Haymarket Riot

As result of the Industrial Revolution, people in America earned more money, most of which they used to open new businesses and factories. There were now many different types of machines to do the work that people had to do themselves in the past. Thus, machines rapidly replaced people. Now with less people working and getting paid, there were people that could afford what these factories were making. Most of the people working in the United States at this time were immigrants, so they were forced to work for very low wages. A working adult would be considered lucky to bring home a daily income of only $2. 00. Kids on the other hand, only made about 70 cents a day for spending their entire childhood sorting through coal or performing other strenuous jobs. Most people worked between ten and fourteen hours each day with peanuts for income. As result, Chicago Illinois, as well as many other cities in the United States, fell into poverty. However, not all employees at this time were cruel and blackhearted. Most at the time though just wanted to get the most out of their employees for the least amount of pay. Soon the Labor Union movement started. People in this union wanted to ban child labor, increase pay, and to create shorter workdays. Conflict after conflict broke out spawning from the Labor Union; many of which the police were brought in to settle. By 1886, the major concern of the Labor Union was to establish an eight-hour workday. By now there were several unions, all of which could not agree with one another on how to fight for this rightfully deserved demand. Finally, the Knights of Labor, who originated in Chicago, organized a nation wide strike. However, the newspapers, business leaders, and politicians didn t agree with these actions. They said, the new eight-hour workday would promote loafing, gambling, rioting, debauchery and drunkenness (Simon). Knowing that they would be fired, workers still stood up for what they believed in and followed through with the strike. On May1, 1886, the strike stared. More than 300,000 workers went on strike in nine different cities across the vast nation. One of these cities was Boston. However, only a few employers nation wide granted their employees the shorter workday. As result, the next two months were filled with the police, the strikers, and the scabs. Scabs were people who refused to go on strike with the rest of their coworkers. They acquired this name from the angry strikers. On May 3, 1886, more than 500 strikers met up with some scabs as they were leaving a plant in Chicago. The agitated mob blasted the scabs with sticks, rocks, and just about anything they could possible get their hands on. This continued until police arrived and eventually broke up the fight. August Spies then proceeded to organize a protest meeting in Haymarket Square. The strikers were told to be armed in case the police resorted to violence on them. The following day when Spies came to the meeting he spoke in front of about 1,200 people. Albert Parsons, along with Spies and other speakers, spoke of the McCormick riot, and the rights and the responsibilities of the American worker. Then as it began to rain, people slowly began to leave and head home. One of the many to leave was the mayor of the city, Charter H. Harrison. On the way home he stopped off at the police station to tell the officers on stand-by that they could go home because the protest was peaceful. About ten minutes later, two undercover agents came to the police station and said that there were some offensive things being said at the protest, and that the officers should go break it up. When the police arrived at Haymarket Square, some words as well as actions were shared between the strikers and the police. Before long, a bomb was anonymously thrown into the crowd of police. This was the first time a bomb like this was used in the United States. Quickly responding to the bomb, the police officers began to fire into the crowd of strikers and all hell broke loose. As result of the bomb, one police officer was killed instantly, and six others died within the next two weeks because of serious wounds. The following day the newspapers were loaded with headlines which accused Spies, Parsons, and Fielden of releasing this deadly bomb into the crowd. Some newspapers even said that the Haymarket riot, anarchists, and socialists were the reason for other disturbances around the country. They said that punishments should be dealt to Spies, Parsons and Fielden, because people of the United States were accusing them of murder. However, one newspaper reported that if the police hadn t raided the protest, there wouldn t have been a bomb thrown, because there wouldn t have been anything to spark the argument. Another newspaper, the Labor Enquirer, wrote in one of it s articles, twice as many honest men were murdered in coal mines as have been killed in Chicago, and there isn t any noise at all about it (americanhistory. com). Still other papers wrote that is working and living conditions were better, then none of this probably would have happened. Captain Michael J. Shaak was so outraged by the Haymarket riot that he arrested hundreds of people who attended the protest that day, or even the people who were suspected of being there. While making all these arrests, the captain discovered secret societies and bombs, on top of many other conspiracies. Without warrants, he continued his investigation by breaking into houses. Then he proceeded to beat and bribe people into saying that they were witnesses to what went on in the Haymarket Square. However, out of all these hundreds of people who were arrested, only eight people were brought to an actual trial. These eight people were August Spies, Albert Parsons, Samuel Fielden, Adolph Fisher, Michael Schwabb, Louis Lingg, Oscar Neebee, and George Engel. Horribly enough, only three out of these eight men were actually at Haymarket square when the riot broke out. On June 21, 1886, the trial for these eight men began. The defendants were said to be the underdogs because the jury was hand-picked by Judge Joseph E. Gary, who desperately wanted these men to be convicted of murder. Many people considered the defendants guilty, and these people wanted the men to face the same punishment as the people who lost their lives in the riot. In other words, they were wanted dead. Before the trial started, Judge Joseph E. Gary was quoted saying, those fellows are going to be hanged as certain as death (Encarta 99). The main attack by the defense during the trial was that the jury was prejudice. However, the judge simply overruled all these attempts made by the defense, and the unfair trial proceeded. During the trial, the state s attorney was allowed to ask whatever he wanted to. Also, the defense was not allowed to cross-examine the witnesses, who were mostly police men or false witnesses, in order to convict the men of the crime. As the trial proceeded, the police repedily showed bombs and referred to the men as anarchists. Even though there was no evidence to prove that the defendants knew anything about the bomb or who threw it, they were eventually convicted of murder. On the morning of August 20, the jury entered the courtroom with their verdict. Seven out of the eight men on trial were sentenced to death. Oscar Neebee was the only one who was sentenced to jail time. He received a whopping fifteen years in jail for a crime he did not even commit. However, he was the only one out of the eight men who was allowed to live. Some newspapers reported that these men were on trial only because of their political views. However, most people did not care to agree with these statements and controversy continues to brew. When the verdict was announced that dreadful morning, people outside the courtroom lit up with excitement and joy. Some were so happy that they were willing to award the jury with a cash bonus just for convicting the defendants. The only people that were sad over the verdict were the families of the defense, the lawyers, and of course the defendants themselves. The press then went on to say that the only bad thing about the whole trial was that the defendants were not able to appeal seeing as how they were sentenced to death. Appeal to the verdict was exactly what the defendants lawyers did. On March 13, 1887, six judges from the Illinois Supreme Court met in Ottawa to listen to the appeal. When the judges were done reviewing the case they admitted that it was a very unfair trial. However, they failed to do anything about it. The defense attorney, Mr. Black, then tried for an appeal at U. S. court headquarters, but they refused to even look at the case. Finally the defense went to their last resort, the governor of Illinois, to ask for a pardon. It was great timing by the defense because the public was beginning to feel sorry for the seven doomed men. Some people wrote to the governor stating that the only thing these men were guilty of was their opinion. Finally the governor decided to hold a hearing for these men. That day was filled with a lot of appeals and arguments. On November 11, 1887, the governor announced that there would be no pardon. However, now only four out of the eight men would be executed. It would have been five but Louis Lingg was found earlier that morning with half his head blown off. It was ruled a suicide. Michael Shwab and Samuel Fielden got their death sentences lessened to life in prison. So now Parsons, Spies, Fisher, and Engel would be put to death. Amazingly they accepted this sentence without any outrage or resistance. That same day, the four remaining men walked to their deathsite. As they were being prepared to be hanged, Spies bellowed out his last words which were, There will come a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today! Immediately after Parsons let out his final words, Will I be allowed to speak for men of America? Let the voice of the people be heard! But before they could all finish they were hanged. Their funeral was held at Waldheim Cemetery, and was attended by more than fifteen thousand people. Eventually what these courageous men fought for was granted. The eight men hour workday was established, and these eight men became known as heroes. After these men were killed, the governor of Illinois, John P. Altged, reviewed the case and issued a pardon for all eight men that were tried. He discovered that the jurors were unfair, what the judge did was illegal, and ultimately that all eight men were innocent. As result, the three men in jail, Feilden, Schwab, and Neebee, were all released from jail and acquitted of all charges. Still to this day, it is unknown who threw the bomb in Haymarket Square, and killed the policemen. We will probably never know who the actual bomber really was. However, there is now an international workers holiday on May 1, dedicated to what went down that day in Haymarket Square, which has now became known as the Haymarket Riot.

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Adrian D. Horstead, Sr. 1217 Belcourt Parkway Hurlburt Field, FL 32544 Cell: (770) 686-0425 [email  protected] edu OBJECTIVE: To attain a long term position with a stable growing company. EDUCATION: Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration Samford University, Birmingham, AL Major: Management (Graduated May of 2004) Fall 2004 Marketing Internship Samford University Athletics, Birmingham, AL Planning and execution of pre-game activities * Managed children’s activities( Kid-Zone) during football games SKILLS: Adept in Windows and Macintosh operating systems with demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite Windows 98, Microsoft Office XP, Goldmine Sales and Marketing, ACT, SaleForce. com, QuickBooks Pro, Dreamweaver, E-mail, Intranet, Internet WORK EXPERIENCE: March 2009- Present Structural Craftsman- United States Air Force Reserve Structural layout/framing of floors, walls, wooden and metal studs and roofs * Masonry construction such as mixing mortar and l aying block * Finished carpentry (installing and repairing gypsum board) * Installation and maintenance on personnel and facility doors (wood, metal, roll-up doors, door closers, locking devices) * Sheet metal layout and fabrication * Oxyacetylene and plasma torches used on alloy * Stick, MIG, and TIG welding August 2005- January 2009 Bulk Advanced Sales Supervisor- Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc. Birmingham, AL. Merchandise for all home market accounts (Wal-mart, Bi-Lo, Food Giant) * Trained bulk and trainee salesman on merchandising standards and accountability * Ensure production for all home market accounts * Worked hand in hand with other supervisors on ordering and merchandising products * Communicate with store managers on upcoming sales and displays July 2004- January 2006 Presentation Administrator – Nutro Products Inc, Birmingham, AL * Set up Nutro displays in the greater Birmingham area pet stores (Superpetz, Pet Supplies â€Å"Plus†, Pet Supermarket ) Make presentations about Nutro Products * Convert animal owners to Nutro customers * Maintain thorough knowledge of the pet food industry April 2004-January 2005 Sales Representative- DAXKO, LLC, Birmingham, AL * Planning and execution of promotion and distribution of web-based application * Develop and maintain thorough industry, market, and product knowledge * Develop customer relationships with C-level managers of YMCAs * Accurately forecasting sales activity and revenue achievement * Manage assigned market and opportunity pipelineMEMBERSHIPS: Structural Craftsmen, United States Air Force Reserve, 2009- present Scholarship Athlete, Samford University Football, 1999-2003 Member, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, 1996- present Member, Samford University Alumni Council CEO of Hocutt Foundation, Inc. 2004- present ACTIVITIES: Spring 2004 Recruiter- Senior Campaign Committee, Samford University Recruited representatives from different school departments Spring 2004 Group Leader- Ves tavia Hills Boys’ Bible Club, Birmingham, AL * Organized Bible-based activities for participating elementary children Spring 1999 Speaker- Upward Basketball, Opp, AL * Spoke to youth basketball organization References John P. Andrews II (Supervisor) 213 Hermey Ave Pensacola, Fl. 32507 (850) 281-3266 Robert W. Service, Ph. D. (Professor) Associate Professor, School of Business Samford University 00 Lakeshore Drive Birmingham, AL 35299 (205) 726- 2544 (Work) [email  protected] edu Barry Thomason (Supervisor) DAXKO, LLC 2204 Lakeshore Drive Birmingham, AL 35209 (205) 437-1400 x130 (Work) [email  protected] com Jerome Rogers (City Planner) City of Opp 607 Opine Road Opp, AL 36467 (334) 493-7700 (Home) [email  protected] com Cheryl A. Kidd (Administrator) Birmingham City Council Administrator City Hall 710 North 20th Street Birmingham, AL 35203 (205) 335-3895 (Cell) [email  protected] birmingham. al. us

Ermogenous V Greek Orthodox Community of Sa Inc. [2002] Essay

1. CITATION. Ermogenous v Greek Orthodox Community of SA Inc. [2002] HCA 8; 209 CLR 95; 76 ALJR 465; 187 ALR 92 (7 March 2002) 2. COURT. HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA FULL COURT GAUDRON, McHUGH, KIRBY, HAYNE and CALLINAN JJ ERMOGENOUS, Spyridon APPELLANT v GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF SA INC RESPONDENT 3. BRIEF STATEMENT OF MATERIAL FACTS. [1] The appellant alleged that he had been employed by the respondent since 18 March 1970 but had not received any entitlements to annual leave or long service leave upon termination of his employment in December 1993. The Magistrate from the Industrial Relations Court of South Australia found in favour of the appellant in the first instance but the Supreme Court of South Australia overturned the Industrial Magistrates ruling at the first appeal. It has been re-appealed to the Full Court of the High Court of Australia. 4. PROCEDURAL HISTORY. South Australia Industrial Relations Court [2] The case was first brought to the South Australia Industrial Relations Court and was heard by the Industrial Magistrate. The Magistrate found in favour of the appellant stating that the appellant had been employed under a contract of employment by the respondent for 23 years. [3] The respondent’s statement that there in fact was no contract of employment was rejected on the grounds that the appellant was recruited from America for the purpose of appointment as Archbishop and the role as head of the Australian autocephalous church. He met with â€Å"members of the committee of management of the South Australian Community† and at such a time an agreement was reached that he â€Å"would be paid similarly to the priest† and would be referred to as one of the â€Å"employees†. [4] Further evidence of the existence of legal relations between the parties was the respondent’s actions. The respondent deducted tax from the appellant’s salary, which was then forwarded to the Australian Tax Office (ATO). The respondent also provided evidence in the form of certificates stating the existence of an employer relationship to  the appellant, who was the employee. Supreme Court of South Australia [5] The decision of the Industrial Court was appealed to the Supreme Court of South Australia whereupon the case was heard by Doyle CJ and Bleby J. It was proposed that the presence of intention to enter into contractual relations should not be presumed, particularly when considering â€Å"remuneration and maintenance and support of a minister of religion†. [6] The Supreme Court reconsidered the Industrial Magistrates ruling that the parties had entered legal relations and had shown intention to do so. [7] His Honour Doyle CJ stated that â€Å"it is important to bear in mind that the [respondent] is not a church, in which the [appellant] held a clerical office†¦ The [respondent] is a body that fosters Greek culture in South Australia in the broadest sense†. He later went on to say â€Å"[i]n considering the inference to be drawn from the discussions in Adelaide, it is also relevant that the [appellant] was not providing services to the [respondent], but to members of the local Greek Orthodox Church†. 5. GROUNDS FOR APPEAL AND/OR ISSUES TO BE DECIDED. [8] Four issues were raised as the grounds for appeal. The first being whether the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia had erred in any way in their decision that the Magistrate of the Industrial Relations Court of South Australia failed in considering if enforceable contractual relations had actually been entered into by the parties. [9] Secondly, relevant upon a negative decision of the first issue, whether the Supreme Court failed to consider the Industrial Magistrate’s reasons for deciding in regards to the issue of intention to create legal relations. [10] The third issue brought to the attention of the court was whether the Industrial Magistrate erred in his reasoning that enforceable contractual relations had been entered into by the parties on the consideration of the spiritual profession of one, or both, of the parties. [11] The final issue raised in the grounds of appeal was whether the Industrial Magistrate was correct in concluding that the parties h ad indeed entered into a contractual relation, being a contract of employment. 6. SUMMARY OF COURT’S ANALYSIS OF LAW. [12] The Court agreed with the Industrial Magistrate’s rejection of the proposition â€Å"that the relationship of a minister of religion to those who  provided for the minister’s necessities of life was, of its nature, incompatible with a contract of employment†. [13] As mentioned in Intention & Privity (2007), â€Å"discerning intention warrants intricate analysis of the facts – intention cannot be presumed purely based on the context or type of the agreement†. Similarly, the court considered the following matters: What was the subject matter of the agreement? What was the status of each party to the formation of the agreement? And, what was the relationship the parties held to each other? [14] The Archbishop was successful in establishing a ‘meeting of the minds’ during the initial talks and negotiations held in Adelaide in 1970 and as a result the Court found in favour of the appellant and that a contract of employment had been en tered into between the parties and further was enforceable by law. 7. PRINCIPLE OF LAW TO BE APPLIED. [15] The principle of law to be applied to the case is ‘intention to create legal relations’ and whether relationships involving the basis of religion would have an effect on the existence of a contractual relationship. [16] Their Honours made note that â€Å"it is said that it may be presumed that there are some â€Å"family arrangements† which are not intended to give rise to legal obligations and it was said in this case that it should not be presumed that there was an intention to create legal relations because it was a matter concerning the engagement of a minister of religion. For our part, we doubt the utility of using the language of presumptions in this context. †¦ Reference to presumptions may serve only to distract attention from that more basic and important proposition.† 8. DESCRIPTION OF HOW LAW APPLIED TO THE FACTS. [17] The character of the employment arrangement is continuously evolving, but in this case, their Honours interpreted the respondent’s actions: the respondent arranged to have income tax deducted from the appellant’s salary as well as issuing to the appellant cheques for travel and a variety of other incurred expenses. It was then reasonable to conclude that both parties had in fact entered into contractual relations of an employment nature which is enforceable at law. 9. DECISION. [18] The case was found in favour of the appellant with the first issue raised being decided in the affirmative, leaving the second issue non-existent as it does not arise. The decision of the third issue was negative. The fourth issue was remitted back to the Supreme Court for decision under the Full Court. 10. ORDER MADE BY THE COURT. [19] The appeal was allowed with costs and the issue of â€Å"[whether] the Industrial Magistrate correctly held that the relationship between the parties was regulated by a contract enforceable at law, it was, as he found, a contract characterised as a contract of employment†. Remit the matter to that Court for further hearing and determination conformably with the reasons of this Court. 11. SOCIAL OR CULTURAL CONTEXT. [20] Maria Keyes and Kylie Burns discussed the social context of the case in Contract and the Family: Whether Intention. They claim that â€Å"intention to create a contractually enforceable agreement is regarded as an immovable aspect of modern contract doctrine†. They continued to discuss the case in length, referring to the joint judgement given in the High Court: â€Å"The joint judgment recognised that the presumptions had been elevated to such an extent that they had become difficult, if not impossible, to rebut. Their Honours believed–correctly, in our view–that the presumptions of fact, which should merely signify where the onus of proof falls, had ossified into strict rules of law†. [21] Rogers CJ stated in Banque Brussels Lambert SA v Australian National Industries Ltd (1989) 21 NSWLR 502 that â€Å"[t]he whole thrust of the law today is to attempt to give proper effect to commercial transactions†¦. If the statements are appropriately promi ssory in character, courts should enforce them when they are uttered in the course of business and there is no clear indication that they are not intended to be legally enforceable†. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. (1997) 64 SAIR 622 at 651. [ 2 ]. (1997) 64 SAIR 622 at 651-652. [ 3 ]. [2000] SASC 329; (2000) 77 SASR 523 at 524-525 [4] per Doyle CJ, 575-576 [207] per Bleby J. [ 4 ]. (2000) 77 SASR 523 at 526 [9] [ 5 ]. (2000) 77 SASR 523 at 528 [17] [ 6 ]. [2002] HCA 8 at 56 [ 7 ]. 2007, Intention & Privity, The Future Role of Presumptions, StudentAtLaw [ 8 ]. (2002) 209 CLR 95 [ 9 ]. [2002] HCA 8 at 80 [ 10 ]. [2002] HCA 8 at 53 [ 11 ]. [2002] HCA 8 at 52 [ 12 ]. Keyes, Maria and Burns, Kylie 2002, Contract And The Family: Whether Intention? [ 13 ]. Keyes, Maria and Burns, Kylie 2002, Contract And The Family: Whether Intention? [ 14 ]. Banque Brussels Lambert SA v Australian National Industries Ltd (1989) 21 NSWLR 502, 523 and Keyes, Maria and Burns, Kylie 2002, Contract And The Family: Whether Intention?

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 3

Research Paper Example Over population results in serious environmental degradation as the limited natural resources like water, soil, air and forest get depleted at a faster rate. As humans begin to overpopulate the earth, the planet may not be able to support their needs. In this paper, the impact of population growth on water resources will be analyzed. One of the primary natural resource that has been impacted with the demands of the growing population is water – a resource that is required for agriculture, industry and domestic use. Human beings need water for agriculture, industry and for domestic purposes like cooking, washing, sanitation and cleaning. As population increases, the demands for the limited water resources from each of these areas compete with each other. Although 70% of the earth is covered by ocean water, human beings rely on the limited fresh water supply for their needs, which accounts for only 2.5 % of the total water supply (Pluijm). According to the World Water Council, the total population of the world tripled in the 20th century, while the use of renewable water resources multiplied six times. This is primarily because of the irrigation requirements and demands of agriculture. Scientists have also confirmed that nearly half of the world’s population does not have enough water to drink and the demand for it is doubling every 21 years (â€Å"Cost of water†). According to the International Water Management Institute, the world’s leading body on fresh water management, the issue of water scarcity is increasing faster than expected (â€Å"Cost of water†). In China, the wells and rivers in the eastern part of the country have dried up and the authorities are trucking in water to the millions of people living in this region (â€Å"Cost of water†). In the following pages, the various issues concerning population growth and the resulting effect on the limited

Sec & terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Sec & terrorism - Essay Example Historically, the U.S. identity has always been a benchmark by which threats to security are perceived. As Campbell (1998) informs, U.S. foreign policy has demonstrated that where the existence of alternative identities challenges the belief that the U.S. identity could be the ideal identity, this is often construed as a threat to security. In other words, security risks are interpreted as a means of establishing the U.S. identity (Campbell, 1998). Campbell’s conceptualization of the close relationship between U.S. identity and security is consistent with the constructivist account of international relations. For example, Wendt (1999) argues that state actors establish identities within an international social structure. How the state views its identity and how other states view the state’s identity shape and direct international politics and relations (Wendt, 1992). Using the constructivist account of international relations, this paper will argue and demonstrate the c lose connection between identity and security in U.S. foreign policy during the period of the Cold War is clearly established. However, during the detente phase of the Cold War, it appears as though U.S. security is less connected to identity but rather more closely connected to materialism. This paper is divided into two main parts. The first part of this paper provides an overview of the theory of constructivism in international relations. The second part of this paper will analyse the close connection between identity and security in U.S. foreign policy during the period of the Cold War and the fragility of that connection during the period of detente. The Theory of Constructivism in International Relations Constructivists, like neoliberal and neorealist theorists attempt to understand the drivers of state behaviour. However, constructivists are distinguished from neorealism and neoliberalism in that constructivists do not â€Å"ignore† the â€Å"content and sources of st ate interests and the social fabric of world politics† (Checkel, 1998, p. 324). Essentially, neoliberalism, neorealism and realism are juxtaposed against constructivism in a paradigm articulated as materialism vs idealism (Barkim, 2003). In this regard, constructivists reject the realist/traditional view that state behaviour is driven and explained by material power (Barkim, 2003). For the constructivists, state behaviour and international politics are both socially constructed (Alder, 1997). State behaviour is explained by a number of underlying factors that subjectively form the basis of ideas that steer state behaviour through the acquisition of state identities and interests (Copeland, 2000). Where states share the same ideas and interests, this can constrain and modify the behaviour of a state. Thus in interacting with one another, states may reconstruct their identities and interests through what is referred to as a â€Å"socialising process† (Copeland, 2000, p. 1 90). It is via the socialising process that states identify, defend and protect their identities which in turn inform their objectives and roles within the international political order (Copeland, 2000). Constructivism offers a novel and expansive method for understanding how states perceive security dilemmas as it offers tools for conceptualizing â€Å"human consciousness, national identity† and state interests (Tsai, 2009, p. 19). When constructivism is used to understand how states interpret security

Using Ethos In Designing Of Websites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Using Ethos In Designing Of Websites - Essay Example The website for a project management tool, Basecamp uses Ethos to appeal to its customers by showing its credibility. The website shows a picture of two men talking to each other. One man asks the other, â€Å"How did you get that project done without losing your mind?† The second man Answers, â€Å"BASECAMP, we love it.† The answer from the second man proofs that the website is credible and reliable in project management. There is also the bold sentence on the website that shows that last year alone, the website helped over 285,000 companies complete more than 2 million projects. When navigating through the website one realizes that Basecamp marketing site builds credibility for their products and services by listing prominent customers that depend on the company to finish their projects. The method appeals to new customers who will trust and believe that the company will also give them good products and services. The website underlines and bold statements such as â€Å"Millions of people† use Basecamp. An indication of a strong and trustworthy customer base helps the website to build credibility among other people especially new clients. The website also shows that the company’s software for doing project management can operate on a variety of operating systems both on computers and smartphones. Customers will thus, understand that the information is true and credible. The website continues to appeal to customers by putting videos of important customers explaining what they like about Basecamp. It is clear that the Basecamp marketing website ap peals to ethos.

Western civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Western civilization - Essay Example The second industrial revolution was characterized with mass production systems to achieve economies of scale to increase profits. While in the first revolution, the people were self employed and worked manually and it was only a little later that mechanization started to be employed. In the first industrial revolution, much of the development depended on the willingness of capitalists to risk financial loss, however in the second revolution, the development was promoted by the government and hence the development depended on several factors including the availability of natural resources, capital, government support, an active middle class, entrepreneurial spirit. Another striking difference is that in the first industrial revolution, the production was dependent on the cottage industries and was more agrarian in nature. In, the second revolution the products were customer oriented and the nature of products was more industrial. Also marketing, innovative business practices and globalization were essential features of this age of expansion. The late nineteenth century saw tremendous growth in professionalism of products. With the economical growth several innovative products and ideas came into existence. The demographic population increased and with it, the need for more resources. The social dispersion was captured in the music of that time which changed to â€Å"reflect the disorientation of traditional standards and values, the contrasts between an extreme collectivism and an equally extreme individualism†. The art captured the emotional isolation of the individual and questioned the values of a modern consumer-oriented society created by the industrialists to reap economies of scale. The people at that time felt fearful and disorientated because of shifts in demographical factors such as emigration and globalization. Economic competition and

Chinese restaurant market and investing in the market with respect to Essay

Chinese restaurant market and investing in the market with respect to a fish and chip restaurant chain of UK - Essay Example Managerial tools like PESTEL and SWOT analysis are implemented initially for exploring the external environment of China along with the internal environment analysis of the firm. After that, the potential risks of entering the Chinese restaurant market are analyzed. Then in the analysis section detailed discussion of the competitors, cultural dimension, competitive advantages of the firm is executed. Recommendations in the short term, medium term as well as long term are also discussed. Contents Executive Summary......................................................................................................................2 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................4 Risk of entering China ....................................................................................................................................9 Analysis ............................................... .....................................................................................10 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................15 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................16 Reference ....................................................................................................................................19 Introduction International trade has intensified to mammoth levels with the advent of globalization and influx of free trade regime in the modern world. Different sectors of production are engaged in the global business with various goods and services and their exchange. The increasing scope of business corporations in the herald of the 21st century is involving much attention and this trend is defined as a stretch of human imagination (Okoro, 2012, p. 130).The co mpanies and organizations involved in diverse fields of production are expanding their business neglecting geographical barriers and expanding internationally for establishing robust reputation in the global business dimension and also operating in a rigorous manner taking advantage and proper use of environmental, economic, political, cultural factors and so on of these international territories. But successful expansion and proper functioning of business on a new international arena incorporates strategy implementation with dynamic foresight and policies that ensures sustainability and ethical functioning as well as hardcore business motives. Food sector is one of the pioneering domains in the global business forefront and many companies have established their business ventures in the international

Sustainability in operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sustainability in operations - Essay Example Delhaize Group is a retail food stores that has operating since 1867. The Group was founded in Belgium and since inception, the company has been operating quiet well by enhancing its visibility in the market. The company with its effective sustainability has been catering services to a large number of clients in the prime locations of the world (1Delhaize Group SA, 2014). In this regard, the paper elaborates on the different approaches of the sustainability operations that are prevalent in the global world. A detailed review of the sustainability operation practiced by the Delhaize Group has been conducted. Bartlett (2012) defines sustainability, as â€Å"sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs† (pp. 2). This suggest that the present day society is majorly concerned about renewable resources and protecting the same. The development of the different means that would help in protecting the non-renewable resources form depletion is a major need for the present day (Bartlett, 2012). In this respect, Kuhlman and Farrington (2010) noted on the â€Å"optimal theory of exploitation of non-renewable resources† exclaiming that even after the depletion of the different non-renewable resources, the organisations are hardly inclined towards protecting the same. Maintaining sustainability is a further challenge as humans and nature has an opposite mode of operation. The nature follows a strict rule of adaptation as well as harmony whereas humans are majorly focused on conqu ering the nature and its resources. Contextually, Ciegis, Ramanauskiene and Martinkus (2009) stated that owing to the diversified nature of the different program and mode of operations of the different communities, it is difficult to develop a unanimous

Policy Alternatives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Policy Alternatives - Essay Example Due to the financial effects that are projected in the future, the current administration came up with a suggestion that the retirees of the defense department should cater for health care services instead of being provided for free. The government gave a proposal of the retirees paying about $200 per annum towards their health care. As per the calculation of the administration, the country will save approximately $6.7 billion. The other proposal that was also given said that soldiers are supposed to pay into a retirement plan instead of a pension plan (NPR.org, 2011). This shift of perspective will contribute in cutting down the expenses of the defense department. The impacts of this cut are, for instance, the impact of retirees paying $200 per year towards their medical care will save around $6.7 billion for the state. On the other hand, these proposals were not received with acceptance by the defense department. For instance, the protection of military benefits should not in any case undercut the military’s capability to fight and win the war. Despite the impacts, the cuts of the military benefits are seen to be very effective in achieving the goals of the administration. For example, the cutting of health care benefits seems to be effective in that the country will save around $6.7 billion per year (NPR.org, 2011). The paying of soldiers towards their retirement plan instead of the pension plan, will contribute a lot to the reduction of military benefits. The reduction of the military retirement benefits is very effective in the fact that it will assist the country to reduce the expenses towards the defense department (Washington Post, 2015). It will reduce the risk of the country becoming unable to pay the troops in the near future. From the text, it is evident that military retirement benefits cost the Pentagon around $50 billion per year. The expense is more than the

Business Entities, Laws, and Regulations Research Paper

Business Entities, Laws, and Regulations - Research Paper Example In this scenario, Mei-Lin is the hiring manager of a new construction company called Surebuild Inc. This corporation has advertised a position of jackhammer operator, and Mei-Lin is facing a challenge of determining the best applicant fit for the job. She wants to treat each applicant equally, and determine the most qualified under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (Steingold, 2011). In the United States, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is charged with the duty of enforcing federal laws, which make it illegal to discriminate against an employee or job applicant due to an individual’s religion, race, age, sex, color, race, genetic information and disability (Steingold, 2011). ...Michelle is a 35-year-old high school graduate. She has experience in operating jackhammer, although she is currently pregnant. Mei-Lin cannot choose to discriminate against Michelle just because she is pregnant. She is, therefore, a legitimate applicant for the job. Nick is a 23-year- old college graduate, but with no experience in operating jackhammer. He has epilepsy, and this cannot prevent him from getting this job. This is because the federal law states that no applicant or employee should be discriminated against because of disability (Meiners & Ringleb, 2011). Felipe, who is the final applicant, is 38 years old without a high school diploma, and she does not speak English. She can be dismissed on the grounds that she does not have a high school diploma. The hiring manager can, therefore, choose either Nick or Michelle as the best applicants for the jackhammer operator position. Restaurant/Bar Business Starting up a sports bar and restaurant will be a difficult task for both Jose and Lou. This is because they do not have enough capital, and they will consider bringing in Miriam to provide the finances. This business will, therefore, be formed under the Partnership Agreement Act. In this scenario, Jose, Lou, and Miriam will be partners in the sports bar and restaurant, however, daily running of the business will be done by Jose and Lou only. In this partnership agreement, Miriam will only contribute capital in return for a profit. All the partners will have liability and share loses because each of them has something to lose. Most of loses will be directed to Jose and Lou because both of them are responsible for the daily running of the business. Opening sports bar and restaurant business require food and liquor licenses.

History of linux Essay Example for Free

History of linux Essay The History of Linux began in 1991 with the commencement of a personal project by a Finnish student, Linus Torvalds, to create a new operating system kernel. Since then the resulting Linux kernel has been marked by constant growth throughout its history. Since the initial release of its source code in 1991, it has grown from a small number of C files under a license prohibiting commercial distribution to its state in 2009 of over 370 megabytes of source under the GNU General Public License. Events leading to creation The Unix operating system was conceived and implemented in the 1960s and first eleased in 1970. Its availability and portability caused it to be widely adopted, copied and modified by academic institutions and businesses. Its design became influential to authors of other systems. In 1983, Richard Stallman started the GNU project with the goal of creating a free UNIX-Iike operating system. As part of this work, he wrote the GNU General Public License (GPL). By the early 1990s there was almost enough available software to create a full operating system. However, the GNU kernel, called Hurd, failed to attract enough attention from developers leaving GNU incomplete. Another free operating system project in the 1980s was the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). This was developed by UC Berkeley from the 6th edition of Unix from ATT. Since BSD contained Unix code that ATT owned, ATT filed a lawsuit (USL v. BSDi) in the early 1990s against the University of California. This strongly limited the development and adoption of BSD. MINIX, a Unix-like system intended for academic use, was released by Andrew S. Tanenbaum in 1987. While source code for the system was available, modification and redistribution were restricted. In addition, MINXs 16-bit design was not well adapted to the 32- it features of the increasingly cheap and popular Intel 386 architecture for personal computers. These factors and the lack of a widely-adopted, free kernel provided the impetus for Torvaldss starting his project. He has stated that if either the GNU or 386BSD kernels were available at the time, he likely would not have written his own. The creation of Linux In 1991, in Helsinki, Linus Torvalds began a project that later became the Linux kernel. It was initially a terminal emulator, which Torvalds used to access the large UNIX servers of the university. He wrote the program specifically for the hardware he as using and independent of an operating system because he wanted to use the functions of his new PC with an 80386 processor. Development was done on MINIX using the GNU C compiler, which is still the main choice for compiling Linux today (although the code can be built with other compilers, such as the Intel C Compiler). As Torvalds wrote in his book Just for Fun, he eventually realized that he had written an operating system kernel. On 25 August 1991, he announced this system in a Usenet posting to the newsgroup comp. os. minix. The name Linus Torvalds had wanted to call his invention Freax, a portmanteau of freak, free, and x (as an allusion to Unix). During the start of his work on the system, he stored the files under the name Freax for about half of a year. Torvalds had already considered the name Linux, but initially dismissed it as too egotistical. In order to facilitate development, the files were uploaded to the FTP server (ftp. funet. fi) of FUNET in September 1991. Ari Lemmke, Torvalds coworker at the University of Helsinki who was one of the volunteer administrators for the FTP server at the time, did not think that Freax was a good name. So, he named the project Linux on the erver without consulting Torvalds. Later, however, Torvalds consented to Linux. To demonstrate how the word Linux should be pronounced, Torvalds included an audio guide with the kernel source code. Linux under the GNU GPL Torvalds first published the Linux kernel under its own licence, which had a restriction on commercial activity. The software to use with the kernel was software developed as part of the GNU project licensed under the GNU General Public License, a free software license. The first release of the Linux kernel, Linux 0. 01, included a binary of GNUs Bash shell. In the Notes for linux release 0. 1 Torvalds lists the GNU software that is required to run Linux. In 1992, he suggested releasing the kernel under the GNU General Public License. He first announced this decision in the release notes of version 0. 12. In the middle of December 1992 he published version 0. 99 using the GNU GPL.

Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Causes and Effects

Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Causes and Effects Shalyn Bauer Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome or (NRDS) occurs when a newborn babys lungs are not fully developed. This is often found in premature babies, however there is the occasional case where the baby is not premature. This disease is mainly caused by the lack of a substance called surfactant. Surfactant is a slippery substance made up of a mixture of lipids and proteins that is secreted into the fluid lining of the alveolar space by epithelial type II cells (ScienceDirect). This substance helps fill air in the lungs and keep the air sacs from collapsing. Surfactant usually starts to produce between week 24 through 28 and by week 34 there is enough produced for an infant to breathe normally. This is why a baby born prematurely may not have enough of this substance and have lung problems and difficulty breathing. Babies who are not premature but have NRDS can be caused by the mother having diabetes or poor lung development. Other risk factors include carrying twins or triplets or reduced blood flow during delivery. In a rare case, there may be a problem with a gene which can affect lung development. According to the article Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, Its estimated half of all babies born before 28 weeks of pregnancy will develop NRDS. This has recently gone down due to the fact that a mother can be given a steroid during premature labor. If a premature delivery is expected, a mother can receive corticosteroids which speed up lung production and production of surfactant. NRDS displays symptoms that can be noticed right after being born. For example, a baby with this disease may have a bluish tint to their skin, flaring of nostrils or give off a grunting sound while breathing. In some cases a baby may not experience symptoms right after birth. It can take up to 24 hours before you can tell. Doctors how believe a child may have NRDS will order blood tests to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood and to rule out infections that could cause these symptoms. A doctor will also order a chest X-ray to look over the lungs. A pulse oximetry test, which is a sensor attached to the babys finger, ear or toe to measure how much oxygen is being absorbed into the blood. An infant who is diagnosed with NRDS will be admitted into a neonatal intensive care unit. They will provide the infant with warm moist oxygen and will be monitored closely to ensure the infant will not receive too much oxygen. An infant can be given artificial surfactant which is put in the airway to help restore normal lung function. An infant can also be put on a ventilator to provide extra breathing support. Without proper oxygen intake, a babys organs will not function properly. This is why treatment is crucial when a baby is first diagnosed. The treatment varies based on how severe the case may be. It is said that receiving consistent prenatal care and avoiding smoking, drugs and alcohol can help reduce the risk of premature delivery. There are some complications that come along with NRDS. This disease can be fatal in some cases. According to the article, Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome In more severe cases theres a risk of further problems. These can include scarring to the lungs, leading to longer-term breathing problems. Theres also a risk of brain damage, which may result in problems such as learning difficulties. Complications vary based on the severity of the case. Every baby is different and will experience different complications from the disease. NRDS is a scary diagnose for parents to hear, however the majority of cases can be successfully treated. Works Cited   Ã‚   Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome. MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome. NHS Choices. NHS, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. Medically Reviewed by Tyler Walker, MD on February 18, 2016 Written by Jaime Herndon. Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Healthline. N.p., 18 Feb. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. Role of Pulmonary Surfactant Components in Surface Film Formation and Dynamics. Role of Pulmonary Surfactant Components in Surface Film Formation and Dynamics. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Review of IT Project Management Practices in the UAE

Review of IT Project Management Practices in the UAE A Study on the UAE IT Industry ABSTRACT I keep six honest serving men, (They taught me all I know); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. -Rudyard Kipling This report presents findings of a research project that explored the distinct approaches of UAE-based IT organisations in following different project management practices to deal with their IT projects. Not too much of project management data on UAE IT industry exists today. Therefore it was decided to do a study on it. The research findings are based on a questionnaire survey conducted between July and August 2008 among 200 organisations of UAE. A total of 48 valid responses were received, representing an overall response rate of 24%. The study achieved a primary aim of explanatory and constructivist research, which is to enhance knowledge and understanding of a phenomenon. An emergent-based, general systems approach was adopted for the whole project. General System theory is a holistic and analytical approach to solving complex problems. It recognizes relativity of perception and is a general science of wholeness (Bertalanffy, 1968). The theory was used to break down the whole research technique into various components yet still maintaining the integrity of the research objective. A key finding was the high amount of failure risks that came along with IT projects. In addition, it was found that project management added a lot of value to IT projects and if carried out efficiently it could help avoid the failure risks. A surprise discovery was that although most of the organisations valued project management a lot, they did not have a dedicated Project Management Office (PMO) in place. Further, it was found out that high involvement of external organisations could be one of the factors responsible for the high amount of risks involved with IT projects. It was observed that 25% of the project managers were not aware of the project management maturity levels of their organisations. Project managers seemed to have tough times managing time, cost and risk in IT projects. Also, most of the organisations did not believe in recording the lessons learned and hence knowledge was not transferred to the new projects from the previous ones. Strong indicators probably exist to warrant further research into investigating the basic reasons behind a high percentage of failed IT projects. Further research into the relationship between project management methodology and project success seems warranted on behalf of the indicators provided by the respondents. INTRODUCTION I have not failed. Ive just found 10,000 ways that wont work. -Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) If your project doesnt work, look for the part that you didnt think was important   Arthur Bloch The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. -Albert Einstein (1879-1955) The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. -Bill Gates The Roman bridges of antiquity were very inefficient structures. By modern standards, they used too much stone, and as a result, far too much labor to build. Over the years we have learned to build bridges more efficiently, using fewer materials and less labor to perform the same task. -Tom Clancy (The Sum of All Fears) In 1986, Alfred Spector, president of Transarc Corporation, stated that bridge building could be compared to software development. He added, The premise: Bridges are usually built on-time, on-budget, and do not collapse. On the other hand, software never comes in on-budget or on-time. Also, it always breaks down. One of the biggest reasons why bridges come in on-time, on-budget and do not collapse is because their designs are extremely detailed. Once the designing phase is over, it is then frozen and the contractor has very little flexibility in changing the specifications. However, in todays fast moving business environment, having a frozen design in place means no changes in the business practices. Therefore efforts must be made to use a more flexible model. This could be and has been used as an explanation for development failure. But beside 3,000 years of experience, there is another difference between software failures and bridge collapses. When a bridge collapses, investigation is carried out and a report is written on the cause of the failure. It is not so in the IT industry where failures are covered up, ignored, and/or rationalized. As a result, the same mistakes are repeated over and over again. According to the Standish Group report, more than $250 billion is spent every year on IT application development of approximately 175,000 projects in the United States. The average cost of a development project for a small company is $434,000; for a medium company, it is $1,331,000; and for a large company, it is $2,322,000. A great number of these projects will fail. IT projects have always known to be in chaos. The research showed that a staggering 31.1% of projects got canceled before they ever got completed. Further results indicated that 52.7% of projects had cost 189% of their original estimates. The cost of these failures and overruns were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The lost opportunity costs were not measurable, but could easily be in trillions of dollars. The extent of this problem can be realized by looking at example of the City of Denver. The failure to produce reliable software to handle luggage at the new Denver airport was costing the city $1.1 million per day. Based on this research, in 1995 American companies and government agencies spent $81 billion for canceled software projects. These same organisations paid an additional $59 billion for software projects that were completed, but had exceed their original time estimates. Risk is always a factor when pushing the technology envelope, but many of these projects were as ordinary as a driving license database, a new accounting package, or an order entry system. On the success side, the average was only 16.2% for software projects that were completed on-time and on-budget. In the larger companies, the news was even worse: only 9% of their projects came in on-time and on-budget. And, even when these projects were completed, many were no more than a mere shadow of their original specification requirements. Projects completed by the largest American companies had only approximately 42% of the originally-proposed features and functions which goes to show that these projects lacked scope management. Smaller companies fared much better in this aspect. 78.4% of their software projects got deployed with at least 74.2% of their original features and functions. 48% of the IT executives in the research sample felt that there were more failures during that period than those five years ago. But it was also observed that over 50% felt that there were fewer or the same number of failures at that point of time than there were five and ten years ago. So the Standish Group reported an improvement in IT project success rates and claimed that it was due to an increased ability to know when to cancel failing projects. Standish Group Chairman Jim Johnson commented: The real improvement that I saw was in our ability to-in the worlds of Thomas Edison-know when to stop beating a dead horseEdisons key to success was that he failed fairly often; but as he said, he could recognize a dead horse before it started to smellIn information technology we ride dead horses-failing projects-a long time before we give up. But what we are seeing now is that we are able to get off them; able to reduce cost overrun and time overrun. Thats where the major impact came on the success rate. (Cabanis, 1998) There is a new or renewed interest in project management today as the number of projects continues to grow and their complexity continues to rise. As already observed, the success rate of IT projects has more than doubled since 1995, but still only about a third are successful in meeting scope, cost, and time goals. More and more projects and organisations can succeed consistently by adopting a more disciplined approach to managing projects. Research Objectives This study provides first-hand information on success and failure rates of IT projects in the UAE and on distinct approaches and methodologies followed by all different kinds of IT organisations in governing IT projects. It also aims to survey attitudes of organisations towards distinct project management processes like cost management, time management, risk management, etc. and establish a future direction for organisations so that they realize the value of the most significant process groups of project management and do not neglect them in the forthcoming projects. It could be useful in the following four areas : (1) it can be helpful for relevant government departments in preparing strategies for project management in the IT industry; (2) it can promote the awareness of commercial benefits of project management among managers in IT companies of UAE and encourage them to seriously consider project management in their businesses; (3) it can increase the competence and confidence in applying project management by local companies by providing management guidance on the selection and development of project management methodologies; and (4) it can be beneficial to the educational institutions of UAE for teaching and conducting further research on information technology project management. According to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), the IT industry consists of three primary sub-sectors : firstly, Technology Software Services, including companies that primarily develop software in various fields such as the Internet, applications, systems, databases management and/or home entertainment, and companies that provide information technology consulting and services, as well as data processing and outsourced services; secondly Technology Hardware Equipment, including manufacturers and distributors of communications equipment, computers and peripherals, electronic equipment and related instruments; and thirdly, Semiconductors Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers. This particular report is confined to the use of project management among the areas of Technology Software Services and Technology Hardware Equipment only. The research was not conducted on the Semiconductors Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers in UAE. Contents of this Report Chapter Two introduces project management and its significance for any business sector. It then demonstrates the rapid growth in adoption of project management in IT projects. This is followed by a synopsis of the UAE market and the UAE IT industry. The chapter ends signifying the impact of project management on the UAE IT industry. Chapter Three expands on the significance of project management as viewed through academic literature. This outlines how project management is known to add value to IT projects and some characteristics observed by organisations that have gone through the process of formalizing project management (Center for Business Practices). Using past works of the last 20 years, it also highlights the most predominant factors responsible for high failures rates of IT projects. This is followed by views of authors on various project management process groups and methodologies. Having discussed not only the pros of project management but also the problems faced during the entire process, Chapter Four is concerned with the research methodology and detailed analysis of the survey conducted. Chapter Five brings out the key survey findings in detail and compares these with the literature surveyed in Chapter Two indicating the extent to which the survey findings break new ground. Chapter Six builds up on the key findings outlined here, their practical implications, and a look towards how this research could be developed. This includes a brief description of limitations of this study and of recommendations on how these limitations could be overcome in subsequent studies. BACKGROUND Project management is the most critical business skill and competency of today that forms the basic building block of a knowledge based company for businesses and professions in oil and gas, petroleum, petrochemicals, chemicals, metal and mining, infrastructures, buildings, IT, Healthcare, Finance, Telecoms, Manufacturing, and many more services and banking industries. Project management was declared to be the best career on earth by the Fortune magazine. Recently, PMI reported that nowadays more and more organisations and government agencies are adopting and making project management a strategic competency. Information systems (IS) and information technologies (IT) are the fastest growing industries in developed and most of the developing countries. Huge amounts of money are still being invested in these industries (Abdel-Hamid Madnick, 1990). Every organisation wants to gain a competitive advantage, maintain it and lead from the front. Hence, there is a corresponding pressure to increase productivity. To maintain a competitive edge in todays fast-changing world, the success of an organisation depends on effectively developing and adopting information systems. According to Zells (1994) and other studies, approximately 85% of IT projects under-taken in the western countries are at the lowest level of capability maturity model (CMM). The challenges at this level are to have project planning, project management, configuration management, and quality assurance in place and have them working effectively. To improve project delivery performance, a number of organisations are adopting project management approaches and setting up project management offices (Barnes, 1991; Butterfield Edwards, 1994; King, 1995; Munns Bjeirmi, 1996; Raz, 1993; Redmond, 1991). Current literature on IT projects shows that most of the IT problems are not technical, they are of management, organisational or behavioral nature. (Johnston, 1995; Martin, 1994; Whitten, 1995). Fishers (1991) survey of technology firms showed that if project management improved, time and cost could be reduced by more than 25% and profits would increase by more than 5%. This has since been validated by using different project management methodologies and analyzing the extent to which these practices can be adopted, based on internal benchmarking by the companies involved in the field trials. The UAE Market the UAE IT Industry UAE has realised the significance of project management in the IT due to its rapid growth in the IT industry. As expected by Business Monitor International (BMI), the total size of the UAE IT market is to increase from around US$3.4bn in 2007 to close to US$4bn in 2012. With IT a key element of the Emirates development, a number of major local and federal government initiatives together with a strong and diversifying economy should ensure continued growth over the forecast period. Meanwhile, the oil-led boom across the Middle East will continue to be a boost to IT and infrastructure spending in the UAE. (Marketresearch.com, 2007) As per the BMI report, the federal government is also encouraging the development of smart cities, another regional trend. In 2007 the government announced that its target of getting 90% of businesses online by the end of the year was likely to be met. Services are becoming an increasingly significant component of many deployment contracts, as evidenced by recent projects by leading UAE corporations such as Emirates Airlines and the local telecom provider Etisalat. Investment is expected to be strongest in the government, financial, and oil and gas verticals. Other key non-oil sectors driving the economy include banking and finance, which are likely to be the single largest industry vertical in terms of IT investments over the forecast period. Real estate has also experienced a massive investment boom in the past five years, and this is expected to continue and grow, with the National Bank of Dubai projecting at least US$50bn in outlays in property development in the emirate by 2010. (Mindbranch.com, 2007) Industry Developments The BMI report states that the UAE federal governments recently announced UAE Strategic Plan calls for a strengthening of e-government programmes. The focus of the programme is to support implementation of programmes at federal government level. The federal government ministries have often lagged behind progress by the leading local governments, particularly Dubai. As such, Dubai government, which has had many of its departments and services online for some time, will lend expertise to the project. However, local government continues to dominate and accounts for around 20% of total IT Services spending. Dubai Municipality announced that it expects to spend anything between US$1.6mn and US$2.2mn per year over the next few years implementing its plan of getting 90% of government services online. It is likely the organisation will spend at least US$2.8mn annually on e-government initiatives. Abu Dhabi is accelerating its efforts to emulate Dubai, led by the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Committee (ADSEIC), a body created in 2005 to develop and drive initiatives to transform government services in the Emirate. (Marketresearch.com, 2007) From the above trend, it can be observed that the number of IT jobs in UAE has gone up by 5000 percent since 2005. This goes to show how rapidly the UAE IT Industry has grown in the past three years and that it is still going strong. Competitive Landscape According to BMI, with government accounting for as much as 40% of IT spending, and e-government programmes alone around half that, vendors are continuing to find opportunities. Recently the Ministry of Development for the Government sector signed a strategic agreement with Microsoft Gulf whereby Microsoft will support federal e-government programmes with training and technical support. Under the agreement Ministries will also use legal Microsoft software. Meanwhile, the leading body for Abu Dhabis e-government programme, the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Committee (ADSIC) signed an Enterprise Licence Agreement with Oracle. The agreement establishes Oracle as a key technology partner and provides for the Abu Dhabi Government to buy Oracle software solutions and support and maintenance services. The continuing growth in PC sales in 2007 in the UAE did not significantly alter the competitive landscape of a market which accounts for approximately 40% of the overall regional PC sales. Today the market remains dominated by international players such as Acer, Dell and HP with the top five brands accounting for more than 50% of the market. Meanwhile, the share held by local assemblers continues to dwindle, due in part to their relative weakness in the growth area of notebooks. However, local assemblers hope that their future will be brighter since UAE-based firms such as Sky Electronics have already been fighting back. (Mindbranch.com, 2007) Hardware The UAE hardware market is estimated at about US$1.4bn in 2007, which shows a 12% growth from US$1.2bn in 2006, and is one of the largest in the region. Much of the growth is due to small and medium enterprise spending, particular on mobile computers, which are expected to account for around 60% of sales over the forecast period. Notebooks are also proving to be popular with the consumer segment, particularly with the introduction of features such as integrated wi-fi, webcam and entertainment features such as HD DVD. Sales of PC notebooks and accessories have been expected to reach more than US$1bn by the end of 2008, while the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2007 to 2012 period as a whole is expected to be in the region of 8%. Current and future investments in education and e-government, fuelled by new oil revenues, will lead to desktop rollouts in schools, colleges and government offices across the Emirates. (Marketresearch.com, 2007) Software BMI estimates that the UAEs software spending will pass US$400mn in 2008, representing around 17% of the IT expenditure. CAGR for spending on packaged software is put at 10% over the 2007 to 2012 period, with the UAE being of the regions fastest-growing ERP markets, as more businesses realise the benefits of efficient management of resources within their internal processes. The UAE also has one of the regions lowest software piracy rates at just 35% according to the Business Software Association (BSA), which has praised the UAE government and Ministry of Economy for its efforts in promoting anti-piracy initiatives. The government has combated illegal software in a number of ways, both through anti-piracy legislation and enforcement measures. Customer relationship management (CRM) will be one of the growth areas with fewer than 2% of small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Middle East region having a specialised CRM application in place. BMI predicts plenty of room for growth in the forecast period as numerous untapped sub-sectors still exist. Key verticals include process manufacturing (mainly oil and gas), followed by the financial services industry. Two other key segments are the telecom and the public sectors. During the next five years high-growth categories are set to include CRM, enterprise resource planning (ERP) business intelligence, s torage and security products. (Mindbranch.com, 2007) IT Services BMI expects that the IT Services market will reach a value of more than US$1,003mn by 2012, with outsourcing accounting for an increasingly large portion of up to 25%. IT services revenues compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the 2006 to 2012 period is expected to be 10%, encouraging vendors to shift their focus away from simply shifting boxes. Services are becoming an increasingly significant component of many deployment contracts, as evidenced by recent projects by leading UAE corporations such as Emirates Airlines and Etisalat. Outsourcing is also predicted to be a growing trend, with recent landmark outsourcing deals awarded by entities such as the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA)and civil service departments. Global vendors such as IBM Global Services are competing for its business with local companies such as Injazat Data Systems, which with its good government connections has grown to be a major force in the market, reporting BPO deals with 13 leading priva te and public organisations. (Marketresearch.com, 2007) E-Readiness The recent Global Information Technology report sponsored by Cisco noted the UAEs success in creating a good ICT environment by placing it top of the rankings for 122 countries. The survey, which looks at the preference of countries to leverage the opportunities offered by ICT for development and increased competitiveness, praised the UAEs good regulatory environment, and clear government leadership in leveraging IT and promoting its use. According to the report, ICT has empowered individuals and revolutionised the business and economic landscape while fostering social networks and companies. Overall internet penetration in the UAE was estimated at close to 40% by the end of 2006, far above the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) average, reflecting the UAEs status as one of the most advanced IT countries in the middle-east. Broadband penetration is around 10% and is expected to rise 60% over the forecast period. In terms of e-government development, additional new phases to be introduced in the project last year (as mentioned in the Industry Developments section) include e-portal, e-project, the HR Management System (HRMS) and the Financial Management Integration System (FMIS) projects. The e-government High Committee has expressed satisfaction with the progress made on implementation of the e-government initiative to date. (Mindbranch.com, 2007) Impact of Project Management on the UAE IT Industry Project management has already had a significant impact on IT organisations in UAE and much more dramatic effects are anticipated for the years to come. Greater attention needs to be paid to the interaction of information technology with business methods, work patterns, employees and organisational culture. It was observed that not too much of research work has been carried out on project management in the IT industry of UAE and this is the precise reason why this study was conducted on the UAE market. LITERATURE REVIEW If we built houses the way we build software, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization. John J. Hamre, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Phillips (2004) states that IT project management could be as as exciting as a white water rafting excursion or as painful as a root canal. In addition, Anthes (2008) points out that IT project management has always earned a high ranking on the annual list of IT managers worries, but in the first-half of the 2008 Vital Signs survey, it took the No. 1 spot. In other words, the process is all about efficiently handling the complexities that come along with IT projects, right from the word go. The study aims to investigate on how difficult it is for organisations to manage IT projects efficiently. Richardson et al. (2006) claims that project failure is based not only on economic criteria but also on requirements, cost and time parameters. He builds up his reasoning by citing examples of the following project surveys : The Robbins-Gioia Survey (2001) The Conference Board Survey (2001) The KPMG Canada Survey (1997) The Chaos Report (1995) According to IT Cortex (2004), the results of these surveys showed that most of the organisations suffered from high project failure rates and that they heavily exceeded the time and budget constraints. Similarly, Schwalbe (2007) reports that IT projects come along with high failure risks. He defends his thoughts with a study which was conducted by the Standish Group (CHAOS) in 1995. In the survey it was found that only 16.2% of IT projects were successful and over 31% were cancelled before completion, costing over US$81 billion in the US alone. However, when the CHAOS study was conducted again in 2001, the results showed improvements in all areas but still only 28% of IT projects succeeded. The 2001 Standish Group report findings as compared to those of the 1995 report were as follows : Time overruns significantly decreased from 222% to 163% Cost overruns were down from 189% to 145% Required features and functions were up from 61% to 67% Successful IT projects rose from to 16% to 28% One of the objectives of this report is to carry out similar work on finding the failure rates of IT projects but on the UAE market, one on which not much research has been carried out till date. In many previous studies, project failures due to time delay, cost overrun, and abandonment of IT projects have been widely reported (Bailey, 1996; Gibbs, 1994; Lucas, 1995; Martin, 1994; Ward, 1994). In other industries, causes of project failures are investigated and reports written, but in the IT industry their causes are either covered up or ignored. As a consequence, the IT industry keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over again (Johnston, 1995). This report takes this a step further by observing what percentage of IT organisations in UAE believe in maintaining project reports and lessons learned logs for their subsequent projects. In many previous studies, the most commonly reported causes of IT project failure were traced out. They were as follows (based on a content analysis of the cited literature): Misunderstood requirements (business, technical, and social) (King, 1995; Lane, Palko, Cronan, 1994; Lavence, 1996); Optimistic schedules and budgets (Martin, 1994); Inadequate risk assessment and management (Johnston, 1995); Inconsistent standards and lack of training in project management (Jones, 1994; OConner Reinsborough, 1992; Phan, Vogel, Nunamaker, 1995); Management of resources (people more than hardware and technology) (Johnston, 1995; Martin, 1994; Ward, 1994); Unclear charter for a project (Lavence, 1996); Lack of communication (Demery, 1995; Gioia, 1996; Hartman, 2000; Walsh Kanter, 1988). On the other hand, Karten studies reasons for failure by compiling a list of ten ways that can guarantee project failure : Abbreviate the planning process Dont ask what if? Minimize customer involvement Select team members by seeing who is available regardless of skill Work people long and hard Dont inform management of problems Allow changes at any point Discourage questions from team members Dont give customers progress reports Dont compare project progress with project estimates However, this survey goes a bit deeper and also explores the role of project management methodologies and process groups in helping deliver successful projects. The project management frameworks which are rapidly gaining recognition are ITIL, PMBOK and PRINCE2 (Phillips, 2004). Although Leuenberger (2007) considers ITIL to be one of the worlds best ways to align IT with business objectives, he also claims that his research conducted through IDC shows points out that 60% of mid-sized businesses in Australia either are unaware of, or have no plans to implement ITIL and also that on a global scale, only 20% of the mid-market companies are currently using ITIL. In contrast to ITIL, PMI claims that it has grown to become the most widely recognized and the only global certification for the project management profession with more than 260,000 members in over 171 countries. The survey aims to study the UAE IT industry and clarify such claims made by authors and institutes so that the growth of IT project governance methodologies can in an IT industry of a booming economy can be analyzed. Bainey (2004) states that so many IT projects tend to go over budget, run behind schedule, and deliver products or services poor in quality due to the negligence of integration, consistency and standardization. The report builds up on this by going ahead and investigating the significance of integration management for project managers. Harris (2005) asserts that it is high time that the PMO function is placed in its proper organisational alignment. He believes that not only can it combine the corporate planning process with effective delivery of products and services but also provide external clients with traditional client services for the enterprise as a whole or for respective enterprise business unit Review of IT Project Management Practices in the UAE Review of IT Project Management Practices in the UAE A Study on the UAE IT Industry ABSTRACT I keep six honest serving men, (They taught me all I know); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. -Rudyard Kipling This report presents findings of a research project that explored the distinct approaches of UAE-based IT organisations in following different project management practices to deal with their IT projects. Not too much of project management data on UAE IT industry exists today. Therefore it was decided to do a study on it. The research findings are based on a questionnaire survey conducted between July and August 2008 among 200 organisations of UAE. A total of 48 valid responses were received, representing an overall response rate of 24%. The study achieved a primary aim of explanatory and constructivist research, which is to enhance knowledge and understanding of a phenomenon. An emergent-based, general systems approach was adopted for the whole project. General System theory is a holistic and analytical approach to solving complex problems. It recognizes relativity of perception and is a general science of wholeness (Bertalanffy, 1968). The theory was used to break down the whole research technique into various components yet still maintaining the integrity of the research objective. A key finding was the high amount of failure risks that came along with IT projects. In addition, it was found that project management added a lot of value to IT projects and if carried out efficiently it could help avoid the failure risks. A surprise discovery was that although most of the organisations valued project management a lot, they did not have a dedicated Project Management Office (PMO) in place. Further, it was found out that high involvement of external organisations could be one of the factors responsible for the high amount of risks involved with IT projects. It was observed that 25% of the project managers were not aware of the project management maturity levels of their organisations. Project managers seemed to have tough times managing time, cost and risk in IT projects. Also, most of the organisations did not believe in recording the lessons learned and hence knowledge was not transferred to the new projects from the previous ones. Strong indicators probably exist to warrant further research into investigating the basic reasons behind a high percentage of failed IT projects. Further research into the relationship between project management methodology and project success seems warranted on behalf of the indicators provided by the respondents. INTRODUCTION I have not failed. Ive just found 10,000 ways that wont work. -Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) If your project doesnt work, look for the part that you didnt think was important   Arthur Bloch The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. -Albert Einstein (1879-1955) The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. -Bill Gates The Roman bridges of antiquity were very inefficient structures. By modern standards, they used too much stone, and as a result, far too much labor to build. Over the years we have learned to build bridges more efficiently, using fewer materials and less labor to perform the same task. -Tom Clancy (The Sum of All Fears) In 1986, Alfred Spector, president of Transarc Corporation, stated that bridge building could be compared to software development. He added, The premise: Bridges are usually built on-time, on-budget, and do not collapse. On the other hand, software never comes in on-budget or on-time. Also, it always breaks down. One of the biggest reasons why bridges come in on-time, on-budget and do not collapse is because their designs are extremely detailed. Once the designing phase is over, it is then frozen and the contractor has very little flexibility in changing the specifications. However, in todays fast moving business environment, having a frozen design in place means no changes in the business practices. Therefore efforts must be made to use a more flexible model. This could be and has been used as an explanation for development failure. But beside 3,000 years of experience, there is another difference between software failures and bridge collapses. When a bridge collapses, investigation is carried out and a report is written on the cause of the failure. It is not so in the IT industry where failures are covered up, ignored, and/or rationalized. As a result, the same mistakes are repeated over and over again. According to the Standish Group report, more than $250 billion is spent every year on IT application development of approximately 175,000 projects in the United States. The average cost of a development project for a small company is $434,000; for a medium company, it is $1,331,000; and for a large company, it is $2,322,000. A great number of these projects will fail. IT projects have always known to be in chaos. The research showed that a staggering 31.1% of projects got canceled before they ever got completed. Further results indicated that 52.7% of projects had cost 189% of their original estimates. The cost of these failures and overruns were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The lost opportunity costs were not measurable, but could easily be in trillions of dollars. The extent of this problem can be realized by looking at example of the City of Denver. The failure to produce reliable software to handle luggage at the new Denver airport was costing the city $1.1 million per day. Based on this research, in 1995 American companies and government agencies spent $81 billion for canceled software projects. These same organisations paid an additional $59 billion for software projects that were completed, but had exceed their original time estimates. Risk is always a factor when pushing the technology envelope, but many of these projects were as ordinary as a driving license database, a new accounting package, or an order entry system. On the success side, the average was only 16.2% for software projects that were completed on-time and on-budget. In the larger companies, the news was even worse: only 9% of their projects came in on-time and on-budget. And, even when these projects were completed, many were no more than a mere shadow of their original specification requirements. Projects completed by the largest American companies had only approximately 42% of the originally-proposed features and functions which goes to show that these projects lacked scope management. Smaller companies fared much better in this aspect. 78.4% of their software projects got deployed with at least 74.2% of their original features and functions. 48% of the IT executives in the research sample felt that there were more failures during that period than those five years ago. But it was also observed that over 50% felt that there were fewer or the same number of failures at that point of time than there were five and ten years ago. So the Standish Group reported an improvement in IT project success rates and claimed that it was due to an increased ability to know when to cancel failing projects. Standish Group Chairman Jim Johnson commented: The real improvement that I saw was in our ability to-in the worlds of Thomas Edison-know when to stop beating a dead horseEdisons key to success was that he failed fairly often; but as he said, he could recognize a dead horse before it started to smellIn information technology we ride dead horses-failing projects-a long time before we give up. But what we are seeing now is that we are able to get off them; able to reduce cost overrun and time overrun. Thats where the major impact came on the success rate. (Cabanis, 1998) There is a new or renewed interest in project management today as the number of projects continues to grow and their complexity continues to rise. As already observed, the success rate of IT projects has more than doubled since 1995, but still only about a third are successful in meeting scope, cost, and time goals. More and more projects and organisations can succeed consistently by adopting a more disciplined approach to managing projects. Research Objectives This study provides first-hand information on success and failure rates of IT projects in the UAE and on distinct approaches and methodologies followed by all different kinds of IT organisations in governing IT projects. It also aims to survey attitudes of organisations towards distinct project management processes like cost management, time management, risk management, etc. and establish a future direction for organisations so that they realize the value of the most significant process groups of project management and do not neglect them in the forthcoming projects. It could be useful in the following four areas : (1) it can be helpful for relevant government departments in preparing strategies for project management in the IT industry; (2) it can promote the awareness of commercial benefits of project management among managers in IT companies of UAE and encourage them to seriously consider project management in their businesses; (3) it can increase the competence and confidence in applying project management by local companies by providing management guidance on the selection and development of project management methodologies; and (4) it can be beneficial to the educational institutions of UAE for teaching and conducting further research on information technology project management. According to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), the IT industry consists of three primary sub-sectors : firstly, Technology Software Services, including companies that primarily develop software in various fields such as the Internet, applications, systems, databases management and/or home entertainment, and companies that provide information technology consulting and services, as well as data processing and outsourced services; secondly Technology Hardware Equipment, including manufacturers and distributors of communications equipment, computers and peripherals, electronic equipment and related instruments; and thirdly, Semiconductors Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers. This particular report is confined to the use of project management among the areas of Technology Software Services and Technology Hardware Equipment only. The research was not conducted on the Semiconductors Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers in UAE. Contents of this Report Chapter Two introduces project management and its significance for any business sector. It then demonstrates the rapid growth in adoption of project management in IT projects. This is followed by a synopsis of the UAE market and the UAE IT industry. The chapter ends signifying the impact of project management on the UAE IT industry. Chapter Three expands on the significance of project management as viewed through academic literature. This outlines how project management is known to add value to IT projects and some characteristics observed by organisations that have gone through the process of formalizing project management (Center for Business Practices). Using past works of the last 20 years, it also highlights the most predominant factors responsible for high failures rates of IT projects. This is followed by views of authors on various project management process groups and methodologies. Having discussed not only the pros of project management but also the problems faced during the entire process, Chapter Four is concerned with the research methodology and detailed analysis of the survey conducted. Chapter Five brings out the key survey findings in detail and compares these with the literature surveyed in Chapter Two indicating the extent to which the survey findings break new ground. Chapter Six builds up on the key findings outlined here, their practical implications, and a look towards how this research could be developed. This includes a brief description of limitations of this study and of recommendations on how these limitations could be overcome in subsequent studies. BACKGROUND Project management is the most critical business skill and competency of today that forms the basic building block of a knowledge based company for businesses and professions in oil and gas, petroleum, petrochemicals, chemicals, metal and mining, infrastructures, buildings, IT, Healthcare, Finance, Telecoms, Manufacturing, and many more services and banking industries. Project management was declared to be the best career on earth by the Fortune magazine. Recently, PMI reported that nowadays more and more organisations and government agencies are adopting and making project management a strategic competency. Information systems (IS) and information technologies (IT) are the fastest growing industries in developed and most of the developing countries. Huge amounts of money are still being invested in these industries (Abdel-Hamid Madnick, 1990). Every organisation wants to gain a competitive advantage, maintain it and lead from the front. Hence, there is a corresponding pressure to increase productivity. To maintain a competitive edge in todays fast-changing world, the success of an organisation depends on effectively developing and adopting information systems. According to Zells (1994) and other studies, approximately 85% of IT projects under-taken in the western countries are at the lowest level of capability maturity model (CMM). The challenges at this level are to have project planning, project management, configuration management, and quality assurance in place and have them working effectively. To improve project delivery performance, a number of organisations are adopting project management approaches and setting up project management offices (Barnes, 1991; Butterfield Edwards, 1994; King, 1995; Munns Bjeirmi, 1996; Raz, 1993; Redmond, 1991). Current literature on IT projects shows that most of the IT problems are not technical, they are of management, organisational or behavioral nature. (Johnston, 1995; Martin, 1994; Whitten, 1995). Fishers (1991) survey of technology firms showed that if project management improved, time and cost could be reduced by more than 25% and profits would increase by more than 5%. This has since been validated by using different project management methodologies and analyzing the extent to which these practices can be adopted, based on internal benchmarking by the companies involved in the field trials. The UAE Market the UAE IT Industry UAE has realised the significance of project management in the IT due to its rapid growth in the IT industry. As expected by Business Monitor International (BMI), the total size of the UAE IT market is to increase from around US$3.4bn in 2007 to close to US$4bn in 2012. With IT a key element of the Emirates development, a number of major local and federal government initiatives together with a strong and diversifying economy should ensure continued growth over the forecast period. Meanwhile, the oil-led boom across the Middle East will continue to be a boost to IT and infrastructure spending in the UAE. (Marketresearch.com, 2007) As per the BMI report, the federal government is also encouraging the development of smart cities, another regional trend. In 2007 the government announced that its target of getting 90% of businesses online by the end of the year was likely to be met. Services are becoming an increasingly significant component of many deployment contracts, as evidenced by recent projects by leading UAE corporations such as Emirates Airlines and the local telecom provider Etisalat. Investment is expected to be strongest in the government, financial, and oil and gas verticals. Other key non-oil sectors driving the economy include banking and finance, which are likely to be the single largest industry vertical in terms of IT investments over the forecast period. Real estate has also experienced a massive investment boom in the past five years, and this is expected to continue and grow, with the National Bank of Dubai projecting at least US$50bn in outlays in property development in the emirate by 2010. (Mindbranch.com, 2007) Industry Developments The BMI report states that the UAE federal governments recently announced UAE Strategic Plan calls for a strengthening of e-government programmes. The focus of the programme is to support implementation of programmes at federal government level. The federal government ministries have often lagged behind progress by the leading local governments, particularly Dubai. As such, Dubai government, which has had many of its departments and services online for some time, will lend expertise to the project. However, local government continues to dominate and accounts for around 20% of total IT Services spending. Dubai Municipality announced that it expects to spend anything between US$1.6mn and US$2.2mn per year over the next few years implementing its plan of getting 90% of government services online. It is likely the organisation will spend at least US$2.8mn annually on e-government initiatives. Abu Dhabi is accelerating its efforts to emulate Dubai, led by the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Committee (ADSEIC), a body created in 2005 to develop and drive initiatives to transform government services in the Emirate. (Marketresearch.com, 2007) From the above trend, it can be observed that the number of IT jobs in UAE has gone up by 5000 percent since 2005. This goes to show how rapidly the UAE IT Industry has grown in the past three years and that it is still going strong. Competitive Landscape According to BMI, with government accounting for as much as 40% of IT spending, and e-government programmes alone around half that, vendors are continuing to find opportunities. Recently the Ministry of Development for the Government sector signed a strategic agreement with Microsoft Gulf whereby Microsoft will support federal e-government programmes with training and technical support. Under the agreement Ministries will also use legal Microsoft software. Meanwhile, the leading body for Abu Dhabis e-government programme, the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Committee (ADSIC) signed an Enterprise Licence Agreement with Oracle. The agreement establishes Oracle as a key technology partner and provides for the Abu Dhabi Government to buy Oracle software solutions and support and maintenance services. The continuing growth in PC sales in 2007 in the UAE did not significantly alter the competitive landscape of a market which accounts for approximately 40% of the overall regional PC sales. Today the market remains dominated by international players such as Acer, Dell and HP with the top five brands accounting for more than 50% of the market. Meanwhile, the share held by local assemblers continues to dwindle, due in part to their relative weakness in the growth area of notebooks. However, local assemblers hope that their future will be brighter since UAE-based firms such as Sky Electronics have already been fighting back. (Mindbranch.com, 2007) Hardware The UAE hardware market is estimated at about US$1.4bn in 2007, which shows a 12% growth from US$1.2bn in 2006, and is one of the largest in the region. Much of the growth is due to small and medium enterprise spending, particular on mobile computers, which are expected to account for around 60% of sales over the forecast period. Notebooks are also proving to be popular with the consumer segment, particularly with the introduction of features such as integrated wi-fi, webcam and entertainment features such as HD DVD. Sales of PC notebooks and accessories have been expected to reach more than US$1bn by the end of 2008, while the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2007 to 2012 period as a whole is expected to be in the region of 8%. Current and future investments in education and e-government, fuelled by new oil revenues, will lead to desktop rollouts in schools, colleges and government offices across the Emirates. (Marketresearch.com, 2007) Software BMI estimates that the UAEs software spending will pass US$400mn in 2008, representing around 17% of the IT expenditure. CAGR for spending on packaged software is put at 10% over the 2007 to 2012 period, with the UAE being of the regions fastest-growing ERP markets, as more businesses realise the benefits of efficient management of resources within their internal processes. The UAE also has one of the regions lowest software piracy rates at just 35% according to the Business Software Association (BSA), which has praised the UAE government and Ministry of Economy for its efforts in promoting anti-piracy initiatives. The government has combated illegal software in a number of ways, both through anti-piracy legislation and enforcement measures. Customer relationship management (CRM) will be one of the growth areas with fewer than 2% of small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Middle East region having a specialised CRM application in place. BMI predicts plenty of room for growth in the forecast period as numerous untapped sub-sectors still exist. Key verticals include process manufacturing (mainly oil and gas), followed by the financial services industry. Two other key segments are the telecom and the public sectors. During the next five years high-growth categories are set to include CRM, enterprise resource planning (ERP) business intelligence, s torage and security products. (Mindbranch.com, 2007) IT Services BMI expects that the IT Services market will reach a value of more than US$1,003mn by 2012, with outsourcing accounting for an increasingly large portion of up to 25%. IT services revenues compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the 2006 to 2012 period is expected to be 10%, encouraging vendors to shift their focus away from simply shifting boxes. Services are becoming an increasingly significant component of many deployment contracts, as evidenced by recent projects by leading UAE corporations such as Emirates Airlines and Etisalat. Outsourcing is also predicted to be a growing trend, with recent landmark outsourcing deals awarded by entities such as the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA)and civil service departments. Global vendors such as IBM Global Services are competing for its business with local companies such as Injazat Data Systems, which with its good government connections has grown to be a major force in the market, reporting BPO deals with 13 leading priva te and public organisations. (Marketresearch.com, 2007) E-Readiness The recent Global Information Technology report sponsored by Cisco noted the UAEs success in creating a good ICT environment by placing it top of the rankings for 122 countries. The survey, which looks at the preference of countries to leverage the opportunities offered by ICT for development and increased competitiveness, praised the UAEs good regulatory environment, and clear government leadership in leveraging IT and promoting its use. According to the report, ICT has empowered individuals and revolutionised the business and economic landscape while fostering social networks and companies. Overall internet penetration in the UAE was estimated at close to 40% by the end of 2006, far above the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) average, reflecting the UAEs status as one of the most advanced IT countries in the middle-east. Broadband penetration is around 10% and is expected to rise 60% over the forecast period. In terms of e-government development, additional new phases to be introduced in the project last year (as mentioned in the Industry Developments section) include e-portal, e-project, the HR Management System (HRMS) and the Financial Management Integration System (FMIS) projects. The e-government High Committee has expressed satisfaction with the progress made on implementation of the e-government initiative to date. (Mindbranch.com, 2007) Impact of Project Management on the UAE IT Industry Project management has already had a significant impact on IT organisations in UAE and much more dramatic effects are anticipated for the years to come. Greater attention needs to be paid to the interaction of information technology with business methods, work patterns, employees and organisational culture. It was observed that not too much of research work has been carried out on project management in the IT industry of UAE and this is the precise reason why this study was conducted on the UAE market. LITERATURE REVIEW If we built houses the way we build software, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization. John J. Hamre, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Phillips (2004) states that IT project management could be as as exciting as a white water rafting excursion or as painful as a root canal. In addition, Anthes (2008) points out that IT project management has always earned a high ranking on the annual list of IT managers worries, but in the first-half of the 2008 Vital Signs survey, it took the No. 1 spot. In other words, the process is all about efficiently handling the complexities that come along with IT projects, right from the word go. The study aims to investigate on how difficult it is for organisations to manage IT projects efficiently. Richardson et al. (2006) claims that project failure is based not only on economic criteria but also on requirements, cost and time parameters. He builds up his reasoning by citing examples of the following project surveys : The Robbins-Gioia Survey (2001) The Conference Board Survey (2001) The KPMG Canada Survey (1997) The Chaos Report (1995) According to IT Cortex (2004), the results of these surveys showed that most of the organisations suffered from high project failure rates and that they heavily exceeded the time and budget constraints. Similarly, Schwalbe (2007) reports that IT projects come along with high failure risks. He defends his thoughts with a study which was conducted by the Standish Group (CHAOS) in 1995. In the survey it was found that only 16.2% of IT projects were successful and over 31% were cancelled before completion, costing over US$81 billion in the US alone. However, when the CHAOS study was conducted again in 2001, the results showed improvements in all areas but still only 28% of IT projects succeeded. The 2001 Standish Group report findings as compared to those of the 1995 report were as follows : Time overruns significantly decreased from 222% to 163% Cost overruns were down from 189% to 145% Required features and functions were up from 61% to 67% Successful IT projects rose from to 16% to 28% One of the objectives of this report is to carry out similar work on finding the failure rates of IT projects but on the UAE market, one on which not much research has been carried out till date. In many previous studies, project failures due to time delay, cost overrun, and abandonment of IT projects have been widely reported (Bailey, 1996; Gibbs, 1994; Lucas, 1995; Martin, 1994; Ward, 1994). In other industries, causes of project failures are investigated and reports written, but in the IT industry their causes are either covered up or ignored. As a consequence, the IT industry keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over again (Johnston, 1995). This report takes this a step further by observing what percentage of IT organisations in UAE believe in maintaining project reports and lessons learned logs for their subsequent projects. In many previous studies, the most commonly reported causes of IT project failure were traced out. They were as follows (based on a content analysis of the cited literature): Misunderstood requirements (business, technical, and social) (King, 1995; Lane, Palko, Cronan, 1994; Lavence, 1996); Optimistic schedules and budgets (Martin, 1994); Inadequate risk assessment and management (Johnston, 1995); Inconsistent standards and lack of training in project management (Jones, 1994; OConner Reinsborough, 1992; Phan, Vogel, Nunamaker, 1995); Management of resources (people more than hardware and technology) (Johnston, 1995; Martin, 1994; Ward, 1994); Unclear charter for a project (Lavence, 1996); Lack of communication (Demery, 1995; Gioia, 1996; Hartman, 2000; Walsh Kanter, 1988). On the other hand, Karten studies reasons for failure by compiling a list of ten ways that can guarantee project failure : Abbreviate the planning process Dont ask what if? Minimize customer involvement Select team members by seeing who is available regardless of skill Work people long and hard Dont inform management of problems Allow changes at any point Discourage questions from team members Dont give customers progress reports Dont compare project progress with project estimates However, this survey goes a bit deeper and also explores the role of project management methodologies and process groups in helping deliver successful projects. The project management frameworks which are rapidly gaining recognition are ITIL, PMBOK and PRINCE2 (Phillips, 2004). Although Leuenberger (2007) considers ITIL to be one of the worlds best ways to align IT with business objectives, he also claims that his research conducted through IDC shows points out that 60% of mid-sized businesses in Australia either are unaware of, or have no plans to implement ITIL and also that on a global scale, only 20% of the mid-market companies are currently using ITIL. In contrast to ITIL, PMI claims that it has grown to become the most widely recognized and the only global certification for the project management profession with more than 260,000 members in over 171 countries. The survey aims to study the UAE IT industry and clarify such claims made by authors and institutes so that the growth of IT project governance methodologies can in an IT industry of a booming economy can be analyzed. Bainey (2004) states that so many IT projects tend to go over budget, run behind schedule, and deliver products or services poor in quality due to the negligence of integration, consistency and standardization. The report builds up on this by going ahead and investigating the significance of integration management for project managers. Harris (2005) asserts that it is high time that the PMO function is placed in its proper organisational alignment. He believes that not only can it combine the corporate planning process with effective delivery of products and services but also provide external clients with traditional client services for the enterprise as a whole or for respective enterprise business unit