Internal vs. External Validity in Research Coursework

Internal vs. External Validity in Research - Coursework Example There is often a tradeoff between internal and external validity, due to the fact that that the requirements of a high internal validity is the creation of a controlled and artificial setting for the research, which then limits the application of the results to the natural and real-life situations (Mitchell & Jolley, 2001). The attainment of a high internal validity of a research requires that the participants in the research are shielded from the extraneous factors that may change the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. On the other hand, the extraneous factors are fully operational in the real-life situations, limiting the application of the findings of a research done in a setting where the extraneous factors were blocked. Therefore, there must b a trade-off between the internal validity and the external validity, such that internal validity is only high where external validity is low and vice versa (Isaac & Michael, 1971). 2. Is there a benefit in achieving a high level of one type of validity (internal versus external) over the other? Is there a way to design a study or series of studies to have high internal as well as high external validity? What would be the benefit? There is a benefit of achieving a high level of one type of validity over the other, based on the nature of the research in question. The level of internal validity achieved in the study is low, while the level of external validity attained in the study is high.

Describing three examples of activities in health care organizations Assignment

Describing three examples of activities in health care organizations - Assignment Example The immunization activities entail giving children BCG, DPT, polio, and measles immunization (Stahl, 2004). There is also epidemic preparedness and response to epidemics which is crucial to the health care organization employees because they have to start isolation of the people with the epidemic. When there is an epidemic outbreak for example the Ebola outbreak, people-centered management should be applied to give employees chances to suggest on the way forward on whether to isolate the infected people or whether to let them live with the other people. When giving an employee a chance to give a solution, it opens up their minds and makes them think. Supervisors and managers should award employees that show bravery during a difficult time of responding to an outbreak, for example an employee who saves a patient’s life. The reward will be a motivation to the individual and to the other employees who will work hard and be fully dedicated to their work. Fully participation of the employees can also earn their organization world awards. Communication between the supervisors and the employees is important for the growth of a health care organization. Where there is communication, people understand each other’s needs. When an employee’s opinion is taken into consideration, such an employee is motivated to keep on being committed to their work because they feel appreciated and respected. Moreover, meetings help employees to pass their complains and the supervisors and managers’ compliment and critic on the employees work (Carroll, 2001). The managers and supervisors encourage the employees on teamwork. In epidemic preparedness, the employees in different departments should be able to know where their teammates are, to make the daily routine surveillance for the epidemic easier. Furthermore, this aids the teammates to avoid losing a colleague to the outbreak without the knowledge of

Modelo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Modelo - Essay Example Modelo’s expansion strategy was made possible through its strategic alliance with its two main distributors; Bartisor and grambrinus, experienced, creative and knowledgeable subsidiaries with knowledge about local customers in the US market. This strategy ensured that the risk of increase in taxes is hedged. These distributors were delegated with all the value chain processes of the activities except production which was being carried out the parent firm, Group Modelo back in Mexico. They had autonomous control on decisions regarding the marketing, insurance, transportation and creatively marketing captains, from which a campaign that leapfrogged the Grupo Modelo’s sales emanated from in 1986. As pointed out in the report, wine is more competitive in Italy and Ireland unlike beer. Therefore, it will have an opportunity to attempt to enter these foreign markets by both mergers and acquisition from the local importers and distributors. They ca also adopt other strategic alliances with highly expertise- mature companies in this countries. It can be pointed out that, for the company to stand tall, it needs, a sharper differentiation, identifying and focusing on the key marketing that region and developing a creative Marketing development as a strategy

Allegorical on the Bell Jar Essay Example for Free

Allegorical on the Bell Jar Essay Just as all roads lead back to home, the protagonist exhibits that everyone will eventually become manifestations of the society it is born within. In this excerpt, the author uses the strong allegory of the protagonist plummeting down the slopes and skiing towards the inevitable end of conforming towards mankind and society. Although the protagonist’s gender isn’t explicit, we can assume that it’s a girl due to its unambiguous sub theme of feminine repression. The author presents the protagonists struggle in two distinct parts: the struggle to conform and the inevitable realization and acceptance of her fate. The author is able to do skilfully do so with a myriad of literary devices and extremely significant allegories. In the beginning, the protagonist is still struggling against the implications of society and is unwilling to accept her fate. The monotony of her â€Å"pale† life is emphasized by the repetition alliteration of â€Å"hill after†¦hill† and â€Å"great grey eye†. This shows the boring reoccurrence in the protagonist’s life and is constantly being overshadowed and judged by the watchful eye of society. Additionally, the protagonist is having an internal battle with doing what she innately feels is right against becoming what she knows everyone else wants her to transform into. Therefore, she has an â€Å"interior voice† that is persistently â€Å"nagging† her â€Å"not to be a fool† and conform and lose herself and â€Å"save [her] skin†. Obviously, she has fought hard to persist as her authentic self and is bitter about giving up who she really is. She feels like she has lost her sense of self and is no longer an individual, but merely â€Å"camouflaged† amongst everyone else as a product of society. The long sentence structure in the second paragraph of the excerpt displays that there was a very long and meticulous thought process about her present situation. She is â€Å"bordering† on the edge of a life changing decision. She has to decide – should she â€Å"kill [her true] self†, or should she resist the temptations of society? She is representing man’s struggle against oneself – the hardest battle to. However, she finally overcomes her inner battles and comes to realize that it is in her best interest to abide to society’s expectations. Henceforth, she tries to â€Å"measure the distance† and calculate how much of herself she will have to lose in the process. Buddy is a representation of society and the word is also slang for friend. â€Å"His†¦folded† â€Å"arms† signifying his lack of approval and his natural masculine instinct to repress femininity. As a result, we can understand the extent upon which female repression has been engrained into society and social stigma. Such is the product of a society filled with conformists and a lack of individuality – â€Å"numb, brown†¦ inconsequential† and boring beings. The next paragraph accentuates her defeatist attitude as the excerpt inches to the climax of the plot and has resolved to finally conform to the ‘American dream’ and fit into the mould society cast for her. Inevitably, she â€Å"aim[s] straight down† as she realizes that despite her best efforts at resistance, it is all to no avail. Once again, the short sentence structure is the implicit sign of the distinct change of internal character into one that has finally decided to join and become a part of society. Subsequent to the protagonist’s â€Å"descen[t]† into society, she â€Å"plummet[s]† herself straight into the heart of the situation. Nevertheless, even though she has physically committed herself he is still mentally â€Å"suspended† and trapped between what she wants and who she is. As a result, she represses those thoughts from â€Å"r[ising] higher†. This is the pivotal point upon which she consigns herself to follow society’s expectations because she understands that without social rules and stigma, â€Å"the world would not exist† and be able to function properly. Her â€Å"answering point in†¦[her] body† instinctually gravitates â€Å"towards† following social norms because despite the struggle against it, everyone will eventually cave to the expectations of others. She has become â€Å"inflate[d]† by the â€Å"inrush† of the external pressures of being part of a society . She realizes that she is finally experiencing the typical emotions, even though she feels removed from the â€Å"smiles† and â€Å"what it is [supposed to feel like] to be happy†. In spite of that, she feels â€Å"doubleness† as if it is not really herself going through the motions – she doesn’t feel true to herself and who she really is but simply sees a reflection of her figure that she can no longer recognise. On her way â€Å"hurtling† down, she has flashes of her â€Å"own past† that â€Å"recede[s]† and she has to make a decision between the light of the â€Å"white sun† and the darkness of an endless â€Å"dark tunnel†. Ultimately, she focuses on the â€Å"bright point at the end† of the tunnel and becomes a small â€Å"pebble† in the â€Å"bottom of [a big] well†, which is an analogy to her small and insignificant self in a world filled with billions of people. Her metamorphosis is paralleled to that of a rebirth into her new life. She has chosen the light and she is being christened into her new life as an innocent â€Å"sweet baby† that is being reborn again from â€Å"it’s mother’s belly†. All throughout this process â€Å"Buddy† and the â€Å"other faces† of society watchfully gaze and â€Å"h[a]ng over† her to ensure complete control. Gradually, she is transformed by the â€Å"strokes of [a] grandmother’s wand† creating a fairytale element to her change. The â€Å"familiar voice† of her conscience reminds her that she was doing â€Å"fine† by herself until â€Å"man[kind] stepped into her path† and created the platonic change within her. Society has already taken it upon themselves to â€Å"unfasten [her] bindings† of her previous ‘life’ and releasing her of her previous sins of not conforming. The â€Å"lodge fence† that blocks her way is a symbol of the white picket fence, which is a representation of the American Dream. She is finally being trapped into society’s expectations of what she should become. Yet she is still treated as an outsider and isn’t trusted and treated like an enemy with a â€Å"concealed weapon†. In the end, the light triumphs the dark and society overcomes her. The rising of the white sun shining in the sky displays her birth and final decision to conform to society. Even though she tries to challenge and return to her old self, she is unable to escape. Not only is she restricted by society itself but herself as well. She is â€Å"stuck† as society now has full reign over her. Thus, society and lack of freedom prevail and it’s triumph is evident in the â€Å"final smile†. In conclusion, the excerpt uses skiing as an allegory for mankind’s eventual and inevitable decline into conformity towards the American dream. There is no place in society for people who do not follow social rules and expectations. The protagonist is assumed to be a woman due to the stigma of females repressed role in society. She begins with the struggle between light and dark and the battle between being true to oneself and taking the easier path and following the well-worn road that society has taken. Later on, she understands and realizes that it is inevitable and ultimately conforms. Not matter how hard we may try to contend society, it will always prevail and have the power to manipulate us.

Portrayal Of Lucy Westenra And Mina Murray English Literature Essay

Portrayal Of Lucy Westenra And Mina Murray English Literature Essay Dracula, the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker, is a tale composed against a background of social concerns and anxieties of Victorian England in a rapidly changing world. One of the most important upheavals in this time of turmoil concerned feminism and the role of women in Victorian society, with the terrifying spectre of the  ¿Ã‚ ½New Woman ¿Ã‚ ½ solidifying rapidly into a real threat. In Victorian England, gender roles were distinct, with women being expected to confine themselves to the domestic realm and become  ¿Ã‚ ½the Angel in the House, ¿Ã‚ ½ responsible for setting a moral example for her children and being of complete service to her husband. In examining how the female characters  ¿Ã‚ ½ Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray/Harker  ¿Ã‚ ½ are dealt with in Dracula, a greater insight will be gained into the degree of transformation undertaken by the women from a Victorian woman to a New Woman in the face of Dracula ¿Ã‚ ½s seductive power. Lucy Westenra is initially depicted as innocent, beautiful, and virtuous ¿Ã‚ ½not at all the sexual suspect or foreigner that would seem to indicate a susceptibility to vampirism. Despite this appearance of her character, however, the behaviour of Lucy, even before she succumbed to vampirism, would have been questionable to a Victorian audience. Most notably, she takes a sort of gloating pleasure in having been proposed to three times in one day (Stoker 86). Even more disturbing to a Victorian reader, Lucy muses,  ¿Ã‚ ½Why can ¿Ã‚ ½t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her ¿Ã‚ ½? ¿Ã‚ ½ (Stoker 90). Although she immediately dismisses the idea as blasphemy, the reader gets the sense that she was serious. This reluctance to confine herself to one man is not her only sign of questionable sexuality. Lucy sleepwalks,  ¿Ã‚ ½a habit traditionally associated with sexual looseness ¿Ã‚ ½ in Victorian England (Spencer 210). Despite Lucy ¿Ã‚ ½s seeming virtue, there are indications that her sexuality is on the verge of asserting its appetites throughout the early portions of the novel. This blooming sexuality is what makes her susceptible to vampiric attack. As Lucy succumbs to Dracula ¿Ã‚ ½s advances, she comes to resemble the vampire women encountered by Harker. Her sexuality becomes more blatant as her vampirism progresses. When she is dying, she speaks to Arthur in a  ¿Ã‚ ½soft, voluptuous voice, ¿Ã‚ ½ a phrase which recalls the voluptuousness of the three female vampires in Castle Dracula (Stoker 237). Her initiation into the vampire group becomes complete when Van Helsing notes that the two bite marks on her neck have completely disappeared (Stoker 235). Later, Stoker describes vampiric Lucy as moving with a  ¿Ã‚ ½voluptuous grace ¿Ã‚ ½ and having a  ¿Ã‚ ½wanton smile ¿Ã‚ ½ (Stoker 310). She has become the aggressive female through contact with Dracula. Lucy is now fully endowed with masculine appetites and, like the fanged women Harker encountered, she is acting as a dominant presence over males. She has become monstrous and unnatural, which is in keeping with the Victorian idea of  ¿Ã‚ ½the sexualization of woman as deformation ¿Ã‚ ½ (Craft 120). This unnaturalness is also emphatically underscored by her rejection of the mother role typically associated with women during this time period. Instead of nursing the child  ¿Ã‚ ½clutched strenuously to her breast, ¿Ã‚ ½ she feeds from it, slowly killing it (Stoker 310). Dracula is to blame for Lucy ¿Ã‚ ½s metamorphosis into a monstrosity,  ¿Ã‚ ½for he is the ultimate social adulterer, whose purpose is nothing if it is not to turn good Englishwomen like Lucyaway from their own kind and customs ¿Ã‚ ½ (Stevenson 140). However horrifying Lucy ¿Ã‚ ½s transformation might have been to a Victorian audience, Mina Harker ¿Ã‚ ½s aborted metamorphosis would have been even more horrible. As Van Helsing says,  ¿Ã‚ ½she is one of God ¿Ã‚ ½s women, fashioned by His own hand ¿Ã‚ ½ (Stoker 277). Mina seems to fit the ideal of the Victorian Woman, as a virtuous, devout, almost asexual individual. While she sometimes acts as the quiet organiser of the men, she is generally meek and servile to their wishes, for example, she learns typing and short-hand with the main motive of being of use to her future husband Jonathan. Stoker never reveals anything detailed about Mina ¿Ã‚ ½s physical appearance, and she seems to be an object of adulation rather than desire. Mina acts as more of a mother figure to Jonathan,  ¿Ã‚ ½nursing him through his illness. ¿Ã‚ ½ The motherly-wife and nurtured husband were considered the ideal spouses in Victorian England (Spencer 216). Mina is quite literally the Angel in the House, or the ideal Woman embodied. Yet even the ideal demonstrates vulnerability when forced into an overtly sexual situation. Mina, through no fault of her own, becomes subject to Dracula ¿Ã‚ ½s advances, yet seems to take some enjoyment in them despite her horror. During her last encounter with the Count, as he drank from her neck, she admitted that she  ¿Ã‚ ½did not want to hinder him ¿Ã‚ ½ (Stoker 425). This desire for the Count would have been damnable to a Victorian audience, who saw sexual desire rather than sexual activity [as] ¿Ã‚ ½the true source of danger ¿Ã‚ ½ (Spencer 217). Although Mina never makes the full transformation into the aggressive, sexualized female vampire, there are aspects of her character that bend gender expectations a bit. Specifically, Dr. Van Helsing remarks upon her level of intelligence numerous times as being abnormal for a young woman. When Mina tells Van Helsing that she can inform him all about what happened to Lucy, he remarks,  ¿Ã‚ ½Ah, then you have a good memory for facts, for details? It is not always so with young ladies ¿Ã‚ ½ (Stoker 269). He also repeatedly calls her,  ¿Ã‚ ½you so clever woman ¿Ã‚ ½ (Stoker 269). If a learned man such as Van Helsing compliments Mina ¿Ã‚ ½s intelligence, then it might be safe to assume that men did not expected to encounter a woman with such common sense during the Victorian era. As Van Helsing puts it,  ¿Ã‚ ½[Mina] has a man ¿Ã‚ ½s brain ¿Ã‚ ½a brain that a man should have were he much gifted ¿Ã‚ ½ (Stoker 345). To a certain extent, Mina is becoming a modern woman by demonstrating her intelligence and therefore somewhat defying the gender stereotype of women being inferior to men. However, she doesn ¿Ã‚ ½t pose any really threat to the dominant male as she uses her intelligence to help others on a divine mission rather than furthering her own interests, a Victorian audience could perhaps accept this inversion of gender roles. Like Lucy, Mina become contaminated by Dracula and slowly becomes deracinated, growing more like a vampire and less like an Englishwoman. However, before her transformation is complete, Dracula is killed and Mina is re-assimilated into English society with little difficulty, providing a happy ending for the Victorian audience. Both Lucy and Mina are introduced in the novel as embodiments of the Victorian woman ideal, a role of purity and femininity. However, when the women begin to transform into vampires, they are seen to take on traditional male roles, which undoubtedly horrified the Victorian reader. However, neither of these two women are allowed any agency; even through their  ¿Ã‚ ½infidelities ¿Ã‚ ½, they play the passive role, Lucy asleep while blood is pumped from each man into her, and Mina ¿Ã‚ ½s seduction described in terms of  ¿Ã‚ ½forcing a kitten ¿Ã‚ ½s nose into a saucer of milk to compel it to drink ¿Ã‚ ½. It is Dracula, the monstrous, foreign creature that is blamed for the corruption of Lucy and Mina. The role of the Victorian man is clear here, as the vampire hunters act out what they feel is their duty  ¿Ã‚ ½ to rescue their women from the clutches of Dracula and vampirism and return them to holiness. They return their women to their rightful place and re-establish proper roles, by a violent  ¿Ã‚ ½staking ¿Ã‚ ½ Lucy. This metaphorical rape, repeated by Van Helsing with the three Transylvanian vampires,  ¿Ã‚ ½re-establishes normative models of both gender and history ¿Ã‚ ½, imposing male reason on female sexuality, with the women  ¿Ã‚ ½grat eful and passive toward their brave male deliverer ¿Ã‚ ½. In Carmilla, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu takes the tradition male power role and gives it to the women, while Stoker, in Dracula, repossesses the female body for pleasure and exchange and puts the power back in the hands of men. In Carmilla we meet a woman who bears angelic features in her outward appearance only. At first, she seems to be the ideal companion for Laura fulfilling all Victorian claims. The homosocial bond between women served patriarchy to keep women whom they treated rather as objects than as individual beings with a will of their own out of the so-called male business. As the idea of the new woman with their social, political, and sexual freedom was feared in society, Carmilla is feared by Laura ¿Ã‚ ½s father as soon as he notices her dangerous potential. The role of the female vampire identifies and challenges gender roles of women in the Victorian age, as well as symbolise New Women. Carmilla, goes even further in its defiance of the male/female heterosexual norm by featuring a lesbian relationship between its two main characters, only made possibly through the vampirism and supernatural nature of the story. It is through Carmilla and Laura ¿Ã‚ ½s homosexual relationship that they are able to gain freedom from male dominance and a patriarchal society. Besides marriage, becoming a vampire is one of the only ways that female sexuality is licensed in the Victorian era. While Bram Stoker ¿Ã‚ ½s Dracula has laid the foundations for the horror genre of film and literature, it also provides some interesting social commentary about Victorian England. In particular, the female characters and their relationships to the issues of sexuality, gender roles, and nationality are very revealing about the anxieties of the times. In their full and partial transformation into vampires, Lucy and Mina lose their feminine passivity and innocence and are expected to become like the highly sexualised and immoral succubi trio. They go from being sweet and pure Victorian women (female victims) to being  ¿Ã‚ ½languorous[ly] voluptuous ¿Ã‚ ½ and  ¿Ã‚ ½carnal and unspiritual ¿Ã‚ ½ New Women (female vampires). This is precisely the perceived danger represented by the New Woman. However, because Mina is never fully transformed and manages to be restored to her role as a Victorian woman, it can be concluded that Lucy better represents the New Woman archetype as she completes the transition to vampire and in doing so gains sexual and social freedom from the constraints on women in Victorian society.

Wind Tunnels :: essays research papers

Wind Tunnels In this report I will talk about the wind tunnel. I will described what they are used for. The different types of wind tunnels from the slow speed subsonic to the high speed hypersonic tunnels. I will also give A few examples of the wind tunnels used today. The wind tunnel is a device used by many people, from High school students to NASA engineers. The wind tunnel is a device used to test planes to see how well it will do under certain conditions. The plane maybe as big as a full size 747 or as small as a match. To understand how a wind tunnel is used to help in the designing process you have to know how a wind tunnel works. How Wind Tunnels Work A wind tunnel is a machine used to fly aircraft's, missiles, engines, and rockets on the ground under pre-set conditions. With a wind tunnel you can chose the air speed, pressure, altitude and temperature to name a few things. A wind tunnel is usually has a tube like appearance with which wind is produced by a large fan to flow over what they are testing (plane, missiles, rockets, etc.)or a model of it. The object in the wind tunnel is fixed and placed in the test section of the tunnel and instruments are placed on the model to record the aerodynamic forces acting on the model. Types of Wind Tunnels There are four basic types of wind tunnels. Which are low subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic. The wind tunnels are classified by the amount of speed they can produce. The subsonic has a speed lower then the speed of sound. The transonic has a speed which is about equal to the speed of sound (Mach 1 760 miles per hour at sea level). . The supersonic (Mach 2.75 to 4.96) has a speed of about five times the speed of sound And the fasts of them all the hypersonic (Mach39.5) which has a speed of more then 30,000 miles per hour. Wind Tunnel Test There are basically two types of wind tunnel test which are static stability and the pressure test. With these two test you can determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft. The static stability test the measures the forces moments due to the external characteristic. These forces include axial, side and normal force, rolling, pitching and yawing moment. This forces are found by using a strain gauge which is located on the external portion of the plane. It measures the external flow fields. Then the shadowgraph is used to show the shock waves and flow fields at a certain speed or angle of

Blue spider case study

Fellness Systems Engineering Principles: Blue Spider Case Study Name: Professor: Course Name: Subject: Date Due: Executive summary Parks Corporation is a firm involved in R & D business; the firm does projects on behalf of the Department of Defense. Over the years, Parks Corporation has transformed its focus from the R & D business to being involved in low cost production. The process of retrenching employees in the firm was as a result of the recession and this brought down the number of staff to 2200 down from 6700.The upturn in the spending habit of the Department of Defense in 1975 made the firm hanged its corporate strategy. The new strategy involved Parks improving its R & D staff in the engineering section. Considering the salaries which Parks was providing, there was limitation in terms of getting experienced engineers and hence they decided to employ the young who lacked experience. One of the recruits from college was Gary Anderson.Despite his lack of experience, Gary Ander son was a great production engineer and this resulted to his promotion to a senior scientist who was in Judge of the R & D activities conducted at the Mechanical Engineering department. In 1978, Parks made a decision to bid for the 1st phase of Blue Spider Project together with Lord Industries being the major contractor for the Spartan Program for the Army. This project was meant to ensure improved structural capabilities as well as the age life related to the short range of the tactical missile; the tactical missile was showing failure because of fatigue as it had been used in the field for 6 years.One of the conditions for the choice of the bid for subcontracting was based on the low bid with expertise in technical and also the management performance. Parks Corporation had a feeling that they had a unique advantage over TTS competitors since they had a previous experience in the Lord Industries projects. From the onset of this project, there was a problem which can be identified; this was that Gary Anderson was given the chance to be the head of project management due to his background in R & D; however, he lacks the experience vital in managing projects.It is worth noting that the technical background is not enough to ensure an effective project manager. In specific a number of problems can be identified as the project took off; one of the problems is the informal way of starting the project was en and there was no particular guidelines, the proposal for the project was done in unethical manner, Parks Corporation seem to have issues in its behavior, problems in the operational process as well as problems in the organization's architecture/ relations which was not clearly defined and also followed.Project management often includes 9 specific areas of integration, management scope, time management, the cost management, the quality management, the human resource management, the communications management, the risk management as well as procurement management al l of which lacked in the Blue spider project. Table of Contents Table of figures 1.Introduction 1. 1 Summary of the Case study Blue Spider Case study represents a case where systems engineering principles failed; this case represents one of the failed projects as the head of the project team lacked the experience to manage projects and hence failure to use the systems engineering principles.Among the major events in the case study are Gary Anderson accepting the position of the project manager; the DoD have asked Lord Industries through a contract to improve the operation of Spartan program; on November 3, 1977, Blue Spider project kicks off. The events in Blue Spider case are done in a quick manner in that there are a number of problems which arise right from the begging of the project because of the poor planning of the major events in the project.Amongst the results of the events is the poor communication in the various departments due to the overburden that is caused by Gary And erson; communication breakdown both internal as well as the departments which are associated with the project; the changes in the project are not well talked in advance. Despite the project going ahead, Lord industries accept the work of Parks Corporation reluctantly because of aviations from the requirements of the client due to changes in information and also implementation of the requirements. . 2 Objectives of the Report The aim of this report is to tie the systems engineering principles to the Blue Spider Case study. 1. 3 Organizational structure of Parks Corporation Figure : Parks Organizational Structure (sage & Rouse, 2011 : 80) 1. 4 SOOT Analysis of Blue Spider Project The current situation of the project is that it is influenced by a number of weakness as well as the strengths. Amongst the weakness of the Blue spider Project is thatAnderson was so much concerned with R & D works and also the administrative issues without creating any balance between them; there was a probl em in the financial planning; the project lacked a standby schedule which would have been important in the event that the formal was affected by certain changes; there was poor communication with the Lord since the start of the project which resulted to more costs on communication; additionally, it was not possible for Gary to find Gable the time when he need some form of assistance; however, Gable would intervene in the midst of the project a number of times without the knowledge of Gary that exulted to more issues in the project management; some of the issues included rescheduling of the project or redoing some works during the last times. On the other hand, there is lack of leadership skills demonstrated throughout this project. Both Gary Anderson and also Henry Gable show lack of leadership skills in the various tasks which they are involved in doing the work, poor delegation skills as well as lack of team effectiveness.Despite the weakness of this project, it is important to no te that the project had enough backing from the top executives and directors. It is to often easier to find a project which has enough backing from the management just like Blue Spider Project, the level of attention given to the project was high, and there were enough resources for the project which came from the functional team. Some of the projects in project management have failed simply because of lack of backing and also priority which has resulted to issues. 1. 5 Definition of the requirements The requirements of a customer as well as the constraints of a project constitute the input to a process. The requirements of a process are directly related to the performance metrics of a system that is being designed.The requirements often tell more about the needs of a customer in the system as well as the needs for the given system and they show clearly how the system is likely to work in the given environment. On the other hand, the constraints are some of the conditions which exis t in a system due to the effect of the external interfaces, the support of the project or the life cycle systems. The constraints affect the opportunities of the design team in achieving their objectives. The major focus of the system engineering is changing the requirements into design (Grammar et al 2011:77). The requirements or the Spartan program was that the technical specifications needed all the components to operate in a normal way and successfully in a temperature range of -65 degree F to a temperature of 145 degrees F.At the current time, the design of Parks Corporation was not able to operate over 130 degrees F. Despite this, one of the major constraints in the requirements was that the preliminary design material would not be operated over 130 degrees and this indicates that Gary Anderson and his technical team would not meet the set objectives. The requirements of a customer are very important in any design process; this is because they define the expectations of the cu stomer, the environment, the measures of effectiveness as well as the suitability of the system requirements. According to O'Leary, et al 2012:562), the process of defining the requirements of a system provides the initial step in the development of a system.However, in the Blue Spider case study, this is not given any meaningful importance with Gary Anderson and also Henry Gable conversing on the possible ways of changing the design material so that it would seem that they have followed the requirements of the customer. Henry Gable indicates that their reports would indicate that the design would be operative up to 155 degrees F so that the customer would be pleased something which was never true. This indicates that they both have failed to observe care in design process; this is likely to result to problems as this is likely to surface in the later stages of the life cycle of the Spartan program which will mean spending more time and also money in fixing these issues (Chandler et al 2011:375).From system design, specification requirements and testing, all were not done in the right manner with unethical behavior seen in in much of the design process. Figure 1, indicates the various requirements in a system, clearly the requirements are established within a system in order to ensure accuracy and also completeness. Serener (2013: 208) asserts that, it is always not easy to establish good requirements for a system since it needs effective communication and technical skills; the head of Spartan program Gary Enders on lacks the technical expertise to lead the project the reason why the start of the project faces a number of challenges with the requirements not done in the right manner and this made the implementation of the project to seem mixed up.Lack of ethical requirements are common in the project with Henry Gable stating that they can improvise the materials in order for the Spartan program to read 155 degrees F which is not the case as the customer would not know the improvises which the technical team would have done. 2. SE Management 2. 1 System engineering process According to Chandler et al (2011 :376), to ensure that a system is well engineered, it is important to conduct its development process in an orderly manner. Well-defined systems engineering process makes it possible to develop a system. However, for the gig projects, which involve a team, it is important to have a good systems engineering process (Coleman et al 2013:176). This is seen as guidance by the project participants to know the direction of the project and how they are going to achieve the objectives of a system.There is a common agreement amongst the engineers on the main steps in the software process. In figure 3, this is indicated, the initial steps indicate the process of solving a problem in feasibility study, the fourth step is defined as being post-development phase and this is the stage where the project is deployed to he users, where maintenance is don e and also improved to ensure that it meets the ever changing requirements. The initial steps of the process are often termed as being â€Å"what and how' in the software development while the â€Å"analyses and specify' step evaluates the problem which is to be solved while the â€Å"design and implement† provides information on how the problem is to be solved (SГ ¶Darlene 2011 :155).Figure : Systems engineering process Spartan program development process failed to pass through the right stages with several system engineering requirements not available in the different stages of the velveteen of Spartan program; this is vital so as to effectively achieve the customer requirements. The requirements of the customer were that the technical specification components were to operate in the normal way and in a successful manner through the temperature range of -65 degrees F to 145 degrees F. The analysis of the current system indicates that the design by Park Corporation is not likely to function at a temperature which is above 130 degrees F.Additionally, the requirements of the Spartan program were not well stated early on during the initial stages of the project; this explains the reason why the project is running into robbers at the early stages. One of the problems of the project is cost which should be defined and the budget of all the expenses prepared at the analysis stage when the problem is being defined to avoid any further expenses on the way which were not budgeted for. Gary Anderson should be the one who should be answerable to any of the problems which the projects runs into since he is the project manager; his lack of experience in handling projects is affecting the smooth flow of this project. 2. Development process Young (2013:113) states that development process indicates the procedure for evolving the various parts of a project; this helps the various persons involved in the project to identify the different issues early on in the p roject before the occurrence of bigger problems which would alter the smooth running of the project. The development process is vital in a project as it helps to guide a project which does not have well defined goals and objectives which the customers are unable to define on their own. Morris and Considered (2011:68) argue that development process of a project provides a way of getting feedback instead of planning as their main control mechanism. The feedback is as a result of more and more regular tests and also the releases related to the evolving software.In Blue Spider case study, the development process has failed and there are no consultations with the various departments in the preparation of the project proposal as well as consultation with the customer on their requirements. Although the customer's requirements for the Spartan Program are not followed and intentionally altered so as to suit how both Gary Anderson and Henry Gable want it to be; this is attributed to lack of technical expertise in the development process as well as unethical business behavior. . 3 Life cycle integration Frangipani (2011:390) states that, life cycle integration is the process of bringing together the existing systems as well as the new technologies to form a new system that performs more tasks provide more and improved performance as well as ensuring that they enhance the existing systems.According to Cravings (2011 :465), life cycle integration is seen as a way of using new as well as the expanded performance requirements in the most effective manner and also a timely manner during the design, the procurement, and installation and also in the operational infatuation that has specific modules where each of them may have some form of limitations and constraints. One of the major aims of the Blue Spider project was to ensure improved structural capabilities related to the Spartan missile which is a tactical missile made sue by the army. The missile was showing some form of fatigue in terms of failure after spending over six years in the field. The needs of the customer here were that they needed the new materials, which would last for longer for the Spartan missile.By providing new materials the new program would last for Eng and ensure improved performance and also making the present Spartan missile more effective. This is one of the major purposes of the life cycle integration where improving the present system is of utmost importance to the army (Marques et al 2011:1058). 3. Program Life cycle 3. 1 Generic Business Life cycle According to Fiction & Skimmer (2012:309), the increased importance of transition to a greater and sustainable economy presents one of the most challenging aspects of the society. While the evidence where developing a highly sustainable business model is related to great profits, it is a problem to majority of the conventional manufacturers.Because of this, firms are supposed to search for ways to improve the business models and in the process become more sustainable. Parks Corporation is always committed to developing new strategies so as to keep up with the changes in the market. The firm has performance criteria where the best and employees are promoted; the reason for Gary Andersen's promotion is because the firm is committed to developing a sustainable business model. Park Corp.. Seems to make use of the product-service system in order to relate to particular life cycle stage in the development of a project. The business model in Park Corp.. Involves marketing, he software engineering process, design, production and operation.Through marketing, Park corp.. Has been identified as one of the most successful firms in software engineering the reason why the Department of Defense (DoD) had several contracts with the firm. Stark (2011:10) notes that, software engineering is the next stage in the business life cycle with the firm making sure that the right project manager is in place to guide the developm ent of a project. Gary Anderson was chosen as the project manager who was to oversee the completion of the Spartan program; Gary was to oversee the design of the project, production as well as operation. 3. 2 Simulation of DoD acquisition policy Diagram 4. System engineering product 4. System Requirement review According to Blanchard (2012:66) the system requirements review is done after the end of the functional analysis as well as the preliminary requirements allocation to the hardware configuration items, the computer software configuration items, the facility configuration items as well as the personnel so as to determine the objective and progress related to the system engineering management. The items to be reviewed include the mission and requirement analysis, the human factor analysis, he mission and requirement analysis, the functional factor analysis, the program risk analysis and also specification development (Shall et al 2011: 556). Kiss-off et al (2011:98) state that, the requirements of a system fall in different categories.The customer requirement provide the statements or the facts as well as what the customer expects from the system in relation to achieving its set objectives, its effectiveness and also the suitability. One of the major requirements of the DoD contract was that the Spartan program was to operate normally and successfully on a temperature of -65 degrees F to 145 degrees F. However, the present design of the system indicated that the program would not function above 130 degrees F and this indicates that the objectives of the customer are to have the program operate at a temperature above 130 degree F. Despite the customer requirements stated clearly, the management in their proposal have developed a different system requirements which does not suite what the DoD want.Gary and Henry Gable intentionally meet to discuss the inability of the preliminary design material being operated above 130 degrees F as the customer want but the n because of lack of effective system acquirement analysis and accomplishment of the mission; they think of changing the design material or incorporate new materials and this problem has come as a result of poor system requirement review (Shall et al 2011 : 558). Another important factor in successful completion of a system is the human factor analysis. Stanton & Walker 2013:721) notes that despite the increase in technology, human factors are still vital to the success of a project. Thus effective interaction of human beings in the development of a project not only reduces the risk of project failure but also ensures hat the objectives of the customer have been met.Additionally, the use of human factors ensures improved safety, increased reliability as well as efficiency of the system. Despite the increased importance of human factors in a project, there seem to be a challenge in the Blue Spider project because of lack of human factors. The process of bidding never followed staffin g; one of the reasons provided is because Parks Corporation refused to give out its staff for the project; the engineering managers were not cooperative in giving out their key people towards the Blue Spider program. Human factors are important and should not be underestimated in successful project completion (Shall et al 2011: 558). Additionally, milestone is vital in the project completion (Adamant 2011:216).This state the important dates in a system which the client need to be updated on the progress of the system should be considered so as to ensure that the customer's requirements are well reviewed as the system keeps on being developed. Blue Spider project has successfully completed the first milestone of the project; the second milestone is scheduled to be after 180 days where acceptance of the raw materials and also the production runs ere considered; milestone is prepared in a way to avoid overlapping of activities in a system preparation something which Gary Anderson and h is team have done effectively in terms avoiding an overlap of the lab development and also the full scale production. 5.System engineering core process Schemas et al (2011:76) asserts that the system engineering major processes are developed so as to provide support to the people that are required to implement the systems engineering methodology. The core processes follow the following steps: provide an analysis, decomposition as well as allocation of the system requirements; litigation of the requirements of a system and management are important so as to ensure that the customer requirements have been met. Gary and Henry are making up important follow ups regarding the specifications of the system; despite the fact that Henry is imposing his own strategy in the initial phases of the program; the test matrix does seem to be a failure as the raw materials which the test result indicate do not seem to coincide with the particular specification requirements by the customer.This means t hat analysis of the requirements of the Spartan program is aced by ethical challenges as Henry is stating that the customer would not be aware of the trouble changes which they are about to make regarding the specification requirements for the program. Next is definition of the system behavior where the system's functionality as well as its operations is the major specifications at this stage. The functionality of Spartan program is well stated in the proposal by Gary team as well as the customer specification needs which is meant to improve the structural capabilities and also the age life related to the short range tactical missile.According to Apparel et al (2011 :120), the definition of the system architecture is important in the system engineering process; this includes defining the internal and external interfaces; the subsystems and the components of the system; although the specification of this contract by the customer (Army) was that the Spartan program missile was to be i mproved its structural capabilities; the project team led by Gary failed to define the system architecture of the project in their proposal to the Lord industries; the reason for this can be articulated to the inexperienced project anger who has not handled similar projects in the past and therefore thinks that projects can be done without even specifying their system components and subsystems.Marques et al (2011:1060) notes that, the most important systems engineering functions include operations concept development, architecture and the design development as well as identification of the requirements and management; however, these functions as well as the final products depend on one another. According to O'Leary, et al (2012:562), the system engineering functions, the validation, the prediction on performance, the analysis and trade off are important in optimization and development of a total system. In the system engineering life cycle, there is more refinement of the system req uirements, the design as well as the operations concept in the lower levels to a point where the design has been realized. After that verification and validation of the system requirements is done and also planning for the events and resources.Verification of the system requirements is done by both Henry Gable and Gary Anderson; however, their verification does not provide any importance to the success of this project as the customer requirements re ignored, making them to think of ways of devising the performance of the Spartan program missile to operate at a temperature of 130 degrees F. The events and also resources in Blue Spider project have not been planned well; despite that the project does not meet the planned milestone and this is because of the inexperience of Gary Anderson as he is left to do most of the work by himself to beat the deadline; the case indicates that Gary did not want to overburden the staff with the responsibility of the handouts and because of this he di d this by himself, the reason why the reject does not have enough resources is because of lack of planning for the events and resources and hence putting in place the necessary budget for the same and this has resulted to cost overrun.The system engineering is important so as to handle the challenges which the system engineers face during system development (Meredith & Mantel 2011:155). 6. System engineering process implementation 6. 1 Events where System Engineering was needed According to Apparel (2011 :130), the use of different engineering tools as well as the safety analysis tools is important during the design process. This is important as it ivies the designers an opportunity to identify the dangers in the early stages of the design process and this is the place when they are easily worked on. The use of system engineering would be possible in the analysis of customer requirements; this will translate the requirements if the customer into both functional and also the design p arameters.Both Gary Anderson and Henry Gable are contemplating on how to fix the materials so as to ensure that the Spartan program is operating at a temperature above 130 degrees F; something which the matrix test failed to produce the required raw materials. Additionally, functional requirements of the Spartan program are not identified early on at the start of the system planning, design and also the development phases; the result is failure to meet the system milestone. The important safety system requirements were not included in the Spartan program including the system-level safety analysis. 6. 2 Consequence of lack of system engineering Lack of system engineering in the Blue Spider project has resulted to a number of challenges in the development and completion of the project.Key stages have been omitted and this has affected the achievement of customer requirements; the customer has complained about the materials included in the proposal which seem to contract with their req uirement on how the system should be and how it should operate. It is worth to note that systems engineering is often implemented by coordination in the design engineering, effective architecture development as well as the design which are able to ensure that they meet the needs of the customer. Gary and Henry are unable to satisfy the needs of the customer in the Blue Spider project because they failed to in the use of system engineering principles during the design s well as systems requirement specification.Blue Spider project headed by Gary Anderson has failed in the systems engineering as well as in the operations concept which failed to reflect the objectives of the Spartan program customer (the Army) as well as failing to schedule the project within the set budget. 6. 3 How to Implement Systems Engineering One of the objectives of systems engineering implementation is the full-integrated development as well as making products, which meet the needs of the customer within speci fied cost, schedule and also the risk constraints (Apparel et al 2011 :152). Therefore, this implies that a project needs to give a structured process for effective integration and link the requirements well, the schedule, the decision milestone and also validation and verification.However, this is not the case in Blue Spider project as the project team lacks the needed cooperation to ensure that the implementation objectives are met as well as the systems engineering process. Gary Anderson is forced to do majority of the scheduled tasks in order to avoid expenses, which would mean that the project would not meet the set budget and hence the implementation of the system was a problem. Not all the departments are involved in the various phases of the project; the project team often needs to work on a â€Å"single, integrated set of requirements and also process† which mean that the integration of the system requirements and also the design stages will reduce the cost; a challe nge being faced by Gary Anderson as the project cost is going high.Additionally, effective implementation means that it is vital to lower the unplanned as well as the cost of reengineering that is important in solving the â€Å"omissions and challenges in integration†. 6. 4 Events where Systems Engineering were present Despite the challenges which the Gary Anderson and Henry Gable faced in the Blue Spider project, the use of systems engineering were present in the formation management of the software development project more so in the planning of the project, estimating the cost (budget), formation of the project team, allocation of work for the members of the team, the work schedule plan, reviewing of the progress of the project and also reporting the project's milestone.All these activities used the system engineering concept despite a few challenges. 6. 5 Benefits Davenport (2013:118), states that, systems engineering is important as it ensures that reduces which match the challenges of the global market are produced; it is clear that customers need a higher range of products and the choice which need that firms are supposed to produce products which match the customer needs; thus systems engineering helps firms to ensure that this objective is achieved. Systems engineering provides a way of ensuring that customer objectives are achieved and also the best way of achieving the market leadership by producing the best products in the market with good quality. 6. Comparison It is clear from the case study that concepts of design principles, specification acquirement, and risk management never made use of the system engineering principles, the reason why Gary Anderson and Henry Gable are faced with challenges of meeting the customer needs. 7. Systems Engineering Planning 7. 1 Project management Plan Marques and Laura (2011:1061) states that, project management plan involves organization, the relationship involved in reporting, the decision process as well as the role of the management committee in ensuring the success of the project. It shows the amount of time which the project manager is likely to spend in the project management. Therefore, the project team members should be written down as well as the details of the contact and any changes communicated to the program manager; the project need to state whether there is any need for training.Gary Anderson is involved in majority of the work the reason why most of the plans are behind schedule. The decision by Gary to lower the costs through accepting to work on the bill of materials by himself indicates that there is lack of project management plan for the project; scheduling and making sure that all activities are accomplished thin the stipulated time is important to effectiveness of system engineering. 7. 3 System engineering plan According to Adamant et al (2011 :21 5), System engineering plan is a major activity that has an effect on the acquisition planning decision and as a r esult develops important methods which will be effective in achieving the objectives of acquisition.This is important in the systems management in assuring of the technical activities' identification and their management; ensure that the technical approach in the development team has been communicated, ensure that there is technical implementation and that decisions have been documented and finally help in establishing the benchmark of system development which is vital in meeting the needs of the customer and that of the systems engineering as well. Systems engineering plan has been followed in the Spartan program development; plans are put in place as Gary Anderson is appointed as the project manager with various persons involved in the development team; however, this is not done to satisfactory and this is because of lack of proper system engineering plan, the engineering integration distances themselves on the preparation of the bill of materials because