the organisation handling the project and the factor related to the external environment in which the project takes place. The diagram below shows this in more detail. 2.9.2 Success Factors As mentioned earlier; 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). Some project managers intuitively and informally determine their own success factors. However, if these factors are not explicitly identified and recorded, they will not become part of formal project management reporting process nor they become part of the historical project data (Rad Levin, 2002, p18). Belassi Tukel (1996, p144) classified these factors into 5 distinct groups according to which element they relate to. 2.9.2.1 The Organization Top management support is the principal success factor for many independent research groups (Tukel Rom, 1998, p48) (CHAOS Report, 2001, p4) (Cleland Ireland, 2002, p210) (Tinnirello, 2002, p14), which means that no project can finish successfully unless the project manager secures true support from the senior or operational management. It is extremely difficult to work in a hostile environment where nobody understands the benefits that the project will deliver to the organisation. Stakeholder management and contract strategies (number of and size of the contracts, interface between the different contracts and the management of contracts) are separate success factors which are also considered part of organization issues (Torp, Austeng Mengesha, 2004, p4). 2.9.2.2 The Project Manager Having a project manager is not going to guarantee the success of a project. He must have a number of skills to use during the project to guide the rest of the team to successfully complete all the objectives. In the 2001 CHAOS report (The Standish Group International, 2001, p6), business, communication, responsiveness, process, results, operational, realism and technological skills are mentioned as some of the most important skills a project manager should have to deliver success. However, more resent research by Turner and Muller (2005, p59) has concluded that the leadership style and competence of the project manager have no impact on project success. It is very interesting to investigate why a highly respectable professional body for project managers published such a contradictive position. A possible answer could be found in the fact that project managers results are difficult to prove and even more difficult to measure. If the project is successful, senior management will probably claim that all external factors were favourable. On the contrary, if it turns to be a failure, project manager easily becomes the scapegoat. 2.9.2.3 The Project Team Project managers are very lucky if they have the option to choose their project team. More often, their team is inherited to the project from various sectors of the organisation. It is vital to have a good project team to work with, with core skills that can be evolved to core competences and capabilities for the whole organisation. All m Avoiding Project Failure Dissertation Avoiding Project Failure Dissertation ABSTRACT Project management have become increasingly important in the development of any nation. Various organisations have used project management techniques as a means of bridging the gap between failure and success in implementation of projects. Despite this increasing awareness of project management by organisations, projects still fail. The purpose of this dissertation is to systematically investigate the causes of project failure and how these can be prevented, managed, or controlled. Research studies investigating the reasons why projects fail, has been ongoing for years, with various researchers, organisations and project management institutions, providing lists of reasons, which they believe, are the cause of project failure. However, despite these lists projects continue to fail, Atkinson (1999). This research is done with the anticipation of not only adding information to the body of knowledge already in existence, but also examining the major issues currently causing project failure; this will help organisations effectively manage projects. To determine how to avoid project failure the criteria for measuring project success has to be properly determined and agreed upon; the major criteria commonly used are; cost, time and quality. Then the causes of project failure need to be determined. This study also examined generalisations made from existing literature about causes of project failure and methods of avoiding project failure using three construction case studies in United Kingdom. This is a secondary or desk research, which involves the collecting and analysis of secondary data, or data that already exists, from which inferences have been made, and conclusions drawn. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1Research background Projects make a vital contribution to industrialisation and hence the growth of a nations economy. The importance of projects in the development of any nation cannot be overemphasized. This is demonstrated in various literatures explaining the success and failure of projects. Although projects are said to be important, its implementation can be an uphill task. Various researchers have discussed project management as a technique to help prevent against failure in projects. Others have established checklists to help prevent failure. Despite the increased project management awareness and these checklists, some projects still fail, Atkinson (1999). All projects are constrained by inherent risks; knowledge of these risks will play an important role in achieving success and avoiding failure. Usually projects consist of three stages consisting of the approval, execution and evaluation stages. If any of these stages is not managed properly it may result to the failure of the entire project. Failure or Success in projects is a multi-dimensional issue and may be influenced by so many factors. Some projects may have failed in project management practices including cost overrun, scope creep, delay in schedule etc, and other projects may fail in procurement practices. Despite these failures in the following areas the project may still be perceived as successful by the end users. An example is Wembley Stadium; despite all the issues associated with the project in terms of project management and procurement practices, it is still perceived to be successful and a state of the art stadium by the end users. This may result from the fact that it has hosted world class sporting events. Usually, projects are designed to meet stakeholders objective. These objectives define the criteria for success of that project, and projects not satisfying these objectives are deem to fail. Effective communication and clarity in the stakeholders objective is vital to the project manager. This thesis examines the causes of project failure and how these can be prevented, managed or controlled. It discusses project failure and success with the help of case studies in order to identify the critical success factors and reduce failure in the implementation of projects. This research is done with the anticipation of not only adding information to the body of knowledge already in existence, but also in defining the criteria for project success and identifying the variables involved. This will help organisations effectively manage projects. 1.2 Aim The aim of this research is to carry out appraisal on the causes of project failure and the appropriate methods of avoiding project failure. This aim is intended to be achieved with the following objectives. 1.3 Objectives To provide a review of project management To analyze success criteria for projects To explore factors that causes project failure or success To examine methods of avoiding project failure 1.4 Scope This research is based on construction projects executed in the United Kingdom over the last two decades. 1.5 Research Structure Chapter One, Introduction this introduces the research; topic highlighting the aim, objectives and scope of the research. Chapter Two, Literature review critically reviews the existing Literature regarding the subject. It establishes the definition of project success and the success and failure criteria / factors. Chapter Three, Methodology describes the methodology used to undertake this research. It demonstrates the fact that secondary data was mostly used in undertaking this research. Chapter Four, Case Studies Case studies on projects from the UK construction Industry were discussed in this Chapter. These case studies were analysed and linked to the literature review chapter. Chapter Five consists of the analysis of the discussion and findings. This is derived from critically analysing the Wembley, Heathrow terminal five (T5) and Holyrood case studies. Chapter Six, Conclusion and Recommendation: This chapter concludes the research and suggests directions for further research. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The importance of avoiding project failure in a rapidly evolving project-driven 21st century cannot be over-emphasized. Attempts to understand the causes of project failure and/ or success have proven problematic, despite attempt by many practitioners and academics over the years. Project demands have constantly increased over the last decade and have driven our society into a constantly changing environment. Despite attempts to make project appraisal and delivery more rigorous, a considerable proportion of delivery effort results in project that does not meet user expectations and are consequently rejected. In our view this can be attributed to the fact that few organisations have the facilities, training and management discipline to bring project to successful completion. Project success does not come easily; much has been contributed over the last decade to our understanding of the nature of and reason for successful and unsuccessful project completion. In addition many projects fail to complete at all. Sometime failure to satisfy all the original goals of a project can still be regarded favourably if the main sponsor is not satisfied with the outcome and the key stakeholders have gained in some way. Generally, the key development considerations are to have the goal clearly defined, to plan how to realize the goal and implement the plan. Developing an alternative methodology for project management founded on stakeholders, senior management support and proper planning should lead to a better understanding of the management issues that may contribute to the successful delivery of projects. This literature review is aimed at carrying out appraisal on the causes of project failure and the appropriate methods of avoiding it. It begins with key definitions, then analysis of causes of project failure and project success. Then it looks at success factors and criteria; also examine ways of avoiding project failure. The chapter ends with summary of the discussion. 2.2 What is a Project? Gary and Larson (2008:5) defined project as â€Å"a complex, non routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget and resource, and performance specifications designed to meet customer needs. This is in contrast to how an organisation generally works on a permanent basis to produce their goods and services. For example the work of an organisation may be to manufacture a vehicle on a continual basis, therefore the work is considered functional as the organisation creates the same products or services over-and -over again and people hold their roles on a semi permanent basis. A project can be defined as having constraints (usually centred around time and resources, but also including all aspect of the process and the outcome); projects are processes that in many circumstances are core business for organisation. The diagram below show different levels in project management. 2.3 What is Project Management? According to Gray and Larson (2006) Project management is a task derived from an organisation that enables professional project managers to use their skills, tools and knowledge to plan, execute and control a unique project within a limited lifespan by meeting the specification requirements of the organisation. Since the outcomes of the capital projects have strategic implications on the success and profitability of the business, the ability to deliver based on pre-determined objectives should be critical to the companys success. And yet one-third of all the oil and gas projects exceed budget and time projections by more than 10 percent. Failure to deliver big projects on budget and on schedule is highly publicized and damage the companies profile with capital markets that predictability and strong returns. Continual use of traditional project management techniques will not alter this trend. Companies that want to change and improve on their performance with critical capital projects will need to adopt new techniques. Munns and Bjeirmi (1996) also defined project management as a process used as a control to achieve the project objectives by utilizing the organisational structure and resources to manage a project with the application of tools and techniques, without disrupting the routine operation of the company. ‘Project management is the discipline of managing all the different resources and aspects of the project in such a way that the resources will deliver all the output that is required to complete the project within the defined scope, time, and cost constraints. These are agreed upon the project initiation stage and by the time the project begins all stakeholders and team members will have a clear understanding and acceptance of the process, methodology and expected outcome.(http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/introduction-project-management.html accessed on 30/06/09) Project management has been defined as â€Å"the process by which projects (unique, complex, non- routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, and resources) are defined, planned, monitored, controlled and delivered such that the agreed benefits are realised† (APM, 2006:3) Other definitions have been offered, Reiss suggests that a project is a human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale, and to achieve this while pointing out that a simple description is not possible, he suggested that project management is a combination of management and planning and management of change. Despite all the suggestions about what is project management, the criteria for success, namely, cost, time, and quality remain and are included in the actual description. Meaning that Oisens definition of project management was either correct, or as a discipline, project management has not really changed or developed the success criteria over 50 years. Therefore project management is a learning profession. The significant point from all the definitions and suggestions of project management is that while the factors have developed and adopted, changes to the success criteria have been suggested but remain unchanged. In 2008, a survey undertaken by Booz Allen Hamilton (project management consultant) which comprises of 20 companies in engineering, procurement and construction; shows that 40 percent of all projects executed where faced with cost overruns and behind schedule. These overrun in cost and schedule has led to clients dissatisfaction on project performance; this view also agree with the research of M J Lang (1990). Therefore effective project management is very vital in such a volatile business environment. 2.4 Project Management Methodology Generally, projects are split into three phases Initiation, implementation and closure. Every stage of a project has multiple checkpoints which must be met before the starting of the next stage. The degree to which a project will be managed depends on the size of the project. For a complex project in a large organisation that involves a number of people, resources, time and money, a more structural approach is needed, and there will be more steps built into each stage of the project to ensure that the project delivers the anticipated end result. For a simple project in a small organisation, agreed milestones, a few checklists and someone to co-ordinate the project may be all that is required. 2.5 Defining Project Failure From Penguin English Dictionary (1992), failure is define as unsuccessful project that fails to perform a duty or an expected action, non-occurrence or non-performance. Whereas success can be defined as the achievement of something desired, planned or attempted (Cambridge Dictionary, 2007). It is also said that success is an event that accomplishes its intended purpose (dictionary.com, 2007). Anything short of that is failure. Project failure is an unpleasant event that cost large amount of money to the organisation. 2.6 Causes of Project Failure Pinto and Mantel (1990) carried out a research on the causes of project failure and revealed a good explanation that encompasses both internal efficiency and external effectiveness. They state that project failure is a vague concept, which has evoked much as to its definition, as the case with the definition of project success. A project is considered a failure â€Å"whenever a project does not meet the expectations of the stakeholders†. This has lots of impact to both the organisation and all stakeholders to the project. They include: cost and time overruns, quality degradation, frustration and stress, sometimes resulting to people quitting, low corporate market value, low public opinion and negative media campaigns. The total effect can be very costly to the organisation; at times even force the company into closure. Bienkoski (1989) identified ten factors that can lead to project failure and they are: * Lack of change management- happens when there is no method to handle or recognise changes. * Communication- causes delay or even failure since team members do not have the information they needed, issues or changes do not get escalated, project reporting is sluggish * Inadequate resources- Task take longer than expected to complete, deadlines and milestones get missed, and project completion date comes into jeopardy, one end of working more than necessary (double shift) to get the work done * No one is in control, not even the project manager, who is assigned to the project but not given the free hand to manage the project. This is most problem encounters in matrix organisation * Project lacks structure caused by things such as critical tasks being under rated * Inaccurate estimates. A top- down plan causes constraints on the prediction of the cost of the project * Poor risk management. The project initiation stage is not properly planned * Insufficient non-resources are not allocated to the project; for instance, it is not possible for a project to succeed if the right resources are made available for that project * Incompetent project management skill * Project changes from its original objective and goals. This can occur due to additional requirement from the client Pinto and mantel (1990) argue that the major causes of project failure are changes in the project environment, as it goes out of hands of the management. 2.7 Defining Project Success Lewis (2005) states that project success can be defined as meeting the required expectation of the stakeholders and achieving its intended purpose. This can be attained by understanding what the end result would be, and then stating the deliverables of the project. Shenhar et al. (2001) state the opposite: that project success is commonly judged by time and budget goals criteria, whereas in some cases this does not apply to some projects. Thiry (2006) argues that project success can only be defined if executives are able to consider the contribution of benefits and if the project is able to achieve these measures in relation to resources, competencies and complexity within the project parameters. 2.8 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as a Measurement for Project Success The purpose of the KPIs is to enable measurement of project and organisational performance throughout the construction industry (The KPI Working Group 2000). Collins (2000) advocates that the process of developing KPIs involves the consideration of the following factors: * KPIs are general indicators of performance that focus on critical aspects of output or outcomes * Only a limited, management number of KPIs is maintainable for regular use. Having too many (complex) KPIs can be time-and resource-consuming * The systematic use of KPIs is essential as the value of KPIs is almost completely derived from their consistent use over a number of projects * Data collection must be made as simple as possible. * A large sample size is required to reduce the impact of project specific variables. Therefore, KPis should be designed to use on every building project. * For performance measurement to be effective, the measures must be acceptable, understood and owned across the organisation * KPIs will need to evolve and it is likely that a set of KPIs will be subject to change and refinement * Graphic delays of KPIs need to be simple in design, easy to update and accessible. Key Performance indicators for measuring project success can be illustrated with the help of the diagram below (Albert Ada, 2004). They identified the following as the measurement of project success: Cost, time, quality, commercial profitable/value, environmental performance, user expectation/ satisfaction, health and safety and participants satisfaction. This will help in explaining what the project success might mean to different stakeholders. Key Performance Indicators Dvir et al. (2003) state that the ranking of success is a one-sided judgement, as the definition of success is difficult to define, because it has different meanings for different people; thus, the criteria of success should reflect the diverse interest and view that lead to a multi-dimensional and multi-criteria approach. Baccarini (1999) states: that success entails â€Å"hard† criteria which often linked with cost, time and quality. He also states that hard criteria which can be easily measured can lead to some form of substantial agreement. In contrast, soft criteria are known to be one sided, restrained and not easily assessed. This implies that project success is a fantasy of the mind and only an individual can turn such vision into reality. A contrasting view from Westerveld (2000) defined project success as â€Å"the satisfaction of all the stakeholders, meaning that as long as the stakeholders are pleased with the outcome and gain profits or revenue from the project, then it is classed as a success. One of the Squares root corners, organisational benefits, drew much attention because of its significance and it was further analysed. Kerzner (2001, p6) suggests three criteria from the organization perspective in order for a project to be successful. The first is that it must be completed with minimum or mutually agreed upon scope changes, even though stakeholders constantly have different views about projects results (Maylor, 2005, p288). Secondly â€Å"without disturbing the main work flow of the organization because a project has to assist organisations everyday operations and try to make them more efficient and effective. Finally, it should be completed without changing the corporate culture even though projects are almost exclusively concerned with change with knocking down the old and building up the new (Baguley, 1995, p8). A project managers main responsibility is to make sure that he delivers change only where is necessary, otherwise he is doomed to find strong resistance from almost all organisational departments (Kerzner, 2001, p158) which ultimately could lead to project failure. A more structured approach to project success is grouping the criteria into categories. Wideman (1996, p3-4) describes four groups, all of them time dependent: internal project objectives (efficiency during the project), benefit to customer (effectiveness in the short term), direct contribution (in the medium term) and future opportunity (in the long term). The characterization of ‘time dependent is based on the fact that success varies with time. Looking at the future benefits of the organisation can be really difficult, because in some cases they dont even know what they want, yet it is vital to know what the project is trying to achieve after completion time so that success criteria are clearly defined in the early stages. This is quite a different approach, because the focus moves from the present success criteria to the future, in a way that a project can be unsuccessful during execution if it is judged by criteria like cost and quality, but in the long term it can turn to be a thriving story. A good example of this hypothesis is hosting the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, which received mass criticism both during the planning period, due to delays in construction time, and when it was finished, due to huge cost. But the benefits that Greece will gain from the Olympic Games can be fully understood after 5 or maybe 10 years from the hosting year (Athens2004.com). All the above success criteria should be simple and attainable and, once defined, they should also be ranked according to priority (Right Track Associates, 2003). Straightforward criteria are easy to understand by everyone involved in the project and therefore commitment is guaranteed. Unrealistic criteria can put a ‘failure label on many projects because of the unreachable standards, can generate low team esteem and team performance in future projects and finally generate unfair disappointment among stakeholders. As for priority issues, it is inevitable that things will go wrong and the project manager will be in a tough situation where he must make the right decision having in mind that he has to sacrifice the least important success criterion. Also Shenhar et ‘al (1997) are of view that project success can be seen from the four area: Project efficiency, impact of the project to the customer, business success and finally what the project holds for the future. This was further explain in the diagram in 3. 2.9 Defining Project Success Factors and Project Success Criteria Muller and Turner (2007) defined the two components of project success in relation to the use of project management as follows: Project success factors are the elements of a project that can be influenced to increase the like hood of success; these are independent variable that makes success more likely. Project success criteria are the measures by which judge the successful outcome of a project; these are dependent variable which measure project success. We often hear or read about various success stories. But what is success and what criteria should organizations use to identify success? What factors lead to a successful project? The purpose of this study is to define project success criteria, clarify their difference with success factors and analyse their importance in project management methodology. One of the vaguest concepts of project management is project success. Since each individual or group of people who are involved in a project have different needs and expectations, it is very unsurprising that they interpret project success in their own way of understanding (Cleland Ireland, 2004, p2). For those involved with a project, project success is normally thought of as the achievement of some pre-determined project goals (Lim Mohamed, 1999, p244) while the general public has different views, commonly based on user satisfaction. A classic example of different perspective of successful project is the Sydney Opera House project (Thomsett, 2002), which went 16 times over budget and took 4 times more to finish than originally planned. But the final impact that the Opera House created was so big that no one remembers the original missed goals. The project was a big success for the people and at the same time a big failure from the project management perspective. On the other hand, the Millennium Dome in London was a project on time and on budget but in the eyes of the British people was considered a failure because it didnt deliver the awe and glamour that it was supposed to generate (Cammack, 2005). In the same way that quality requires both conformance to the specifications and fitness for use, project success requires a combination of product success (service, result, or outcome) and project management success (Duncan, 2004). The difference between criteria and factors is fuzzy for many people. The Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary describes a criterion as a standard by which you judge, decide about or deal with something while a factor is explained as a fact or situation which influences the result of something. Lim Mohamed applied those definitions to project success and illustrated the difference. It is clear now that critical factors can lead to a series of events which ultimately meet the overall success criteria of the project, so they should not be used as synonymous terms. Project success can be seen from two different perceptive, the micro and macro viewpoint (Lim Mohamed, 1999). This can help in better understanding of what project success means to different people. 2.9.1 Success Criteria Many lists of success criteria have been introduced in the previous decades by various researchers. Primal success criteria have been an integrated part of project management theory given that early definitions of project management included the so called ‘Iron Triangle success criteria cost, time and quality. (Atkinson, 1999, p338) Atkinson continues that as a discipline, project management has not really changed or developed the success measurement criteria in almost 50 years. To meet the urgent need of modernizing the out of date success criteria, he suggest the ‘Square Route ( 3) success criteria instead of the ‘Iron Triangle, where he groups the criteria that other academics have proposed. The main change is the addition of qualitative objectives rather than quantitative, namely the benefits that different group of people can receive from the project. These benefits are seen from two perspectives, one from the organisational view and one from the stakeholders view. It is obvious that each part will have benefit differently from projects. For example one organisation can gain profit through achieving strategic goals when a project is completed and at the same time these goals have a serious environmental impact in the stakeholders community. This means that a successful project must bargain between the benefits of the organisation and the satisfaction of end users. The fourth corner of the ‘Square Root is the Information System which includes the subjects of maintainability, reliability and validity of project outcomes. Belassi and Tukel (2001) are of the opinion that criteria for measuring project success/failure can grouped into two groups: the factor and system response groups. The identified factor groups are: factor related to project manager, factor related to project team members, factor related to the project itself, the organisation handling the project and the factor related to the external environment in which the project takes place. The diagram below shows this in more detail. 2.9.2 Success Factors As mentioned earlier; 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). Some project managers intuitively and informally determine their own success factors. However, if these factors are not explicitly identified and recorded, they will not become part of formal project management reporting process nor they become part of the historical project data (Rad Levin, 2002, p18). Belassi Tukel (1996, p144) classified these factors into 5 distinct groups according to which element they relate to. 2.9.2.1 The Organization Top management support is the principal success factor for many independent research groups (Tukel Rom, 1998, p48) (CHAOS Report, 2001, p4) (Cleland Ireland, 2002, p210) (Tinnirello, 2002, p14), which means that no project can finish successfully unless the project manager secures true support from the senior or operational management. It is extremely difficult to work in a hostile environment where nobody understands the benefits that the project will deliver to the organisation. Stakeholder management and contract strategies (number of and size of the contracts, interface between the different contracts and the management of contracts) are separate success factors which are also considered part of organization issues (Torp, Austeng Mengesha, 2004, p4). 2.9.2.2 The Project Manager Having a project manager is not going to guarantee the success of a project. He must have a number of skills to use during the project to guide the rest of the team to successfully complete all the objectives. In the 2001 CHAOS report (The Standish Group International, 2001, p6), business, communication, responsiveness, process, results, operational, realism and technological skills are mentioned as some of the most important skills a project manager should have to deliver success. However, more resent research by Turner and Muller (2005, p59) has concluded that the leadership style and competence of the project manager have no impact on project success. It is very interesting to investigate why a highly respectable professional body for project managers published such a contradictive position. A possible answer could be found in the fact that project managers results are difficult to prove and even more difficult to measure. If the project is successful, senior management will probably claim that all external factors were favourable. On the contrary, if it turns to be a failure, project manager easily becomes the scapegoat. 2.9.2.3 The Project Team Project managers are very lucky if they have the option to choose their project team. More often, their team is inherited to the project from various sectors of the organisation. It is vital to have a good project team to work with, with core skills that can be evolved to core competences and capabilities for the whole organisation. All m

Animal Experiments Essay -- essays papers

Animal Experiments Animal experimentation by scientists can be cruel and unjust, but at the same time it can provide long term benefits for humanity. Animals used in research and experiments have been going on for 2,000 years and keep is going strong. It is a widely debated about topic all over the world. Some say it is inhuman while others say it’s for the good of human kind. There are many different reasons why people perform experiments and why others total disagree with it. Each year 20 million animals are produce and breed for the only purpose but to be tested on. Fifty-three thousands of animals are used each year in medical and veterinary schools. The rest is used in basic research. The demand for animals in the United States is 50 million mice, 20 million rats, and about 30 million other animals. This includes 200,000 cats and 450,000 dogs. The world uses about 200-250 million animals per year. The problem with working with animals is that they cannot communicate their feelings and reactions. Other people say that they can communicate and react to humans just a well as one person to another. Some of the animals the research’s use are not domesticated which makes them extremely hard to control and handle. The experiments that go on behind closed doors are some of the most horrific things a human could think of too torture somebody or something. Animals in labs are literally used as models and are poked at and cut open like nothing is happening. When drug a...

An analysis of how dikh (‘justice’) and its associated values are Essay

An analysis of how dikh (‘justice’) and its associated values are presented and translated in two passages from Sophocles: Electra. What broader issues are raised and how would these be investigated further? The concept of dikh, or ‘justice’ has many subtle meanings and variations in Ancient Greek ranging from the primary definition given in LS (Liddell and Scotts, ‘Greek-English Lexicon’, Intermediate, 1889, page 202) of custom to right, judgement, lawsuit, penalty and vengeance. The OCD (Hornblower S, Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1996, Page 469) reference to Likh describes it as the, ‘personification of justice’ and the daughter of Zeus that, ‘reports men’s wrongdoing to Zeus’. Sophocles’ rendition of the tragic play Electra forms a useful focal point for the analysis of how dike and its associated values are presented and translated. As Kitto (Kitto, H.D.F, ‘Greek Tragedy’, 1997, Routledge Page 131, Section 4) pointed out, this play’s, ‘central problem is a problem of ‘dikh’ (‘Justice’). The play itself examines both the desire for justice by the children of the murdered Agamemnon as well as the arguments of justice by his wife (Clytaemnestra for his murder). All of this takes place under the watchful eye of Apollo, the God of both reason and prophecy, both of which play a part in the story that is told. The first extract is that of the argument between Clytaemnestra and Electra (Sophocles, Translator Watling, E.F., ‘Electra and other plays’, pg 84-56, lines 518-543) concerning her justification for the murder of Agamemnon. In this extract we are presented with a selection of references to justice and how Clytaemnestra explains how she was right in her murder of her husband. At line 518 (Ibid.,) she complains at her portrayal as ‘an unjust tyrant’, presumably implying that she was not within her right or custom to kill him. Between lines 524-526 (Ibid.,) she says that justice and duty are tied together and that her duty was to seek justice whilst Electra failed in this area. At line 535 (Ibid.,) she says, ‘why should he not be brought to justice for killing what was mine?’. In modern terms this could be considered simple revenge, or dikhn. She is does not justify her action because of tradition or precedent, purely because he took something of hers. In lines 539-541 (Ibid.,) she argues that Agamemnon love might ... ... study ties in perfectly with the idea of moral dilemmas, duty and especially justice. In ‘Electra’ we find our idea of our own values and those of the period to be challenged, this study may assist here. Williams. B, ‘Moral Luck’, 1981, Cambridge Williams. B, ‘Problems of the self’, 1973, Cambridge Williams. B, ‘Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy’, 1985, Cambridge Williams’ work covered a wide range of ethical and morals areas and his research is relatively recent. ‘Moral Luck’, though not directly related will almost certainly have a few useful ideas concerning fate and possibly justification. Plato, Translator Guthrie, W.K.C. ‘Protagoras and Meno’, 1956, Penguin Books Plato discusses the idea of virtue in great depth in the ‘Protagoras’ and this could shed further light on the ideas of virtue, honour, duty and possibly justice. Aeschylus, Translator Fagles, R, ‘The Orestia’, 1977, Penguin Books Euripides, Editor Ferguson, J , "Medea and Electra", 1987, Bristol Classical Press Another version of the story of Electra would be of great use, especially by another tragedian, in this case Euripides. This version is written as more of a melodrama.

U.s. Scourge Spreads South Of The Border :: essays research papers fc

U.S. SCOURGE SPREADS SOUTH OF THE BORDER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a recent newspaper article written in the San Diego Union Tribune called â€Å"U.S. Scourge Spreads South.† A very disturbing fact was opening drug doors just south of our own community, which is why I chose to do an in depth study of the easiness of drug purchase in our southern neighbor. It's not new news but a overwhelming growth in the usage of drugs, especially Rohypnol.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Mexican border town called Tijuana across from San Diego, California, once was a famous as a playground for drunken sailors and college students. Today, authorities on both sides of the border warn, it has turned into a gangland run by a growing number of ruthless cartels that sell drugs. It is no longer just marijuana (pot), but a growing problem with other types of drugs like Heroin, Crystal Methamphetamine, and Cocaine.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I recently visited the neighbor city of Tijuana and rode in a Tijuana taxi and was immediately met with a taxi driver named Jose, a Tijuana taxi driver in an open-necked, baby blue silk shirt, he sizes up the tourists trudging off the footbridge from the United States. â€Å"Taxi, sir? You want pharmacy? I get you a good pharmacy,† he urges, stepping from a line of beckoning taxi drivers in big belts and straw cowboy hats. â€Å"Good prices! No prescriptions!† Do I look like I want drugs?! I didn't even solicit the business. I almost felt weird because this is exactly what I was planning to do my paper on. Soon he is nosing his long yellow Oldsmobile through scruffy streets choked with pharmacies. I asked for Somas-a drug that gives the user a feeling of drunkenness without all the liquor, and illegal in the United States. In less than 45 minutes I was able to purchase the drug right over the counter. Of course, I didn't actually purchase the drug, but kindly told the pharmacy that his price was too high.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This just goes to show you how easy it was to get an illegal drug just 30 minutes from SDSU. And instead of being sold by gun-toting drug traffickers, it is available in much of Latin America with a doctor's prescription--often easily obtained. It appears to be crossing the U.S. border via booming pharmacies in cities such as Tijuana.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sudden popularity of the drug (Somas) has returned the spotlight to Mexico's border drugstores, which for years have done a thriving business with Americans but have recently exploded in number with the Tijuana residents. â€Å" Tijuana residents are nearly twice as likely to have used an illegal drug as

An analysis of why economic sanctions are good Essay

â€Å"A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.† John Mills OR Senator John Kerry once said â€Å"We must retool our nation to prepare for the challenge we already face to maintain our position in the global economy. And this much is certain: America will not have national security without economic security.† Therefore, I negate the resolution that: Resolved: Economic sanctions ought not to be used to achieve foreign policy objectives Definitions: Economic Sanctions- Economic penalties, such as stoppage of trade and financial transactions, imposed upon a country to force compliance with another country’s or UN’s or WTO’s demands. (businessdictionary.com) Ought- used to express obligation. Foreign Policy- the policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with other sovereign states. Objectives- : an aim, goal, or end of action. (In case of argumentation relating to resolve not confined to U.S.A) Sovereign- one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere. All unspecified definitions are from Merriam Webster Core Value: Societal Welfare- What is best for most of society Value Criterion- The neg shall prevail if I can prove that economic sanctions are a worthwhile method to achieve foreign policy objectives. But the aff shall prevail if, and only if he can prove otherwise†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ C1: Smart economic sanctions are needed to compel foreign leaders. The resolution calls for a general ban on economic sanctions in dealing with foreign policy objectives. One of the foremost arguments against sanctions is the harm they may potentially bring. But these potential harms are mostly caused the imposition of broad, wide-ranging sanctions. But not all sanctions are harmful- there are good sanctions. The sanctions in the 21st century are targeted and narrow, not general. One of the common criticisms of economic sanctions is that they have injured civilian populations in the past. The problem with this line of reasoning is that it assumes that there is only one type of sanction to use, and that this type of sanctioning must necessarily hurt civilians. Most countries now understand that wide, indiscriminate sanction use may be counterproductive, so they take a smarter, tailored approach to economic sanctions that make sanctions more likely to achieve their policy objectives. Many countries now tailor their sanctions to specific goods. For exa mple, many countries place specific sanctions on narcotics related items or on materials that could be used to make weapons. These tailored sanctions still allow civilians to meet their basic needs, but also make it so that rogue states are unable to use their material resources to cause further harm. Additionally, economic sanctions are now being used to freeze assets and limit the travel of high ranking state officials, which puts pressure only on them to change their country’s policies. These â€Å"smart sanctions† create an opportunity for change without the harms that occurred from past sanctions. Another line of argument for the Neg is the â€Å"toolbox† argument: that the Affirmative would remove critical tools, including targeted sanctions, from the government’s disposal. This would lead to a second dilemma, this time for the Affirmative: without the carrot and stick of economic sanctions, the government is left with a feather of non-economic sanctions and the bloody spike of war. C2: Economic sanctions are necessary foreign policy tools So what are the alternatives to sanctions? More diplomacy and military action. These have the problem of being two extremes meaning that there needs to be something in the middle. Diplomacy is the most obvious alternative. It would be lovely if all foreign policy objectives could be met simply by diplomacy but with contradictory interests, this is never going to happen in all cases. Many countries, particularly dictatorships but quite often also democracies such as the US, feel they can just ignore diplomacy if it is not backed up by anything more than a verbal lashing. Diplomacy needs something backing it up. At the moment this is the threat of some form of sanction (be it direct economic sanctions or more indirect be reducing the opportunities for that countries firms to operate in your market) or military action of some kind. Using military action as a threat can be extreme. How do you move between diplomacy and on to military action without something in the middle to show how serious your country is? If a country does not believe your threats, and you don’t really want to attack him you have to be the one to back down. Providing economic sanctions creates a way of hurting him without having to go to the worse stage†¦ which is military action. Military action is the obvious ‘hard’ alternative to sanctions. However it is not always possible. This could be because of domestic politics or because there is other significant actors in the international system who would react unfavorably to you engaging in military action, or else the consequences might be too severe. There are quite a few problems with military action apart from that it cant always be used due to politics. The most obvious is that it is an immense step up from diplomacy. The country you are going to attack needs to have done something serious to be able to justify an attack. Even if it is justifiable there are problems. Military action relies upon your country being powerful and being able to engage in military action – whereas anyone can implement some form of sanctions – and it is very costly. This is not only of course in terms of monetary cost to your country but also in lives lost and destroyed. There can also me many unintended consequences. You can intend the action to be a small police action but there is no guarantee that your opponent will see it that way so he may well strike back escalating towards full scale war. At the other extreme your actions my push a country towards falling apart and becoming a failed state. Yes it provides a very powerful tool for changing a state’s behavior- but most people would believe that it is not worth keeping the possibility of military action while getting rid of sanctions. Get rid of both and you essentially have no stick at all. States do not always respond to carrots – you need to provide a big enough carrot that they can forgo a national interest after all. In the case of two interests being diametrically opposed then this cost could be immense. C3: Violation of Human Rights Natural rights of citizens are selfishly violated by corrupt leaders of governments. This impacts not only the natural rights of citizens from other countries; it also affects the natural rights of their own citizens. a. Citizens of countries oppressed by economic sanctions suffer when intended relief efforts are suppressed by their own government intercepting supplies. The citizens are never the target, but rather the behaviors of corrupt leaders. Natural rights of citizens are denied when a corrupt leader interrupts the harmonious relations and it becomes necessary to impose sanctions. Further, I extend my VPC in that when the naturals rights of other nations are infringed upon by these corrupt leaders, political justification demands punishment in the least destructive manner after diplomacy has failed. b. Citizens are justified to demand their natural rights which are being denied to them by the very government which is supposed to protect them. When corrupt leaders give in to decency and cooperate, the sanctions go away. Sanctions are nothing more than a legitimate form of punishment to achieve a defined and acceptable code of behavior. Natural rights of citizens are denied when a corrupt leader interrupts the harmonious relations and it becomes necessary to impose sanctions. Further, I extend my VPC in that when the naturals rights of other nations are infringed upon by these corrupt leaders, political justification demands punishment in the least destructive manner after diplomacy has failed. Possible Rebuttal: Although careful studies of economic sanctions have cast doubt on their effectiveness, 1 anecdote can be powerful rhetorical tools. A single important case that demonstrates sanctions’ potential allows advocates to argue that their cause is more akin to the success than to the failures. Frequently, advocates point to the case of sanctions applied in the mid-1980s against the apartheid regime in South Africa as just such a case. On the face of it, South African sanctions appear to have been successful. In response to the outrages of apartheid, many countries adopted trade and financial sanctions and a significant amount of foreign investment was withdrawn from South Africa. After the adoption of sanctions, South Africa experienced economic difficulty and numerous domestic actors commented on how the economic situation was untenable and required political change. By 1994, Nelson Mandela had been elected President of South Africa. He and other black leaders attributed to economic sanctions a significant role in bringing about the democratic transition.