ERP Implementation and Readiness Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ERP Implementation and Readiness Process - Essay Example tegic plan that provides the context and the reasons for implementing the ERP, it proceeds to the readiness assessment, vendor selection and solution implementation; and ends with the post implementation assessment (Cornelius, 2006). From the above process identified each of those stages involves a lot of issues in order to successfully implement the ERP. The readiness assessment process is the most important stage in the entire process and will predict whether a company will successfully implement the ERP or not. The virgin Atlantic Airways is one such company that has successfully implemented the ERP using the readiness process. The company’s strategic plan advised the implementation of the plan. This is because of the complexities that involved the daily transactions of the company. This forced the management to think of something that could help them achieve their target objectives as well as fulfilling the strategic plan objectives. The company has a lot of stakeholders most of who require information in real time. This led to the introduction of the ERP program to the company in order to integrate all the information and help in quick decision making. A second company that has implemented the ERP program is Kenya Airways in Africa. There strategic plan running for ten years was behind the introduction of the ARP program. To successfully serve its customers and other stakeholders the company thought it best to implement the program by initiating the readiness process before implementing the entire program. To be pride of Africa it had to do something that was not being done by others in the continent and this led to the introduction of the ERP. The readiness process should be considered in the following seven key areas: communication, leadership, Culture, project management, technical, functional and resources and Effort (Higgins, 2006). There are various people who will be involved in the entire project and therefore they all need information on how the

Review of a qualitative research article

Review of a qualitative research article This essay is a review of a research article of how Local Authority Social workers make decisions when they are considering referrals of children. The title of the study is Threshold Decisions: How Social Workers Prioritize Referrals of Child Concern by Dendy Platt (2008). I would attempt to critically appraise this Qualitative journal article based on essential elements of the research which include the Title, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Findings and Conclusion. The study examined how social workers make choices on individual cases of children concern referrals, if to carry out a an initial Assessment i.e. Sect 17 of the Children Act 1989 or if to undertake the Child Protection Procedure under the Sect. 47 of the Children Act 1989. The major finding suggests that Social workers prioritize their referrals based on five key areas, Specificity, Severity, risk, parental responsibility and corroboration. It was refreshing to know that data were collected from Social workers and that Parents were also involved. Title It is worth noting that the title adequately prepares the reader as it gives good insight into what the study is about. The title of an article is very important as it exposes the reader to an article. The key words were appropriate and sufficient as they did retrieve the article upon typing the key words in the search engine. (According to Descombe 2008 p.88), a topic needs to be a very much more narrowly defined area of its study. Abstract The major finding in this article suggests that social workers evaluate referrals based on five key factors, specificity, severity, risk, parental responsibility and corroboration. It is worth noting the abstract did prepare a reader for this study. The abstract clearly highlights that the aim of the study is to find out how social workers reach decision when to carry out an initial assessment (Sect 17 of children act 1989) or a core assessment, (Sect 47 of children Act 1989) when considering referrals about child concerns. The abstract clearly stated that the study chose a qualitative approach. According to (Punch 2000 p. 243), qualitative approach is often sensitive to context and process to lived experience and local groundedness, where the researcher tries to get closer to what is being studied. Using qualitative method allows the researcher to find out a lot about the study. He went further to explain thatqualitative research methods are the best way we have of getting the insiders perspective (Ibid) Qualitative method allows the researcher to generate new theoretical ideas. This happens because they are able to observe and speak to the people (person) being studied and allows them to come up with new ideas through out the study. Being bias is one of the limitations of qualitative research method because researchers can write their own view or even opinion on the matter. But as we can see that reaching difficult area is a great advantage to qualitative research method.) Introduction Looking at the introduction, it seems clear that the problem that led to the research was that the interpretation of the developments of the refocusing initiative has contributed to a climate where social workers work often feel pulled and pushed in different directions by political and popular opinion. The introduction touched on relevant government policies and initiatives such as refocusing initiative which was initiated by the government in 1990 and the framework for Assessment of children in need. In my view, the author attempted to appraise the refocusing initiative policy which attempts to refocus social work practice and to initiate any necessary changes. I partly agree with this notion as the study may bring about positive changes in the child protection climate. But also the author needs to acknowledge where he points on that the climate of child protection is one of uncertainty, that social work itself is a profession full of uncertainty. The researcher explained that the implication of the refocusing initiative is the rise in the threshold for acceptance of a child protection referral as it was thought that the cost to family of child protection procedures were not acceptable in the cases where allegations are minor. In my view, the identification of gap of knowledge shows that the problem has significance for social work practice and the research may positively inform practice. Interestingly, the researcher acknowledges and analyses previous work on the child protection field ( what is known) but also points out the knowledge gap as it demonstrates how application of these factors differs between cases of child concern and cases of child protection (What is desired to be known). I would argue that these reasons amount to sufficiently justification of this study. Literature Review Knowledge gap was identified but author did not explain how his work would attempt to close the gap. Author made an effort to critically review the work of others and points out inconsistencies. The purpose of the research is to examine ways social workers in England made decisions at the initial referral stage. It is my believe that since the author decided to collect information form social workers and families suggest that research is from a grounded theory approach. According to Punch (2000 p.163) Grounded theory is best defined as a research strategy whose purpose is to generate theory from data, To be grounded means basically the theory is generated from data. (ibid) My rational for asserting that a grounded theory approach was implemented is that the author made sense of the data through concepts primarily informed by social workers and the discovery of these concepts begins from the interviews with the social workers. (Somekh and Lewin 2006p.49) point out that grounded theory is best described as an integrated theoretical formulation that gives understanding about how organization experience and respond to events that occur. From this definition, it could be argued that grounded theory was the most effective way to approach this study. Researchers do bring perspective to the research, although these perspectives tend to guide the question and influence interpretation, but they dont drive the research. (ibid p.51). However one of the drawbacks from this approach is that research may be influenced by the researchers personal experiences and previous studies which thus disable the research in approaching the study with an open mind. Finding In my view, the researcher study has a strong internal validity, the researcher made a good effort to eliminate the alternative explanations in his findings. The result however cannot be applied beyond the sample. It would be clearly naà ¯ve to believe that the findings reflect how social workers in the UK decision making. Method The Researcher implemented ethical principles. The social workers involved have to be made aware of what they were getting into before deciding to collaborate. I would argue that appropriate procedures were implemented; also the participant understood what the purpose of the research. The researcher effectively anonymised participants identities, which protected participants privacy. The likely outcome the research aim to achieve include possible changes in policy, examine practice issues for social workers carrying out initial assessment, where in the past, it would have been a child abuse investigation ( Sect 47 of the children Act 1989) One of the strengths of case study is that multiple methods and data sources can be used to explore and interrogate case study thereby leading to a good description of a research from the perspective of the participant (Someth and Lewin 2006 p.33). I do admire the fact that the research implemented the case study approach as this gives the reader a very rich description of the study and also gives a reader a good understanding on the issue. Reliability of the finding was promoted by the data collection from two local authorities who have a very different procedures and practice, also All interviews were tape- recorded. According to (Silverman 2006p. 285), working with the audio and video recordings eliminates at one stroke many of the problems that researchers have with the unspecified accuracy of field notes and limited public access to them However the generalization of the research may not be possible. The weakness of case study is that it is not possible to generalize statistically from a small number of cases to a population as a whole (Someth and Lewin 2006 p.34) References Punch, K.F. (2000) Introduction to Social Research Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. London: Sage Publication. Somekh, B. and Lewin, C. (2006) Research Methods in the Social Sciences. Sage Publication: London. Silverman, D. (2006) 2nd Edition. Qualitative Research. Theory, Method and Practice. Sage Publication: London. Denscombe, M. (2008) Ground Rules for Good Research, a 10 guide for social researchers. Open University: Buckingham.

The Formalistic Approach to Hays Rapunzel Essay -- Hay Rapunzel Essay

The Formalistic Approach to Hay's Rapunzel Prayer has been always a symbol of faith, and even in modern poetry it is still used as a desperate cry to the One in Heaven. One of the great examples of this desperate cry would be Sara Henderson Hay's "Rapunzel".After reading her modern version, familiarity with Grimm's fairy tale "Rapunzel" will reveal a completely new interpretation. Sara Hay chooses Rapunzel's prayer to be in the sonnet structure. Sonnet, being a part of a lyric genre, represents the most personal and direct speaking manner. Here, the lyric poet is speaking from Rapunzel's point of view almost singing her sufferings, her feelings and her past experiences. Let's remember the first line of the sonnet: "Oh, God, let me forget the things he said". The elegy starts in the prayer form. It helps us to understand from the first line that the lyric hero is in suffering and is desperate. Through the words "let me forget", we can hear the echo of the past life, past things, that may never come back. The author (heroine) is leaving us in suspense, because she will never reveal to us "the things he said" and "the promises he made". The repeating formula "let me" reveals to us Rapunzel's feelings and is establishing the tone of the poem. The first lines help us to hear our heroine's voice tone, and to understand her suffering. Looking more at the first stanza, we can see many associations and connections between some words and the religious motif of prayer. The words "freezing and burning" are the extremes that help us to hear the echo of "Hell" (Rhetoric 102K class discussion, January 23 2001). In the same way the word promises in the Bible is syn onymous with the word covenant (or Testament). In the fifth li... ...ed by love, now has become the knowing one: " I knew...I knew...I might have known." Looking at the last line of the sonnet we understand its purpose. Here, we see the image of many symbolic Rapunzels. The heroine is looking at the past and at the future, and realizes that her life is just one small piece, compared to the Eternal concept, or a concept of All. She realizes that the earthly life is not eternal and she is just a suffering traveler like many others. Hay’s "Rapunzel" begins as a true worshiper, and finds her plight to be too disconcerting to communicate even to her Creator. So, she devolves into her own imaginings with groans so deep that only her soul can commune at this level. Prayer turns to song, song turns to fantasy, and in her heart, fantasy reveals tragic reality. Her only true hope is found in first heart cry: "Oh, God..."

Middle Class Morality in Pygmalion Essay

Pygmalion is a brilliant play written by Bernard Shaw that gives us an idea of the value in the Victorian era through the witty and rousing lines of his characters. The message Shaw tried to limn through his genius work is vividly drawn and is dearly ambiguous to anyone who is paying attention. In Pygmalion, Shaw focused his theme on the Victorian decorum of the contemporary society, which is named in many parts of Mr. Doolittle’s speech in the play as the â€Å"middle class morality†. In the Victorian times, the rich were distinguished from the poor vehemently as they lead distinct lives-they dress differently, they act differently and they even speak differently. Above all, the ethics exercised by the rich deviates from the poor, if there were any for them in the first place. Thus, nothing is expected from a pauper whereas everything is expected from a sufficient (middle class). The first and most potent item of middle class morality is the obligation of men to protect and foster women regardless it is needed or not. In the very first act of Pygmalion such burden is observed through the harsh demands of Clara (woman) to Freddy (man), compelling him to find a taxi for her. Freddy, as uneager as he was, still obliged and carried out his role in the middle class morality, only to find that his endeavors were in vain as his darling mother and sister were long gone upon his return. Another example of this is also from Act I, where nosy bystanders (men) stood out for Eliza (woman) with the silly sense of heroic conquest to save her from the vile Higgins and his notes, but soon learnt that it was merely a mistake. These deeds, however, were not chivalry, they were more like the empty prayers before dinner made in a sanctimonious fashion-a hypocritical routine. On the other hand, women also bears expectation from men and other women during Victorian times to find a wealthy man to support her because she isn’t supposed to work but to polish herself and other trophies like her  children or household. Professor Higgins believes in such a virtue, as he intended Eliza to be a â€Å"consort for a king† and is stunned at her decision of marrying Freddy. Also, Eliza’s stepmother decided to marry Doolittle again as â€Å"middle class morality claims its victim†, meaning that she was in a way coerced into the action. Mr. Doolittle, a minor character in the play, takes a rather big role interpreting middle class morality. After his unlikely fate with the Wannafeller Moral Reform World League and the fortune that comes along with it, he became a living contrast of being poor and being rich. By his own words, he stood testimony to the joy of poverty and the woe of prosperity-â€Å"I have to live for others and not for myself: that’s middle class morality†, portraying an ironic picture of the poor enjoying life more than the rich-the world of Pygmalion and the Victorian times. From his script, we can see all the not-so-subtle offenses Shaw made to taint the idea of middle class morality and it becomes a prominent factor that made the strong tale worth reading and studying.

Source of Congressional Power

In the United States’ system of government, there is a checks and balances system where power is shared by the executive branch, the judicial branch and the legislative branch. To a great degree the legislative branch (the congress) exists to provide oversight of the executive branch. In other ways, congressional power can be quite extensive as visible in a number of famous court cases where such power was challenged and the end result of the court cases resulted not in a lessoning of congressional power, but an affirmation and expansion of it.Examples of famous court cases that involve Congressional power include McCullough vs. Maryland (the constitution grants Congress the ability to carry out the constitution when the function of the national government is concerned); South Carolina vs. Katzenback (the authority of Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act was upheld); Gibbons vs. Ogden (Congress’ powers under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution were upheld); and Mc Grain vs. Doherty (inherent powers defined)Of all its powers, Congress is most notable for the ability to regulate and maintain interstate (and foreign) commerce, write tax law, declare war and fund the military, confirm nominations to the federal court and even impeach the President if he breaks the law (or opt to ignore the fact that he broke the law) While some may wrongfully argue that such powers lead to a long, bureaucratic process that could be much better served it were streamlined by a central authority, the fact that Congress prevents the emergence of a central authority is its greatest asset.That is to say, by not allowing the executive branch to develop overreaching power, the Congress eliminates the President from emerging as a dictatorial figure who is not subject to oversight. If too much power is placed in the hands of any one branch of government, then the ability of the government to overreach and become corrupt is a very real possibility. Congress keeps this syste m of checks and balances in line. The expansion of Congressional power also exists to greatly help the people. For example, South Carolina vs.Katzenback solidified the power of the Voting Rights Act and allowed people to maintain their ability to exercise their right to vote. The control of commerce as defined by McCullough vs. Maryland held businesses accountable and did not give them free reign to do whatever it is they wished at the detriment of society as a whole. Yes, there have been numerous complaints over the years that Congress has overreached its authority and regulated/interfered in business and private lives beyond what is appropriate; but such overreaching has been curtailed in the past when public outcry became loud and virulent.As such, it would be hard to press a case that Congressional Power is abusive or overreaching since Congress does, ultimately, have to be accountable to its constituency every election cycle. Because of this, the ability to exercise power remai ns in check and can not overreach beyond what the population wishes. So, in that regard, congressional power is not unlimited and is subject to the same checks and balances system that the other parts of government are subject.