Charlemagne Essay examples - 1611 Words

What makes ‘a king into ‘the king and then onto Emperor and Augustus? What made King Charles, Charles the Great? In Einhards Life of Charlemagne, a very succinct description of King Charles ideals, beliefs, attitudes and traits are depicted along with his lifes territorial as well as mental conquests illustrated. Charlemagne was a man with a vision of a utopian society united under Christianity in its glorious form in an almost Camelot like kingdom. Einhards literary work gives society an insight into King Charles and what made him capable of being Augustus. As indicated by Einhard, Charlemagne was a man of all talents but few beliefs and traits truly molded him. Charlemagne ruled over an empire and Christianity ruled over and†¦show more content†¦In addition, Charlemagne was a man devoted to his beliefs who was essentially kind, friendly, very patriotic and, also, trying to be known for his acts and create a good reputation for himself. Over the course of his life C harlemagne was able to create great ties with fellow leaders around the world and through various empires, and although he was also trying to aid Christians who needed help in foreign lands, he seemed to have this need to have good relations with everyone. According to Einhard, he had great friendships all around the world and always welcomed foreigners in his kingdom and palace for only one simple thing in return. For he felt that he would be rewarded for his troubles if they [foreigners] praised his generosity and gave him a good reputation (Einhard 2004, 212). He was a great king who wanted to go down in history. As per Einhard, that seems to be Charlemagnes only selfish trait. He apparently only wore the national dress of the Frankish with few exceptions, which can only imply his great patriotism. Although he appreciated foreign customs, he seems to be very patriotic towards the Franks. Overall, Charlemagne embodied traits that came together to form this great Emperor who was ad mired by many. In The Life of Charlemagne one notices that Frankish society must have formulated certain characteristics through the reign of King Charles. Through the kings beliefs a society forms to followShow MoreRelated Charlemagne Essay825 Words   |  4 Pages Inbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;INTRODUCTION Charlemagne was the king of the Franks and emperor of the Romans from 800-814. During his reign Charlemagne built a kingdom that included almost all of western and central Europe and he started Carolingian Renaissance. His empire had two main territories, East and west Francia that is now the major parts of two important European entities. West Francia is modern-day France, and East Francia became first the Holy Roman Empire and then the modern state ofRead More Charlemagne Essay938 Words   |  4 Pages After reading two versions of â€Å"The Life of Charlemagne†, one written by a person who lived with Charlemagne, and one who didn’t, it is evident that Charlemagne is portrayed in a negative way by the author, the Monk of St. Gall, and in a positive way by Einhard. Einhard was very close to Charlemagne. He lived at the same time and with Charlemagne himself. His version of â€Å"The Life of Charlemagne† was writing right after his death. The Monk of St. Gall wrote his version more than 70 years after Charlemagne’sRead MoreCharlemagne Essay447 Words   |  2 Pagesimportant person during this new Europe was the Frankish king Charlemagne. His rule was known throughout the world, and Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the Emperor of the Romans. On top of this title, he still held all of his other titles. Charlemagne made tons of contributions during this time in Europe. He had educational and clerical reforms, and preached on discipline, learning, and pie ty. In the essay The Emperor Charlemagne, Einhard discussed the rise and greatness of this ruler, andRead More Charlemagne Essay1379 Words   |  6 PagesCharlemagne By the Cross and the Sword : Charlemagne’s Impact on the West. â€Å"He who ordains the fate of kingdoms in the march of the centuries, the all-powerful Disposer of events, having destroyed one extraordinary image, that of the Romans, which had, it was true, feet of iron, or even feet of clay, then raised up, among the Franks, the golden head of a second image, equally remarkable, in the person of the illustrious Charlemagne. Notker the Stammerer, the monk of St. Gall, wrote these wordsRead MoreCharlemagne Essay1298 Words   |  6 PagesCharlemagne, also known as Charles the Great and Charles I, was not only a king of France, but a commanding historical figure. Charlemagne is believed to have been born sometime around the year 742. He became King of the Franks in 768 and went on to become the Emperor of the Carolingian Empire in 800, before his death in 814. Charlemagne’s father, King Pepin (the short), officially put an end to the Merovingian line of kings to become King of the Franks, and willed that Francia be divided betweenRead MoreCharlemagne And The Carolingian Renaissance1677 Words   |  7 PagesNaomi Spiegelman Professor Rui de Sousa Medieval Civilization - Section 01 27 September 2017 Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance The Carolingian Empire was not at full fruition when Charlemagne rose to power, it was quite the contrary. In the eighth century, the lands covered by what is now known as France and Belgium, as well as part of Germany made up the Frankish state ruled by the kings of the Merovingian line. The Merovingian empire was weak and in a steady decline; the majority ofRead MoreCharlemagne Or Charles The Great1525 Words   |  7 PagesCharlemagne or Charles the Great, (747-814) was one of the most significant people during the Middle Ages, playing a key role in defining the shape and character of Medieval Europe. Considered the ‘Father of Europe’, Charlemagne reigned as King of the Franks (768-814) and became the first Holy Roman Emperor (800-814). He created a great empire as he dramatically expanded the Frankish Kingdom in a series of conquests that united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire. HeRead MoreThe Life of Charlemagne by Einhard1388 Words à ‚  |  6 Pages Charlemagne is described by Janet Nelson as being a role model for Einhard. Einhard himself writes in the first paragraph of The Life of Charlemagne, â€Å"After I decided to write about the life, character and no small part of the accomplishments of my lord and foster father, Charles, that most excellent and deservedly famous king, I determined to do so with as much brevity as I could.† I feel that these are sincere words about the man who cared for Einhard. I feel that Einhard’s purpose for writingRead MoreCharlemagne, The King Of The Franks Essay2246 Words   |  9 PagesCharlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, was born around the 2nd of April 747 and died on the 28th of January 814. He was noted down in history as King of the Franks, a Germanic-speaking people who invaded western Rome residing in current day Germany, the King of the Lombards, Germanic people who resided in parts of the Italian peninsula, and finally was the first Holy Roman Emperor. Another name that has been bestowed upon Charlemagne was the title â€Å"Father of Europe†. Due to the CarolingianRead MoreCharlemagne and the Saxon War1611 Words   |  7 Pages Collins and Backman have approached the life of Charlemagne with different points of view; however, Barbero seems to have the strongest argument for the cause of the Saxon War. The other historians were less willing to see the Saxon war as a religious war. The life of Charlemagne was interesting to historians because it was filled with many vigorous wars that he fought including the infamous Saxon War. From the beginning of his life, Charlemagne was destined to rule a nation and lead his people

The Educational Philosophy Of Adult Education - 803 Words

ADE 6600 Foundations of Adult Education, 15/T3, Dr. Jonathan Taylor The focus of this assignment was to view the educational philosophy concerning adult learning. Background histories of the adult’s education ages ago were briefly gleaned. Other topics viewed were on the adult educational philosophy, the five educational philosophical approaches, the personal adult educational philosophy, the adult learner, developing my own adult educational philosophy, and lastly on how changes is an educational practice. However, learning does take place throughout the life span of the learners. Therefore, this leads to my conclusion of why mastery of this content is needed to be able to effectively teach the adult learners. Reflecting back over the adult education philosophy assignment, my attention immediately went on how the adult men and women ages ago had to learn. If adults had an interest to learn about a topic, they had to read a book in order to learn it. Schools during that time w ere only for young children to attend. There were no schools for adults to go, Scott (2005). The thought never crossed in my mind how schools for adults originated until studying of it in this course. A child learns different from how an adult does. The child learns by the knowledge of what the educator teaches them. Adults learn through their experiences and connecting new knowledge with what they already know. The method of how adults learn is called andragogy. In reflecting on the educationalShow MoreRelatedAristotle And Aristotle On Education1262 Words   |  6 Pages2.2.2 Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) Another great influence on Education was the Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle who came later after Confucius, who was born in Stagira, Chalcidice. Aristotle was first a student in Plato’s philosophy school for around twenty years. Later on he was a philosophy teacher in Atarneus which is located in Asia Minor. Aristotle is known for his school named â€Å"Lyceum† which is located in Athens, and he is also known for teaching Alexander the Great who can later. AccordingRead MoreAdult Learning Theory: Andragogy Essay1408 Words   |  6 PagesAdult Learning Theory: Andragogy The dispute of how adults learn is an ever developing subject matter since the 1920’s when adult learning became a professional field of practice (Merriam, S., 2001). Questions such as, do adults learn differently from children? Are adults able to learn quicker, independently, or in the same environment? These are just some examples of a multitude of questions that have been raised since scientists began investigating Adult Learning. I intend to clarify someRead MoreExistentialism And Progressivism : Which Educational Philosophy Do You Most Closely Identify With And Why?971 Words   |  4 PagesBrianna Price Professor Julie Smith Sodey Education 2209 October 14, 2014 Educational Philosophies: Existentialism and Progressivism Which educational philosophy do you most closely identify with and why? After taking the philosophic inventory I found that I scored highest with existentialism and second highest with progressivism. After researching both existentialism and progressivism, I concluded that I agreed with both of these philosophies. I agree with existentialism because I believe thatRead MoreAdult Learning Environment Essay1046 Words   |  5 PagesAdult Learning Environment It is important to understand that not everyone entering college is ready for the experience. Although colleges and high schools are having conversations on how to address the problem as it relates to high school graduates being unable to test into college level courses, it is merely conversations (Remedial Education: The Skeleton in the Closet of Higher Ed). Each entity continues to play the blame game instead of sharing the accountability, politicians intercede andRead MoreAs Part Of My Pgce Early Education, I Have Been Instructed1030 Words   |  5 Pages As part of my PGCE Early Education, I have been instructed to conduct an assignment based on my own philosophy of teaching in Early Years settings. Farquhar and White (2014: 821) highlight the importance of early education as the ‘theory and practice of educating young children’, which is deeply rooted in the philosophy of the practitioner as they have a repertoire of strategies to teaching and learning. King and Howard (2016) believe that philosophy and pedagogy are connected as a wayRead MoreThe Role Of A Teaching Philosophy Statement1408 Words   |  6 PagesThe Role of a Teaching Philosophy Statement (TPS) Personal development is one aspect of gaining new information to enhance skills, abilities and overall knowledge. The development of a TPS, is a personal analysis of general concepts of teaching, learning, observations and experiences, transferred into the learning environment (Caukin, 2017). Consequently, the statement is intimate, insightful, with an inclusion of personal views of the aspects of teaching, foundation of learning, in addition toRead MoreA Critique - Reggio Emilia Approach a Educational Philosophy1120 Words   |  5 PagesREGGIO EMILIA APPROACH A EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY I fully support the Reggio Emilia Approach model which was found by Loris Malaguzzi. This model became associated with mainstream educational practices in 1945 when the first parent-run preschool of the common people opened in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The Reggio Emilia Approach is an educational philosophy focused on preschool and primary education. The destruction from the war, parents believed, necessitated a new, quick approach to teachingRead MoreI Loved Learning About Locke And His Philosophy747 Words   |  3 PagesI loved learning about Locke and his philosophy’s because he mainly focused on the child’s character. He focused on who the child was becoming as a person rather than focusing on what the child was doing. Locke’s educational philosophy had six main points, first of them being Self-Control. He taught about how we need to focus on the child’s physical health, and how to be firm with them if we want them to acquire self -discipline (Cr ane pg 9). The second point is, Best Rewards and Punishments whichRead MorePersonal Philosophy Of Educational Essay Essay1240 Words   |  5 PagesArtifact #2: Personal Philosophy of Educational Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kofi Annan, of Ghana said, â€Å"Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family† (nobelprize.org). My ambition to become an educator stems from a desire to help children grow into productive and successful adults. I am a mother of six children. As I have guided my individual children through the different stages of their childhood, adventures, adversitiesRead MoreMaria Montessori1086 Words   |  5 PagesThe Montessori Philosophy Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was truly a radical in terms of her philosophy regarding children and the fact that she was putting it forward at a time when children were most often thought of as extensions of their parent, their parents beliefs and culture, and a creature to be shaped in ways that would create an appropriate and successful adult based on those beliefs. The collective consciousness regarding childrearing was that it was important to replicate

Project Planning & Control Triple Constraint Model @Myassignmenthelp.

Question: Project Planning and Control Originally conceived as a framework to enable project managers to evaluate and balance the triple constraints of cost, time and scope, the Project Management Triangle, otherwise known as the Iron Triangle, quickly became the predominant measure of project performance. It helps improve design and planning decisions and assists in the effective control of the project during execution phase. At its core is the assumption that cost is a function of both time and scope. However, misguided or impractical trade-offs between these constraints can seriously jeopardise the success of the project even beyond the implementation stage. For example, Merrow (2012) found that 64% of oil and gas projects that failed to meet their initially set cost and time targets go on to experience "serious and enduring production attainment problems in the first 2 years of first oil or gas". Usually, when a project experiences a large cost overrun, it overruns its schedule significant ly as well the Edinburgh Trams in Scotland being recent high profile examples (Railnews 2012). From a control perspective, Critically appraise the strengths and limitations of the triple constraint model Discuss two planning and control methods adopted to manage one of the constraints of the Iron Triangle. Wherever possible and appropriate, please make reference to the practice in your own work environment or experience, Evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of the methods of control used in your organisation and discuss the avenues to address the identified weaknesses. Answer: 1. Introduction Project Management Triangle or otherwise known as the Iron Triangle or the Triple constraint has become one of the most predominant framework that is enabling the project managers around the globe to improve the project design of their respective business organizations (Chiu 2010, p. 56). 1.1 Review The Iron triangle or the Triple constraint has become the predominating building block in respective of the project planning that helps the business managers to monitor and control the business processes in the long run (Bloch and Laartz 2012, p. 34). Figure1: Triple Constraint Model Source: (Cooper 2011, p. 224) From the above figure, it can be seen that the Triple constraints in the Iron Triangle are Time, Costs and Scope. Here, the performance of the project can be referred to as the Scope in the triangle while, the cost and time completes the deliverables of a particular project for its successful implementation. 1.1.1 Evaluation of the triple constraint model Triple Constraint Model Features Merits Measure of project performance Estimation of project budget Estimation of project schedule Estimation of project quality Demerits Incorporate tactical factors only Success Criteria Keep the right balance between the project constraints and implement appropriate tools Critical Success factors Short term consideration of the performance targets in order to produce specified outputs within the scheduled time line and project budget as well KPI Time Management Quality Management Scope Management Cost Management Project Performance Table 1: Evaluation of Triple Constraint Source: (Davies 2014, p. 23) 2. Strength and limitations of the triple constraint model from a control perspective 2.1 Control: Project outputs related with business outcome According to Humid et al. (2012), the strengths and weaknesses of the project management triangle can be best evaluated when the outcome of the project is compared with the expected outcomes of the business processes of an organization. He, further, states that the outcomes of the business processes includes the benefits including the NPV, ROI, payback analysis and many others. Thus, the scope of the project management triangle can be evaluated by comparing the overall benefits involved with the business processes to the outcome of implementing the project triangle model. Figure 3: Project Outputs mirror with Business Outcomes Source: (Cooper and Schindler 2011, p. 243) 2.2 Strengths 2.2.1 Measure of project performance: According to Bond (2015), the project management triangle helps in assisting them in making effective planning decisions and effecting control of their respective projects during the execution phase (Bond 2015, p. 12). Due to this advantage in the project planning and control, the Iron Triangle has significantly become the primary measurement framework of the project performance in this competing world. 2.2.2 Estimation of project budget: Abedi et al (2011) believe that the project management in relation to business involves the proper estimation of the project budget by identifying the lists of the various costs variables involved with the project (Abedi and Mohammad 2011, p. 234). Now, as the Triple Constraint involves the costs as one of the major constraints in the project, the model helps the project managers to identify the costs and budget of their respective projects as well. 2.2.3 Estimation of project schedule: According to Ambituuni (2011), the estimation of the project schedule is very important aspect of making the project to complete within the scheduled time line (Ambituuni 2011, p. 254). As the Triple Constraint involves the time factor as one of its major constraints in the project, it would help the business managers to estimate the time scheduling of their respective projects as well. 2.2.4 Estimation of project quality: According to Babbie (2010), the quality of the project is not incorporated within the Triple Constraint Model but, it is the ultimate objective of the model within a project (Babbie 2010, p. 232). Some authors are of the belief that the higher cost is required to enhance the quality of the project. Implementing low quality resources in the business project cannot accomplish a successful project. Thus, project quality is also one of the important deliverables of the project management triangle. 2.3. Limitation 2.3.1 Strategic Dimension: According to Catanio et al (2013), the success of a project in delivering the benefits is marked by its strategic context. Due to the lack of strategic factors in the model, most of the projects are facing problems mid way in the execution phases in the process. He argues that the Triple Constraints provides a measure of tactical success of project and that it lacks the strategic factors such as the impact, relevance and sustainability of the project for it to be successful in reality (Catanio and Tucker 2013, p. 12). 2.3.1 Case Study: Wembley Stadium This beautiful stadium built by Mulitplex, an Austarlian firm in 2007, was a failure in 2002 due to inefficiencies in the part of the contemporary project managers. Though, they had been able to identify the project quality and the probable risks associated with the project, following the project management triangle, they were unable to connect with the outcome of the risks with the dimensions of the project quality (Basu 2014, p. 182). Thus, though, they had been able to deliver the project within the estimated budget and in time, they were unable to meet with the customer requirements of the end users. According to Flyvbjerg et al (2011), the Iron triangle is actually outdated but should never be considered as a waste model. The authors went on suggesting that instead of completely keeping the model from its implementation within a businessframework, the Triangle, in addition to the three important constraints, already contained within the Triangle, could be modified by including the customers expectations as the central theme (Flyvbjerg and Budzier 2011, p. 32). Figure: Project Mangement Diamond Source: (Serrador and Turner 2014, p. 80) 3. Two planning and control methods to manage the cost constraint of the Iron Triangle. As the cost involved in the project is one of the major constraint of the Triple Constraint model and is required to estimate the project budget, the planning and control methods required to manage the costs constraint can be illustrated as: 3.1 Planning methods 3.1.1 Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS): The Cost Breakdown Structure is similar to the Work Breakdown Structure of a project which enables the breaking down of the entire project into a number of meaningful activities in order to complete the project within the scheduled budget of the project (Flyvbjerg and Budzier 2011, p. 221). Thus, a CBS helps in providing the summary of the costs involved within the project. Overall, the purpose of the CBS is to break down the costs associated with the project in order to plan for the identification and controlling the entire project. Figure 4: Cost Breakdown Structure Source: (Flyvbjerg and Budzier 2011, p. 222). From the above figure, it is evident that the CBS of a project helps in breaking down of the entire project into smaller activities for each departments including the maintenance, operations and man-hours and thus, providing the summary of the costs involved within the project. 3.1.2 Zero based Budgeting (ZBB): Zero based budgeting is the cost planning and budgeting method which justifies all the costs involved in the project for each of the activities involved with it. This budgeting method is initialised with a zero base and the analysis of very processes involved with the project is implicated according to the project cost and requirements as well (Rigby and Bilodeau 2013, p. 134). This method allows the implementation of the top-level strategic goal into the budgeting process of a particular project. This method allows the managers to measure the previous costs with the current expectations of the project. 3.2 Control methods 3.2.1 Earned Value (EV): Earned value in business environment is an approach to control the project plan, work completed and actual work value in order to keep the project on track. It also helps in the estimation of the schedule variance, cost performance index, schedule performance index, to complete performance index and estimate at completion in respective of the project. According to Colin et al (2014), the earned value helps the project managers to compare the work completed (or costs incurred) against the amount of work (estimated costs) expected to be completed at a given period of time (Colin and Vanhoucke 2014, p. 112). 3.2.2 S-Curve: As the name suggest, S-curve represents the shape of a curve in relation to business environment incorporating the cumulative costs involved in the project. It enables the business managers to monitor and track the actual progress of the project corresponding to the cumulative costs incurred in the project. Figure 7: S-Curve Source: (Overall and Wise 2015, p. 30) From the above diagram, it is evident that the S-curve can be distinguished into three phases viz., the initial, expansion and the maturity phases, which is utilized for the evaluation and tracking of the actual progress of the project in respective of the cumulative costs involved with the project. 4. Weaknesses and strengths of the methods of control 4.1 Cost planning methods 4.1.1 Cost breakdown structure 4.1.1.1 Strengths: The cost breakdown structure helps in breaking down the entire project into a number of discrete activities in respective of the various departments involved with the project. It helps in planning the budget involved with the project. 4.1.1.2 Weaknesses: The most prominent weakness in estimating the cost breakdown of a particular project is that it does not provide a hint about where the breakdown process would stop. In addition, the values are also difficult to identify as well (Hui and Mohammed 2015, p. 74). 4.1.1.3 Solution: The CFO (Chief Executing Officer) need to carefully examine and evaluate the business requirements and the criteria needed while implanting a particular project. This would enable them to estimate an appropriate CBS for the project in the long run. 4.1.2 Zero based Budgeting 4.1.2.1 Strengths Provides efficient resource allocation Enables the project managers to identify the cost reduction methods Identifies and eliminates the activities which are not useful in achieving the target 4.1.2.2 Weaknesses It is very complex method which consumes lot of tome Proper training of the employees is required in order to implement the method (Banaian and Nelson 2014, p. 76) 4.1.2.3 Solution: As the method is complex to implement and is time consuming at the same time, it should be utilized for selective processes instead estimating the entire project budget. 4.2 Cost Control Methods 4.2.1 Earned value (EV) 4.2.1.1 Strengths: The earned value helps the project managers to compare the actual costs incurred against the estimated costs required to complete the project at a given period of time. It also helps in the estimation of the schedule variance, cost performance index, schedule performance index, to complete performance index and estimate at completion in respective of the project. 4.2.1.2 Weaknesses: The earned value analysis does not include the quality, which may arise situation where the project is incorporating high-earned value but is not maintain the quality of the project (Lu and Lu 2013, p. 116). 4.2.1.3 Solution: An appropriate software is required which would help in co-coordinating the different criteria if the project including the estimation of the earned value together with the maintenance of the project quality at the same time. 4.2.2 S-Curve 4.2.2.1 Strength: The S-curve help in displaying the path of the project perfor4masnce in respective of the investment of costs incurred in the project. It also helps in estimating the profits and losses incurred in the project at the initiation phase of the project itself. 4.2.2.2 Weaknesses It does not provide any helps to the business managers if there exists any discontinuity in the shape It also does not indicate where should the investment be made or withdrawn in respective of new activities implemented win the project (Thomas 2015, p. 76) 4.2.2.3 Solution: Business managers are required to align the project schedule in accordance with the project budget whenever the productivity line declines. 5. Conclusion The study of the project management triangle has been one of the most predominant in respective of the project management. By evaluating the various interpretations and perspectives relating to the project management triangle, we have been able to identify a unified model for the project management. The case study as presented has been able to able to demonstrate the business model that enables the project managers to manage their respective business process in line with the specified requirements for a project to be successful in the future. Project management thus, can be represented in the form of a triangle. There are various tools and techniques available for facing the challenges implicated by the three constraints. Hence, the project mangers arid required keeping the balance between the project constraints and implementing appropriate tools in order to make the project successful in the long run. References Abedi , M., Fathi, M. S., and Mohammad, M. F. 2011. Effects of Construction Delays on Construction Project Objectives. The First Iranian Students Scientific Conference in Malaysia.Malaysia: UPM. Ambituuni, A. 2011. Five Causes of Project Delay and Cost Overrun, and Their Mitigation. Babbie, E. 2010. The Practice of Social Research.Belmont CA: Wordworth, Cengage Learning Banaian, K. and Nelson, P., 2014. Smart Budgeting for an Era of Limits. Transportation. Basu, R., 2014. Managing quality in projects: An empirical study.International Journal of Project Management,32(1), pp.178-187. Beischer, A., and Lofstrom, C. 2012. Factors that cause time delays in hardware development projects; A case study of a product development unit atEricsson AB.Chalmers University of Technology, Technology Management and Economics. Goteborg: Chalmers University of Technology Bloch, M., Blumberg, S., and Laartz, J. 2012, October. Delivering large-scale IT projects on time, on budget, and on value. Retrieved January 31, 2015, from McKinsey Company: https://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/delivering_large-scale_it_projects_on_time_on_budget_and_on_value. Bond, U. E. 2015. Project management, leadership, and performance: A quantitative study of the relationship between project managers' leadership styles, years of experience and critical success factors (CSFs) to project success.Ann Arbor: Capella University. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1658144376 Catanio, J. T., Armstrong , G., and Tucker, J. 2013, February. Project Management Certification and Experience: The Impact on the Triple Constraint. Journal of Advances in Information Technology, VOL. 4, NO. 1, pp. 8-19 Chiu, Y. C. 2010. An Introduction to the History of Project Management: From the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900.Delft: Eburon Academic.Publishers. Colin, J. and Vanhoucke, M., 2014. Setting tolerance limits for statistical project control using earned value management. Omega, 49, pp.107-122. Cooper, D. R., and Schindler, P. S. 2011. Business Research Methods(11th ed.). McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited. Davies, A. (2014). Innovation and Project Management. In M. Dogdson, D. Gann, N. Phillips (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Management.New York: Oxford University Press. Flyvbjerg, B., and Budzier, A. 2011, September. Why Your IT Project May Be Riskier Than You Think. Retrieved February 20, 2015, from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2011/09/why-your-it-project-may-be-riskier-than-you-think/ar/1. Hui, O.C. and Mohammed, A.H., 2015. The Role of Cost Breakdown Structure in Life Cycle Cost Model. Jurnal Teknologi, 74(2). Lu, W. and Lu, L., 2013. Extreme Programming Project Performance Management by Statistical Earned Value Analysis. Global Journal of Business Research, 7(5), pp.115-120. Overall, J. and Wise, S., 2015. An S-Curve Model of the Start-Up Life Cycle Through the Lens of Customer Development. The Journal of Private Equity, 18(2), pp.23-34. Rigby, D. and Bilodeau, B., 2013. Management tools trends 2013. Bain Company. Serrador, P. and Turner, J.R., 2014. The relationship between project success and project efficiency.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,119, pp.75-84. Talebbeydokhti, A. and Sedghi, M.H., 2015. Studying the effect of project schedule and control role and determining their most important tools on oil projects (the case study of EPD projects in southern oil-rich areas company). Advances in Environmental Biology, pp.158-163. Thomas, D.S., 2015. Social Aspects of the Business Cycle (RLE: Business Cycles). Routledge.

How Capitalism Beat Communism/Socialism

Table of Contents Introduction Analytical part Conclusion References Footnotes Introduction Nowadays, it would be quite impossible to come up with the exact number of published books and articles that deal with the subject of what was the ultimate reason for Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. This partially explains why the dismantling of an ‘evil empire’ has been addressed from a variety of different perspectives, which often imply ideological and even incidental nature of such a dismantling.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on How Capitalism Beat Communism/Socialism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Even though the majority of researchers do insist on appropriateness of application of namely economic approach to dealing with the subject matter, there are still many people who think that the actual reason, why in 1991 Soviet Union had collapsed like a stack of cards, has to do more with ideology then with economics. For example, in his book Beissinger (2002) attempts represent the end of USSR as the ultimate consequence of the fact that, despite their Communist rhetoric, Soviet officials never ceased professing Russian imperial values: â€Å"As the Soviet Union collapsed, it came to be widely recognized as a multinational empire. In this sense, the real issue that needs to be explained is how a polity once almost universally construed as a state came to be universally condemned as an empire† (6). Nevertheless, the actual clue as to USSR’s collapse is being contained in the very abbreviation – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Apparently, Socialism as political doctrine based upon the premise of social egalitarianism, simply contradicts the objectively existing laws of nature, which is why everything affected by Socialism becomes short-lived. It is important to understand the moving force behind universe’s functioning, as we know it, is th e disparity between energetic potentials. According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the amount of entropy in the universe is geometrically proportionate the extent of energy’s dissipation throughout the cosmos. Given the fact that human societies are essentially material, The Second Law of Thermodynamics applies to them as well. Therefore, it is namely the differentiation in energetic potentials, which makes life possible. In human societies, energetic differentiation is being defined by the lack of resources (inequality), experienced by its members, which in its turn, serves as the primary force behind civilizational progress. On the other hand, the ultimate goal of Soviet ‘welfare state’ has always been the equal distribution of resources among society’s members, due to considerations of ‘fairness’. This is exactly the reason why USSR was doomed to collapse – in just about every society, the functioning of which is being concerne d with the observance of Socialist principles, the prolonged continuation of social, cultural and scientific progress becomes impossible, as the notion of equality is synonymous to the notion of energetic death.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In truly ‘fair’ society, as Soviet society once was, people are being deprived of a stimulus to indulge in socially productive activities. In this paper, we will aim to explore the validity of an earlier articulated thesis even further by revealing the set of objective preconditions, which had accounted for Soviet ‘classless’ society’s failure in confrontation with its main rival – the Capitalist society of United States. Analytical part Even though many political scientists refer to Thomas More’s book Utopia as such that only formally relates to the conceptual premise of Socialism, the clo se reading of this book points out to something opposite, because in Utopia, More had succeeded in formulating the two most important principles of Socialist state’s organization, which would later be observed by Soviet officials. These principles can be outlined as follows: 1) Government’s active involvement in managing the economy, 2) Government’s policy of exposing citizens’ strive towards enrichment as something utterly ‘immoral’, because it is namely on the account of citizens’ ‘selfishness’ that the existence of inequality is possible: â€Å"The richer sort are often endeavoring to bring the hire of laborers lower, not only by their fraudulent practices, but by the laws which they procure to be made to that effect† (1516, 118). This is the reason why, even though More described Utopians as people who used to indulge in a variety of economic activities, these activities appear being deprived of any logical sens e, whatsoever. As Shephard (1995) had put it: â€Å"The main purpose of Utopian trade appears to be the accumulation of their hoard of gold and silver. Since these precious metals are worthless in Utopia†¦ Utopians’ mercantilistic trading policies seem perverse† (846). Thus, even as far back as in 16th century, the conceptual fallaciousness of Communism/Socialism has been revealed in the very work of this ideology’s initial theoretician. Nevertheless, it was not up until the demise of Soviet Union in late 20th century that More and Marx’s Communist ideas were exposed as utterly anti-scientific in the realm practice. The reason for this is simple – the idea that economy should the subject of governmental management transgresses the laws of nature. It is important to understand that the subjects of economy are millions and millions of people – each with its own economic interests. Just as one’s body, economy is an organism, consist ing of operational cells. And, just as a particular cell of one’s body cannot ‘steer’ the rest of cells, government cannot ‘steer’ the economy, simply because it itself never ceases to remain economy’s subject. While trying to ‘govern’ economy, socialistically minded politicians simply act as body’s cancerous cells – they destroy the whole body of economics.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on How Capitalism Beat Communism/Socialism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The history of Soviet Union (especially during the course of 20th century’s seventies and eighties) proves the full validity of such our suggestion. Just as it was the case in More’s Utopia, the functioning of Soviet economy has been firmly based upon the principle of state’s unilateral ownership of production assets and labor. For example, up until 1961, Soviet peasan ts, working in collective farms, were even forbidden to hold passports of their own country – they were essentially state-owned slaves. And, as we know from history, the functioning of slavery-based economies has always been utterly inefficient. One might wonder what was the actual stimulus for Soviet citizens to even bother to work? Soviet official propaganda answered that question from rather a moralistic perspective. According to it, the reason why citizens were expected to be hard-workers is that they were supposed to be genuinely concerned about benefiting their country, as their foremost priority, at the expense of neglecting their personal economic interests. As Soviet high-ranking officials never ceased implying – since Soviet citizens were endowed with strongly defined communal-mindedness, it was only natural for them to perceive surrounding realities through essentially communal lenses – hence, making their existence quite incompatible with the Capital ist spirit of individualism. It is turn; this caused the very purpose of Soviet economy’s functioning to be concerned with the issues of morality, as opposed to be concerned with generation of a commercial profit, as it is the case in Capitalist countries. While referring to the specifics of Soviet life, Horowitz (1989) states: â€Å"Soviet Socialism is based on a religious-social ideology†¦ It rests upon a largely, although not exclusively, secular view that communal living would make everything from sexual affairs to child rearing to work patterns simpler and nobler† (110). Soviet citizens were encouraged to work for peanuts, while deriving an emotional satisfaction out of the fact that in Soviet society there was no ‘Capitalist exploitation’ and while expecting to believe that governmentally designed economic policies were meant facilitate ‘equality’ within the society. Nevertheless, as we have pointed out earlier, there is simply no w ay to make a particular political ideology functionally effective for as long as such ideology’s very premise violates the laws of nature. And, the foremost law of nature, regarding economy, insists that there can be only one objective reason for people to indulge in economic activities, in the first place – the prospect of generating a monetary profit. As it was rightly suggested by Geva (2001): â€Å"Business is expected to do whatever is necessary in order to succeed, and is not expected to be concerned with abstract morality. Business is a one-dimensional, purely profit-seeking enterprise. Profit is not just prioritized; it is elevated to the exclusion of all other interests† (585).Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, the continuous existence of Soviet Union was only possible for as long as country’s citizens were being spared of an opportunity to compare their highly ‘moral’ but impoverished living with ‘immoral’ but prosperous living of people in Capitalist countries. Soviet leaders were well aware of this fact, which is why, prior to the outbreak of WW2; they never even tried to keep their agenda of world’s conquering concealed. After all – even right until USSR’s collapse in 1991, Soviet coat of arms featured the Communist symbol of hammer and sickle on the foreground of the globe and Soviet Constitution openly stated that it was only the matter of time before the rest of world’s countries would join ‘workers’ paradise’. Nevertheless, as time went by, it was becoming increasingly harder for Soviet leaders to keep citizens informationally isolated. In fact, many Soviet leaders, such as Khrushchev, had a particularly hard time understanding a simple fact that it was not the American military that represented the foremost threat to USSR’s existence, but information about the actual realities of America’s Capitalism, to which Soviet people were being progressively more exposed, despite the existence of an ‘iron curtain’. For example, it is being estimated that at least two million Russians have attended 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow, which is why it comes as no surprise that it was namely from early sixties onwards that the number of Soviet citizens dissented with regime began to grow rather exponentially. Apparently, by being allowed an access to the actual information about American way of life, Soviets were becoming increasingly aware of the fact that they were living not in the ‘happiest’ but probably in the most miserable country on Earth. While referring to the effects of American National Exhibition of 1959, Reid (2005) sta tes: â€Å"In the notorious confrontation between the superpowers at the American National Exhibition in Moscow 1959, it was the state-of-the-art kitchen of the model American home that served Vice-President Richard Nixon as the ideal platform from which to challenge Soviet state socialism† (290). Things got even worse for Soviet leadership throughout the course of seventies and eighties, because it was specifically during the course of this historical period that Soviet economy was beginning to show more and more signs of being ill beyond the point of recovery. For example; whereas, in 1970 USSR imported 2.2 million tons of wheat from Capitalist countries, the amount of country’s wheat imports increased to 15.9 million tons by 1975, to 29.4 million tons by 1980, and to 45.6 million tons by 1985. Whereas; as of 1970, the amount of country’s meat imports accounted for 165.000 tons, by 1975 it accounted for 515.000 tons, by 1980 it accounted for 821.000 tons and b y 1985 it accounted for 857.000 tons. It is needles to mention, of course, that Soviet Union has been paying for these imports with U.S. dollars. And, what was the source of Soviet hard currency? It was the export of Soviet natural resources, such as natural gas and oil. When we look at the price-dynamics on international market of oil throughout the eighties (1980 – $66.1, 1981 – $57.6, 1982 – $50.3, 1983 – $45.2, 1984 – $42.2, 1985 – $39.9, 1986 – $19.9) the ultimate reason for USSR’s collapse in 1991 will become perfectly clear – the country simply became a bankrupt, due to the sheer inefficiency of its Socialist economy.[1] As of 1975, in terms of agricultural production, Soviet Union fell behind U.S. by twenty times. Yet, in the same year, Soviet production of tractors beat that of America’s by six times, and the production of agricultural combines beat America’s production by sixteen times! There was something utterly surreal about the situation – the country that could not feed its citizens, nevertheless kept of spending millions and millions of dollars every year to manufacture useless tractors, which would broke down on the next day, after being put to use. By the year 1985, even such basic products as salt, sugar, cigarettes, vodka, milk, butter, and sausages had simply disappeared from the shelves in Soviet Union’s state-owned stores. Around that time, even Soviet high-ranking officials were willing to sell country’s top-secrets to the West for as little as few cartons of Marlboro cigarettes, a pair of jeans or few video cassettes with porn. How was it possible for the country that, before Communist revolution of 1917 used to be referred to as ‘world’s agricultural basket’, to be reduced into essentially huge concentration camp, populated by starving ‘white niggers’? The answer is – it was nothing but the logical consequence of the fact that, for duration of seventy years, the functioning of country’s Socialist plan-economy did not make any economic sense, because Soviet leaders had never even been concerned with trying to ensure economic sense, in the first place. Instead, they were concerned with ensuring ‘equality’. In a similar manner, the promoters of a ‘welfare state’ concept in Western countries (read Socialists) had never been concerned with trying to assess what would be the actual consequences of their political activities – all they care about, is gaining a cheep popularity with marginalized masses by the mean of indulging in essentially Socialist rhetoric about importance of ‘fighting inequality’, ‘ensuring affordable Medicare’ and ‘helping underprivileged’. Just as Communist commissars before them, these ‘progressive’ individuals suggest that the pathway to ‘fairness’ is taki ng money away from the rich and distributing it among the poor. Here is how one of self-proclaimed ‘experts on equality’, Townsend (1979) discusses the ‘evils’ of Capitalism, while blaming it for the fact that the representatives of racial minorities in Western counties are rarely able to attain social prominence: â€Å"Poverty has to be understood not only as an inevitable feature of severe social inequality but also as a particular consequence of actions by the rich to preserve and to enhance their wealth and so deny it to others† (25). Apparently, it never occurred to this Commie-wannabe that ‘equality’ could only be achieved among equally poor and miserable. To paraphrase George Orwell – all people are equal but some people are more equal than the others are. As the history of Socialism in different countries indicates, this political ideology is best discussed in terms of a social illness, which simply assumes different forms . For example, today’s Western concept of neo-Liberalism has very little to do with the traditional concept of Liberalism – it is essentially a poorly concealed Socialism. In its turn, this explains why the hawks of neo-Liberalism think that it is being perfectly appropriate, on their part, to come up with suggestions that industrious and hard-working people should be stripped of a half of their annual income in taxes, so that newly arrived immigrants from Third World would be able to enjoy free Medicare and to ‘celebrate diversity’, while pushing drugs on the streets. Nowadays, such Western countries as Sweden, Germany, Britain and Finland have been turned into essentially Socialist states, where the hordes of uneducated and unemployed social parasites are being provided with free food and free housing in exchange for nothing. One of the most important principles of Socialism is proportionate presence of representatives of society’s different strat a in the Parliament. This is why in Finland’s Parliament, for example, the number of ethnic Swedes-parliamentarians accounts for 6% at all times, because this is the actual percentage of ethnic Swedes in Finland’s population. Whether these people are being professionally adequate to pass legislations matters very little – ‘equality’ is above all. The only reason why the economy of an earlier mentioned countries has not yet began rapidly disintegrating, as it was the case with Soviet Union’s economy in seventies and eighties, is that the illness of Socialism there had assumed rather chronic then acute form – after all, the process of industrialization in Western countries was completed as early as the beginning of 20th century. However, in economically and socially backward countries, with substantial percentage of rural dwellers, such as Cambodia, China, Russia, Cuba, and North Korea, the implementation of Socialism had in many instanc es placed these countries’ whole populations on the threshold of physical extinction (Cambodia). It is important to understand that the Socialist transgression of objectively existing laws of economy and history cannot go on for too long, without bringing about the set of negative and often irreversible consequences. Apparently, the ‘progressive’ politicians in Western countries have a hard time understanding this simple fact. This is the reason why they insist that government should be meddling with economic affairs, as they believe this would increase the levels of ‘equality’ in every particular society. Nevertheless, as the example of Soviet Union in seventies and eighties suggest, it is namely when the hawks of ‘equality’ are allowed to exercise political authority for prolonged period of time, that the society under their management becomes grossly ‘unequal’. Through eighties and seventies, Soviet society became probabl y the most stratified on Earth. Despite Soviet official propaganda’s claim that country’s Communist party had succeeded with building semi-classless society, consisted of proletarians, collective farm peasantry and intelligentsia (without bourgeoisie), the actual realities of living in ‘workers’ paradise’ did not correlate with propaganda’s claims, whatsoever. On one hand, there was a small number of Party’s top-ranking officials, with their own bodyguards, chefs, physicians and even private jets, but on another, there were millions and millions of nothing less than slaves, who had to spend long hours every day in huge lineups, while waiting for their turn to buy even such basic products as milk from state-owned stores. This was the logical consequence of Socialist experiment in Russia. This is why; those familiar with the history of Soviet Union are being naturally inclined to draw apparels between the promoters of Socialism and menta lly inadequate people, who believe that the functioning of their internal organs should be ‘planned’. However, just as it is being impossible to ensure that one’s liver produces a ‘planned’ amount of ursodeoxycholic acid on daily basis, it is impossible to ‘govern’ the economy. Therefore, the idea that the process of building of Socialism in USSR had simply been mismanaged, because otherwise it would have produced positive results, is best referred to as utterly preposterous. The utter fiasco of Soviet Socialism became self-evident through eighties, especially given the fact that during this time, America’s economy experienced nothing short of a boom. When the majority of Soviet citizens experienced a hard time, while trying to buy milk, America’s even unemployed citizens thought of their ownership of at least one car as something most natural. Therefore, the victory of America’s Capitalism over Soviet Socialism was dialectically predetermined and had nothing to do with Capitalists having succeeded in conspiring against ‘workers’ paradise’. This was nothing but the consequence of a fact that economy cannot possibly serve the purpose of advancing any moralistically charged political dogma, as it used to be the case in USSR. In eighties, all it would take for even Soviet hard-core Communists to begin hating their country with passion, is to be shown a catalogue of Western products, such as Quelle. Apparently, being able to choose among hundreds of different sorts of grocery products in a Capitalist supermarket, after having arrived there in its own car, is so much better than being nothing short of a staving slave in highly ‘moral’ and ‘equal’ Socialist paradise, featuring state-owned stores with absolutely empty shelves. Conclusion The earlier provided line of argumentation as to what was the actual reason for Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 s ubstantiates the validity of paper’s initial hypothesis – Socialism can never work because of the unnaturalness of its theoretical premise, concerned with the notion of equality. Once there is ‘equality’, there can be no flow of energy. And, once there is no flow of energy, everything comes to a stall – just as it was the case with the functioning of Soviet economy in seventies and eighties. We can only feel sorry for the fact that the example of Soviet Union had not taught Western socialistically minded political activists a whole lot. Had it been otherwise, they would not be pushing forward clearly Socialist agenda of ensuring ‘equality’ and ‘fairness’ in traditionally Capitalist White countries. There can be no ‘fairness’ – all that there can be is an ongoing economic, cultural and scientific progress, which in its turn, is being fueled by ‘inequality’. It is only when people realize this simple fact that that the illness of Socialism would be dealt with, once and for all. References Allen, Robert â€Å"The Rise and Decline of the Soviet Economy†. The Canadian  Journal of Economics 34.4 (2001): 859-881. Beissinger, Mark. Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet  State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Geva, Aviva â€Å"Myth and Ethics in Business†. Business Ethics Quarterly 11.4 (2001): 575-597. Horowitz, Irving â€Å"Socialist Utopias and Scientific Socialists: Primary Fanaticisms and Secondary Contradictions†. Sociological Forum 4.1 (1989): 107-113. More, Thomas. Utopia. London: Forgotten Books, (1516) 2008. Reid, Susan â€Å"The Khrushchev Kitchen: Domesticating the Scientific-Technological Revolution†. Journal of Contemporary History 40.2 (2005): 289-316. Shephard, Robert â€Å"Utopia, Utopia’s Neighbors, Utopia, and Europe†. The  Sixteenth Century Journal 26.4 (1995): 843-856. Townsend, Peter. Poverty in the United Kingdom, London: Allen Lane, 1979. Footnotes Robert Allen, â€Å"The Rise and Decline of the Soviet Economy†. The Canadian Journal of Economics 34.4 (2001): 874. This essay on How Capitalism Beat Communism/Socialism was written and submitted by user Patience Howe to help you with your own studies. 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