Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation Essay Example for Free

Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation Essay Martin Luther was the most influential person of the 15th and 16th century the reason being he rebelled against the catholic church the highest authority in the world at that time. When Martin Luther went against the church he not only reformed Christianity but reformed every person in Europe into a thinking human being. So when looking at the most influential people of the time Martin Luther paved the path for all modern sciences. Martin Luther’s Ninety Five Theses showed obvious faults and corruption throughout the Catholic Church. When looking at Martin Luther’s ideals he showed that the Catholic Church had made up rules that could not be found in the bible. Due to this finding he led the Protestants into a more direct translation of the bible. One of his largest accomplishments was the translation of the bible into the German language. By translating the bible out of Latin and into German he placed the interpretation of the word of god into the hands of people who had been simply told god’s word from a Catholic stand point. By shining light on the problems of the Catholic Church Martin Luther created a wave of people with minds of their own. By giving people a reason and the power to think for themselves he lit the powder keg for the exit of the middle ages and entrance into the renaissance and the scientific revolution. And when looking at the scientific revolution one can speculate that if Martin Luther’s Protestant reformation had not taken place when it did the Catholic Church would most likely have crushed any new scientific ideas that did not conform to the teachings of the church. To prove that the speculation has weight one can look at how the Catholic Church employed major censorship of the Protestant teachings. Martin Luther was the most influential person of the 15th and 16th century because he shined light upon the power of the human mind. By empowering people he gifted the world with the spark that led to the scientific revolution and the split of the Catholic religion.

Measuring Concentration of Natural Gas in Air

Measuring Concentration of Natural Gas in Air Valentin Haemmerli Measuring concentration of natural gas in air using a catalytic bead sensor and a Wheatstone bridge circuit Abstract. A vacuum system and a catalytic bead combustible gas sensor were used to calibrate and test an apparatus for measuring the concentration of natural gas in air. Total concentrations ranged between 0%-5% and total pressure from 0.5 bar to 1.5 bar. A Wheatstone bridge circuit was used to measure the output voltage of the sensors and relate this to concentration over the range of pressures. The linear relationship between reaction rate (given by initial rate of change of output voltage) and concentration was most strongly observed at pressures of 1 bar and above. The constant of proportionality for the equation (1) was found to be 8.7  ±0.4 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane for a total system pressure of 1 bar. The relationship broke down for pressures significantly below 1 bar, indicating that the sensors are not reliable in this range. Introduction Catalytic bead sensors, also known as pellistors [1], are used in a wide range of applications in industry to monitor levels of combustible gases. One such combustible gas is the mixture consisting mainly of methane referred to as natural gas. The catalytic bead sensors can be used to monitor the concentration of natural gas in production facilities, coal mines and industrial processes. This is important because if the concentration of natural gas in air exceeds 5% it becomes explosive [2]. It is especially important to monitor methane concentration because it is usually colourless and odourless [3], making it very difficult to detect without sensors. An apparatus to measure concentration of natural gas in air can be used to trigger an alarm when there is a concentration greater than the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL), given as a percentage. At this concentration the mixture of gas and air becomes explosive. The apparatus may need to be applied for different pressure environments, not only atmospheric pressure, for example in applications with chemical processes requiring lower or higher pressures. The apparatus has therefore been tested for a range of pressures from 0.5 -1.5 bar. Theory Sensors The sensors used are catalytic bead sensors. One sensor is made up of two elements, one sensitive and one non-sensitive. The sensors work by catalysing the oxidation reaction of combustible hydrocarbons in the sensitive element which consists of a platinum wire coated in a compound which facilitates the oxidation reaction and also contains the catalyst for this reaction. The non-sensitive element is identical in most regards, but crucially is missing the oxidizing chemical or has had it poisoned, depending on the specific sensor design used. Poisoning means that the catalyst has been reacted with another chemical to make it inert. The non-sensitive element does not react with combustible gases. The elements are supplied with 3V, and heated up to 400-500ËÅ ¡C to speed up the reaction. When the oxidation reaction of combustible gases occurs on the sensitive element, the heat of reaction increases the temperature of the element, which changes the resistance in the platinum wire. Th e non-sensitive element acts as a control for ambient temperature, meaning that in the absence of any combustible gas, the two elements will output exactly the same voltage. This is very useful as it means that change in temperature due to external factors is controlled and the difference in output between the sensitive and non-sensitive elements can be measured using a Wheatstone bridge circuit as described below. This design means that these sensors detect a multitude of different combustible gases and are therefore not useful for distinguishing between them, meaning they are nonspecific [4]. However, they are very useful for situations where monitoring combustibility is of importance, and they can be applied readily to the task of measuring concentration as they are accurate and have a fast response time. The sensors used are sensitive, with a measurement range of 0-100% of the LEL. This corresponds to 0-5% concentration of methane. One downside of these sensors is that they cannot operate in a vacuum as they rely on combustion, which usually requires at least 15% oxygen [4]. They are also at risk of poisoning since they rely on a coat of catalyst and the presence of certain chemicals can result in a reaction with this catalyst, meaning the sensitive element would no longer facilitate the oxidation reaction and the difference in output between the elements would always be zero. Wheatstone Bridge Circuit Jeong-Yeol Yoon states that â€Å"A Wheatstone bridge is an electrical circuit used to measure a very small change in resistance† [5]. A circuit as shown in Figure 1 can be used to measure the output from the sensors, where a small resistance change is expected as a result of the sensitive element heating up due to the presence and reaction of combustible gases. A voltage is supplied at the top and bottom of the diamond of resistors, and the voltage across the middle, between V1 and V2 is measured. The right leg of the bridge should have a large resistance compared to the other leg so that a small change can be detected. The variable resistor allows one to slightly vary the resistance on one leg and so balance the bridge before measurements, zeroing the output. Experimental Method The first step was to test how sensor output related to concentration for a total pressure of 1bar (atmospheric). Care was taken to ensure that all joints and seals of the vacuum system were tight and that all valves were firmly closed. The vacuum system used to prepare test mixtures is shown in Figure 2. P1 and P2, the pressure sensors shown in the figure, were used to measure concentration of natural gas and air. P1 had a range of 3 bar, with the zero set to atmospheric pressure (1bar), and vacuum (0bar) set to -1. This was not very precise, with an uncertainty of  ±0.1bar and was used to fill up the system with compressed air and the pressure shown by this corresponded to total pressure. P2 was a more precise pressure sensor, ranging from 0 to 50 mbar with uncertainty  ±0.5mbar. It was used to carefully add the correct proportion of natural gas to the vacuum, before topping up with compressed air. Using this vacuum system, concentrations ranging from 0-5% natural gas were prepared. Figure 2 also shows the position of the pellistor sensor’s two elements and the connection to the Wheatstone bridge circuit. The output of this circuit was connected to a ÃŽ ¼V meter which was connected to a computer for dat a logging. This had a range of -30.00 to 30.00mV with uncertainty  ±0.01mV. Data logging was carried out for 5 minutes and 30s for concentrations of 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% at a total pressure of 1 bar. Errors were reduced by zeroing the Wheatstone bridge output using the variable resistor between measurements. This was done to reduce the effect of a natural drift in the output due to very slightly varying conditions in the lab such as temperature and the resistance in the circuit, as well as mechanical vibrations. The bridge circuit supply voltage was kept at a constant 3.00V. Care was taken to leave little time between sealing the system under vacuum and filling with natural gas and air as the seals were not perfect and pressure rose slowly, but noticeably if the system was left at vacuum for an extended period. This procedure was then repeated for a suitable range of concentrations at total pressures of 0.5, 0.75, 1.25, and 1.5 bar. The same considerations were made for reducing error as above. One thing to note is that at total pressures of less than atmospheric there was always a slight influx of outside air, due to the imperfect seals, however the effect of this was negligible. Experimental Results To find a correlation between the concentration of methane and the bridge output voltage we took the gradient of the initial increasing linear section of the raw data. Figure 3 below shows this for the case with concentration 5% of methane with a total pressure of 1 bar. As can be seen, the measured data falls away as reactant, the natural gas, is used up in the reaction. Figure 3 also shows that there is a very sharp spike as the output voltage varied greatly when the sensor was first switched on. This illustrates that care was needed when selecting which section of the curve to use to calculate the gradient. This is the right method to use to find concentration because, according to Hammett, â€Å"the rate of any chemical reaction is proportional to the product of the concentrations of the substances actually involved in the reaction.† [7] and the gradient of Figure 3 is a rate of reaction. The next step was to establish the gradients, or initial reaction rates, of 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% methane mixtures. These are shown in Figure 4, along with 5%, for a total pressure of 1 bar. Figure 5 shows these gradients again, but all in order and passing through the origin to better show the steady increase in gradient. Figure 6 shows processed data for 1 bar total pressure. The gradients of the lines from Figures 4 and 5 are plotted against their concentration. This allows us to find a constant linking the raw data to the concentration for this pressure. Table 1 goes on to show the values of this constant for the other pressures analysed. The raw data for these is not shown here, but the process and data is similar to that for 1 bar. Figure 7 shows the relation between the pressure and the concentration. Also included are a second order polynomial and a linear trend line (fitted by least squares). Vertical error bars are from standard error in Table 1 and horizontal error bars from  ±0.1bar uncertainty in total pressure. Discussion Figure 6 shows the gradients of the lines in Figures 4 and 5, meaning the rates of reactions at different concentrations, plotted against the concentration of methane. This gives us a relationship between concentration and the initial rate of reaction, the quantity derived from the raw data, for a specific total pressure. For 1 bar this was 8.7 ±0.4 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane. The error in this comes from a combination of the uncertainty in the pressure measurement leading to uncertainty in concentration corresponding to  ±0.1% in the worst case and a small random error in the output voltage of the bridge circuit corresponding to  ±2Ãâ€"10-4V. Figure 7 includes both a polynomial fit and a linear fit. It is unclear if the relationship remains linear or takes some other form at low pressure. The polynomial is almost linear for the three higher pressures, which indicates a strong relationship between pressure and reaction rate for higher pressures. The values and their associated errors in Table 1 come from each plot of initial reaction rate (rate of change of voltage) against concentration for the different pressures. The error is the standard error for these plots. There was a breakdown of the relationship at low pressures. Data for 0.5 bar total pressure was not included in the results because no clear relationship between output and concentration was found. This indicates that the sensors are not suitable for low pressures, especially when coupled with low concentrations. This resulted in very little output from the sensors, making it difficult to reliably determine an initial reaction rate, which is vital for obtaining a relationship between the raw data and the concentration. The reason for this lack of output was that not enough natural gas particles were interacting with the sensitive element to cause it to heat up and also due to a lower oxygen concentration also slowing down the reaction. This is not a problem in the commercial applications of these types of sensors as they are typically used to detect high concentrations of combustible gases at atmospheric pressure. This does highlight a weakness in the apparatus when used for finding unknown concentrations, however. Another weakness was the inability to measure large pressures precisely, leading to large errors in the total pressure measurements. This has an increased effect on low pressures, which is a further reason for the less reliable data. Empirical Relationship If we give the initial rate of reaction a constant,, and a function of pressure, , then (2) where is the concentration of methane, is determined experimentally from the sensor data and is the polynomial relationship from Figure 7, (3) with the appropriate total pressure, found experimentally from the pressure sensors on the vacuum system, substituted. Using this equation it is possible to use the sensors to determine the concentration of an unknown mixture. Conclusions The aim was to build an apparatus capable of determining the concentration of natural gas in air up to 5%. In order to do this it was necessary to first establish the relationship between sensor output and concentration. This was then repeated at different pressures to understand the effect of a different pressure on the relationship between sensor output and concentration. Finally it was possible to use these relationships to determine the concentration of an unknown mixture of gas and air. The constant of proportionality for 1 bar pressure was found to be 8.7 ±0.4 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane. For 0.75 bar it was found to be 6.5 ±1.6 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane, 1.25 bar was 16.2 ±0.8 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane, and 1.5 bar was 25.3 ±1.9 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane. No correlation was found between sensor output and concentration for 0.5 bar. Appendix Division of labour among group members: Giuseppe Guarino –main tasks were constructing bridge circuit on protoboard and constructing and soldering strip board circuit which was finally used in data collection David Griggs –main tasks were configuring CassyLab software and importing raw data into Microsoft Excel Valentin Haemmerli –main tasks were preparing mixtures of natural gas and compressed air in vacuum system and researching sensor operation guidelines Shared responsibilities –everyone shared the tasks of checking the circuit, building the vacuum system apparatus and preliminary data analysis. References [1]Operating Combustible Gas Sensors, ed: Sixth Sense (sensor manufacturer). [2]Material Safety Data Sheet: Methane, ed: Air Products, 1999. [3]J. G. Speight, CHAPTER 1: History and Uses, in Natural Gas: A Basic Handbook, ed: Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC / Gulf Publishing Company, 2007, pp. 1-33. [4]L. T. White, 4 Hazardous Gas Monitoring Sensors, in Hazardous Gas Monitoring (Fifth Edition), L. T. White, Ed., ed Norwich, NY: William Andrew Publishing, 2001, pp. 81-116. [5]J.-Y. Yoon, Wheatstone Bridge, in Introduction to Biosensors, ed: Springer New York, 2013, pp. 75-86. [6]Catalytic Elements CAT16, ed: Sixth Sense (sensor manufacturer). [7]L. P. Hammett, Physical organic chemistry reaction rates, equilibria, and mechanisms. New York; St. Louis; San Francisco [etc.]: McGraw-Hill, 1970.

Negative Absolute Temperature Thermodynamics

Negative Absolute Temperature Thermodynamics T.H. Tennahewa Thermodynamics and Statistical mechanics at Negative Absolute Temperature We define the temperature, T; by in here S stands for Entropy which describes the measure of disorder in the system and U for Internal energy. In here x stands for the partial differentiation that should hold constant in the thermodynamic equation relating TdS and dU. this relation comes from the first law of Thermodynamics. That is; ; We can define temperature with relating Enthalpy (H) also. That is in here too y stands for the partial differentiation that should hold constant in the thermodynamic equation relating TdS and dH. Below is the derivation of above equation. We called absolute temperature as a temperature where on the Kelvin scale 0 K as the absolute zero point, where all motion in a classical gas would stop. Most systems, including a classical gas are limited to positive absolute temperatures. In order to be able to reach negative temperatures, a system needs to possess an upper bound for the energy of its particles, which is a maximal possible energy a particle of the system can have. This limit is not an external limit in the sense that there is just no more energy available. It is an internal limit the particles cannot absorb more energy even if there is plenty available. It is important to note that the negative temperature region, with more of the atoms in the higher allowed energy state, is actually warmer than the positive temperature region. If this system were to be brought into contact with a system containing more atoms in a lower energy state (positive temperatures) heat would flow from the system with the negative temperat ures to the system with the positive temperatures. By the definition of temperature we can describe above figure. If the energy in the system is minimum (Emin), all particles are in the lowest possible energy state and the entropy is zero. The curve is vertical at this point with an infinite slope and temperature is therefore zero. If the energy increases, the particles begin to occupy higher energy states, and the entropy increases. There are, however, always more particles at low energies than at high energies this is same as the usual Boltzmann distribution. (Figure 2 below) The slope of the entropy versus energy curve decreases and the temperature therefore increases. At some point, when there is enough energy in the system, the particles distribute equally over all energy states. Therefore the disorder and the entropy are maximum. The curve is completely flat at this point, with a slope of zero, and the temperature is therefore infinite. If the total energy in the system is further increased, more particles will occupy high energies than low energies this is same as the inverted of the Bolt zmann distribution. Because the energy distribution becomes narrower again, disorder and entropy starts to decrease. This is not a usual behavior because usually entropy increases with increasing energy. The slope of the curve is negative in this region and therefore the absolute temperature is negative. If the energy in the system is maximum (Emax), all particles are at their maximum possible energy. The entropy is again zero. The curve is again vertical therefore the temperature is again zero, but this time it is negative values. Thus, while a temperature of positive and negative infinity is physically identical, temperatures of positive and negative zero are very different. Because of that we could write temperature range as +0 K, +300 K, , +∞ K, −∞ K, , −300 K, , −0 K. Figure 2- The Maxwell- Boltzmann distribution In the Carnot cycle of a heat engine heat absorbed from the hot reservoir and heat rejected to the cold reservoir while work done by the system. In that case we define the efficiency of the process as, In here Q1 is a heat absorbed at temperature T1 and Q2 is a heat rejected at temperature T2. In heat engine T2 / T1 2 / T1 > 1, therefore efficiency is negative and can be very large. In this case work has to be supplied to maintain the cycle. It should be noted that when Carnot cycle is operated between two negative temperatures that is work is done by the machine while heat absorbed from cold reservoir and rejected to hot reservoir. Efficiency of the system is not only positive but it is also less than unity. Thus at both positive and negative temperatures cyclic heat engines which produce work have efficiencies less than unity that is they absorb more heat than produced work. Second law of thermodynamics should have to modify to use with this kind of Carnot cycle. In there, entropy formulation and Clausius statement remain unchanged and Kelvin-Plank formulation has to be changed. They are mentioned below. Entropy formulation The entropy of a system is a variable of its state and the entropy of an isolated system can never decrease. Clausius Statement It is impossible to construct a device operating in a closed cycle that will produce no other effect than the transfer of heat from a cooler to hotter body. Kelvin- Plank formulation It is impossible to construct an engine, which is operating in a cycle produces no other effect except to external heat from a single reservoir and do equivalent amount of work. Modified statement: It is impossible to construct an engine that will operate in a closed cycle and produce no effect other than the extraction of heat from a positive temperature reservoir with the performance of an equivalent amount of work or the rejection of heat into a negative temperature reservoir with the corresponding work being done on the engine. Carathà ©odory form In any neighborhood of any state there are states that cannot be reached from it by an adiabatic process. Both first and second laws of thermodynamics can be used at negative temperatures as at positive ones to derive other thermodynamic relations. From these laws it is interpreted that the difficulty of heating a hot system at negative temperatures is analogous to the difficulty in cooling a cold system at positive temperature. The important requirements for thermodynamical system to be capable for negative temperature are: The elements of the thermodynamical system must be in thermodynamical equilibrium among themselves in order to describe the system by temperature. There must be an upper limit of the possible energy of the allowed states of the system. It is need a lower bound for the energy in order to get positive temperatures and an upper bound in order to get negative temperatures. The system must be thermally isolated from all systems which do not satisfy both of the above conditions. To satisfy the second condition negative temperatures are to be achieved with a finite energy. In thermal equilibrium the number of elements in the mth state is proportional to the Boltzmann factor; here Wm is energy of the mth state. Boltzmann distribution function which is formed using Boltzmann factor is given below. In negative temperature case when Wm increases with that Boltzmann factor increases exponentially therefore high energy states are more occupied than low energy states. As a result of this we could say that without an upper limit to the energy negative temperatures could not be achieved with a finite energy. Since most of the systems do not satisfy this conditions negative temperatures are occurs rarely. Spin systems sometimes form the thermodynamic systems which can describe by using temperature. In there for a system of electron spins in a lattice, a temperature such that the population of the energy levels of the spin system is given by the Boltzmann distributionwith the spin temperature. To achieve thermodynamic equilibrium various nuclear spins must interact among themselves. This happened due to nuclear spin-spin magnetic interaction. Subatomic particles like electrons, protons and neutrons can be imagined as spinning on their axes. In many atoms these spins are paired against each other, such that the nucleus of the atom has no overall spin. In some atoms the nucleus has shown overall spin. The rules for determining the net spin of a nucleus are given below; If the number of neutrons  and  the number of protons are both even, then the nucleus has  NO  spin. (Classical Particles) If the number of neutrons  plus  the number of protons is odd, then the nucleus has a half-integer spin (i.e. 1/2, 3/2, 5/2) (Fermions) If the number of neutrons  and  the number of protons are both odd, then the nucleus has an integer spin (i.e. 1, 2, 3) (Boson) It is defined in Quantum mechanics that a nucleus of spinIwill have 2I+ 1 possible orientations. A nucleus with spin 1/2 will have 2 possible orientations. In the absence of an external magnetic field, these orientations are of equal energy. If a magnetic field is applied, then the energy levels split. When the nucleus is in a magnetic field, the initial populations of the energy levels are determined by thermodynamics, as described by the Boltzmann distribution. It means that†the lower energy level will contain slightly more nuclei than the higher level†. It is possible to excite these nuclei into the higher level with electromagnetic radiation. The frequency of radiation needed is determined by the difference in energy between the energy levels. This spin-spin process can be characterized by using relaxation process. Nuclei in the higher energy state return to the lower state by emitting the radiation. At radio frequencies, re-emission is negligible. There are two main relaxation processes; Spin lattice (longitudinal) relaxation Spin spin (transverse) relaxation Spin lattice relaxation (T1) Nuclei which are in a sample create a complex magnetic field. The magnetic field caused by motion of nuclei within the lattice is called thelattice field. This lattice field has many components. Some of these components will be equal in frequency and phase to the Larmor frequency of the nuclei of interest. These components of the lattice field can interact with nuclei in the higher energy state and cause them to lose energy returning to the lower state. The energy that a nucleus loses increases the amount of vibration and rotation within the lattice resulting in a tiny rise in the temperature of the sample. The relaxation time,T1(the average lifetime of nuclei in the higher energy state) is dependent on the magnetogyric ratio of the nucleus and the mobility of the lattice. As mobility increases, the vibrational and rotational frequencies increase, making it more likely for a component of the lattice field to be able to interact with excited nuclei. However, at extremely high mobilities, the probability of a component of the lattice field being able to interact with excited nuclei decreases. Spin spin relaxation (T2) This is describing the interaction between neighbouring nuclei with identical precessional frequencies but differing magnetic quantum states. In this case, the nuclei can exchange quantum states; a nucleus in the lower energy level will be excited, while the excited nucleus relaxes to the lower energy state. There is nonetchange in the populations of the energy states, but the average lifetime of a nucleus in the excited state will decrease. This can result in line-broadening. Most of the nuclear systems don’t satisfy the conditions in negative temperatures. By looking at all these things we can conclude that although the phenomena of negative temperature is a fully valid concept in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics they have less important than phenomena of positive temperature. 1

Land Management Agency Discretion :: essays research papers

Agency discretion towards land management has been an issue since the Forest Service’s conception. Gifford Pinchot had envisioned local foresters managing lands with ideas and guidelines that have been developed with modern science and conservation in mind. Since then, laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Wilderness Bill and Endangered Species Act have limited the amount of authority and discretion a land management agency has over a particular area. These laws along with the current forest plans under the Land & Resource Management plans under the 1982 Regulations have made it possible for agencies to be subject to public opinion of whether the forest plans are best suited for a particular area and if the agency is successfully implementing these forest objectives. Historically, land management agency discretion has been much greater than present day. Land management was left to scientists and forest professionals who were entrusted with managing public forests for the common good. This allowed for land management agencies to act without opposition from conflicting view points. But during the 1960’s and 70’s, America started to question the federal government and science. With the passage of NEPA, the public became more involved with policy decision making and opened agencies up to lawsuits and litigation. According to National Forest System Land & Resource Management Planning (1982 Regulations) Sec. 219.6, the intent of public participation in the National Forest system is to broaden the information base upon which land and resource management planning decisions are made. It is also the intent to ensure that the Forest Service understands the needs, concerns and values of the public. NEPA requires that the Forest Service issues Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), hold public comment periods, and issue a description of the proposed planning action that is available to the public. Though this limits agency discretion towards public lands, it is the values of the public that dictate how public lands should be managed. America’s National Forests and public lands are intended to represent the public’s values and interests. With the requirement that the land management agencies issue EIS reports, land management discretion has been limited. Not only are the agencies required to report the current environmental health of a proposed area, but offer alternative plans as well. NEPA has held agencies accountable for how the public’s National Forests are managed. No longer could agencies, at their own discretion, choose which the best way to manage public lands is whether or not it coincides with what the public wants out of its lands.

The Importance of Diversity in Education Essay -- Diversity in Educati

I worked within an Independent School System for 10 years. As I contemplated the idea of working towards my Master’s in Education I brought with me the idea of diversity in education and why facilitating different school systems is vital to a healthy society. â€Å"Not every youngster gets along well in the public school system.† (Cunningham, 171) said Pat McGeer of the Ministry of Education publication Education Today. This very statement was a cry from thousands of families throughout the province of British Columbia in the 1960s. (Sullivan, 1988) My argument for this paper is that for governments to be ethical and moral agents they must hear the voices of their constituents, even if they are a few; and then respond equitably and with fairness. This equity and fairness includes policies ensuring their legitimacy and funding to facilitate their diversity. This idea then led me to the whole debate of whether parents should have the choice between public and inde pendent education. This debate primarily came into existence with â€Å"The Independent Schools Support Act in 1977† (Sullivan, 1988); although historically the idea of funding two systems can be â€Å"traced as far back as the colonial era of British Columbia†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Sullivan, 1988). For the purpose of this essay, I want to explore how government’s equitable treatment of constituents lends itself to â€Å"good† government. From my perspective, the growth of the Independent School system has come out of the willingness by government to recognize and provide funding, thus giving parents the choice. â€Å"Accessibility and choice† (Sullivan, 1988) in education are interconnected and without either one, schools struggle to remain a viable option. It wasn’t until the Royal Commission in 1987 th... ...rt K. (1977). Servant Leadership. In Larry C. Spears & Robert K. Greenleaf (Eds.) (25th Anniversary Ed.) Servant Leadership: A Journey Into The Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness (87-95). New York: Paulist Press. Maxwell, John C. (1993). Developing The Leader Within You. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Saul, John Ralston. (2008). A Fair Country: Telling Truths About Canada. New York: Penguin Group. Sullivan, Barty M. (1988). Royal Commission – Extract on Independent Schools. Federation of Independent School Associations. 8.C.2. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Yukl, Gary. (2010). Leadership in Organizations (7th Ed.) New Jersey: Prentice Hall. (2001, January). A Luxury the People of BC Cannot Afford: A CUPE BC Backgrounder on Independent Schools. (2007, September 17) Ontario Votes 2007. Faith-based schools.

My Learning Organization

I work as a full time comptroller for a copier reseller. Our company lease copiers to different clients for a monthly fee. When these copiers are turned over after the lease contract, the company either has it released or refurbishes the machines and sells these machines at refurbished price. The organization in our company is not large. We are just a group of ten workers but have been servicing big clients for the past ten years. I would say that our company is an example of a learning organization. Personally, as part of this team, I continue to test my experiences by at the least keenly aware of my day to day routines. Being a comptroller is a tedious job and I am expected to look into the unexpected. I cannot do this if I make my job into a habitual routine where small items can escape my attention. Existing systems and existing work flow can make someone lax meaning, one would just merely trust the system to check itself, which doesn’t really happen especially when the process fails. To test my routines, I would sometimes randomly check receipts that have been processed, just to make sure if they have been processed rightly. Sometimes I would have fun using the system in the office to evaluating my own home budget or inventory. This way, I would know if I have learned the experience by its very nature because the more I can adapt the learning to other kinds of venues, the more I know that I have learned the process indeed. In terms of producing information, my work lets me be responsible in counter checking sales and inventory. The information I deliver is crucial because should there be anomalies in sales or inventory, my information would be helpful in proving discrepancies. I may have second hand data but the corroboration of the information from my work will help support primary data that the office needs, not only to balance finances but most especially to forecast business. It is important for our company’s employees to share knowledge. Information from our specific work is shared systematically through the regular weekly meetings. Though the company is small, these meetings are helpful in leveling off expectations, affirming transactions, threshing out possible conflicts between employees or systems that do create conflict from time to time. Mistakes happen and it is in these weekly meetings that the lessons of a few are shared with everyone thereby sharing the learning. Sharing of knowledge also takes place when we exchange insights about our work like our clients, a good sale, a problematic machine. These insights are shared during breaks or in a few shared exchanges that can happen in a few seconds. These insights are important to note because these insights are seeds of knowledge that each person plants into the learning organization. I couldn’t think of any other innovative step that company has taken up that’s big enough to commemorate. But in the last few years that I have worked with my company, I believe that innovations that have been done came as small steps that are almost not felt but the impact towards helping the company grow is definitive. An example would be making sure there is a person in charge during lunch breaks. It was a matter of adjusting some people’s lunch hour so that we can still answer client inquiries that came in during lunch breaks. True enough, there were successful client inquiries that were received during this unholy hour. Another example is allowing lactating office mates to express their milk or even bring their newborn to the office. Though the newborn took a few office hours from the employees since it can’t be helped to muse over the infants from time to time, the infants also provided a stress relief from time to time. Innovations need not be spectacular or ground breaking. Sometimes, the mere effort of our manager to take time out to look at your family’s picture on the screen savers is innovative enough. As a comptroller of the company, changes that can help facilitate the company’s transition from its existing performance to become high performing would have to be spearheaded by the sales force. Spearheading doesn’t mean to be the sole lone ranger to go out in the field. The company has existing information, experience and knowledge enough to make it accomplish bigger markets. If bigger markets are to be conquered, the ten-man team need to be a high performing unit to maximize company resource. The usual way for most businesses to become bigger is to put in additional capital or resources to accomplish new and bigger tasks. I believe that the better strategy to adopt is to bank on the learning of the company as a team and make it work to get additional clients. All information and knowledge are summarized and insights are articulated. It is best for the sales team to translate these data into formidable input that could help them increase their sales forecast. In this knowledge based setting, companies though transforming themselves to become paperless communities still need the services of copiers. Print has always been time honored and historically, tactile systems of documentation are still considered a part of man’s cultural lifestyle. Therefore, there is yet a big market for our company to expand. The methods of Peter Vaill will help the company achieve its expansion by transforming the company into a highly performing system. The existing weekly meeting of the team can yet evolve into the venue where each team player can fine tune each other’s rhythm according to the other team player’s pace so that no one lags behind and no one goes too far forward. Should the company need additional workforce, the decision must be decided by the whole team because it is important to acknowledge weaknesses or failures. Learning organizations continually engage themselves into processing their mistakes so that growth is felt by the whole organization. If this happens, the organization will be able to trust each other as they take in bigger challenges and bigger learnings. Reference: Vaill, Peter B. 1998. Spirited Leading and Learning: Process Wisdom for a New Age. Jossey-Bass

Amba 604

Acme Home Improvement de Mexico, SA de CV Project Plan Team Four: Folasade Bamidele Alibaloye John C Caputo Garner Frederick Hixson Hector G Rosado AMBA 604, Section 9093 Professor Stewart February 6, 2004 Acme Project Plan Table of Contents Section I. II. III. Executive Summary Introduction Project Organization Organization Chart Project Responsibilities Staffing Plans IV. Management Process Management Objectives Priorities Monitoring/Controlling Mechanisms V.Technical Process Plan Computing System Project Plan Modification Process Computer Usage Policies Construction Guideline Support Project Acceptance Process Lessons Learned Documentation VI. Work Packages, Dependencies, Schedules & Budgets Work Packages Dependencies Project Budget Summary Tasks on the Critical Path Assignment Matrix 3 4 5 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 13 14 14 17 20 23 24 25 2 Page VII. Appendix A Appendix B Acme Project Plan I. Executive Summary Acme Home Improvements has determined it essential that expa nsion into international markets take place immediately.Acme Home Improvements has initiated a joint venture with local partners in Mexico City to form Acme Home Improvements SA de CV. The intent of this partnership is to open Acme's first ‘Do It Yourself’ – (DIY) home improvement store outside of the United States, to meet the competition head on and establish a foothold in international markets. This document spells out our plan for the project's success. The project's sponsor is the Acme CEO, Alex R. Fitzgerald. This project is the first step in his strategic initiative to expand Acme into international markets.Based on assessments, it is critical that Acme SA de CV complete the opening of this store in 12 months or less with a budget of up to $7. 5 million. A key risk is Acme's lack of experience in international markets. As a result, we will rely heavily on our partners to help us mitigate ‘soft' cultural issues and navigate local nuances of business. Because of the soft issues, remaining on schedule is a key driver of project success. To mitigate risks to the project's critical path, we have built feeding buffers into the schedule, and added a project buffer to the project end.Our plan outlines staff responsibilities and a staffing plan for project execution. This staff has strong support from corporate headquarters, a defined scope, budget, timeline, and 3 processes by which to execute the plan. Included in these processes is a structured change control process that ensures changes are relevant, followed through, and controlled. In addition, this document, and the accompanying project plan clearly identify dependencies that can impact project execution. We have separated these dependencies into mandatory, external, and discretionary dependencies (Schwalbe, 2004).Doing this has enabled us to maximize scheduling efficiency. Acme SA de CV has an established technology infrastructure to draw upon. Our plan will leverage this techno logy through wireless local area networks, corporate servers, and use of project management software. Finally, we will utilize a feedback process to capture lessons learned for our future expansion into international markets. Acme Project Plan II. Introduction Acme Home Improvements de Mexico, SA de CV intends to build a 100,000 sq ft retail 4 facility in Mexico Distrito Federal (DF).This effort is part of Acme's strategy to expand into the international home improvement markets. Our Mexico City store will be the initial push into Mexico to meet our competitors head-on outside the United States. This project is critical to Acme's long-term strategy to expand beyond the US borders. Headquarters has allocated $7. 5 million to complete this task. Strategic alignment with Acme's long-term goals, experience with similar projects, and an assessment of the competition dictates that we complete this project within 12 months. Our project is a joint venture with local interests.The project wi ll be challenging for Acme, with inherent risk laying in our inexperience in international joint ventures. ‘Soft' issues, cultural human resource issues will be as much of a driver of cost and schedule as the ‘hard' issues like planning and execution. It is critical to the success of this project, and perhaps the organization's international growth strategy, that this project be completed on time, and on budget. The organization anticipates possible schedule delays and cost overruns due to cultural assumptions and misunderstandings.Knowing that schedule delays will affect costs and international expansion strategy, we pay particular attention to the project's critical path (see Appendix A, and the accompanying MS Project file's network diagram view). To deal with these risks, the team has built several feeding time-buffers into the work breakdown schedule, at constraints along the critical path (Goldratt, 1998). A large project buffer has also been added to protect the e nd of the project. Attention to the safety buffers along the critical path will contribute to the team's successful execution of the project.This plan presents an overview of the project organization, including the team's organization chart, project responsibilities, and staffing plans. Next, the plan addresses the organization's management process related to this project. Management's objectives, priorities, Acme Project Plan and monitoring and control mechanisms are covered in this section. The project's technical process plan is covered next, reviewing such things as the IT support and guidelines for the project, processes for modification, and acceptance of the plan, and the process for documenting lessons learned on the project.Lastly, this plan discusses the work packages, dependencies, schedules and project budget. We begin with a look at the project organization plan. III. Project Organization Organizational Chart: 5 Acme Home Improvements de Mexico Site Construction & Openi ng Project Organization Chart Prepared by: John Tarea, Project Manager John Tarea Acme Projects Project Manager Sade Venda Acme Store Manager Anita Socio Acme Mexico HR Manager Donna Promueva Acme Mexico Marketing Fred Conde Acme Finance Joe Martillo Construction Manager Maria Diseno Architectural ContractorThis organizational chart shows the authority and communications organization for the project. Every one of the team members reports to the Project Manager. Team members are from different knowledge areas and each will contribute with their knowledge and skills to the project. Acme Project Plan Project Responsibilities: Project Sponsor, Alex R. Fitzgerald, CEO Acme Home Improvements. Mr. Fitzgerald 6 has been CEO of Acme Home Improvements for 10 years. He started with the company 25 years ago, working in one of the first Acme Stores. He started as a traditional department manager and worked his way up through Acme's chain.He attended business school at the University of Maryland University College. Mr. Fitzgerald has unsurpassed expertise in the DIY Home Improvement business and has lead Acme through an unprecedented period of growth. Mr. Fitzgerald has a strategic vision that mandates Acme's expansion into international markets. His high level of interest in this project cannot be overemphasized. His role as project sponsor is to take ultimate responsibility for the project. He must sign off on the project charter, confirm successful completion of project milestones, and provide leadership and support to the project manager.At a recent executive retreat, Mr. Fitzgerald commented, â€Å"With the growth of technology, and productivity, the world has never experienced the level of wealth and opportunity for homeownership that it is experiencing now. Our ability to remain competitive and grow is completely dependent on our ability to expand into international markets. † John Tarea, Project Manager: John is in charge of managing the whole project, and th e members that are in charge of the project activities. Also, he is in charge of working with the sponsor and any general people involved with the project.His role is important since he should be able to manage the problem in an effective manner for the project to meet its goal. Joe Martillo, Construction Manager: Joe is in charge of managing the construction activities of the project. As a heavily tasked team member, project planners will watch for constraints associated with this project resource. To enable Joe meet the construction project schedule, he has been allocated the necessary budget to contract various local trades-people and construction specialty firms. Acme Project PlanMaria Diseno, Architectural Contractor: Maria is the architect that researched 7 competitive stores in Mexico, became familiar with Acme store designs in the U. S. , and designed the store to be constructed in this project. Fred Conde, Acme Finance: Fred is in charge of financial oversight of the projec t. He will assist team members in analyzing bids, projecting costs, and controlling expenditures. Sade Venda, Acme Store Manager: Sade will be in charge of managing the store when it is operational. She will also collaborate with H. R. anager, Anita Socio, and Anita's staff in the recruitment, interviewing, and training of new employees. Anita Socio, Acme Mexico HR Manager: Anita will be in charge of the recruitment effort and training of the personnel hired to work in the store. She will work closely with the Store Manager. Donna Promueva, Acme Mexico Marketing: Donna will collaborate with Maria Diseno and Sade Venda on the design and layout of the store interior, displays, and inventory. She is to ensure the store reflects the marketing strategy for the Mexico City market.She is in charge of performing local market analyses, selecting products, and designing merchandising, advertising and promotional efforts for the store. An assignment matrix can be seen in appendix B. Staffing P lan The following charts illustrate the project's staffing and training plans from three perspectives. The first graph presents baseline staffing plans, not taking into consideration feeding buffers that will likely push the actual dates closer to the store-opening deadline of March 1, 2006. The second chart depicts preliminary training targets, and the third illustrates contractor staffing needs.Acme Project Plan 8 Acme Staffing Plan 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan Mar May Jul Sept Nov Project Managers Acme- Accts, IT, Supt Lead Contractor Sub-Contractors Sub-Contractor Laborers Training Team Functional Leads Department Heads Store Employees 1 Dec as opening goal Acme SA de CV Training 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan Mar May Jul Sept Nov Training Team Functional Leads Department Heads Store Employees Acme Project Plan 9 Acme SA de CV Construction Team 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Jan Mar May Jul Sept Nov Lead Contractor Sub-Contractors Sub-Contractor LaborersNow that we have discus sed the project staffing and responsibilities, we turn to the project management processes, including the objectives, priorities, and monitoring and controlling mechanisms of the project. Acme Project Plan IV. Managerial Processes This section of the project plan provides an overview of Acme's perspective of this 10 project from the point of view of the top managers. Included in this section will be a discussion of top management's objectives, priorities, Management Objectives The Acme de Mexico project has three primary objectives: 1) Complete the six site component preparation activities on time and at/below cost. ) Execute the Acme Mexico FD site opening with a staff fully trained and integrated into the company. 3) Leverage success in Mexico FD to expand and compete across the greater Mexico. Priorities The first priority is completing the construction site on schedule. Operations must quickly assess the impact of unknown and unexpected events as they occur. Delays to the schedu le drive up our costs. The second priority, which becomes the first priority as the site nears completion, is the hiring and training of a store staff. The staff must be fully knowledgeable and fluent in Acme's processes and procedures.Monitoring/ Controlling Mechanisms Acme is new to Mexico and thus requires some very specific tools and techniques to ensure that we remain in control of the project. Given the amount of variables that we may come up against in this project we will have a very strong change control process. This change control process will meet three main goals (Schwalbe, 2004): 1. Influence the factors that create change; ensure that the change is beneficial and impact to time, scope, and budget is understood. 2. Determine that the desired change has occurred.Acme Project Plan 3. Manage the changes as they occur; trying to minimize the number of changes the project is subjected to. (p. 122). 11 There are specific criteria that will drive changes. Specifically, we hav e a management reserve pot set aside. The reserve will be called upon if our SPI falls below 90%. The additional capital spent will be tightly focused upon the current problem and prevention of reoccurrence. Should both our SPI and CPI fall below 90% senior management will become involved to assess status and affect needed changes. V.Technical Process Plan Having now seen the project's organization plans and managerial process plans, we turn now to a few technical aspects of the project. This section describes the technical approaches to control and support this project. In it, we describe the technical processes and approaches relating to this project's computing system, computer usage policies, plan modification processes, construction guidelines, acceptance process, and documentation process of lessons learned. We begin with an overview of the computing system used to support the project.Computing System This project will utilize Acme's wide area network, via wireless access at t he construction site, temporary office locations, and residences. Utilizing portable personal computers, the project manager and team will access the various project tools using MS Project, synchronizing local copies with the master file on the company server. Acme will utilize MS Project Server and MS Project Web Access features to allow project team members to view, collaborate, and update project information from various remote locations and connections. All project plan outputs will be date and time stamped.Modifications to the plan will be tracked electronically, logging a record of who changed what, and when the changes were made. Acme Project Plan Project Plan Modification Process Only the Project Manager will be able to modify the schedule, budget, and the work 12 breakdown structure (WBS) portions of the work plan. Changes resulting in delays greater than five workdays or adding more than $5,000 to the budget estimate must be approved first by the project sponsor. All other changes may be made at the discretion of the project manager. Individual team members will be able to update task completion progress in the work plan.All changes must be requested on the following Change Request Form: Change Request Form Project Name: Date Request Submitted: Title of Change Request: Change Order Number: Submitted by: (name & contact information) Change Category: Scope Schedule Description of change requested: Events that made this change necessary or desirable. Justification for the change/why it is needed/desired to continue/complete the project: Impact of the proposed change on: Scope: Schedule: Cost: Staffing: Risk: Other: Suggested implementation if the change request is approved: Required approvals: Name/TitleCost Technology Other Date Approve/Reject (Schwalbe, 2004, p. 630) Computer Usage Computer use will comply with Acme Home Improvement, Inc. ‘s corporate computing policies, available online to employees on the company intranet. Employees can access the corporate intranet through the company server WAN, or over the Internet. Acme Project Plan Construction Guideline Support Standards for implementing the site construction will comply with Acme Home Improvement, Inc. ‘s Construction Guidelines. Since the guidelines were developed for use in U. S. onstruction projects, however, the project team will consult Mexico City based law firm, 13 Goodrich, Riquelme y Asociados (anonymous, n. d. ). The team will coordinate activities related to zoning, environmental practices, and compliance with other local and federal regulations with the law firm. Project Acceptance Process The project manager is responsible for obtaining sign-off from the project sponsor and project manager at each milestone, and at project completion. The following form will be used to document acceptance of the project:Client Acceptance/Project Completion Form Project Name: Project Manager: I (We), the undersigned, acknowledge and accept delivery of the work co mpleted for this project on behalf of our organization. My (Our) signature(s) attest to my (our) agreement that this project has been completed. No further work should be done on this project. Name Title Signature Date 1. Was this project completed to your satisfaction? Yes No 2. Please provide the main reason for your satisfaction or dissatisfaction with this project. 3. Please provide suggestion on how our organization could improve its project delivery capability in the future. Schwalbe, 2004, p. 633) Lessons Learned Documentation: Acme Project Plan The project manager is responsible for completing a summary of lessons learned throughout the project. The lessons will be documented on the form below, added to Acme Home Improvement's repository of project lessons learned, accessible through the company intranet. Lessons Learned Report Prepared by: Project Name: Project Sponsor: Project Manager: Project Dates: Final Budget: 1. Did the project meet scope, time, and cost goals? 2. Wha t was the success criteria listed in the project scope statement? . Reflect on whether or not you met the project success criteria. 4. In terms of managing the project, what were the main lessons your team learned? 5. Describe one example of what went right on this project. 6. Describe one example of what went wrong on this project. 14 7. What will you do differently on the next project, based on your experience working on this project? (Schwalbe, 2004, p. 624) VI. Work Packages, Dependencies, Schedules and Budgets Work Packages The seven major activities of which Acme’s construction project consists, involve various work packages.By definition, work packages are tasks at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure or WBS (Schwalbe, 2004). The preparation of the site and laying of the foundation is the first course in the construction process. The foundation is the most important part of construction and requires a substantial amount within the apportioned budget for bui lding materials, as well as time. This stage involves the preparation of the site, which may involve some weeding, smoothing and sectioning, before the laying of the sewer pipes, concrete slabs and the sectioning of drainageAcme Project Plan 15 gutters. These different tasks are altogether estimated to take a total of about 50 days, a little over 5 weeks or over a month. Factored into the time is the acquisition of the necessary materials and labor. The next step is the building of the walls, floor and roof of the structure. Once the foundation is underway, the next step is to start building the actual store structure. This involves several work packages including the framing of the floor and walls, and the construction of the roof of the building.The carving out of the different sections of the store, such as the offices, break rooms, greenhouse and bathrooms also occur here. The estimated time here is about 45 days. The dependency here is of the ‘Finish to Start’ type (Schwalbe, 2004), which necessitates that the construction of the walls, floors etc, will not take off before the completion of the foundation. Since these construction work packages are on the critical path, and the construction resources could become a constraint, we inserted a fifteen-day feeder buffer to ensure any delays in the critical path construction activities do not delay the rest of the project.Next is the installation of the electrical and plumbing fixtures. Pipes are run through the building at this point for water outlets at designated spots, including the break rooms and bathrooms. Plumbing fixtures such as water closets, toilets, sinks and drinking fountains are installed. Electrical work is being done at this point, with the installation of wiring, cabling, outlets, the installation of electrical generators, and subsequently the connection to service for both electricity and water. Work here is slated for a total of 45 days.Building construction wraps up with the finishing of the interior, and the stocking of inventory. Here, the necessary dry walling, painting and finishing is applied to the interior of the building, thereafter, the interior decorators take up the job of smoothing and designing to the specifications provided. Other work packages at this point are floor planning for product location and shelf arrangement. The last part of the interior is the stocking of the shelves with products; after all interior fixtures have been tested for safety and durability. Acme Project Plan 16The building of the garage is not directly dependent on most of the preceding processes up to this point, but does necessarily occur after the preparation for the site has taken place. So, this portion of the project starts after the foundation for the site has taken place and the adjacent wall has been erected. The construction of this, like the main building, will involve installation of the garage foundation and the framing of its walls, which are then pai nted, and ending with the marking of parking spaces. The schedule for finishing the store and the garage allows for 155 days, which includes another feeding buffer of twenty days.Acme's construction plan includes an outer garden, and landscaping for this is for 10,000 square feet. This activity will involve the landscaping of the already sectioned area, which entails the layering with soil, rock and concrete slab placing as designed; paving installation and finally, the planting of selected plants and flowers. This is scheduled for a total of 40 days. This time takes into consideration the various needs of the selected plants and the time needed to ready the soil for planting. Throughout these activates, the marketing and promotion planning proceeds.Scheduled to conclude as the store becomes ready for opening, the marketing work package begins with an analysis of the market, including a competitive analysis, a consumer analysis, and an analysis of Acme's strengths and opportunities in the market. Next, the project calls for the development of a product, pricing, and promotion plan. Last comes preparation of the merchandising, advertising, and grand opening promotion plan. These marketing activities are scheduled to take 180 days, but they do not fall on the critical path, nor do they require resources that appear at risk of being a project constraint.The last order of the project is to hire and train the employees for each of the departments. This process will involve the advertisement of vacancies. It will also involve a selection process of interviewing, checking of references and candidate consideration. The training may likely be done in groups and will entail customer service dynamics and necessary need-to-know information on products being sold. This takes time and has been scheduled to Acme Project Plan take 65 days, twenty of which are a feeding buffer at this potential constraint along the critical path for a timely store opening.Dependencies Work on the site is dependent upon several things and based on several assumptions. There is an assumption that we have a specific piece of commercially zoned real estate selected 17 and purchased. There is also the assumption that we have, in hand, the required permits to begin construction and open for business. Acme could not begin the joint venture with its local partners without these items in hand. We would rely heavily on our partners' knowledge of local and regional governmental processes and procedures. Our 12-month timeline could not start until this initial hurdle was cleared.With permits in hand, construction could begin. The mandatory dependencies are such that a natural progression of events must occur for the completion of the structure. Each event is a unique task, however, many are highly dependant on other activities. Certain tasks, like laying the foundation, have finish-to-start relationships with their predecessors. The foundation cannot be poured, obviously, until the site is cleared, leveled, and otherwise prepared. Other activities, like establishing a mobile construction site office, can start simultaneously with another activity, such as beginning to prepare the site, but no sooner.This would be an example of a start-to-start relationship. Of course, other dependencies are also possible. Some tasks must finish along with other activities, while others must finish before another can start. Following is a look at dependencies in the project. As already mentioned, the site must be prepared before the foundation can be laid. Similarly, construction of the walls and floors is dependant upon the foundation being established first. Another finish to start dependency involves building the roof. The walls must be finished before a roof can be constructed.Any delay in completing the wall will push back the start of constructing the roof. A feeding buffer is inserted at this point on the critical path to guard Acme Project Plan against slippage on the p roject schedule by the construction resource, which is used heavily at this point of the project. Likewise, the walls must also be constructed before wires and plumbing can be run 18 throughout the building. Wiring is designated as having a start to start dependency with installing the generator and electrical circuit boxes. Installing the electrical fixtures, however, is dependant on three predecessors being completed first.Wires must be run, walls must be dry-walled, and electrical service must be established with the utility provider. Much like the electrical fixtures, plumbing fixtures cannot begin to be installed until the pipes have been run, drywall installed, and water service established with the utility provider. Finishing the interior presents another series of finish to start dependencies. Walls and roof must be up before they can be dry-walled. The dry wall must also be installed before they can be painted. Painting is a necessary precedent to installing the shelves and display units.Since these activities fall on the critical path where resources are close to being overloaded, an additional feeding buffer is added here. If any of the string of finish to start dependant activities falls behind schedule, the feeding buffer will help maintain the project schedule. Stocking the inventory cannot begin until the interior is finished. We, therefore, have another finish to start dependency. The construction of the garage is a task that would drive how much inventory we can handle, assuming it is used partly to store inventory.With the interior complete we could stock a certain amount of inventory but the garage would have to be complete before we could finish taking receipt of our entire inventory. This would really be a both an external dependency and discretionary dependency. It is a discretionary dependency in that we could stagger our inventory ordering to take receipt based on how the store is completed. If for, example the lights take the longest t o receive, from an inventory perspective, we could stagger the completion of the Acme Project Plan 19 interior portion of the structure.We could order our lighting inventory while completing a different area's interior first and stock it, then come along and finish the interior of our lighting department in time to take receipt of the inventory. It is also an external dependency because we do not control the timetable that our suppliers deliver on. There is inherent risk in setting up a ‘just-in-time' approach to taking receipt of inventory. If, for example, our supply of wiring for electrical instillation is unstable or unpredictable, we may not be able to wire-up our lighting department in time to take receipt of our staggered inventory order.The extent of discretionary dependency that we establish is contingent on our tolerance for risk. Completion of paving and landscaping is purely discretionary. We could build the parking lot and landscaping almost entirely independent o f the rest of the project but it would not make much sense. This task must simple be finished prior to opening the business. Most of our vendors would need the paving completed for access to the property. It would be a start-start for our inventory.It seems sensible to pave the parking lot simultaneously with paving the garage, making this a start-to-start dependency with pouring the garage concrete. Hiring and training employees is both a discretionary and external dependency. At a macro-level it is externally dependent upon the retail and construction job market in Mexico City, it we hire, rather than contract for, construction workers. If the construction market is soft in Mexico City in the window where we are to hire employees, it is likely we will have many applicants with construction expertise applying for work, in an effort to supplement their incomes.If the construction market is brisk when we are to hire, we may have a harder time finding experienced construction labor. A cme Project Plan 20 As a discretionary dependency, we can begin hiring and training when we deem best. While it is optimal to train most of the floor employees in a fully stocked facility that is nearly operational, we could train the core of the store's management/ department heads at one of our American stores.It would be desirable for these new managers to see how a fully functional store runs and meet with US counterparts to gain lessons learned. Acme SA de CV will groom promising managers at its Mexico City site to open new stores across Mexico, so it is to our advantage to train new managers as early as possible. Having discussed the work packages, and task dependencies in the project, we turn now to a breakdown of the $7. 5 million project budget. Project Budget Acme Home Improvements de Mexico, SA de CV 12 Month Construction Budget DIRECT COST DESCRIPTION 1.Construction Materials Temporary Utilities/Rentals Excavation / Blasting Footings / Drainage Foundation/Waterproofing R etaining Walls Underground Utilities Trenching, Backfill, Rough Grading Concrete Slab City Water / Well & Pump City Sewer / Septic System Sewer/Septic/Underground Connections City Water/Underground Connections Gutters and Downspouts Interior Masonry Rough Framing Materials Structural Steel Trusses Lumber &Other wood types Plumbing fixtures Fire System HVAC Electrical – Lighting, Cabling, etc.Electrical Generators SUBTOTALED AMOUNT 1 Acme Project Plan Exterior Stairs Rough Framing Labor Roofing materials Windows & Exterior Doors Garage Framing Garage Doors Exterior Stucco Exterior Siding/Masonry Exterior Painting Insulation Sheetrock/Taping Vanities Cabinets Interior Trim Interior Doors Hardware – Bolts, screws, cords, etc. Carpentry Landscaping Soil Granite / Rocks Plants Walkway Slabs Interior Shelving units Equipment rental Safety Equipment Other Total Materials Cost 2.Overheads and Other Costs Personnel salaries – Direct Project Workers Consultants / Professi onals Administrative personnel Construction Laborers Accommodation Travel Utilities (Phone, electricity, water) Supplies (Stationery, postage, printing, etc. ) Insurance (Workers Compensation) Teachers / Trainers Other Total Overheads and Other Costs 3. Inventory & Labor Costs Shipping Products Truck rentals Loading & Off loading Other Labor Duties (Customs & Excise) Total Inventory Costs 40% or USD 3. 0 million 3 20% or USD 1. 5 million 2 40% or USD 3. 0 million 21 Acme Project Plan 2 Considerations: 1 The percentages and USD estimates are based on a USD 7. 5 million budget. Wages and Salaries may vary significantly, especially with the current exchange rate of 1USD = 11. 1345 MXN and the difference in the cost of living between both countries. This is cheaper in Mexico and since most labor used will be local, the cost of it may be lower than estimated. 2 3 It is possible that the cost of inventory may vary from the above stated due to considerations such as; delays and pressures o f delivery, but with more of a leaning towards an increase.Assumptions: The assumption of the total cost for construction materials is derived from the size of the facility to be built and all that will be required to build it, with a sizeable amount of the cost gong towards the materials for the foundation and walls. Mainly personnel wages and salaries rule the total budget amount for the overheads, with a majority of this going to the professionals or experts in charge of various sections of the project. The total number of people working on this project, aside from its management committee, is estimated to be in the neighborhood of 78.The division is as follows: Approximately 60 for all construction activity and interior work. Among these, professionals are estimated to be five, with a distribution of 1 garage expert, 2 interior designers and 2 building experts. Approximately eight for landscaping duties, with one professional among them. Approximately 10 company professionals fo r the initial hiring and training of employees. The products to be for inventory will likely cost about as many dollars as the construction effort, if not more, due to shipping, handling and the payment of duties on them. Acme Project Plan VII.Summary Acme Home improvement's international expansion strategy begins with this project. The 23 company's joint venture in Mexico City, will lead to the company's first store outside the United States. Within twelve months, and $7. 5 million, the project team is expected to plan, locate, construct, and open the company's first international home improvement store. This plan provided an overview of the project organization, management processes, technical processes, work packages, dependencies, schedules and project budget. Accompanying this document is a MS Project work plan, and Project Charter.We believe the information contained in these documents lay out a realistic plan to enable Acme Home Improvements to successfully open its first sto re outside the U. S. By executing the plan above, we believe Acme can complete this strategically critical project on time and on budget. Acme Project Plan Appendix A: 24 Tasks on the Critical Path Task Prepare site Lay foundation Site & Foundation Ready Build walls Construct roof Feeding Buffer Install floors Dry Wall Paint Feeding Buffer Stock Inventory Duration 40d 10d 0d 15d 5d 15d 10d 10d 10d 20d 10d Start Finish Dependncy 3 4 6 7 8 9 22 23 25 26 27FF 37 38 39 40 Resource Construction Concrete & Paving Joe Martillo Construction Construction John Tarea Concrete & Paving Drywall Painters John Tarea Stock Workers Joe Martillo Human Resources John Tarea Human Resources Anita Socio John Tarea Mon 2/28/05 Fri 4/22/05 Mon 4/25/05 Fri 5/6/05 Fri 5/6/05 Mon 5/9/05 Fri 5/6/05 Fri 5/27/05 Mon 5/30/05 Fri 6/3/05 Mon 6/6/05 Fri 6/24/05 Mon 6/27/05 Fri 7/8/05 Mon 7/11/05 Fri 7/22/05 Mon 7/25/05 Fri 8/5/05 Mon 8/8/05 Mon 9/5/05 Fri 9/16/05 Mon 8/8/05 Fri 9/2/05 Fri 9/16/05 Fri 9/16/05 Fri 9/1 6/05Interior Finished & Inventory Stocked 0d â€Å"Recruit, interview & hire employees† 30d Feeding Buffer Train employees Employees Hired & Trained Project Buffer 20d 15d 0d 82d Mon 9/19/05 Fri 10/14/05 Mon 10/17/05 Fri 11/4/05 Fri 11/4/05 Fri 11/4/05 Mon 11/7/05 Tue 2/28/06 Note: Feeding buffers have been inserted along the critical path where resource constraints exist, and a project buffer has been added to protect the end of the project. Acme Project Plan Appendix B: Responsibility Assignment Matrix: Responsibility Assignment Matrix for Acme Home Improvements de Mexico Site Construction and Opening Project 25Prepared by: John Tarea, Project Manager Date: 2/5/05 1. 1 Joe Martillo Donna Promueva Anita Socio Construction Concrete & Paving Electricians Plumbers Drywall Painters Stock Workers Landscapers Human Resources P R 1. 2 R 2. 1 R 2. 2 R 2. 3 R 3. 1 R 3. 2 R 3. 3 R 3. 4 R 3. 5 R 3. 6 R 3. 7 R 3. 8 R 4. 1 R 4. 2 R 4. 3 R 5. 1 6. 1 R 6. 2 R 6. 3 R 7. 1 R 7. 2 8. 1 8. 2 R R R P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P R P R = Responsible for task P = Performing task P Acme Project Plan Resources: Anonymous. (No Date). Mexico business opportunities and legal framework. Retrieved February 4, 2005 from http://www. exico-trade. com/firm. html#gra. Anonymous. (No Date). Mexico business opportunities and legal framework. Retrieved February 4, 2005 from http://www. mexico-trade. com/sense. html#zon. Goldratt, E. (1998). Critical chain. Great Barrington, MA: The North River Press. Hampton Group, The. (2001). PMTalk newsletter. The project management knowledgebase http://www4pm. com. Retrieved February 3, 2005 from http://www. 4pm. com/articles/PMTalk07-24-01. pdf. Rigby, Ken (2003). Technical Management – a pragmatic approach. 2nd Edition. Retrieved February 3, 2005 from http://home. btconnect. om/managingstandard/techman. htm. 26 Reed Construction Data. (2004). RSMeans ® preliminary cost estimate. Retrieved January 29, 2005 from http://www. firstso urceonl. com/Means/members/result. asp? prname=&project=300&gsf=100000&zip=&Calculate. x=24&Calculate. y=2&Calculate= submit. Schwalbe, K. (2004). Information technology project management (3rd ed. ). Boston: Course Technology. State of Texas, Department of Information Resources. (2003, April 17). Planning guideline: Template project development plan. Retrieved February 2, 2005 from http://www. dir. state. tx. us/eod/qa/planning/projplan. htm#techplan.