The Effect of Leadership in Project Management

Introduction All organisations design and implement projects of varying magnitudes. The need to execute projects within fixed timelines with limited resources has seen many organisations demand people who are experienced in the field of project management to take over the leadership of projects within the organisations.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on The Effect of Leadership in Project Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This has made project management evolve over the last five decades as an independent body of knowledge as opposed to being an additional skill required for organisational professionals. The growing emphasis of the importance of cute management of people in the effort to yield organisational success has also made organisations resort to developing their management approaches from the contexts of organisational leadership as opposed to organisational administration. The role of lead ership in enhancing organisational performance is highly studied in organisations, thus leading to the emergence of a large scholarly body of knowledge that discusses the effectiveness of various leadership styles. The aim of this paper is to draw knowledge from both disciplines of project management and leadership separately and then merge them to prescribe the roles of leadership within the field of project management. Leaders who operate as project managers deploy leadership characteristics, which are similar to leaders within functional and operational organisations. However, projects are constrained in terms of time and resources. This means that leaders in project-based organisations condense their leadership roles to assume temporary functions in the effort to guarantee the achievement of results for a project team. Some project management scholars emphasise that projects needs to be managed by managers rather than leaders. However, this paper argues that enhancing the succes s of projects using people working in a teamwork environment requires the people in charge of projects leadership to have various skills that enhance motivation, commitment to various project tasks, and/or foster knowledge sharing between work groups. Leadership is important in project management. In the effort to justify this hypothetical proposition, the paper attempts to provide a clear understanding of the concept of leadership in project management by proposing the most important leadership skills that project managers should have.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It also demonstrates how to use leadership skills to deal with problems in a real project management practice. Finally, it offers suggestions on how to gain leadership skills. Leadership in Project Management Leadership is important in all areas involving the use of people to achieve certain results by f ollowing particular processes. According to Kedharnath (2011), leadership is important in every aspect of life including politics, business environments, religion, and social networks among other scenarios (p.8). A leader is a person who plans, controls, direct, and/or guides other people towards attaining a common mutual objective and goals. Leadership occurs through interaction of three main contexts. These are leaders, followers, and situations, which prompt the deployment of leadership skills (Atchison 2003, p.45; Higgs 2003 p.273). In the context of project management, the project itself provides the situation, which brings together leaders and followers for the achievement of a common mutual goal, which is the completion of the project within the stipulated timeframes and within the provided limited monetary resources. The goal of the leader in such a setting is to facilitate the realisation of the project’s concerns by enhancing integration of various project facets to ensure that tasks do not derail from the preset project execution plan. Scholarly findings on how various components of projects need to be controlled and planned provide evidence of the role of leadership in project management as the arm that plans and controls the project. For instance, clear plans and means of controlling projects are required during scope management (Kjorstad 2010, p.19). Scope management encompasses all processes and procedures that are required in ensuring that a project takes into incorporation the required set of tasks to complete it successfully and within the stipulated time constraints. It constitutes scope initiation, scope planning, scope definition, scope verification, and change control of the scope (Tolbert 2008).Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on The Effect of Leadership in Project Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hence, scope planning helps in guiding the proce ss of allocating time and monetary values to the project. Scope definition refers to the subdivision of all major deliverables of the project into small manageable deliverables. All these aspects require the contribution of leadership. Leaders analyse the skill bases of the work team members. They also design and allocate various job fragments based on the skills identified to ensure that people are engaged in the tasks with which they are acquitted (Mumford, Campion Morgeson 2007 p.157). This helps in the minimisation of time wastage in learning new skills and procedures of work. Consequently, attaining the concerns of a project as enumerated in the project scope definition calls for consideration of people’s skills and abilities. Leaders have the capacity to provide this information. The link between leadership and project management is evident by consideration of the manner in which projects are executed in contemplation of various leadership schools of thought. Leadershi p is one of the most studied disciplines within an organisation (Pearce Conger 2003, p.8). Daft (2005) supports the importance of leadership in an organisation by claiming, â€Å"There have been several attempts to provide a description and analysis of the essential facets defining effective leadership† (p.56). Although themes of leadership are ingrained in the works of Plato and Confucius, scholarship in the discipline of leadership in the 20th century began with the introduction of the trait theory school of thought. Mumford, Campion, and Morgeson note that theoretical constructs in leadership studies initiated by researching certain inheritable attributes so that it becomes possible to differentiate people who can lead and those who cannot lead (2007, p.159). This marked the initiation of the trait theory in leadership approaches deployed by organisations. Trait leadership claims that certain personality that defines different people is indicative of one’s leadersh ip abilities. This implies that not all people can effectively lead projects to attain their goals, objectives, and aims in the discipline of project management.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the process of evolution of the trait leadership theory, various skills and personality characteristics together with certain demographic characteristics that may describe and/or predict one’s capability to lead have been defined and developed (Mumford, Campion and Morgeson 2007, p.157). Such characteristics include extraversion and self-confidence. Trait theory raises the question of the possibility of determination of particular leadership traits, which can help to resolve common challenges, which are encountered in the field of project management. According to Benator and Thumann, project management encounters the challenges of inadequate resources, poor teamwork commitment, insufficient planning, breakdown in communication, and the need to respond to the changing goals and resources in the process of project execution (2006, p.13). The cognition of these problems has made project managers resort to seeking various mechanisms of providing a response to these challenges besides seeking mechanisms of obtaining skills and knowledge that are required to address them. Struggles with this scholarly question lead to the establishment of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), which identifies nine major knowledge areas of concern in project management (Duncan 1996, p.23; Haughey 2012, p.5). They are â€Å"procurement management, scope management, cost management, risk management, integration management, time management, and communication management† (IEEE 2008, p.11). Applying traits leadership theory or any other theory of leadership in project management requires the definition of the appropriate traits that can enhance leaders’ capacity to address these nine knowledge areas proactively and effectively. The traits leadership theory may be deployed in project management to identify a set of characteristics, which may enhance the performance of project management roles. Ng, Ang, and Chan (2008) identify these traits as â€Å"prob lems solving skills, self-confidence, energy and initiative, perspective, communication, results orientations and negotiating abilities† (p.735). These are intrinsic personality traits, which respond to the main challenges encountered in the project management. Possession of the traits identified by Ng, Ang and Chan (2008) are also consistent with the main concerns of project management enumerated by the PMBOK. However, there emerge problems in the application of the leadership trait theory to describe the contribution of leadership in projects management. The theory suggests that leaders are born and not made in any way. Opposed to the above assertion, studies done by Kouzes (2007), Tayler (2006), and Lewis (2007) provide evidence that better capacity to lead a project can be enhanced by experience and sharing of knowledge developed through involvement in active roles in managing different projects in the past. This opposes the arguments developed by trait leadership theory t hat leaders are born, but not created. According to Ng, Ang, and Chan (2008), trait leadership theory suffers from reliability and validity challenges since not all people possessing qualities of effective leadership identified by the theory make great leaders. This criticism poses an interrogative on the evidence of the capacity of the trait leadership theory to provide a reliable explanation of leadership roles in project management. In fact, according to Ng, Ang, and Chan (2008), many people who possess personality traits described by trait leadership theories as constituting essential requirements for effective leaders do not necessarily depict the essential traits of great leaders. The challenges of the use of the trait leadership school of thought to explain organisational leadership led to the emergence of other leadership schools of thought such as situational and contingency leadership theories. Contingency leadership theories focus on particular factors defining an environ ment, which help in the determination of an effective leadership style. According to Peretomode (2012), examples of contingency theories of leadership include the theory of effective leadership advanced by Fielder, strategic contingency theory, and cognitive resource theory (p.106). For example, with regard to Fielder’s contingency theory, leadership style, which yields outstanding results in one environment, does not necessarily work in another. The theory considers various facets, which determine the capacity of a leader to take control of a given situation. Such facets encompass task control, the ability to enhance teamwork relations, and the capacity to possess positioning powers. Furthermore, according to the contingency theory, leaders can be classified based on whether they are task or relationship-oriented. Task-oriented leaders perform better in work environments that are characterised by well-structured surroundings and good relationships between members and leaders . The leader also works and realises results in settings where he or she has a strong or even weak power of positioning decisions (Peretomode 2012, p.51). A project has the problem of poor motivation of team members (Tayler 2006, p.14). Contingency leadership theory can help in influencing motivational skills of a leader by providing explanations on how leaders can analyse various situations, which result in low motivation and commitment. This can help a project manager to turn around the problems that constantly recur in the field of project management. Opposed to the contingency leadership theory, situational leadership theories argue that leaders determine the most appropriate mechanisms of conducting leadership roles subject to the variables comprising the current situation within an organisation. This means that situational leaders in project management can help in the resolution of the challenges of occurrence of any incidences of changing goals and processes in the due proces s of project execution. The contribution of situational leadership theory in explaining the roles of leadership in project management is also evident by appreciating that particular scenarios requiring making of decisions call for different forms of leadership styles (Dye 2010, p.109). For instance, when leaders possess a high experience and knowledge on the most effective ways of driving organisational success, authoritarian leadership style is the most preferred (Higgs 2003, p.275). Conversely, where employees or subjects possess high skill levels on their areas of specialisations, deployment of the democratic form of leadership is the most appropriate in the effort to drive the success of projects. Another theoretical paradigm for explaining leadership is the charismatic school of thought. According to Lussier and Achua, this school of thought â€Å"inherited situational leadership theory and distilled it into either transactional or transformational leadership styles† (20 04, p.91). The distinction between transformational and transactional leadership is based on the central concerns of each styles. These concerns are on operational leadership, the processes of situational leadership changes, and the relationship existing among leadership styles (Schaubroeck, Lam Cha 2007, p.1022). Projects mainly focus on bringing about changes. Hence, the focus of the charismatic school of thought in relation to project management dwells on transformational leadership. Goleman (1995) introduced the concept of emotional intelligence as developed by Goleman (1998). Schaubroeck, Lam, and Cha (2007) discuss the concept of emotional intelligence as a success factor for effective leadership in an organisation. These schools of thought describe four main theoretical constructs that constitute an emotional intelligent leader. These are â€Å"self awareness, self management, social awareness and relationship management† (Schaubroeck, Lam Cha 2007, p.1025). Research ers such as Kerr et al. (2006), Leban and Zulauf (2004), and Lowe and Kroeck (1996) found a positive correlation between these four traits and leaders’ emotional intelligence and with the success of organisation that the studied leaders were in charge of leading. The emotional intelligence school of thought suggests that various leaders who want to resolve various problems emerging in an organisation can learn, observe, and/or develop emotional intelligence skills (Cote et al. 2010, p.497; Dulewicz 2003, p.194). The competency school of thought developed through the competency model of leadership binds various theories of leadership. This way, the competency model provides a detailed and holistic approach of studying organisational leadership. Hoffman et al. (B 2011) state, â€Å"The competency school reflects the traits, behaviours, visionary, situational, and emotional intelligence facets of the other schools to present a robust description of a leader† (p.354). Proj ects are complex in nature. For instance, various components of project management approaches entail managing different project elements. For example, project procurement constitutes an integral part of the process of project management in which various services or products are bought through a myriad of external sources outside the employees’ base. These products and services are used to complete the stipulated tasks making up the project (Duncan 1996). Under the stipulations of PMBOK, project planning management also entails â€Å"a variety of tasks including the planning process where it is decided on what to acquire and how it will be done† (Duncan1996). In this complex process, different leadership skills and styles are required. Leadership Skills Possessed by Project Managers General managerial literature and leadership practices provide an important starting point of evaluating important leadership skills that are required by project managers. Positive relations hip between leadership and organisational success is well documented. While developing this relationship, Turner and Muller (2006) provide details of effects of project management in enhancing the success of projects (pp.23-39). Based on the literature review conducted by Turner and Muller (2005), leadership qualities possessed by project managers have a direct implication on the success of a project in achieving its goals and objectives (p. 221). Direct implications include enhancement of motivation and development of positive perceptions of the success of the project (Smith 2009, p.75). Indirect impacts of leadership skills possessed by project managers include leading of project work teams with the chief focus being on gaining success. In particular, Turner and Muller (2005) point out, â€Å"the project managers’ personal characteristics including leadership style and emotional intelligence make a contribution to project success† (p.49). Positive correlation between project leadership and the success of projects receives additional support from many other researchers. For instance, Pinto and Trailer (2005) reckon, â€Å"projects often fall short of achieving their anticipated results, not due to the lack of project management, but rather from the lack of project leadership† (p.15). However, despite this support of the contribution of leadership in enhancing projects’ success, Turner and Muller (2006), and Pinto and Trailer (2005) do not identify various leadership skills that are the most important to form project management knowledge repositories. Different projects have different needs. Leadership skills that are considered the most important for project managers vary from industry to industry. Mike (2005) identifies transactional and transformational leadership behaviours as the most important behaviours for project managers in the IT industry projects (p.37). Bass (1995) insists that one leader can display such qualities simu ltaneously. For effective project management, project leaders have to deploy appropriate mix of the two leadership skills to meet the projects’ needs depending on various situations. Conger (1999) confirms the importance of transactional and transformational leadership skills for project managers claiming, â€Å"Transformational leadership augments followers’ effort and performance over and beyond the performance produced by transactional leadership alone† (p.167). Thite (2000) also found such augmentation as crucial and significant for the success of projects (p.237). One of the major challenges of project management is how to enhance performance through fostering commitment of the work team members to the project’s goals and objectives coupled with enhancing their motivation. Possession of transactional leadership skills helps to resolve these challenges. â€Å"Transactional project leaders motivate followers by engaging in transactional or exchange re lationships in which they exchange rewards for performance† (Mike 2005, p.38). Transactional leaders deploy motivation approaches to increase task accomplishment anticipations by emphasising that specific performance in project tasks allocated to them would lead to the attainment of a specific level of output, which forms the basis of rewards. Transactional project management leaders are smart enough to deploy project leadership behaviours such as management by exemption and/or contingent rewards (Mike 2005, p.38). The contingent rewards encompass the attempts to motivate organisational followers through clear and well-defined tasks, which are then rewarded accordingly upon their successful completion to meet quality standards. This implies that projects’ work team members work hard while paying attention to projects’ quality standards in the quest to gain the monetary rewards. This ensures that projects are completed within the slotted period. Transformational l eadership skills enable project managers to frame various issues associated with project tasks in a manner that stimulates followers in the effort to motivate them. This helps the followers to articulate the work of the project with their personal values. To achieve this goal, project managers exhibit behaviours such as â€Å"idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised considerations† (Bass et al. 1993, p.39). Idealised influence capacitates project leaders to act as role models for portrayal of capabilities that are exceptional with reference to enhancing convictions of followers to a particular vision together with the behaviours that the project leaders want the followers to portray. Inspiration is essential in enabling followers to develop compelling visions together with helping them to handle the challenges encountered in the work place through the provision of a clear meaning and the desired goals of the specific tasks al located to them. This strategy is critical in enabling work members to identify themselves with their groups’ collective commitments to the achievement of tasks expectations by gaining self-confidence. This move is incredibly important in helping project leaders to stimulate â€Å"followers to be innovative and creative by encouraging them to approach familiar situations in new ways† (Mike 2005, p.39). Such an effort is important in leading a project from the paradigm of building knowledge-based projects. The capacity to foster knowledge sharing is yet another important skill of effective project leaders. Petty groups the leadership skill for top performers leaders in project management into â€Å"strategic awareness, executive presence, leadership maturity, and executive orientation† (2009, p.9). Leadership maturity refers to the understanding of project managers on their roles as leaders coupled with the behaviours that they are supposed to display to influenc e other people performing various tasks constituting the project. Leadership maturity is an essential set of skills possessed by project managers. Project managers need to have the ability to lead by formal directions or authority. They should have the capacity to communicate effectively with various stakeholders to enhance team development (Palmer et al. 2001, p.7). Petty (2009) argues that some organisations fail to educate their project managers to become strategic decision makers (p.11). Within some organisations, projects are internal components. Hence, strategic awareness is an important skill that enables project managers to link the project under their control and monitoring to the general needs of customers. Leadership entails working in a teamwork environment to influence other people in the effort to have things done in the right way. Petty (2009) insists that project managers need to have the â€Å"ability to work outside the project team with broader organisations and functional leaders to get things done† (p.10). This ability defines the skills of execution orientation. As sources of effective knowledge repository, leaders should encourage the sharing of this knowledge between various work groups to ensure coherence of various tasks comprising the entire project once they are finally linked up together. The capacity to lead a project as a knowledge-based temporary organisation has attracted the attention of many scholars in the field of project management. For instance, in the 21st century, which is a century characterised by sophisticated information tools, a major argument is that organisations that would succeed in realising constant productivity are the ones, which have innovative leadership abilities. Consistent with this proposition, Zahidul et al. (2011) argues, â€Å"Sharing of knowledge between employees and departments in the organisation is necessary to transfer individual and group knowledge into organisational knowledge, whic h leads to effective management of knowledge† (p.1900). However, in project-based organisations, a challenge is established in the attempt to manage and integrate individual knowledge facets into one body of knowledge leading to optimal utilisation of the available limited resources to achieve project requirements. In this context, Alekseev (2010) argues, â€Å"the problem, which might be not so important for a singular project becomes a significant issue for organisations that use projects on a regular basis for delivering their strategic objectives† (p.4). This problem is articulated to memory losses in a project. Leading information systems in a project implies that the knowledge developed during the project execution process cease from being relevant in a new project development when the project is completed. Such developments would entail coming up with completely new knowledge bases coupled with methodologies to enhance the success of the project at hand so that i t meets the technological requirements at the particular time of the project implementation. Consequently, the existing information on the experiences of an organisation in implementation of previous projects would appear largely not influential in evaluating the new projects. The main concern here is that individual projects would increase the probability of replication of similar mistakes. Zahidul et al. (2011) support this criticism by further adding, â€Å"When individuals share organisationally relevant experiences and information with one another, it significantly increases the resources of an organisation and decreases the time wasted in trial-and error† (p.1900). Although sharing of knowledge as an essential skill for project managers plays the role of making project implementers competitive and innovative, projects have peculiar challenges, which often create friction to the realisation of the advantages of development of a knowledge base. One of such challenges aris es from the characteristics of a project particularly its trait of being a time-bound endeavour. In any project, various specialists join hands to perform various innovative and complicated tasks within some stipulated amount of time. When they are through with the tasks, disbandment of the work teams takes place. If such a similar project be demanded in the future, chances are that the previous members of work teams would not come together to execute the future project. Even though this may help in limiting the impacts of the previous experiences on influencing or limiting the levels of innovation in the future projects, chances also exist that similar mistakes made in the previous project would be repeated. Additionally, since there is the tendency of creating a likelihood for project teams to be made of different persons every time a need to execute a similar project comes up, â€Å"managing knowledge in the context of project work encounters specific cultural and organising cha llenges such as forming work groups† (Alekseev 2010, p.5). This means that sharing and dissemination of knowledge also becomes challenged. However, the fact that projects exhibit opportunities for different people to interact in the execution of time-bound tasks, opportunities also exist for fostering multiculturalism within an organisation. The capacity to deal with people from different cultures and other diversities is an important skill for project management leaders. Another essential leadership skill for project managers is the call for putting in place leadership styles that focus on the manner in which people can improve their performance in projects. Followers want leaders who can help them grow professionally to become independent actors within an organisation (Atchison, 2003). This move is a major milestone in the adoption of participatory leadership, which is crucial for motivation of employees. In this regard, Pearce and Conger (2003) argue that an effective leade r designs his or her leadership styles around the perspectives of followership theories. He or she needs to discuss with followers about â€Å"the importance of quality work, the need for renewed commitment to high standards, and a reiteration of personal and group accountability† (p.123). In this context, it sounds imperative to infer that followers welcome openness to any new idea that may enhance their performance together with confidence in the manner in which a work group can create positive changes that would benefit them. This aspect is vital in the development of effective leadership skills in project leadership. Using Leadership Skills to deal with Problems in Real Project Management Practices Any project is often constrained by time, resources, and the need to lead processes to meet the desires goals and objectives. Another major challenge in the project execution processes is the challenge of orienting people to the desired outcomes. Projects involve bringing about change. In their natural state, people are normally reluctant to embrace change. Various leadership skills are required to deal with these problems and many others that are encountered in the daily routines of a project manager. To deal with the problems encountered in projects, Petty (2009) emphasises that project managers should utilise their strategic awareness skills. These skills are applied in practice by developing awareness with the project strategic environment. Focusing on strategic awareness to resolve the challenges encountered during project execution process implies that projects are subject to market dynamics. Such dynamics include time compressions, complexities in project execution strategies, and the rising need for employing people having high knowledge levels to help in meeting the increasing calls for projects to deliver high quality outcomes. This means that successful project managers are those who execute their roles through strategic priorities. People exec ute tasks that form a project when clarity is provided on the mission and objective of the tasks allocated to them in the context of the realisation of the objectives of the entire project. Strategic awareness offers a complete tool kit that may lack in a project (Petty 2009, p.14). For instance, a project manager may recognise poor motivation as the main contributor to the failure of the work group members to meet deadlines for completion of their work. Through strategic awareness skills, the project managers or the leader would focus on the strategy of seeking ways of enhancing motivation through the deployment of other skills such as transactional and transformational leadership skills (Mike 2005). Resolving a problem that may derail the capacity to complete a project within the required times lines requires a project leader to deploy skills that aid in the creation of high performance work teams. This calls for the evaluation of situations in the project to determine the requisi te leadership skills to recall from the set of leadership skills possessed by a project manager. Hence, situational and contingency leadership skills are crucial in resolution of the problems experienced in projects. Evidence on the applicability of situational leadership skills in the resolution of the problems encountered in projects rests on the platforms of the changing leadership styles to suit the changing projects’ needs. Addressing the issue of situational dynamics, Pearce and Conger argue that there exists no single style of leadership, which would fit all situations since leadership is essentially grounded on the relevance of tasks requiring leadership (2003, p.105). Hence, successful project leaders are those who adapt their leadership styles and grow them to maturity depending on the situation under which they execute their project management functions. Apart from the consideration of the tasks in the formulation of the necessary leadership style, situational lead ership skills help project managers to consider the characteristics of people being led in the determination of an appropriate leadership style in an attempt to build high performance work teams. Leadership skills can help project manager to handle the challenge of creating high performance work teams in various ways. For instance, emotional intelligence skills enable them to create contexts that are fertile for the development of the work group members. In support of this assertion, Petty (2009) maintains, â€Å"high performance project managers work to ensure that their team members can connect the project and their contributions and organisational goals† (p.30). Success of such an effort requires the deployment of motivational leadership skills. Projects’ stakeholders work homogenously when they have a collective understanding of the relevance of the project. The applicability of leadership skills in helping to resolve the challenges encountered in projects akin to motivational problems are endorsed by the theories of workforce motivation, which maintain that people are productive in an organisation when they consider themselves useful, meaningful, and important to an organisation. Suggestions on how to gain Leadership Skills Upon consideration of the leadership needs that are critical in fostering successful completion of projects within the usual constraints of time and financial resource challenges, the traits leadership theory’s claims that leaders are not created, but are born. In fact, scholarly studies in leadership studies contend that certain skills, which make project managers successful in their work, can be learned. For instance, according to Pinto and Trailer (2005), winning the confidence of the people implementing a project can be achieved by an effort to cultivate credibility (p.23). Petty (2009) stated that project managers with exemplary leadership skills recognise that people follow directions if such directions emana te from the people they perceive to be credible and reliable. This means that leadership skills can be developed if project managers have the zeal and internal drive to develop leadership credibility through strategies such as treating people with optimal fairness, ensuring that they communicate openly, and focusing on resolving problems affecting people. Developing the skills of emotional intelligence requires leaders to curtail from engaging in any situations, which may truncate into questioning the integrity and the motivations of a given leader by followers. Interpersonal and intrapersonal communication skills are key success skills for project managers. After identification of various situations, which may impair the capacity of the work members to toil effectively, communication of the mechanisms of countering such situations is vital. Upon identification of requisite motivational strategies, communication is also important in aligning employees to the strategies. This claim s uggests that communication is an important skill that binds various leadership skills that enhance performance of employees in projects. The leadership skills of effective communication may be developed in a myriad of ways. Petty (2009) argues that communication skills can be developed by allowing people to know and understand that the project managers’ role is to enable them succeed (p.23). He further considers this role best realised when communication is done through actions and in words. In search of directions to meet the goals of the project, people would resort to meeting the leader for clarifications, guidance, and help. In this process, it becomes possible to articulate various issues that project managers consider necessary for alteration to facilitate the achievement of project’s goals and objectives. Application of different leadership skills, which suit different situations, requires leaders to analyse situations to determine when to communicate with asser tiveness and/or when to avoid over communication. When rapid changes are required in the project execution process, over communication is dangerous (Mike 2005, p.21). This means that determination of the appropriate leadership skills to apply in a given situation is determined by the projects’ strategy. Expertise is developed through learning and practice to gain experience. To gain leadership skills, coaching is necessary. Consequently, it is important for project managers seeking to gain leadership skills that are effective in project management to get aid and mentorship from persons having the skills that one wants to develop. The decision on the requisite skills to develop has to be based on the observation and analysis of the project environment needs such as the problems that derail the project from accomplishing its objectives. For instance, project tasks may be falling out of time due to lack of commitment of people in charge of implementing them. Consequently, the pr oject manager needs to develop leadership skills for workforce motivation. Such skills can be developed through the study of the existing benchmarks. Conclusion Projects are executed with the help of people who are mandated to carry out various tasks that constitute a project. While management skills are required by the project managers to ensure compliance with the set project execution procedures within fixed timelines and under limited resources, the involvement of people in the implementation of projects requires project managers to have good leadership skills. The evaluation of the necessary leadership skills in project management was considered in the paper from the theoretical paradigms of the trait leadership theories, contingency, situational, competency, and emotional intelligence theories. Each of these theories has its contribution in the generation of effective leadership skills for successful execution of projects. Thus, an integrated approach to the study of leadershi p skills that are necessary for development by project managers is important. Project managers need to be influencers, transformational, and transactional leaders who possess a high degree of emotional intelligence to aid them in determining various situations that require different leadership skills. References Alekseev, A 2010, Knowledge Management In Project-Based Organisations: The Success Criteria And Best Practice, Master Thesis, Chalmers University Of Technology, Northumbria. 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Ng, K, Ang, S Chan, K 2008, ‘Personality and leader effectiveness: A moderated mediation model of leadership self-efficacy, job demands, and job autonomy’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 93 no. 4, pp. 733-743. Palmer, B et al. 2001, ‘Emotional intelligence and effective leadership’, Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, vol. 22 no. 2, pp. 5–10. Pearce, C Conger, J 2003, Shared leadership: Reframing the hows and whys of leadership, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. Peretomode, V 2012, Theories of management: Implications for educational adminis tration, Justice Jeco Publishing Global, Benin City. Petty, A 2009, Leadership and the Project Managers: Developing Skills That Fuel High Performance, https://artpetty.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ldrshipandprojmgrfinal.pdf. Pinto, J Trailer, J 2005, Leadership Skills for Project Managers, Project Management Institute Inc., New York, NY. Schaubroeck, J, Lam, S Cha, E 2007, ‘Embracing transformational leadership: Team values and the impact of leader behaviour on team performance’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 92 no. 4, pp. 1020-1030. Smith G 2009, ‘Project Leadership: Why Project Management Alone Doesn’t Work’, Hospital Materiel Management Quarterly, vol. 21 no. 1, pp. 71- 92. Tayler, J 2006, A Survival Guide for Project Management, Project Management Institute Inc., New York, NY. Thite, M 2000, ‘Leadership styles in information technology projects’, International Journal of Project Management, vol. 18 no. 4, pp. 235-241. Tolber t, L 2008, ‘Nine knowledge areas’, Journal of community academy, vol. 2 no. 2, pp. 56-59. Turner, J Mà ¼ller, R 2005, ‘The Project Manager’s Leadership Style as a Success Factor on Projects: A Literature Review’, Project Management Journal, vol. 7 no. 3, pp. 219-234. 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capone essays

capone essays Alphonse Capone And His Rise To Power During the Capone era many mobsters were in power. As Al Capone grew, he began to associate with many different bosses and was in the neighborhood with many mob run gangs. After being involved and associated with these gangs, Capone then joined one, which just so happen to be run by Johnny Torrio, mobster to become leader of the underworld. There were many influences that helped Capone grow and gain until his rise to power as Chicagos most notorious mobster. One of the most common fictions is that like many gangsters of Capones era, he was born in Italy. This is untrue, he wasnt born in Italy but was born in New York(Bardsley 1). Alphonse Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899, of an immigrant family (Al 2). Gabriele Capone, Al Capones father, was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the United States in 1894. He was a barber by trade and was one of the few who could read and write his native language. He was from the villa of Castellmare di Stalia, sixteen miles south of Naples (Bardsley 3). Capones mom, Teresina Capone, came to America with her two-year-old son Vincenzo and infant son Raffaele (historical 1). In May of 1906, Gabriele became an American citizen (Bender 26). Al Capone quit school after the sixth grade and associated with a notorious street gang. Becoming accepted as a member. Johnny Torrio was the street gang leader and among other members was the great Lucky Luciano (Al 1). As Capone grew, Torrio gave him more responsibility and Capone soon became apprenticed by him. On December 18, 1918, Capone married at the age of 19, to a 21 year old Irish girl names Mae Coughlin. A short time later Albert Francis Capone was born to the couple (Bardsley 8). At the same time this was going on, in New York Johnny Torrio moved all of his operations to Chicago. Torrios prospects in New...

Perceptual Learning for Speech Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Perceptual Learning for Speech - Research Paper Example owever, it provides the easier means of making assessment on the comparative assessment the talkers independent and the talker dependence adaptation to foreign accent speech. From a practical point of view, it would also suggest that exposure to individuals of multiple talkers to foreign accent would have a higher chance of being more effective in the enhancement of the speech communication among the natives and the non-native speakers. The results also demonstrated that the polish accented talker exposed a note-worthy limit on adaptation of listeners on speech of the foreign accent such as Chinese-accented English, and that it promoted some level of perpetual flexibility, which facilitated the recognition of some other foreign accent. This however is a gap that it is believed that some other researches need to exhaustively considers. This include whether exposure to a particular accent would be used for generalization to other typical accents such as the Spanish-accented English. Studies that attempted to reveal the efficacy of a high-variability perspective to phonemes of non natives was clearly matched with the fact that there was a need for the exposure of multiple talkers to the adaptation with the Chinese-accented English. In the study, it was also found out that the study with single talker of a Chinese accented English, regardless of the fact that the talker baseline level of intelligibility of sentence was not enough to present recognition accurately. These findings had some contrast with Weil (2001) that indicated that a single Marathi accented English talker. The difference between this study and the previous study is that this study

Innovative Process Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Innovative Process - Case Study Example The company mostly followed the criteria of a "technology push" for its innovative process where the emphasis was mostly given to R&D without so much input from a user perspective of market perspective. However, as it is shown in the present study, the company was able to do admirably well in the various sectors it went after primarily due to the unusual yet productive and creative environment it provided for its workers. The presented analysis is centered around several axioms of the innovative process that kept in vigor within the Toledo Glass company during and after Mr. Johann Gerhart's time. More specifically, the paper discusses of the organizational culture in the company, of the innovative strategy it followed to achieve its notable success, and of the simplistic corporate structure it used to direct and develop the company throughout the years. Being an inventor himself, Mr. Gerhart was particularly fond of Thomas Edison of the General Electric company, and in several ways applied the Edisonian method of innovation in his Toledo Glass company. ... In his own saying about his assiduity toward the inventive process, Edison claimed "Results' Why man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt is often a step forward." His empirical approach to invention combined to an amazingly radiant drive got him the sympathy of several notable inventors of his time. Among those who admired him, Mr. Gerhart went a step further to emulate the Edisonian empirical method for coming up with commercially viable inventions. The Toledo company culture would remain deeply marked by the distinctive Edisonian method for arriving at novelties regardless of the field. In the early twentieth century, a select number of companies had the innovation strategy that Mr. Gerhart decided to implement in its company. In fact, the first laboratory of the Toledo company was established to model the Edison's Menlo Park facility in New Jersey. The facility was stocked w ith various equipment and tools to facilitate the innovative process of its workers through experimentation and trial and error. In the early facility, Mr. Gerhart set the stage for a company culture to be build around a liberal attitude toward innovation and invention. That particularity would eventually become the cornerstone of the Toledo Glass company. As pinpointed in the case study, Johann Gerhart began working with a small team of five inventors who were free to utilize the tools at hand to come up with new products having commercial viability in the glass industry. Each member of the team had "carte blanche" to specialize on the use of a given tool or equipment to derive newer and better processes for producing glass products. Agreeably the method is quite

Obsessive compulsive disorder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Obsessive compulsive disorder - Essay Example Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychological experience considered an Axis 1 mental illness in the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1994). According to the DSM OCD is defined as either a person being obsessed with a topic or concept or compelled to think particular thoughts or to undertake particular actions. Obsessions can be defined as recurrent and persistent thoughts, images of impulses that are experienced during the OCD experience, and these are perceived as being intrusive and inappropriate and generally cause distress and or anxiety to the person experiencing them (March, 2006; Salkovskis et al., 2000; Wroe & Salkovskis, 2000). Common distressing thoughts, actions or verbalizations may be sexual in nature (10%), moral/religious/blasphemous (11%), aggressive (29%), contamination-disease (46%), or to do with symmetry and sequence (27%) (Matthews, Reynolds, & Derisley, 2006). These excessive thoughts, impulses and images are not just over stressing about day-to-day life, for as the person tries to suppress or dispel such thoughts, impulses or images or attempts to supplement them with other thoughts, images or actions, they cannot suppress or dispel their experience. ... nuously checking that a door is locked, or repetitive mental acts, such as praying or counting, results in the person feeling driven to undertake the behavior of thought according to a rigid set of rules (Rosack, 2004). The behaviors and mental acts prevent or reduce the anxiety and distress that is experienced, alternatively, the thoughts and behaviors may inhibit a dreaded event from occurring. Obsessions and compulsions cause significant distress, can take up much of the person's time during the day, and can dramatically interfere with their normal routine in everyday life, such as inhibiting them from carrying out their work role or attending to academic studies (Simonds, Thorpe, & Elliott, 2000). Experiences also negatively affect their ability to engage in social activities or to have fulfilling relationships. Additionally, if another Axis 1 mental illness is present then the content of the obsessions and or compulsions may not be restricted to it; for example, being preoccupied with food when an eating disorder is also present. Hollander, Cohen and Stein (2005) categorises one type of OCD experiences as repetitive behaviors that are driven by pleasure or arousal, such as pathological gambling, as the act of gambling involves risk and reward. In a study by Anholt and colleagues (2004) a comparison of the dysfunctional beliefs of those with diagnosed OCD and participants diagnosed as pathological gamblers or panic disorder, and a group of normal controls. Beliefs were measured using the Obsessive-Compulsive Beliefs Questionnaire-87 (OBQ-87). It was anticipated that the pathological gamblers would have similar cognitions to the OCD group; and have high levels of OCD symptoms. The results showed that the OCD group and the gambling group had similar OBQ-87 scores;

Merging Of Old And New Architecture

Merging Of Old And New Architecture Human population growth in our planet has increased in a whirlwind over the past few decades. The on-going increase of the world population nowadays leads to greater demand of providing built environment for the people. On the other hand, although the population is growing, the earth is not. People will have to build more in a land that stay constantly the same. The fast changes of built environment have become one of the results. In Singapore, fast changes of environmental surrounding have now become so common that people might perceive it as a habit and pattern of life. People might live in one area for just couple of months and suddenly their environment is no longer the same. New buildings are added, some are being destroyed and replaced. The main reason is because of the minimum land area they have, that must runs concurrently with the population increase. To meet the demand of peoples need that is constantly changing and increasing, the built environment is adapting in a fast pace also. Living in a condition that is continuously changing has left a certain bad impact of ones life. A lot of Singaporeans, especially the young generations have no glimpse of what happened in the past. They are growing up in this modern environment, with the expectation of an endless changing. Not knowing the past means that we are heading our way to a future without knowing our own history and culture, leaving behind all of what our ancestors had given. While others are able to trace back their root and heritage, we cant. Others are able to learn from their own history, we cant. This is also creating a boredom, to only look forward and waiting for something new. Whereby our surrounding needs to be altered according to peoples need, we also have a call to start learning to know our history and originality. One of the solutions to this problem may be just a simple act that has been forgotten by most architects. We still can have both the originality of the buildings with the combination of new function to be added on, adjusting peoples need that is constantly changing. Fast changes built environment as the result of the increase population and peoples needs have caused individuals not to know their past. By merging the old and new architecture, people will have a glimpse on their history while still having their needs fulfilled. The essay will be studying how the old and contemporary architects have done the merging of the two. II. The Future of The Past The issue of Singaporean Young Generation to grow up without knowing their own culture and heritage. 1. Fast Changes of Built Environment in Singapore Data from the construction sector in Singapore has shown a rapid growth since the past few decades. The development of construction sector in Singapore since 1982 to 1992 is 12.5 percent while since 1992 to 1998 the growth expanded to 15.9 percent. Until the year 1990, there is 6,813,376m2 floor area of new establishments completed. Moreover, up till the year of 2010 the growth has increased from 15.9 percent to 20.3 percent. (Building Construction Authority, 2010) One aspect that is causing this rapid growth of built construction sector is the increase of peoples population. Data from Singapore Statistics (Singapore Statistics, 2010) shows that in 2010 the number of population reaches 5,076,7000 people, while in 1980 the population is only 2,413,900 people. From the data above, it is shown that increase of population runs concurrently with the construction sector. We can analysed that due to the expansion of Singapore population, the necessities of people is growing as well. This issue will then leads to the obligation of government to build more in order to fulfil peoples needs. 2. Fast Changes Built Environment in Singapore Leading Towards The Unknowing of The Past MM Lee Kuan Yew once stated in his speech at the inaugural Future China Global Forum Meeting on Wednesday, July 17th 2010, that Singaporeans are ignorant. (Temasek Review, 2010). One of the biggest issues of ignorance in Singapore is where the young generations not aware of what happened in the past. What if it is not the case that they are intentionally ignoring what had happened in the past? What if it occurs because of no traces left from the past as the result of fast changes in their living environment? B. Lessons from The Past 1. History Value of The Past By recognising our own history, we do not only know what had happened in the past but also learn from it. Peter N. Stearns (Historians, 2008) , once said that history puts human experience in a situation whereby it allows us to understand ourselves as a people and a culture. It gives us a reference to consider the possible future ahead of us. For examples, journals, newspapers and other religious books become more relevant to know what is going on in that time period. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (Santayana, 2005) on the other hand, with no doubt, knowing the past means also that we are aware of the mistakes done back then. It helps us understand past triumphs and tragedies, and gives us the tools to try and succeed where others have failed. It will be functioned as a guideline to illustrate our future in order to lead a better life in the future where we will not go down to the same hole again. 2. Memories How We Recall The Past Many very different things happen when we remember (Wittgenstein, 1974, pp. 181). Memories are another beauty depicting the past. How we recall and store every scene in the past is by memories. What has gone in the past shall live in our memories forever. We might forget the past without memories, and moreover the things that we cant let go of might stay forever in our mind even though they are actually gone. Memories play a certain roles in recalling the past. C. Architecture in The Past versus New Architecture Characteristics of Old Architecture The study of traditional architecture proved that in general there are recognisable patterns and forms in variety settings and variety purposes. Old buildings are usually designed by classification or by typological approach. Each type had certain characteristic that differentiates from others, and this will often be repeated in the design. For the spaces inside, they are typically designed as a solid body. They are always been rooms and solid spaces as to part one space from another. As for the functional purposes of old architecture How Traditional Architecture Different from Contemporary Architecture 2.1 Development of The Functions Contemporary architecture has developed rapidly, adjusting to human needs that are constantly changing. The main thing that differs traditional and contemporary architecture is the development of the functions. One of the examples is the establishment of department store in 1838. The increase of peoples possession on goods and daily needs is the main reason of the founding of department store, whereby people will be able to buy all kinds of their needs in one area. At the old time, all shops were standing alone; people will have to venture to one shop to another to get all their needs. Le Bon Marchà © Paris, France 1850 2.2 Development of The Forms Moreover, it is the characteristic of old building that is abandoned by new architecture. Repetitive forms are now used in a very little manner, while new forms are being introduced more. (will be explained more in the next semester) Le Bon Marchà © Paris, Shinsegae Centum City Busan, France (1850) South Korea (2010) D. Historical Approach The method of merging old and new architecture in the past The scheme of combining old and new architecture is not a completely new approach, whereby it has been done in the past. 1. John Ruskin 1.1 The Sixth Lamp of Architecture Lamp of Memory John Ruskin was an English art critic and theorist. He wrote an extended essay about principle in architecture, The Seven Lamps of Architecture. At the sixth point of his essay, The Memory, Ruskins clearly stated that there are two duties respecting national architecture; the first is to represent the architecture of the day and the second is to preserve, what is the most precious of inheritances from the past ages. (Ruskin, 1849) What Ruskin means by Memory is that architecture should have some regards to the culture and time where it has developed. Every building has its own beauty regarding its time being. Ruskin (2008, pp. 4-5) believed that every building especially domestic and residential building have some emotional aspect towards owner and space users. There are certain elements inside that cannot be renewed or replaced. 1.2 Restoration as a Form of Lie Even more, according to Ruskin (2008, pp. 15) restoration is a form of lie. We may make the same skeleton of the old building, or even portraying the exact same interior of the old. But still, the old building is destroyed, there will be no more emotional connection with people, whereby what they really connected with has gone, even after being replaced with something that is exactly the same. It will be better to have a robustly built structure that is strong enough to stand for quite sometimes, rather than having a building that is only last for a generation. Moreover, it is the nature of a building to have much longer life span than man. So why should we build one that requires changes after only short times, where actually it can be strongly remained? 2. Eugà ¨ne Viollet- le-Duc 2.1 Restorations of Medieval Buildings Different from Ruskin, Viollet- le-Duc was well known for his restorations projects of medieval buildings. When Ruskin strongly argued that restoration is a lie, Viollet- le-Duc has his own view on restorations projects. Restorations on medieval buildings appeared in France in the early 1830s, whereby there was a concern on medieval buildings that were slowly destructed as time goes by. Viollet- le-Duc was then firstly commissioned to restore Cathedral of Narbonne in 1839. As an architect and theorist, Viollet- le-Duc (Viollet- le-Duc, as cited in Levine, 2009, pp. 152) argued that what was lacking in the restoration field is the truth. A lot of French architects were making imitations objects, whereby the restorations were all look exactly the same with the old building before it destroyed. Viollet- le-Duc, aligned with Ruskins view about restoration as a form of lie, also believed that by imitating what has been there in the old buildings before and just directly made a newer version of it will bring no truth to the whole point of restorations. Restoration will be seen just to renew and renew the buildings whereby actually the originality of the buildings will be keep lacking. Viollet- le-Duc (Levine, 2009, pp. 154) then introduced a method of restoring with achieving something new and valid. He took what is the most important element in the old building; still using it but with the combination of creative modification. He pushed restorations to be beyond the limit and therefore leads to the era of Modernism. 2.2 Theory of Hut (Viollet- le-Duc Theory of Hut about taking the original elements of the old building and convert them into something new will be covered in the next semester) E. The Values of Merging Old and New Architecture 1. Unconventional twist created by merging old and new architecture Having both the originality of spaces with the new function will surely bring new sensation of the interior spaces (Conran, as cited in Niesewand, 1998, pp. 01) Imagine a sitting room with a church high ceiling, a workspace with the sunray glazes on the floor of a seaside house. We can get both the new function without sacrificing the beauty of old. The necessity of people is fulfilled, but now in a different unique ways. This will affect people in various ways: Fulfilment of necessity achieved in old environment, whereby in contradiction it is something new for people. People will perceive the old as a new thing as the function is now changing. Unconsciously, the space users will be in two different periods of time in a same place. This will provide the people some feelings of always being in different places all the time. Somehow, this is actually a benefit for people, especially Singaporean to be able to have two sensations in their spaces. Singaporean with the habit of living in small space due to land constraint will now be able to widen their view, although still being in the small space. 2. Transitional Spaces Between The Old and New Transitional spaces in architecture are commonly known as the connector of interior and exterior of the building. The use of transitional space is as a comfort zone as well as buffer spaces where people are allowed to adjust their selves before going to the different area. According to the definition of transitional spaces (UCL, 2005), it is articulated as a cross point where it connects the two. In the field of merging old and new architecture, these transitional spaces are now functioned not as the connector of outdoor and indoor, but between the old and new. It can be a space between the interior and exterior, between the exteriors or between interiors as long as it is a linkage from the old to the new. (Case studies of transitional spaces in between old and new buildings will be covered next semester) 3. Economically sizeable market With no doubt, reusing an existing building will bring a great economic advantage. Compared to build a new fabric, using an old building will only takes 50% to 70% construction works and therefore is less time consuming as well. (Cramer, 2007, pp.9) Moreover, demolition of old building nowadays is being perceived as an ecological waste. New building means taking more of the natural resources as material sources. Why would we want to take more from earth if we still could do alteration of existing building structure? It is wiser for us to provide more natural resources for the next generation rather than using them to the maximum limit now. Moreover, for the space users themselves, it is another economic advantage to utilise a readymade building than building a new one. The cost will definitely be higher to build a new structure than to reuse the old. 4. Challenging The Creativity of Designers Designers nowadays have been so caught up with the thought that creativity is to be explored to the highest point, whereby to create something in the existing building is a restriction of creativity. (Cramer, 2007, pp.9) On the other hand, in the practice, it is actually a greater chance for designers and architects to explore their potential and creativity in the field of designing with old establishment. While designing the new structure, there is no constraint and rules that will bind the designer. Designers will have to explore and put more thoughts when it comes to old buildings. There are a lot of sources inside the old that designers will have to incorporate with their new design features. This will require more creativity from the designers. F. The ways of merging the old and new 1. Converted Architecture new use for old buildings Lukas Feiress (Feiress, 2009, pp. 03) stated that we have to locate the present between the past and the future. In the present state, we cannot deny what has happened in the past, but still we need to look forward to the future. Converted architecture is a term of changing the use or function of an original building, especially the old and abandoned. Terence Conran, (Conran, as cited in Niesewand, 1988, pp.06) once said, How we use space and particularly how we live in it, requires a complex balancing act between practical limitations, individual requirements and personal preferences. Requirements of individual needs and personal preferences are a key to converted architecture. Some people may choose triple volume height open space for living while others may not. Than maybe an old school or old church is more suitable for them. To convert an old building means that we are maximising the use of what is already there with some adjustments of new functions. We might want to retain the old structure or forms of the existing skin with adding a new function on to it. The essay will gives examples that some of the greatest contemporary architecture projects are actually done with the engagement of existing building structures. There are two approaches of how the old and new come together as a whole: Blend In The new addition of function is blending in with the existing old fabric. They are now look similar and smoothly integrated. Various elements are used to bind the old and new together. It could be in terms of material, colours, or design of new structure that follows the old. Peoples view is being blurred, as they may perceive the new as the old or vice versa. Blend in could be use as the guideline to design the transitional spaces between the two. Neues Museum, Berlin Germany David Chipperfield (Case studies of Neues museum, Berlin by David Chipperfield as to bring the old and new as a whole whereby the new blended in with the old by the use of colour and material will be explored more in the next semester) Contrast The new function is intentionally designed in contrast with the old building. By treating it this way, space users will subconsciously feel as if theyre in two places in the same time. Museum of Sydney Australia 1983 Firstly built for the governors house on 1788, rebuilt for the Museum of Sydney on 1983 (further explained in next semester about how the architect is successful in contrasting the new element but still harmonious with the old) Different types of building conversion to create contrast: Add On Indicating the potentials of adding on a new structure to the existing building. There are no changes at all of the old building. New spaces being laid and extended onto existing fabric. The example shows that existing architecture and new structure form unexpectedly imaginative balance although with two different elements. House at St Kevins Road by Odos Architects Inside-Out Exploring the interior space of the old building. The original appearance of the existing site remains unchanged, but concentrating on the interior spaces. This type of converting is in line with conservation procedure to maintain the exterior of a historic building. Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore Netherland (former church turned to bookstore) Change Clothes The opposite of Inside-Out, whereby the approach is now to completely change the exterior faà §ade of old building. New shell is now put to replace the existing fabric. This scheme of converting can be done for many old buildings that had gone through massive destruction of the exterior through ages and other for the optimisation of buildings shell. Bunny Lane by Adam Kalkin (former factory turned to a house) (All of the case studies will be furthered explained in the next semester) 2. Types of building to be converted It is not necessarily to be a historical building to be converted, but any old and abandoned structure. The main reason of merging the old and new architecture together is for people, especially young generation, to get to know their own culture and how life back there was like. Ruskin (Ruskin, as cited in Cramer, 2007, pp.15) said that The aesthetic value of something was closely linked to its age, and this aesthetic value should not be impaired by modern intervention. John Ruskin has stated that every building have their own beauty, their own ability to tell story about their own time being. It is not only the historical buildings that are able to tell us what happened in the past, but any other old buildings also. Potential types of buildings to be converted 2.1 Ecclesiastical building A lot of ecclesiastical buildings are vacant nowadays. The most common reason is because of the need to have more spacious assembly space. It leads to create a single larger unit meeting space from combining two or three churches together and left other buildings empty. The value of a churchlike building is that they are spacious and tall enough to accommodate a lot of spaces. They are suitable for living or gathering spaces that require more time inside the space such as cafà © or restaurant. Larger spaces inside the church will allow people to feel more comfortable where they have to stay in quite long time. White Rabbit Restaurant Dempsey Hill Singapore (Former old chapel building) 2.2 Municipal building Municipal buildings are places that are own by government, they have high position in local community such as police station, government hospital or schools. These buildings are usually built near to the main road or access area. They are highly accessible and this also becomes the value of municipal buildings. They are suitable for commercial places such as retail or hospitality, as usually located at the heartland of a city. Fullerton Hotel- Singapore (Former General Post Office building) 2.3 Commercial building Old commercial building, especially in Singapore, such as the old shop houses are more likely to become vacant as the result of changes in working patterns. There are now trends to group all commercial spaces together in business or urban areas, such as the grouping of shopping areas along Orchard Road along the way to Marina. The value of old commercial space is that they are tent not to have much decoration. They are often monotonous; all look the same and therefore allowed more new adjustments to be made. House at No. 12 Kong Seen Road Singapore by Richard Ho (former shop house building) 2.4 Industrial and Offices Industrial and offices are designed to be practical and useful rather than beautiful. Creativity of designers is challenged the most in converting industrial spaces and offices. It is the nature of industrial buildings to be ignored by passers by and it is the designers job to transform them into much more attractive with still retaining some parts of them. The value of this kind of buildings is they are usually very practical in the adjacency of spaces inside. Spaces work perfectly for the benefit of the users. (case study will be explained in the next semester) G. How will the space users cope with the new way of experiencing spaces based on the psychological effects from the above studies? The obstacles that people may face in coping with two elements at once. Will they get used to the changing of spaces inside? The adjustments by the space users and the design as well. (Will be explored in the next semester)

The Global Feminist and the Transnational Feminist Essay -- Gender Stu

Academic discourse is the means by which new and old theories may be applied to a topic in order to reach a better understanding or challenge a notion raised within the field. It is through discussing and analyzing these concepts that individual voices may be applied to an academic community, allowing for a wider lens of thought to be picked up and further discussed. Grewal participates in this discourse in her article â€Å"'Women's Rights as Human Rights': Feminist Practices, Global Feminism, and Human Rights Regimes in Transnationality†. This paper shall analyze and discuss how Grewal applies previous theoretical concepts related to feminist discourse in order to offer a Transnationalist Feminist critique to the Global Feminist notion of Women's Rights as Human Rights. First and foremost, what are the concepts of Global feminism and Transnational feminism? Charlotte Bunch explains Global Feminism as something which â€Å"has...a way of describing the growth of feminism(s) around the world...† (Bunch 129). The core concept of Global Feminism is that women around the world are united amongst the overarching issue of patriarchy. In this view of feminism, it can be argued, such as theorists Mendoza, Said and Spivak do, that global feminism suffers from a Western perspective, or as Mendoza says, it â€Å"produces a global feminism whereby First World feminists are positioned as saviors of their poor Third World sisters† (Mendoza 319). Transnational feminism, as described by Mendoza, can be understood as a view where â€Å"the term...points to the multiplicity of the world's feminisms and to the increasing tendency of national feminisms to politicize women's issues beyond the borders of the nation state...the position feminists worldwide have taken a... ...Locations; Global and Local, Theory and Practice, edited by Marianne deKoven, pp 129-146.  © 2001 New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press Butler, Judith â€Å"Excerpt from Introduction to Bodies that Matter† in The Gender/Sexuality Reader: Culture, History, Political Economy, edited by Roger N. Lancaster; Michaela de Leonardo, pp. 531-542.  © 1997 Routledge Grewal, Inderpal â€Å"Women's Rights as Human Rights: Feminist Practices, Global Feminism and Human Rights Regimes in Transnationality† in Citizenship Studies, 3:3, pp 337-354.  © 1999 Taylor and Francis Ltd.. Mendoza, Breny â€Å"Transnational Feminisms in Question† in Femnist Theory, 3:3, pp. 295-314.  © 2002 Sage Publications. Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. 1995. â€Å"Can the Subaltern Speak?† in The Post-Colonial Studies Reader, edited by B. Ashcroft, G. Griffiths and H. Tiffin, pp. 24-28.  © 1995 New York: Routledge