5 Examples of Confused Sentences

5 Examples of Confused Sentences 5 Examples of Confused Sentences 5 Examples of Confused Sentences By Mark Nichol When writers neglect to take sufficient care in forming sentences, confusion and error can easily result. The following five sentences illustrate various ways in which the wrong word order or choice of phrasing can obfuscate meaning; discussion and a revision follows each example. 1. Various supervisors have developed their own risk assessment methodologies independently, which are not always directly comparable. A restrictive clause (one that starts with which and provides an additional and optional detail), should immediately follow the word or phrase it refers to (after the intervening comma, that is); do not permit another part of speech, such as the adverb independently, in this example, to separate them: â€Å"Various supervisors have independently developed their own risk assessment methodologies, which are not always directly comparable.† 2. If you’d like to read more about Smith’s beliefs, many more of them are detailed on his website. Many more of Smith’s beliefs are detailed on his website whether you’d like to read more about them or not. The following revision of a false conditional expresses the immutable presence of Smith’s beliefs on his website regardless of your interest in reading about them: â€Å"If you’d like to read more about Smith’s beliefs, visit his website to read many more of them.† 3. However, U.S. regulators go further by specifying that special due diligence is performed. The important distinction that the action must be performed, rather than that it is being performed, is obscured by use of the wrong form of the verb: â€Å"However, U.S. regulators go further by specifying that special due diligence be performed.† 4. Conventional data-management strategies used to factor in only data sources within the enterprise. This sentence states that at a previous time, something occurred. However, the phrase â€Å"used to† could be misunderstood to mean â€Å"employed in order to,† leading to further confusion because the sentence then appears to be incomplete, because there is no object. Alternatively, the reader might read â€Å"used to† to mean â€Å"accustomed to,† with the same result. The sentence will read unambiguously if the verb phrase is altered, as in â€Å"Conventional data-management strategies previously factored in only data sources within the enterprise.† 5. Every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime. This sentence states that of all the rapes committed, none is a gender-motivated hate crime. The statement is clumsy, but worse, it is not what the writer meant to say. The point that although some or many rapes may be committed with that motivation, others are not. That meaning is conveyed by a simple relocation of the negation: â€Å"Not every rape is a gender-motivated hate crime.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Good At, Good In, and Good WithLatin Plural EndingsCapitalizing Titles of People and Groups

17 Free Online Academic English Writing Courses

17 Free Online Academic English Writing Courses If you are an English language learner and getting ready to enter into university, getting up to speed on your academic writing will mean the difference between success and struggle in your academic pursuits. However, youre in luck, as there are several free online academic English writing courses available that offer students like you a chance to brush up on your skills in your own time and without paying a dime.A Beginners Guide to Writing in English for University Study - In this five-week course provided by the University of Reading (via FutureLearn), you will learn how to write using academic English in preparation for university study. The course was developed to help students learn the basics of writing in English for academic purposes, including the stages of essay writing. Aimed at non-English speakers with a minimum level of IELTS 4.5 or equivalent, you should know some English before taking this course.Adjectives and Adjective Clauses - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn how to make your writing more interesting through writing adjectives and adjective clauses. In the first module, you will review what adjectives (and adjective phrases) are and how to use them correctly in English. In the second module, youll learn about adjective clauses, what they look like, and how to use them correctly to make your sentences more complex. In the final module, youll learn the different ways to use adjective clauses in academic writing.Advanced Writing - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn to raise your level of academic writing in preparation for college-level work. Specifically, you will learn to plan and write a more sophisticated argumentative essay; identify plagiarism and explain how to prevent it; read and analyze several articles to form your own opinion on a topic; make connections between several articles; form thes is statements from your readings; and use sources effectively when writing an essay. While youll have access to all the instructional videos and handouts by taking the free version of this course, youll need to enroll in the paid version to receive peer feedback and take quizzes.Conjunctions, Connectives, and Adverb Clauses - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn about the different types of conjunctions in English and how to use them and punctuate them in sentences. You will also learn how to join ideas with correct grammar and punctuation, including transition words and prepositional phrases, complex sentences, and adverb clauses. Finally, youll learn a more advanced way to write complex sentences by reducing the adverb clauses. Each of these lessons will help you write academic English more fluently.English Composition - In this eight-week course provided by Arizona State University (via edX) as part of the Glob al Freshman Academy (GFA), you will learn how to communicate your ideas clearly through English writing. Specifically, you will learn to develop ideas effectively for a variety of purposes, audiences and occasions through completing several major written projects. Furthermore, you will learn how to craft your writing to meet the needs of specific audiences for specific purposes; how to make decisions about what to include and not include in your writing; how to use invention, research, drafting, revising, and editing in your writing; to use various formats and stylistic choices, including genre conventions; and how to use diverse technologies to write more effectively and efficiently.English Composition I - In this ten-week course provided by Duke University (via Coursera), you will learn college-level writing by reading carefully, writing effective arguments, understanding the writing process, engaging with others ideas, citing accurately, and crafting powerful prose. Throughout t he course, you will also learn how to summarize, analyze, question, and evaluate written and visual texts; argue and support a position; recognize audience and disciplinary expectations; identify and use the stages of the writing process; identify characteristics of effective prose; apply proper citation practices; and discuss applying your writing knowledge to other writing occasions.English Grammar and Style - In this eight-week course sponsored by The University of Queensland (via edX), you can learn key concepts and strategies in grammar and style to help enhance your writing. The course offers instruction in grammatical principles, word usage, writing style, sentence and paragraph structure, and punctuation. Video interviews with distinguished grammarians, along with quizzes and writing activities, assist students build their English writing skills.Getting Started with Essay Writing - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), yo u will learn about the three types of academic essays and how to improve your writing skills when writing each type. The course covers how to create effective thesis statements for your essays; how to plan and write compare/contrast, cause/effect, and argument essays; and how to write well-developed body paragraphs. While the lectures and practice activities are available for free, students must enroll in the paid version to take the quizzes and receive feedback on writing assignments.Grammar and Punctuation - In this four-week course offered by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn the basics of writing academic English for studying in an American university. It includes video lectures, readings, practice exercises, and quizzes, although the free version does not offer peer feedback and graded quizzes. By the end of the course, you will know how to identify the correct verb tenses to use, use commas effectively, utilize several different sentence type s, and write more effectively in English.How to Write an Essay - In this five-week course provided by the University of California, Berkeley (via edX), you will be introduced to academic writing for English learners by learning essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing. The course covers basic grammar terminology and understanding; writing effective sentences and paragraphs; introductions and conclusions; strategies for writing longer texts; and thesis statements. It is provided in partnership with the U.S. Department of State.Introduction to Research for Essay Writing - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn the steps involved in planning, outlining, and writing a research paper. Some topics covered include how to choose appropriate research topics for your classes, how to find source material for research papers, how to avoid plagiarizing, and how to take and organize notes in the process of you r research. You will also learn how to use an appropriate academic tone and language in your writing, along with how to document sources by creating a list in MLA format.Perfect Tenses and Modals - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn about important intermediate verb tenses, including present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive. The course also covers common modal verbs used in English. Although it is designed for learners who already have a basic understanding of English grammar, it will help you become a better academic writer.Preparing for College: Writing Proficiency - This self-paced course provided by Parkland College (via Canvas Network) is third in a series of four courses that are aimed at helping students improve their scores on placement tests while preparing for college-level courses. The focus of this course is on writing skills, along with links to pract ice tests to help students identify problem areas and supplemental help for students who need it.Scribble: Writing for New Writers - In this 13-week course provided via OpenLearning, you will learn the process of writing- from simple paragraphs to more complex writing structures. The courses eventual aim is to prepare you for research writing. Designed for students who are studying English and are preparing to soon enter a university, this course will help you brush up on some basic skills such as sentence and paragraph creation, along with proper English structure and forms of writing.Tricky English Grammar - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn about tricky issues in English grammar that can confuse even the most astute student. This includes tricky nouns, articles, and quantifiers; when to put a or the in front of a noun; when to put nothing in front of the noun; using gerunds and infinitives correctly; making requests and asking for permission; some word forms that cause confusion; and phrasal verbs and collocations.Verb Tenses and Passives - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will review the verb tenses that you learned in beginning English classes and learn about a few tenses you may not know very well. It covers 12 of the English verb tenses and passive verb forms, along with how to blend these tenses, which is what native speakers frequently do. Overall, this course will help you improve your fluency in written and spoken academic English. While the free version of this class gives you access to all of the instructional videos and handouts, you will need to enroll in the paid course to receive peer feedback and take quizzes.Writing in English at University - In this four-week course provided by Lund University (via Coursera), you will learn to understand the conventions of academic writing in English along with the various components of the academic writing process. The course is divided into four modules:Writing in English at university: An introduction;Structuring your text and conveying your argument;Using sources in academic writing; andThe writers toolbox: Editing and proofreading.The course consists of video lectures, reading assignments, and reflective self-assessment questions, along with peer review exercises that provide students with an opportunity to interact with their peers also taking the course.

Escribe a person or event that has had profound effect upon your life Essay

Escribe a person or event that has had profound effect upon your life - Essay Example He contributed greatly towards the development of my character more than anyone else I have had contact with. His example of life is one which has inspired me towards greater heights and it serves as a measure for me to live my life without complaining about the situation I am in. It is understandable that many people in his position would be unable or even unwilling to work and choose to sit at home to while out their days. However, my grandfather continued his education at the Perkins School for the Blind and adapted to life as best as he could. He has quite a repute as cook as he is able to feel out the ingredients and makes outstanding food without even seeing what he has produced. His hands have become his eyes and even today he is able to wash, iron and fold his clothes better than what would come out of a professional laundry. He even developed his musical skills by playing the guitar and shared this passion of his with my by teaching me how to play it as well. My relationship with him developed because my parents were both working and they had to place me in the care of my grandparents. It was there where I learnt lessons of integrity, self reliance and honesty since he displayed these qualities in whatever he did in his life. As a loving husband and a father of seven children, he always made sure that family came first and everything else came second for him. I feel that every day for him was a choice to either give up, or to continue fighting despite the disabilities which had taken a lot from him. However, that did not stop him from giving back to society since he volunteered his time and mentored many other people who had similar disabilities. His patience and kindness are remembered by many who had a chance to interact with him. He always listened and reminded me that patience is a virtue that can go a long way towards making the measure of a man. The values and the confidence displayed by him gave

Australian Security in the New Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Australian Security in the New Century - Essay Example Although the attacks were targeted America, they proved that no nation and no people, were safe from this new threat. The tactics used were often suicidal in nature and thus, the attacks are extremely hard to control, once they have been initiated. The funding mechanisms and training cells for organizations that launch and support such terrorist activities are spread throughout the world and can not be routed out in a day. To deal with this threat in a comprehensive manner, vast and sweeping changes were required in the security policies of most nations that considered themselves at threat. The following areas that pose a threat to the security of the Australian nation and it's people can be identified: 1. Environmental Security: Though the global war on terrorism still dominates as the main security issue, Australia is currently analyzing and addressing its environmental security issues namely climate change and global warming. In addition, environmental security threats can be classified under two broad categories, firstly, natural threats such as volcanoes, earth quakes, tsunamis and bush fires and secondly, threats posed due to human activities, such as ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect. Australia's rising awareness of and commitment to combating environmental threats can be gauged from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC 2007) summit, which was held in Sydney, Australia on 8-9 September, 2007, where the Sydney APEC Leaders' jointly declared that they would be committed to taking wide-ranging and ambitious actions to address the issue of environmental quality and contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. 2. Military focused security issues: After the year 2000, the focus of Australia's strategic policy was enhanced to look beyond the erstwhile narrow emphasis on the defense of the continent based on a reliance on US support to preserve a stable power balance in Asia. This carried two main implication for the Australian defence infrastructure, namely, the increase in land force capabilities for regional cooperation and a sustained investment in high-tech air and naval capabilities. The three main factors which influenced the Australian defense policy after 200 are : i.) The operations in Iraq raised questions about the balance between the size and weight of the Australian land forces. ii) Instability in the pacific raised the need to develop the capacity to

Software Development Life Cycle Models

Software Development Life Cycle Models The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system development project from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application. Various SDLC methodologies have been developed to guide the processes involved including the waterfall model (the original SDLC method), rapid application development (RAD), joint application development (JAD), the fountain model and the spiral model. Mostly, several models are combined into some sort of hybrid methodology. Documentation is crucial regardless of the type of model chosen or devised for any application, and is usually done in parallel with the development process. Some methods work better for specific types of projects, but in the final analysis, the most important factor for the success of a project may be how closely particular plan was followed. This is the most common and classic of life cycle models, also referred to as a linear-sequential life cycle model. It is very simple to understand and use. In a waterfall model, each phase must be completed in its entirety before the next phase can begin. At the end of each phase, a review takes place to determine if the project is on the right path and whether or not to continue or discard the project. Unlike what I mentioned in the general model, phases do not overlap in a waterfall model. Waterfall Life Cycle Model Advantages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Simple and easy to use. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Easy to manage due to the rigidity of the model each phase has specific deliverables and a review process. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Phases are processed and completed one at a time. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Works well for smaller projects where requirements are very well understood. Disadvantages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Adjusting scope during the life cycle can kill a project à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ No working software is produced until late during the life cycle. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ High amounts of risk and uncertainty. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Poor model for complex and object-oriented projects. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Poor model for long and ongoing projects. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Poor model where requirements are at a moderate to high risk of changing. V-Shaped Model Just like the waterfall model, the V-Shaped life cycle is a sequential path of execution of processes. Each phase must be completed before the next phase begins. Testing is emphasized in this model more so than the waterfall model though. The testing procedures are developed early in the life cycle before any coding is done, during each of the phases preceding implementation. Requirements begin the life cycle model just like the waterfall model. Before development is started, a system test plan is created. The test plan focuses on meeting the functionality specified in the requirements gathering. The high-level design phase focuses on system architecture and design. An integration test plan is created in this phase as well in order to test the pieces of the software systems ability to work together. The low-level design phase is where the actual software components are designed, and unit tests are created in this phase as well. The implementation phase is, again, where all coding takes place. Once coding is complete, the path of execution continues up the right side of the V where the test plans developed earlier are now put to use. Advantages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Simple and easy to use. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Each phase has specific deliverables. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Higher chance of success over the waterfall model due to the development of test plans early on during the life cycle. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Works well for small projects where requirements are easily understood. Disadvantages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Very rigid, like the waterfall model. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Little flexibility and adjusting scope is difficult and expensive. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Software is developed during the implementation phase, so no early prototypes of the software are produced. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Model doesnt provide a clear path for problems found during testing phases. Spiral Model The spiral model is similar to the incremental model, with more emphases placed on risk analysis. The spiral model has four phases: Planning, Risk Analysis, Engineering and Evaluation. A software project repeatedly passes through these phases in iterations (called Spirals in this model). The baseline spiral, starting in the planning phase, requirements are gathered and risk is assessed. Each subsequent spirals builds on the baseline spiral. Requirements are gathered during the planning phase. In the risk analysis phase, a process is undertaken to identify risk and alternate solutions. A prototype is produced at the end of the risk analysis phase. Software is produced in the engineering phase, along with testing at the end of the phase. The evaluation phase allows the customer to evaluate the output of the project to date before the project continues to the next spiral. In the spiral model, the angular component represents progress, and the radius of the spiral represents cost. Advantages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ High amount of risk analysis à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Good for large and mission-critical projects. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Software is produced early in the software life cycle. Disadvantages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Can be a costly model to use. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Risk analysis requires highly specific expertise. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Projects success is highly dependent on the risk analysis phase. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Doesnt work well for smaller projects. 1. The Scope of Life Cycles As we described in the book The Enterprise Unified Process (EUP) the scope of life cycles can vary dramatically. For example, Figure 1 depicts the Scrum construction life cycle whereas Figure 2 depicts an extended version of that diagram which covers the full system development life cycle (SDLC) and Figure 3 extends that further by addressing enterprise-level disciplines via the EUP life cycle. The points that Im trying to make are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ System development is complicated. Although its comforting to think that development is as simple as Figure 1 makes it out to be, the fact is that we know that its not. If you adopt a development process that doesnt actually address the full development cycle then youve adopted little more than consultantware in the end. My experience is that you need to go beyond the construction life cycle of Figure 1 to the full SDLC of Figure 2 (ok, Retirement may not be all that critical) if youre to be successful à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Theres more to IT than development. To be successful at IT you must take a multi-system, multi-life cycle stage view as depicted in Figure 3. The reality is that organizations have many potential projects in the planning stage (which Ill call Iteration -1 in this article), many in development, and many in production. 2. Iteration -1: Pre-Project Planning Iteration -1, the pre-Inception phase in the Enterprise Unified Process (EUP), is the pre-project aspects of portfolio management. During this phase you will: 1. Define the business opportunity. You must consider the bigger business picture and focus on market concerns. This includes exploring how the new functionality will improve your organizations presence in the market, how it will impact profitability, and how it will impact the people within your organization. This exploration effort should be brief, not all projects will make the initial cut so you only want to invest enough effort at this point to get a good gut feel for the business potential. A good strategy is to follow Outside-In Developments focus on identifying the potential stakeholders and their goals, key information to help identify the scope of the effort. 2. Identify a viable for the project. There are several issues to consider when identifying a potential strategy for the project. For example, do you build a new system or buy an existing package and modify it? If you decide to build, do you do so onshore or offshore? Will the work be solely done by your own development team, by a team from a system integrator (SI), or in partnership with the SI? What development paradigm traditional/waterfall, iterative, or agile will you follow? Will the team be co-located, near-located within the same geographic region, or far-located around the world? As you can see there are many combinations of strategy available to you, and at this point in time you may only be able to narrow the range of the possibilities but be forced to leave the final decision to the project team in future iterations. 3. Assess the feasibility. During Iteration -1 you will want to do just enough feasibility analysis to determine if it makes sense to invest in the potential project. Depending on the situation you may choose to invest very little effort in considering feasibility, for many systems just considering these issues for a few minutes is sufficient for now, and for some systems you may choose to invest days if not weeks exploring feasibility. Many organizations choose to do just a little bit of feasibility analysis during Iteration -1, and then if they decide to fund the project they will invest more effort during Iteration 0. In my experience you need to consider four issues when exploring feasibility: economic feasibility, technical feasibility, operational feasibility, and political feasibility. Your feasibility analysis efforts should also produce a list of potential risks and criteria against which to make go/no-go decisions at key milestone points during your project. Remember that a gile teams only have a success rate of 72%, compared to 63% for traditional projects, implying that almost 30% of agile projects are considered failures. Therefore you should question the feasibility of the project throughout the life cycle to reduce overall project risk. 3. Iteration 0/Warm Up: Project Initiation The first week or so of an agile project is often referred to as Iteration 0 (or Cycle 0) or in The Eclipse Way the Warm Up iteration. Your goal during this period is to initiate the project by: 1. Garnering initial support and funding for the project. This may have been already achieved via your portfolio management efforts, but realistically at some point somebody is going to ask what are we going to get, how much is it going to cost, and how long is it going to take. You need to be able to provide reasonable, although potentially evolving, answers to these questions if youre going to get permission to work on the project. You may need to justify your project via a feasibility study. 2. Actively working with stakeholders to initially model the scope of the system. As you see in Figure 5, during Iteration 0 agilists will do some initial requirements modeling with their stakeholders to identify the initial, albeit high-level, requirements for the system. To promote active stakeholder participation you should use inclusive tools, such as index cards and white boards to do this modeling our goal is to understand the problem and solution domain, not to create mounds of documentation. The details of these requirements are modeled on a just in time (JIT) basis in model storming sessions during the development cycles. 3. Starting to build the team. Although your team will evolve over time, at the beginning of a development project you will need to start identifying key team members and start bringing them onto the team. At this point you will want to have at least one or two senior developers, the project coach/manager, and one or more stakeholder representatives. 4. Modeling an initial architecture for the system. Early in the project you need to have at least a general idea of how youre going to build the system. Is it a mainframe COBOL application? A .Net application? J2EE? Something else? As you see in Figure 5, the developers on the project will get together in a room, often around a whiteboard, discuss and then sketch out a potential architecture for the system. This architecture will likely evolve over time, it will not be very detailed yet (it just needs to be good enough for now), and very little documentation (if any) needs to be written. The goal is to identify an architectural strategy, not write mounds of documentation. You will work through the design details later during development cycles in model storming sessions and via TDD. 5. Setting up the environment. You need workstations, development tools, a work area, for the team. You dont need access to all of these resources right away, although at the start of the project you will need most of them. 6. Estimating the project. Youll need to put together an initial estimate for your agile project based on the initial requirements, the initial architecture, and the skills of your team. This estimate will evolve throughout the project. 4. Release Iterations(s): The End Game During the release iteration(s), also known as the end game, we transition the system into production. Not that for complex systems the end game may prove to be several iterations, although if youve done system and user testing during construction iterations (as indicated by Figure 6) this likely wont be the case. As you can see in Figure 9, there are several important aspects to this effort: 1. Final testing of the system. Final system and acceptance testing should be performed at this point, although as I pointed out earlier the majority of testing should be done during construction iterations. You may choose to pilot/beta test your system with a subset of the eventual end users. See the Full Life Cycle Object-Oriented Testing (FLOOT) method for more thoughts on testing. 2. Rework. There is no value testing the system if you dont plan to act on you find. You may not address all defects, but you should expect to fix some of them. 3. Finalization of any system and user documentation. Some documentation may have been written during construction iterations, but it typically isnt finalized until the system release itself has been finalized to avoid unnecessary rework Note that documentation is treated like any other requirement: it should be costed, prioritized, and created only if stakeholders are willing to invest in it. Agilists believe that if stakeholders are smart enough to earn the money then they must also be smart enough to spend it appropriately. 4. Training. We train end users, operations staff, and support staff to work effectively with our system. 5. Deploy the system. See my article entitled System Deployment Tips and Techniques. 6. Briefly on different Phases: 7. Feasibility 8. The feasibility study is used to determine if the project should get the go-ahead. If the project is to proceed, the feasibility study will produce a project plan and budget estimates for the future stages of development. 9. Requirement Analysis and Design 10. Analysis gathers the requirements for the system. This stage includes a detailed study of the business needs of the organization. Options for changing the business process may be considered. Design focuses on high level design like, what programs are needed and how are they going to interact, low-level design (how the individual programs are going to work), interface design (what are the interfaces going to look like) and data design (what data will be required). During these phases, the softwares overall structure is defined. Analysis and Design are very crucial in the whole development cycle. Any glitch in the design phase could be very expensive to solve in the later stage of the software development. Much care is taken during this phase. The logical system of the product is developed in this phase. 11. Implementation 12. In this phase the designs are translated into code. Computer programs are written using a conventional programming language or an application generator. Programming tools like Compilers, Interpreters, Debuggers are used to generate the code. Different high level programming languages like C, C++, Pascal, Java are used for coding. With respect to the type of application, the right programming language is chosen. 13. Testing 14. In this phase the system is tested. Normally programs are written as a series of individual modules, these subject to separate and detailed test. The system is then tested as a whole. The separate modules are brought together and tested as a complete system. The system is tested to ensure that interfaces between modules work (integration testing), the system works on the intended platform and with the expected volume of data (volume testing) and that the system does what the user requires (acceptance/beta testing). 15. Maintenance 16. Inevitably the system will need maintenance. Software will definitely undergo change once it is delivered to the customer. There are many reasons for the change. Change could happen because of some unexpected input values into the system. In addition, the changes in the system could directly affect the software operations. The software should be developed to accommodate changes that could happen during the post implementation period. Why an SDLC? When you pay your telephone bill your payment is processed by a system. That system has evolved over many years and continues to evolve in order to meet the changing needs of the business. When the phone company cashes your check that check is also processed by a system which itself is evolving. These two systems are composed of manual activities and automated components. They also exist in the context of many other systems with which they must interface. Each system works so well individually because it is composed of a rigorous set of tasks which result in well-defined outputs. Regardless of who is doing the task, the result is essentially the same. As staff turnover occurs the system provides continuity to the way of doing business. Each system can interface with the other because the division of activities between the bank and the phone company are well defined, as are the interfaces. Thus, no matter which bank the check is drawn on, the process is the same; no matter which phone company sends in the check, the process is the same. The precision and completeness of the task lists, the data, the division of responsibilities and the interface definitions are required because of the complexity of these systems. But what about the process that creates and maintains these systems? Software systems development is, from a historical perspective, a very young profession. The first official programmer is probably Grace Hopper, working for the Navy in the mid-1940s. More realistically, commercial applications development did not really take off until the early 1960s. These initial efforts are marked by a craftsman-like approach based on what intuitively felt right. Unfortunately, too many programmers had poor intuition. By the late 1960s it had become apparent that a more disciplined approach was required. The software engineering techniques started coming into being. This finally brings us to the SDLC. What evolved from these early activities in improving rigor is an understanding of the scope and complexity of the total development process. It became clear that the process of creating systems required a system to do systems. This is the SDLC. It is the system used to build and maintain software systems. As with the phone billing system, an SDLC system is needed because the development process is composed of many complex tasks which must be done in the right order to produce a successful result. If there is no SDLC each team must reinvent it based on their own experiences and judgments. The complexity of the tasks has led to increased specialization. These specialists (e.g.,data base analysts, network designers, testers) must have well-bounded tasks with well-defined outputs and well-defined interfaces to the rest of the development team. This is provided by the SDLC. Systems also have a long life. The billing system and check processing system will probably never be de-automated. These systems will outlive their development teams. As staff turnover occurs, continuity is required in how the systems are supported. This is provided by the SDLC. Another issue is systems integration. Can you imagine if the architects designing a sky-scraper each had their own ways of creating and documenting the buildings plans? The plumbing, wiring, heating systems, floors, walls, etc., would never come together. Most computer systems interface with other computer systems. The degree of system integration is rapidly increasing. The descriptions of functions and data at the interfaces must be produced and documented in a consistent manner, in much the same way as architects must have a standard way of documenting plans. This is provided by the SDLC. You would not dream of trying to process phone bills or checks without a system due to the complexity of the process, the need for specialization, the need for continuity and the need to interface to the rest of the world. We have seen here that the process of developing systems has the same characteristics. Therefore, we need a system to build computer systems the SDLC. SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN 1.1 INTRODUCTION Systems are created to solve problems. One can think of the systems approach as an organized way of dealing with a problem. In this dynamic world, the subject System Analysis and Design (SAD), mainly deals with the software development activities. 1.2 OBJECTIVES After going through this lesson, you should be able to define a system explain the different phases of system development life cycle enumerate the components of system analysis explain the components of system designing 1.3 DEFINING A SYSTEM A collection of components that work together to realize some objectives forms a system. Basically there are three major components in every system, namely input, processing and output.   1.4 SYSTEM LIFE CYCLE System life cycle is an organizational process of developing and main- taining systems. It helps in establishing a system project plan, be- cause it gives overall list of processes and sub-processes required for developing a system. System development life cycle means combination of various activi- ties. In other words we can say that various activities put together are referred as system development life cycle. In the System Analy- sis and Design terminology, the system development life cycle also means software development life cycle. Following are the different phases of system development life cycle: Preliminary study Feasibility study Detailed system study System analysis System design Coding Testing Implementation Maintenance 1.5 PHASES OF SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE The different phases and related activities of system development life cycle. (a) Preliminary System Study Preliminary system study is the first stage of system development life cycle. This is a brief investigation of the system under consideration and gives a clear picture of what actually the physical system is? In practice, the initial system study involves the preparation of a System Proposal which lists the Problem Definition, Objectives of the Study, Terms of reference for Study, Constraints, Expected benefits of the new system, etc. in the light of the user requirements. The system proposal is prepared by the System Analyst (who studies the system) and places it before the user management. The management may accept the proposal and the cycle proceeds to the next stage. The management may also reject the proposal or request some modifications in the proposal. In summary, we would say that system study phase passes through the following steps: problem identification and project initiation background analysis inference or findings (system proposal) (b) Feasibility Study In case the system proposal is acceptable to the management. 2 :: Computer Applications In a system the different components are connected with each other and they are interdependent. For example, human body represents a complete natural system. We are also bound by many national systems such as political system, economic system, educational sys- tem and so forth. The objective of the system demands that some output is produced as a result of processing the suitable inputs. A well-designed system also includes an additional element referred to as control that provides a feedback to achieve desired objectives of the system. 3 :: Computer Applications Next phase is to examine the feasibility of the system. The feasibility study is basically the test of the proposed system in the light of its workability, meeting users requirements, effective use of resources and of course, the cost effectiveness. These are categorized as technical, operational, economic and schedule feasibility. The main goal of feasibility study is not to solve the problem but to achieve the scope. In the process of feasibility study, the cost and benefits are estimated with greater accuracy to find the Return on Investment (ROI). This also defines the resources needed to complete the de- tailed investigation. The result is a feasibility report submitted to the management. This may be accepted or accepted with modifications or rejected. The system cycle proceeds only if the management accepts it. (c) Detailed System Study The detailed investigation of the system is carried out in accordance with the objectives of the proposed system. This involves detailed study of various operations performed by a system and their relationships within and outside the system. During this process, data are collected on the available files, decision points and transactions handled by the present system. Interviews, on-site observation and questionnaire are the tools used for detailed system study. Using the following steps it becomes easy to draw the exact boundary of the new system under consideration: Keeping in view the problems and new requirements Workout the pros and cons including new areas of the system All the data and the findings must be documented in the form of detailed data flow diagrams (DFDs), data dictionary, logical data structures and miniature specification. The main points to be discussed in this stage are: Specification of what the new system is to accomplish based on the user requirements. Functional hierarchy showing the functions to be performed by the new system and their relationship with each other. Functional network, which are similar to function hierarchy but they highlight the functions which are common to more than one procedure. List of attributes of the entities these are the data items which need to be held about each entity (record) (d) System Analysis Systems analysis is a process of collecting factual data, understand the processes involved, identifying problems and recommending feasible suggestions for improving the system functioning. This involves studying the business processes, gathering operational data, understand the information flow, finding out bottlenecks and evolving solutions for overcoming the weaknesses of the system so as to achieve the organizational goals. System Analysis also includes subdividing of complex process involving the entire system, identification of data store and manual processes. The major objectives of systems analysis are to find answers for each business process: What is being done, How is it being done, Who is doing it, When is he doing it, Why is it being done and How can it be improved? It is more of a thinking process and involves the creative skills of the System Analyst. It attempts to give birth to a new efficient system that satisfies the current needs of the user and has scope for future growth within the organizational constraints. The result of this process is a logical system design. Systems analysis is an iterative process that continues until a preferred and acceptable solution emerges. (e) System Design Based on the user requirements and the detailed analysis of the existing system, the new system must be designed. This is the phase of system designing. It is the most crucial phase in the developments of a system. The logical system design arrived at as a result of systems analysis is converted into physical system design. Normally, the design proceeds in two stages: Preliminary or General Design Structured or Detailed Design Preliminary or General Design: In the preliminary or general design, the features of the new system are specified. The costs of implementing these features and the benefits to be derived are estimated. If the project is still considered to be feasible, we move to the detailed design stage. Structured or Detailed Design: In the detailed design stage, computer oriented work begins in earnest. At this stage, the design of the system becomes more structured. Structure design is a blueprint of a computer system solution to a given problem. 4 :: Computer Applications Same components and inter-relationships among the same components as the original problem. Input, output, databases, forms, codification schemes and processing specifications are drawn up in detail. In the design stage, the programming language and the hardware and software platform in which the new system will run are also decided. There are several tools and techniques used for describing the system design of the system. These tools and techniques are: i. Flowchart ii. Data flow diagram (DFD) Data dictionary Structured English Decision table Decision tree Each of the above tools for designing will be discussed in detailed in the next lesson. The system design involves: i. Defining precisely the required system output ii. Determining the data requirement for producing the output iii. Determining the medium and format of files and databases iv. Devising processing methods and use of software to produce output v. Determine the methods of data capture and data input vi. Designing Input forms vii. Designing Codification Schemes viii. Detailed manual procedures ix. Documenting the Design (f) Coding The system design needs to be implemented to make it a workable system. This demands the coding of design into computer understandable language, i.e., programming language. This is also called the programming phase in which the programmer converts the program specifications into computer instructions, which we refer to as: programs. It is an important stage where the defined procedures are transformed into control specifications by the help of a computer language. The programs coordinate the data movements and control the entire process in a system.

Recruitment Documentation Essay

In this assignment I am going go through how and what companies do when they are hiring people and what candidates need to do to get their job. I am also going to describe the recruitment documentation used in a selected organisation. The selected organisation I am doing is Tesco. When companies are looking for recruitments, firms produce two documents to hire people; one document is the Job Description. The job description includes responsibilities, duties, who responsible to, whom responsible for, working conditions and more. The job description makes it clear to the candidate. The second document is a Person Specification. A person specification is profile of the employee, this includes; skills, qualifications, experience, circumstances, disposition etc. The next thing firms do when looking for someone to recruit is put out a job advertisement, this could be on their local, they could also advertise their jobs in store, in a business that helps people get jobs, newspaper, magazines, media and more. A job advertisement includes their name, pay, location, to whom the position reports. This is when the employee comes to the company and they will then ask for applicants, this is by a CV or application form. An application form contains personal detail, space for qualification, experience, why you want the job, referee and criminal declaration. After filling in an application form the company then send the potential applicant a job description, personal spec and an app form. The applicants then send a completed form (with cover letter) or CV, this is then sent to the company. When the company receive all the application they then do shortlisting – this is when they narrow them down by matching with job description and select them for an interview. Once this is done the company then sends the invitations letter for the interview and sometimes a rejection letter (but this hardly happens). They interview with 6 or less applicants, when interviewing they are sometimes 2 or 3 people (someone from the HR or someone from another department). While interviewing they m ight make notes. The company then sends out letter to successful applicant, they also send out a contract, 2 copies. The contracts include holidays, pay, condition, dress code, safety. On this page it includes the job specification telling the applicant what they are looking for in this job. â€Å"The Blueprints are the inputs for Store Planning to develop Development Store plans. The Proposition Blueprint Manager is the custodian of the customer experience in stores throughout the shopping trip. Four days a week will be spent in the office with the other day spent out on sites and in competitors ensuring we are at the forefront of customer innovation.† The recruitment documentation for Tesco is very simple. It is very similar to how I have explained above; you first apply for the specific job role. If they have fo0und your application interesting, they will then call you in for an interview. Once the interview is done and they think you meet the criteria, they will then send you a letter/email telling that you have succeeded; if you have not succeeded they will send out a rejection letter/email. Once you have accepted the job they will then talk about your contract, this including, your pay, how many hours you work, dress code, holidays etc. Once you have signed this contracts you will be ready to start working for Tesco.

Mangement and Leadership

Management and Leadership Cortnie Edwards MGT/330 December 19, 2011 Alecia Cummings Management and Leadership Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller. The couple had a dream of following their Christian lifestyle and helping others in need. They wanted to help families living in poverty and build new homes. The idea was they would build housed with no profit and charge no interest. â€Å"The concept that grew into Habitat for Humanity International was born at Koinonia Farm, a small, interracial, Christian farming community founded in 1942 outside of Americus, Ga. , by farmer and biblical scholar Clarence Jordan.Building would be financed by a revolving Fund for Humanity. The fund's money would come from the new homeowners' house payments, donations and no-interest loans provided by supporters and money earned by fund-raising activities. The monies in the Fund for Humanity would be used to build more houses† (â€Å"Thrivent Builds With Habitat For Humanity â€Å",  2011). The organization took off with unbelievable results. The Fullers took their organization internationally and have now since built over 400,000 homes. Leading and managing an organization such as Habitat for Humanity involves a multitude of diverse ideas, visions, and people. What is the difference between management and leadership? It is a question that has been asked more than once and also answered in different ways. The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do† (â€Å"Leadership Vs. Management†,  2002-2011). Habitat for Humanity starts with the board of directors. Habitat for Humanity International board members oversee the direction of Habitat’s activities worldwide as the organization works to eradicate substandard housing.Directors are elected to two-year terms that may be renewed four times. They r eceive no compensation for their voluntary service. The board of directors is responsible for affiliate policies and procedures, program development, financial stewardship, supervision of volunteer staff, fundraising, public relations, and legal matters. There are global directors that â€Å"represent the Asia-Pacific region in the global Habitat communications team in the creation and implementation of worldwide brand building, marketing and advocacy initiatives and campaigns.This includes devising Asia-Pacific roll-out strategies; liaising and sharing with peers in other Habitat regions; and coordinating and collaborating with the HQ communications team on global strategies and initiatives† (â€Å"Alertnet†,  2011). The organization is made up mostly of volunteers and describes different levels among the organization as committees. The development, site selection, and public relations committees are just a few of the different leadership levels Habitat for Humanity has. The development committee is responsible for raising funds and for introducing people to our work.This committee is also responsible for special events and outreach to businesses. The site selection committee works with town officials and developers to identifying and evaluating potential sites for new Habitat homes. This committee is always looking for new members with insight into the local real estate market and the inner workings of town government. The public relations committee is responsible for raising awareness of Habitat for Humanity in our service area. Responsibilities include media relations and publishing a quarterly newsletter.In a non-profit organization there is often very little direction offered to volunteers, leaving them with many decisions to be made on their own. There is a lot of focus on the bigger picture, which in this case is to provide as many families as possible with shelter. However, the steps to achieving the overall goals or mission are not as clearly defined as would be in a profit-seeking company. According to the McKinsey Capacity Assessment Grid, Habitat for Humanity exemplifies effective governance.This offers a competitive advantage because the managers’ decisions are aligned with the stakeholders’ interests since the managers may very well be shareholders themselves. The managers definitely devote their time and energy to improve the financial position of the organization so that it can offer assistance to those that require it the most. Habitat for Humanity is such a large organization; it is broken up into chapters, representing different regions of the world. Each chapter consists of different levels of leaders. At the top of the chain is the President. The President is esponsible for setting and distributing agendas for meetings, setting and distributing calendars of events, maintaining a working relationship with the local affiliate, coordinating an open communication with the Office of Student Activities, and keeping chapter focused on its goals. The vice president follows. His responsibilities consist of serving as project manager of chapter build, serving as chapter chaplain, keeping an open communication with the Construction and Horticulture Club, and overseeing family liaison, volunteer coordinator, superintendents, and tools management.Family liaison pursues a relationship with the family that they are building for. They also keep all other members informed of the family's needs. Brainstorms ideas for gifts to family, plans family gatherings, and makes scrapbooks for the family. Volunteer Coordinators are responsible for keeping track of the number of volunteers designated for the build days. Tools management maintains volunteers on the work site through a sign in/out sheet. They may also assign designated tools to each volunteer as needed through sign in/out sheet.Superintendents maintain a close relationship with the VP during the build day. They will often be one of the most experienced on site and will help the Project Manager decide how to go about construction. They may also help educate and designate groups through construction. â€Å"The ability to implement strategies in an organization is one of the most skillful managerial requirements and knowledge that we need in critical aspects to run an organization† (â€Å"Strategies That Organizational Managers and Leaders Can Use to Create and Maintain a Healthy â€Å",  2011). Leaders and managers in an organization can use some factors to create a healthy organizational culture, such factors are social factors, physical setting, technology, organizing arrangements and individual behavior. Leaders and managers are required to have increased resources, perceptive knowledge, and superior talent and enhanced capabilities to continue facilitating processes toward attaining the ultimate objectives, discovering and commercializing safety of the organization.These multiple activities re quire managers and leaders who have the significant of strategies implementation and core competencies and organizational capabilities that create values to changes of the organization† (â€Å"Strategies That Organizational Managers And Leaders Can Use To Create And Maintain A Healthy†,  2011). A strategy is something an organization uses to help it reach its vision and mission. Habitat for Humanity’s global strategy, asks what markets it should be operating in. As a resource based organization, however, this question is less important.The organization is not looking for opportunities to enter new industries and therefore develop new competencies. Rather, it is looking for ways to use its internal strengths and competencies in the market place. Habitat has chosen a global strategy that has them participating only in one type of non-profit industry – mainly the zero-interest mortgage and home building market. If they were to diversify into other non-profi t markets such as non-perishable foods for example, the organization’s few resources may become too spread out and its core competencies would be stretched rendering all activities less effective.If there was a business-level strategy category for Habitat for Humanity, it would definitely have to be one of cost leadership. The land, supplies, and labor are all acquired at low cost or free of charge. This strategy requires a centralized functional structure so that there can be higher rates of efficiency and better methods of meeting the objectives determined. Habitat incorporates this strategy through and through although its focus is on increasing efficiency so that more families can be helped – not to increase profits.Adapting to different cultures, religions, languages, and people are just a few obstacles volunteers face when working with the globalization within Habitat for Humanity. Globalization makes a huge impact on volunteers. The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October as annual World Habitat Day. According to Habitat International, World Habitat Day’s purpose is to call attention to the current global state of the human habitat and push toward adequate housing for all. By raising awareness and advocating for universal decent housing the systems that reinforce and entrench poverty housing can be altered and even changed.Habitat builds dignity through providing a shelter bringing a family closer together, it builds relationships throughout the world, and it builds community. Habitat for Humanity does all of this through globalization. They are helping people all over the world helping people become part of the globalization. Sustainability and Green building are two ways that Habitat is addressing globalization issues. Based on the research I have done on this organization, I found that there are a couple of strategies the organization an use to help obtain more volunteers and build credibility. The first option is partnering up with more trade schools. Students would be able to obtain hands-on experience and at the same time have the opportunity to add valuable volunteer hours to their resume. It would build a lifelong relationship with the institutions in addition to securing help and perhaps setting the tone for students to keep volunteering after graduation. The second strategy would be to obtain a Better Business Bureau Charity Seal to gain credibility.Obtaining a Better Business Bureau Charity Seal would allow Habitat for Humanity to gain credibility in addition to getting more recognition. A lot of community members look to the Better Business Bureau when making decisions as to which businesses to get involved with or which charities to donate to. There may be people that have not heard of Habitat for Humanity but may learn about the organization through the BBB Website. Joining forces with and obtaining recognition from organizations such as the Better Business Bureau could benefit Habitat for Humanity by providing them with the opportunity to acquire even more volunteers.As with any company or organization, there are always opportunities and risks involved. Making the best decisions for the families that are in need is the only way for Habitat to continue with their success. Strong leadership and management will continue to help the organization prosper. Many of the leaders of Habitat had to overcome their own struggles to get where they are today driving them to make the issue of poverty so much more of a priority. Skill, hard work, and their belief in living out God’s word have built this organization to where it is today.References Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity. (2011). Retrieved from http://www. thriventbuilds. com/partnership/habitat/history. html Leadership vs. Management. (2002-2011). Retrieved from http://changingminds. org/disciplines/leadership/articles/manager_leader. htm Alertnet. (2011). Retrieved from http://www. trust. org/al ertnet/jobs/2011-08-26-1458/ http://www. articleclick. com/Article/Strategies-That-Organizational-Managers-and-Leaders-Can-Use-to-Create-and-Maintain-a-Healthy/997166