The effectiveness of software maintenance depends on different criteria to be taken into account. The (DoD) HQDA Army G-4, a division involved in military logistics analysis, needs a robust system of interaction between developers and maintainers called DevOps. One of the gaps is the lack of precise scaling of the system, and this issue can be addressed by introducing organizational learning and software testing by checking how different workloads influence performance metrics. Relevant resources have been used, which relate to the national military sector, and specialized findings have been summarized to provide real recommendations. This work has identified initiatives to improve the success of DevOps implementation in Army G-4, particularly keeping all software running smoothly and focusing on financial investments to make good use of the available budget.
Introduction
Implementing agile software management practices aims to optimize digital operations and eliminate potential service issues. DevOps, as a practice designed to achieve these goals, is a tool for establishing the interaction between developers and maintainers, which, despite its benefits, is difficult to scale. This work is aimed at identifying the scaling principles and success of DevOps for the (DoD) HQDA Army G-4 as a structure for which a robust mechanism of control over its digital base system is an important aspect of safe activities.
Principles of Introducing DevOps in the DoD
Despite its value from the perspective of the ability to ensure the stable operation of digital infrastructure in the military industry, the introduction of DevOps has not always been considered a convenient solution. According to Kenner (2019), implementing such flexible practices implies moving from traditional management concepts, which, in turn, does not correspond to the military-industrial complex model, where the sustainability of work determines the stability of oversight methods. Nonetheless, with the move towards the innovative principles of national security, the Department of Defense has realized the relevance of the idea of maintaining close contact between developers and maintainers of the digital base. Mathieson et al. (2020) argue that appropriate tools have become common in the DoD to ensure the stability of the internal infrastructure and “keep pace with the ever-increasing complexity of systems” (p. 10). However, DevOps scaling issues have remained relevant due to the lack of a specific assessment framework and approaches to analyzing performance.
Scaling of DevOps for HQDA Army G-4
HQDA Army G-4 is a special unit involved in the development and evaluation of logistics processes, programs, and policies for the national military sector. The need to scale DevOps is a valuable prospect for this department since any innovative digital solutions will inevitably affect logistics efficiency and, therefore, resource allocation. Davis and Daniels (2016) note that one of the most convenient algorithms for scaling change and calculating performance parameters is to build an effective organizational learning system. In other words, the successful training of Army G-4 personnel can help create a sustainable background for measuring DevOps productivity by understanding how the structure works and its unique characteristics. According to Wilde et al. (2016), another scaling approach is to estimate the load on internal servers and identify characteristic values ranging from lowest to highest. This principle means that HQDA Army G-4 representatives can test processes within their IT system and map specific procedures with and without DevOps. This practice can help provide objective evidence of the impacts of DevOps on specific operations, including the strength and speed of influence.
DevOps for HQDA Army G-4: Ways to Succeed
For DevOps to succeed and prove its relevance to HQDA Army G-4, specific implementation conditions are to be met. Firstly, as Jones et al. (2019) state, the corresponding digital system development principle has to be promoted to introduce such a flexible software supervision strategy. All the necessary safety elements need to be integrated to prevent the failure of individual components and the suspension of process control. Secondly, all costs should be calculated to assess the feasibility of utilizing additional control algorithms. According to the researchers, “70% of a system’s total lifecycle cost is in the sustainment phase,” which explains the need to determine whether the military complex is able to financially support specialized software (Jones et al., 2019, p. 6). In case the aforementioned conditions are met, successful DevOps support in Army G-4 will be established, and the department will be able to create a stable service system for this framework without compromising its budget.
Conclusion
The (DoD) HQDA Army G-4, as the coordinator of logistics processes and policies of the national military sector, needs a sustainable system to optimize its digital base, and the effective scaling of DevOps, as a practice designed to perform these tasks, is an essential condition for achieving productivity and minimizing costs. Establishing a sustainable organizational learning program can help improve the skills of Army G-4 personnel, and system load testing may contribute to determining appropriate boundaries for low and high performance. The success of DevOps in Army G-4 depends on the resilience of the entire software and the cost-effectiveness of its maintenance.
References
Davis, J., & Daniels, R. (2016). Effective DevOps: Building a culture of collaboration, affinity, and tooling at scale. O’Reilly.
Jones, C., Doswell, J., Clark, B., Charette, R., Judy, J., & Janusz, P. (2019). New army software sustainment cost estimating results. ICEAA Annual Workshop, 1-45.
Kenner, B. T. (2019). Too agile? – DevOps software development challenges in a military environment [Unpublished master’s thesis]. University of South Carolina.
In project management, the project initiation document (PID) is crucial as it outlines the project’s scope, power, and criteria to measure the project’s success. PID is also essential to the project management team as it defines the foundation of the tasks at hand. The document describes the projects and provides the basis for management and evaluation. A project is implemented to achieve a particular goal. This concept makes it necessary to develop a plan to determine if the goals for implementing the project are met. As a project management document, PID also aids in the process of measuring success.
Project justification
In the modern economy, technology is taking over the ancient ways of doing a thing. The need for efficiency within limited resources has also triggered the need to find new, efficient ways to conduct production. Establishing a state-of-the-art intelligent laboratory in London will help achieve the economic need for efficiency. In London, the growing population of scientists in schools, colleges, universities, and other sectors creates demand for a smart laboratory that is up to date to test new ideas efficiently. The desire for new technologies is also a motivation for the establishment of the laboratory. The main objective of constructing this lab is to encourage innovations in the various disciplines of science. Some ideas might have been essential to the economy go untested, and their potentials go untapped.
The project scope
An amount of £750,000 has been set aside to turn an old building into a new laboratory. The money will be used to purchase all the necessities and pay the employees. Rehashed equipment in the old building will also be collected for reuse. The main deliverable in this project is a state-of-the-art intelligent laboratory. The building will be turned into a facility with equipment for testing new ideas and developing them into realities.
The features installed in the lab include; computer-controlled equipment, a mini-lab with computers to enhance the use of the internet in developing ideas into reality, and a computer security system. Besides, the intelligent lab will be segmented to facilitate idea development in various disciplines of science. An online course for session booking is also part of the project (Shah, 2020). The current need to reduce environmental pollution triggers the need to develop pollution control systems. The fume hoods of the lab will be fitted with pollution reduction kits. Physical, chemical, and biological materials used in experiments will also have a system to avoid water or soil pollution.
In implementing the project, the fundamental inclusions will be training all the stakeholders during and after the project completion to gain confidence and digital fabrication skills to carry out daily lab activities. The project, however, excludes renovations of the laboratory from damages that may occur after the project delivery. If the implementing team has to do the innovations, they must be enforced before the deadline.
In the process of renovating the old building into an intelligent laboratory, assumptions are made. The significant premise created by the project management team includes the following; the time allocated for the completion of the project implementation is fixed, and the implementing team will request no time extensions (Horstman, 2016). The project management team also assumes that the money allocated, £750000, will be enough to complete the process (Hartono et al., 2018). Another assumption made by the team is that the contracted company to finish the required work is a competent company with the required capabilities to complete the project.
Work Breakdown structure
In the first month of the project, the activity will remove all the buildings’ unwanted structures. In the second and third months, the implementation team will replace the materials removed with modern technologies. Repairs of old systems desired for reuse will commence after the discarding process and take place for a month. The next step required is furnishing the laboratory, which will include creating a design and assigning everything to their places and will take a month to accomplish. The next activity that will also take a month is the testing of the lab’s operations. The last action before handing over the project will be the training of the stakeholders, and it will also take a month.
Project schedule with a Gantt chart and milestones
Stakeholder assessment
The stakeholders in this project’s implementation include the community around, the financers, the project management team, proposed users of the intelligent lab, places of affiliation of the scholars who will use the laboratory (universities, schools, laboratories), legal agencies, suppliers of materials needed, and even the hired workers during the renovations and operation of the project is complete (Kernzner, 2017). The stakeholders’ assessment is necessary to make each one aware of the role they have to play to facilitate project success.
As it has been stated earlier, all projects are undertaken to achieve a particular goal. A project is said to be successful if the aim for its completion has been met. Stakeholders must determine if a project that was undertaken is successful in justifying their reason for its completion. There are various criteria for measuring every project’s success or far failure. One such standard of project evaluation is the measurement basing arguments on the project’s project time, cost, and quality (Ziegelmeir, 2019). Some sources argue that this evaluation criterion is outdated, and this is acceptable, basing my argument on the research article, ‘Digging beneath the Iron Triangle’ and other sources.
Challenges and constraints in the project completion
In any economic process of product or service creation, challenges have to exist. Obstacles in implementing the project of turning the single-story building into an innovative library are a common occurrence. Some of them in the presented scenario include inadequate public support. A survey conducted in the neighborhoods’ identified that some people proposed the renovation into a Library or a social hall. Secondly, corruption or misuse of the funds provided was also foreseen as an example of a challenge. Thirdly, it is likewise a problem to identify and hire highly qualified staff to complete the project as competent employees are not easy to find, and the ones available are expensive to pay (Coleman, 2020). Another issue can be the lack of communication among the people involved since communication is a key to any project’s success.
Moreover, scheduling can be also one of the biggest problems while constructing, since incorrect or insensitive scheduling can result in workers’ dissatisfaction, which can lead to other dire consequences. Concerning the project, it is also essential to maintain the same regulations, since the constant shifts and changes can lead to uncertainty. The construction never goes as planned completely, therefore, when difficulties occur, it is vital not to blame everyone, but instead, find the correct solution that satisfies each party.
Additionally, document management might appear to be a crucial challenge. The amount of paper used while constructing and escape of the red tape would require a creative solution. The seventh possible challenge lies in the fact that the newly constructed laboratory will not correspond to the requirements of the proposed users and will lack some equipment. Finally, one of the most essential problems that will severely hinder the completion of the project is the lack of budget. The additional and unforeseen expenses might turn into the fact that the real budget exceeds the allocated £750000.
Risk management
In every project management concept, risk management is an aspect that does not escape the minds of project managers. Risk management involves the process of identifying some of the threats that may be encountered and the methods that could be used to mitigate the hazards identified (Hartono et al., 2018). Such issues as scheduling, misuse of the funds, hiring of qualified staff, and lack of communication among the people involved can be fixed via smart and responsible management. Management can create a great schedule, talk about workers’ problems, work with funds, hire staff, create stable regulations, and go paperless. Therefore, the universal key to fixing all the issues mentioned is to establish a great management system, which can promptly and flexibly solve diverse issues.
Even though thoughtful planning is a valuable tool that would help to avoid most of the previously listed possible constraints, some other ways to avoid these challenges should be suggested. For instance, to be sure that the budget would not exceed £750000, it is necessary in advance to allocate some amount of money that could be spent in urgent and unexpected cases.
The problem of correspondence of the new laboratory with the expectations of the scientists could be easily fixed through communication with them and conduction of a profound analysis of which items it should have. The issue with paperwork could be solved using specialized software that would allow the users to store the documents and access them at any moment. To reduce the risk of inadequate public support of the project, it is recommended to conduct a PR campaign that would explain the advantages of the construction of the state-of-the-art intelligent laboratory. The campaign should show that ordinary people would also benefit from the realization of this project.
Opportunities in the project implementation
Some of the opportunities that may exist while implementing the project may include but are not limited to creating job opportunities. The process is a complex integrated process that requires people to handle. There may be a need to hire technicians to guide the lab users once it is completed. The population in London will also find opportunities to participate in innovation activities since the lab will be easily accessible.
In the research article, ‘Digging beneath the Iron Triangle,’ it is highlighted that the project of digging a channel from London to Paris was branded a failure barely six months after its initiation. The project’s biases were because of the long time taken to complete the task, the cost overruns experienced during its implementation, and the low demand for the project’s services (Pollack et al., 2018). Some people even suggested that the project would not have been implemented.
The project was often used as a case study for project failure; currently, the reality is different. People’s perception of the project has changed, which is partially due to the belief that the major benefits were ripped from the presented work. When the project is evaluated out of time, cost and quality, the project is a success and an agent of change in the European nations (Zwikael et al., 2018). The project is responsible for modernizing the European transport infrastructure.
The project has provided choices for individuals and companies wanting to travel and transport their goods and services from Paris, London, Brussels, and beyond. Moreover, the presented work had an influence on the reduction of transportation costs. Therefore, the iron triangle system of the task’s evaluation cannot be applied to the project, since it is outdated (Runeson, 2020). Furthermore, if the Euro-tunnel was graded using the iron triangle criteria, it would have been disastrous (Ryan et al., 2019). However, the current beliefs mark the system as a successful one for the project of the bestowed scale.
In the iron triangle of time, scope, and cost, a change in the triangle’s dimension impacts the remaining two sizes. If the project scope is enlarged, the cost and time increase, and if the period for the project completion is increased, cost and capacity are expected to increase. Similarly, when the price is inflated, time and scope increase. This argument, however, proves to be a rather vague estimation of the process. It has been realized that it is possible to interfere with one aspect without impacting the other dimensions (Mullai & Surya, 2019). For example, project time may be extended for various reasons, such as delayed procurement processes and delayed weather. This does not mean that the scope and the cost of the projected increase. The extra time may be during an inactivity period.
A project’s implementation costs may also increase during its implementation. The extra costs may result from challenge mitigation activities of compliance with legal policies relating to project implementation activities. The fees will not necessarily mean that the project’s time and scope will increase, in fact, they may remain the same (Goman & Pecerska, 2020). In the construction of the euro channel, the project’s time and cost increased tremendously, but the scope remained identical (Anbari, 2018). This argument confirms a need to develop new ways of measuring project success rather than using time, price, and scope.
The criteria such as the iron triangle do not consider the future impacts of a project. The method of evaluation is more practical in smaller projects with minor amounts of capital and time investments, which is not very objective in large projects (Demirkesen & Ozorhon, 2017). The standard is obsolete as it is not flexible. It is to deny that the main components of project evaluation are cost, scope, and time; these components, however, should not be the only techniques to evaluate projects.
This is the basic technique of project evaluation. It calculates the time to completely recover the project’s initial invested capital using the project’s subsequent cash flows. Another method that could be adopted to measure this is the return-on-investment approach (ROI). ROI as an approach can be described as the yearly return on the percentages of initial capital investment. ROI is calculated by dividing the annual return by the initial investment.
Another contemporary that could be used in measuring the viability of a project is the Present Net Value, which is said to be the value of the sum of the rebates of the project in different implementation years. The sum of the discounted returns gives the project’s current value. The net present worth is the difference between the two variables. Projects with higher NPVs are considered better. The project profitability index can also be used to measure its success chances. PI creates a reflection of the project’s printability chances. It is calculated as a ratio of the total current value of the returns to the capital investment’s actual net worth, where the higher rates are preferred. Therefore, projects with high profitability indexes are most likely successful.
In summary, the project application process requires the construction of a project initiation document to increase the chance of the project’s success. The paper guides the stakeholders during the implementation stages as it is the document to refer to during discharge. However, the success of projects should be measured objectively. The above means that the method of the iron triangle should not be used as it is outdated. Modern techniques such as Profitability Index, Net Present Value, Payback Period, and Return on Investment should be used.
References
Anbari, F. T. (2018). The Chunnel project. Project Management Institute.
Demirkesen, S., & Ozorhon, B. (2017). Impact of integration management on construction project management performance. International Journal of Project Management, 35(8), 1639-1654.
Goman, M., & Pecerska, J. (2020). Merge Event Bias in Project Evaluation Techniques – Problems and Directions. 2020 61st International Scientific Conference on Information Technology and Management Science of Riga Technical University (ITMS). Web.
Hartono, S., Kosala, R. R., Supangkat, S. H., & Ranti, B. (2018). Impact of Intention to Use to a Document Management System (Case Study Approach). 2018 International Conference on Information Management and Technology (ICIMTech). Web.
Horstman, M. (2016). The effective manager. Wiley.
Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Shah, A. (2020). Policy, Program and Project Evaluation a Toolkit for Economic Analysis in a Changing World. Springer International Publishing.
Zwikael, O., Chih, Y. Y., & Meredith, J. R. (2018). Project benefit management: Setting effective target benefits. International Journal of Project Management, 36(4), 650-658.
Project Success is defined as adherence to budget, schedule, function (performance), and client satisfaction. To determine whether the Masdar City site was a success it is important to evaluate what the goals of the project were, if it succeeded at them and if it met the criteria above.
The goal was to test the possibility of a self-sustaining zero-carbon city, running entirely on renewable energy resources, and prepare the United Arab Emirates, at the moment reliant on oil sales, for the future (Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, n.d.).
In the wake of the financial crisis, the completion date was pushed from 2016, which saw only one-third of the initial goals completed, first to 2025, and then to 2030. With the current technology, the goal of zero carbon was replaced by low carbon. The design of the city has the potential to fulfill its promises, with the planning accommodating for a “green” lifestyle. However, testing has shown that the goals can be achieved only through strict regulation of energy consumption and lifestyles of the residents, which will be much harder to accomplish once real inhabitants move it (Walsh, 2011). On the other hand, the delay has seen a change in the budget from the original $22 billion to $19.8 billion (Stanton, 2010).
At the moment, t is hard to say if the Masdar City project is a success or a failure. There are already diversions from original goals. But even if the goal of a self-sustainable zero-carbon city will not be met, the project will still provide abundant research results in similar future endeavors and is set to become the major testing ground for all new “green” technology. The UAE proves that they are determined to prepare for the day when the oil runs out.
Financial Feasibility Estimation Techniques
The Masdar City is a unique project and a lot of inherent uncertainty in the application of new technologies and design choices. This creates difficulties when choosing the appropriate Estimation techniques to evaluate its financial feasibility.
Since the project has numerous aspects, consisting not only of construction but also of the introduction of new materials and new technologies, it would require a combination of several different Estimation techniques to be used to achieve the most accurate result (O’Halloran, 2013).
Since the aim of the UAE was to create the first zero carbon self-sustaining city of its kind, applying the technique of Analogous Estimation is not feasible in this situation, for lack preceding similar projects of the same scale. For the same reason, Expert Judgment would be less efficient in this situation.
For buildings, solar panels, windmills, electric cars, and other similar objects manufactured or purchased in bulk it would be a good idea to employ Parametric Estimation. For example, provided that a price of a single “green” house, equipped with solar panels, and furnished with all essential facilities, is known, estimating the costs of the total number of scheduled housing should be possible. For less defined expenses, like the development of new technologies or systems, the Bottom-Up Estimating would work best. This technique takes individual portions of the work and estimates the costs of its components.
Finally, evaluating the feasibility of the whole project would require the use of the Three-Point Estimate. This system takes the best case costs, the most likely costs and the worst case costs, totals them in the ratio 1:4:1, and divides them by 6 to achieve an estimate. Of course, even this estimation will need to have the uncertainty accounted for.
The Dulhasti Power Plant Case Study
Budget contingencies
The Dulhasti Power Plant is an example of one of the most devastating failures in project cost estimation and delivery. The project was started in 1983, in the Indian provinces of Jammu and Kashmir, and had an initial cost estimate of $40 million dollars. By the time it was finally finished in 2008, the estimated total cost of the project was near $1.1 billion dollars (Dul Hasti Dam and Hydroelectric Power Project, n.d.).
The Indian government awarded the construction rights to a French consortium. From the beginning, it demanded a bigger price revision but was turned down and forced to accept an even lower offer to avoid losing the contract. This only made the relationship between the government and the consortium more complicated, and, in the end, cost the country about a million more then they aimed to save.
The construction was located in a heavily disputed area between the Pakistan and India, which was an easy target for terrorist attacks and lacked any infrastructure or a sufficient logistics network necessary. The Indian government also had to rebid the contract to a Norwegian team after the French ultimately refused and lost more money in the process.
It is clear that the Indian government did not take security and logistics into account in their original cost estimations, something that created a massive costs bloat over the course of 24 years of construction. It also did not factor the difficult geographical location of the site, as well as the tense political situation in the region. Since the government attempted to save money by awarding the construction rights at a fixed contract to the lowest bidder, the project had no space left for cost contingency planning (Project cost contingency, 2014). Ultimately, while I believe that contingency planning could have helped avoid some of the expenses, there was also a gross miscalculation in other fields. At the very beginning, the project needed to be re-estimated for cost and feasibility before creating contingencies.
References
Dul Hasti Dam and Hydroelectric Power Project. (n.d.). Web.
Mobile phone payments and started in Kenya in 2007 and it evolved over the years and significantly contributed to their progressive economy. Currently, mobile phone payment in Kenya could settle various billings such as Transfer of money, payment of bills, saving of money and buying and selling. Through this medium of money transfer, it added convenience to people just like in purchasing settling bills. Mobile phone payments help the people to purchase almost any commodities conveniently. Apparently, people always like to bring their mobile phones everywhere and therefore payment through phone increased economic impact. Phone industry look for new business models in order to further improve and develop their mobile services. The trends in mobile phone payments focused on mobile internet innovations and tend to have global standard.
Significance of M-PESA
Majority of the people of Kenya uses their mobile mostly on communication. Most of the of them have been attracted to the convenience brought by M-PESA. The technology helped them to transact easily and removes hassles of having to get cash and most primarily is the time they saved. Generally, consumers preferred mobile payments on paying for services and transfer of money wherein most of them enjoy the convenience of the technology and this was the initial value point considered by the consumers. In Kenya alone, they registered successful data service through the technology wherein they applied this even in ring tone devices. The confidence of customers grew in terms of the usage patterns of the technology and the services applied for money. The research was based on e-Marketer’s data for mobile phone transfer.
Analysis and trends were related and gathered through e-business, emerging technologies, and online marketing. The aggregates of e-Marketers analyzed various data from their compilation and online marketing statistics. Mobile phone payments increased globalization since the technology promoted diversity and it could also be applied as an effective intervention particularly in rural areas of the country. However, it was not easy to generalize the advantages because of the different outcome measurements. The overall cost effectiveness through mobile phone was still limited and rare and the interventions is quite weak
Drawbacks of M-Pesa
The ongoing policy applied with the technology includes the value of communications in promoting developments. Some experts believed that mobile phone payments could only be good as merely “quick fix” in solving certain problems especially those which are covered with comprehensive policies. Some critics view mobile banking as social gradients especially in rural setting in Kenya with information barriers, lack skilled human capital, and lack funds for floats.
There are negative positions on the increasing use of M-PESA in banking and transferring of money and the open opportunities might be given to women. There are the poor with difficulty in the accessed of information in public facilities, and shared services through innovative strategies. The broad policy associated in M-PESA covers various issues in Kenya. Some people are convinced about the usefulness of mobile telephones and its interventions in delivering money. Subscriptions on mobile telephones grew continuously and the demand exists because of the waiting period involved for the traditional wire line phones
There were reports that mobile subscribers overtook wire line subscribers and this report involved geographic regions. Some of the mobile phone functions were not considered as effective interventions because of the mere presence of mobile phones that allow communication with healthcare providers and those technologies that lessen isolation of certain areas in case of emergency. People believe that mobile Banking contributed to the improvement of people lives. Mobile telephones were not only good as marketing tool but they were also effectively utilized as tools of development in rural areas. Mobile banking has eliminated financial and regulatory barriers in the transfer of money.
Success factors
The true power of M-PESA technology was realized in Kenya and it is revolutionizing the circulation of money. The markets have utilized mobile phones for banking services and the intervention of technology was considered as crucial especially for those people who lived in rural areas and only rely on money sent home by their relatives or members of their family. The dramatic growth of mobile phones outnumbered the cash machines and they paved new set of services that turn mobile phone as banking tool with the potential to increase the economy. The people have vast number of access to financial products wherein the expansion of technology was even directed to microfinance which could allow small loans and could changed lives of millions.
Although Safaricom built his firm on communication products, their business mastery contributed much to his success. This success was based on a competitive urge that concentrated the firm’s efforts on a market with huge potential but with few competitors.
They got in early and in a big way, strove to become the industry leader, made Safaricom’s products the best, most useful but the cheapest, and established for themselves a proprietary position through which they own and do. Through offers to customers and strategic alliances that they could not refuse and continual innovations and inventions, Safaricom became an undisputable leader in the market. The lesson learned in this fete is that all attempts to possess the market eventually lead to possession of its profits. Equally, to become the leader in an industry, one must set the standards of the industry through strategic IT use to create cost leadership, product differentiation or focus that is unmatched.
Mode of entry
M-PESA is considered as strategic weapons for business particularly in the improvement of their competence. There are researchers who continuously exploring on M-PESA and its opportunities in the industry. However, there are still challenges for M-PESA such as the keyboards and screens of mobile phones are tiny and awkward to use. Wireless networks are very slow in data transmission and most of the phones have minimal memory and limited power supply.
Reference list
Ansoff, H, Declerk, R, & Hayes R, 1976, From Strategic Planning to Strategic Management.
DePamphilis, D. 2009, Mergers, Acquisitions, and Other Restructuring Activities: An Integrated Approach to Process, Tools, Cases, and Solutions Academic Press Advanced Finance Series. Academic press, New York.
Keller, K. L 2002, Strategic Brand Management: 2nd Edition- Prentice Hall.
Pearce, J., & Robinson, R. (2004). Strategic Management. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Mullins, L 1999, Management and Organizational Behavior. NJ: Prentice Hall.
Verma, V 2001, Organizing Projects for Success.Oxford press.
According to Henslin, value is defined as code, standards, or worthiness that is considered to be desirable either by an individual or a group of people (2010). Value acts as a guide of life to make one fit in a certain society or to live well with other people. Values are general and conceptual in nature, unlike norms that are very specific. Through values one is able to define his or her moral goals in life. Ones value in life shows the standards by which he or she describes the ideas of what is desired (Henslin, 2010).
America is a pluralistic society as it entails various groups with different political, social, and religious views. This paper will be describing two significant values in American culture that include, achievement and success and individualism. Individualism entails one possessing a trait of being persistence consistently whereby such an individual is considered able to rise from the bottom to top.
The American culture is known to blame a person if he or she fails to get ahead rather than the system that may have blocked him or her. From the past, Americans have believed that victory comes from ones effort and initiative. Personal victory, especially outstanding among the rest, being the best in work and in school, becoming rich, possessing power, and reputation is valued much in America (Henslin, 2010).
The value of being persistence and staying consistent has made me to overcome a lot of obstacles in my life starting from my family life, in school, and in my social life. This value made me to know my purpose in my family, whereby I knew my duties and responsibilities and the importance of fulfilling them.
The value of individualism made me to have a vision in whatever I was about to undertake be it in school or with my friends. This made me to choose wisely my friends, who could help me to realize my vision and purpose in life. The same value as an adult will continue to help me have a good relationship with my colleagues in my working place, as I would be able to overcome my challenges and assist them solve theirs too.
When one is persistence, the idea of giving up is fully eradicated from his or her life (Henslin, 2010). Incase of hardships and solving conflicts, this value pushes one until the solution is found. Anyone who is in a position to solve conflicts on his or her way, and meet challenges accordingly, has a healthy friendship with people in all areas.
Achievement and success is another important value that has taken me through the childhood life to adulthood. In our family, when we were young, this value motivated me to work hard, behave well among my peers that I could be the best among my siblings, and the best pupil in class (Hunter, 2003).
Making efforts to be the best ensures one trends carefully avoiding the common mistakes that may hinder success. In the working situation, one would always work tirelessly, meet the targets on time, meet the company objectives, and serve the clients efficiently to be considered successful. Getting a good grade in school, being a role model among peers, or getting promotion in work would require one to work hard and achieve higher. In general, becoming successful in life would call for this value in day to day activities.
Reference List
Henslin, J. M. (2010). Essentials of Sociology, A Down-to-Earth Approach. New York: Prentice Hall.
Hunter, W. S. (2003). Psychological abstructs. New York: American Psychological Association.
It is a commonly experienced phenomenon that people have objectives to attain in life. Social structures, for example, drive the desire among individuals in lower classes to break through to better living standards as per what they admire. This leads to individuals adopting strategies and approaches that can help them in changing their status. Thoughts or dreams are not however just realized and even after some people making steps towards achieving their objectives they never manage to have positive results.
The outcome of every single initiative is normally identified with success or failure. The term success has been offered a variety of definitions and approached differently depending on societies, and individuals. It has for example been defined in terms of monetary possession with rich individuals being considered successful. Establishment and maintenance of a healthy family in social terms has also been used in societies to define success.
According to Schwaiger, the definition of success varies depending on an individual’s society and the social value that the individual upholds. One of the formal definitions of success however gives it the property of attaining a subject that an individual has desired. This gives success a diverse meaning that starts from small things that an individual may achieve out of sight of any third party. My personal perception of success is in line with this definition to mean any attainment of a predetermined goal by an individual (Swaiger 53).
Based on these definitions of success and my perception towards the subject together with my past life experience, a successful person is that individual who identifies an objective and works to its successful accomplishment. The achievement might not necessarily be a magnificent one that attracts public attention.
A student who has been poorly performing in class, sets his goal at improving by five percent in a next undertaken exam would for example be successful if he attain the five percent increment. My consideration of success to include intent is because some people can find themselves in a better position without necessarily working towards the attainment. This defines luck rather than success.
Key Determinants to Success
From the definition of success that gives it the property of set objectives that are then to be pursued by an individual to attainment lays the ground to the factors that affect it. The basis of success that established the goal to be pursued is for example a point to its factor.
In the laying out of the goals, an individual is normally faced with fears over the possibility of positive results as a result of the initiative to be undertaken. There are also always a variety of other options that an individual can pursue with fears of loosing better opportunities following the adoption of a given option. Being daring with respect to risk taking is therefore a determinant of success.
Without the courage to make choices, an individual will not even be able to establish a goal to pursue. Once a goal has been identified, plan for adopting an approach into realizing the objective becomes a necessity. An individual must at this moment have the capacity to creatively identify ways through which the goal can be best realized. The capacity to develop plans and strategies for implementation thus becomes the next determinant of success.
An individual who has a dream but can not figure out how such a dream can be realized whether directly or through other people will most likely stagnate with the dream at its initial stage. With an identified plan and consideration that there are always challenges to every initiative, persistence of a person plays another role in determining the success of the individual.
Persistence involves the will to move on even in threats of failure to attain the planned goals. Hard work is another determinant in attaining success of individuals. Hard work that starts from the initial stages of an activity up to its ultimate accomplishment thus forms the basis of determinants to success (Dalton and Alger 270).
A third party’s Perception of Success
One of the parties that I have considered to be successful around me is my parents. An interaction with them throughout my life has offered me an understanding of their perception and understanding of what success is all about.
According to my parents and as I was driven by my mother, success means the accomplishment of a dream that one has. With this consideration of meaning of success, their definition of success is similar to mine in the sense that success involves the identification of a goal which in their view is the dream that an individual may have.
My parents have considerably been successful with respect to their dream that they accomplished. Their success was attained through persistence that finally enabled them to identify the tool to their success and how to acquire that tool. Though they finally attained their dream, they were occasionally faced with setbacks in the process.
Their dream being financial stability when they had no adequate education saw them struggle to get jobs which they occasionally lost till my mother got a job in a shop that established her as a business person. Poverty and being over ambitious were their major challenges (Dalton and Alger 270).
Comparison of Ideas
The writers had a variety of opinion about success. According to Dalton and Alger, there are a variety of uncontrollable forces that affect success of an individual. Discrimination for instance was identified by the authors as a factor towards success. Barriers between social classes also play a role to the success of an individual.
These ideas compares with mine on the basis that it is not very easy to break barriers into success. This for example explains the rigidity as realized in social classes that are very difficult to cross. Success thus depends on a variety of factors other than those controllable by individuals (Dalton and Alger 270).
Personal Hope to Success
As an individual, I have resorted to adopt a stepwise approach in pursuing my objectives to my ultimate success. My goals in life include my academic success in the short run and economic stability that can adequately support my family back at home. Obstacles that I have realized over my success include language barrier together with unstable economic background that has forced me to work as I study. My plan for success is basically based on perseverance and hard work to attain my goals.
Oppressions to success
Oppression, realized in any form negatively affects people’s capacity to succeed. Taking forms such as segregation, cultural difference and even self concealment, oppression directly affects the capacity to succeed by limiting resources (Richard 3).
Works Cited
Dalton, Cruz and Alger, Horato. From Ragged Dick. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis, 2010. Print.
Richard, Valencia. Chicano School Failure and Success: Past, Present, and Future. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis, 2010. Print.
Swaiger John. In Search of a Good Fit. New York, NY: Xulon Press, 2009. Print.
Ensuring that projects are supervised and implemented accordingly represents an essential task for an organization manager. However, due to the presence of an array of factors shaping the success of organizational performance, one may find it difficult to define the core contributors to corporate success. Huerta and Calder provide two opposing viewpoints on the subject matter, the former insisting on the necessity to reinforce contingency planning, and the latter arguing that contingency plans are useless compared to actual experience in problem-solving. Although Calder’s assumption also contains some strong points, Huerta’s idea of consistency in planning and problem-solving appears to be the most reasonable approach.
The focus on contingency planning appears to be beneficial to the framework that requires making decisions under the spur of the moment for several reasons. First, the lack of preparedness to specific scenarios implies higher risks of damage and the resulting disruption of the company’s performance. Moreover, the absence of contingency planning implies a shift from making reasonable forecasts within the organizational setting to entering the ram of unpredictability (Austin et al., 2016). Therefore, the process of navigating the target economic environment and making decisions in the target market will not be based on core external factors (Austin et al., 2016) As a result, an overall drop in efficacy can be expected.
Though both solutions have their advantages, Huerta’s position seems to be more reasonable since it provides greater leeway for minimizing risks. Specifically, by focusing on planning, one can create a framework for approaching nearly any scenario with the help of creative problem-solving. In turn, Calder suggests building sustainable solutions from scratch, which implies relying on the employees’ ability to brainstorm and come up with solutions immediately. Thus, the former offers a more reliable risk management approach.
Reference
Austin, R. D., O’Donnell, S., & Nolan, R. L. (2016). The Adventures of an IT Leader, Updated Edition with a New Preface by the Authors. Harvard Business Review Press.
There’s no person in the world that stays indifferent hearing the names of the sporting heroes. And now you can not only admire them, but you may also become a part of their world: Mike Finnigan, in his book They Did You Can, reveals the secrets of renowned athletes and shares the core issues which help achieve your goals.
The book caters for everybody who once tried to succeed in sports but, after experiencing some problems, gave up. Besides, it encourages the novices to put all their fears and take a challenge, prioritize and do their best to reach their objectives.
The key idea of the author is that “success is not about getting lucky. Failure is not about being unlucky. It is about you making things happen” (Finnigan 36). I can’t but agree with this evident statement. Personally, I tend to think it made me reassess my attitude towards life and my ambitions.
Eric Simons, former Coach of the South African Cricket Team, supports this idea: “success or failure will not be dependent on your ability to deal with the problem. It will depend on your attitude towards the problem“ (Finnigan 78).
Really beneficial seems to me the idea to provide interviews of successful people in sports as it could be a powerful motivation for aspiring athletes and just people who got disappointed in their abilities and are next to give up. Moreover, taking the initial step could be extremely frightening, so getting goals prioritized and abilities estimated is very supportive.
Inspiring and really helpful, the book made a great impact on me, bringing me to the thought of further self-development.
Works Cited
Finnigan, Mike. They Did You Can. Carmarthen, Wales: Crown House, 2007.
A great number of people come to the United States hoping that their children will have more opportunities in terms of education, employment, or healthcare. However, the socioeconomic achievements of second generation immigrants can differ dramatically.
Thus, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to this inequality among the descendants of immigrants. Overall, one should focus on two determinants, in particular, the socioeconomic position of their parents and the attitude of the community toward a certain ethnic group or nationality. These circumstances can greatly affect the status of second generation immigrants, especially their economic welfare.
First of all, when speaking about the socioeconomic class of parents, one should remember that this concept includes several elements. Special attention should be paid to such components as their education, income level, occupation, ability to access to healthcare services and so forth. Moreover, this status determines the expectations that parents set for their children.
Each of these factors can significantly influence the socio-economic progress of second generation immigrants. For example, if first-generation immigrants belong to upper classes, they can help their children access to high-quality education. In turn, their descendants are more likely to become well-paid professionals.
Additionally, people, who belong to upper classes, are seldom involved in criminal activities and they do not endanger the economic prosperity of their families. Thus, the influence of social class should not be disregarded. In this case, one can look at several examples.
For instance, people, who came to the United States from Europe, belonged to middle classes, and they were better able to ensure the wellbeing of their children. However, one cannot say the same thing about Hispanic Americans. Many of their parents were low-income and sometimes unskilled workers. These people were often unable to pay for the education of their children. This is one of the main factors that should be considered.
Secondly, one should speak about different levels of ethnic and racial discrimination. In this case, one should focus on the attitude of the community toward a certain ethnic group or nationality. It can affect the welfare of second generation immigrants. Certainly, such biases and prejudices are not an official part of governmental policies, but they can affect the decisions of officials, policy-makers, or employers.
For example, immigrants, who come from Mexico, can be perceived as non-white people, and they can be diversely affected by racial prejudices. Moreover, they are often viewed as a threat to the job security of workers. In turn, the immigrants, who come from Asia or Europe, do not face the same discrimination. They are more likely to receive the status of legal residents in the country.
In turn, the legal status often determines the ability of a person to access education or healthcare services. Thus, the degree of discrimination can affect the social and economic progress of second-generation immigrants.
On the whole, these examples indicate the welfare of second generation immigrants can depend on external factors such as the socioeconomic status of their parents and the level of ethnic or racial discrimination.
Certainly, it is not possible to disregard the individual effort of these people, their attitudes or values. However, in many cases, social environment can be the most important determinant. The understanding of these factors is important for policy-makers and legislators of the country.
The socio-political and economic plights of the immigrants have been a subject of social research for a long time; the immigrants are considered the “lowest” cadre in the social stratum in the United States. Their living conditions reveal an unprecedented poverty.
This paper seeks to explore the plight of second generation immigrants as compared to the first generation, and to highlight some of the factors that are contributing to the difference in the social well being between the first generation immigrants and the second generation immigrants, in other words, between parents and their children, who seem to be enjoying a relatively “higher” position in the society.
Such a tendency has been attributed to several factors. According to the US Census Bureau Data (2009), it was realised that the second generation immigrants enjoy more privileges in terms of education and health. They earn more and are better educated as compared to their foreign-born counterparts, which highlights the fact that life conditions have increased from the first to the second order of immigrants.
Immigration policy
American Immigration Policy, which sets laws and guidelines used for regulatory purposes, in my opinion, is the strongest factor explaining the socio-economic difference of the second generation immigrants.
The level of achievement of the second generation immigrants can be attributed to the immigration policies. The American immigration policy stresses out the fact that anyone who is born on the American territory automatically becomes a citizen of the US; the US citizenship comes with numerous other benefits from the government as opposed to non citizens. This scenario would obviously work for the benefit of the child since he would be entitled to a lot of privileges as opposed to the parents who are not original citizens of the US.
Social research shows that the Latino second class citizens have the highest enrolment rates in colleges and high school, which affirms the fact that the set policies play a key role. In the acquisition of their citizenship, the Latinos have continued to excel in their undertaking. According to statistics, it is projected that by 2017, there would have been plenty of multiracial Latinos in every key government position as compared to their present occupation of government positions.
Cultural assimilation
A conflict of cultures is predominant in the lives of the second generation population. The rate at which they adapt and stabilize themselves within the two different cultures attributes immensely to their relatively high level of success. Those who are able to freely blend and adapt to both cultures are more settled and are considered to be more successful as compared to those who take a lot of time to balance between the two cultures. Most second generation children are multilingual.
Nonetheless, they are subjected to humongous racism and segregation in the society as well, which means that these children become much more sensitive to various social phenomena; this sensitivity leads to an increased self motivation and awareness amongst the second generation, which in turn inflames their desire to achieve success against all odds confronting them.
Conclusion
The paper has exclusively explored some of the core reasons for a relatively high success of the second generation immigrants in comparison with their parents; it has established why the two mentioned factors have led to high achievement rates in the second generation immigrants and the social issues defining their achievements.
