Case study - Complex fluid and electrolyte balance Essay

Case study - Complex fluid and electrolyte balance - Essay Example The symptoms vary from one person to another depending with the underlying cause and they include; fatigue, edema, fluid accumulation, nausea, loss of appetite and weight, abdominal pain, etc. There are several other conditions that are associated with congestive heart failure (Jeffrey & Barry, 2007). Congestive heart failure is diagnosed clinically based on the patients’ medical history. This is important because it could disclose the existence of some of the symptoms or even associated diseases. A physical examination on breath sounds, swelling of the legs or neck is done to determine the presence of excessive body fluid, pulse rate and heart size are also recommended physical exams (Sosin, Bhatia, Lip, & Davies, 2006). Diagnostic tests such as areechocardiogramam (used to show the heart image), and chest X-rays electrocardiogram aare done so as to detect any previous attacks, arrhythmia to show fluid accumulation and heart enlargement (Plantz & Adler, 2002). This condition can be treated through the use of analgesics, inotropic, nitrates, and diuretics. These medications are used to alleviate the symptoms associated with the disease. The ultimate treatment could be a heart transplant which is very risky or a surgery depending on the underlying cause. (Yancy & Firth, 198 8) This is a viral or bacterial airway infection that affects the lungs. Its main symptoms include a hefty cough that comes with, difficulty in breathing, pain in the chest, and thick mucus. Mr. B has all these symptoms and his chest has to be monitored because it could lead to a heart attack. The shortness of breath is brought about by fluid accumulation in the lungs and its surroundings. Chest infections can be life threatening or mild, it is worse when one has a congestive heart failure disease (Choi, Ryter, & Levine, 2013). Mr. B is suffering from sleep apnoea-hypopnoea (snore) as indicated by the breath sounds. It is a disorder mostly associated with

Project management methodologies

Project management methodologies Part 1 A methodology is a set of guidelines or principles that can be tailored and applied to a specific situation (Jason P. Charvat, 2003). IT Project Management Methodology is characterized as a collection of methods to perform highly structure planning, scheduling and scoping of IT project in order to deliver welcoming products or services to clients (Jason P. Charvat, 2003). A software development methodology refers to the framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the process of developing an information system (Selecting a Development Approach, 2008). A successful project management methodology aims to structure the processes of leading project to a satisfied end by undertaking certain right perspectives and logical sequences of processes within the project development life cycle. A reasonable project management methodology is crucial to bridge the cap between rough project plans and detailed technical matters. According to the figures from KPMG International, 81% of companies reported an increase in the number of new IT projects in the past 12 months(2006), and 88% reported an increase in the complexity of projects (Ann Bednarz Denise Dubie, 2006). Generally speaking, IT project is relatively more complex and technical than in other disciplines. During the life cycle of IT project, the methodology is used to monitor the status of progress at each phase. At the same time, due to diverse nature of information technology project, acceptable IT project management methodology ensures the entire project on the right track and consistency of process, and reviews the further possible improvements by evaluating current strategies and progresses. Regardless, clear IT management methodology is a critical process to manage the project activities precisely and greatly in crease the odds of project success (Stephen B. Page, 2002). Information technology project management methodology commonly consists of five major components, which are initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing of project (Kathy Schwalbe, 2006). The five phases are interrelated, and each of these components represents a specific phase of project development life cycle. For example, planning processes involve several comprehensive aspects of the project, such as schedule management plan, scope management plan, cost estimates, possible training and procurement plans, and so on, defining each related knowledge area at that point in time (Joseph Phillips, 2004 Kathy Schwalbe, 2006). From the big picture, the executing processes require the most resources and time, following by the planning processes (Kathy Schwalbe, 2006). Software development is a phase of software production. It includes all stages of activities to develop software which meets the needs of clients and potential user groups. The term Software development is different from project management, as software development usually falls under the execution phase of project management. In other word, software development is a subset of project management. However, they still have some other overlaps. For software development lifecycle, it still incorporates some sections from planning processes, monitoring and controlling processes. In addition, the software development cannot be self-sufficient and independent from project management as the development process is the inner cycle of IT project. Furthermore, the software development methodologies and IT project management methodologies are also interlinked but differ from each other. The aim of software development methodologies is to provide a framework to assist and clarify each individual ph ase of development lifecycle from the start to completion, and improve overall performance of software product. Whereas IT project management methodologies focus on the entire procedures of activities involved in the project life, an IT project itself not only contains certain amount of software development tasks but also other correlated preliminaries and later stage finalizations. For instance, an IT project could be split into different streams, deployment component is part of the project and it operates under the project management methodologies. The software development methodologies only monitor the stage of software development, but IT project management methodologies are also employed to assist the running of the whole project (Kurt Bittner Ian Spence, 2007). In general, IT project management methodologies widely spread on the project management template. They are the guidelines to assist software development kind of technical activities and planning stage kind of administr ation activities. Part 2 The efficient delivery of IT projects means the project is capable of using optimized amount of identified and allocated resources to deliver products or services to clients. It mainly focuses on the integrated resource use by the project whereby time and budget are two indicators. The minimized acquisition cost of project from start to completion defines the basis of efficient delivery. The term Triple Constrains is defined as scope, time and budget. The scope factor is used to measure the effectiveness of the project. The effective delivery of IT project suggests that the project provides desired level of quality and enables clients to use the products or services effectively (Wim Van Grembergen, 2001). The use of IT project management methodologies is considered important in the efficient and effective delivery of IT projects. In general terms, the balance of scope, time and budget is always crucial for IT projects success. It helps to reduce the cost of a project by accomplishing more workload with lower amount of resources and a shorter time frame without any expense of quality (Stephen B. Page, 2002). This goal is achieved only by applying appropriate methodologies to project management. Moreover, a clear methodology ensures the entire operation of project is following predetermined sequences of processes and enables monitoring the project in terms of cost, timing and schedule (Jason P. Charvat, 2003). Since the operation of project is capable of optimize using allocated resources, the project maintains a good balance status in terms of time and budget. Budget control, meeting deadlines and fulfill the general customer requirements are essential to reach the scope of high qualit y project (Stephen B. Page, 2002). At the same time, a clear definition of scope is very important to successful completion of project and positive feedbacks from users in order to accomplish the aims of effective delivery of IT projects. A standard IT project management methodology enables different parties in the project team to unify interdepartmental activities. Although it is inevitable to encounter conflicts and possible confusion between team members during the project life-cycle stages, an appropriate methodology should be applied to resolve the technical or non-technical conflicts by certain approaches. For instance, the methodology authorizes project manager to acquire sufficient information about the conflicts by looking through the conflicting parties point of views (Stephen B. Page, 2002). If the conflict is a technical issue, the resolution process could be done by involving both parties and a technical expert to search for an ideal resolution which is indentified and agreed by all parties (Stephen B. Page, 2002). However, for non-technical conflicts, project manager or other senior managers should attempt to help it out as soon as possible via different ways (Stephen B. Page, 2002). As mentioned above, reduction of internal conflicts is able to cut back the opportunity cost, which has assisting effects on efficient and effective delivery of IT project. In general, conflicts would result in consuming extra resources of the project, but it could still be beneficial to the project as the resolutions may produce more effective ways of performing tasks (Manjeet Singh), or possibly reduce the risks of failure. Furthermore, an early introduction of formal IT project management methodologies adds critical values to the project itself. It is extremely important to clarify all intended processes, procedures and documents required in each phase before kick-off (Stephen B. Page, 2002). Early stage of methodology notification provides a roadmap to all stakeholders. This produces synergistic effect, which could possibly minimize the total amount of resources committed to the project (Harold Kerzner, 2004). In addition, the methodologies are enhanced through the valuable insights from the pre-discussion at the beginning of the project (Harold Kerzner, 2004). Otherwise, delay in obtaining the information about methodology leads to unnecessary waste of time and efforts. It is unclear for each party involved in the project to produce demanded deliverables. Possible restart or backtrack to initial start point would be required in order to reproduce intended outcomes. To sum up, appropriate use of IT project management methodologies bring various kinds of benefits while undertaking IT project. Project managers also need to aware of the proper time to introduce the methodologies to team members. Bibliography Ann Bednarz Denise Dubie, November 15 2006, Project management software can curb IT inefficiencies, Network World, viewed 18 March 2010, . Harold Kerzner, 2004, Advanced project management: best practices on implementation, John Wiley Sons, Inc.,Hoboken, New Jersey, p. 116. Jason P. Charvat, 2003, Project management methodologies: selecting, implementing, and supporting methodologies and processes for projects, John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, p.3. pp.10-11. Joseph Phillips, 2004, IT project management: on track from start to finish, The McGraw-Hill Companies, pp.459-406. Kathy Schwalbe, 2006, Information Technology Project Management Fourth Edition, Thomson Course Technology, p. 72, p. 95, p.110. Kurt Bittner, Ian Spence, 2007, Managing iterative software development projects, Pearson Education, Inc, p.550. Manjeet Singh, Resolving conflicts, ProjectMinds, viewed 21 Mar 2010, . Stephen B. Page, Aug 14 2002, the key to becoming a successful project manager, TechRepublic, viewed 21 Mar 2010, . U.S Department of Health Human Services, March 27 2008, SELECTING A DEVELOPMENT APPROACH, U.S Department of Health Human Services, viewed 17 March 2010, . Wim Van Grembergen, 2001, Information Technology Evaluation Methods Management, Idea Group Publishing, p. 214. Project Management Methodologies Project Management Methodologies LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction: In this chapter the literary information of this research are analysed and discussed leading to the unanswered question which this study answers through the research and data analysis. This chapter is analysed thorough a research done using numerous books and journals related to this research area. Project management (Woodward, 2007) is a key to companies adopting business improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma, which improve their efficiency and competitiveness in the market. Project management is a core competency for a company to maximize the effect of the methodologies to be used for the research. In the past Organizations have been mainly focused on the development of their products lifecycle and ensured that their project management practitioners have had the required knowledge in the form of procedures, tools and techniques. Companies have sought to improve their project management competency through structured training programs. In this chapter the project management methodologies used for developing the project in an organisation is discussed in this chapter. The process of project management methodology in a project is analysed in depth based on PRINCE2 methodology and the process of Project Management department is evaluated by investigating project management department in Infosys technologies limited. The project management team roles are investigated and their responsibility in a project is analysed by the author in this chapter. 2.2 Project Management Methodologies: Kerzner (2005) defines a methodology is a set of guidelines that can be applied to a specific situation during a project. In a project environment, these guidelines might be a list of things to do. A methodology is of a specific approach, templates, forms and even checklists used over the project life cycle.The project methodology is the work of all team members involved in the project throughout the life cycle of a project to for the project success. The project management methodologies (OGC, 2005) are: PRINCE2 PMBoK Method123 Tensteps COBIT PRINCE2 is a true framework developed and instituted in the UK under the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) a government agency; System Development Life Cycle (SDLC), the classic waterfall approach and Solutions-based Project Methodology and a simplified approach for the consultants to work for the clients. The Ten Step methodology comes to project management frameworks and appear to be only two or three that are generally applicable. The Development Methodologies, i.e. management of the technology including information technology and software development in particular are suitable to complete the project. The process includes the project management methodologies and classic building development by a way of comparison. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) adopt the principle of making its copyright materials such as PRINCE2 widely available to use for developing the project, the only cost incurred is the purchasing of the manual. OGC has encouraged supplier organisations to provide a competitive range of tools, training and other services to support the users. With the development of PRINCE2, OGC is keen to ensure the best package of products and services that are available to the users. OGC has also established collaboration partnerships with a number of organisations specifically to provide support for PRINCE2 and the related areas of Programme Management and the Management of Risk. (OGC, 2005) PMBoK, Method123 and COBIT (Lewis, 2002) focus on the technology and focus more on a generic project management approach. The methodology to use based on the organizational requirements is of Light and Heavy methodologies, the project size and complexity will affect the type of methodology to be selected. Managing the project and managing the technology is by applying the appropriate methodology, project managers are likely to deliver the solutions based on the client requirements. The two types of methodologies are: Project management methodologies and Development methodologies. The project framework of project management methodologies consists of eight chapters as follows: (Lewis, 2002) 1. Understanding Project Methodologies 2. Project Methodologies Explained 3. Project Management Frameworks 4. Development Methodology Selection and Utilization 5. Implementing Project Methodologies 6. Supporting the Methodology 7. Project Templates and Techniques 8. Project Processes and Trends A methodology (Nicholas, 2001) of managing projects observed that projects have common characteristics that can be formalized into a structural process to manage projects more effectively. The project development process and the development methodology are the means of getting from segment to segment. The methodology provides a means for selecting the degree of project management appropriate to the project. Each phase can typically be brought to closure in some logical way before the next project phase begins and each phase results in discrete deliverables which provide the starting point for the next phase. Cost and schedule estimates: plans, requirements and specifications are evaluated at the end of each phase, sometimes before deciding whether to continue with the project. Adopting an incorrect methodology or having no project framework in an organisation might cause a: (Pinto, 2000) †¢ Schedule and cost slippages, †¢ Miscommunication within the team, †¢ Wasting time on administrative tasks that have no purpose, †¢ Reliance on technical wizardry to get projects done, and †¢ Project management burnout. The project management department get the message across senior management which briefly explains the capability maturity model (CMM) and its five levels in it as sets of strategies for improvement. The CMM levels are: Initial, Repeatable, Defined, Managed and Optimized. The project management methodologies take a leading role in a company and it needs to be good in a few areas: (Cleland and King, 1998) †¢ Project management philosophy is firmly entrenched †¢ Project management is a core competency †¢ The company is focused on making projects succeed †¢ Processes and infrastructure are in place †¢ Effective reporting is established †¢ Both project methodology and development methodologies are well documented †¢ Project staff is provided continuous training †¢ Project information is communicated continuously †¢ Projects are monitored against performance †¢ Quality and delivery excellence are built in †¢ Projects are routinely audited Different methodology proponents use different labels, perhaps to differentiate their products. In all the methodologies described while the first several items in the list are dealt with, the remainder is absent. It is almost as though the author was interrupted in mid flight and never returned to the same spot. Similarly, some methodologies are mentioned but not described and others are described but not listed in explanatory tables. (Meredith and Mantel, 2005) 2.3 PRINCE2 Project Management Methodology: CCTA (1996) defines a PRINCE2 as â€Å"a management environment for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to a specified Business Case is needed to produce a unique and predefined result at a pre-specified time using predetermined resources†. A PRINCE2 project consists of the following characteristics: (Wearne, 2006) A finite and defined life cycle, Defined and measurable business products, A corresponding set of activities to achieve the business products, A defined amount of resources, An organisation structure, with defined responsibilities, and to manage the project. A PRINCE2 project is driven by its business case which describes the organisations justification, commitment and rationale for the projects outcome. The business case is regularly reviewed with the projects progress to ensure the business objectives, which may well change during the life of the project till the objectives are met. The projects are of different groups of people involved, including the customer, one or more suppliers and the user. PRINCE2 is designed to provide a common language across all the people involved in the project. Bringing customers and suppliers together generally involves contracts and contract management. The aspects of PRINCE2 recognise the need to provide projects with necessary controls and breakpoints to work successfully within a contractual framework. (Burke, 1999) PRINCE2 (Colin, 2005) is a method for managing projects and it helps to work out who should be involved and what will be their responsibilities to complete the project successfully. It gives a set of processes to work through and explains what information should be gathered along the way. PRINCE2 is a process-based approach to project management. The processes define the management activities to be carried out during the project. PRINCE2 describes the components that are applied within the appropriate processes and recommends a number of techniques to be utilised for the process. The PRINCE2 process model consists of eight distinct management processes and the activities from setting the project on the right track through controlling and managing the projects progress through to project completion. The Planning process is triggered by many of the other processes. The key to successful use of the process model is in tailoring it to suit the needs of the individual project. (Bradley, 2005) 2.3.1 Directing a Project (DP): This process is performed by the Project Board (Project Manager, Project coordinator and project officer) and describes the direction and key decision making of the project. This is the only process performed by the project board. Whenever a decision is made, the Project Board will the Business Case, Project Plan and Risk Log as the basis for that decision. (Bradley, 2005) The DP processes are managed by the project board throughout the project from start-up to project closure. The DP process has five major steps: (Baguley, 2004) Authorising the preparation of a project plan and business case for the project Approving the project go-ahead Checking that the project remains justifiable at key points in the project life cycle Monitoring progress and giving advice as required Ensuring that the project comes to a controlled close 2.3.2 Starting up a Project (SU): SU (Bradley, 2005) gives an idea about the project whether it is viable and worthwhile to process. It is classed as pre-project work and includes the activities with definition and appointment of the Project Management Team Preparation with a brief idea about the project. According to (Baguley, 2004) starting up a project is a pre-project process with five objectives: Design and appoint the project management team Ensure that the aims of the project are known Decide on the approach which will be taken within the project to provide a solution Define the customers quality expectations Plan the work needed to draw up the PRINCE2 between customer and supplier. 2.3.3 Initiating a Project (IP): This process prepares the information on whether there is sufficient justification to proceed with the project, establishes a sound management basis for the project and creates a detailed plan for as much of the project as management are in a position to authorise. (Baguley, 2004) IP is the first stage of the project. It lays the groundwork for the project and creates the Project Initiation Document (PID). The information contained within the PID expands on that contained within the project brief and will define in detail the project that will be delivered including standards which will met or maintained the Business Case and Project Plan. The following activities are all carried out during IP prior to assembling the PID. Refining the Outline Business Case and risks with information gathered or forecast during the creation of the Project Plan Identifying and agreeing an appropriate level of control for the project and defining the project communication plan creation of the project files, the Issue Log and Lessons Learned Log. If the project is managed in stages, the next Stage Plan will be created when assembling the PID. (Bradley, 2005) 2.3.4 Controlling a Stage (CS): CS covers the day-to-day management of the project and it is where the Project Manager does their job. This involves: Handing out work to the teams, Monitoring that the work is progressing within tolerance and to the correct level of quality, Creation of Highlight Reports to send to the Project Board at a frequency agreed when the controls were set during IP, Risk management, Logging and analysing the impact of issues, and Resolving any problems or deviations within tolerance. (Bradley, 2005) 2.3.5 Managing Stage Boundaries (SB): In order (Bradley, 2005) to maintain control over the project: larger, complex or more risky projects should be divided into stages. Each planned stage is approved by the Project Board before it is delivered. The Project Manager will: Create the next Stage Plan Update the Project Plan, Business Case, and Risk Log And any other information as appropriate Prepare an End Stage Report for presentation to the Project Board Seek authorisation from the Project Board to deliver the next Stage Plan 2.3.6 Managing Product Delivery (MP): MP (Bradley, 2005) covers the work of the Team Manager and a role dedicated to work with the specialist teams ensuring that their work is completed within any constraints defined within the Work package agreement. In simple terms, MP covers: Accepting the work from the Project Manager, Creating a Team Plan if appropriate, Getting the work done, Reporting Checkpoints at an agreed frequency, Carrying out any necessary quality checks, Escalate the issues which has the work package tolerances, and Returning the completed work back to the Project Manager. 2.3.7 Planning (PL): PL (Bradley, 2005) is triggered whenever the Project Manager or Team Manager appropriate and creates a plan. The process describes the production of a plan including: The initial identification of the required plan format Identifying and describing the products that must be created together with any additional activities dependencies Estimation and the scheduling of events Creation of the plan narrative. 2.3.8 Closing a Project (CP): CP (Bradley, 2005) ensures that everything has been delivered to the customers satisfaction and ties-up any lose ends. It also ensures that the products produced are handed over to those responsible for their on going and future operation. All of the closure activities are subject to the Project Board confirmation that they are happy for the project to finish. Once the project closure has been completed the following information will have been created: End Project Report; Including the Post Project Review Plan; Follow-on Actions Recommendations and for each open Issue. For those currently open risks which may impact has been delivered during its operational use with lessons learned report; both positive and negative lessons and Project file archive. The Post Project Review Plan will identify appropriate times for measures of benefit achievement. 2.4 PRINCE2 in an Organisation: PRINCE2 (OGC, 2005) provides benefits to the managers and directors of a project and to an organisation through the controllable use of resources and the ability to manage business and project risk more effectively. PRINCE2 proven best practice in project management and it is widely recognised to provide a common language for all participants in a project in an organisation. PRINCE2 (Scott, 2002) encourages formal recognition of responsibilities within a project and focuses on what a project to deliver. PRINCE2 provides projects with a controlled and organised start, middle and end; Regular reviews of progress against plan and against the Business Case flexible decision point and management control of any deviations from the plan. The existence of a viable Business Case is confirmed at the start of the project, and verified throughout the project to form the basis of every decision made by the Project Board. The Business Case is a statement of reasons for doing the project and the benefits of carrying out the project balanced against a summary of the cost, timescales and risk involved in achieving the benefits (Turner, 2004). If the Business Case is no longer considered viable then the Project Manager will ask to close the project. The involvement of management and stakeholders at the right time and place during the process of a project plays an important role for the success of a project. Managers using PRINCE2 are able to establish terms of reference as a pre-requisite to the start of a project. A defined structure for delegation, authority and communication; divide the project into manageable stages for more accurate planning; ensure resource commitment from management is part of any approval to proceed; provide regular but brief management reports and keep meetings with management and stakeholders to a minimum but at the vital points in the project. Those who will be directly involved with using the results of a project are able to participate in all the decision-making on a project; involved in day-to-day progress and provide quality checks throughout the project and ensure their requirements are being adequately satisfied. (Kerzner, 2003) PRINCE2 suggests the projects that should be broken down into stages and the sub-processes dictate how each individual stage should be controlled. It includes the way in which the process is authorized and received. It also specifies the way in which progress should be monitored and how the highlights of the progress should be reported to the project board. A means for capturing and assessing project issues is suggested together with the way in which corrective action should be taken. This covers the things that should be done at the end of a project. Project is formally de-commissioned and follow on actions are identified in the project itself be formally evaluated. (Kerzner, 2003) A good project management (Maylor, 2005) method guides the project through a controlled, well-managed, visible set of activities to achieve the desired results. PRINCE2 provides the projects with: A controlled and organised start, middle and end Regular reviews of progress against plans and against the Business Case Flexible decision points Automatic management control of any deviations from the plan The involvement of management and stakeholders at the right time during the project Good communication channels between the project management team and the rest of the organisation Agreement on the required quality at the outset and continuous monitoring against those requirements. PRINCE2 (CCTA, 1996) is designed to be used on all type of projects in any environment. It contains a complete set of concepts and project management processes that are the minimum requirements for a properly run and managed project. The way in which it is applied to each project will vary considerably and tailoring the method to suit the circumstances of a particular project is critical to its successful use. PRINCE2 projects are always focused on delivering pre-defined products to meet a specified Business Case. It enables the project to capture and retain a definition of the business benefits that are the driving force behind the project itself. The customer and supplier environment assumes that there will be a customer who will specify requirement and pay for the project. A supplier will provide resources and skills to create that product successfully. The customer and supplier normally come from separately managed areas. Stakeholders have an interest and will be impacted by the project with its outcomes. The stakeholders include: (Healey, 2003) Customers, who have commissioned the work and will benefit from the end results on the Project Board by Project Executive, User(s) will be impacted by the outcome as they will use or operate the final product and represent on the Project, Board the Senior User(s), the customer and user may be the same group of people, Suppliers provide specialist resource or skills to the project with goods and services represented on the Project Board by the Senior Suppliers, Suppliers appoint Sub-contractors to provide products or services to them. PRINCE2 (CCTA, 1996) offers a series of plan levels that can be tailored to the size and complexity of a project. Each level of plan consist of the needs and recommend planning technique based planning, but the planning process includes the identification of activities and their dependencies. PRINCE2 facilitate the principle of management by exception and provide each level of management with information allowing them to assess progress to make appropriate decisions based on accurate information. 2.5 Project management methodologies risk management process: PRINCE2 (Bradley, 2005) defines risk management in two phases, risk analysis and risk management. Risk analysis covers the identification and evaluation of risk through the identification and selection of appropriate responses for the process. Risk management is of planning and the selected actions for monitoring and reporting on their status. Quality within PRINCE2 begins by establishing the Customers Quality Expectations and agreeing associated Acceptance. These will be detailed within a Project Quality Plan together with any external standards which will need to be met. It will also detail the change control processes and will contain the Configuration Management Plan. The Project Quality (Shtub and Bard, 2003)Plan defines how the project will achieve the required quality. Configuration Management defines how the assets of the project are identified, protected and controlled. It also identifies how it links with other PRINCE2 components and techniques to describe the role. The Configuration Management plan is identified within the Project Quality Plan. PRINCE2 emphasises the need for the controlled management of change and this is enforced with a change control technique plus the identification of the processes and responsibilities for change control. Change is inevitable and often beneficial to uncontrolled change causes project failure. Controlling change ensures that all changes are documented and analysed. Changes will be authorised only when their impact is fully understood and deemed to be beneficial or acceptable to the project. PRINCE2 is a generic project management (Baguley, 2004) method and recognised for using different techniques. Product Based Planning describes a framework, which can be applied to any type of project. PRINCE2recognises that most organisations will have their own defined change control processes to recommend an approach that treats each change request during the project development. The change control technique identifies the process and responsibilities for handling a change requests from its initial entry onto the Issue Log through its analysis and implementation. Bradley (2005) defines a number of activities which must be carried out in order for the project to be defined, developed and closed. PRINCE2 consists number of components which contain further detail on specific project management issues. Various components covered by PRINCE2 are: Business Case; Organisation; Plans; Controls; Management of Risk; Quality in a Project Environment; Configuration Management; Change Control. Project management (Kliem, et al., 2002) maturity models are designed around the companys own environment, structure and needs in to four levels of maturity: 1. The first level usually reflects an informal and individualistic approach to project management with poor project definition and co-ordination, 2. The next level reflects a more functional application with some project co-ordination and where project management is mainly viewed as a tool or technique, 3. The third level addresses project management as being practiced with some degree of excellence either in a transitional or matures state, 4. The final level addresses portfolio management and may not be applicable to all types of industry depending on their project types and numbers. The project management (Churchhouse, 1999) maturity models are effective in an organization and this ownership is shared across the executive management. Implementation and deployment will generally be responsibility of a dedicated team assigned, preferably to a central department or group within the organization who work as a team and provide strong sponsorship, guidance and commonality across the organization. This management team is supported by a network of project management practitioners within the organization. Structured methodology and documentation use across all levels of the organization, incorporating the companys cultural and operational characteristics aligned with the companys quality system, complies with industry and professional standards; and is effectively applied in operational use. Project management tools, whether technical or non-technical, enterprise wide need to meet the needs of the project management community with defined methodology. (Thayer, 2000) The project management (Harrison, 2002) needs are defined, measured, understood and developed to a visible career structure that has formal recognition, status and reward. Organizations from time-to-time need some direct intervention, whether its mentoring executive and senior management, coaching project and line managers, assisting project team members carry out their roles, assessing and bringing back on-track in-trouble projects, recruiting project managers for permanent or temporary assignments, creating a project management office (PMO), measuring workforce performance, or improving the visibility of project management within the organization. Management development of all the management layers is critical to success, whether an executive briefing, senior program or line management course needs to fully understand their roles and responsibility in supporting the environment, coaching behaviours and mentoring individuals. Managers are to be aware of the development and investment of the procedures, tools, training and competency with the investment manifests itself into the behaviours of the workforce across the whole width of the company. (Earl, et al., 1995) 2.6 Project Management department process: Measuring the behaviours in the upper management levels provides a clear demonstrable metric to the improvement of project management within Infosys Technologies Limited. The behaviours are categorized into the five areas that constitute a project manager leaders role: (Raz, et al., 2003) 1. Planning. 2. Organizing and staffing. 3. Directing and leading. 4. Controlling. 5. Reporting. The improvement is measured in two ways (Gray and Larson, 2002), firstly a percentage improvement between before and after scoring and secondly the percentage increase. PRINCE2 is documented to get the maximum benefit for an organisation and it accredits training organisations and registered consultants able to work to tailor and focus PRINCE2 on requirements. Each PRINCE2 project consists of a Project Board made up of the customer, someone who can represent the user side and someone to represent the supplier. In PRINCE2 these people are called Customer, Senior User and Senior Supplier respectively. The Project Manager reports regularly to the Project Board, keeping them informed of progress and highlighting. The Project Board is responsible for providing the Project Manager with the necessary decisions for the project to proceed and to overcome any problems. On some projects (Kerzner, 2003) the assurance is done by a separate team of people called the Project Assurance Team, but the assurance job can be done by the individual members of the Project Board themselves. On most projects there is a lot of administrative work needed, keeping everyone informed, arranging meetings, keeping plans up-to-date, chasing things up and keeping files. Project Managers often do all the work themselves, particularly on smaller projects. But if there are a number of projects going on at the same time, a Project Support Office can be setup to help the Project Managers in the process. One of the simplest yet most effective things upper management can do is to set out the companys policy for project management. This establishes the vision for how the company wants to best utilize project management concepts and gives a clear downwards communication. A useful starting point for considering the need to model project management performance is making the distinction between project performance and PM performance. These two are interlinked, but different and it is important not to confuse the two. PM performance might focus on delivering a project within budget, yet if the overriding success criterion or key performance indicator (KPI) for the project is delivering future benefit to the organisation. (Courtney and Hugh, 2001) The impact of success criteria on a number of Information Technologies (IT) projects the customer and other stakeholders, such as users, will define what they mean by quality. This focus on meeting customer and other stakeholder requirements corresponds with definitions of quality in the quality management literature and makes a link between quality, project performance and PM performance. The customers definition of what is quality in a project environment will be based upon attributes linked to the quality of the management process as well as attributes linked to the quality of the end product delivered by the project. (Jan Van Bon, 2006) The developing models of project (Woodward, 2007) performance can be provided in two ways. First, models that help organisations provide effective PM performance can lead to beneficial outcomes regardless of the success or otherwise of the project being managed. Second, as elements of PM performance may influence overall sat

Dietary Assessment Essay -- Nutrition, Diet, Disease

A dietary assessment method is a critical component in many aspects of nutritional epidemiology such as evaluating energy and nutrient intake in free-living individuals (Taren, et al., 2002). The purpose of dietary assessment data collection is to establish the causal associations between diet and disease aetiology (Jain, et al., 1996). However, it is very difficult to measure exactly how much food people eat or to determine the nutrient content of the diet (Wild, et al., 2001). Therefore, the valid and precise techniques are required to estimate accurate and detailed information on food and nutrient intake as well as eating patterns for identification of the dietary influence on health and disease (Bingham, et al.,1994). Nutrition assessments include clinical and dietary assessment, anthropometrics, as well as biochemical, laboratory immunologic and functional indices of nutritional status (Gibney, 2005). In epidemiological studies, different dietary investigation tools were designed to assess the nutritional status in individuals and populations, nutrition monitoring and surveillance and diet-disease research (Friedenreich, et al., 1992, Taren, 2002). Choosing an appropriate dietary assessment method depends on the purpose for which it is needed. The majority of retrospective dietary assessment methods such as 24-hour recall is of limited validity because of dependence on subject memory and motivation, reliability of the respondent not to under /misreport and ability to estimate portion sizes of the items consumed (Thompson & Byers, 1994). Although the technique is inexpensive, low respondent burden and relatively easy to assess current nutrient intake of a group, it is not appropriate to use data from a single day to repr... ...., 2006). Furthermore, nutritional analysis of recording or reporting food intake data presents a main source of inaccuracy when determining habitual nutrient intake and it does not contain comprehensive information on the interpretation of results from dietary surveys (Macdiarmid, & Blundell, 1997). Therefore, biochemical markers of nutrient intake are now a valuable tool in validating dietary assessment methods (Bingham, 2002). For example, the double labelled water technique and 24-hour urine nitrogen and potassium are routinely used and potentially independent of the errors associated with dietary survey methods (Bingham, 2002). The aims of the study is to determine the intake of total energy, protein , carbohydrate, fat, iron, calcium and fiber within a group of students using the duplicate diet analysis, 24 hour recall and the 7 day weighed intake.

The Twilight Saga 3: Eclipse Chapter 6. SWITZERLAND

AS I DROVE HOME, I WASN'T PAYING MUCH ATTENTION TO the road that shimmered wetly in the sun. I was thinking about the flood of information Jacob had shared with me, trying to sort it out, to force it all to make sense. Despite the overload, I felt lighter. Seeing Jacob smile, having all the secrets thrashed out . . . it didn't make things perfect, but it made them better. I was right to have gone. Jacob needed me. And obviously, I thought as I squinted into the glare, there was no danger. It came out of nowhere. One minute there was nothing but bright highway in my rearview mirror. The next minute, the sun was glinting off a silver Volvo right on my tail. â€Å"Aw, crap,† I whimpered. I considered pulling over. But I was too much of a coward to face him right away. I'd been counting on some prep time . . . and having Charlie nearby as a buffer. At least that would force him to keep his voice down. The Volvo followed inches behind me. I kept my eyes on the road ahead. Chicken through and through, I drove straight to Angela's without once meeting the gaze I could feel burning a hole in my mirror. He followed me until I pulled to the curb in front of the Webers' house. He didn't stop, and I didn't look up as he passed. I didn't want to see the expression on his face. I ran up the short concrete walk to Angela's door as soon as he was out of sight. Ben answered the door before I could finish knocking, like he'd been standing right behind it. â€Å"Hey, Bella!† he said, surprised. â€Å"Hi, Ben. Er, is Angela here?† I wondered if Angela had forgotten our plans, and cringed at the thought of going home early. â€Å"Sure,† Ben said just as Angela called, â€Å"Bella!† and appeared at the top of the stairs. Ben peered around me as we both heard the sound of a car on the road; the sound didn't scare me – this engine stuttered to a stop, followed by the loud pop of a backfire. Nothing like the purr of the Volvo. This must be the visitor Ben had been waiting for. â€Å"Austin's here,† Ben said as Angela reached his side. A horn honked on the street. â€Å"I'll see you later,† Ben promised. â€Å"Miss you already.† He threw his arm around Angela's neck and pulled her face down to his height so that he could kiss her enthusiastically. After a second of this, Austin honked again. â€Å"‘Bye, Ang! Love you!† Ben shouted as he dashed past me. Angela swayed, her face slightly pink, then recovered herself and waved until Ben and Austin were out of sight. Then she turned to me and grinned ruefully. â€Å"Thank you for doing this, Bella,† she said. â€Å"From the bottom of my heart. Not only are you saving my hands from permanent injury, you also just spared me two long hours of a plot-less, badly dubbed martial arts film.† She sighed in relief. â€Å"Happy to be of service.† I was feeling a bit less panicked, able to breathe a little more evenly. It felt so ordinary here. Angela's easy human dramas were oddly reassuring. It was nice to know that life was normal somewhere. I followed Angela up the stairs to her room. She kicked toys out of the way as she went. The house was unusually quiet. â€Å"Where's your family?† â€Å"My parents took the twins to a birthday party in Port Angeles. I can't believe you're really going to help me with this. Ben's pretending he has tendonitis.† She made a face. â€Å"I don't mind at all,† I said, and then I walked into Angela's room and saw the stacks of waiting envelopes. â€Å"Oh!† I gasped. Angela turned to look at me, apologies in her eyes. I could see why she'd been putting this off, and why Ben had weaseled out. â€Å"I thought you were exaggerating,† I admitted. â€Å"I wish. Are you sure you want to do this?† â€Å"Put me to work. I've got all day.† Angela divided a pile in half and put her mother's address book between us on her desk. For a while we concentrated, and there was just the sound of our pens scratching quietly across the paper. â€Å"What's Edward doing tonight?† she asked after a few minutes. My pen dug into the envelope I was working on. â€Å"Emmet's home for the weekend. They're supposed to be hiking.† â€Å"You say that like you're not sure.† I shrugged. â€Å"You're lucky Edward has his brothers for all the hiking and camping. I don't know what I'd do if Ben didn't have Austin for the guy stuff.† â€Å"Yeah, the outdoors thing is not really for me. And there's no way I'd ever be able to keep up.† Angela laughed. â€Å"I prefer the indoors myself.† Angela rolled her eyes at me. â€Å"See you at school,† I said with a nervous laugh. She sighed. â€Å"See you.† I was jumpy on the way out to my truck, but the street was empty. I spent the whole drive glancing anxiously in all my mirrors, but there was never any sign of the silver car. His car was not in front of the house, either, though that meant little. â€Å"Bella?† Charlie called when I opened the front door. â€Å"Hey, Dad.† I found him in the living room, in front of the TV. â€Å"So, how was your day?† â€Å"Good,† I said. Might as well tell him everything – he'd hear it from Billy soon enough. Besides, it would make him happy. â€Å"They didn't need me at work, so I went down to La Push.† There wasn't enough surprise in his face. Billy had already talked to him. â€Å"How's Jacob?† Charlie asked, attempting to sound indifferent. â€Å"Good,† I said, just as casual. â€Å"You get over to the Webers'?† â€Å"Yep. We got all her announcements addressed.† â€Å"That's nice.† Charlie smiled a wide smile. He was strangely focused, considering that there was a game on. â€Å"I'm glad you spent some time with your friends today.† â€Å"Me, too.† I ambled toward the kitchen, looking for busy work. Unfortunately, Charlie had already cleaned up his lunch. I stood there for a few minutes, staring at the bright patch of light the sun made on the floor. But I knew I couldn't delay this forever. â€Å"I'm going to go study,† I announced glumly as I headed up the stairs. â€Å"See you later,† Charlie called after me. If I survive, I thought to myself. I shut my bedroom door carefully before I turned to face my room. Of course he was there. He stood against the wall across from me, in the shadow beside the open window. His face was hard and his posture tense. He glared at me wordlessly. I cringed, waiting for the torrent, but it didn't come. He just continued to glare, possibly too angry to speak. â€Å"Hi,† I finally said. His face could have been carved from stone. I counted to a hundred in my head, but there was no change. â€Å"Er . . . so, I'm still alive,† I began. A growl rumbled low in his chest, but his expression didn't change. â€Å"No harm done,† I insisted with a shrug. He moved. His eyes closed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose between the fingers of his right hand. â€Å"Bella,† he whispered. â€Å"Do you have any idea how close I came to crossing the line today? To breaking the treaty and coming after you? Do you know what that would have meant?† I gasped and his eyes opened. They were as cold and hard as night. â€Å"You can't!† I said too loudly. I worked to modulate the volume of my voice so Charlie wouldn't hear, but I wanted to shout the words. â€Å"Edward, they'd use any excuse for a fight. They'd love that. You can't ever break the rules!† â€Å"Maybe they aren't the only ones who would enjoy a fight.† â€Å"Don't you start,† I snapped. â€Å"You made the treaty – you stick to it.† â€Å"If he'd hurt you -â€Å" â€Å"Enough!† I cut him off. â€Å"There's nothing to worry about. Jacob isn't dangerous.† â€Å"Bella.† He rolled his eyes. â€Å"You aren't exactly the best judge of what is or isn't dangerous.† â€Å"I know I don't have to worry about Jake. And neither do you.† He ground his teeth together. His hands were balled up in fists at his sides. He was still standing against the wall, and I hated the space between us. I took a deep breath, and crossed the room. He didn't move when I wrapped my arms around him. Next to the warmth of the last of the afternoon sun streaming through the window, his skin felt especially icy. He seemed like ice, too, frozen the way he was. â€Å"I'm sorry I made you anxious,† I muttered. He sighed, and relaxed a little. His arms wound around my waist. â€Å"Anxious is a bit of an understatement,† he murmured. â€Å"It was a very long day.† â€Å"You weren't supposed to know about it,† I reminded him. â€Å"I thought you'd be hunting longer.† I looked up at his face, at his defensive eyes; I hadn't noticed in the stress of the moment, but they were too dark. The rings under them were deep purple. I frowned in disapproval. â€Å"When Alice saw you disappear, I came back,† he explained. â€Å"You shouldn't have done that. Now you'll have to go away again.† My frown intensified. â€Å"I can wait.† â€Å"That's ridiculous. I mean, I know she couldn't see me with Jacob, but you should have known -â€Å" â€Å"But I didn't,† he broke in. â€Å"And you can't expect me to let you -â€Å" â€Å"Oh, yes, I can,† I interrupted him. â€Å"That's exactly what I expect -â€Å" â€Å"This won't happen again.† â€Å"That's right! Because you're not going to overreact next time.† â€Å"Because there isn't going to be a next time.† â€Å"I understand when you have to leave, even if I don't like it -â€Å" â€Å"That's not the same. I'm not risking my life.† â€Å"Neither am I.† â€Å"Werewolves constitute a risk.† â€Å"I disagree.† â€Å"I'm not negotiating this, Bella.† â€Å"Neither am I.† His hands were in fists again. I could feel them against my back. The words popped out thoughtlessly. â€Å"Is this really just about my safety?† â€Å"What do you mean?† he demanded. â€Å"You aren't . . .† Angela's theory seemed sillier now than before. It was hard to finish the thought. â€Å"I mean, you know better than to be jealous, right?† He raised one eyebrow. â€Å"Do I?† â€Å"Be serious.† â€Å"Easily – there's nothing remotely humorous about this.† I frowned suspiciously. â€Å"Or . . . is this something else altogether? Some vampires-and-werewolves-are- always-enemies nonsense? Is this just a testosterone-fueled -â€Å" His eyes blazed. â€Å"This is only about you. All I care is that you're safe.† The black fire in his eyes was impossible to doubt. â€Å"Okay,† I sighed. â€Å"I believe that. But I want you to know something – when it comes to all this enemies nonsense, I'm out. I am a neutral country. I am Switzerland. I refuse to be affected by territorial disputes between mythical creatures. Jacob is family. You are . . . well, not exactly the love of my life, because I expect to love you for much longer than that. The love of my existence. I don't care who's a werewolf and who's a vampire. If Angela turns out to be a witch, she can join the party, too.† He stared at me silently through narrowed eyes. â€Å"Switzerland,† I repeated again for emphasis. He frowned at me, and then sighed. â€Å"Bella . . . ,† he began, but he paused, and his nose wrinkled in disgust. â€Å"What now?† â€Å"Well . . . don't be offended, but you smell like a dog,† he told me. And then he smiled crookedly, so I knew the fight was over. For now. Edward had to make up for the missed hunting trip, and so he was leaving Friday night with Jasper, Emmett, and Carlisle to hit some reserve in Northern California with a mountain lion problem. We'd come to no agreement on the werewolf issue, but I didn't feel guilty calling Jake – during my brief window of opportunity when Edward took the Volvo home before climbing back in through my window – to let him know I'd be coming over on Saturday again. It wasn't sneaking around. Edward knew how I felt. And if he broke my truck again, then I'd have Jacob pick me up. Forks was neutral, just like Switzerland – just like me. So when I got off work Thursday and it was Alice rather than Edward waiting for me in the Volvo, I was not suspicious at first. The passenger door was open, and music I didn't recognize was shaking the frame when the bass played. â€Å"Hey, Alice,† I shouted over the wailing as I climbed in. â€Å"Where's your brother?† She was singing along to the song, her voice an octave higher than the melody, weaving through it with a complicated harmony. She nodded at me, ignoring my question as she concentrated on the music. I shut my door and put my hands over my ears. She grinned, and turned the volume down until it was just background. Then she hit the locks and the gas in the same second. â€Å"What's going on?† I asked, starting to feel uneasy. â€Å"Where is Edward?† She shrugged. â€Å"They left early.† â€Å"Oh.† I tried to control the absurd disappointment. If he left early, that meant he'd be back sooner, I reminded myself. â€Å"All the boys went, and we're having a slumber party!† she announced in a trilling, singsong voice. â€Å"A slumber party?† I repeated, the suspicion finally settling in. â€Å"Aren't you excited?† she crowed. I met her animated gaze for a long second. â€Å"You're kidnapping me, aren't you?† She laughed and nodded. â€Å"Till Saturday. Esme cleared it with Charlie; you're staying with me two nights, and I will drive you to and from school tomorrow.† I turned my face to the window, my teeth grinding together. â€Å"Sorry,† Alice said, not sounding in the least bit penitent. â€Å"He paid me off.† â€Å"How?† I hissed through my teeth. â€Å"The Porsche. It's exactly like the one I stole in Italy.† She sighed happily. â€Å"I'm not supposed to drive it around Forks, but if you want, we could see how long it takes to get from here to L.A. – I bet I could have you back by midnight.† I took a deep breath. â€Å"I think I'll pass,† I sighed, repressing a shudder. We wound, always too fast, down the long drive. Alice pulled around to the garage, and I quickly looked over the cars. Emmett's big jeep was there, with a shiny canary yellow Porsche between it and Rosalie's red convertible. Alice hopped out gracefully and went to stroke her hand along the length of her bribe. â€Å"Pretty, isn't it?† â€Å"Pretty over-the-top,† I grumbled, incredulous. â€Å"He gave you that just for two days of holding me hostage?† Alice made a face. A second later, comprehension came and I gasped in horror. â€Å"It's for every time he's gone, isn't it?† She nodded. I slammed my door and stomped toward the house. She danced along next to me, still unrepentant. â€Å"Alice, don't you think this is just a little bit controlling? Just a tiny bit psychotic, maybe?† â€Å"Not really.† She sniffed. â€Å"You don't seem to grasp how dangerous a young werewolf can be. Especially when I can't see them. Edward has no way to know if you're safe. You shouldn't be so reckless.† My voice turned acidic. â€Å"Yes, because a vampire slumber party is the pinnacle of safety conscious behavior.† Alice laughed. â€Å"I'll give you a pedicure and everything,† she promised. It wasn't so bad, except for the fact that I was being held against my will. Esme brought Italian food – the good stuff, all the way from Port Angeles – and Alice was prepared with my favorite movies. Even Rosalie was there, quietly in the background. Alice did insist on the pedicure, and I wondered if she was working from a list – maybe something she'd compiled from watching bad sitcoms. â€Å"How late do you want to stay up?† she asked when my toenails were glistening a bloody red. Her enthusiasm remained untouched by my mood. â€Å"I don't want to stay up. We have school in the morning.† She pouted. â€Å"Where am I supposed to sleep, anyway?† I measured the couch with my eyes. It was a little short. â€Å"Can't you just keep me under surveillance at my house?† â€Å"What kind of a slumber party would that be?† Alice shook her head in exasperation. â€Å"You're sleeping in Edward's room.† I sighed. His black leather sofa was longer than this one. Actually, the gold carpet in his room was probably thick enough that the floor wouldn't be half bad either. â€Å"Can I go back to my place to get my things, at least?† She grinned. â€Å"Already taken care of.† â€Å"Am I allowed to use your phone?† â€Å"Charlie knows where you are.† â€Å"I wasn't going to call Charlie.† I frowned. â€Å"Apparently, I have some plans to cancel.† â€Å"Oh.† She deliberated. â€Å"I'm not sure about that.† â€Å"Alice!† I whined loudly. â€Å"C'mon!† â€Å"Okay, okay,† she said, flitting from the room. She was back in half a second, cell phone in hand. â€Å"He didn't specifically prohibit this . . . ,† she murmured to herself as she handed it to me. I dialed Jacob's number, hoping he wasn't out running with his friends tonight. Luck was with me – Jacob was the one to answer. â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"Hey, Jake, it's me.† Alice watched me with expressionless eyes for a second, before she turned and went to sit between Rosalie and Esme on the sofa. â€Å"Hi, Bella,† Jacob said, suddenly cautious. â€Å"What's up?† â€Å"Nothing good. I can't come over Saturday after all.† It was silent for a minute. â€Å"Stupid bloodsucker,† he finally muttered. â€Å"I thought he was leaving. Can't you have a life when he's gone? Or does he lock you in a coffin?† I laughed. â€Å"I don't think that's funny.† â€Å"I'm only laughing because you're close,† I told him. â€Å"But he's going to be here Saturday, so it doesn't matter.† â€Å"Will he be feeding there in Forks, then?† Jacob asked cuttingly. â€Å"No.† I didn't let myself get irritated with him. I wasn't that far from being as angry as he was. â€Å"He left early.† â€Å"Oh. Well, hey, come over now, then,† he said with sudden enthusiasm. â€Å"It's not that late. Or I'll come up to Charlie's.† â€Å"I wish. I'm not at Charlie's,† I said sourly. â€Å"I'm kind of being held prisoner.† He was silent as that sunk in, and then he growled. â€Å"We'll come and get you,† he promised in a flat voice, slipping automatically into a plural. A chill slid down my spine, but I answered in a light and teasing voice. â€Å"Tempting. I have been tortured – Alice painted my toenails.† â€Å"I'm serious.† â€Å"Don't be. They're just trying to keep me safe.† He growled again. â€Å"I know it's silly, but their hearts are in the right place.† â€Å"Their hearts!† he scoffed. â€Å"Sorry about Saturday,† I apologized. â€Å"I've got to hit the sack† – the couch, I corrected mentally – â€Å"but I'll call you again soon.† â€Å"Are you sure they'll let you?† he asked in a scathing tone. â€Å"Not completely.† I sighed. â€Å"‘Night, Jake.† â€Å"See you around.† Alice was abruptly at my side, her hand held out for the phone, but I was already dialing. She saw the number. â€Å"I don't think he'll have his phone on him,† she said. â€Å"I'll leave a message.† The phone rang four times, followed by a beep. There was no greeting. â€Å"You are in trouble,† I said slowly, emphasizing each word. â€Å"Enormous trouble. Angry grizzly bears are going to look tame next to what is waiting for you at home.† I snapped the phone shut and placed it in her waiting hand. â€Å"I'm done.† She grinned. â€Å"This hostage stuff is fun.† â€Å"I'm going to sleep now,† I announced, heading for the stairs. Alice tagged along. â€Å"Alice,† I sighed. â€Å"I'm not going to sneak out. You would know if I was planning to, and you'd catch me if I tried.† â€Å"I'm just going to show you where your things are,† she said innocently. Edward's room was at the farthest end of the third floor hallway, hard to mistake even when the huge house had been less familiar. But when I switched the light on, I paused in confusion. Had I picked the wrong door? Alice giggled. It was the same room, I realized quickly; the furniture had just been rearranged. The couch was pushed to the north wall and the stereo shoved up against the vast shelves of CDs – to make room for the colossal bed that now dominated the central space. The southern wall of glass reflected the scene back like a mirror, making it look twice as bad. It matched. The coverlet was a dull gold, just lighter than the walls; the frame was black, made of intricately patterned wrought iron. Sculpted metal roses wound in vines up the tall posts and formed a bowery lattice overhead. My pajamas were folded neatly on the foot of the bed, my bag of toiletries to one side. â€Å"What the hell is all this?† I spluttered. â€Å"You didn't really think he would make you sleep on the couch, did you?† I mumbled unintelligibly as I stalked forward to snatch my things off the bed. â€Å"I'll give you some privacy,† Alice laughed. â€Å"See you in the morning.† After my teeth were brushed and I was dressed, I grabbed a puffy feather pillow off the huge bed and dragged the gold cover to the couch. I knew I was being silly, but I didn't care. Porsches as bribes and king- sized beds in houses where nobody slept – it was beyond irritating. I flipped off the lights and curled up on the sofa, wondering if I was too annoyed to sleep. In the dark, the glass wall was no longer a black mirror, doubling the room. The light of the moon brightened the clouds outside the window. As my eyes adjusted, I could see the diffused glow highlighting the tops of the trees, and glinting off a small slice of the river. I watched the silver light, waiting for my eyes to get heavy. There was a light knock on the door. â€Å"What, Alice?† I hissed. I was on the defensive, imagining her amusement when she saw my makeshift bed. â€Å"It's me,† Rosalie said softly, opening the door enough that I could see the silver glow touch her perfect face. â€Å"Can I come in?†

Independence air was a low cost air line

Independence air was a low cost air line that was owned by FLYi, Inc who had their headquarters in Virginia. Independence air operated from the year 1989 and it’s stopped its operations in 2006. Independence air mainly focused on the East Coast and the West coast.The route network of independence air was based in Washington Dulles international airport. Unfortunately the company ceased its operation on January 5th 2006 at 8:24 p.m.The company (independence air) had been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy from 7th 2005 there were some discussion that was taking place, which people thought would have saved Independence air but that did not happen.Explanation of Independence Air business planAtlantic Coast Airlines is the predecessor of Independence air line. The independence air line company started has Atlantic Coast Airlines in 15th December 1989. It (Atlantic Coast Airline) was operating a feeder services as United Express for Delta Connection and United Air lines.United with drew from contract after disagreement with Atlantic Coast. This forced Atlantic company to reinvent itself to a low cost independence air. The main objective of independence airline was to come with an air carrier with bargain base, off beat and a friendly service (Sharkey 2006)The 4 Ps for the independence airliner is: For their Promotion – independence airliner carried out intensive promotion even before it was launched. On 20th May 2004, before they inaugurated their first flight, they signed a three year deal with Washington Redskins; the company was to become the official sponsor of Washington Redskins.This was a marketing strategy for independence. In the summer of the year 2005 independence air line offered College students a Glide Summer travel pass.After paying two hundred and fifty US dollars Customers were to fly free (after paying airport fees and taxes) from May 1st to August 31st on Saturdays, Wednesdays and Tuesday. This was not geared towards getting any revenue, it wa s purely meant to have customers fill in the empty seats.The company also invested on a fleet of twenty promotional vehicles, which they dubbed â€Å"Jet trucks†. They modified pick ups trucks and painted them in airline’s livery and on the trucks bed they attached an aircraft tail.The company also had some humorous touches which it added to flying experience like the company replaced the flight attendant safety announcement   with a version of celebrities such   Mary Matalin and James Carville which had earlier on been pre recorded.On their Pricing, the company opted for a lower price as compared to their competitors, this was mainly meant to attract customers. They finally succeeded in attracting more customers, such that at their peak they were operating 600 flights on a daily basis.Their pricing strategy was one of the factors that some scholars argued that failed, because whenever the price of fuel roused, they didn’t adjust their prices. When it comes to Place, Independence air mainly focused on the East Coast and the West coast. The route network of independence air was based in Washington Dulles international airport.The company had many diverse Products in terms of the type of airplane that they were operating. Independence airline operated the following airplanes CRJ200, Bombardier, British aerospace jet stream 4100 turbo prop and several air buses.   (Williamson 2006 pp 19 -26).Independence air line had many strengths and weaknesses.   Some of its weakness was: the company was faced with a lot of competition from its competitors who were charging a higher price for their ticket as compared to Independence airline examples of some of their competitors were United air line. The second weakness is that the company failed to undertake a more intensive promotion; this made them to loose some of their customers to united airline.Lastly some critics also point out that the management of independent airline was also not effectiv e. Some of its strength were the   company had a lot of capital that they invested,   the company had a sales and marketing team that was creative lastly lowering the prices of their services was also a strength to them because it made them to attract more customers.While carrying out their Environmental and market assessment the company carried extensive studies on some of the companies that they thought will be their competitors.These gave them an idea on how the market is and how they were going to enter into the market. Independence air line believed that it could easily prosper on its own because of the strategy that they were going to use to enter the market. They were confident that by reducing the prices of their services they will be able to attract more customers (French 2004)