Cold environments may be developed Essay

Cold environments may be developed in a sustainable manner. To what extent do you agree with this statement? I disagree with this statement more than I agree with it. Cold environments in the world that were previously wilderness areas have undergone development, and nearly all of them have proved to be unsustainable. In the alpine areas, the mountains are a major magnet because of the scenery and the wide variety of winter sports that can take place there. The Alps have been developed as a tourist area. Although tourism benefits the area economically, it is socially and environmentally unsustainable. Tradition and culture has been eroded away because many young people now go down the mountains into urban areas in search of jobs. Even though the tourist industry has encouraged many young farmers to diversify out of rural and primary activities, many people still leave. Aside from that, the tourist industry brings with it unwanted pollution and litter and also causes footpath erosion. The tourist industry is also a potential hazard to the mountains and villages because the winter sports activities taking place there may cause avalanches. In the tundra or arctic regions, development has not been sustainable either, also both environmentally and socially. Gold, and particularly oil exploration and exploitation have scarred the fragile landscape. In 1968, the Trans-Alaskan pipeline was built from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. Not only were there leakage problems of the oil pipeline associated with earthquakes and permafrost, but it also interfered with the migration of caribou on land and salmon in the rivers. Aside from that, in the 1989, there was the problem of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which polluted the ocean and killed hundreds of birds and marine wildlife. Oil exploration and the invasion of the Europeans into Inuit territory were also socially unsustainable. The traditional way of life was lost as many Inuits were forced to live the ‘white’ way and many Inuit children were taken from their parents and educated in missionary schools. Their traditional ways of hunting were also lost due to severe regulations on gun control and the introduction of currency into their simple economy. The latter was also the cause of excessive and unsustainable sealing and hunting in the tundra and arctic lands. Although the areas around the Southern Ocean have not been developed, vast quantities of natural fish, seal and whale resources have been taken out. On South Orkney Island, seals were completely depleted by 1800. Whaling began in the 1840s but was unsustainable as well, and ended in 1965 because stocks were exhausted. Fish stocks such as cod and krill have also become severely depleted in recent years. Although institutes such as the International Whaling Convention, the Marine Resources Institute and the CCAMLR were set up, illegal fishing and whaling have led to the depletion of natural resources. In Grytviken and Stromness, abandoned buildings have become an eyesore because they were not cleared away. Attempts at developing Antarctica have been made, mainly in the form of tourism. This is the only cold environment development that can be said to be sustainable. Strict IAATO guidelines on tourist behaviour, controlled numbers of tourists and the harsh climate of Antarctica have made the area difficult to develop. Scientific and research stations, although few, have contributed to waste generated in the area, along with footpath erosion. Most of the waste is shipped to the UK for processing, but what remains cannot decompose easily in the cold climate. Due to efforts of the Antarctic Treaty ratified in 1991 and much pressure from the environmental groups however, the Antarctic region has largely remained untouched. Where development takes place, it cannot be said to be sustainable, because changes have to be made to the area to accommodate people and people contribute to environmental degradation at the very least, even if great care is taken not to disturb or disrupt natural environments. The development of cold environments is mainly unsustainable, although tourism in Antarctica seems to be otherwise. Who knows, however, whether it will remain sustainable in the future because of increased tourism, or because of better technology to fuel mass tourism.

“Death Stars” by Paz Marquez Essay

The short story centers on the character of Alfredo Salazar who is the main protagonist of this tale. The protagonist of the story is very vulnerable in realms of love. This is a short story that revolves around the love affair of Alfredo, Julia and Esperanza. Alfredo who is the son of the old man Don Julian, a more than 30 year man and a bachelor, he is in a 4 year long engagement with his fiancà ©e Esperanza but his feelings has been shipped to Julia Salas when he thinks he was instantly fell in love with her when he first met her who is a relative of the judge and started to have deep conversation with her. He experiences an immediate attraction to her, but alas, he is soon to be married with his fiancà ©e. He conservatively flirts with Julia through secret meetings and subtle declarations, but in the end, he lets her go, with her gaining the late knowledge of his impending marriage. He was trap in his own complication in choosing what he wants to do and what he wants to have. B ut society strict rules required him to restrain such unwelcome emotions and so he proceeded to marry Esperanza. But in the very end, he found himself merely infatuated with Julia after he deliberately made a decision by choosing Esperanza. But it is really ashamed that it has taken him far too long, too many years wasted, to realize his feelings for the other woman was just like a death star, a star that sparkles and light radiate from it which he seeks love Julia but only to found out that light of the star no longer exist in the world. If he realize this earlier on by his own error but clouded by lusting for love blinded him to do so, he can be truly happy all those years with Esperanza in their marriage long ago instead of just being not unhappy in his marriage and instead of Esperanza behavior being an out of reach for him which I think that Esperanza know who is the woman that he tries to go after which is tragic that I do feel sorry for her in her situation, obviously taking her for granted in my opinion and her behavior is understandable after what this man have done even though there i s no physical cheating involve but still classifies him in the level of cheating where his emotional detachment to her and a sudden attachment to Julia unfaithfulness which is cheating. Alfredo himself wants what he really wanted and what he really felt. He wanted to live. He wanted to find love. He is clung to that dream of his  through Julia which in reality in the end of the story does not really exist in the first place. He long yearns for his long lost love for Julia is what he been thinking all these years when he visited her at her hometown on his business trip who is still unmarried to which is only to come realize the woman he felt in love with is only a mere fragment of his imagination that wasn’t there in the beginning. Dead stars are celestial bodies in the solar system that have long been extinguished, but can still be seen. What he felt for Julia was long gone that it never exist in the first place just like a pattern of his imagination gone wild. So all these years he had been seeing the light of dead stars, long extinguished, yet seemingly still in their appointed. In the story, dead stars symbolize a dream for something that is nonexistent, a thing that is only a distant memory even though the person he vastly desired love from before which the person is right next to him standing suddenly feel like it never occur at all but only the mere illusions of the fabric of the dark shadows of reality. I feel sympathy for Alfredo in the story, he was describe physically an ordinary man who probably makes a living as a lawyer or something, engage with his fiancà ©s for years who is very patience in waiting because that this time era, woman have to wait on the man.

Research Paper Taxation Essay

Wage is the fixed amount of compensation for service rendered covering a fixed period of time, usually hours, or fixed amount of work. It is usually a compensation given to skilled and unskilled labor. Commission is usually a wage given to skilled and unskilled labor. Commission is usually a wage given to a salesperson based on the amount of his sales. This amount is usually added to basic salary. Bonus is given to simulate employees to work more efficiently and effectively (Valencia & Roxas, 2009) To make sure that employees comply with BIR regulation and local government laws, companies must include crucial employee and company information in their payroll systems. Setting up and running the different components that comprise a payroll system requires due diligence and adequate knowledge of tax legislation. Employee’s benefits In Philippine Accounting Standards (PAS) 19, paragraph 7 states that employees benefits are all forms of consideration given by an entity in exchange of services rendered by employees. These benefits may be paid directly to the employee’s or to their dependents, such as their children or spouses. These can be settled by payment in cash in form goods and services. Paragraph 4 of PSAS 19 enumerates the following four classes: (a) short term employee benefits; (b) post-employment benefits; (c) other term employee benefits; and, (d) termination. Employee information During the new hire process, companies must collect information such as medical insurance and W-2 forms to determine what should be deducted from an employee’s paycheck. These forms also provide employers which crucial information, such as the employee’s Social Security number and their withholding amount for government tax purposes. The systems must also track and process changes made to the employee’s tax exemption status, pensions, insurance plans or retirement funds. Salary information As part of the new hire process, payroll systems include a component that designates which employees are full time, part time and contractors. Classifying worker in a payroll system is important since the government levies high penalties on companies that categorize employees incorrectly. Applicable taxes and deductions The National internal Revenue Code (R. A 8424) requires the employer to withhold portion of the salaries earned by employees that will at least approximate an income tax due of the earner relative to the income earned. The monthly or semi-monthly withholding s taxable could be obtained from the BIR to serve as guide as to what amount to be withheld from the salary of the employee (http://www. ehow. com/list_6725482_components-payroll-system. html, 17 July 2010). In preparing a payroll, certain government mandated contributions needed to be deducted from the gross play of each employee. These include withholding taxes, PAG-IBIG, SSS (Social Security System) and PhilHealth contributions. Withholding taxes is remitted to BIR while PAG-IBIG is remitted to Home Development and Mutual Fund (HDMF) (Cabrera, Ledesma & Lupisan, 2009). Other payroll withholdings include employee contributions to benefits, retirement accounts, and charities, these are determined by the employee during the fringe benefits selection process offered by their employer and must be taken into account as well as any employer matches when reporting payroll . Methods of Payroll Computation A payroll system involves everything that has to do with the payment of employees and the filing of employment taxes. This includes keeping track of hours, calculating wages, withholding taxes and other deductions, thus appropriate methods must be applied in the computation to achieve a desirable output. More and more aspects of payroll are being handled electronically. Methods include direct paycheck deposit, debit cards, payroll and non-payroll, use Web-based information system to allow employees access, with a secure password, to their individual payroll records including pay stubs, an earnings record and in some cases, employer information, such as the company manual or health insurance plan overview (Banning, 2008) Giove (1993) stated the seven methods for computing payroll: Hourly Rate Plan Employees paid on an hourly rate plan receive a fixed amount for each hour they work. An employee’s regular earnings are equal to the employee’s hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours worked during the payroll period. Salary Plan Salaried employees receive a fixed amount for each payroll period, whether weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly. If an employee on the salary plan works less than the regular hours during a payroll period, the employer may deduct for the time lost, although in most cases the employer does not make such a deduction. Regular earnings would be determined by multiplying that hourly rate by the actual number of hours the employee worked during the payroll period. Overtime Pay All employees in all establishments and undertakings whether for profit or not are entitled to overtime pay for work rendered beyond eight (8) hours. But this does not apply to managerial employees, field personnel, and members of the family of the employer who are dependent on him for support, domestic helpers, person in the personal service of another, and workers who are paid by results. Employees in the government are also entitled to overtime pay but they are governed by Civil Service laws and rules. Only employees in the private sector are covered by the Labor Code. Guaranteed Wage It is a written agreement to pay an employee a guaranteed minimum amount regardless of the hours worked, with an extra half-hour premium for hours over 40. Piece – Rate Plan It is a compensation plan whereby employee earnings depend on the units produced. Commission Plan Sales commission plans vary greatly from company to company but are generally based on the sales made during payroll period. Combination Plan This is a compensation method whereby employees receive a fixed amount of salary for each payroll period plus an extra amount for production (piece-work) or sales (commission). Timekeeping Records Accurate timekeeping is an essential part of an efficient payroll system. Every business must have an orderly method of recording the hours employees worked during the payroll period. The time records show the date and the time the workweek starts, the number of hours worked each day, and the total hours worked during the week. Time records are filed after the payroll is prepared and, in accordance with the requirements of the law, retained up to three years. The most common methods of timekeeping use a time clock with timecards or a time sheet. There are two primary reasons to maintain accurate payroll records. First, is the collection of the data necessary to compute the compensation for each employee for each payroll period. Second, provision of information needed to complete the various government report-federal and state- required of all employees. All business enterprise both large and small are required by law to withhold certain amounts from employees’ pay for taxes, to make payment to government agencies by specific deadlines, and submit reports on official forms. (McQuaig & Bille, 2008). Other Aspects of Payroll Accounting System Payroll Register The payroll register summarizes employee earnings and deduction information in a journal entry that is inserted into the general ledger for accounting and general research purposes. Payroll registers are also used to create tax report. These documents are prepared by payroll staff or generated using payroll computer system. Payroll Services The meteoric success of payroll services is not accidental, but rather a reflection of the business community’s willingness to outsource the tedious and complex task of payroll accounting to outside specialists. The upside of outsourcing payroll is that payroll services ensure that the company complies with laws pertaining to payroll. That is a big deal considering the time investment it would take the payroll officer to stay current on payroll-related legislation. Another big plus is that payroll services are responsible for keeping track of each employee’s accumulated earning, tax withholding, and other information needed to issue W-2 forms at the end of the year. They also stay on top of things like direct deposits, salary adjustment, quarterly tax payments and all of the other details that can be distraction from the important job of leading the company (http://Gaebler. com/payroll-services, 8 Aug, 2010). In-house Payroll If contracting a payroll service does not sound like a good fit for a business, the management also has the option of doing it in-house. But if the management plans on saving money by personally administering the payroll, having more alternatives will be a better idea. Even if the company only has a few employees, dealing with payroll-related details can be a waste of time. Instead, designating the job to an employee who can give it the time it requires so precious time can be dedicated to other things (http://Gaebler. com/in-house-payroll, 8 Aug, 2010). Whoever ends up doing payroll in the company will be happy to know that there is a lot of software out there to help them. In fact, most accounting software solutions have payroll modules. Start by assessing the capability of their current accounting software program. If it does not have a built-in payroll function, chances are it is available from the manufacturer as an add-on. If it is not, then the company needed to decide whether to change accounting to one that does or attempt to find a payroll program that is compatible with the current system. Either way, it is worth the time to find a computerized system that meets the company’s needs rather than trying to do it the old-fashioned way. Internal Control A district’s accounting and payroll functions are critical for the maintenance of a solid financial foundation. Accurate and timely financial reports are crucial to administration and board decision-making. Payroll must be accurate, as it represents the district’s largest budgeted expenditure. Internal controls must safeguard the district’s assets from misappropriation. Payroll processing is an error prone activity. If organizations have just one or two employees it may seem relatively easy to compute salaries outstanding, taxes etc, but as small business starts adding employees they find spending more and more time in computation of salaries including variable pay. Errors are common in the full and final settlement and increases when employees join in the middle of a term as the processes are manual (http://ezinearticles. om/? expert=Mikael Anderson, 4 Aug, 2010). Waterhouse (2010) said in one of his studies that the objective of internal controls for payroll is to ensure that payroll disbursements are properly recorded and that related legal requirements (such as payroll tax deposits) are complied with. Segregation of duties is an effective internal control. The bank reconciliation clerk reconciles the bank accounts and is not involved in processing or approving items for payment. A payroll administrator, supervisor, specialist and six clerks perform the payroll function. The Human Resources Department (HRD) enters employee data into a database share by Personnel and Payroll and sets the rate of pay. The software system controls the ability of individuals to change information based on their access to the system. This prevents unauthorized individuals from changing this information (http://window. state. tx. us, 6 Aug, 2010). Gelinas, Sutton and Hunton (2005) included in their study some of the procedures that can be used to prevent or detect schemes. First is the direct deposit of payroll to eliminate alteration, forgery and theft of paper check. Second, is checking for duplicate names, addresses, and Social Security number in the employee data, finally is comparing actual to budgeted payroll. Expense Accounts are often an area of fraud and abuse. This include: (a) using legitimate documentation from personal expense for the business expenses; (b) overstating expenses by altering receipts; (c) submitting fictitious expenses by submitting copies of invoices. Such abuses can be minimized by formulating reasonable policies that compensate employees for their out-of-pocket expenses. Copies of invoices should only be accepted in extreme circumstances. Finally, expense account activities should be monitored on a regular basis to detect unusual patterns (Gelinas, Sutton & Hunton, 2005). Payroll Fraud Connection Payroll, similar to cash disbursements, is an area ripe with fraud potential. After all, large organizations will make thousands of payments to employees for payroll and expenses account reimbursement every payroll period. Firth (2006) expresses that Payroll Fraud is an important issue that needs to be addressed by both Finance and Payroll professionals. Some of the key activities need to be considered include: improving the quality of master file data, reviewing the end to end payroll process, and reviewing the people that are performing each step in the payroll function. It is worth remembering that improving each of these areas will not only reduce the risk of payroll fraud, it will also result in many other business improvements right across the organization. Here are some of the types of payroll frauds, along with the median loss for each to an employer: (a) Ghost Employee, employees do not actually work for the company but receives paychecks. These can be recently departed employees or made-up persons; (b) Falsified hours and salary, employees exaggerate the time that they work or are able to increase the salary in their employee date; (c) Commission Schemes, employees falsify the sales on which commissions are based or increase the commission rate in their employee date; and, (d) False worker’s compensation claims, employees fake injuries to collect disability payments (Gelinas, Sutton & Hunton 2005).

Possible Pre-conditions for the Check Availability of Seats Essay

Possible Pre-conditions for the Check Availability of Seats - Essay Example In case of unavailability of user requested seat system will show an error message to enter the number of needed seats.To check â€Å"Availability of Seats† user needs to open the system section that is related to the booking of seats. In that section, a user needs to take care of all parameters regarding the data validity.   This section will outline some of the possible post-conditions of the Check Availability of Seats use case. In case of unavailability of a number of seats, the system will send a message to save the request. In this case, customer request will be processed later when seats are available regarding any excursion.In case of any wrong entry in the system data fields, the system will send an error message and indication of wrong values need to be resolved.In case of bus unavailability system will send the request to pending (waiting) list that will be preceded later on system user confirmation.To check â€Å"Availability of Seats† user needs to fill a ll the fields using a proper way. In case of any wrong entry system will show an error message.

To be Determined Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

To be Determined - Essay Example ’s grand architecture, the roads that traversed forty thousand kilometers of rugged terrain, thousands of provincial installations†¦or the government designed to manage the whole affair† (D’Atroy 3). However, such a large civilization could not be completely wiped out, and in modern day Peru there are still remnants of the old Inca culture and customs. While the empire does not exist in the ways it did from the thirteenth till sixteenth centuries, the influence of the Inca empire is undeniable. It is often times difficult to discern between myth and legends while researching the history of the Incas as their oral tradition often wove these together with facts: â€Å"None of Peru’s ancient cultures used the written word. They depended upon oral tradition, ceramics, painting† (Starn 15). While it is not certain exactly how much truth there is surrounding, it is generally believed that Manco Capac helped found the city of Cuzco after 1200 CE. Cuzco would grow to be the center of the entire Inca empire, but it grew rather slowly for several centuries. As far as the myth behind the origins of the Incas, Tici Viracocha is the creator god. Inti is the sun god, the son of Tici Viracocha. The sun was worshipped above everything else in Inca culture, and Inti was their highest god. The other gods included Mamaquilla, the moon goddess, Pachmama, the Earth goddess, Mamasera, corn goddess, Mamaqocha, and the ocean goddess. Tici Viracocha was supposed to have emerged from Lake Titicaca and destroyed the inhabitants of the surrounding regions of the lake after angering him. Tici Viracocha then populated the region with his own descendants. Nature was also worshipped in general, and more specifically animals such as jaguars and locations such as mountains were also worshipped. Sacrifices of food and animals were made to the gods, and human sacrifices were rather seldom in Inca culture, especially when compared to other empires such as the Aztecs. Inti, the

Journal paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Journal paper - Essay Example There is, therefore, need to find a viable and cheaper means to handle the illness. The implication of this research is that cinnamon could be used alongside other forms of treatments to regulate blood pressure and blood glucose in type 2 diabetes patients. This experiment was conducted according to proper scientific method. First, it has a hypothesis to be tested (Kumar, 2005). The experiment aims to prove that cinnamon may be used to lower blood pressure and glucose in type 2 diabetes patients. Secondly, the experiment uses scientific methods of collecting data. These are sampling, observation, description and the use of measurements (Kumar, 2005). It has a sample of 58 respondents on an intake 2g of cinnamon every day for 12 weeks. An observation is made at the end of the 12 weeks. However, additional research is needed to establish the efficacy of cinnamon in lowering blood pressure and blood glucose in type 2 diabetes patients. Further experiments are needed to establish the compatibility of cinnamon with other dietary options for managing diabetes. Therefore, further experiments need to administer cinnamon alongside other dietary options. Nevertheless, this research is useful in the management of type 2

Elderly Abuse and Neglect in the United States Essay

Elderly Abuse and Neglect in the United States - Essay Example At another context, it involves taking or misusing an elderly persons money or property (Lindberg, 2008). It should be noted that it is not only what is done, but also the failure to do what should be done that can count as elderly abuse; consider situations where the elder is neglected, unfed, and untreated for sickness. This happens in reality, whether done purposefully by the caretaker or merely due to neglect. Actions against the older person such as over- or under-medicating, depriving the elder of food and water, or exposing the elderly to severe weather are all considered as elder abuse, whether intentional or unintentional (Keita, 2007). Elder abuse can happen in hospitals or nursing homes. Take for example the case of Jennifer Matthew Nursing Home in Rochester, New York. An investigation was started at the nursing facility due to suspicions of elderly abuse. Family members agreed that cameras be put in relative’s bedrooms and the living facilities in order to prove negligent care on the part of the nursing facility. The captured videos showed residents left in their own waste for hours, unmoved in their beds for days, in overheated rooms, and left without a call button to ask for help or assistance (ABC News, 2006). The conditions are outright sickening, much more so to think that the nursing staff was just seen watching movies, sleeping and even leaving the facility. It does not reflect well of how elders should be treated, which should be with care, kindness, and attention as they have once cared for us and have been there to watch over us and help us grow. On January 20th 2006, after much controversy, the nursing home was finally closed due to grave cases of neglect. This is not the only case of elderly abuse. Sadly, there are many similar cases of elder abuse across the country. A study conducted by the minority staff of the Special Investigations Division of the House Government Reform Committee

Human resources management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Human resources management - Essay Example The human resource officials the mandate to ensure that diversity at the work place is well managed and utilized to achieve organizations goals and objectives(Joshi & Jackson, 2008). Actually, diversity at the work place if utilized well, it will see number of experiences and abilities put in place to solve organizations problems in a myriad ways. Thus, this is likely to bring about services that are much more all-inclusive in the process since almost different groups of customers will be represented in the workforce. A number of issues are associated with the management of diversity for human resource personnel. To begin with, the human resource officer has to ensure that they have attracted different kinds of workers with diversity to apply (Shen, Chanda, D’Netto, & Monga, 2009). The human resource manager has to ensure that description of a job is not discriminatory to any group that may be intending to work in that institution. Instead, it should be designed in a way to show that it welcomes everybody irrespective of his or her race, experience, age or even gender. Secondly one of the issues that manager has to deal with is ensuring that the recruitment process effectively targets the diverse groups. The recruitment process should ensure that it has gotten all the types of people that it needs to achieve its goals and objectives. Lastly, the human resource office has to deal with the potential biasness in the recruitment process. According to Podsiadlowski, Grà ¶schke, Kogler, Springer, & van der Zee,(2013) ignoring diversity has more harm to the organization than good. For instance, the issue can cost an organization a lot of time, efficiency and money. For instance, it will take more time for members of an organization to integrate out the requirements of the human resource office. This would not be the case if the officer understands the differences and

The form of local government and his structure Essay

The form of local government and his structure - Essay Example Out of 39 counties of Washington, 33 are non-charter, which run the government of commission form offered by the state. Under the commission form, the county government is governed by a body that consists of three members of commissioner’s board who are elected. The election is based on partisan and serves as a legislative body of the county as well as performing executive functions. Counties with greater population of more than 300,000 can add the number of commission members from three to five. On the other hand, home rule charter can offer counties with officers that they regard it necessary in carrying out functions of the county (County of Washington, 2014). Referendum has influenced the local politics of Washington. It has helped to protect the rights of the citizens through direct democracy. Therefore, it has enabled the citizens of Washington to eliminate government that is representative and to remedy it when it turns to be misrepresentative. In addition, the petition process has been utilized in the county government of Washington. It has given the citizens of Washington superiority that is automatic and sovereignty above government that is representative. More over, the recall is constitutionally defined for the citizens of Washington. It allows citizens to remove and substitute a public official before the term ends in the office. Citizens initiate the process of petition, and if it goes through it eliminates an official elected from office through recalling the official’s elections. Besides, democratic reform trilemma has also brought great influence to the citizens of Washington based on three characteristics. These characteristics include participation, deliberation, and equality (Washington County, 2014). Participation enhances extensive participation in the process of decision making by the affected people. Deliberation enables a balanced discussion where all main points of view are prejudiced based on

New Business Venture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

New Business Venture - Essay Example Entrepreneurship and new business launch is always associated with meeting the challenges successfully. However, in order to achieve the success in creating a new business and successfully manage it is critical that the overall idea behind the creation of the business is commercially viable and can provide the desired returns. The analysis of the factors such as PESTLE provide a critical insight into the changing nature of the external environment and how entrepreneurs can actually take advantage of such changes to materialize them into successful businesses. This paper also presented a discussion on the particular mindset and individual characteristics which are required to successfully spot the new opportunities and convert them into the new businesses. Entrepreneurship and new business launch is always associated with meeting the challenges successfully. However, in order to achieve the success in creating a new business and successfully manage it is critical that the overall idea behind the creation of the business is commercially viable and can provide the desired returns. It is always important that the new ideas should be properly addressed and developed into successful business provided they have the potential to become successful business. Idea creation is one of the key areas for the new entrepreneurs and it is critical that the idea is properly transformed successfully. However, in order to achieve this, it is critical that the overall attractiveness of the products and services which will be delivered as a result of the new ideas, timeline involved, product value and durability of the products and services to be created as a result of this should justify the introduction of a new product, service or business. (Sorensen, La ssen., & Hinson,2007). This memo will deliberate on a new business opportunity which author considers as an important and believes that can add value to the firm. However, in order to convince the management of the firm and to present the ideas in the more meaningful manner, this memo will attempt to discuss different factors which may affect the new business opportunity for the firm. Apparently, this memo will deliberate on these factors and provide an objective analysis of how these factors can actually contribute towards the successful development of the new business opportunity into a commercially viable business. Description of the product It is a important that a complete description of the product is provided in the memo. The manager must include the relevant and important characteristics of the product to convince the manager that the proposed product can actually add value to the organization. Following information can be included regarded the description of the product: â €Å"The product to be developed and subsequently marketed by the firm is based upon a software program which can add value to the firm’s existing portfolio of software products. This new software will be based upon cutting edge technology and will attempt to offer the features and attributes which are not available in the

Technology and its advantages Essay Example for Free

Technology and its advantages Essay Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has served as a tool to improve the standard of living in most countries. We receive a lot of benefits from modern technology in everyday life. The benefit can be so great that you notice it, or something small you can take for granted. Modern technology has solved many problems that people face and play an important role in the development of many countries. Modern technologies create many kinds of products and also a heated controversy. Computers, cloning technology, and video games are some of these technologies. Joshua Quittner writes about the benefits and problems of computer technology in his essay Invasion of Privacy (353). He demonstrates how useful computers are and also how to eliminate problems related to computer use. He insists that the benefits of electronic technologies are worth to the risk of being deprived of his privacy (Quittner 356). In fact, electronic technologies seem almost inevitable in todays society. Other technologies have also contributed to solve other problems as well. For instance, Lee M. Silver states that cloning is a proper operation under the right procedure (364). Although he points out that it will be disastrous if cloning operations are used abusively, he stresses in his essay Jennifer and Rachel that cloning is beneficial for a person who wants to have a child but has problems conceiving one (Silver 363). In When life imitates video, John Leo maintains that violent games reflect recent cruel crimes (360). Because of this, some people are very cautious about the use of those advanced technologies and stressing the drawbacks of them. Most of the drawbacks are preventable with the right education and legal restrictions. Moreover, modern technology becomes not just beneficial but almost essential in recent society because of its great advantages. Providing our society with convenience, safety, and making many things possible are three examples of advantages that modern technology brings us. One of the advantages of modern technology is its convenience. Quittner  writes how people receive benefits from the electric technology in their daily life (354). He gives examples such as ATM, E-Z pass, and online service and shopping (Quittner 354). The benefits are common and we take this convenience for granted as a part of everyday life. However, this was not natural fifty years ago. Before, people needed to wait in a long line at the counter of a teller before withdrawing money. Today, in busy days during Christmas season, people can order a present on line from a computer. They can see a big smile of their family member by giving the present on time. Besides, one can compare cheaper and better goods on line instead of going several shopping malls. This is impossible without modern technology. Of course, there are drawbacks of electric technology such as a matter of privacy. However, they are preventable. Quittner suggests paying cash instead of using credit cards, or refusing to divulge Social Security number as some examples on how to prevent leaks of private information (356). He also mentions that protecting the privacy of E-mail by encrypting it with secret codes so powerful that even the National Security Agencys supercomputers would have a hard time cracking it. (Quittner 357). According to Quittner, this kind of code is legal within the U.S.(357). So if the law for protecting from leaking privacy by electric technology is made universally, the problem of leaking privacy will lessen considerably. I agree with Quittner that the issue of privacy relating to electric technology is mostly preventable by self-protection and legal restriction. Another advantage of technology is to provide society with safety. John Leo warns the potential problem of modern technology such as video game (359). On the contrary, he also partly admits advantages of modern technology if used as a safe tool (Leo 360). For example, he mentions that the army uses shooting games of high quality in their practice (Leo 360). This kind of simulation game is used in aviation practice as well. Repetitious practice of flight games before practical flight will provide the trainees more safety than to beginners with no practice. This will give less injury or accident in flight training. The drawback of this technology warned Leo, is moral deprivation of young children who cannot make a clear distinction between the virtual and real world (Leo 360). As a result, there is the possibility that they might commit a cruel crime like the massacre in the  Littleton without hesitation (Leo 360). However, the connection between the violent game and crime is just a hypothetical possibility. It is natural to think that the cause is relationship between children and grown-ups around them including their parents and their communities. To the certain age when children have a sense of true and false, it is the responsibility of grown-ups to keep them away from violent games. We need to think about relationships with children and their moral education instead of blaming modern technology like video games. The greatest advantage of modern technology is to make impossible things possible. Lee M. Silver writes a story about a single woman called Jennifer who gives birth to her clone called Rachel in his writing Jennifer and Rachel(362). Silver insists the benefit of the technology is to grant a child for infertile people or for someone who wants a child but has no chance to have one. Modern technology contributes to the well being of minorities such as homosexual couples and infertile couples (Silver 364). Silver also mentions the cloned sheep named Dolly. Modern technology including clone technology could give a way to save the world from starvation (365). Cloned cows with traits of cows producing abundant milk will provide stable milk supply to developing countries. Or, other modern technology including genetically modified food also will provide a more stable food supply of plants and vegetables tolerant to cold climate and bugs. People in the developing countries can secure stable food supply and commodity. People insist there might be an ethical issue, however, the fact that technology has brought new options is undoubted. Again, although Silver refers to technology abuse problem relating to modern technology (367), this also can be controlled by emphasizing education and making a new law. Only shifting the society along with the technology changes can solve the problems related to modern technology. It is not the problem of modern technology itself. Modern technologies have settled or lessened many problems and difficulties of the society by its advantages. Making society more convenient and safe and making impossible things possible are similar features of the change which previous people have experienced by social change, like shifting from  a hunting society to an agricultural society and establishing a commercial society due to the invention of new tools. To consider these advantages and change of society, modern technology, which we use today, might be not only a new tool but also the tool, which makes a dramatic change in history. There might be social problems generated by inability to correspond with modern technology use. However, the contribution of modern technology to society should not be eliminated and should be distributed evenly.

Neolithic Art and Architecture Paper Essay Example for Free

Neolithic Art and Architecture Paper Essay During the â€Å"New† Stone Age, also known as the Neolithic Period, art and life in general began to change drastically for humans. Many new onsets began to bloom, for example humans of this time period had begun to live in single locations versus before they were nomadic hunter-gatherers. This new life introduced new challenges and new opportunities. Within this paper I will discuss three Neolithic Locations, Jericho, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, and Stonehenge. Also, what made each of these sites significant, what new forms of buildings were present at each, and what is still perplexing modern day historians and archaeologists about these sites. I will start with the oldest of the three locations from above, Jericho. Jericho is a city of Palestine, but has been under the occupation of many. Its most important fact is that it is one of the oldest known permanently occupied cities in the world, occupied during the Natufian era (10,800 – 8,500 BCE) to present day. It was primarily occupied during a time known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period (PPN: 8,500 – 6,000 BCE), which is further broken down into two more time frames called PPNA (8,500 7,300 BCE) and PPNB (7,300 – 6,000 BCE). Along with being one of the oldest known cities, Jericho shows us that humans of the Neolithic Period had begun to create permanent structures for living. After the domestication of plants and animals it is believed that Jericho was chosen to be a permanent settlement because it was a plateau of the Jordan River valley with a spring that supplied a constant source for water. During the PPNA, oval homes made from mud bricks with roofs made from wooden branches covered in earth began to appear at Jericho. Around 7,500 BCE, a rock-cut ditch and thick walls approximately 5 feet wide surrounded the city. Within the wall there is a single circular tower (fig. 1), approximately 30 feet high and almost 33 feet in diameter. These walls and towers mark the beginning of monumental architecture. Later, during the PPNB era the architects of Jericho began building the homes with rectangular  mud bricks and a plaster-like mud mortar, these houses were made into rectangular shapes due to the rectangular bricks. During this time we can also find evidence of new forms of art, plastered human skulls. It is believed these heads may have been used for a cult or religion of some sort. The heads were formed around a human skulls with the plaster-like mud mortar and then shells were placed in the eyes, and traces of paint were also found to shown a resemblance of skin and hair (fig 2). Next, let’s discuss another major settlement of the Neolithic Period that was formed between 7,000 and 5,000 BCE, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k. This site is important because it is possible to retrace human evolution of the Neolithic culture over the period of approximately 800 years. The people of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k were Neolithic weapon and toolmakers, especially in the use of obsidian. More importantly though was the village itself, it’s architecture and the art that thrived within. Most important about its architecture is that adjoining buildings, meaning it had no streets, formed this village. In July of 2012, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k was inscribed as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site. There are two types of buildings that were constructed within Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, houses and shrines. The houses were made of mud bricks that were strengthened by timber frames. These homes contained no doors, but openings at the top that served as an entrance and a chimney. The interiors were plastered and painted; with platform shelving that was used as sites for sleeping, eating, and working (fig. 3). The dead of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k were buried right under platforms of the homes. Although the houses of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k were decorated on the inside there were other buildings slightly larger that contained more decoration, ornate murals, animal heads, paintings and figurines, are the shrines. These buildings still intrigue archaeologists today, as we do not know their true purpose. Along with the architecture of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, you see the beginning of narrative paintings. Although people had begun to raise animals of their own, hunting still played a major part in human life. This is shown in wall painting from Level III of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k (fig. 4). Also at Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, we find what now referred to as the first map, or the first landscape painting (fig. 5). This landscape painting remained unique for thousands of years, and with carbon dating this painting was executed in or around 6,150 BCE. In addition to painting, at Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k we find sculpture, weaving, pottery  and even techniques of smelting lead. Now let us move on to the most intriguing and puzzling place of these three Neolithic sites, Stonehenge. Stonehenge is a formation of rocks as high as 17 feet and weighing as much as 50 tons. Because these stones are so large historians have called them megaliths, meaning great stones. Stonehenge exists on the Salisbury Plain of southern England. Stonehenge itself is a megalithic monument constructed over the course of several years, in several phases. Stonehenge Phase 1, known as the earthwork monument. The first phase of Stonehenge was begun around 2,950 to 2,900 BCE. During phase one Stonehenge consisted of four sections and two entrances (fig. 6). The four sections are as follows from outside to inside: the Outer bank, the Ditch, the Circular bank, and the Aubrey Holes. The ditch, which is enclosed by two earthen banks, has the same center as the 56 Aubrey Holes inside it, therefore telling historians they came from the same time period. The second phase of Stonehenge is one that still perplexes historians, but the best evidence we have tells us it occurred sometime between 2,900 BCE and 2,550 to 2,400 BCE. During this time of its construction all evidence shows us that Stonehenge was more than likely being used as a cremation site. This phase it is known as the timber monument. All across the in circle of Stonehenge and around both entrance excavations have revealed post-holes which indicate that at this stage in Stonehenge’s construction it was made from timber and not the megalithic stones that now stand. These post-hole sites are divided into three distinct locations, the northeastern entrance, the southern entrance and the confused central pattern. The patterns displayed in the confused central pattern raise many concerns for historians and this is something that still raises questions for them, as it is unknown exactly how big the structures were or how they looked at this time. The third and final phase of Stonehenge is known as the stone monument. This is when what we see today was added to this monument. There are two types of megalithic stones found at Stonehenge, the bluestones and the sarsen stones. The final stage took the form concentric post-and-lintel circles. There are four circles and two horseshoes that were formed in the final stage of Stonehenge. The first two circles formed inside of Stonehenge’s Circular bank are referred to as the Rings of Y and Z Holes. These holes show evidence that Stonehenge may have never been completed, as holes were dug prior to placing stones inside the  monument. Inside of these two circles was a large circle formed out of sarsen stone lintels, then followed by a circle of bluestones. Inside of the two stone circle were the horseshoes, one made of sarsen stones and another inside of that made out of bluestones, with a single stone called the Altar Stone in the center of the bluestone horseshoe (fig. 7). Along the Circular bank four more stones appear, known as the Station Stones. Only two of the four stones still remain, but when you run a line between each of stones it forms a rectangle whose center pinpoints the exact center of the monument. From the center of the monument traveling out toward the northeast entrance you see the last two megaliths of Stonehenge, the Slaughter Stone and the Heel Stone. The Heel stone aligns with the center of Stonehenge at the midsummer solstice, thus giving historians the belief that Stonehenge was used a Calendar. The true use of Stonehenge may never be known, as evidence has also proven that Stonehenge might have been used as an observatory of astronomical aspects. Of these three sites we have learned a lot about our past. We have discovered many forms of artwork, and architectural changes to the human culture. But what we know of these sites is still growing. What will the future hold for us? While we continue to excavate and research these sites, will we find that the humans of Neolithic times were smarter or as smart than we are today? Are there any more new architectural discoveries to be found at these sites? Will we find more art that change the way we look at Art History? These three locations are a vast pile of knowledge still waiting to be discovered and hopefully it will not take us as long to discover the knowledge as it took the ancients to create the locations. Figure 1, Great Stone Tower, Jericho. Reproduced from smarthistory, http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/jericho.html. Figure 2, Plastered Skulls from Yiftahel. Reproduced from smarthistory, http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/jericho.html. Figure 3, On-site restoration of a typical interior, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, 2005. Reproduced from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Catal_H%C3%BCy%C3%BCk_Restauration_B.JPG. Figure 4, Deer Hunt, 5750 BCE. Level III, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, Turkey. Museum of Anatolian Civilization, Ankara. Reproduced from Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011), 26. Figure 5, Landscape with volcanic eruption, 6150 BCE. Level III, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, Turkey. Museum of Anatolian Civilization, Ankara. Reproduced from Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011), 27. Figure 6, Stonehenge: Phase 1. Reproduced from David Souden, Stonehenge Revealed (New York, NY: Facts on File Inc., 1997), 31. Figure 7, Stonehenge: Phase 3, inner circles. Reproduced from David Souden, Stonehenge Revealed (New York, NY: Facts on File Inc., 1997), 39. Bibliography German, Senta. Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/catal-hoyuk.html (accessed 12 January 2013). German, Senta. Jericho. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/jericho.html. (accessed 12 January 2013). German, Senta. Stonehenge, Salibury Plain, England. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/catal-hoyuk.html. (accessed 12 January 2013). Hirst, K. Kris. â€Å"The Archaeology of the Ancient City of Jericho,† Jericho (Palestine). http://archaeology.about.com/od/jterms/qt/jericho.htm. (accessed 12 January 2013) Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011. Souden, David. Stonehenge Revealed. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc., 1997. Wikipedia. Çatalhà ¶yà ¼k. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, Jericho. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, Stonehenge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, UNESCO. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, World Heritage Site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site. (accessed 12 January 2013).

An Improvement in Project Leadership Skills

An Improvement in Project Leadership Skills 1.0 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Though project managers have placed client needs and demands at a priority, client expectations, and the increase in global competition, as well as the enormous impact projects have on firms, have led to a further increasing demand for the use of more effective leadership skills that can assist project managers in project team leadership (Zimmerer and Yasin, 1998). Project management involves project monitoring and supervision that is global in nature, involving projects with team members from diverse professional backgrounds, cultures, languages, and nations. Again, project management does not just involve the management of people, but also time and material resources (Veal 2004). This calls for vital strategic planning, and the management of resources for effective project management delivery. The complexities in present day projects require not just management abilities, but also an improvement in project leadership skills and competencies (Zimmerer and Yasin, 1998). 1.2 ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT Leadership, according to Jago (1982), is the application of non-coercive influence in directing the activities of individual members of an organised group in an effort to achieving the groups objectives. Leadership in this context is considered in relation to some qualities and characteristics of those who successfully implement such influences. In the context of project management, leadership can be seen as a process undertaken by an organisation in taking responsibility of team members who work with the project manager toward the achievement of project aims (Cleland, 1995). A project managers leadership skills and competencies have become necessary in harnessing the activities of the entire project stakeholders; as a result, this has led to conception of his leadership skills as an important aspect of project control (Barber and Warns, 2005). This is particularly important given the fact that though the project manager uses skilled manpower, material resources, as well as other app ropriate methods when embarking on projects, some projects do run overtime, over budget, or suffer failure in the achievement of the particular project goal (Barber and Warns, 2005). Using appropriate leadership skills, a project manager is able to forestall such eventualities where and when possible, and redirect the efforts of the team members toward attaining the desired project objectives. His ability to lead human resources associated with the project shows the leadership excellence as regards defining the project scope, time, cost management, quality and communication (Cleland, 1995). For this reason, therefore, a project manager continuously needs to develop appropriate leadership skills; competencies and styles needed down the different stages of the projects lifecycle. It implies that for a successful project delivery, the project manager needs to demonstrate not just an appropriate technical knowhow, but also a show of effective administrative and leadership skills (Burke, 2007). The question then arises as to what the skills and competencies are, that are considered essential for present day competent project managers (Ingason and Jonasson, 2009), in the delivery of projects. In the past, technical competence was taken to be the required skill that a project manager should possess in order to lead projects to success (Zimmerer and Yasin, 1998). But in contemporary times, team building, motivation (Jacques et al, 2008), vision, management, and communication (Barber and Warn, 2005), have all been identified as being part of the necessary skills and competencies a project manager needs to cultivate for effective delivery of projects. While the issue of project leadership has been the subject of so many research endeavours (Cleland, 1995, Washbush and Clements, 1999; Prabhakar, 2005; Jacques et al, 2008) a relatively fewer other researchers have focused on the leadership skills and competencies appropriate for a project managers use in leading the project team members, and the impact they have in the management of projects (Turner and Mà ¼ller, 2005; Geoghegan and Dulewicz, 2008). Majority of research endeavours in this area have considered the idea that a project managers application of leadership skills in projects lead to the successful delivery of projects and this has prompted the assessment of the factors that matter in his ability to utilise available human and material resources, and also lead and manage the project team, and other stakeholders. Other research works (Turner and Muller, 2005; Pinto and Trailer, 1998), however, recognise the importance of a project managers leadership skills when managing p rojects, but do not explicitly link these skills and competencies that characterise a project manager, as necessary for successful management of the project. This, therefore, forms the bulk of the debate that academic scholars in this area have preoccupied themselves. A key area of this debate concerns the fact that some relevant literature materials (Crawford, 2007; Geoghegan and Dulewicz, 2008) that attached great importance to the leadership skills and competencies of a project manager have further identified a project manager as a success factor for projects. The view of these project management pundits is that project success can be a possible result of the application of the attributes of a project manager during project management. This is achieved with the project managers communication, technical and motivational skills, and a host of other skills and competencies that allow him successful lead the project team members toward the achievement of the project goal. On an opposite vein, a few other project management scholars did not view a project manager as a success factor for projects (Pinto and Slevin, 1998; Turner and Mà ¼ller, 2005). This group of project management scholars observe that the use of appropriate tools and techniques is what counts in the realization of project success. This presents an implication which denotes that the leadership skills of a project manager make no additional impact in project performance. A particular literature endeavour that has significantly dealt with the issue of the present study is the work of Turner and Mà ¼ller (2005). Though their findings suggest that the literature does not view a project manager and his leadership competencies as a success factor for projects, they, however, recommended that for this argument to be resolved, the question of a project managers leadership skills and competencies, and the question of possible impact in the achievement of successful project management should be measured. As a result of this recommendation, this research investigates the views expressed in other project management literature, on the impact leadership skills and competencies of a project manager have in the management of projects. To this end, there would be an investiga tion into what constituted project management success factors in the project management history, especially during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. This effort is realised by conducting some in-depth interviews and exploring some relevant literature at these periods to identify their arguments on what constituted project success factors, and to ascertain the place of a project manager and his or her leadership skills and competencies in project management history. 1.3 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES The purpose of this research is to determine if a project managers leadership skills and competencies can act as a catalyst in bringing about successful project performance. In this context, therefore, this research tries to determine whether the application of effective leadership skills and competencies can impact on the management of projects towards the achievement of a quality and successful project performance. This will involve implementing the recommendation of the research of Turner and Muller (2005) by evaluating what constitutes project success factors to ascertain if a project manager is considered as a project management success factor, using the project management literature works and semi-structured interview. Also, contributing to the existing body of knowledge on the impact of a project managers leadership skills and competencies in project management, the objectives, as derived from the aim of this research are: To determine the leadership skills and competencies available for a project managers use in the management of projects. To critically examine the impact of the application of a project managers leadership skills and competencies in project delivery. To determine if a project manager is a project management success factor. 1.4 RESEARCH STRUCTURE This research begins with a critical review of some recent debates in the project management literature on arguments relating to leadership styles, skills and competencies appropriate for a project manager in chapter 2. It goes further to review the ideas of project management pundits on the impact these leadership skills and competencies have while managing projects. It also investigates the contribution of leadership to project managers especially as more and more project management scholars lay emphasis on project managers developing leadership skills for a better management of projects. Chapter 3 presents the research design and the methodology used in the anchorage of this dissertation for the achievement of its aim and objectives encapsulated in a six layer research onion model presented in figure 4. This chapter begins by presenting interpretivism and induction as the philosophy and approach that engulfs this research. This chapter further highlights the use of qualitative research method and how qualitative content analysis is used in the process of data collection and analysis of the data that came mainly from the literature sources towards the development of a grounded theory for this research. To reduce the limitation that could arise from the use of literature sources alone, semi-structured interviews were used in complementing the data collected from the literature works. The time horizon and the ethical consideration in relation to data collection and analysis is equally presented in this chapter. The analysis of the data gathered is presented in chapter 4, using the methods discussed above towards the development of the grounded theory, in achieving the aim of this research. The findings of this research are presented in chapter 5, and are related to the previous findings found in the project management literature as discussed in the review of the literature in chapter two. Lastly, the limitations of this study and a recommendation for further research are also presented in this chapter. Finally, a summary of the research is presented in chapter six and this research concludes by offering some opportunities further research can anchor on. CHAPTER II 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter examines some key academic interests in the role of the project managers leadership skills and competencies for the achievement of successful project management. Reviewing the relevant body of literature on this topic, will be necessary; as it will offer an insight into relevant concerns of the research and provide the required background in addressing the research questions identified earlier on. Among the themes academic pundits in this area have shown interest in are identified in figure 1, they are: leadership styles, the project manager and project success, the project managers leadership competences and the impact of leadership in project management. This chapter critically examines these areas of interest in a wider context, and their impact in achieving successful project management. 2.1 LITERATURE SCOPE It must be noted that the study of effective leadership skills is necessary for quality project management and efficiency (Strang, 2005). A plethora of literature materials exist on the importance of leadership in the successful management of projects, but for the purpose of this study, this research will concentrate on literature sources that have direct bearing on the subject matter of the research, which are identified in figure 1. The review of the literature would encompass leadership styles as a core area in project success. It will explore leadership approaches particularly transformational leadership style used by project managers in the process of managing the human aspects of projects, namely, the project team members, and stakeholders. The concept of ‘success in project management and the project managers contributions toward the achievement of success will also be critically assessed. On the other hand, literature on the project manager and his leadership competencies will be reviewed to ascertain the viability of his leadership competencies toward increasing the chances for successful project delivery. Lastly, the body of literature on the impact of leadership in project management will consider the contribution of leadership in managing projects, by making a comparison of leadership and management in leading the project team. 2.2 LEADERSHIP STYLES The question of what makes a good leader has been an age long problem. Among prominent authors that have commented on this issue include, Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Lock (Collinson, 1998). Turner and Mà ¼ller (2005) identified six main leadership theories that have been singled out as the main leadership schools over seventy years ago. These schools are: The trait school The behaviour or style school The contingency school The emotional intelligent school, and The competency school Transformational leadership school This research will be focusing mainly on transformational leadership due to the emphasis project management literature places on it in leading project members. This research will examine the impact of transformational leadership in project management. 2.2.1 Transformational leadership in project management: The literature has associated transformational leadership with those leaders that create â€Å"a shared vision of the future and a relationship between leaders and followers based on far more than just the simple exchange of rewards for compliance† (Keegan and Hartog, 2004:609). What distinguishes transformational leaders is their ability in articulating some attractive vision of the future (Hartog and Verburg, 1997). Transformational leaders exhibit self-confidence and charisma which can and do attract subordinate to those identified vision or mission (Keegan and Hartlog, 2004). Northouse (1997) indicates that transformational leadership transforms and changes individuals. He added that this sort of leadership is open to the needs of the followers. Transformational leadership has been contrasted with transactional leadership (Leban and Zulauf, 2004) which focuses on the physical and security needs of its followers (Lams ila and Ogunlana, 2008). Most commentators have agreed that transactional leadership is based on the model that there is exchange process between leaders and followers, with leaders providing reward for the subordinates compliance (Northouse, 1997; Strang, 2005: Sadler, 2003 and Jogulu and Wood, 2006). While the followers are motivated by the effect the transformational leaders have on them in terms of making them aware of the values and outcome of their goals, transactional leaders on the other hand, utilises reward in motivating their subordinate. Keegan and Hartog (2004) recently noted that leading commentators have â€Å"begun to suggest that transformational leadership may be of particular interest in the project based-context† (p. 610). These commentators continue to emphasis increasing importance of motivational and emotional features of project managers as well as the importance of project managers to instil faith and commitment to their organization as part of their role (Turner and Mà ¼ller, 2003). Research have shown that project managers are considered to be leading people from different profession and diverse culture, therefore the use of transformational leadership becomes necessary due to its emphasis on vision, inspirational and motivational role of leaders (Cleland and Ireland, 2002; Keegan and Hartog, 2004). While leading such talented professionals therefore, the emphasis has drifted from control and compliance to dedication, identification and loyalty, which are characteristic of transformational lead ership (Keegan and Hartog, 2004). The literature has identified the importance of transformational leadership in project management (Yammarino and Bass, 1990; Leban and Zulauf, 2004; Barber and Warn, 2005). This importance is identified in the continuous need for project managers to be forward thinking, constantly anticipating where things may likely go wrong in project, so that steps can be placed in anticipation towards resolving them where possible and recovery measure put in place should they not be preventable (Lewis, 2001). Similarly, Barber and Warn (2005) have identified idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation as components of transformational leadership, which enable them â€Å"to explain the big picture, anticipate events and even prevent problems† (p. 1032). In figure 2, Prabhakars (2005) research suggests that transformational leaders who inspire and motivate their followers to face the challenges of their work appeared to achieve project success. This is achieved through the relationship transformational leaders build with their subordinates using an interactive communication that forms a bond between them. Figure 2: Relationship between leadership variables and project success after Prabhakar (2005). In line with the finding of Prabhakar (2005) Leban and Zulauf (2004) suggest that â€Å"transformational project manager behaviour has a positive impact on actual project performance† (p. 561). Furthermore, they stated that transformational project management is achieved through the use of project managers who are result focused through inspiration and motivation. However, the finding of Strang (2005) shows that although the application of transformational leadership while leading project team have a tendency of fostering leader-follower relationship strong transformational leadership however, is not always required in producing effective organizational outcomes. Equally, it has been observed that while transformational leadership in project context leads to stakeholders satisfaction, the finding of Strang (2005) suggest that it does not on the other hand guarantee organizational performance. From the foregoing, it has been suggested that transformational leadership has an important influence by reshaping the way people think, which is considered an aspect of project leadership skills (Partington, 2003). 2.3 PROJECT SUCCESS AND THE PROJECT MANAGER Research has it that in the field of project management, among the few topics that are frequently discussed but rarely agreed upon is what constitutes success in project (Pinto and Slevin, 1988a). Given the fact that â€Å"the search for factors that lead to better project performance and success spans many years of research† (Dov et al, 2006:36). Table 1, presents the findings of Jugdev and Mà ¼ller (2005) which identified four periods in the history of project management and the perceptions of the factors that possibly led to achieving successful project management. Period 1: Project implementation and Handover (1960s-1980s). At this stage, simple metric such as time, cost and specifications were the yardsticks used in measuring project success because they were understood to be easy for organizational use. â€Å"Project managers focused on getting a project done, making sure it worked, and getting out the way† (Judgev and Mà ¼ller, 2005:23). Studies at this time focused on scheduling as the criteria for project success or failure, while others relied on budget and performance as the success factor (Pinto and Slevin, 1988b) and client satisfaction (Shenhar et al, 1997).The emphasis at this stage was on the effectiveness of the measures and the technical system than the behaviours of the individual members of the project (Judgev and Mà ¼ller, 2005). Period 2: CSF Lists (1980s -1990s). According Judgev and Mà ¼ller (2005) this stage was preoccupied with developing some critical success factors (CSF) lists. Cooke-Davies (2002) saw critical success factors as those â€Å"inputs to the management system that lead directly or indirectly to the success of the project or business (p.185). At this stage, the literature focused on the satisfaction of the stakeholders as what guarantees project success. At the completion of the project what matters was not job completion rather the satisfaction criterion which was â€Å"are we happy† (Judgev and Mà ¼ller, 2005). End users impacts are felt as the yardstick for success which contradicts with the period 1. Among the CSFs as the literature identified were effective communications, clear objective, scope and the use of project plan as living documents (Clarke, 1999). Judgev and Mà ¼ller (2005) further identified change management, organizational effectiveness and the alignment betwe en project management and strategic management as all part of CSFs. Period 3: CSF Frameworks (1990s -2000s). At this period, the literature questioned the concept that project success is based on stakeholders-dependent and linking success with the internal and recipient organization (Kerzner, 1987: Lester, 1998). Morris and Hough (1987) developed new framework dealing on the preconditions of project success in four categories which are: Project functionality: Does such project meet up with the financial and technical requirement. Project management: Did such project meet up with the stipulated budget, schedule and specification. Contractors commercial performance: Did the project contractors benefit in a commercial way. Project termination: Peradventure a project is cancelled, was such cancellation done reasonably and effectively. Cleland and Ireland (2002) approached the issue of project success from two points of view, first, project success should be measured in view of meeting the performance objectives (cost, time and scope), and secondly it could be measured using the impact of such project on the strategic mission of the firm. Period 4: strategic project management (21st century). At this period, project success has been linked to many factors than just one common mission like organizational benefit, product success and team development (Atkinson, 1999 and Baccarini, 1999). Equally CSFs at this period incorporated â€Å"senior management commitment to provide the vision, strategy and sponsorship† (Judgev and Mà ¼ller, 2005:28) and such success factor relate to the organization including the external environment. Judgev and Mà ¼ller (2005) indicates that most recent literature have identified four necessary but not sufficient criteria for success that need to be in place for projects to be successfully managed, which are: Success criteria need to be agreed on with the project stakeholders before embarking on project. There should be a collaborative working relationship with the project sponsor and the project manager and they should view the project as partners. There is need to empower the project manager with some sort of flexibility as to be able to deal with unforeseen circumstances, and the project sponsor should give directives on the best way of achieving project success. The project sponsor needs to show an interest in the performance of the project. Subsequent research by Turner and Mà ¼ller (2005) suggests that during 1980s, the literature grew rapidly; with different authors listing what they thought constituted project success. Surprisingly, though the literature of this time emphasised that the project manager should be competent enough to get things done well, their finding suggests that: â€Å"rarely does the literature on project success factors specifically or overtly mention project manager and his or her leadership style and competence. Perhaps the project manager does not contribute to project success. Perhaps there is something about the nature of projects and the project teams that means that their success is not dependent on the leadership style and competence of the manager† (Turner and Mà ¼ller, (2005:57). This very remark suggests that the impact of the project managers leadership style possibly do not necessarily lead to project success. Andersen et al (1987) identified some pitfalls that may hinder project success and increase project failure. These pitfalls include the method that is used to plan, organize and control projects. Baker et al (1988) saw project success as achieving the projects technical specification or mission while earning a high valued satisfaction from the client, the end user and the project team as well. They equally advocated planning as against perceiving leadership as a key factor while maximizing potential project success. Table 2 presents ten project management success factors by Pinto and Slevin (1988b) in determining what constitutes project success factors. Though this table plays down the skills and competencies of a project as a success factor for projects however Pinto and Slevin (1988b) noted that a project will be a failure should some project mana gement characteristics like human skills, project managers administration and influencing skills not be present in the project. In the 2000s, the interest on project success changed. As against the notion that the literature was silent about the impact of the project manager toward project success (Turner and Mà ¼ller, 2005), researchers like Prabhakar (2005) and Keegan and Hartog (2004) identified effective project manager leadership as an importance success factor on projects. In Table 3, Kendra and Taplin (2004) classified project success into four categories which are micro-social, macro-social, micro-technical and macro-technical categories of which they identified behaviour, leadership and personal attributes of the project manager as a success factor under micro-social. Other studies (Lim and Mohamed, 1999, and DeCottiis and Dyer, 1979) stressed the importance of customers satisfaction and their welfare towards success measurement. In fact, Atkinson (1999) notes that any measurement criteria that assesses projects in terms of time and budget constrain without meeting up with client satisfaction will be misleading and incomplete. Tishler et al (1997) observes that customer satisfaction is supreme in assessing project success. Given the importance of the aims and objectives of any project, it was surprised that the periods identified in the findings of Jugder and Mà ¼ller (2005) did not include them as an aspect of project success. This is particularly necessary as a project that runs over budget and over time may still be considered successful if the project achieved its target. In other words, a project may meet the iron triangle success criteria of time, budget and quality, but if the aims and objectives are not achieved, such a project may be considered a failure. 2.4 THE PROJECT MANAGERS LEADERSHIP COMPETENCE AND PROJECT SUCCESS The study of Geoghegan and Dulewicz (2008) examines the impact project managers leadership competence have in achieving project success. They considered leadership as a combination of personal characteristics with those areas of competence. With this understanding, leadership can be conceived as the combination of skills and knowledge with personal characteristics that make a leader. Geoghegan and Dulewicz (2008) observe that project leadership is part of a project managers competencies. In their mind â€Å"there is a recognition that an effective project manager possesses a combination of personal characteristics such as flexibility and competencies such as problem solving† (p. 59). Similarly, Crawford (2007:14) defined competence as â€Å"encompassing knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours that contributes to effective performance of a task or job role†. Turner and Mà ¼ller (2005) added that competence includes personal characteristics, knowledge and skills. A P roject managers competence therefore can be perceived as the combination of knowledge and skills and core personality characteristics that necessitate superior results (Crawford, 2007). Rees et al (1996) noted that effective project managers appear to be averagely intelligent and possess problem solving skill than non-effective project managers. Dulewics and Higgs (2003) identified four leadership performances which include cognitive, behavioural, emotional and motivational competencies. They went further to suggest that managerial performance is defined by three competencies which are intellectual (IQ) managerial skill (MQ) and Emotional (EQ) competencies. Again, they developed a leadership competence model with fifteen leadership competences in Table 4. These fifteen leadership dimensions were classified under three major leadership competencies of IQ, MQ and EQ. On their part Mà ¼ller and Turner (2007) found out that the ability to lead and technical knowledge are important aspects of project manager competence which are necessarily displayed based on the nature of a particular project. Geoghegan and Dulewiczs, (2008) findings suggests that there is a significant relationship between a project managers leadership competence and project success. Their research suggest that project managers who possess high problem solving acumen are better suited for the empowerment and development of their colleagues, while project managers who are high in managing resources will be effective in budgeting. Geoghegan and Dulewicz (2008) also indicated that managerial competence contributes most significantly towards successful projects, by influencing project team. Other research (Crawford, 2001: Crawford, 2007) have equally linked project managers leadership competencies to project success and has gone further to identify a project manager as a success fact or for projects. Under micro-social dimensions of project success, Kendra and Taplin (2004) identified project managers competence and skills as a success factor. Although as succinctly enunciated in reviewed literature, the project manager possesses some competencies which are a sine qua non for successful project delivery, there does not seem to be a clear cut consensus on what these competencies are, as different researchers have identified different competencies that make project leaders. Furthermore, most researchers could not come to terms with the study of Geoghegan and Dulewicz (2008) that there is any relation between a project managers competence and project success. The view of these researchers is that the use of right techniques and tools assures the achievement of successful projects (Crawford, 2007). This implies that project managers with their technical knowledge and emotional intelligent make no contribution towards the success of projects so far as the right tools are deployed in managing projects (Crawford, 2007). This is in line with some believes about project management as presented by Mà ¼ller and Turner (2007c) which are: the project managers competence with his leadership style is not a success factor on projects; secondly, any project manager is capable of managing any project. Similarly, going through the literature, Mà ¼ller and Turner (2007c:3) further stated that â€Å"the project success literature studiously ignores the project manager, and his or her competence or leadership style as a potential success factor on projects†. Furthermore, Anderson et al (1987) saw the importance of personal characteristics of a project manager like his An Improvement in Project Leadership Skills An Improvement in Project Leadership Skills 1.0 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Though project managers have placed client needs and demands at a priority, client expectations, and the increase in global competition, as well as the enormous impact projects have on firms, have led to a further increasing demand for the use of more effective leadership skills that can assist project managers in project team leadership (Zimmerer and Yasin, 1998). Project management involves project monitoring and supervision that is global in nature, involving projects with team members from diverse professional backgrounds, cultures, languages, and nations. Again, project management does not just involve the management of people, but also time and material resources (Veal 2004). This calls for vital strategic planning, and the management of resources for effective project management delivery. The complexities in present day projects require not just management abilities, but also an improvement in project leadership skills and competencies (Zimmerer and Yasin, 1998). 1.2 ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT Leadership, according to Jago (1982), is the application of non-coercive influence in directing the activities of individual members of an organised group in an effort to achieving the groups objectives. Leadership in this context is considered in relation to some qualities and characteristics of those who successfully implement such influences. In the context of project management, leadership can be seen as a process undertaken by an organisation in taking responsibility of team members who work with the project manager toward the achievement of project aims (Cleland, 1995). A project managers leadership skills and competencies have become necessary in harnessing the activities of the entire project stakeholders; as a result, this has led to conception of his leadership skills as an important aspect of project control (Barber and Warns, 2005). This is particularly important given the fact that though the project manager uses skilled manpower, material resources, as well as other app ropriate methods when embarking on projects, some projects do run overtime, over budget, or suffer failure in the achievement of the particular project goal (Barber and Warns, 2005). Using appropriate leadership skills, a project manager is able to forestall such eventualities where and when possible, and redirect the efforts of the team members toward attaining the desired project objectives. His ability to lead human resources associated with the project shows the leadership excellence as regards defining the project scope, time, cost management, quality and communication (Cleland, 1995). For this reason, therefore, a project manager continuously needs to develop appropriate leadership skills; competencies and styles needed down the different stages of the projects lifecycle. It implies that for a successful project delivery, the project manager needs to demonstrate not just an appropriate technical knowhow, but also a show of effective administrative and leadership skills (Burke, 2007). The question then arises as to what the skills and competencies are, that are considered essential for present day competent project managers (Ingason and Jonasson, 2009), in the delivery of projects. In the past, technical competence was taken to be the required skill that a project manager should possess in order to lead projects to success (Zimmerer and Yasin, 1998). But in contemporary times, team building, motivation (Jacques et al, 2008), vision, management, and communication (Barber and Warn, 2005), have all been identified as being part of the necessary skills and competencies a project manager needs to cultivate for effective delivery of projects. While the issue of project leadership has been the subject of so many research endeavours (Cleland, 1995, Washbush and Clements, 1999; Prabhakar, 2005; Jacques et al, 2008) a relatively fewer other researchers have focused on the leadership skills and competencies appropriate for a project managers use in leading the project team members, and the impact they have in the management of projects (Turner and Mà ¼ller, 2005; Geoghegan and Dulewicz, 2008). Majority of research endeavours in this area have considered the idea that a project managers application of leadership skills in projects lead to the successful delivery of projects and this has prompted the assessment of the factors that matter in his ability to utilise available human and material resources, and also lead and manage the project team, and other stakeholders. Other research works (Turner and Muller, 2005; Pinto and Trailer, 1998), however, recognise the importance of a project managers leadership skills when managing p rojects, but do not explicitly link these skills and competencies that characterise a project manager, as necessary for successful management of the project. This, therefore, forms the bulk of the debate that academic scholars in this area have preoccupied themselves. A key area of this debate concerns the fact that some relevant literature materials (Crawford, 2007; Geoghegan and Dulewicz, 2008) that attached great importance to the leadership skills and competencies of a project manager have further identified a project manager as a success factor for projects. The view of these project management pundits is that project success can be a possible result of the application of the attributes of a project manager during project management. This is achieved with the project managers communication, technical and motivational skills, and a host of other skills and competencies that allow him successful lead the project team members toward the achievement of the project goal. On an opposite vein, a few other project management scholars did not view a project manager as a success factor for projects (Pinto and Slevin, 1998; Turner and Mà ¼ller, 2005). This group of project management scholars observe that the use of appropriate tools and techniques is what counts in the realization of project success. This presents an implication which denotes that the leadership skills of a project manager make no additional impact in project performance. A particular literature endeavour that has significantly dealt with the issue of the present study is the work of Turner and Mà ¼ller (2005). Though their findings suggest that the literature does not view a project manager and his leadership competencies as a success factor for projects, they, however, recommended that for this argument to be resolved, the question of a project managers leadership skills and competencies, and the question of possible impact in the achievement of successful project management should be measured. As a result of this recommendation, this research investigates the views expressed in other project management literature, on the impact leadership skills and competencies of a project manager have in the management of projects. To this end, there would be an investiga tion into what constituted project management success factors in the project management history, especially during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. This effort is realised by conducting some in-depth interviews and exploring some relevant literature at these periods to identify their arguments on what constituted project success factors, and to ascertain the place of a project manager and his or her leadership skills and competencies in project management history. 1.3 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES The purpose of this research is to determine if a project managers leadership skills and competencies can act as a catalyst in bringing about successful project performance. In this context, therefore, this research tries to determine whether the application of effective leadership skills and competencies can impact on the management of projects towards the achievement of a quality and successful project performance. This will involve implementing the recommendation of the research of Turner and Muller (2005) by evaluating what constitutes project success factors to ascertain if a project manager is considered as a project management success factor, using the project management literature works and semi-structured interview. Also, contributing to the existing body of knowledge on the impact of a project managers leadership skills and competencies in project management, the objectives, as derived from the aim of this research are: To determine the leadership skills and competencies available for a project managers use in the management of projects. To critically examine the impact of the application of a project managers leadership skills and competencies in project delivery. To determine if a project manager is a project management success factor. 1.4 RESEARCH STRUCTURE This research begins with a critical review of some recent debates in the project management literature on arguments relating to leadership styles, skills and competencies appropriate for a project manager in chapter 2. It goes further to review the ideas of project management pundits on the impact these leadership skills and competencies have while managing projects. It also investigates the contribution of leadership to project managers especially as more and more project management scholars lay emphasis on project managers developing leadership skills for a better management of projects. Chapter 3 presents the research design and the methodology used in the anchorage of this dissertation for the achievement of its aim and objectives encapsulated in a six layer research onion model presented in figure 4. This chapter begins by presenting interpretivism and induction as the philosophy and approach that engulfs this research. This chapter further highlights the use of qualitative research method and how qualitative content analysis is used in the process of data collection and analysis of the data that came mainly from the literature sources towards the development of a grounded theory for this research. To reduce the limitation that could arise from the use of literature sources alone, semi-structured interviews were used in complementing the data collected from the literature works. The time horizon and the ethical consideration in relation to data collection and analysis is equally presented in this chapter. The analysis of the data gathered is presented in chapter 4, using the methods discussed above towards the development of the grounded theory, in achieving the aim of this research. The findings of this research are presented in chapter 5, and are related to the previous findings found in the project management literature as discussed in the review of the literature in chapter two. Lastly, the limitations of this study and a recommendation for further research are also presented in this chapter. Finally, a summary of the research is presented in chapter six and this research concludes by offering some opportunities further research can anchor on. CHAPTER II 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter examines some key academic interests in the role of the project managers leadership skills and competencies for the achievement of successful project management. Reviewing the relevant body of literature on this topic, will be necessary; as it will offer an insight into relevant concerns of the research and provide the required background in addressing the research questions identified earlier on. Among the themes academic pundits in this area have shown interest in are identified in figure 1, they are: leadership styles, the project manager and project success, the project managers leadership competences and the impact of leadership in project management. This chapter critically examines these areas of interest in a wider context, and their impact in achieving successful project management. 2.1 LITERATURE SCOPE It must be noted that the study of effective leadership skills is necessary for quality project management and efficiency (Strang, 2005). A plethora of literature materials exist on the importance of leadership in the successful management of projects, but for the purpose of this study, this research will concentrate on literature sources that have direct bearing on the subject matter of the research, which are identified in figure 1. The review of the literature would encompass leadership styles as a core area in project success. It will explore leadership approaches particularly transformational leadership style used by project managers in the process of managing the human aspects of projects, namely, the project team members, and stakeholders. The concept of ‘success in project management and the project managers contributions toward the achievement of success will also be critically assessed. On the other hand, literature on the project manager and his leadership competencies will be reviewed to ascertain the viability of his leadership competencies toward increasing the chances for successful project delivery. Lastly, the body of literature on the impact of leadership in project management will consider the contribution of leadership in managing projects, by making a comparison of leadership and management in leading the project team. 2.2 LEADERSHIP STYLES The question of what makes a good leader has been an age long problem. Among prominent authors that have commented on this issue include, Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Lock (Collinson, 1998). Turner and Mà ¼ller (2005) identified six main leadership theories that have been singled out as the main leadership schools over seventy years ago. These schools are: The trait school The behaviour or style school The contingency school The emotional intelligent school, and The competency school Transformational leadership school This research will be focusing mainly on transformational leadership due to the emphasis project management literature places on it in leading project members. This research will examine the impact of transformational leadership in project management. 2.2.1 Transformational leadership in project management: The literature has associated transformational leadership with those leaders that create â€Å"a shared vision of the future and a relationship between leaders and followers based on far more than just the simple exchange of rewards for compliance† (Keegan and Hartog, 2004:609). What distinguishes transformational leaders is their ability in articulating some attractive vision of the future (Hartog and Verburg, 1997). Transformational leaders exhibit self-confidence and charisma which can and do attract subordinate to those identified vision or mission (Keegan and Hartlog, 2004). Northouse (1997) indicates that transformational leadership transforms and changes individuals. He added that this sort of leadership is open to the needs of the followers. Transformational leadership has been contrasted with transactional leadership (Leban and Zulauf, 2004) which focuses on the physical and security needs of its followers (Lams ila and Ogunlana, 2008). Most commentators have agreed that transactional leadership is based on the model that there is exchange process between leaders and followers, with leaders providing reward for the subordinates compliance (Northouse, 1997; Strang, 2005: Sadler, 2003 and Jogulu and Wood, 2006). While the followers are motivated by the effect the transformational leaders have on them in terms of making them aware of the values and outcome of their goals, transactional leaders on the other hand, utilises reward in motivating their subordinate. Keegan and Hartog (2004) recently noted that leading commentators have â€Å"begun to suggest that transformational leadership may be of particular interest in the project based-context† (p. 610). These commentators continue to emphasis increasing importance of motivational and emotional features of project managers as well as the importance of project managers to instil faith and commitment to their organization as part of their role (Turner and Mà ¼ller, 2003). Research have shown that project managers are considered to be leading people from different profession and diverse culture, therefore the use of transformational leadership becomes necessary due to its emphasis on vision, inspirational and motivational role of leaders (Cleland and Ireland, 2002; Keegan and Hartog, 2004). While leading such talented professionals therefore, the emphasis has drifted from control and compliance to dedication, identification and loyalty, which are characteristic of transformational lead ership (Keegan and Hartog, 2004). The literature has identified the importance of transformational leadership in project management (Yammarino and Bass, 1990; Leban and Zulauf, 2004; Barber and Warn, 2005). This importance is identified in the continuous need for project managers to be forward thinking, constantly anticipating where things may likely go wrong in project, so that steps can be placed in anticipation towards resolving them where possible and recovery measure put in place should they not be preventable (Lewis, 2001). Similarly, Barber and Warn (2005) have identified idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation as components of transformational leadership, which enable them â€Å"to explain the big picture, anticipate events and even prevent problems† (p. 1032). In figure 2, Prabhakars (2005) research suggests that transformational leaders who inspire and motivate their followers to face the challenges of their work appeared to achieve project success. This is achieved through the relationship transformational leaders build with their subordinates using an interactive communication that forms a bond between them. Figure 2: Relationship between leadership variables and project success after Prabhakar (2005). In line with the finding of Prabhakar (2005) Leban and Zulauf (2004) suggest that â€Å"transformational project manager behaviour has a positive impact on actual project performance† (p. 561). Furthermore, they stated that transformational project management is achieved through the use of project managers who are result focused through inspiration and motivation. However, the finding of Strang (2005) shows that although the application of transformational leadership while leading project team have a tendency of fostering leader-follower relationship strong transformational leadership however, is not always required in producing effective organizational outcomes. Equally, it has been observed that while transformational leadership in project context leads to stakeholders satisfaction, the finding of Strang (2005) suggest that it does not on the other hand guarantee organizational performance. From the foregoing, it has been suggested that transformational leadership has an important influence by reshaping the way people think, which is considered an aspect of project leadership skills (Partington, 2003). 2.3 PROJECT SUCCESS AND THE PROJECT MANAGER Research has it that in the field of project management, among the few topics that are frequently discussed but rarely agreed upon is what constitutes success in project (Pinto and Slevin, 1988a). Given the fact that â€Å"the search for factors that lead to better project performance and success spans many years of research† (Dov et al, 2006:36). Table 1, presents the findings of Jugdev and Mà ¼ller (2005) which identified four periods in the history of project management and the perceptions of the factors that possibly led to achieving successful project management. Period 1: Project implementation and Handover (1960s-1980s). At this stage, simple metric such as time, cost and specifications were the yardsticks used in measuring project success because they were understood to be easy for organizational use. â€Å"Project managers focused on getting a project done, making sure it worked, and getting out the way† (Judgev and Mà ¼ller, 2005:23). Studies at this time focused on scheduling as the criteria for project success or failure, while others relied on budget and performance as the success factor (Pinto and Slevin, 1988b) and client satisfaction (Shenhar et al, 1997).The emphasis at this stage was on the effectiveness of the measures and the technical system than the behaviours of the individual members of the project (Judgev and Mà ¼ller, 2005). Period 2: CSF Lists (1980s -1990s). According Judgev and Mà ¼ller (2005) this stage was preoccupied with developing some critical success factors (CSF) lists. Cooke-Davies (2002) saw critical success factors as those â€Å"inputs to the management system that lead directly or indirectly to the success of the project or business (p.185). At this stage, the literature focused on the satisfaction of the stakeholders as what guarantees project success. At the completion of the project what matters was not job completion rather the satisfaction criterion which was â€Å"are we happy† (Judgev and Mà ¼ller, 2005). End users impacts are felt as the yardstick for success which contradicts with the period 1. Among the CSFs as the literature identified were effective communications, clear objective, scope and the use of project plan as living documents (Clarke, 1999). Judgev and Mà ¼ller (2005) further identified change management, organizational effectiveness and the alignment betwe en project management and strategic management as all part of CSFs. Period 3: CSF Frameworks (1990s -2000s). At this period, the literature questioned the concept that project success is based on stakeholders-dependent and linking success with the internal and recipient organization (Kerzner, 1987: Lester, 1998). Morris and Hough (1987) developed new framework dealing on the preconditions of project success in four categories which are: Project functionality: Does such project meet up with the financial and technical requirement. Project management: Did such project meet up with the stipulated budget, schedule and specification. Contractors commercial performance: Did the project contractors benefit in a commercial way. Project termination: Peradventure a project is cancelled, was such cancellation done reasonably and effectively. Cleland and Ireland (2002) approached the issue of project success from two points of view, first, project success should be measured in view of meeting the performance objectives (cost, time and scope), and secondly it could be measured using the impact of such project on the strategic mission of the firm. Period 4: strategic project management (21st century). At this period, project success has been linked to many factors than just one common mission like organizational benefit, product success and team development (Atkinson, 1999 and Baccarini, 1999). Equally CSFs at this period incorporated â€Å"senior management commitment to provide the vision, strategy and sponsorship† (Judgev and Mà ¼ller, 2005:28) and such success factor relate to the organization including the external environment. Judgev and Mà ¼ller (2005) indicates that most recent literature have identified four necessary but not sufficient criteria for success that need to be in place for projects to be successfully managed, which are: Success criteria need to be agreed on with the project stakeholders before embarking on project. There should be a collaborative working relationship with the project sponsor and the project manager and they should view the project as partners. There is need to empower the project manager with some sort of flexibility as to be able to deal with unforeseen circumstances, and the project sponsor should give directives on the best way of achieving project success. The project sponsor needs to show an interest in the performance of the project. Subsequent research by Turner and Mà ¼ller (2005) suggests that during 1980s, the literature grew rapidly; with different authors listing what they thought constituted project success. Surprisingly, though the literature of this time emphasised that the project manager should be competent enough to get things done well, their finding suggests that: â€Å"rarely does the literature on project success factors specifically or overtly mention project manager and his or her leadership style and competence. Perhaps the project manager does not contribute to project success. Perhaps there is something about the nature of projects and the project teams that means that their success is not dependent on the leadership style and competence of the manager† (Turner and Mà ¼ller, (2005:57). This very remark suggests that the impact of the project managers leadership style possibly do not necessarily lead to project success. Andersen et al (1987) identified some pitfalls that may hinder project success and increase project failure. These pitfalls include the method that is used to plan, organize and control projects. Baker et al (1988) saw project success as achieving the projects technical specification or mission while earning a high valued satisfaction from the client, the end user and the project team as well. They equally advocated planning as against perceiving leadership as a key factor while maximizing potential project success. Table 2 presents ten project management success factors by Pinto and Slevin (1988b) in determining what constitutes project success factors. Though this table plays down the skills and competencies of a project as a success factor for projects however Pinto and Slevin (1988b) noted that a project will be a failure should some project mana gement characteristics like human skills, project managers administration and influencing skills not be present in the project. In the 2000s, the interest on project success changed. As against the notion that the literature was silent about the impact of the project manager toward project success (Turner and Mà ¼ller, 2005), researchers like Prabhakar (2005) and Keegan and Hartog (2004) identified effective project manager leadership as an importance success factor on projects. In Table 3, Kendra and Taplin (2004) classified project success into four categories which are micro-social, macro-social, micro-technical and macro-technical categories of which they identified behaviour, leadership and personal attributes of the project manager as a success factor under micro-social. Other studies (Lim and Mohamed, 1999, and DeCottiis and Dyer, 1979) stressed the importance of customers satisfaction and their welfare towards success measurement. In fact, Atkinson (1999) notes that any measurement criteria that assesses projects in terms of time and budget constrain without meeting up with client satisfaction will be misleading and incomplete. Tishler et al (1997) observes that customer satisfaction is supreme in assessing project success. Given the importance of the aims and objectives of any project, it was surprised that the periods identified in the findings of Jugder and Mà ¼ller (2005) did not include them as an aspect of project success. This is particularly necessary as a project that runs over budget and over time may still be considered successful if the project achieved its target. In other words, a project may meet the iron triangle success criteria of time, budget and quality, but if the aims and objectives are not achieved, such a project may be considered a failure. 2.4 THE PROJECT MANAGERS LEADERSHIP COMPETENCE AND PROJECT SUCCESS The study of Geoghegan and Dulewicz (2008) examines the impact project managers leadership competence have in achieving project success. They considered leadership as a combination of personal characteristics with those areas of competence. With this understanding, leadership can be conceived as the combination of skills and knowledge with personal characteristics that make a leader. Geoghegan and Dulewicz (2008) observe that project leadership is part of a project managers competencies. In their mind â€Å"there is a recognition that an effective project manager possesses a combination of personal characteristics such as flexibility and competencies such as problem solving† (p. 59). Similarly, Crawford (2007:14) defined competence as â€Å"encompassing knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours that contributes to effective performance of a task or job role†. Turner and Mà ¼ller (2005) added that competence includes personal characteristics, knowledge and skills. A P roject managers competence therefore can be perceived as the combination of knowledge and skills and core personality characteristics that necessitate superior results (Crawford, 2007). Rees et al (1996) noted that effective project managers appear to be averagely intelligent and possess problem solving skill than non-effective project managers. Dulewics and Higgs (2003) identified four leadership performances which include cognitive, behavioural, emotional and motivational competencies. They went further to suggest that managerial performance is defined by three competencies which are intellectual (IQ) managerial skill (MQ) and Emotional (EQ) competencies. Again, they developed a leadership competence model with fifteen leadership competences in Table 4. These fifteen leadership dimensions were classified under three major leadership competencies of IQ, MQ and EQ. On their part Mà ¼ller and Turner (2007) found out that the ability to lead and technical knowledge are important aspects of project manager competence which are necessarily displayed based on the nature of a particular project. Geoghegan and Dulewiczs, (2008) findings suggests that there is a significant relationship between a project managers leadership competence and project success. Their research suggest that project managers who possess high problem solving acumen are better suited for the empowerment and development of their colleagues, while project managers who are high in managing resources will be effective in budgeting. Geoghegan and Dulewicz (2008) also indicated that managerial competence contributes most significantly towards successful projects, by influencing project team. Other research (Crawford, 2001: Crawford, 2007) have equally linked project managers leadership competencies to project success and has gone further to identify a project manager as a success fact or for projects. Under micro-social dimensions of project success, Kendra and Taplin (2004) identified project managers competence and skills as a success factor. Although as succinctly enunciated in reviewed literature, the project manager possesses some competencies which are a sine qua non for successful project delivery, there does not seem to be a clear cut consensus on what these competencies are, as different researchers have identified different competencies that make project leaders. Furthermore, most researchers could not come to terms with the study of Geoghegan and Dulewicz (2008) that there is any relation between a project managers competence and project success. The view of these researchers is that the use of right techniques and tools assures the achievement of successful projects (Crawford, 2007). This implies that project managers with their technical knowledge and emotional intelligent make no contribution towards the success of projects so far as the right tools are deployed in managing projects (Crawford, 2007). This is in line with some believes about project management as presented by Mà ¼ller and Turner (2007c) which are: the project managers competence with his leadership style is not a success factor on projects; secondly, any project manager is capable of managing any project. Similarly, going through the literature, Mà ¼ller and Turner (2007c:3) further stated that â€Å"the project success literature studiously ignores the project manager, and his or her competence or leadership style as a potential success factor on projects†. Furthermore, Anderson et al (1987) saw the importance of personal characteristics of a project manager like his