Relationship Between Project Life Cycle and Product System Life Cycle Essay

Relationship Between Project Life Cycle and Product System Life Cycle - Essay Example Due to the uniqueness of each industry, the demarcation of the phases may vary accordingly and sometime the divisions between the phases may often overlap. A product maybe defined as an entity offered in the form of goods or services. A product life cycle evolves through different phases similar to a project. The spiral model best describes the product life cycle, which is the most generic model of all. Special product life cycles are considered to be derivatives of this basic model. The key feature of the spiral model is in its risk management. It focuses on low risk strategies, early detection of errors and design flaws and the closely aligns itself with the evolution and growth cycle of the product. A product life cycle is often triggered by a need or opportunity, which leads to the conception, manufacturing, production and deployment of a tangible or intangible asset. This is then supported or maintained, upgraded as required and retired when obsolete. Although on the surface, a project life cycle and a product life cycle seem similar, in reality each phase of the product life cycle is a project by itself. Each phase of the product derives its input from the end result of the executed project.

IAS 36 and the Framework for the preperation and presentation of Essay

IAS 36 and the Framework for the preperation and presentation of financial statements - Essay Example The carrying amount can be defined as the amount at which an asset is recognized in the balance sheet less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. The recovery amount can be defined as the higher of an assets fair value less costs to sell (usually called net sales) and its value in use (homepage)2. The International Accounting Standards Board has prescribed the identification and conditions for assets to be impaired. Every reporting date at the end of an accounting period every organisation applying the rules of the IFRS should test if any asset is impaired. If any such asset shows that it is impaired then the organisation shall estimate the recovery amount of such asset. Other conditions attach to this test includes the test of for ``an intangible asset with an indefinite useful life or an intangible asset not yet available for use for impairment annually by comparing its carrying amount with its recoverable amount. This impairment test may be performed at any ti me during an annual period, provided it is performed at the same time every year. Different intangible assets may be tested for impairment at different times. However, if such an intangible asset was initially recognized during the current annual period, that intangible asset shall be tested for impairment before the end of the current annual period, test goodwill acquired in a business combination for impairment annually in accordance with paragraphs 80-99 ´Ã‚ ´3 (though the guidance on how to measure goodwill impairment should be included in Section 27, rather than referring to paragraphs 80-99 of IAS 36 Impairment of Assets)4. The IASB also add to the above rule that if an asset may be impaired by its recoverable amount should be estimated for the individual asset otherwise an organisation should determine the recoverable amount of the cash generating unit to the group where the asset belongs (the asset’s cash-generating unit)5. The measurement of the asset’s recovery amount

Harrison Bergeron Essay Example for Free

Harrison Bergeron Essay In the short story, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†, Kurt Vonnegut portrays a society in which â€Å"everyone is equal†. Through the efforts of the Handicapper General, all persons who were endowed with anything more than moderate talents are forced to wear various devices meant to make everyone equal, intellectually and physically. Through showing his audience what a truly â€Å"equal† society could be, as well as how government could regulate equality, Kurt Vonnegut clearly makes the point that truly equality leads to a loss of true individuality within a society. Each person in society has talents that another does not, which is what creates diversity in our communities and careers. By removing this diversity from society by making every person equal, the government is inviting its own demise. The first example of how idealistic equality creates a lack of individuality is in the scene where George and Hazel Bergeron are watching ballerinas on television. George notes, â€Å"They weren’t really very good – no better than anybody else would have been, anyway†. By leveling the playing field, and forcing ballerinas to wear weights and masks to hide their talent and beauty, the Handicapper General has taken away from the dancers their unique talents for dancing and eliminating any competition between ballerinas. If all dancers must be equal, this eliminates the need for any one ballerina to spend extra time practicing, or trying to be a better ballerina. This, in turn, could create a less than desirable work ethic, as the ballerinas do not have to work as hard to be competitive. As Philip Fetzer explains, â€Å"†¦ even if it were possible to create a society based on equality of ability, it would not be desirable to do so. A society without differences of ability would generate no leaders, no great works of art or literature, no new ideas. The society would quickly stagnate†. The second instance in which Vonnegut shows his readers the impact of an equal society is when George and Hazel are talking about what society would be like without handicaps to make everyone equal. George cannot think for more than a few seconds at a time because of the handicap that he must wear in his ear, to distract him from his thoughts by blaring loud noises at random. All people who have above â€Å"average† intelligence are required to wear such a device to eliminate any unfair intellectual advantage over others. However, by scaring off the thoughts of truly intelligent people, the government is also creating a society in which nothing will ever change. Without the truly intelligent men and women in any society, there are no new inventions or new ideas that, in the past, have revolutionized a society. By making all people intellectually equal, the government and the society itself will remain unchanged and unadvanced. Ironically, George believes that without handicaps to keep everyone equal, â€Å"pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else†. However, without competition, society would revert to the dark ages, unable to compete with other societies and develop new technology and innovation. As Christopher Alexion points out, human beings must be careful with creating equality, because of the risk of taking it â€Å"to extremes that eventually destroy whatever it was we were trying to protect. Thats why our efforts toward equality need vitally to be guided by a love of liberty. Naked equality is just another name for tyranny – for if everyones going to be equal in all aspects, then no one can really be free†. The final example of the effect of a truly equal society occurs when Harrison Bergeron appears on television with all of his clanking weights and extreme handicaps. Harrison is athletic and intelligent, and has an obscene amount of handicaps because of this. Harrison attempts to overthrow the government, by declaring himself â€Å"the Emperor†, and removing all of his handicaps, as well as those of his chosen Empress. By having independent thoughts and beliefs, Harrison leads his own revolution in an attempt to change society for the better. Harrison sees that the constant equality means that people are no longer competitive, and he decides to try to change that. However, he is killed by the government in the process, and any dreams of change die with him. As Steven Saus notes, â€Å"The maximization of human potential and the potential of society can only be achieved by allowing all individuals to have the best opportunity to succeed within the limits of their primary characteristics†. Any person who has new ideas or tries to initiate change within an equal society would be met with the same fate, and consequently, nothing would ever change. By creating a society in which every person is equal, Kurt Vonnegut is able to show his readers how devastating to a society equality could be. At a time when political correctness is a must, and society strives for equality, it is easy to see how true equality could lead to a lack of diversity and competition within a society. Although Vonnegut’s society was a fictional one, a society similar to the one in â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† would become a stagnant and unmotivated environment, falling behind in innovation and invention. Ultimately, the equality in this story will lead to the demise of the society.

Scottish Traditions And Cultures

Scottish Traditions And Cultures This is my English assignment on Scotland. I am going to talk about the history of Scotland, the culture and traditions of Scotland and about the Sports in Scotland. The Culture and Sports are very close but I think they have to be explained a part. I hope you and myself learn from this assignment and have fun with reading. (As long you can have fun)The history of Scotland. The land that now forms Scotland was in the prehistory part of the continent that now forms North-America, so Scotland isnt really part of Europe but a part from Laurentia. During the last interglacial, around 130,000 and 70,000 BC, Europe was warmer than now and the Neanderthals found that there was a mild spell in Scotland around 40,000 BC so they settled in Scotland, but no traces of early humans have been found. After 40,000 BC Britain was torn apart by glaciers and Scotland wasnt inhabitable any more. After 9600 BC the ice retreated and Scotland could be inhabited again. In 8500 BC there were hunter-gatherers in Scotland and several settlements have been found and the first permanent settlements were found in around 3600 BC. In 2500 BC the Bronze Age entered Scotland and there has been found some hill forts from probably 900 BC which shows us that the people in Scotland were quite good in building settlements and monuments. Around 800 BC the Iron Age entered Scotland and till th e invasion of Roman Empire Scotland was a peaceful inhabited by Celtic tribes. This was a short summary of the prehistoric history of Scotland but no written records were found till the invasion of Scotland buy the Romans, now Im going to talk about the Roman Invasion of Scotland and what happened after that. England was invaded by Julius Caesar in 54 BC but Scotland fought more than 100 years later because Caesar couldnt get to Scotland. In AD 43 Britain was invaded again and they lost a few battles giving ground to the Romans. Agricola was the first one who attacked the people in Scotland itself and he got quite far but even though he had to let Scotland go after he didnt got re-elected for being the governor of Scotland. In 122 AD the Romans tried to protect themselves from the attacks of the Caledonians by the famous Hadrian wall. The Hadrian wall was started by governor Hadrian and ended six years later to protect them for the raiding tribes. The Romans tried to build a second wall to conquer more land called the Antonine wall but broke it off because it was unnecessary. When the Romans retreated from Britain in 407 AD Scotland of now was set in 4 parts with each part its own king and people. They were the Picts, the Scots, the Angolans and the Britons. In 563 AD Saint Columbanus, a monk, came to northern Scotland and Christianity spread rapidly. In 843 the Picts and the Scots united under king Kenneth MacAlpines reign in Alba (later Scotia). The weird thing was that the Picts just threw their culture away to take the Scots culture. The Angolans went south to England and the Britons lived in the lowlands and since 890 the Vikings lived in the western Isles and operated from there their attacks on Scotland. The next kings and queens were crowned on the stone of scone (stone of destiny) in scone. In 1034 under Duncan I his reign Scotland was united except the parts of the Vikings. In 1040 Duncan I was killed by Macbeth, who got beaten by Duncan I his son Ma lcolm III. In 1066 England was defeated by William the Conqueror and in the years after that, Malcolms son David I Scotland conquered a part of north England. After that till 1268 Scotland started to grow economically and culturally. In 1268 Alexander III died and with no follower than 3 year old Margaret, forced Scotland to crown Margaret as queen. In 1290 Margaret died and not less than 13 men said they had right at the throne. But Edward I of England called David I as king of Scotland. David I and France started an alliance against England. As response on this Scotland lost parts of the lowlands to England . In 1290 Robert I tried to recapture them and In 1320 Scotland was announced as independent country by Robert I but England didnt recognized this declaration till 1328. From 1371 till 1603 there were some conflicts with England and Scotland tried to increase their relation with France and it all happened under the reign of the Stuart family. The last Stuart king was Henry V wh o got the throne in 1603 but he made so much trouble with his lust for power that he had to flee to northern England, and caused a civil war in 1642. The civil war was won by Oliver Cromwell with his New Model Army. He called England, Ireland and Scotland as one republic without a monarchy. But in 1660 Cromwell was dead already and Charles II came on the throne. James VII followed him when he died but was set off by the parliament and Willem of Orange was called to be king of Britain with his wife Mary. James V fled to France but some of the Scottish were still faithful to James VII (the Jacobites). The Jacobites on 27 juli1968 Willems army lost a battle from the Jacobites. In 1702 Anne followed Willem as queen of Britain but the parliament was determined to keep the Stuarts of the queen. So they parliament went to Sophie of Hannover the granddaughter of James VII and they told Scotland if they accepted her they would get trading privileges. But England and Scotland had to reunite i n one parliament. In Scotland there were some riots but in 1707 the offer was accepted and Scotland wasnt a state anymore and had no parliament. Economically it was a good case for Scotland but there were still people especially highlanders who wanted the Stuarts as kings and queens. Charles Edward Stuart was a grandson of James VII and he started a war with his Jacobites against England in 1745. But in 1746 he got defeated after the battle of Culloden and had to flee to Italia. After this battle it was forbidden to wear any skirts, play bagpipes and the clans were not allowed to exist anymore. They switched from livestock-farming to sheep cultivation and potatoes were the most important food in the highlands. When the potato harvest went wrong loads of people went to America (not the VS) and the big cities for work and food. This was a period of grow in economics, literature and culture so Scotland changed in the 18th century from one of the poorest countries in Europe to a normal economically growing land. In 1999 many years later Scotland got its own parliament again. It counted 127 seats in the parliament these are the partys who got seats: 47 Scottish National Party, 46 Scottish Labour Party, 17 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, 16 Scottish Liberal Democrats, 2 Scottish Green Party, 1 independent

Are Grades Distributed Fairly English Language Essay

Are Grades Distributed Fairly English Language Essay Elliott Miles, a retired educator and university president, discusses a disturbing trend on college campuses: grade inflation. Before you read, think of these questions: In the American education system, what does a grade of A mean? A grade of B, C, D? What about a grade of F? In your university courses, what grades do most students receive? Do you think the grades are distributed fairly (1) Most American universities today still use the traditional grading system of A-B-C-D-F, with A meaning excellent, B good, C satisfactory or average, D unsatisfactory but passing, and F of course failing. While some feel that this system has shortcomings (too inexact, too artificial, too subjective), it does represent the possible range of a students work, and most students and faculty members are comfortable or at least familiar with it. So far so good. However, American universities since the mid 1960s have increasingly been affected by the problem of grade inflation. This refers to the tendency of many faculty members to over-evaluate the quality of a students work and consequently to assign her/him a grade higher than the work deserves. The reason this practice is called inflation, a term borrowed from economics, is that it resembles paying too high a price for a given item, for example twenty dollars for a loaf of bread. The problem is common among American universities, in cluding even our most prestigious institutions, such as Harvard. As Craig Lambert reports in his article Desperately Seeking Summa, the grade of A there accounted for about twenty-two percent of all grades in 1966-67, whereas by 1991-92 it had come to account for forty-three percent almost double. (2) The trend toward inflated grades began in the mid-1960s probably because that was a time of great unrest on college campuses in the United States. There were widespread student protests against the Vietnam War and civil authority in general, frequently with the support and participation of the faculty. Under these circumstances, grading standards began to shift for the worse. Faculty members became more and more unwilling to give students a D, let alone an F; the grade of C came to denote a minimal pass, B to represent satisfactory, and A to mean better than a B. Today, students and faculty alike have this new, watered-down system in their heads, although their universitys official grading policy may be unchanged from previous times. (3) Why is this a problem? After all, a student is unlikely to feel put upon if his/her work is over-valued. However, when a faculty member records that a student has done excellent work, when in fact the work might only be pretty good or merely fair, that faculty member has committed two faults. First, he/she has told a lie about the students work, misrepresenting the students achievements. How would we react if the misrepresentation went the other way if the student had done excellent work, but the faculty member assigned a grade of B or even C? This would strike us all as dreadful, yet faculty members who assign falsely high grades are showing equally faulty judgment. Inaccurate grading is inaccurate grading, no matter which direction it takes. (4) The second fault is that the faculty member has broken faith with all those who will be harmed by the dishonesty. Most obvious among these are the students who really did do excellent or good work. It is grossly unfair to students who earned real As or Bs if their accomplishments are devalued by the lax standards applied to others. To illustrate with an example from the workplace: would it be fair for two employees to receive the same raise when one had done excellent work and the other only mediocre? (5) Grade inflation also harms anyone who must evaluate a students record, such as admissions officers at other universities and at professional schools. For instance, medical and law schools never have enough spaces for all applicants and hence must choose only the best qualified. When admissions officers evaluate the transcript of a student who received inflated grades as an under graduate, they get a false idea of that students past performance as well as his/her potential for future success in a rigorous professional curriculum. For a similar reason, potential employers are harmed when they are presented with an inflated academic transcript; faced with seemingly equal candidates, they may give a desirable position to a less deserving applicant because they had a false understanding of that persons actual abilities. (6) And finally, our society at large is harmed because grade inflation undermines the integrity of the universities, which is one of our greatest assets. If university faculty members cannot be trusted to give an honest evaluation of each students academic work, public disappointment will inevitably set in and rightly so. The solution to the problem, though difficult, is simple: each faculty member should make a conscious decision to assign grades based on the actual quality of a students work, realizing that not every student will be able to earn the highest, or even the second highest, grade. One of my former students made the point very concisely in an essay that she wrote on grade inflation: Lets put the excellence back in the A. Author of article Elliott Miles Title of article Lets Put the Excellence Back in the A Title of the book Refining Composition Skills: Rhetoric and Grammar Author of book Reginal L. Smally, Mark K. Reutten and Joann R. Kozyrev Publisher Heinle Heinle Date 2001 Place Australia Choose one or more of the following questions to inspire your reader response paragraph. 1. How do the impressions of the audience change (or do they) after the second reading? Does the audience think any differently? Is the topic one that would make readers want to learn more? Why or why not? What is it that a reader would want to research for additional information? 2. Sometimes articles touch their audience, reminding them of their own life, as part of the larger human experience. Are there connections between the article and the audiences own life? Or, does the article remind its audience of an event (or events) that happened to someone they know? Does the article have a connection to a previous book or article? 3. If you were the author, would you have changed anything in the article and ideas? Do you have a negative connotation associated with the idea? What would you chance? 4. Does the article leave the audience with questions they would like to ask? What are they? Would the audience like to direct their questions at a particular character or an idea? What questions would the audience like to ask the author of the article? Are they questions that the audience may be able to answer by reading more about the authors life and/or works? What are the questions and how would they be answered? 5. Is there an idea in the book that makes the audience stop and think, or prompts questions? Identify the idea and explain the responses. 6. Has the article changed the reader in any way? The way you look at this theme or behave if you were to talk about this theme? What did you learn that you never knew before? 7. Capture what it is about the book that stands out (or doesnt stand out).

The History of Fermentation Essays -- Fermenting Wine Distillery Alcoh

The History of Fermentation It is impossible to set a date as to the first time fermentation was performed. It is possible, however, to guess, and this guess is roughly 8,000 years ago. Wine has been written about for centuries, in the Greek and Roman myths and scriptures. The Greek god of wine, Dionysius, was in charge of the fermentation atop Mount Olympus. The people of this time may not have known exactly what they were doing, but it was a somewhat complicated procedure. The crushing of grapes, and the storing of their juices led to an amazing beverage that is still used in current society. This process of fermentation was used throughout the time of early Christianity, and other religions, for purposes within sermons. Throughout the Renaissance, fermentation was used in the making of wine as well as bread, not to mention new medical applications. Fermented products were brought to America along with the new settlers. With new government, though, America was put into a prohibition, which did not last long. Today, fermentation processes are carried out nearly perfectly, without too large of variations among the products. Although fermentation has been known of for at least 8,000 years, in 1865 Louis Pasteur was the scientist who really discovered the process of fermentation. At this time, Pastuer was the Dean and professor of chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences in Lille, France. He was originally asked by a friend to investigate difficulties he was having manufacturing alcohol by the fermentation of beetroot. Often, instead of alcohol, the fermentations were resulting in lactic acid. At that time, fermentation leading to the production of wine, beer, and vinegar was believed to be a simple and straightforward breakdown of sugar to the desired molecules. It was believed that the chemical breakdown of sugar into alcohol during the fermentation of wine and beer was due to the presence of inherent unstabilizing vibrations. Yeast cells were found in the fermenting vats of wine and were known as living organisms, yet they were only believed to be either a product of fermentation or catalytic ingredients t hat provided useful ingredients for fermentation to proceed. The brewers of wine, beer, and vinegar were having horrible times with quality control. Yields of alcohol might suddenly fall off; wine might unexpectedly grow ropy or sour or turn to vinegar;... ...s that the fermentation leading to the creation of ethanol has made billions and billions of dollars in profit, along with giving millions of people jobs. It is amazing that something that has had such a large impact on the world (as the fermentation of ethanol has) begins on the molecular level. Bibliography 1. Abedon, Stephen T. â€Å"Glycolysis and Fermentation†. http://www.phage.org/biol1095.htm, July 29, 2000. 2. â€Å"Alcohol Fermentation†. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. Harden, Arthur. Alcoholic Fermentation. New York, NY: Longmans, Green and Co., Ltd., 1932. 3. Boyer, Rodney. Concepts in Biochemistry. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1999. 4. â€Å"Cellular Respiration and Fermentation†. http://fhis.gcal.ac.uk/bio/micro/drjrattray/cab2/cab2resp.htm#Fermentation, July 30, 2000. 5. â€Å"Chemical of the Week – Ethanol†. Chicago Tribune (online); http://www.scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/ethanol/ethanol.html, July 29, 2000. 6. Harden, Arthur. Alcoholic Fermentation. New York, NY: Longmans, Green and Co., Ltd., 1932. 7. â€Å"What is Ethanol?†. Ace Page Links, http://www.ethanol.org/ethanol_info2.html, July 27, 2000.

First Impressions in Pride and Prejudice Essay -- essays research pape

Pride and Prejudice was originally and appropriately titled â€Å"First Impressions.† This romantic and philosophical novel demonstrates to its readers how first impressions can drastically get in the way of romantic relationships. First impressions are generally inaccurate, as in the case of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, and also the case of Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley. The first impressions can, however, be accurate, such as in the case of Elizabeth Bennet and William Collins. In this so-called â€Å"relationship,† Elizabeth understood all along that Mr. Collins was a particularly disgusting man who liked to fawn over everyone he met. Mr. Collins, however, thought at first that Elizabeth was exactly like all of the other girls of her time period: submissive and unintelligent. Readers of Jane Austen’s novel can easily gain knowledge of the fact that Mr. Collins was completely wrong about her. The majority of the novel Pride and Prejudice centered around the conflict between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. The two first met at a ball in Meryton, and both decided that they hated each other before even getting to know one another. This is one example of how first impressions can ruin potential relationships. for instance, before Mr. Darcy even knew what Elizabeth was like, he concluded from seeing her that she was not particularly pretty, and that she was â€Å"slighted by other men.† (Austen, 10) On the other side of the situation, when Elizabeth overheard this insulting comment, she also jumped to conclusions. She deduced that Mr. Darcy was a selfish, rich snob. These first impressions caused them to spend most of the novel hating each other. Even when Mr. Darcy finally got over his first impressions about Elizabeth herself and propos... ...e fond of a person just by looking at them, or even by their place in society. For instance, just because you think that a person is a rich snob, that does not mean that they are a rich snob in all actuality. In the defense of Mr. Darcy, for example, the person you are judging might just be reserved and introverted. In Elizabeth’s defense, however, it is also not appropriate to criticize people because of their external appearance. It is also unwarranted to write people off as â€Å"slighted by other men.† (Austen, 10) To cut a long story short, the development of the plot demonstrates to readers that everyone makes mistakes. Particularly selfish mistakes, on the other hand, can demolish and devastate potential relationships until the problem is worked out, and both opposing parties resolve to set their extremely selfish desires free and give each other a fair chance.