Self balancing vehicle

Self balancing vehicle 1.Introduction 1.1. Introduction Research on two wheeled, self balancing vehicle is gaining momentum in many laboratories around the world and has made many developments based on it. Balancing carts are defined by their ability to balance on two wheels and spin on the spot similar to an inverted pendulum. It has been the subject of many researches around the world ever since people started investigating the concept of inverted pendulum system. Many forms and functions of a two wheeled cart have been developed and modified, due to its high manoeuvrability, two wheeled balancing cart has been investigated and developed to become a human transport machine. The Segway, Pegasus, and iBot models are such examples of the design of two wheeled balancing robot as a human transport machine. Balancing of a two wheel cart is a non linear control problem which is quite complex to solve in a methodological approach due to two degrees of freedom, i.e. the balancing cart position and angle using only one control input force. The control principle simply involves driving the wheels of the cart in the direction where the body is falling. It has the same principles as balancing a broom stick on the palm of a hand, a person balancing the stick moves the hand in the direction that the stick is falling The scope of this thesis is to design a controller and develop the hardware for the two wheeled cart such that the cart can stay in an upright position while the cart is in a static position or moving. Apart from the above, the thesis will look into the suitability and performance of different types of linear state space controllers namely the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), pole placement controller and state observer design in balancing the system. 1.2. Literature Review The wide application of technology derived from the very concept of inverted pendulum has lead to many researches being carried out by many researchers and robot enthusiasts around the world. This chapter provides a review on some vital topics related to the balancing of a two wheeled robot as well as some of the existing human transporters, 1.2.1. Segway The Segway PT is a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle invented by Dean Kamen. It is produced by Segway Inc. of New Hampshire, USA. The working of the Segway is based on a new technology termed dynamic stabilization, i.e. it uses the bodys movement to enable the Segway to perform its function. For instance, to move forward or backward, the rider has to lean in the required direction, similarly, for left-right movement, the Leansteer frame is turned in the required direction. The dynamics of Segway PT are also based on the concept of the inverted pendulum. It consists of electric motors powered by Valence Technology and phosphate based lithium ion batteries, two tilt sensors and 5 gyroscopes. The servo drive motors rotate the wheels forward or backwards as needed for balance or propulsion. 1.2.2. Self Balancing Scooter Trevor Blackwell built a self-balancing scooter similar to the Segway HT that was completed in 2002. There are two models of the scooter built by Trevor Blackwell and the control system of the vehicle are summarized below, Model 1: The scooter is powered by Remote Control (RC) car battery packs. The packs provide a power source that can support the high discharge rate demanded by the motors. The control system of the vehicle is run from an 8-bit Atmel microcontroller using Proportional Derivative (PD) control with feedback from a piezo electric rate gyroscope. The gain parameters can be tuned by hand while actually using the vehicle. The motors are controlled by the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signals from the motor driver. Steering is done by making one wheel go faster than the other. Because all the mass is centered between the wheels, it can spin around quite quickly. The steering system adds and subtracts a small percentage of power from the motors depending on the current speed of the vehicle Model 2: This model is an improvisation of the first model. It is designed to be much smoother, lighter and faster than the first model. Roboteq dual channel motor controller used in the first model is replaced with an OSMC (Open Source Motor Controller) driving each wheel independently. The OSMC can supply from 13V to 50V at 160A continuous and 400A peak while the major advantage stems from the processing time which is in the order of one or two milliseconds compared to tens of milliseconds with the previously used Roboteq motor controller. The gyroscope system used in the first model is replaced with a gyroscope/accelerometer assembly that has significantly less noise and less susceptible to vibrations. This model includes a Bluetooth connection such that the scooter can be driven remotely while balancing. 1.2.3. JOE le Pendule Felix, Grasser (2002) built a revolutionary two-wheeled vehicle called the JOE. It consists of two coaxial wheels with each wheel coupled to a DC motor. This configuration enables the vehicle to do stationary U-turns. The control system consists of two state space controllers which drives the motors so as to keep the system in equilibrium while in motion. In order to reduce cost as well as danger for the test pilots a scaled down prototype carrying a weight instead of a driver was built (Grasser et al). The implemented control system is the pole placement control. JOEs performance can be further enhanced by varying the pole placement in real time depending on the states and inputs of the system. The implementation of these controllers can be seen in papers published by Nakajima et al. (1997), Shiroma et al. (1996), Takahashi et al. (2001) and Grasser et al (2002). 1.2.4 LegWay EquiBot Steve Hassenplugs Lego based LegWay uses two Electro-Optical Proximity Detectors to balance and detect and follow lines. This robot uses Infrared Proximity detectors to deduce the tilt angle of the robot. Another robot similar to the Legway is the Equibot by Dan Piponi. Equibot is a balancing robot which is like a small scale segway. It is based around an ATMega32 RISC Microcontroller. It has just one sensor: the Sharp infrared ranger. This is positioned facing downwards to measure distance to the floor and as a result tilt angle is obtained. The output from this device is used to decide which way the robot is leaning and hence stabilize the system. 1.2.5 nBot Balancing Robot The nBot balancing robot by David P.Anderson is another two wheeled balancing robot that has been developed in the recent past, the concept of balancing this robot could be applied to this two wheeled balancing cart project, for the nBot the wheels are driven in such a way as to stay under the robots center of gravity, hence, the robot remains balanced. The nbot consists of two feedback sensors: a tilt or angle sensor to measure the tilt of the robot with respect to gravity, and also consist of encoders on the wheels in order to measure the position of the base of the robot. The position and motion of an inverted pendulum based machine such as the nBot are defined by four variables. They are the position, the velocity, the tilt angle and the tilt rate. The measurements from these four variables are summed and fed back as a motor voltage which is proportional to torque, hence is used to balance and drive the robot. 1.2.6 EDGAR A student project at the University of Adelaide under the guidance of Dr.Ben Cazzolato resulted in EDGAR, the Electro-Drive Grav-Aware Ride. EDGARs design draws up the successes and failures of the Segway PT and various other attempts of producing self balancing scooters which use different automatic control methods. Angular feedbacks from the gyroscopic sensor and PWM output to motors are used in a control system to achieve balance in EDGAR. The microcontroller used is the Wytec MiniDRAGON+ development board; the microcontroller receives the information from sensors, interprets the information and then sends commands to drive the system to maintain balance.

Stakeholder Management and Culture Management

Stakeholder Management and Culture Management The process of identifying and managing project stakeholders and culture is one of the most important processes in project implementation because not only is project success judged by stakeholder satisfaction, but because every stakeholder makes an essential contribution to the project (Verzuh 2008, p.48). Beside stakeholder identification and management, project managers are required to establish a balance between implementing global standards and responding to local needs in their efforts to effectively manage the diffusion of stakeholder principles and practices (Nicolod 2007, p.484). Despite the great importance associated with stakeholder and culture management processes, these thorny processes or areas in project implementation have received less attention especially when comparisons are done relative to other areas that depend on these processes (Sharp et al. 1999, p.1). Such areas include, but are unlimited to, scenario-based requirements and user involvement in the project development stages. It was from this perspective that this paper decided to make the following contributions on this topic: first, a study was developed based on the theoretical framework involved in the identification and management of stakeholder relationships. The project went on to review literature that helps its users to understand clearly the balance that needs to be struck between understanding of organizational culture and stakeholder management. It is from the above perspective that this case study aimed to study the role and the influence of various stakeholders in the implementation of projects. In tackling this case study, the author began by stating the aim the need for studying this topic. This was followed by a review of the literature. The literature review clearly established who the project stakeholders were. In addition, their role and their influence in the project were clearly identified. Moreover, the literature review defined organizational culture and went on to establish its link with stakeholder management. After reviewing the literature, the author, in a holistic view, explored how a reputable Saudi technology firm, Zuhair Fayze Partnership (ZFP), identified and managed its stakeholders during a multi-million project implemented by the company. This project, which was undertaken in the year 2001 involved the analysis, design, development, installation and commissioning of a Facilities Information System to the Royal Saudi Air Forces (RSAF)- a renown aviation branch that services all Saudi Arabias Airbases. Having explored on the findings from his study, the author conclude by giving a critical analysis of his experience. It should be highlighted that this case study, having been compiled after the implementation of a military IT project, presented a unique structure and experience. This was so because it involved the development of a military system and as such some of its details could not be studied openly due to security restrictions. As such, some knowledge gaps might be present in this case study thus constituting its major limitation. 2.0 Aim and rationale of this paper This papers aim was to identify who the key project stakeholders were, how they were managed and how their expectations come to influence the success of the FIS project. In addition, the author assessed how organizational or national culture shaped the expectations of key stakeholders. All these were intended to help him and the users of this paper to develop suitable and effective stakeholder management strategies in their current or future project assignments. More so, in writing this paper, it should be noted that the author was motivated by the fact that despite the many developments in techniques and development tools to effectively manage projects, several projects have still experienced difficulties that have affected their overall quality leading to time and cost overruns. Mohammed (2006) in reviewing Morris and Hough (1987) research on an estimated 3500 projects established that overruns were the norm in project implementation since they ranged between 40 to 200 percent. The figure below depicted general statistics associated with project success from this research. Parameter %-age rating Succeeded 29 Failed 18 Challenged 53 Table 1 showing the statistics of project success and failure Pie chart 1 depicting the statistics of project success and failure 3.0 Literature review 3.1Project stakeholders Singleton (2007) defined stakeholders as organizations or individuals who are actively involved in projects and whose interests may be negatively or positively affected in the courses of completion or execution of these particular projects (p.12). According to him therefore, stakeholders were made up of two categories; indirect stakeholders and direct stakeholders. Indirect stakeholders were summed up by those individuals who, despite having some level of influence or interest in the operations of the business, were not directly involved in the operations of the project. On the other hand, direct stakeholders were composed of individuals who were directly involved in the operations of any project lifecycle. As such, they were affected by the particular project, had the power to influence it or had stakes in the successful completion of the project. The following figure 1 showed the levels of stakeholder influence and interest. High Interest Manage them closely Keep informed of project operations High Influence Low Influence Keep satisfied Monitor their operations Low Interest On their part, Walker and others (2008), in trying to establish a valid description of who a stakeholder was, discovered that stakeholders were groups or individuals who possessed some right aspects or interest in the operations of a project and thus contributed to or were impacted by say, the outcome or the work of the project (p.648). To them, stakeholders could be classified into four groups namely; upstream stakeholders, downstream stakeholders supply-chain partners, project team stakeholders and external stakeholders. Figure 1 below showed these groups of project stakeholders. Walker and his group (2000) in assessing the influence of project stakeholders and their mapping by project teams, came to the conclusion that identifying stakeholders could help trigger a course of investigation that leads to a better understanding of the nature and types of power and influence that may be exerted on, within and to project management teams (p.648). Frooman (1999) expounded on this point by stating that in identifying the project stakeholders, the project managers were likely to determine whether their projects were to be awarded with the needed resources. On their part, Post and others (2002) though acknowledging Freemans popularised description of a stakeholder as the interests and entities that are either involuntarily or voluntarily involved in a firms operations, went on to develop their own stakeholder view that stressed on the need for stakeholder relationships in any project that involved creation of any organizational wealth (p.1). In addition, Sharp and others (1999) just simply defined a stakeholder as any individual or group who affected or were affected by achievement of a projects objectives (p.1). They went ahead to list various categories of stakeholders as including managers of a project, end-users, engineers involved in system analysis, design and development, customers who are going to make use of the developed system, external bodies for instance system regulators, domain experts and many more (Sharp et al.1999, p.1-2). The three scholars expounded on their definition by giving another perspective that stakeholders may be composed of three categories namely those external on the project team; but who are internal in the organization, those internal on the project team and those who are external to both the organization and the project team (Sharp et al. 1999, p.2). 3.2 Understanding organizational or national cultures Weiss (2008) defined organizational culture as the shared values and meanings as held by organizational members in common, and are articulated and practised by an organizations leaders (p. 300). To Weiss therefore, corporate culture is transmitted through: Leadership styles and values as espoused and practised by organizational leaders. The heroes and heroines that the company rewards and holds up as models (Weiss 2008, p.300). The rights or symbols valued by organizations. The way of communication that exists between project heads and their stakeholders. Weiss (2008) went ahead to highlight that though organizational cultures were both invisible and visible, informal and formal, project managers needed to study and understand organizational cultures through observation, listening and interacting with project or organizational stakeholders. Furthermore, they could study organizational culture in the following ways: studying an organizations physical setting and reading company policies to familiarise themselves with its expected norms or behaviours. On his part, Chinyio (2007) defined organizational culture as involving the level of deeper and basic beliefs and assumptions as shared by the members of organizations, that unconsciously operate and defined in the basic taken for granted fashion, as organizations view of themselves and their environment (pp.176-177). Ideally, House and his group (2002) in their GLOBE research program theoretically defined organizational culture as any shared motives, beliefs, values, interpretations and identities or meanings of important events that emerge from most common member experiences and are passed across generations of age (p.5). Furthermore, in helping us to broaden our understanding of culture, Schein (1996) highlighted that culture manifested itself at 3 levels namely the level of deep tacit assumptions, the level of espoused values that reflected on what a group wished to be and the day to day behaviour. For any project success, project implementers needed to have a clear understanding of all the identified levels. From their perspective, Osland and Bird (2000) noted that there was a tendency for observers to confuse individual with group values (p.69). As such, there was need for project expatriates to carry out keen observations to identify the variance in behavioural norms for individuals, organizational cultures, subcultures as well as changing sections of the society (p.70). More so, Schein (1996) when analyzing why innovative projects failed to proliferate and survive noted there was lack of alignment amongst the following categories of culture: the operator culture which existed amongst the subordinates of an organization, the engineering culture which existed amongst the middle level managers and the executive culture which was present amongst the company top management (p.9). 3.3 The link between stakeholders and organizational culture Studies on project management have shown that coupled with leaderships, organizational cultures are central to projects operating efficiency and overall effectiveness. Studies have generally revealed that cultures are the glue that holds other organizational dimensions (strategy, structure, people and systems) together (Weiss 2008, p.300). Project success will only be achieved if project leaders come to associate themselves with modelling, building and helping to sustain ethical and legal organizational or national cultures via comprehensive and properly defined compliance and ethics programs. 3.4 Key steps in stakeholder management Singleton (2007) identified the following as the key steps in any stakeholder management process: Identification of key stakeholder groups Determination of stakeholder influences and interests Development of management strategies for each identified groups. On his part, Gibben (2010) postulated that before going ahead to implement any project, project leaders or managers needed to take into account the following issues (p.14); Clearly identify project stakeholders; Gather key data or information of the identified stakeholders; Use the collected data to determine or identify stakeholder priorities; Establish the strengths and weaknesses of the various stakeholders; Identify the stakeholder support; Predict the stakeholder behaviours. This can be determined by studying organizational culture and finally; Prepare a stakeholder management strategy. All the above stages can be summarized under stakeholder analysis approach. Tellingly, Strong and Rath (2005) argued that the approach of stakeholder management contained three key steps namely; stakeholder identification, stakeholder analysis and stakeholder planning (p.173). Furthermore, on their part, Carayannis and his group (2005) stated the following as the key steps involved in stakeholder management (p.184). Identifying and classifying the stakeholders of the project (against, neutral, for) and analyzing their possible project impacts. This could be done using the project lifecycle. Isolating and analyzing project stakeholders with any likely negative impacts Incorporating and involving key primary project stakeholders (included and not limited to the clients, labour union, suppliers, contractors, consultants, and government agencies) in the project plan and in every subsequent phase of the project Ensuring that the required information is regularly availed to the identified stakeholders at appropriate times. This will ensure that the identified key stakeholders will clearly concur with project objectives leading to a successful completion of the particular project. 3.5 Stakeholder management strategies These are the approaches used by project managers in minimizing the influences caused by the identified project stakeholders. From his research, Karlsen (2002) found out that in most projects, systematic or formal stakeholder management strategies did not exist (p.22). From his research, stakeholders were managed on a random basis since there were no plans, processes, methods or well-functioning strategies. As a result, project managers decided on the best solutions of managing any identified stakeholder weaknesses. However, Wolper (2004) went ahead to propose the four generic strategies of managing stakeholder relationships (p.172). These were: Collaborating cautiously with the stakeholders who were found to have a mixed blessing relationship on the project. Involving and trusting the supportive stakeholders Implementing defensive strategies that are pro- active in nature for the non-supportive stakeholders; and Monitoring the stakeholders with little/marginal relationships with efficiency. 4.0 Project case study 4.1 How ZFP identified and managed its key stakeholders This being a military technology system, ZFP used a different but distinct approach of implementing the system. The process of stakeholder identification was the third in its project implementation stages after the definition of the strategic issue and the determination of underlying factors. The following is a detailed analysis of how ZFP carried out this important but mostly overlooked process of project implementation. The company project implementation committee started by identifying the key stakeholders. In doing this, the committee categorised the stakeholders into two broad categories. These were the primary and secondary stakeholders. The following were identified as belonging to the primary stakeholder category: Customers or users of the FIS system (Saudi Arabian air force soldiers) Project managers, supervisors and engineers from ZFP and RSAF. RSAF shareholders (all Saudi Arabian air force bases: Dhahran, Tabuk, Taif, Al Kharj and Khamis Mushait and the Saudi Government) Suppliers/contractors/subcontractors of hardware and any software packages Project steering committee Primary stakeholders were considered as those individuals or groups who had key interests in the FIS project. As such, they were likely to be affected by the operations in the FIS project lifecycle. On the other hand, secondary stakeholders were described as those individuals who had no or very few interest on the FIS project. They were considered vital in this project since their actions may have, in one way or another influenced the quality of the general system that was to be developed then. For instance, the steering committee had pointed out that the Saudi Arabian media constituted a key secondary stakeholder since any negative covering on this huge public and military project might have caused great damage to the successful completion of this project. This was so because negative publicity towards the project may have raised public outcry which would have resulted in the Saudi treasury suspending the financing of this complex and multi-million FIS project. Besides the media, other individuals or groups who made it to the secondary stakeholder category included and were unlimited to the following: The licensing agency (Malath Cooperative Insurance Reinsurance) Saudi Arabian environmentalists The general Saudi Public Professional organizations in the Saudi Kingdom for instance, Legalized Institutes for Project management in Saudi Arabia. Competitors (those firms who lost their bids to deliver the system) Anyone one who validly claimed to have a stake in the FIS project Having successfully identified FIS project stakeholders, the steering committee left it to the project manager to analyse their influence and create a management strategy for this project. As such, the project manager, after close consultation with project supervisors, developed the following as the stakeholder analysis and management strategy: Stakeholder(s) Interest/Issues of concern Action (s) Saudi air force soldiers, RSAF shareholders, management teams and project engineers They were to be the key users of the system and as such were to provide a supportive relationship. Were low as potential threats but high on ensuring potential co-operation. Since they had a supportive relationship, their relationship management was likely to be managed on a rare basis. ZFP was to involve these supportive stakeholders in all its relevant project issues. The licensing agencies, environmentalists, professional organizational, competitors and the general Saudi public These were to present three types of relations; mixed blessing, non-supportive and marginal stakeholder relationship. As a result of these relationships, they were to constitute high potential threats and thus needed high potential co-operation from the project managers to address their hidden and bad intentions. These categories of stakeholders were to be managed through cautious, monitoring and proactive defence strategies. Besides using these strategies, generic strategies, most appropriate to any new diagnostic category, was to be adopted. For instance, instead of ZFP defending itself against negative publicity, it was to develop a high quality system at an affordable competitive price. The quality of the FIS system would thus speak for itself leading to the non-supportive relationships losing their credibility in their efforts to dispute the project Table 2 showing how ZFP analysed and developed stakeholder management strategy 4.3 How stakeholder expectations affected the successful delivery of the project. As noted earlier, the declaration that a project was successful can only be justified if the specific project clearly answered to the needs or expectations of most, if not all, stakeholders. In this technology project, the identified primary and secondary groups of stakeholders had their own unique expectations which were clearly and appropriately addressed by the overall project manager (with the assistance of the steering committee members). 5.0 A discussion of my experience 5.1 Identification of key stakeholders As previously highlighted, the steering committee that was chosen to oversee the implementation of this huge IT project had, in liaison with the project manager, held several sessions in the initial stages upon which key FIS project stakeholders were identified. From the workshops held, it was established that two categories of stakeholders claimed ownership to this project. These were the primary and secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders were constituted by Saudi air force soldiers, RSAF shareholders, project management, project engineers, project suppliers, contractors and sub-contractors amongst others. Secondary stakeholders were constituted by the licensing agency (Malath Cooperative Insurance Reinsurance), environmentalists, professional organizational, competitors and the general Saudi public. 5.2 Understanding key stakeholder expectations Other than the RSAFs managing providing a detailed description of the requirements of the FIS system that was to be developed, the project manager and the steering team had to do their best to ensure that additional funds were provided to the various phases of the project on a need basis. Moreover, the management from both companies were frequently updated on the status of the FIS project amongst other stakeholder expectations. In the end, a hi-tech Facilities Information System was delivered, installed and commissioned to the delight of the many project stakeholders. 5.3 The assessment of key stakeholder influence The FIS project steering members and the overall project manager carried out a comprehensive analysis of the two categories of stakeholders. This was done with the main intention of determining their influence and the need to counter it. During this analysis stage, four stakeholder relationships were identified by the management team. It is from these relationships that the influences of these stakeholders were determined. The two types of relationships were: The supportive relationship which was constituted by all the primary stakeholders as listed above. This category of stakeholders posed a low potential threat to the success of the FIS project since they fully supported the aim and goals of the FIS project. They thus worked hard to help achieve the project aim and goals. The non-supportive relationship was made up of a few secondary stakeholders for instance the competitors. They formed a most distressing relationship and as such were high potential threats. 5.4 management of key stakeholder influence In managing the influences of key stakeholders, the steering committee members decided to use a collaborative and proactive defence to address the influence of the non-supportive stakeholders. In adopting this strategy, the management intended to turn the negative non-supportive relationship into a supportive stakeholder relationship. For example, when environmentalists tried to inquire on the suitability of the FIS system in conserving the environment, the steering committee took it upon them to organize a consultative and awareness forum where this specific stakeholder was comprehensively updated on the strengths of the FIS system in conserving and preserving the environment. At the conclusion of the forum, all stakeholders had joined the supportive stakeholder relationship. The influences of supportive stakeholders were addressed through a strategy that was dubbed as trustworthy involvement. This strategy placed little attention to the management of these stakeholders since they posed a low threat to the survival or successful completion of the FIS project. 5.5 Understanding the organisational culture Having established the above stakeholder management strategy, ZFP held meetings and reviewed organizational policies. This was carried with the main intention of understanding RSAFs organizational culture. From the reviewed reports and the observations made, it was established that most air force soldiers in the four airbases were technology gigs and as such, would comfortable interact with the high-tech FIS system that was being developed. 5.6 Understanding national culture characteristics of its team members and identified key stakeholders Being a Saudi Arabian technology firm and boasting a hundred percent Saudi workforce, ZFP did not experience difficulties in understanding cultural characteristics of the Saudi Kingdom. The steering committee had noted that most Saudis were tolerant, self-directed, efficient, logical, task-oriented, multi-tasking, collaborative, team-players and entrepreneurial. These characteristics were manifest in most stakeholders and were even identified by the project manager as the key strengths that propelled the FIS project to emerge a success. 5.7 How my observations compared with the literature The author had reviewed a lot of literature both from the class lectures and electronic sources. This literature had comprehensively covered amongst others the following objectives: To study some of the stakeholder concepts To understand the nature of stakeholder engagement in various projects To clearly define who the stakeholders were and go ahead to state their role in project implementation To understand the various stakeholder influences and how stakeholder management strategies were developed to counteract the established stakeholder influences. To define national and organizational culture and to establish their link with stakeholder management. Having participated in almost all project phases and keenly observed the various project activities, the author highlight that ZFP, as a reputable technology firm, was worth its reputation as one of the best Saudi Arabian technology firms. This is because of the systematic manner in which its employees implemented the various project phases. For instance, before identifying the key stakeholders, the steering team had clearly stated and established the strategy for this project. This had been followed by a comprehensive review of the factors influencing the project. The stakeholder management, though overlooked in most worldwide projects, received its value of attention with key stakeholders being clearly identified, their analysis being carried out and a management strategy established to counteract their influences. All this matched the concepts studied in the literature review. 5.8 Effective implementation of the project As the saying goes, it is always hard to achieve 100 percent success in any (project) endeavour. Despite the FIS project being declared a success, it should be noted that this project, if objectively analysed, had some weaknesses in its implementation stages. The following recommendation can be made on the stakeholder and culture management phases; which were the key themes of this study: The project management team should specifically identify the key stakeholder in any future project. This will help the management to carry out comprehensive analysis of the specific stakeholders. As such, they will adequately propose as many options of managing their influences. This is vital because it was noted that the management team had generalized some of their stakeholders. For example, instead of just listing competitors as secondary stakeholders, they should have gone ahead to identify who constituted these technology competitors. For instance, The Consolidated Contractors International Company had in many cases emerged as the greatest competitor to ZFP. There was thus need to establish a management strategy that could counteracted its influence in such multi-million technology projects. Conclusively, it should be emphasized that the presented case study has reviewed theoretical and highlighted the observations from a practical perspective. Through theoretical literature review, the author had the opportunity to expound on his knowledge on the categories of individuals that summed up the project stakeholders. Furthermore, the author found out that rational approach to stakeholder management involved exhaustive identification of stakeholders through mapping of their project roles. To add, the idea that the implementation of suitable communication processes to projects with multiple stakeholders reinforced my knowledge that communication was the key aspect of winning the support of project stakeholders. In the end, in identifying the limitation of this study, the author points out that the observations made in this project were restrictive in nature. This is because the author, being a learner, was not granted permission to study all project aspects due the restrictive measures that accompanied this military project. There is therefore need for further research to examine relationships between performance and corporate actions, key aspects which have been studied on a sketched outline in this case study.

Epidurals :: essays research papers

If birth has been occurring since the beginning of time why do so many women act as if it’s something new? Nowadays, you have women asking for morphine, walking epidurals, and spinal epidurals. Why are so many women deciding that they can’t do a natural childbirth and what are the risks of not having one? Researchers have done studies on epidurals to determine if they cause women to get an increase in c-sections. They have also done studies to determine if getting an epidural to early will increase the chances of getting an epidural.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Why would you get an epidural when there are different ways to have a pain free pregnancy? This is the question that most women ask who have natural childbirths. Why get a shot in your back that may give you paralysis or cause back pains years after you have received the shot. Some doctors suggest going to Lamaze classes to reduce labor pains. You can also deliver your baby in water to ease some of the pain and to give the baby a good transition into the world. Plus epidurals can have a negative effect on the baby. They can lower the baby’s heart rate. Some other side effects for the mother are headaches, vomiting, and dystocia.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Why should I have a natural birth, â€Å"You don’t get a medal for going without drugs, you know.† Why go through the pain when you can get an injection that can take away just enough of the pain that you can still enjoy the labor? â€Å"There is no shame in asking for an epidural,† said Dr. Cynthia Wong of Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University. In the United States more than 80% of pregnant women are now having c-sections. Epidurals give the mothers a chance to participate in the delivery and actually enjoy it. You can also get a walking epidural so that you can still push during the labor and cope with the pain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When should I get an epidural? Some doctors stated that you shouldn’t get an epidural until the cervix has dilated to 4 centimeters. New studies have claimed that you can have an epidural as soon as the pain gets unbearable. Many doctors still discourage getting an epidural before you are 4 centimeters dilated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After reading so many articles online from the Chicago Sun times and different clinics and hospitals I am still skeptical.

Love in Knights Tale and Wife of Baths Tale Essay -- Chaucers Cante

Love in Knight's Tale and Wife of Bath's Tale The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer around 1386, is a collection of tale told by pilgrims on a religious pilgrimage. Two of these tales, "The Knight's Tale" and "The Wife of Bath's Tale", involve different kinds of love and different love relationships. Some of the loves are based on nobility, some are forced, and some are based on mutual respect for each partner. My idea of love is one that combines aspects from each of the tales told in The Canterbury Tales. In "The Knight's Tale", the love between the two knights and Emelye is intensely powerful. The love that Palomon and Arcite feel towards Emelye is so strong that the two knights feel that it is worth more than their own lives. At one point, Palomon tells Arcite that he shall either have Emelye or he shall die. The love that Palomon feels for Emelye is so overwhelming that he is willing to take on an armed man, in mortal combat, just for the love of a woman. Perhaps he feels that without her, he will surely die, so why not die trying to win her? The ironic fact about the relationship between each knight and Emelye is the fact that Emelye does not wish to marry either of the knights. She is aware that she is just a prized possession, one that is not fully known, because she has never exchanged a single word with either gentleman. However, in that time period, she could not easily express her feelings, and if she were able to, those feelings would most likely be ignored. Like already mentioned, this is so ironic because Arcite and Palomon are about to kill each other for Emelye's love and she doesn't want to be loved by either of them. She enjoys the thrills of maidenhood too much to have them ended by ... .... The Wife of Bath has used men in her life for riches. She leans toward a feminist nature and seems resentful toward most men. For women, she is easy to respect and admire. She is an intelligent woman, however, she may not know the limits of her games. That is the beauty of society. Thousands of years after this novel has been written, men and women still don not know what one another want. In taking both Psychology and Sociology this year, I hope to grasp a better understanding on how both sexes co-exist with one another. Works Consulted: Chaucer, Geoffrey. â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.† From The Riverside Chaucer, Third Edition. Ed. Larry D. Benson. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed Mack, Maynard et al. W. W. Norton and Co. New York, NY. 1992. 1551-1621.

Comparing Anzia Yezierskas Bread Givers and Soap and Water Essay

Anzia Yezierska's Bread Givers and Soap and Water       In Anzia Yezierska's works Bread Givers and "Soap and Water", she uses similar aspects of the characters that portray her own life. Both of the stories resemble similarities of Yezierska's life and appear to be autobiographical to her personal experiences. The author portrays, in both the stories, a belief that the majority culture is "clean" while the minority culture is dirty. Sarah in Bread Givers and the narrator in "Soap and Water" each have a hunger that drive them in different directions: actual hunger for food, progress into society and a hunger for knowledge. The ladies in both of the stories share similar desires: to become a teacher, go to college, and feed a constant hunger. Though the stories are alike they differ in some areas: outcomes of college life, self -portrayal and chances of getting started in the professional world.    Yezierska's work appears to reflect her own lifestyle. In fact, since the use of the first person narration many think that her work his autobiographical. Most of her works portray the Immigrant woman is in pursuit of the American dream (Drucker 1-3).   Like the Characters in Yezierska's stories Bread Givers and "Soap and Water", Yezierska had the same goals and accomplishments and came from a similar background: going to college, becoming a teacher, working in the laundry business and being raised in poverty. Although the stories resemble Yezierska's life, they are not, according to her daughter, completely accountable. According to Henriksen's "A Writers Life", he claims Yezierska's daughter warns against the accuracy of her mother's writing. "Although most of her writing was autobiographical, she was inc... ...ctions: actual hunger for food, progress into society and a hunger for knowledge. The hunger is what leads them to their ultimate goal.    Works Cited Druker, Sally. Homepage. 15 April 2014.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.georgetown.edu/bassr/heath/syllabuild/iguide/yezierska.html Ebest, Ron. "Anzia Yezierska and the Popular Periodical Debate Over the Jews." Melus. Spring 2000 http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m2278/1_25/63323838/p1/article.jhtml?term=Anzia+and%20the+the+popular+periodical+debate Prentice-Hall. Homepage. 14 April 2014. http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/keating/chapter6/custom17/deluxe-content.html Yezierska, Anzia. Bread Givers. New York: Persea Books, 1925. ---. "Soap and Water." Imagining America: Stories from the Promised Land. Ed. Wesley Brown and Amy Ling. New York: Persea Books, 1991. 105-110.

Toefl essay

China and his story is unrealistic. However, this is directly refuted by the teacher's claim that Marco Polo really did go on the trip to China as he said. To begin with, the reading suggests that all of the original accounts of his Journey is given in different language and version. It is written in Latin, Italy, and Old France but it contains all different details.The lecturer, however, contradicts this point by asserting that at first, when he was in Jail, his Jail fellow, which was romance novelist rote the first version in France, and Marco Polo later wrote own account in Italian, which is later translated in to Latin. Another point that article stresses is that Marco Polo fail to mention basic fact about China. He did not write about tea drinking or Great Wall. Also, he was unable to speak Chinese even though he lived In China for 17 years.On the other hand, the speaker asserts that he did not see common stuffs of China because he lived in different location. Mostly, Marco Polo lived in North, where tea was unable to see. For him, It was hard to see Great Wall cause it was not finished and separated In pieces. When Marco Polo left China the Great Wall was done. Thus, Kabuki Khan sent Persian Translator for Marco Polo, who was able to speak Persian.Therefore, he did not have to learn Chinese. Finally, the passage points out that Marco Polo's name Is not written In any of China's record. If he claim to know Kabuki Khan, who was the ruler, his name should be written In any of record. In contrast, this viewpoint Is rebutted by the lecturer's assertion that he was using Persian name. Also, he was not really Important enough to written In Chinese record. Toefl Essay TOEFL ESSAY RATING SCALE 6 An essay at this level – effectively addresses the writing task – is well organized and well developed – uses clearly appropriate details to support a thesis or illustrate ideas – displays consistent facility in the use of language – demonstrates syntactic variety and appropriate word choice 5 An essay at this level – may address some parts of the task more effectively than others – is generally well organized and developed – uses details to support a thesis or illustrate an idea – displays facility in use of the language – demonstrates some syntactic variety and range of vocabulary An essay at this level – addresses the writing task adequately but may slight parts of the task – is adequately organized and developed – use some details to support a thesis or illustrate an idea – demonstrate adequate but possibly inconsistent facility with syntax and usage â€⠀œ may contain some errors that occasionally obscure meaning CHECKING Content Is there a thesis statement or introduction? Is there a topic sentence for each paragraph? Are there supporting details for each topic statement? Is there conclusion? Clarity Are there run-on sentences or sentence fragments? Are there misplaced modifiers or dangling modifiers?Are the structures parallel? Are there transition words? Are the sentences and paragraphs cohesive? Punctuation and spelling Are the paragraphs indented? Are there punctuation marks such as periods at the end of each sentence? Do all sentences begin with capital letters? Are all words spelled correctly? General Writing Improvements Strategies 1. Writing is skill like playing tennis. You have to practice. There is a lot of extra work you can do on your own to help you become a better writer. Doing these activities, you’ll practice your writing, practice your penmanship, and practice forming opinions.To improve your writing, pay attention when you read. Notice how the author of your book organizes thoughts and expresses ideas. 4. Buy a notebook to record your thoughts and your writing. Don’t use this notebook for anything but writing practice. This notebook will be your private classroom. 5. Keep a journal. Record the events of a day. Tell what happened. Record what you think 6. When events happen, take notes. Later in the day reread your notes and turn them into sentences. Turn the sentences into paragraphs. 7. Write every day. Give yourself a gift of time.Spend five minutes a day writing, and do it faithfully everyday. Once a week, assign yourself a topic and write an essay in thirty minutes. 8. Go back over your writing frequently. The more you write, the better writer you will become. You may think of a better, or a different, way of expressing a thought. Use the blank page to experiment with different ways of expressing the same idea. 9. When you rewrite, imagine you are writing for a different audience. The first time you wrote for yourself. How would you change your writing if your friends were to read. Your teacher? Your mother? A stranger?Types of Essays There four essay types on the Computer-based TOEFL: |Agreeing or disagreeing |33% | |Stating a preference |34% | |Giving an explanation |22% | |Making an argument |11% |Identify the task If†¦ How†¦ In your opinion †¦ If you could change (something) what would you change? What is the best way to (do something)? What should be the main focus? Which of the following should you do? Which of the following is most important to you? What would you give to help someone? How would you do something? How would you do something/choose between two things? How will (something) affect (something else)? Describe †¦ Explain †¦ What do you consider most important: (list)? What have you learned by (doing something)? Why do you think (something happens)?What are the qualities of (something)? Choose an event and te ll why you enjoyed it. How ha (something) changed? Why is (something) important? How does (something) effect (something else)? How is (something) different? Some do this; others do that. Some say this; others say that. Which opinion do you agree with? In your opinion which is better? Which would you prefer? Would you prefer to†¦? Compare the advantages and disadvantages. Which is best for you? Compare these attitudes. How is (something) different from (another thing)? Stating your opinion Set phrases In my opinionAccording to me To my way of thinking In my view To me From my point of view It is my opinion that I believe I think It seems to me that It appears that To my mind In my opinion, university students must attend classes. According to me, one must change with the times. To me, there is nothing more important than good health. It is my opinion that one learns by example. It seems to me that a good neighbor is one who respects your privacy. It appears that all the informat ion one needs is available on computer. Verbs Agree Believe Guess Hope Imagine Infer Realize Suppose Think UnderstandAll in all All things considered Altogether As a rule Basically By and large Essentially For the most part Generally In general On the whole Overall All in all, it is better to learn from a teacher than on your own. As a rule, it is better for students to wear uniform to school. For the most part, countries are more alike than different. On the whole, higher education should be available for all. Adverbials Seemingly Conceivably Possibly Perhaps Maybe Probably Presumably Certainly Almost Doubtless No doubt Definitely Daily exercise definitely should be a part of every school day.Doubtless, helping a child to learn to read is important. Seemingly, playing games can teach us about life. Almost In a way More or less Practically So to speak For all intents an purposes To some extent Up to a point Adjectives Certain Convinced Positive Sure Time Before After Since Next Duri ng At the same time Then Always While Often Sometime Meanwhile Degree Most important Less important Basically First Second Subordinate Primarily Secondary Comparison and contrast To compare Similar to Correspondingly As Common in Similarly Resemble Just as Than Like, alike Almost the same asIn a like manner Also Either/or At the same time In the same way Neither/or To contrast differ from nevertheless more than although however even do unlike while yet otherwise different from in contrast to but still less than on the other hand instead Cause and effect So For this reason Since Thus As a result Due to Consequently Because, because of Although Explanation In other words As Such as To clarify Like For instance To explain That is To illustrate To paraphrase For example Namely Adding more information In addition moreover besides similarly furthermore also as well as what’s more

Ebay Case Study

Characteristics of digital media that support eBay is storage. Data is one of the most important assets to any business same goes to storage that eBay needs to save their customer data. If they lack of storage they will face the problems such as lost product data, high technology security that help eBay to keep their information save. Due to its absolute volume, how and where eBay store this ever-growing pool of data has become more important than ever. The IT infrastructure must be able to scale with growth and continue to provide consistent levels of performance for the sake of eBay. Storing data is not just about how and where, but also the speed in which it can be accessed, manipulated, and presented where it can ease eBay's customer. Next characteristic of digital media that support eBay is community. Community media can play an important role in helping eBay to use storytelling to communicate and advance eBay's mission. Community media canters provide community members entree to the tools and training they need to produce digital stories. There are three ways community media can help use storytelling to start a meaningful dialogue and create modification. First, use storytelling as a community development strategy. It is through judicious storytelling that community media can help turn a community's shared experiences and concerns into a big picture. This big picture lays the foundation for an effective community development strategy for eBay. Secondly, use storytelling as an instrument for citizen empowerment. Personal stories facilitate deeper connections between people. Storytelling reaches the heart of decision-makers who often forget the predicament of the people; this is where storytelling begins to create power and empowerment. And lastly, use storytelling to build social capital. Social capital refers to personal relationships people have developed over time that enable them to influence human capital, policy-making or community initiatives. Other than that, digital communication also one of the characteristic of digital media that support eBay. Digital conversation is a powerful medium for delivering the data. In virtual global, visible communication is a perfect style of conveying your brand info by means of the use of the image, video, or minimal texts. Digital conversation may be a drawing, a commercial, a poster or any visible fabric you could find on line on social media structures. These days, the net is occupied by way of visible content and everything is revealed with the help of visual media. In addition, the characteristics of digital media that support eBay also include data. The sheer volume of data coupled with the improved analysis skills to be had these days approach that groups now have the potential to get a higher information of the way their customers behave within the beyond and present in addition to probable the future. This veritable wealth of records can be mined and manipulated into actionable information which could help remedy key business issues, promote extra products or services, and the entirety in between. Facts analytics has emerge as a vital aggressive differentiation from which most any enterprise can advantage. Lastly, ratings and reviews also one of the characteristics that include in eBay's. Ratings and reviews are the maximum essential assets of information during the customer buying process. Users are eager to verify their purchase decisions, and strive to do so using social media and real-time feedback from other users as their primary source. Good ratings and reviews will instantly create a sign of trust to others customer. The five characteristic of eBay was the most important to growth their income.