Statement of the Problem Essay Example

Statement of the Problem Essay Steven Brockleyn is a very successful Entrepreneur who has successfully invested into every Market. He has worked with several other Businessmen and has amassed a huge fortune. He is very recognised among fellow Businessmen. Steven is about is about to launch a new chain of Clothes Store and wants to advertise the Shop extensively. On the Day the Store opens he will organise a Party. This Store will have several Celebrities coming to the Opening Party and so there will need to be a Ticketing System organised. He doesnt have the Time to organise this Party nor has he the Time to publicise his Store extensively enough. Steven Brockleyn needs an effective and quick way to publicise his Shop and to arrange a Ticketing System. Steven will allow a lot of Money to be spent however the Event has to be a big success so Steven doesnt lose any Money. I have been recruited to help Steven make the Programmes, Banners, Information Cards and Tickets. We will write a custom essay sample on Statement of the Problem specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Statement of the Problem specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Statement of the Problem specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Steven Brockleyn was originally suggesting that there should be a stand where all the Information Cards will be displayed for Collection, where the Tickets will be sold and the Banners will be displayed by the Stand. Consideration of Alternative Solutions == A Stand could be set up which has all the Information Cards and these Cards will be handed out. A Banner will be publicized and Tickets will be sold from the Stand. The Problem with this Idea is that the amount of People who will receive this Information will not be very substantial. This will be due to the Fact that the Stand can only serve the People that pass the Place and request the Information will have a Chance to receive the Information. The Cards, Banners, Tickets and Programmes will all be hand-made and colour-copied. The hand-made Publications will be very likely to have Errors. The Publications will also look very unprofessional and as Celebrities will be coming to this Event it would be very bad for Steve Brockleyn to use such cheap Methods to publicise this Event. == A Word Processing Program could be used to type up the Programs. The Word Processor will allow easy typing up of the Program and will allow easy making of the Banner. However the Information Cards will be very hard to produce as the Pictures and the size of the Card will be a Problem to print as you will have to order special Business Card Paper which has been sectioned. Also in a Word Processor it will be hard to combine the Pictures and Text in a presentable manner. The Word -Processor will also make it hard to insert Pictures as you have to specify the type of way the Text will Wrap around the Picture and this could make it very hard to insert several therefore it wont allow the Publication to have enough Pictures and so will deter Customers from viewing the Publication in the first Place. ==; A Desktop Publishing Package could be used to easily make the Banners, Tickets, Programmes and Cards. The DPP is very useful for this as it designed especially for Publications like the ones needed. DPPs are also very flexible in their Use; they can be used to word process and to launch Websites unto the Internet. DPPs also have a wide range of Wizards which can help a lot with creating the Publications especially if the maker of the System is inexperienced with using Computers. However DPP isnt suited to typing in large amounts of Text so to type in Text you have to insert a Text Box. This could result in several Text Boxes being needed and this will waste Space on the Page. Justification of Proposed Solution The DPP Choice would be the most intelligent Decision. It is much easier to insert Pictures and to type in Text than a Word-Processor however a DPP interface is much more confusing than the Interface for a Word-Processing Program. Making the Publications by Hand is far too unprofessional and could be very poorly presented. This totally rules it out. The DPP also allows the Publications have several Wizards making it so easy to understand and use the DPP. Word-Processing Programs tend to have more typing orientated Wizards e.g. to type a Letter. The DPP also allows flexibility as to what can be done. You can make a Program using both sides of the Page just by telling the DPP thats what you want. However with a Word-Processor it needs to be done manually i.e. take out the Paper and put it into the Printer reverse side up. User Requirements 1. The Program must include the Address and Opening Times of the Store. 2. The Information Card must not be bigger than a standard Pocket Size. 3. The Cards should be printed an A4 Sheet. 4. The Program should not have Text smaller than 12pt. 5. The Program should not have more than 80 words on each Page. 6. The Ticket must have a Seat Number. 7. The Banner must have Address, Opening Times and Ticket Price printed on. 8. On the Information Card the Details have to be printed in no less than 10pt. 9. The Publications must have the Logo on them in the same place. 10. The Banner should not be longer than 6 Sheets long. 11. The Ticket should feature a Thank-you Message to the Buyer. Analyse Appropriate Software and Hardware Microsoft Publisher is probably the most popular Desktop Publishing Programme; however there are several different Desktop Publisher Packages and each of them have several different advantages that they can be used for. Microsoft Publisher is works best when used with Microsoft Windows and other Windows Applications Microsoft Windows XP will be the most extravagant Operating System we can find at a reasonable Price. Microsoft Windows XP includes Microsoft Publisher XP. Microsoft Publisher XP has a huge variety of Functions compared to other DPPs. Publisher XP is also the easiest to use as the Interface is very friendly. Another Program that could be used is Broderbund Print Shop Deluxe. This is also a DPP but this DPP is meant more for making Birthday Cards, Greeting Cards etc Microsoft Publisher XP is more formal than Print Shop Deluxe and would be the obvious in response to Stevens needs. Pictures will need to be manipulated to be put into the Publications and a Paint Package will be needed for this. There are several Paint Packages that could be used. All the Paint Packages available do the same thing so it wont make a difference which Paint Package is chosen. Microsoft Paint comes free with Microsoft Windows XP. This makes this makes it very easy to get Microsoft Paint as once we have Microsoft Windows installed Microsoft Paint will be installed. Also Microsoft Paint interacts very easily with Microsoft Publisher and uses the same Picture File Types. A Device will be needed to get Pictures of Goods within the Shop. A Scanner could be used or a Web Camera could be used to take Pictures of the Goods. A Scanner wont be very useful in this Situation as to scan you need to already have a Picture. A Web Cam is very unsuitable as it doesnt have enough pixels to allow a good, viewable Image to be seen. A Digital Camera would be the best Option as it has a huge range you can buy and even the cheapest Digital Camera would give you a good viewable Image. A basic CPU will be needed and this CPU would have to be of a reasonable Speed. A Keyboard, Monitor and Mouse will be needed to construct the System. A Laser Printer will be needed to print out the Publication. The Laser Printer will produce a very good Picture and is also very fast. It is however expensive to purchase a LaserJet Printer and the Ink used is very expensive compared to other Ink Cartridges available. Data required and its source The Data required will be Graphics: Pictures of the Goods within the Store. This will be used for mainly to put on the Cards, Banners and the Programme. Graphics will bring in the Audience and will prove the deciding Factor to, potential Buyers of the Product. The Graphics will be obtained from Pictures taken by the Digital Camera. The Pictures taken were of the Goods within the Store. Text Data will also be required as it will provide the Information needed to find the Store, know its Opening Times, to know Ticketing Information etc. The Text Data will come from several Sources including Steven himself. The Text is the most important Data Type needed in the Publication. All the Data needed, will be taken from Steven. Data manipulation The Graphical Data will be manipulated in Microsoft Paint to fit the needs in the Publication. These will be Pictures of Goods within the Store which will be implemented into the intended Publications. The Pictures will be fitted into a Picture Frame which will be predefined before the Picture is obtained. A Logo for the Store will be scanned in and manipulated and copied unto each Publication creating a Uniform Look. The Logo will also be fitted into a Frame which will already be implemented into the Publication. The Text Data that Steven will inform me to write into the Publication will be typed up and if necessary linked Text Boxes will be used. The Text will be typed up using different Fonts for each Piece of Writing. Numerical Data will be used to define Dates, Times and Prices. The Font used will be very different in each Situation. Flow of data Most of the Data that will be needed will come from Steven. Steven will provide the Information which will be put into the Publications; however some of my own Judgement will be needed if there is a small Problem concerning the Publication or an Error by Steven which I can rectify. Using the Data Steven has provided I will make the Publications as close to his Specifications as possible. Then a Copy of the Publications will be sent back to Steven to evaluate. It will then be returned to me with any Corrections necessary being highlighted by Steven. Output All the Publications will be printed out using a Laser Printer; however each will have a different Format therefore require a different Printer Setting. All the Publications will be created using Microsoft Publisher. The Ticket will be printed on A6 Landscape Paper. The Paper used will be ordinary white Printing Paper. The Ticket will be colour printed and then colour printed as the Ticket has to be of a good Quality to reflect the riches of Steven. Colour printed Tickets will also look more attractive to the Buyers. The Banner will be printed on more Quality Paper as less Copies will be made therefore it wont be that expensive. The Quality will allow the colours to be more vibrant and will allow the Adverts to be more productive. The Programme will be printed on normal A4 Paper and will be photo-copied in colour. These programs will be given to all the entrants and will have a lot of Information on them thats why it will be A4 Size. Backup/Security strategy Every Week the System will be checked for Viruses to stop anything happening to the Publications on the Computer. Design I am going to design a Ticket for Entry to the Event. This Ticket will have be landscape on A6 size Paper but will also require a good Design to be printed on it. The Banner will be an A3 size and will be printed in colour. Glossy Paper will be used so it will appear more colourful than the Ticket or the Program. The Program will also be printed in colour. The Banner will be printed on glossy paper in colour and will include Pictures of goods gained by the Digital Camera. The Banner will also have Opening times and Party Information. Breakdown of Solution into Subtasks Make a detailed list of subtasks which will help you to complete the entire system to the exact specification you laid out in your user requirements. Explain how you will meet each requirement you set out to fulfil. Week Activity Week 1 All the digital Pictures will be collected and prepared for use on the Computers. The Computer will be assembled and all necessary Files installed. Week 2 The Designs will be drawn ready to send them to Steven Brockleyn. Week 3 The Designs will be sent off to Steven for Evaluation. He will then send them back with Comments. These Comments will be acted upon. Week 4 Test Plan A FULL and effective test plan should be drawn up which tests every detail of your system. You will have had several things go wrong in designing your system so write them down and include them as tests which you can later on, describe how you corrected them for extra marks. Show what you will test, and give the test data that you will use to test it. Explain what your expected results should be. Where you have used validation, verification or added default values, you should test this to its extreme. Remember: The aim of testing is try your hardest to make your system go wrong! Test Purpose of Test Expected Result 1 To see if Publications are photocopiable. The Publications should come out readable. 2 Implementation Changes to Final Design Make a detailed note of any changes you made to your final designs when you developed the system. Explain why these changes were necessary. You are bound to have made some changes. On the Business Card I added a Picture in the Top to make it more interesting before it was just empty Space. The Picture will be of a Bag and the Bag looks good printed in black and white Evidence of Implementation Print out a copy of everything that you have made. Include all slides, tables, forms, reports, queries, menu screens, formulae, worksheets, leaflets, posters depending on the projects you are doing. Annotate the printouts to show the sequence of development, any errors you found and corrected, and any improvements you have already identified. You could include some earlier drafts of whatever you are doing to show the sequence of development. You will also need to explain any complicated or clever things that you have added. These may not be obvious just by looking at the printouts. Test Results Your test results should include a detailed comparison between the expected result and the actual result. In addition to this you need to include a screenshot as evidence that the test was carried out. The screenshot can then be annotated to further explain anything. Test Purpose of Test Expected Result Actual Result 1 Test to see that a product record can be entered using the Products form Product details should be stored in Products Table. Product details stored successfully in tblProduct. 2 Evidence of Testing Publisher Only: Instead of showing screenshots, you can actually print out your publications and annotate these. Error Correction You WILL have some errors appear in your testing. It is very unlikely that any system will work perfectly first time. You must show screenshot evidence of these errors occurring, an explanation of how you fixed them and more evidence of you re-testing to check that they work after correction. Evaluation Do not let yourself down by rushing this last section. It is worth 121/2 % of your mark and could be the difference between 2 grades. Evaluation of User Requirements Refer to each objective that you wrote in your Identify section and critically evaluate each one separately in a new paragraph. A few lines for each is usually sufficient unless you have something of real discussion for that objective. You do not have to prove that you met all of your objectives or that you have produced the most perfect system but you do need to give a detailed evaluation of how well you met that requirements why you think so or not. User Feedback Your users feedback has to useful, critical comments with some of their suggestions for improvement. This could be in the form of a questionnaire that you compile a letter or some quotes from an interview which you conducted with them. Suggestions for Further Improvement You need to come up with some of you own suggestions for improvement and discuss how these would improve the current system if you actually had the opportunity to make them. You also need to take the users comments for improvement into account as well and discuss how you would implement these if you had the chance.

Pigs Pork and Animal Rights - What is Wrong with Eating Pork

Pigs Pork and Animal Rights - What is Wrong with Eating Pork Approximately 100 million pigs are killed for food each year in the United States, but some people choose not to eat pork for a variety of reasons, including concerns about animals rights, the welfare of the pigs, the effects on the environment, and their own health. Pigs and Animal Rights A belief in animal rights is a belief that pigs and other sentient beings have a right to be free of human use and exploitation. Breeding, raising, killing and eating a pig violates that pigs right to be free, regardless of how well the pig is treated. While the public is becoming more aware of factory farming and demanding humanely raised and slaughtered meat, animal rights activists believe that there is no such thing as humane slaughter. From an animal rights perspective, the only solution to factory farming is veganism. Pigs and Animal Welfare Those who believe in animal welfare believe that humans can ethically use animals for our own purposes as long as the animals are treated well while they are alive and during slaughter. For factory farmed pigs, there is little argument that the pigs are treated well. Factory farming began in the 1960s, when scientists realized that agriculture was going to have to become much more efficient to feed an exploding human population. Instead of small farms raising pigs outdoors in pastures, larger farms started raising them in extreme confinement, indoors. As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains: There has also been a significant change in how and where hogs are produced in the U.S. over the past 50 years. Low consumer prices, and therefore low producer prices, have resulted in larger, more efficient operations, with many smaller farms no longer able to produce pigs profitably. Pigs are cruelly abused on factory farms from the time they are little piglets. Piglets routinely have their teeth clipped, have their tails cut off and are castrated without anesthesia. After weaning, the piglets are put in crowded pens with slotted floors for the manure to fall through, into a manure pit. In these pens, they each typically have only three square feet of room. When they become too large, they are moved to new pens, also with slotted floors, where they have eight square feet of space. Because of crowding, the spread of disease is a constant problem and the entire herd of animals is given antibiotics as a precaution. When they reach their slaughter weight of 250-275 pounds, at around five to six months of age, most are sent off to slaughter while a small number of females become breeding sows. After being impregnated, sometimes by a boar and sometimes artificially, breeding sows are then confined in gestation stalls that are so tiny, the animals cannot even turn around. Gestation stalls are considered so cruel, they have been banned in several countries and in several U.S. states, but are still legal in most states. When the breeding sows fertility drops off, usually after five or six litters, she is sent off to slaughter. These practices are not only routine but legal. No federal law governs the raising of farmed animals. The federal Humane Slaughter Act applies only to slaughter practices, while the federal Animal Welfare Act explicitly exempts animals on farms. State animal welfare statutes exempt animals raised for food and/or practices that are routine in the industry. While some may call for more humane treatment of the pigs, allowing the pigs to roam on pastures would make animal agriculture even more inefficient, requiring even more resources. Pork and the Environment Animal agriculture is inefficient because it takes so much more resources to grow crops to feed to pigs than it would be to grow crops to feed to people directly. It takes about six pounds of feed to produce a pound of pork. Growing those extra crops requires additional land, fuel, water, fertilizer, pesticides, seeds, labor and other resources. The extra agriculture will also create more pollution, such as pesticide and fertilizer runoff and fuel emissions, not to mention the methane that the animals produce. Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society calls domestic pigs, the world’s largest aquatic predator, because they eat more fish than all the sharks in the world combined. We’re just pulling fish out of the ocean to convert it into fish meal for the raising of livestock, for pigs primarily. Pigs also produce a lot of manure, and factory farms have come up with elaborate systems for storing solid or liquid manure until it can be used as fertilizer. However, these manure pits or lagoons are environmental disasters waiting to happen. Methane sometimes becomes trapped under a layer of foam in a manure pit and explodes. Manure pits can also overflow or can become flooded, polluting the groundwater, streams, lakes and drinking water. Pork and Human Health The benefits of a low-fat, whole foods vegan diet have been proven, including lower incidences of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. The American Dietetic Association supports a vegan diet: It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Because pigs are now bred to be leaner, pork is not as unhealthy as it once was, but is no health food. Because they are high in saturated fats, the Harvard School of Public Health recommends avoiding red meats, including beef, pork and lamb. Aside from the risks of eating pork, supporting the pork industry means supporting an industry that endangers the public health and not just the health of people who choose to eat pork. Because the pigs are constantly given antibiotics as a preventive measure, the industry fosters the rise and spread of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Similarly, the pork industry spreads swine flu, or H1N1, because the virus mutates so quickly and spreads quickly among closely-confined animals as well as to farm workers. The environmental issues also mean that pig farms endanger their neighbors health with manure and disease.

Personal statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal statement - Essay Example I feel as though I have always learned lots in school, but never had the grades to reflect my efforts. I also tend to keep to myself when it comes to studying, so I thought studying with others might help me improve my grades. Finally, in high school, I learned that my time management skills were not very good. This often caused stress that I didn’t need to experience. As I look back on these goals, I feel really great because I have accomplished all three. If all goes well, I will have a 3.0 GPA. It may actually be higher if I do well in my most difficult class. I met some great friends on the first week of school and we formed a study group that meets each week. I have never studied with other people and found this to be a great way to learn and to meet people. I hope that next semester will find many of us taking the same classes so we can study together again. I can say that I met my third goal because I did not freak out a single time this semester as a result of forgetti ng or putting off a project, paper or test. I did feel a lot of stress about my grades, but that was simply because I wanted to meet my goal of earning a 3.0 GPA. I would call it normal stress, as opposed to stress caused by wasting my time or procrastinating. Time Management and Study Skills are the topics that meant the most to me this first semester at ASU. I knew that this was a weakness of mine coming into college. My first reaction to the topic when it was introduced in class was something like, â€Å"Oh, yea, this is what I need.† I think that the skills we talked about in class were helpful, but more than anything else, I think I am maturing and realizing that reaching goals is directly connected to decisions I make about work and study habits. I know that for the first time in my life, I actually wrote down assignments in a planner and scheduled set study times. Establishing a study group was a big part of this success, but I actually went to the library on several o ccasions by myself to study for tests. This was not a typical behavior for me in the past. Managing my time this first semester made me feel in control. I was able to think about studying because I blocked time out for studying and stuck to my schedule. Sticking to a study schedule was difficult, but I was able to do it. If I had to point to any one thing that helped me this first semester, it would be scheduling time for studying. My first semester was great. I feel as though I have been successful in many ways. The single most enjoyable thing about this semester was my study group. Having fun people from my classes to meet with made me want to engage in studying more often. I never have experienced this before and I think that it is great. One concern that I have is that I will not be able to meet with the same people next semester. I guess I just need to trust that I’ll just meet more interesting, fun people. One of my biggest challenges this semester was meeting up with b eople that knew me before I came to ASU. I was not the best student and did not always have the healthiest lifestyle. These people were not supportive of my educational goals. All they wanted me to do was to hang out. It was difficult for me to tell these people that I just didn’t want to be that person anymore. It was hard to say to old friends that I had changed and I was moving in a new direction. What gave me the strength to do this was the new friends I met during this first semester. I am excited for the next semester and all of the

Strategic Management Plan for McDonalds Research Paper

Strategic Management Plan for McDonalds - Research Paper Example The two brothers were named as Dick and Mac. They started the business of fast food with a small shop in California. Their small restaurant established in California offered barbeque and small burger. For the next 14 years, McDonald continued satisfying the food needs of the local market. It was in 1954, when Ray Kroc thought of introducing McDonald in literature and wrote few lines about it. He took keen interest in the business of McDonald and acquired its first franchise license (History of McDonald’s Restaurant::About McDonalds.com, 2012). Ray Kroc also thought of business expansion and opened another McDonald outlet in Illinois near Chicago in 1955. He registered McDonald Corporation and gave it the status of a company. The first strategy of McDonald was devised in 1957. It was based on the principles of quality, service and cleanliness. Based on these fundamental principles, Ray Kroc expanded his business and the number of McDonald outlets reached up to 100 in 1959. This remarkable success enabled him to negotiate with McDonald brothers for purchase of all rights of McDonald. He succeeded in this matter as well and in 1961, he owned the McDonald Corporation. It was transformed to a Public Limited organization in 1965 which was registered at New York Stock Exchange in 1966. The journey of McDonald’s expansion went beyond national level penetration. In 1967, the first international outlet was opened in Canada. In 1974, UK market was explored for possible profitable opportunities. Major promotion was done in UK to attract a huge market. It paid well in return and by 1983, McDonald had succeeded to establish 100 branches in the UK. The expansion went on in other countries of the world as well. Current Situation of McDonald McDonald is perceived as a valuable brand in various parts of the world and people like to satisfy their self esteem needs by being its customers. With 33,000 outlets, its business is spread in more than 119 countries of the w orld. According to a report published in 2011, 60 million customers visit McDonald every day. In 2008, McDonald was rewarded as the top organization in the context of imparting trainings to its employees. Its standard is so high that its offered trainings qualify the employees for nationwide acceptance and are considered as a qualification (Franchise New Zealand, 2011). Among the countries of UK, McDonald enjoys the status of top 25th big company. In the later stages, the ranking elevated to 22nd. On the grounds of attracting talented manpower and retaining them on profitable relationships, McDonald was the all rounder in the industry. Strategic Posture of McDonald As mentioned earlier, the strategy of McDonald is based on the principles of quality, service and cleanliness. By quality, McDonald management means the quality of food and the service as well. Quality of food refers to the freshness of ingredients used in preparation of food and the way it is served and presented. The st rategy of service is related to convenience to have the food items. McDonald places its outlets at the locations which are easy to access for students, professionals and families alike. There are the customers who want to dine in the outlet; hence comfortable sitting arrangement is made for them. The background music further adds to the beauty of the atmosphere and the visiting customer enjoys the experience of dining. There are customers, who want to take away food stuff

Summarizing Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summarizing - Article Example The article also deals with the idea of government subsidies in funding research projects and comes up with the finding that government subsidies often harm the poor and the middle classes more than they help them. The practice of providing subsidies is more often than not, according to the writer, justified using the rhetoric of unemployment and the need to provide more work to American companies. This is not however, what the character Dave argues for. He looks at the negligible difference that a fall in demand in the American market would create in the world market and puts into perspective the influence that tariffs imposed by the government could have on producing more jobs. He looks at the problems with introducing a tariff against foreign-produced goods as Ed says (Protection). The idea of free trade that Dave argues for is more often than not refuted by proponents of government intervention citing the reason of ‘fair trade’. This implies the ability of firms with in a country to be protected against the onslaught of foreign companies that may have more money and power (Edge). However, providing subsidies may not push down the price of goods in the local economy. They would not benefit the local consumer. Apart from this, there is also no data available to substantiate the argument that local businesses would be at an advantage as their cost of production may still be higher than that of the foreign company. To increase the tariff to an extent where the foreign firms would not be able to compete would take jobs away from the American market rather than boost the economy. The difference in price would be transferred on to the local consumers. Dave also warns about the possibility of other countries imposing equally large taxes on American firms. This would lead to greater problems in the long run for the American economy and its people. There is also the possibility of there being lobbies that affect the government’s decisions. Much of the tariffs that are imposed on products are based on the political power and influence that local firms have rather than the economic wisdom of the decision. The people who suffer amidst all of this are the taxpayers. The idea of free trade involves the assumption that what is required by a particular consumer would be provided by the market according to the laws of demand and supply (Rothbard â€Å"Free Market†). The idea of free trade is then in direct conflict with the ideas of protectionism which let certain elements have an advantage based on the support of the government. This is unsustainable in a free market in a globalized setup as it would lead to the kind of problems that are detailed above. The existence of two systems in conflict with each other can only prove to be disastrous in the long run. The adverse impact of such a policy can be seen in the economic slump that is experienced by Japan at this point of time (Rothbard â€Å"Protectionism and the Destruction of Prosperity†). The policies that are created according to such ideologies more often than not end up harming large sections of the taxpaying population in the country. The article illustrates the problems with the kind of funding that is provided by the government to private concerns. The essay suggests that they end up benefitting certain individuals while causing greater harm to the middle classes. The money that they pay is used for such funding; however, the benefits are reaped by the richest sections of

Three Gorges Dam Construction Project

Three Gorges Dam Construction Project Section 1: Goal, Scope and Rationale The Three Gorges Dam is widely accepted as the largest Dam Construction project to ever take place. The main goal of the project was to design and build the biggest hydroelectric dam of the world on the Yangtze River in China, which would be over 180 meters in height and 2.3 km in width. The motivation behind constructing the Dam was in order to control the rivers water levels to limit flooding, and to produce hydroelectric power. (YangtzeRiver.org) (Power-Technology, 2010) The Dam was intended to raise the water level on one side of the river by 100 meters. This would lead to many small towns and buildings that were near the Three Gorges Dam to become flooded. In fact, over one million people were to be displaced in order to construct the Dam. In order to accommodate the people who were displaced, new towns had to be built in order to transfer the people living near the Dam to other safe areas. The project also involved installing some 28 generators in order to produce an estimated 18 MW of hydroelectric power. (LongPassages.org) An additional 6 power generators are planned to be installed in order to increase the Dams power production capacity (InternationalRivers.org) The Dam was also designed to facilitate ship locks, which would be extremely useful in order to a llow ships to travel across the dam without interfering with their travel route options. (LongPassages.org) The Project was given the green light for construction to begin in 1992 but official construction started in 1994. The Project cost was estimated at $9 billion. The project was to be funded by several different sources including international banks from Switzerland and Canada and various other companies. (InternationalRivers.org) Section 2: Strategy Alignment The Three Gorges Dam was a project undertaken by the Chinese government. As the Chinese government obviously did not have the resources available to construct the Dam, e.g. expertise, experience and equipment, the Chinese government outsourced to European and American companies. Western companies which were involved in the project were mainly involved with supplying the power equipment and restrictions were imposed on them. It was agreed upon that the manufacture of the power equipment such as generators and turbines had to take place in China, in partnership with local companies. (InternationalRivers.org) In the example of the Three Gorges Dam, which is a government led project, it can be clearly observed how the project aligns with the governments strategy. China is generally accepted as one of the largest Carbon Dioxide emitting countries in the world coming in second place behind the United States and suffers from increasing pollution levels in the air. In addition to this, China is considered to be a booming economy, with an ever increasing demand for energy. In order to be able to supply this increasing demand in energy, without increasing its carbon footprint, the Chinese government implemented a strategy of investing in clean sources of energy such as hydroelectric power. (DavorH, 2015) To some extent the Three Gorges Dam aligns with this strategy as it promised. The Dam would produce 18 MW of clean hydroelectric power which would in turn reduce Chinas dependency on coal for energy production and would reduce Chinas carbon footprint. Also the Dam would enable the controlling of water levels and hence flooding. (Hays, 2013) (YangtzeRiver.org) There were of course alternative ways to produce clean energy and to reduce Chinas carbon footprint, rather than building the Three Gorges Dam. Some alternatives include nuclear power, solar energy, Wind energy or even investing in making energy production from coal power stations more efficient. All these methods could also have reduced Chinas carbon footprint. Section 3: Management of Risk When it comes to risks, the Three Gorges Dam can be considered to pose many. From risks to the environment, to financial risks, to physical risks, the Three Gorges Dam has them all. I believe that in my opinion the largest risk is the physical risk of a major earthquake. Geologists have confirmed that the Dam lies on the intersection of two fault lines. This is usually the area most prone to earthquakes as tectonic plates slide across each other. It is believed that even though the Dam lies in a high risk area already, the massive weight of the water exerts extremely high pressure on the ground below the Dam which can eventually assist in the formation of an earthquake. Several tremors have been recorded near the Dam since its construction which has raised concern over this phenomenon. (Watson, 2008) It is possible that in the event of a large earthquake, the Dam could possibly collapse. In the event that the Dam would collapse, massive amounts of water would be suddenly released and allowed to travel downstream, as well as massive pieces from the Dam wall. This could result in large scale destruction of property downstream, destruction of the environment and even mass scale death since millions of people live downstream of the river. The Chinese government has been addressed with these concerns from its citizens. The Chinese government has made a statement ensuring the public that the largest scale earthquake that is possible in that region is not large enough to destroy the Dam. (Adams, 2011) I believe the risk of an earthquake destroying the Dam is the most significant risk to the Three Gorges Dam as it poses a risk that occurs suddenly and there is no warning given prior to the event which would enable engineers to assess the situation. Section 4: Conclusions: Evaluation of Project Success When taking into consideration what the main goal of the project was, which was to build the worlds largest Dam and hydroelectric power station, the project has succeeded. The Three Gorges Dam is now the largest Dam in the world and the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. On the other hand, there were other aspects in which the project can be considered to have failed. The project was aimed to cost $9 billion before construction begun, but by 2012 the expected cost had climbed up to $37.2 billion. The actual cost was more than 4 times the estimated cost before the project had begun and this is a major problem for the projects success. With regards to time, the project begun construction in 1994 and construction was completed in 2006. (InternationalRivers.org) At the end of the Dams completion, an estimated 1.4 million paper were calculated to have been forced to relocated somewhere else, a total of 16 cities, 140 towns and 1350 villages were submerged in water. (BBC, 2012) On the other hand, the reason the Dam was constructed was to produce hydroelectric power in order to reduce the Chinese Governments dependency on coal, and to control flooding. With regards to power production, in 2012, the Dams power production capacity was 22.5 Gigawatts, which is equal to an outstanding 11% of Chinas hydroelectric power production capacity. The fact that a single Dam amounts to 11% of the countries hydroelectric power production capacity can definitely be considered as a success in that manner. With regards to flooding control, Chinese officials have stated that the Dam is a solution to the problem of flooding. (BBC, 2012) In my opinion, I consider the whole project to have been a success, as it has increased Chinas hydroelectric power production capacity by a large amount as well as allow for the controlling of life taking floods. Even though the project cost far more than estimated, and has created problems for some people I believe that the ultimate goal of inc reasing Chinas hydroelectric power production capacity as well as allowing for the controlling of flooding was achieved and therefore the project can be considered a success. References   Adams, P. (2011) Chinese study reveals Three gorges dam triggered 3, 000 earthquakes, numerous landslides. Available at: https://journal.probeinternational.org/2011/06/01/chinese-study-reveals-three-gorges-dam-triggered-3000-earthquakes-numerous-landslides/ (Accessed: 5 December 2016). BBC (2012) Chinas Three gorges dam reaches operating peak. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18718406 (Accessed: 5 December 2016). DavorH (2015) China hydropower as the right solution? Available at: http://www.our-energy.com/china_hydropower_as_the_right_solution.html (Accessed: 5 December 2016). Hays, J. (2013) THREE GORGES DAM: BENIFITS, PROBLEMS AND COSTS. Available at: http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat13/sub85/item1046.html (Accessed: 5 December 2016). InternationalRivers.org Available at: https://www.internationalrivers.org/sites/default/files/attached-files/3gorgesfactsheet_feb2012_web.pdf (Accessed: 5 December 2016). LongPassages.org Available at: http://www.longpassages.org/3_gorges_dam.htm (Accessed: 5 December 2016). Power-Technology (2010) Available at: http://www.power-technology.com/projects/gorges/ (Accessed: 5 December 2016). Watson, S. (2008) Why could chinas Three gorges dam cause an environmental disaster?Available at: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/three-gorges-dam-disaster1.htm (Accessed: 5 December 2016). YangtzeRiver.org Available at: http://www.yangtzeriver.org/threegorges_dam/why-built-three-gorges-dam.htm (Accessed: 5 December 2016).

Job Searching in the 21st Century Myths and Realities no. 14 Essay

Job Searching in the 21st Century Myths and Realities "Find your dream job online!" "Electronic job search revolution!" Of all the hype surrounding the Internet, one of the biggest claims may be how information technology is changing the way people look for jobs. A huge number of electronic job resources are available: resume posting sites, job vacancy databases, employer websites, discussion boards and newsgroups, industry salary and information sites, and general career information sites. The Internet gives job seekers access to vast amounts of information about vacancies and employers, 24-hour availability, broader geographic reach, networking, career development advice, and simplified resume distribution (Dikel 2001). For recruiters and employers, the Internet can speed up the hiring process, provide a large pool of applicants, and reduce advertising and other costs (Pearce and Tuten 2001). But how effective is online job searching? Are traditional methods now a waste of time? Like everything else in cyberspace, online job hunting i s constantly changing. For example, a 1999 Fortune magazine cover announced "I got my job online-and soon so will you" (Useem 1999). Now a 2001 article advises: "Enjoy being unemployed? Keep job hunting online" (Fisher 2001). And measuring any kind of Internet use is a perilous process--a variety of conflicting statistics can be found. This publication investigates some myths and realities of job searching in the 21st century. Out with the Old? Are job seekers flocking to online search methods? Approximately 100,000 sites offer resume posting and classified ad services; estimates of the number of resumes on the Web range from 2.5 million (Pearce and Tuten 2001) to 20 million (Corsini ... ...e." December 13, 2000. http://cyberatlas.internet.com/markets/professional/article/0,,5971_534601,00.html Kuhn, P., and Skuterud, M. "Job Search Methods: Internet versus Traditional." Monthly Labor Review 123, no. 10 (October 2000): 3-11. Li, C.; Charron, C.; and Dash, A.. "The Career Networks." Cambridge, MA: Forrester Research, 2000. http://www.forrester.com "Net Playing Role in Job Searches." May 15, 1999. http://cyberatlas.internet.com/markets/professional/article/0,,5971_153281,00.html Pearce, C. G., and Tuten, T. L "Internet Recruiting in the Banking Industry." Business Communication Quarterly 64, no. 1 (March 2001): 9-18. Useem, J. "For Sale Online: You." Fortune 140, no. 1 (July 5, 1999): 66-78. "Web Expands Role in Corporate Recruiting." March 29, 2000. http://cyberatlas.internet.com/markets/professional/article/0,,5971_330331,00.html