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Earned Value Management at NASA An Integrated, Lightweight Solution
Earned Value Management at NASA: An Integrated, Lightweight Solution
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Earned Value Management at NASA: An Integrated, Lightweight Solution
Provide one (1) sample of a descriptive statement and one (1) sample of a prescriptive statement from the case study descriptions.
One (1) sample of a descriptive statement from the case study descriptions
“Earned Value Management (EVM) is a management technique that allows project managers to determine the true cost and schedule variance between plan and material work accomplished of a given project at any time.”
One (1) sample of a prescriptive statement from the case study descriptions
“A key benefit of EVM is that it serves as an early-warning system against cost overruns and schedule delays.”
Examine three (3):
Goals for this case study
Provision of a lightweight tool that allows for applicability of measuring earned value performance (Song, 2010).
Enablement of managers to produce monthly EVM reports that account for their performance.
Incorporate managers in the use of EVM tool in their occasional activities.
Obstacles for this case study
Before and after managers had undergone training sessions to use EVM systems, it still became hard to define a consistent baseline to work with.
Used as a monthly report tool, managers found it hard to make reports risks resulting from lack of knowledge on how to use a consistent baseline to include any additional information in their reports.
Compared to PMT systems that are designed to support and produce high custom reports, EVM systems do not meet the standards and as such, they are not used in producing high custom reports.
Alternative obstacle resolutions for this case study
EVM systems have been built on a platform that support and run against all elements of individual WBS.
EVM systems have been built with the ability to provide room for managers to incorporate any additional information that can be used to produce a monthly report and minimize risks associated with additional information (Practice standard for earned value management, 2011).
PMT systems have been built with the ability to support and produce high custom reports and where EVM systems fail to meet the huge demand, PMT systems are used instead.
Identify five (5) normal and abnormal scenarios for this case as-is.
Normal Case Scenarios
Any person can use the system and once knowledge is instilled in managers on the use of EVM, it becomes a fundamental system to use
The use of EVM system incorporates comparing two more numbers with the stated point value in time as planned by Budgeted Costs for Work Scheduled (BCWS)
There is integration of the scheduled and time-phased budget information to provide baseline for a planned consistent performance.
There is the incorporation of the phasing plan to produce a monthly report that is in line with NASA’s accounting system.
There is collaboration of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) elements to facilitate for accountability of sub projects on a timely manner.
Abnormal Case Scenarios
Difficulties in practices as well as inadequacy of EVM systems make it hard for them to be used.
Lack of a consistent baseline resulted in all projects achieving green for an inefficient system.
There were difficulties in measuring performance because of problems in the accounting systems.
Due to the systems weaknesses, there were huge amounts of works that were left unattended (Earned Value Management, 2005).
The systems weaknesses resulted into unassigned resources that were out of order activities as well as logic.
Determine five (5) requirements that might need to be prioritized in view of resource limitations.
Standardizing EVM system to user acceptance as well as minimizing costs
Use flexible tools that allow for changes
Ensure that the system implemented is scalable
Ensure that the system is highly reusable
Make sure that the EVM system implemented has a high usability
References
Earned Value Management. (2005). Hinjewadi, Pune, India: PELCON, Compulink Systems.
Practice standard for earned value management (2nd ed.). (2011). Newtown Square, Pa.: Project
Management Institute.
Song, L. (2010). Earned value management: A global and cross-industry perspective on current
EVM practice. Newtown Square, Pa.: Project Management Institute.
Five people you meet in heaven
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The five people you meet in heaven
Authored in 2003 by Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven stands out as one of the preeminently presented novels. The book centers on a protagonist called Eddie who dies at the age of eighty-three while rescuing a little girl from a falling cart. The beginning of the book is makes much presentation about the end of Eddie’s life. It begins at a place called Ruby Pier which is presented as the center of Eddie’s life. Eddie is very close and attached to this place. This is because his father worked here and he also established his career as a maintenance man at the same place. Above all, Ruby Pier is the place where Eddie meets the love of his life, Marguerite. Needless to mention, Eddie dies in the same place on his birthday. The bulk of this novel is mostly based on Eddie’s time in heaven and what he learns there as he meets certain people on whose lives he had an impact while still on earth.
Thematically, Albom seeks to express the fact that life works in a web of connections. All occurrences are interdependent and interconnected, and there are no random incidences. In sum, all lives and actions alike are connected. For instance, despite the fact that Eddie did not know the Blue Man, he indirectly caused his death. Similarly, the loss of a key by a young man at an amusement park causes Eddie’s own death as it causes machinery problems. In the words of Albom, no story is lonely, many at times, they relate and interconnect.
The author connects the themes of sacrifice and love in a unique way to achieve interconnection in the story. On the overall, he presents the idea that any form of sacrifice attracts rewards. As such many individuals go out of their way to sacrifice for others. These include Eddie’s captain at war, whom Eddie met in heaven. He saved his life and that of other soldiers by preventing them from driving over a bomb. Eddie also made a sacrifice and ended up dying to save a young girl. As in the case of love, regardless of Marguerite’s death, she could still feel Eddie’s love for her. The author encourages us to exercise forgiveness and love in the pursuit of real peace. In essence, we sacrifice for those we love, and sacrifice attracts rewards. Additionally, Albom seeks to express the thematic concept that nothing is what it appears to be. Eddie goes through life mad at his father as he believes he died due to drinking. He discovers that his father died heroically, while calling out his name.
The act of saving a child right before his death is symbolic of Eddie’s life. Eddie realizes in the end that his purpose in life was actually to save and protect children. His life ends in the process of doing this as well. Perhaps, the author approaches this perspective intentionally because the child ends up living. Analytically, Eddie presents the character of a selfless individual. He gives out his life to save a girl he doesn’t even know. He also goes into war to serve his country. In the evident interconnection, Tala and the Blue Man are also forgiving as they hold no grudge against Eddie for causing their deaths. Notably, Albom writes this book in the third person narrator perspective. Much as he does not participate in the story, he enlightens us on Eddie’s feelings. There are conflicts in the story to signify the rising action. We see the conflict between Eddie and himself where he feels that he had led a wasteful life. There is also another conflict between Edie and his father. The novel’s climax comes towards the end on the meeting between Eddie and Tala, the last person he meets in heaven. The falling action occurs after the climax when Eddie questions himself after Tala tells him that he burned her during the war as she was hiding from the soldiers. The story gets to its resolution when Eddie is at peace and finds his own heaven with his wife, Marguerite.
In conclusion, this book tries to capture what happens when one dies and how everyone’s life has meaning and purpose whether one sees it or not. In the end, each person’s actions are caused by something, cause something, and count for something. They are all interconnected.
Federalist 78 The Judiciary
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Federalist 78 : The Judiciary
Hamilton argued that the Judiciary was not as strong as the legislative and executive arms of the government. After ratification of the US government between the years 1787 to 1788, the federalists realized that the Judiciary did not have similar powers as the executive and legislature. It lacked decision-making abilities ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”nNMYTxZ5″,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Hamilton et al.)”,”plainCitation”:”(Hamilton et al.)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:1080,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/XHGWXWGD”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/XHGWXWGD”],”itemData”:{“id”:1080,”type”:”chapter”,”abstract”:”WE PROCEED now to an examination of the judiciary department of the proposed government.”,”container-title”:”The Federalist Papers”,”event-place”:”New York”,”ISBN”:”978-0-230-10201-9″,”language”:”en”,”note”:”DOI: 10.1057/9780230102019_47″,”page”:”235-240″,”publisher”:”Palgrave Macmillan US”,”publisher-place”:”New York”,”source”:”Springer Link”,”title”:”Federalist No. 78″,”URL”:”https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230102019_47″,”author”:[{“family”:”Hamilton”,”given”:”Alexander”},{“family”:”Madison”,”given”:”James”},{“family”:”Jay”,”given”:”John”}],”editor”:[{“family”:”Hamilton”,”given”:”Alexander”},{“family”:”Madison”,”given”:”James”},{“family”:”Jay”,”given”:”John”}],”accessed”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″,5,26]]},”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2009″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (Hamilton et al.). Its function was merely judgment rather than doing the strong functions such as control of the government expenditure, or commanding the armed forces. It also lacked independence, permanence, and continuity. Unlike the executive arm of the government, the Judiciary could not wage war.
For this reason, there would not arise any threats from the Judiciary, making it less dangerous. Further, it could not decide the conduct of citizens in the country ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”bpYaEch9″,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Hamilton 1)”,”plainCitation”:”(Hamilton 1)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:1081,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/I3N8L664″],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/I3N8L664″],”itemData”:{“id”:1081,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Federalist Papers Federalist, No. 78, And The Power Of The Judiciary”,”author”:[{“family”:”Hamilton”,”given”:””}]},”locator”:”1″,”label”:”page”}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (Hamilton 1). Therefore, it depended on the executive and legislative arms to perform the essential duties.
In his essays, Hamilton maintained that the Judiciary should be an independent arm and exercise its purpose in the government. It needed independence to form the legislative and executive arms. The objectives included matters surround the appointment of judges and their office tenure, as well as maintaining its authority regarding the relationship within different judicial courts ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”gIRTVuKC”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Hamilton 2)”,”plainCitation”:”(Hamilton 2)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:1081,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/I3N8L664″],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/I3N8L664″],”itemData”:{“id”:1081,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Federalist Papers Federalist, No. 78, And The Power Of The Judiciary”,”author”:[{“family”:”Hamilton”,”given”:””}]},”locator”:”2″,”label”:”page”}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (2). The purpose of the Judiciary included protecting the people and ensuring that their rights and privileges and upheld. The Judiciary also ought to rule out any unconstitutional laws. Judges will maintain judicial office after a measure of ‘good behavior’. The goal is to provide fairness and justice to the administration of secure and upright laws.
Hamilton believed that the Judiciary has equal significance in the government. What makes it more outstanding is the judges’ independence from any political interference, putting the people’s interest first. He maintains that the constitution remains the reference to fundamental laws. The roles of the Judiciary include interpretation of the legislative powers to the people ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”chRGqiI3″,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Hamilton 4)”,”plainCitation”:”(Hamilton 4)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:1081,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/I3N8L664″],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/I3N8L664″],”itemData”:{“id”:1081,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Federalist Papers Federalist, No. 78, And The Power Of The Judiciary”,”author”:[{“family”:”Hamilton”,”given”:””}]},”locator”:”4″,”label”:”page”}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (4). The people’s interests and intentions are essential than what their political representatives claim. Therefore, it is the work of the Judiciary being an independent arm to ensure security from interference either internally or externally.
According to Milton, the judicial selection and office term should be a permanent tenure. Judges after elected on ‘good behavior’, they will freely perform their roles without interferences from the legislative arm. The permanent tenure office, therefore, ensures protecting the rights of citizens. Good behavior will ensure their office tenure as they uphold ethical, moral standards. Moreover, while in office, these judges perform tasks that demand ethical behavior. These judges will be in service unless they are prosecuted for an offense, or are declared mentally incapacitated. He also argued that with age comes wisdom; therefore, holding a judicial office should not be restricted to a specific age limit ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”aeRQZYhq”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Hamilton 5)”,”plainCitation”:”(Hamilton 5)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:1081,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/I3N8L664″],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/I3N8L664″],”itemData”:{“id”:1081,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Federalist Papers Federalist, No. 78, And The Power Of The Judiciary”,”author”:[{“family”:”Hamilton”,”given”:””}]},”locator”:”5″,”label”:”page”}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (5). Thus, life or permanent tenure provides judicial independence and sustainability of the roles as mentioned earlier.
Hamilton did not support that the Judiciary will stand as a threat by overpowering the government’s legislative arm. He instead believed that making the judiciary permanent would become a barrier to oppression. Its power is to act, rather than merely passing judgments. To conclude, Hamilton supported the organizational independence of the three arms of government. He envisioned a strong judiciary under whose judges maintain ethical standards in carrying out their duties.
Works Cited
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {“uncited”:[],”omitted”:[],”custom”:[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Hamilton. Federalist Papers Federalist, No. 78, And The Power Of The Judiciary.
Hamilton, Alexander, et al. “Federalist No. 78.” The Federalist Papers, edited by Alexander Hamilton et al., Palgrave Macmillan US, 2009, pp. 235–40. Springer Link, doi:10.1057/9780230102019_47.