History Of The Work Breakdown Structure Information Technology Essay

History Of The Work Breakdown Structure Information Technology Essay Projects developed with available time and budget are more useful for own as well as customers satisfaction. This process is completed through the mechanisms of planning, monitoring and also re-planning. This report supports the project scheduling, planning and analysis methodologies, modeling concepts and analysis technique. The report is presented using a theoretical contribution on process simulation to assist design planning. We have highlighted the design planning using Microsoft Project Design with key challenges of project management. The Microsoft Project is a flexible and competent program designed to administrate the projects and help to plan effectively. We can organize the lists of task and set the time frame and facilitates with quick planning of projects. Large and complex projects are more significant for the project management. The consequence decisions of projects as how the project is managed and role of the managers are portrayed. When the schedule is tight more need is magnified. Technical design of projects requires different skills and for the complex projects the technical aspects are out these areas which need to be well managed. For this reason project management is more emphasized backed by the specialized resources. The management team is responsible for the development, designing and delivery of the projects. Our project is based on the case study of the Pharmaceutical industrys Software development in Switzerland. Pharmaceutical industry management needed the software development for their indigenous business and in other countries of the world. It also addresses all the critical processes and operations which are required for its performance and successful business. The management system approaches to quality management and all the successful operations of Pharmaceutical industry. In this process the decommissioning of the business is considered to achieve the mandate and objectives. Work breakdown Structure Work breakdown structure (WBS) defines the total scope of our project. The WBS subdivides the project into smaller and manageable piece of work. This concept of the WBS is used to produce the work packages scheduled, cost estimated, monitored and controlled. The development team uses the WBS from the previous projects and works as a template for new project. The WBS involves the following activities Identifying the deliverable and other related work; Organizing and structuring the WBS; The decomposing of the upper work breakdown structure into lower level detailed components; Assigning and developing the identification codes to WBS. Finally verifying the degree of decomposition which is necessary and sufficient. Schedules Projects are complex endeavors and plan is a necessary guide for the execution of the project. The progress of the project is recorded on a project and remaining work is reassessed in the light of new information. It is rare that execution of a project proceeds as initially set plans. The purpose of the scheduling is to show a road map that when and how the project will deliver the products in the limits of the scope defined by the project team. For the project management planning and analysis the scheduling is one of the basic requirements. Its main aim is to set the time for the required project. The project management sets the time to complete the project. The management team engaged with our project manages the processes as given following. Many activities are performed by the management team accomplishing the project undertaken. Activity: To produce the deliverable projects many specific schedule activities are identified. Activity sequencing: The schedule activities are dependent and activity sequencing identifies these dependencies among the schedule activities. Activity resource estimating: This type of activity defines the resources to perform these schedule activities. Activity duration estimating: It identifies the number of work periods which are entirely needed to complete the individual schedule activity. Schedule Development: The process of analyzing the activity sequences, resources requirement, durations, and other schedule constraints required to create the project schedule. Schedule Control: It controls the changes made in project schedule. For our project we use the Microsoft Project 2010 where Gantt chart gives us visual representation. It represents the tasks and products deliverable within the time specified in schedule. It also provides the roadmap to execute the product its delivery, tracking the changes and also managing the changes. Microsoft Project Management has very powerful tools in it to perform the activities very quickly as in figure 1. Fig 1: Project professional 2010 We can manage the schedule tasking manually using the Project Professional 2010. Fig 2: Improved Top to down scheduling Managing team has option to schedule the task automatically as shown in figure 2. The design and developments tasks of our project are scheduled automatically. The project professional 2010 is more useful for the business managers and productivity of project. The concept of Precedence Diagramming Method (PMD) is used to represent the activities and show the dependencies of the activities with sign of arrows. There are four types of dependencies or called as precedence relationships. Finish-to-Start: Successor activity starts which depends upon the completion of predecessor activity. Finish-to-Finish: the completion of the successor activity depends upon the completion of predecessor activity. Start-to-Start: The successor activity starts and depends upon the completion of the predecessor activity. Start-to-Finish: The completion of the successor activity depends upon the beginning of the predecessor activities. Time constraints are very important during the schedule development. Start and Finish activities can be restricted by imposing the dates which affects the completion of the activities. Many other constraints are also present in the project management software but in our case Start No earlier than and theFinish no later than constraints are specifically used. Project customer, sponsor and stakeholders dictate the major milestones and affect the certain deliverable components to a specific date. The scheduled dates become the expected dates and only can be changed through the approval. Milestones only provide the schedules interface and are not part of the project data base. Fig 3: Milestone and Tasks Project is actually a list of tasks and manager reports and keeps track of it. Our project is broken into phases by the managers and completion of these tasks is called as milestone. Milestone of our projects are documented at the end of each phase which reduces the project operating cost. Planning and Control The planning process consists of the project maturity, scope, development and project management plan and schedule of project activities occurring within project. While control techniques are used to compare the actual performance with planned performance. It also analyses the variances and trend assessment to improve the process improvements and recommending the adequate corrective actions required. Monitoring and Controlling a Project When a project is planned then it requires to be started according to plan. Formal changes in plan are permitted and customers are informed about this change. If this process is not completed then it is not possible to get the approval for the extension of time. In our case the monitoring project ensures: development of the required products is ensured The required standard and quality are being met Products are ready in time according to the budget and planned resources Business case is achieved by the project products Using the planning and scheduling software three components are measured as Time, Resources and cost Planning Time Resources Cost The analysis of the project schedule is not taken lightly. Budget and timeline are the basic measures to analyze the quality of schedule. The budget and timeline are kept on track, if it is not on track then manager takes immediate action to cure the problem. For the project schedule a baseline was established, this baseline is used as starting point and performance on the project is also measured. This technique is used during the project execution when the project is on track. Cost Performance Baseline costs compared and variances are shown between these two variances. Earned Value Management (EVM) technique is used to monitor the IT projects in some ways as other projects. For the effective performance measurement EVM has proven itself and also feedback tool to manage the projects.EVM also informs us that where the project is and its comparison with the proposed project. Value of accumulated cost is also measured by the EVM as the amount of work and amount spent on it. PERT Analysis Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) back to its history was used to control the large complex projects in USA. PERT has become now the combination of the Critical Path Method (CPM) and is thus know as the PERT/CPM. For project in discussion Pert Chart is a five step process. Identifying the all tasks for the entire project i.e. planning to execution of the product. Amount of work required to complete the each task in development of the product. Identifying the immediate predecessor tasks. Entering each task in PERT/CPM chart. Calculating the time and duration based on the resources and durations. In above tasks first two tasks are always manual and completed in brainstorming session. Last three tasks are interacted with MS Project. The best advantage of the PERT is used for the most probable effort for the tasks. We want to know the ways of estimating the effort for each task. Pessimistic, most likely and optimistic estimates are combined together into a single value which gives the expected effort for the task. A weight average simply ensures that any deviation from the optimistic or pessimistic estimates is not so much effective to take away the duration from expected duration. These estimated are more valuable when right people are involved in it. First task needed the two days and second one 1 day each with two people working. We can say that first task requires the 4 person-days of work and second task needed two. Three kinds of dependencies are found during the third task. These dependencies include the (1) project mandatory (2) external mandatory (3) discretionary. It is clear that start of the new task depends upon the success or output of previous task. External dependencies are due to non-project occurrences for example the arrival of the new hardware and interface definition of another project. Discretionary dependencies are troublesome. These dependencies are based on the flexibilities which are used to build the schedule; but also add some complexities. When all rearranging and juggling is completed and hand written information is transferred to computer based applications like MS project. Toggling between views optimistic pessimistic Calculating the Pert Entering the weight for PERT calculation Entering the durations of optimistic, pessimistic and expected in one sheet Entering the durations of optimistic, pessimistic and expected Figure 4: Pert Analysis in MS project We have found that PERT methodology has number of limitations. The first problem lies in calculating the accurate estimates of duration of tasks. When a single dominant path is selected then it yields very accurate results. In case when there are number of parallel paths then it gives overly optimistic estimation. It is recommended that classical PERT model for the quantitative for the risk analysis when you require the accurate estimation for the optimistic, pessimistic and most like durations and our project has a dominant path through the entire network. Conclusions In this report we have discussed the project scheduling, planning and analysis methodologies, modeling concepts and analysis technique using the Microsoft Project. Delivering the IT projects on time and budget is very critical to companies success and their effective management of scheduling. The concept of WBS is an essential part of this report which has determined the scope of our project. Activities and tasks with allocated time and budget are also discussed in this report. For these tasks and activities Gantt chart makes a best visual representation and used to manage and track the changes in schedule. Earned Value Management (EVM) is a best tool to measure the progress of the project. PERT analysis is also a major part of this report to represent the tasks and durations using the MS Project.

Importance of open book assessments Essay

An â€Å"open book examination† is one in which examinees are allowed to consult their class notes, textbooks, and other approved material while answering questions. It is ideally suited to teaching programmes that especially aim at developing the skills of critical and creative thinking In order to appreciate the merits of open book examinations, it is first of all necessary to understand the nature of teaching programmes in general. Most conventional examinations test how much information the students have been able to store in their minds. In order to cope with this demand, students memorize the information in class notes and textbooks, and transfer it to answer books during the examination. In this type of examination, success depends on the quantity of information memorized, and the efficiency with which it is reproduced. Does this leads to creative thinking? Noooo†¦ This is where open book examinations come in. Open book examinations Provides a chance for students to acquire the knowledge during the preparation process of gathering suitable learning materials rather than simply recalling or rewriting it. It Enhances information retrieval skills of students through finding the efficient ways to get the necessary information and data from books and various resources Also it enhances the comprehension and synthesizing skills of students because they need to reduce the content of books and other study materials into simple and handy notes for examination A more important reason for using open book examinations is that they have a tremendous impact on promoting the right mental sets in both learning and teaching. The most immediate result on students will be that they will stop â€Å"mugging† or rote learning. Most students used to conventional examinations think of â€Å"studying† as the mechanical memorization of information in textbooks and class notes in order to reproduce it in examinations. Open book examinations will effect a fundamental change in this attitude. If textbooks can be consulted in the examination rooms, why bother to memorize them? Does this mean that students don’t need to â€Å"study† for examinations? No. It implies that studying should not be equated with memorizing; instead, it should be of understanding concepts, and using these concepts (along with available information) to practice the skills of modifying and building knowledge, thinking critically, and solving problems. In acquiring the right strategies of studying, nothing is as effective as the shocking realization that mugging is of no use in the examinations. Given open book examinations, there will be no more mugging. Once the burden of mugging is taken away, education can be a pleasurable activity, not a painful drudgery. What is learnt with pleasure is learnt more effectively, and retained better.

Gender Roles in Beowulf and The Decameron Essay

The Anglo- Saxon epic Beowulf and Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron tell very different stories, but nevertheless can be said to share one common literary element: the representation of gender. Both Beowulf and many of the stories in the Decameron represent women as being the subject to men in all respects. Beowulf is a masculine epic altogether, in which women are absent, silent or otherwise merely a tool that serves the world of men. In The Decameron on the other hand, although women are present in all the stories, Boccaccio makes them the victims of his irony most of the times, picturing them either as adulteresses or as very simple beings that completely lack cleverness, like the woman who lets herself be persuaded by her lover that he is the angel Gabriel himself. However, in both Boccaccio’s tales and in Beowulf the role of the women is even more interesting to notice when the authors intend to give a positive representation of them, in the form of ideal women. The ideal women for the two texts, Griselda in Boccaccio’s hundred story and Wealhtheow in Beowulf offer indeed a good insight into the way in which women were represented: they are intended to be positive figures, but they are ideal only insomuch as they are perfect tools that serve in the men’s world. Thus, Beowulf is as Gillian Overing notes, an absolutely masculine epic, which focuses only on heroism. The world of men is accurately constructed: it is entirely composed of men’s wishes, men’s actions and so on: â€Å"Beowulf is an overwhelmingly masculine poem; it could be seen as a chronicle of male desire, a tale of men dying†¦There is no place for women in the masculine economy of Beowulf. â€Å"(Overing, 69) Beowulf is the hero and later the king, who saves the Danish people of the powerful monster Grendel and of his mother. The very few women who appear in the story are mostly mentioned directly as instruments in the world of men, as â€Å"peace-weavers† more exactly, like Hrothgar’s daughter for example, who is mentioned directly as a â€Å"promise† to a certain man, as a means to bring peace to the kingdom: â€Å"Oft to the heroes Hrothgar’s daughter,/ to earls in turn, the ale-cup tendered, –/she whom I heard these hall-companions/ Freawaru name, when fretted gold/ she proffered the warriors. Promised is she,/ gold-decked/ maid, to the glad son of Froda. / Sage this seems to the Scylding’s-friend,/ kingdom’s-keeper: he counts it wise/ the woman to wed so and ward off feud,/ store of slaughter. But seldom ever/when men are slain, does the murder-spear sink/ but briefest while, though the bride be fair! † It is quite clear that this woman will probably fail even in her modest role, as a peace maker, according to the prediction of the anonymous author. Wealhtheow, queen to Hrothgar is the only woman who is given a voice in the poem at all. Her two speeches, one addressed to her king and the other to Beowulf mark very important moments in the poem, and she almost seems to have a certain power. She advises her king not to adopt Beowulf as a son, since he already has two sons of his owns, and pledges him to his word by offering a cup. She then goes to Beowulf and offers another symbolic object, a neck-ring as a reward for his feats of heroism and urges him to fight again and confront death: â€Å"Enjoy this neck-ring with safety, Beowulf, beloved youth, and make use of this corselet, of our people’s treasure; prosper well, declare yourself with strength, and be kind of counsel to these youths. I shall remember to reward you for that. You have brought it about that men shall praise you from far and near for a long time to come†¦. Here every nobleman is true to the other, mild of heart, loyal to his lord; the thanes are united, the people willing; the wine-drinking warriors do as I bid. † (â€Å"Beowulf†, 1216-1231) In both these instances, the Danish queen seems to hold some power over the events and the world of men, since she performs such symbolic acts and since she herself declares that the warriors obey her. However, it is quite obvious that she also is an instrument just like the other women mentioned in the text. She does not perform her own will, but only acts as an ideal tool for men that takes the cup from one of them and gives it to another. It can be said that Wealhtheow is merely a mediator and a peace bringer in the poem, just like the other women represented. As Gillian Overing remarks, in Beowulf women serve only as mediators for the alliances between men, either through marriage or through symbolic, minor acts: â€Å"While we have no way of guessing at Beowulf’s sexuality, or at the poet’s or the hero’s personal views on marriage, we cannot ignore the strength of expressed masculine desire in the poem. Intensity and passion are located in the bonds of loyalty and friendship forged between men, and marriage is valued as an extension of this larger emotional context. †(Overing, 72) Thus, Wealhtheow is an ideal woman in Beowulf insomuch as she serves the purposes in men’s world, her will simply coinciding with the desires of men. In the last story of The Decameron, one of the very few that actually have a â€Å"happy† ending, Griselda the modest daughter of a shepherd is married to the Marquis of Saluzzo. Her role in the story is strikingly similar to that of Wealhtheow in Beowulf, even if the context is very different. In the story Gualtieri is a typical man, who as shown from the start, is preoccupied only with men’s business, such as hunting, and despises the idea of marriage: â€Å"†¦having neither wife nor child, [he] passed his time in naught else but in hawking and hunting, and of taking a wife and begetting children had no thought; wherein he should have been accounted very wise†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Boccaccio, 837) As the author declares, the idea of taking a wife would be completely unwise, suggesting that women are merely troublesome acquisitions for men. However, Gualtieri is married at last, but chooses the daughter of a shepherd, so as to make sure she will be more likely to obey him in everything: â€Å"He then asked her, whether, if he took her to wife, she would study to comply with his wishes, and be not wroth, no matter what he might say or do, and be obedient†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Boccaccio, 840) After a few happy years, he starts to deliberately torment his wife, through cruel acts, such as taking her children away and making her believe they are dead or humiliating her for her base condition in front of everyone. All this is done of course to try the wife’s patience and her limits in her total obedience to her husband. In the end, he makes her believe he is going to marry again, but instead brings her daughter, and the story ends well. The moral is quite evident: Boccaccio attempted to portray his idea of the perfect woman, that is the woman is nothing else but an instrument of man’s will. Griselda is so modest as to consider herself unworthy of any kind of regard, and so patient as to bear in silence her husband cruelty: â€Å"My lord, do with me as thou mayst deem best for thine own honour and comfort, for well I wot that I am of less account than they, and unworthy of this honourable estate †¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Boccaccio, 842) Her similarity to Wealhtheow is now apparent: both the queen in Beowulf and Griselda are ideal women only because they serve men properly, as instruments, that do not have any will of their own. Thus, the heroines of the two texts, although they appear in very different contexts, are obviously represented in the same way, that is, as instruments that are in harmony with men’s affairs and desires. Their perfection comes precisely from their nullity as characters, as persons of their own will. Both of them are wives first of all, and are defined only through this role. Although their authors intended a positive representation of women through them, they are in fact just useful devices for men, with no real consistence of their own. Works Cited: Risden, Edward L. tr. Beowulf. Troy: Whitston Publishing, 1994. Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. New York: Signet Classics, 2003 Overing, Gillian R. Language, Sign and Gender in ‘Beowulf. ’ Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.

Adrienne Richs Of Woman Born Motherhood

Adrienne Rich combined her own experience as a mother with feminist theory to write Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. Foray into Feminist Theory Adrienne Rich was already an established feminist poet in 1976 when she published Of Woman Born. It had been more than twenty years since her first volume of poetry was published. Adrienne Rich is known for confronting society and writing political themes in her poetry. Of Woman Born, a thoughtful, non-fiction prose examination of motherhood, was nonetheless an eye-opening and provocative work. Before Of Woman Born, there had been little to no scholarly feminist analysis of the institution of motherhood. The book has since become a classic feminist text, and motherhood has become an essential issue of feminism.  She is often quoted as a feminist writer. Personal Experience Of Woman Born begins with excerpts from Adrienne Rich’s journal. In the journal entries, she reflects on her love for her children and other emotions.  She describes moments in which she questioned her ability and desire to be a mother.   Adrienne Rich then writes that even her own children recognize the impossibility of constant, 24-hour love and attention. Still, she argues, society places on mothers the unreasonable demand that they provide perfect, constant love. How the Patriarch Views the Matriarch Of Woman Born includes a historical overview of motherhood. Adrienne Rich asserts that being a mother changed as the world moved from primitive societies that revered women to patriarchal civilization.   Of Woman Born explores the modern division of labor that relies heavily if not solely on mothers to do the child-rearing. Adrienne Rich asks why childbirth went from midwife’s calling to medical procedure. She also questions what childbirth and motherhood demand of women emotionally. One Dimension of Woman Adrienne Rich writes in Of Woman Born that motherhood is but one physical dimension of a woman’s being. Rather than being defined as mothers, or by their status as childless, women should be defined in terms of themselves, as all humans should be. Nor should becoming a mother mean women are isolated and not allowed to participate in the social and professional world. Instead, Adrienne Rich calls for â€Å"a world in which every woman is the presiding genius of her own body.† â€Å"None of Woman Born†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The title Of Woman Born recalls the line from Shakespeares play Macbeth that tricks Macbeth into thinking he is safe: â€Å"†¦for none of woman born/Shall harm MacBeth†Ã‚  (Act IV, Scene 1, lines 80-81). Of course MacBeth is not safe in the end, for it turns out Macduff was â€Å"untimely ripp’d† (Act V, Scene 8, line 16) from his mothers womb. Macbeth is fraught with themes of good and evil; it also examines the downfall of a man. Lady MacBeth, with blood on her hands, and the three sisters, or witches, are among the memorable Shakespearean women whose power and prophecies are threatening. Quotes From Of Woman Born â€Å"All human life on the planet is born of woman. The one unifying, incontrovertible experience shared by all women and men is that months-long period we spent unfolding inside a woman’s body. Because young humans remain dependent upon nurture for a much longer period than other mammals, and because of the division of labor long established in human groups, where women not only bear and suckle but are assigned almost total responsibility for children, most of us first know both love and disappointment, power and tenderness, in the person of a woman.† â€Å"There is nothing revolutionary whatsoever about the control of womens bodies by men. The womans body is the terrain on which patriarchy is erected.† edited and with additions by  Jone Johnson Lewis