Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath presentation Assignment

Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath presentation - Assignment Example David’s brand is an underdog in this presentation that serves to show the upper hand he had against Goliath. Contextually, Gladwell argues that nimble, newcomers with new answers to old challenges frequently beat giant risks or barriers. David’s strong suit originated from his ability to break the presumptions of conventional battle strategies that size means power.2 Here, Gladwell says that being the underdog creates a situation that shows why there is always more than meets the eye. Using context to express an analysis of the account of David and Goliath makes Gladwell’s work convincing.3 The presentation is essentially about spiritual weapons as well as how affective and imaginative desires are as equally important as financial or material desires. In the absence of physical advantages, one has ideas, imagination, perseverance, devotion, and excitement to keep going. A critical look at the story of David and Goliath underscores this near rationale as I was convinced to appreciate my ideal and imaginative gifts as they are, as should any other historian or even

Managing Knowledge and Learning Essay Example for Free

Managing Knowledge and Learning Essay Managing Knowledge and Learning at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Summary National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established by Congress on October 1, 1958, in order for the United States to keep up with the technological advancements achieved from former Soviet Union’s successful launch of the Sputnik (1957). The Apollo Era-Mission had risen from the support of John F. Kennedy’s goal, which was â€Å"landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. † Prioritization at NASA evolved into the center’s motto of â€Å"Faster, Better, Cheaper† (FBC), which was mandated in the Goldin Era beginning in 1992. NASA shifted priorities from: 1) performance, 2) schedule and 3) cost to 1) increase mission performance, 2) cut cost and 3) work force reduction. However, this reform was not as successful as planned. From 1992 and 2000, six of 16 FBC missions failed. To address concern of the impact of failed missions and impending retirements of many of the most experienced NASA employees, Congress enforced that the agency search for the solution to Knowledge Management (KM) and promoting learning initiatives at NASA-JPL. NASA’s KM tools were mainly IT systems of Internet-based databases and portals for ease of lessons. The NASA KM crisis was attributed to the organization’s inability to document experiences of failures and successes of missions or projects; ultimately incapable of capturing the â€Å"experiential knowledge† from expert engineers and scientists. In addition, this lack in KM was due to â€Å"privatizing knowledge† and promoting creativity, that stemmed from NASA’s culture where competition among centers for projects and funding was the norm. Several KM Initiatives were developed including project libraries for document and data management, developing standards, establishing databases to find experts, ask technical questions, and to capture history and legacy reviews. 1) What were the pros and cons of the â€Å"Faster, Better, Cheaper† model? How might outcomes (both positive and negative) of projects executed with this model impact NASA’s stakeholders, i. e. Congress and the general public? The â€Å"Faster, Better, and Cheaper (FBC)† objectives were to cut cost and maximize mission performance. There were several advantages of the FBC reform. FBC allowed compressed development and launch schedules that lead to an increase in the number of missions. Mission time could be reduced from decades to a few years. The number of NASA projects increased from four to 40 under the FBC model. An increase in mission projects was thought to lead to additional discoveries so that NASA could gain further wisdom and space knowledge. FBC missions were changed from one big project to multiple smaller projects. Dividing the program into smaller projects helped to minimize the pressure and stress on the team if a mission failed. Furthermore, one mission failure did not consequently lead to the failure of the entire program. FBC practice allowed senior managers more freedom to implement FBC the way they found fit which promoted creativity and autonomy among senior managers. FBC also reduced the cost of each mission and NASA’s overall budget. For example, the Mars program budget was reduced from one billion dollars to $260 million. There are numerous disadvantages of the FBC reform. Applying the FBC model could lead to more mission failures. During the FBC era, there were 6 failed missions out of 16 FBC missions. Cost and schedule constraints, insufficient risk assessment, planning, and testing, underestimation of complexity and technology maturity, inattention of quality and safety, inadequate review processes, engineering, under-trained staff, poor team communication, and design errors all attributed to NASA’s mission failures. Projects conducted â€Å"faster† does not allow for adequate documentation, time for redlining the project, and recording lessons learned from one mission to the next. This could result in repeated mistakes that could be avoided by future missions. Missions carried out faster do not allow time for mentorship and sharing of knowledge. Also, the term â€Å"better† was not properly defined and was open to interpretation, which may negatively impact maintaining standard procedures and processes. The results of the FBC vision could impact NASA’s stakeholders in several ways. The increase in smaller successful missions would alleviate the risk of one large failure, although any failures will have a negative impact on stakeholders. Congress could be discouraged to provide support and funding for major space programs if they fail but might be more likely to fund smaller missions. The public could either lose or gain confidence, support, and belief in the space program depending on the magnitude of success or failure. FBC mission are less expensive which would decrease NASA’s budget and help satisfy both Congress and the general public by reducing the need for extra taxation by Congress and collection of taxes from the general public. 2) Why was the Mars Pathfinder project so successful? Explain how Anthony Spears management style impacted future missions. Project management was the key to success of the Mars Pathfinder project. It began as an experiment to test the validity of the FBC reform mandated in 1992 when Daniel Goldin was assigned as the new administrator of NASA. A clear and specific plan for the Pathfinder mission was laid out in the beginning and followed through until the end. Analogous to the success of Cisco’s ERP implementation, Anthony Spears, an excellent manager and thought leader with years of experience at NASA, gained the support of top management and the JPL institution (Spears, 1999). Spears developed a unique balance of an advisory committee of experts to support and guide the difficult project, while he recruited talented, yet naive, energetic youngster’s to do what some more experienced people thought impossible. As Spears writes in his lessons learned report it was â€Å"†¦a blend of bright, ambitious youth and scarred old timers, each challenged and empowered, all working each issue together † (1999). Together, they created a team that bonded and worked together successfully. Spears’ goal was not only the success of the Pathfinder project, but of the FBC program success, unlike the vision of future project managers. The success of Pathfinder did not translate well in future FBC missions. Risk management and testing were important to the Mars Pathfinder success. While the Mars Pathfinder team worked together successfully, the younger players went on to think they were great project managers themselves, but still hadn’t learned enough to manage their next missions successfully. In future FBC projects, some reasons for failure were poor team communication, inadequate or under-trained staff or insufficient testing in 70% of missions and insufficient risk assessment and planning on 86% of missions (exhibit 4). 3) One of the major issues in this case is the retirements of experts. Why is this a problem for NASA? Would it be less of a problem in a different type of organization? Suggest immediate steps that NASA could take to mitigate the problem. Explain your choices. By 2006 half of NASA’s workforce was eligible for retirement which could lead to a major loss of knowledge, especially tacit information, diminishing the collective wisdom of the organization. A senior manager at NASA states, â€Å"we have no formal process for transferring knowledge† from thought leaders to new managers and IT systems had not yet been sufficient in transferring â€Å"experiential knowledge† to the younger generation. Unfortunately, this would be true in many organizations unless they had sufficient knowledge management systems in place and a culture where sharing knowledge was valued and encouraged. In order to mitigate the problem of losing their knowledge base, NASA not only needs to continue to implement their KM strategy, but truly change the culture. Experienced project leaders and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), such as design engineers, should openly share their knowledge and not just when asked for it. I support several of the planned KM initiatives such as the capture of information by improving documentation, development of an enterprise web-based portal, and the Knowledge Sharing Initiative (KSI) aimed at changing the companies’ culture. In addition to these activities, an exit strategy could be developed for retiring employees where they must follow standard procedures for employing case-based reasoning in an online database employing a searchable classification system. Additional knowledge could be disseminated by those eligible through training sessions. A reward system should be coupled to these exit requirements and could be increased if the employee decides to be available in the Expert Connections directory of SME’s that could be contacted for support after they leave. New positions might need to be created for dedicated knowledge managers such as Chief knowledge officers. It’s also possible that NASA could obtain some replacement of lost experts by collaborating with space programs in other countries. Collecting the information from experts must be coupled with management support of a corporate wide schema to store the data, methods of dissemination, and apply the information to ultimately make better decisions on projects that involve risking people’s lives. 4) Jean Holm had two options she could choose from: 1) upgrade the IT systems or, 2) change the culture. Which would you choose and why? Is there a third option? Explain your answer. In order for Holm’s to truly have a successful knowledge management system in place, implementation of a hybrid system should be in place; enforcing both upgrade to IT systems occurring simultaneously with changing the private culture into a shared one. Integration of both, changing the culture and IT upgrades will be a lengthy process so it would be critical to first strategically plan for cultivating and managing formal processes for knowledge transfers. Implementing formal processes such as required protocols, reports, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and work instructions for each mission or project should be enforced from every high-level management as it might help with the KM transfer crisis. Once every item has been completed by the high-level management it would be placed into the appropriate IT systems database in conjunction with the integration of the required knowledge management video synopsis from experienced engineers and scientist who exit the centers. Curriculums would be in place with learning modules with specific need encapsulating these protocols, reports, SOPs, work instructions and video synopsis would then be posted on the intranet, ready for the potential novice engineers and scientists entering the NASA work force; making the system more enriched and meaningful. 5) President Obama is implementing changes to NASA’s charter, which will create new ways of funding/executing projects than NASA is used to. Do a little online research. Do you agree or disagree in this change of direction? Explain. Caution; this is not to be addressed as a political issue) The Obama administration’s new NASA charter includes a couple of key parts: A) In February 2010, the Obama administration canceled the Constellation Program, which was started by former President George W. Bushs administration in 2004. This program aimed to put US astronauts back on the moon by 2020, for the first time since the final Apollo mission. B) In April 2 010, Obama proposed increasing NASA’s overall budget by about $6 billion over five years and shifting NASA’s aim for manned space program to Mars (from the moon). By the mid 2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And landing on Mars will follow, he said. C) He also challenged the commercial space industry to take up the routine tasks that NASA would abandon – such as ferrying astronauts to and from the space station. I do not agree with him on the part A and Part B of the new charter. The Constellation Program is already 5 year old, and has spent $9. 1 billion. It has already made significant progress and will help America maintaining its space leadership position over Russia and China. On the other hand, I think that it will set a foundation for manned space mission to Mars. Obama’s vision of manned mission to Mars by mid-2030 does not seem realistic to me as he has not talked about its technology feasibility. However, I do agree with his plan’s Part C. I think that it will significantly reduce the cost for transporting people and cargo to and from low-Earth orbit, and might induce the rise of a true space economy.

Effects of Depression on Brain Function

Effects of Depression on Brain Function Depression The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) diagnose children and adolescents with major depression with signs that include loss of interest and sadness for two weeks straight. Psychologists usually will also look for at least five more symptoms on top of the other two symptoms. These include â€Å"changes in sleeping or eating habits (weight and energy), psychomotor agitation or retardation, feelings of worthlessness and guilt, trouble thinking or paying attention, recurrent thoughts of death, or suicidal ideation and attempts† (Bujoreanu, Benhayon, and Szigethy, 2011, p. 548). This paper will focus on comparison of normal brain function and the brain function of an individual with depression, negative effects of daily functioning living with depression, assessments that are used for diagnoses and treatment, and appropriate treatment options and coping mechanism for individuals with depression. Comparison between Normal Brain Function and Depressed Brain Function Neuropsychological research has shown that emotion is controlled by the right cerebrum which means that the â€Å"right-posterior region of the cerebrum is specialized for the perception of emotional information, regardless of valence† (Shenal, Harrison, Demaree, 2003, p. 34). In normal brain functioning, the right cerebrum also controls arousal and attention. Other research has shown that there is a balance of positive and negative emotions between the left and right cerebrum. The left cerebrum processes positive emotions while the right cerebrum processes negative emotions (Shenal et al., 2003). EEG asymmetries have been examined with individuals that have depression and have found there is an increased activation in the right-frontal lobe that is relative to left-hemisphere activation (Shenal et al., 2003). Other studies have shown individuals with depression have different hemisphere activation by increased right-hemisphere activation or decreased left-hemisphere activation. Individuals with depression from left-frontal dysfunction will have problems planning and arranging information. Depression from right-frontal dysfunction may have impaired nonverbal fluency. Negative Effects of Daily Functioning Living with Depression Major depression can have a big effect on children or adolescent’s ability to function on a day to day manner. There are a lot of negative effects to depression that are important to recognize right away for help. Some of the effects of depression include â€Å"change of eating habits, change in sleeping habits (sleeping too much, not sleeping very much), irritability, social withdrawal, trouble paying attention, and feelings of sadness† (Bujoreanu et al., 2011, p. 548). If depression is not treated, this can lead to â€Å"family dysfunction, academic impairment, and psychosocial difficulties† (Bujoreanu et al., 2011, p. 548). There is also the chance that the depression can continue into adulthood if the family is not aware or informed of the symptoms the child is displaying. Assessments that are Used for Diagnoses and Treatment Neuropsychologists are now starting to find new ways to accurately diagnose depression in individuals as well as finding out if depression treatments are actually helping individuals with the disorder. Depression is now being diagnosed by a blood test and neuroimaging (fMRI) is being used to examine neural circuitry in adolescents with depression. The blood test is a new technique to psychiatry that was approved in 2011. This diagnostic tool is one way to find out if an individual has major depressive disorder without the medical professional being biased or not able to get a lot of information from the individual. The diagnostic tool looks at the levels of ethanolamine phosphate in the patient’s blood to give an indication that the patient has the disorder. Studies have shown that people with depression have low levels of ethanolamine phosphate (Verma, Kaur, David, 2012). At this point, the blood test is very expensive or is slow to get the results back to see if an individual has depression. Neuropsychologists as well as health physicians can use this assessment as the first step in determining if the patient has major depressive disorder. Once the blood tests indicate the disorder, the neuropsychologist and health professional can refer the patient to a medical professional that specializes in depression. The blood test can be used to help the medical professionals in making a diagnosis and to find the best treatment for the patient (Verma et al., 2012). The second assessment that is being used by neuropsychologist for depression is neuroimaging (fMRI). One study in particular used an fMRI to compare adolescents with depression and healthy adolescents on â€Å"neural responses to fearful facial expressions† before treatment (Cullen, 2012, p. 348). The study was repeated again after eight weeks with the depressed adolescents on fluxetine (antidepressant). Research showed that adolescents with depression increase the activation in the amygdala looking at fearful faces (Cullen, 2012). After the treatment, there was no difference between adolescents with depression and healthy adolescents. This study has opened new doors to further study other depression treatments. The fMRI was able to show the difference the fluxetine had on the brain to help adolescents with negative effectives that interfere with daily living. The next steps would need to look at what can affect before and after treatment findings. Some of these include â€Å"age at assessment, illness status, treatment history, and type of treatment† (Cullen, 2012, p. 350). When these effects are looked at with more research, this will bring clinical advancements to the neuropsychological field. Appropriate Treatment Options When it comes to appropriate treatment options for children and adolescents with depression, there are two different kinds that have been the most effective. These two different kinds of treatments are psychotherapeutic treatments and psychopharmacological treatments. The psychotherapeutic treatments are therapy treatments to work with children and adolescents to help them function normally in their daily lives. Evidence-based treatments (EBT) are â€Å"interventions or techniques that have produced therapeutic change in controlled trials† (Bujoreanu et al., 2011, p. 549). Common evidence-based treatments used with depressed children and adolescents include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy-adolescent (IPT-A). Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been found out to be the most effective psychotherapeutic treatment with children and adolescents with depression. Aaron Beck created cognitive-behavioral therapy and focused on how â€Å"thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are inter-related and individuals can make positive changes in how someone feels by changing what they do or think† (Bujoreanu et al., 2011, p. 549). Children and adolescents work with a therapist to learn new skills and explore different ideas that are discussed during sessions. Interpersonal Therapy-Adolescent (IPT-A) is a treatment that does takes place for a short period of time. The therapy focuses on the clients’ depressive symptoms and the interpersonal context in which they occur (Bujoreanu et al., 2011, p. 550). To help with the depressive symptoms when they occur, the therapist helps the child or adolescent learn problem-solving and communication skills. Psychopharmacological treatments involve the medications that are appropriate for children and adolescents with depression. These include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), norepinephrine-dopamine reupatake inhibitor (NDRI), and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). SSRIs are the most common and first kind of drugs that will be used to treat child and adolescent depression. Fluoxetine and escitalopram are FDA approved for children with depression, but there are also other medications that are not intended for depression that have been successful (Bujoreanu et al., 2011). When picking an SSRI, it is important to look at family history and how the drug affects the child or adolescent. When SSRI’s do not work with the children and adolescents, there are other drugs that can be taken into consideration. Adolescents that have depression with bupropion would use a NDRI to help with the symptoms. Another drug category that can help with depression is SNRIs that include taking duloxetine and venlafaxine that are sedating. When one kind of treatment does not fully treat the patient, combined therapy of medication and therapy are used. Therapy is usually the first step taken in treatment before medication is considered. Alternative Treatments There are a lot of adolescents that are experiencing depression symptoms that are not able to receive the standard treatments. This can be from the adolescent’s family not having insurance or the families insurance does not cover certain treatment options. These alternative treatments that could help these individuals with depression include interpersonal therapy and attachment-based family therapy, the artistically creative approaches, and existential therapy (McGlasson, 2012). The interpersonal therapy focuses on the different relationships that are in the adolescent’s life. If there is not a healthy relationship, this can lead to depression. This therapy focuses on personal issues that cause the different relationships to not be healthy and finds skills the adolescent can work on to improve those relationships. The attachment-based family therapy is where the family, the adolescent, and a trained counselor work together to build a healthy relationship. This also includes skills that that will be learned in sessions that will help in the long run (McGlasson, 2012). The artistically creative approaches include art therapy and music to help adolescents express themselves in a creative way. Art therapy allows the youth to communicate on a deeper level than just talking about the issues with a counselor. This form of therapy might feel less threatening to the adolescent and a way they can control (McGlasson, 2012). Music is something that adolescents are familiar with and feel safe with being used in therapy. Music lowers stress and can help the therapist in understanding different moods that the client is experiencing (McGlasson, 2012, p. 19). Existential therapy has four themes to the treatment. These themes are â€Å"the uniqueness and freedom of the individual, the recognition of suffering as part of the human experience, an emphasis on the here-and-now to discover one’s meaning and identity, and a commitment to discover and develop one’s talent† (McGlasson, 2012, p. 19). The themes all focus on the individual and how he or she is becoming. Therapists would focus on existential concerns that go on in the adolescent’s life and find ways to explore the issues. Coping Mechanism for Individuals with Depression There are healthy and unhealthy coping strategies that children and adolescents do to deal with depression. The healthy and unhealthy coping strategies both involve the same three core categories (emotion-focused coping, problem-focused coping, and avoidant coping). It all depends on what the children and adolescents have picked up from others and what they have learned on their own to determine if it is healthy or unhealthy. Unhealthy coping strategies usually fall under the emotion-focused coping and avoidant coping. Emotion-focused coping is â€Å"any response aimed at reducing or managing the negative feelings that arise in response to the threat or loss† (Hayat, 2013, p. 153). Research has shown that common emotion-focused coping strategies that can develop depression and suicidal ideation more are self blame and emotional support (Horwitz, Hill, King, 2011). Avoidant coping involves a strategy that avoids the depression symptoms and suicidal ideation. Common avoidant coping strategies that are unhealthy and can develop the disorder more are behavioral disengagement and denial (Horwitz et al., 2011). Avoidant coping is usually avoided when learning new strategies that can help with depression. When children and adolescents learn healthy ways to cope with depression, most of the strategies fall under the category problem-focused coping. This category of coping strategies is defined as â€Å"attempting to deal constructively with the stressor or circumstances itself† (Hayat, 2013, p. 153). A medical professional can help the child or adolescent learn active coping strategies, plan different coping strategies that fit with the stressor or circumstance, and use instrumental support (Horwitz et al., 2011). For emotion-focused coping healthy alternatives would learning wishful thinking and seeking emotional support from family and friends that will not make the individual feel worse about themselves. These coping strategies can be learned by a medical professional that can work with the child or adolescent with depression. While there was only a few coping strategies mentioned, other coping strategies might be used depending on the situation of the individual. Preventive Measures for Individuals at Risk of Depression It is important that society is aware of what factors will identify high-risk adolescents for depression. When factors that can lead to depression are understood, steps can be taken to help reduce the risk of the disorder developing. At this point, research has shown that biological, psychological and social risk factors can trigger depression. Newer research has also found that neuroticism (N) (personality trait) is associated with mood disorders that can risk adolescents is developing depression (Kuyken, Watkins, Holden, Cook, 2006). High neuroticism individuals will show more mood changes and will need to respond adaptively (Kuyken et al., 2006). Kuyken’s et al., (2006) study included four different hypotheses to find out what risk factors would determine if adolescents will develop depression. They hypotheses are (1) â€Å"Adolescents at risk for depression (as indicated by high N) will report greater rumination than adolescents at low risk but lower rumination than currently depressed adolescents, (2) among currently depressed adolescents, elevated levels of rumination will be associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, (3) the relationship between N and depressive symptoms will be partially mediated by rumination in cross-sectional analyses, with higher rumination associated with more depressive symptoms, and (4) the effect of rumination on depression will be moderated by gender, being greater for female compared to male adolescents† (Kuyken, et al., 2006, p. 42). The results indicated that at risk adolescents for depression have more ruminated than healthy adolescents. At risk adolescents and current depressed adolescents were comparable with high neuroticism personal trait. Adolescents that found out they had depression show rumination was connected to severe depressive symptoms. This study found that rumination and depression symptoms were the same for females and males. Conclusion Depression is a complex disorder that is now fully starting to be understood. Neuropsychologists are able to see what parts of the brain are impaired from the disorder as well as assessments that help to diagnose and treat depression accurately. With this information medical professionals find the best treatment options for the individual and help with coping strategies that are not unhealthy to use. This information has also made it easier to determine if adolescents are at risk of developing the disorder. Determining if adolescents have depression is still new, but with more research, medical professionals will hopefully be able to reduce the amount of youth with the disorder. References Bujoreanu, S., Benhayon, D., Szigethy, E. (2011). Treatment of depression in children and adolescents. Pediatric Annals, 40(11), 548. doi:10.3928/00904481-20111007-05 Cullen, K. R. (2012). Imaging adolescent depression treatment. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 169(4), 348. Hayat, I. (2013). Stressful life events, depression and coping strategies. Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 1(2), 148. Horwitz, A. G., Hill, R. M., King, C. A. (2011). Specific coping behaviors in relation to adolescent depression and suicidal ideation. Journal of Adolescence, 34(5), 1077-1085. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.10.004 Kuyken, W., Watkins, E., Holden, E., Cook, W. (2006). Rumination in adolescents at risk for depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 96(1), 39-47. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2006.05.017 McGlasson, T. D. (2012). Listening clearly: Alternative treatments for adolescent depression. The Prevention Researcher, 19(4), 18. Shenal, B. V., Harrison, D. W., Demaree, H. A. (2003). The neuropsychology of depression: A literature review and preliminary model. Neuropsychology Review, 13(1), 33-42. doi:10.1023/A:1022300622902 Verma, R. K., Kaur, S., David, S. R. (2012). An instant diagnosis for depression by blood test. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research : JCDR, 6(9), 1612. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2012/4758.2579

Mobile Maintenance Overview

Mobile Maintenance Overview MOBILE MAINTENANCE OVERVIEW THE PROJECT Over the last decade, we have seen the pace of technology development increase hugely. From mobile phones to tablet devices to smart televisions, right up to connected vehicles and homes. This technology shift is inevitably moving into aviation travel sector. Both the Boeing 787 and Airbus A380 require connectivity, and digital tools, to maintain them. Engineering needs to have integrated systems and hardware within the business to keep pace. Achieving such integration will provide us with the latest tools in support of our drive for greater efficiency and improved productivity. Our goal is to use technology to help us become market competitive. The Mobile Maintenance project is one of Engineerings primary Tier 1 programmes and forms part of the Our Plan business objective to use digital technology to transform our business. It aligns with the work we are doing under the banner of the Capella change programme. With investment being made in mobile hardware, a new content management solution and significant enhancements to the SAP, the project will roll out over the next 18 months. Beginning in the ramp arena, online/mobile working will cascade on into hangar maintenance, and then component workshops. The new content management solution will come on stream one aircraft type at a time, with component maintenance manuals shortly thereafter. INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE In the current financial climate, the decision by BAs Capital Investment Committee to approve this capital investment should be seen as a fantastic endorsement of everything Engineering intends to achieve via the project. Once the cost of the original mobile working trial is added in, the total capex underpinning Mobile Maintenance comes to some  £8million. The graphic below provides an indication of how the funds have been invested. 33% 22% 45% INVESTMENT BREAKDOWN Hardware SAP Enhancements INVESTMENT EXPLAINED BENEFITS Of course, the investment decision was driven by the compelling benefits case Engineering were able to make. As well as the obvious productivity and efficiency opportunities, successful implementation opens up the possibility of achieving a wide variety of non-financial gains across Engineering. PEOPLE AND PROCESSES Drive up the quality of information underpinning resource and load planning activities. Reduce the frustration caused by having to leave the aircraft side mid-job. SAFETY AND QUALITY Improve access, and adherence, to maintenance manuals, procedures and processes. Reduce the risk of unrecorded work. OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE Reduce ADDs and delays through easier, quicker and more accurate access to technical information. Vastly improved situational awareness both in the satellite control and for the production teams. SAP Enhancements Just over 1/5 of the investment has gone into the largest single group of changes to SAP since it was introduced in 2004. Resulting in new transactions and improvements to exisiting ones, in addition to the new eTask app. Hardware 1/3 of the investment has been on hardware. From the devices to servers and WIFi infranstructure. This portion of the investment was vital in ensuring the implementation becomes a success. ICMS The largest portion of the investiment is in the new integrated content management system. A replacement for the TI Portal and Knowledge warehouse, ICMS will provide remote, direct, accurate technical documentation to all engineers. For additions or queries regarding the MMHandbook contact [emailprotected] Ensure colleagues carry out their role with the most up-to-date information at their fingertips. Increase the productivity and efficiency of the delivery and support teams in the organisation. Provide the opportunity for greater visibility of task work steps. Remove SAP data entry lag, and risk of data transcription errors, to improve compliance data timeliness and quality. Better quality data will provide greater richness of information to improve the quality, and delivery, of the daily production plan. DELIVERABLES DELIVERABLES OVERVIEW Mobile maintenance often attracts the immediate thought of iPads and the eTask app, mobile maintenance is a huge amount more than just an app on a device. The SAP enhancements upstream all interlink with one another, from enhancing the notifications we rely on for compliance, to creating a balanced plan and managing our operation. The information produced upstream of the app allows the engineer to work with accurate, well planned information on his device, while the app offers him/her immediate benefits with the functionality offered by eTask. DEFECT WORKBENCH The defect workbench is a new SAP transaction available for use by both production and the EOCC. It allows a user to search, review and fully define a D3 or D7. The transaction is data rich and allows accurate definition of notifications ensuring the user has all the information available to make informed decisions on what action should be taken. Notifications can be directed to relevant departments using the new milestone function while communication lines between planning, production and the engineer at the aircraft side are opened up with the remarks function. SLOT PLAN The slot plan is an engineering version of the airops software we use today to monitor the operation, it is a graphical display of our aircrafts flying schedule allowing a planner to select and analyse maintenance opportunities to plan revisions. The slot plan is the point of entry to the planning workbench and is the first step in the process to creating a new revision or editing an existing one. PLANNING WORKBENCH A data rich transaction allowing a planner to analyse the outstanding notifications of an aircraft. A compliance pane, defect pane and modification pane organise the notifications in a logical manner while quick review columns offer immediate information about a notification including; material status, life rule and number of re-assess alongside many others. The main function of the planning workbench is to create accurate plans for work in the production environment. LOAD AND CAPACITY Once the notification definition process we will have going forward with mobile maintenance improves and the data is more accurate the load and capacity tool will be a very important tool for engineering. The load and capacity tool will offer a graphical representation of the capacity (resource available) vs the Load (the planned work). This will allow a planner to balance revisions and ensure the plan is achievable. The tool depends on engineering working together to define notifications properly, most importantly defining man hours on ADDs. RESOURCE PLANNING DASHBOARD (RPD) The resource planning dashboard is a digital T card board and interlinks with both the load and capacity tool and the TACD. The RPD (resource planning dashboard) allows a shift manager to organise a shifts colleagues in to teams based on who is available. The transaction offers information of the colleagues skills, cover and availability and so the teams can be planned accurately and efficiently. There will also be a crew room view which will show everyone which teams they are allocated to. The RPD relies on data fed from the HR system and time manager, with this in mind, it is vital that any time manager data is entered in advance of the event, this includes overtime, leave, sickness and any other absence. Failure to do so will result in the colleagues absent or on overtime failing to show correctly in the RPD. This is important as the RPD feeds the allocation system in the TACD which allocates work to the engineers devices. TASK ALLOCATION AND CONTROL DASHBOARD (TACD) TACD is the new version of the electronic whiteboard we use today to manage our operation in the satellites. It allows the FSDE to view and analyse the progress of the work being carried out by the engineers on the aircraft, while having the ability to create tasks from VHF calls and allocating them directly to an engineers device instantly. The TACD interlinks directly with the eTask app and the functionality provided allows the progress of tasks and revisions to be monitored in real time offering a substantial operational awareness improvement. ETASK APP (IPAD BASED) The eTask app is the next generation Ramp app. Following on from the trial version, the eTask app has an abundance of functionalities available that allow an engineer to work more efficiently and effectively. Greater task detail, allocation flexibility, stores integration and reporting functions offer huge improvements to the initial ramp app. The major benefit being increased engagement time at the aircraft side, integration to the content management system and access to up to date technical documentation supports the information already on offer within each task pushed to the device. INTEGRATED CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (ICMS) The new content management system is engineerings single solution for technical documentation and procedures. ICMS replaces the TI Portal and knowledge warehouse bringing considerable aesthetic, control and accessibility improvements. Desktop and device access provides aircraft manuals in the same format, hyperlinked and integrated with the eTask app whilst offering smart search functionality. Offline content also allows manuals to be saved to a device for review with automated updates adding in any TRs directly to the manual ensuring adherence to the most recent version. TRAINING TRAINING SOLUTION With engineering investing in one of the biggest change projects since the introduction of SAP it is vital that the training solution provided gives all colleagues the most support in the movement towards mobile working. This section will explain the training solution offered as well as where supplementary information and support can be found. TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Mobile maintenance training was developed in house by a team of hard working experienced engineering colleagues. They are volunteers who devoted their time to the project to ensure that the content developed was in the best interests of their own colleagues and engineering as a whole. The training concepts were developed alongside the GLA and their own experts to ensure it adhered to training guidelines. In respect of the practical training the colleagues whom deliver the courses are also engineering production colleagues who volunteered to support the work areas in the road towards mobile working. ASCEND British Airways corporate learning tool is Ascend, it allows courses to be built and stored online for completion at a time that suits without being off lined from the work areas. Ascend also allows learning to be tracked and audited by quality. SAP ENHANCEMENTS ASCEND COURSES The mobile maintenance ascend courses were designed to give a how to demonstration of the new SAP enhancements. Software is a difficult product to train and the team toyed with different methods. One being the use of screenshots and annotations, however, when analysed, it was found that around 2000 screenshots would need to be produced which was both unmanageable and counterproductive as a training tool. The chosen method was to use videos of the transaction actually in a realistic scenario. Many software products use this method for training and a professional software was sourced to produce the content over a period of 2 months. The videos can be stopped, paused and scrolled through if further time is required on a certain point or notes need to be taken. ETASK ASCEND COURSE BALEARNING APP The eTask ascend course is a little different to that of the SAP Enhancements, the ascend course serves as a placeholder for the competency assessment but the content itself is based on a BA corporate app named BALearning on the iPad device itself. The BALearning app allows an identical mimic of the real eTask app to be created. The content can then be manipulated to direct a user to choose the correct process and function resulting in the user becoming familiar and aware of how the eTask app works. If a user makes an error it is not a problem as the learning app offers a safe environment to practice in. The eTask training app that is released is available at any time allowing a user to refresh on functionality when required. BALEARNING APP FIX Some users have reported the BALearning app is malfunctioning and the screen blanks on opening. This is due to a problem Mobile Enabled Operations encountered in March with corporate apps across the BA network having issues. The fix: Delete BALogin App and Device Doctor App and then reinstall, following that enter the BA App store and ensure all apps are up to date including the BALearning app. This should remedy the fault. ASCEND COMPETENCY ASSESSEMENTS The ascend competency assessments are a quality requirement. PRACTICAL TRAINING The training team were very keen to have a practical element of training included in the solution, one that allows candidates to practice using the new tools in a safe environment with instructors who are experts in the developments. The solutions were again developed by the SME team alongside the GLA. EOCC PRACTICAL TRAINING The EOCC have developed a comprehensive practical training and readiness programme. This includes a full 1 day training course using the new tools in a safe environment while learning new processes and procedures attached to those tools. They also assess individuals on a 1 on 1 basis prior to going live ensuring the candidates are capable and ready to use the tools, assessing competency in addition to setting up layouts and variants applicable to their role. MVS MAINTENANCE VISIT SIMULATION Production colleagues, once they have completed the mandatory ascend modules will be allocated to an MVS course. A Maintenance Visit Simulation course is a 1 day offline course where a candidate will experience and use all of the tools produced from mobile maintenance in a simulated aircraft visit. The simulation begins prior to the aircraft visit highlighting the process of data enrichment and timely entering of HR data, from there the simulation moves through the satellite to the aircraft arrival and through to the aircraft departure. At each point of the aircraft visit the instructors demonstrate functionality and highlight any key points while the candidates actually work the aircraft on the devices like they would in a real life scenario. The candidates are assessed by monitoring their engagement throughout the session as well as a written exam at the end of the session. POST TRAINING SUPPORT For additions or queries regarding the MMHandbook contact [emailprotected] As with any training programme there are often further questions and clarity required by a candidate. For that reason a post training support structure has been implemented. KEY USERS Key users in each area are the first port of call for any clarifications or questions regarding mobile maintenance and they will be on hand to every shift to aid in the process of implementation and beyond. Again key users are engineering colleagues and have candidates best interests in mind. YAMMER Yammer is BAs business social media option. There is a mobile maintenance group which is monitored daily by the project team. Any questions or queries will be answered in a timely and accurate manner so dont hesitate to ask for any clarity or report any issues found. Yammer is available via a desktop or via the app store on the iPad. KEY FUNCTIONS QRH This mobile maintenance handbook offers an overview of the project, deliverables, training as well as offering a comprehensive quick reference handbook (QRH) for functionality of the new deliverables. It is a working document so if there is anything that is missing please report it to the owner or mobile maintenance yammer page. ENGINEERING PROCEDURES BA ENGINEERING TECHNICAL PROCEDURES AND WORK INSTRUCTIONS Mobile Maintenance is now part of British Airways Engineering Technical Procedures/Work Instructions. Alongside this there will be local procedures which will be briefed and cascaded by your business area representatives. Follow the instructions below to access the engineering procedures and work instructions related to Mobile Maintenance

Chaucers Canterbury Tales and Enrique Iglesias :: Canterbury Tales Essays

The Canterbury Tales and Enrique Iglesias In Chaucer's epic poem, The Canterbury Tales, you get a real taste of different kinds of people of the Middle Ages. The Canterbury Tales are stories told by different characters to pass the time on the way to their destination. The character of the Squire, who is approximately twenty years old, and the son of a knight, is of average height, strong, agile, can read and write, and likes to impress the ladies by singing and dancing. Enrique Iglesias, a Latin Pop star, is much like the Squire in numerous ways. With their similarities in singing talent, appearance, and love life, the comparison is remarkable. One way the Squire and Enrique Iglesias both try to get the ladies is by singing and using their dance moves. The Squire is described as "singing.in hope to win the ladies grace." (Chaucer 107), It seems, as all he does is spend time trying to impress the girls. Since he gets so little sleep, the Squires singing and dancing obviously impresses the girls. Enrique Iglesias says his songs are "love songs". (Enrique's Great Escape 1) He has recorded his love songs in four different languages, trying to reach the hearts of women everywhere. Enrique Iglesias wants to impress people and, clearly is an icon. Enrique Iglesias and The Squire both use their singing talents to win women over. Another way the Squire and Enrique are similar is in their appearance. "Short was his gown, the sleeves were long and wide" and "with locks of curly hair" (Chaucer 107). For the time, the Squire's clothes were flashy and out of the ordinary. His gown was short, some say to show off his legs. Enrique is a "Twenty-six year old hunk." (Enrique's Great Escape 3) He wears flashy clothing, just like the Squire. In his steamy videos, Enrique likes to show off his body. Like his father, Enrique has the face of an angel, and the women know it! Both Enrique and the Squire dress to impress. The last main thing Enrique Iglesias and the Squire have in common is their love lives. Considered a "Latin Lover" from Rolling Stone Magazine, Enrique says his "sex life has defiantly grown," ('I'm sick of Casual Sex' 1).

Athletes Essay -- Sports, High Salary

How much money does the average person really need to be able to eat three times a day, have a roof over their head, send their children to school and have a car? All this could be done on an income between $30,000 and $40,000 easily. But somehow it was decided that people who labour harder than most, city workers, janitors and factory workers, would be paid less than someone who sits behind a desk all day or someone who plays a game for a living. Today athletes are the highest paid people in the country, with the exception of Donald Trump and his toupee. It is ridiculous to believe that someone is really worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and all they have to do is play a sport that millions of people would play for free if given the chance. Therefore, I strongly believe that professional athletes are overpaid due to several reasons. Schingle stated that personal athletes get paid what the market will bear (2008). If attendance at sporting events were to decrease, or advertising dollars were to dry up, they would start getting paid less (Schingle 2008). Since professional sports are a form of entertainment, Schingle said that in America, people pay for their entertainers dearly (2008). Moreover, Schingle compared sports with other field which is Hollywood where he stated that actors are also overpaid in their industry (2008). Bate stressed that most people are jealous that they keep complaining about athlete’s pays (2008). Some people claimed that they pay the athlete’s wages through the ticket money but they did not realize that the endless demand for the tickets and the thirst for the game is what created the high wages (Bate 2008). An athlete has to sacrifice a lot to reach the top of his profession which is being a pr... ... in Africa who are dying from hunger (2008). On top of that, the money can be used for other beneficial things such as increase the salary of doctors, engineers, low paid factory workers working 12 hours a day and make this world a better place to live in (Wadhwa 2008). Lastly, Wadhwa stressed that athletes entertain us but they do not save lives or make this world a better place to live, like doctors and other workers who spend the whole life time just earning enough to survive (Wadhwa 2008). In conclusion, the reason that the athletes are overpaid because of the market demand is not acceptable because the individual’s greed, the owner’s greed and the fact that sports are only for entertainment make it clear that athletes are overpaid for no beneficial reasons. The government should control the flow of money and use it for the development of the country.

Stewardship versus economic decision making in financial reporting

The chief aim of fiscal describing harmonizing to the IASB ‘s Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements model is that of supplying equal information in order to enable stockholders conduct economic determination devising. This brought the argument of whether such nonsubjective neglected the importance of the stewardship appraisal by the portion of stockholders. In the past decennary the IASB and the US FASB have been working on a joint undertaking to develop a conceptual model for fiscal coverage. Such conceptual model has the purpose of supplying a base for developing harmonised, future accounting criterions. In 2008, the boards issued an exposure bill of exchange of chapter one and chapter two of the conceptual model with chapter one undertaking the aims of fiscal coverage. In the exposure bill of exchange that has been recently issued by the two boards, it was identified that the aim of fiscal coverage should be that of catering for all the determinations that capital suppliers make, including both resource allotment determinations and determinations made to protect and heighten their investings. Furthermore on the implicit in exposure bill of exchange there is stated that information about the stewardship of an entity ‘s economic resources should be considered as decision-useful information. Hence in this exposure bill of exchange it is clear that the two boards shifted from concentrating entirely on economic determination devising, to general determination devising, with stewardship being included in such broader definition. Although this move to concentrate on determination utility instead than specifically on economic determination devising was a agency to subsume stewardship in the aim of fiscal coverage, writers such as Andrew Lennard still argue that stewardship and determination utility should be recognised as separate aims. â€Å" aˆÂ ¦stewardship contributes an of import dimension to fiscal coverage, which should be reflected by specific recognition in the aims of fiscal coverage. †[ 1 ] The bulk of the writers who recognise stewardship as a cardinal aim in fiscal coverage, claim that fiscal statements should be prepared on the footing of historical costs. This ensures in supplying a clear, factual history of the minutess that occurred during the twelvemonth, over which direction had control. Therefore describing on historical cost can help stockholders carry through their stewardship appraisal needs better. On the other manus, to provide for determination utility, particularly in footings of economic determination devising, fiscal coverage would concentrate more on the prediction of future hard currency flows. Such nonsubjective would be better addressed with ratings based on market values, since they better reflect the timing and certainty of future hard currency flows. This is taking to the outgrowth of rating techniques based on current values, such as just value. The acceptance of just value accounting is possibly one of the most controversial issues presently being faced by the accounting universe. Both the IASB and the FASB have been working on this issue for the last twosome old ages. Traditionally, fiscal coverage has been entirely based on historical costs. The usage of current values, such as just value describing emerged comparatively late, and was applied to merely few selected countries. One of the countries where just value had a major influence is in the measuring of fiscal instrument. Using market values to value Financial Instruments is deemed to be dependable ( since markets in these points are good developed ) and relevant ( because the values of fiscal instruments can see big fluctuations, therefore historical costs depicts a really hapless image of current values ) . However, in the nearby hereafter, just value measuring is likely to be extended to other assets, particularly in the visible radiation of the fact of the IASB â €˜s and FASB ‘s sensed penchant for just value measuring even where the market is non good developed. â€Å" The IASB believes that just value measuring under IFRS and GAAP is already consistent. Besides, the IASB and the FASB will go on to work together to guarantee that using just value in an inactive market is accounted for systematically †[ 2 ]. Stockholders are divided into two chief classs, private persons and institutional investors. Although fiscal coverage is designed to provide for the demands of capital suppliers, due to the deficiency of cognition normally found within private single stockholders, concerns may originate on what such private single stockholders identify as utile, for their determination devising.Need for the survey:The thesis ‘s aim is to place the current demands of private stockholders and what they identify as valuable information. The thesis shall so analyze to what extent the focal point on determination utility and the prediction of future hard currency flows through just value accounting shall help private stockholders in fulfilling their demands.Research Methodology:The thesis will be of a qualitative nature. The purpose of such thesis is to accomplish a deep apprehension of what local private stockholders value as relevant information, and to analyze whether the emerging construct of ju st value accounting will be supplying such users more relevant accounting information. The purpose of the survey is non to generalize findings but to obtain rich description on the implicit in subject. The method being taken into consideration to garner the qualitative information is the puting up of focal point groups with stockholders. Such group treatments provide direct grounds about similarities and differences in participant ‘s sentiments. Participants are non required to reply for every inquiry enabling them to construct on one another ‘s response. Furthermore by moving as a moderator I can guarantee that the treatment is ever kept on path. Finally, focal point groups can be considered as a more plausible solution when compared to open ended interviews with stockholders. The response rate of stockholders to a focal point group is likely to be greater when compared to a personal 1 on one interview, since the latter is perceived as more intrusive. The chief restriction of utilizing focal point groups is possibly the hazard that people influence each other ‘s response. As a consequence the response of participants can be different than the response that would hold been generated from a private 1 on one interview. Stockholders from two local, listed companies are traveling to be considered as the population sample. These companies are Bank of Valletta and HSBC. The pick fell on these companies because due to the recent alterations to IAS 39 and IFRS 7, just value measuring had a considerable impact on the banking sector. Thereby, due to such fact stockholders can be even more concerned and affected with the underlying capable. Two focal point groups are planned to be set, one with BOV stockholders and one with HSBC stockholders, with groups runing from six to twelve members. Shareholder ‘s list can be obtained from the Malta Financial Services Authority. The sampled population will except abroad stockholders, trusts and investing companies, therefore concentrating entirely on local private stockholders.Chapters Overview:Introduction: foremost the stewardship versus economic determination doing argument will be tackled, and its effects on rating on fiscal coverage will be analysed. The th esis shall so concentrate on the outgrowth of just value as a measuring tool and its prospective use. Furthermore just value will be compared and contrasted with cost based rating. The debut will besides include an scrutiny of how each rating method caters for the single private stockholders ‘ demands. Literature Reappraisal: literature reappraisal can be focused on two facets being the argument of just value measuring versus cost based measuring, and the argument of whether private stockholders use accounting information largely for economic determination devising, or to measure stewardship. Research Methodology: in this subdivision I shall depict how the consequences were achieved, explicating how the information was collected and analyzed. This subdivision shall incorporate the failings and restrictions of the research methods and methodological analysis used. In the methodological analysis I shall besides include any jobs that I anticipated and explicate any stairss taken to forestall them from happening. Findingss: this portion of thesis will incorporate the information generated from the focal point groups. Consequences will be presented, interpreted and discussed in this subdivision. Decision: this portion will supply reasoning penetrations on the research, and recommendations of other research inquiries that can be tackled to better the research on the country. The chief inquiries to be answered in this subdivision are: what has been learnt from the consequences? How can this cognition be used? What are the defects of the research?Bibliography:Accounting Standards Board. ( 2007 ) . STEWARDSHIP/ACCOUNTABILITY AS AN OBJECTIVE OF FINANCIAL REPORTING A remark on the IASB/FASB Conceptual Framework Project. United kingdom: Accounting Standards Board. Alan Bryman, E. B. ( 2007 ) . Business Research Methods 2 edition. United kingdom: Oxford University Press. Doron Nissim, S. P. ( 2007 ) . ON THE APPLICATION OF FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING. Columbia Univesity. Lennard, A. ( 2008 ) . Stewardship and the aims of fiscal statements: a remark on IASB ‘s Preliminary Positions on an improved Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting. United kingdom: Accounting Standards Board. RONEN, J. ( 2008 ) . To Fair Value or Not to Fair Value: A Broader Perspective. Accounting Foundation, Sydney. Schmidt, S. ( 2004 ) . Fair Value Accounting. United states: Governors of Federal Reserve System. Whittington, G. ( 2008 ) . Fair Value and the IASB/FASB Conceptual Framework Project: An Alternate View. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.