The Caribbean Societies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Caribbean Societies - Essay Example In the history of the development of the society, several social changes have already transformed the development of the social structure and their development course. In the past, some examples of social changes in the past are the use of contraception particularly birth control pills as related to the population and marital realm in the society, the electoral system development incorporating women as the result of the female suffragist's action for equality, and the acceptance of the concept of homosexuality in the social structure. These social changes have caused the development of the present social community to their contemporary state in the modern period. In the present, several social change issues are still influence the social behavior of the population namely the information technology structure which it now integrating their influence in the respective lives of the people. This in turn, has caused their presence to become a significant factor in the present state of mode rnity of the present social culture transforming the present society to become dependent upon the technology for their daily needs and activities. Modernization is mainl... Often this concept is viewed as the product of the evolutionary pattern of the society in their development towards achieving a better approach towards their needs. Progress is the main determinant of the nature of this concept as observable in the life conditions of the people. Indeed, modernization can be observed in most critical social aspects and structure relevant to the daily activities of the population. The present state of modernization is primarily product the different stages of development that occurred in the previous periods. Each development stage produces a new standard of progress in the society wherein this respective level manifests as a better approach than the previous one in terms of the betterment of the condition of the population. (Schmidt, 2008, 54) Examples of the dominant modernization changes in the society are the development in the communication field in terms of contracting the regional gaps of the population, the progress in media developing the mean of transference of news and information, and the progress in the computing field as influenced by the rapid industrialization of the technology industry. On actual social structure, the concept of modernization is also dominant affecting the normative processes and approaches in each significant social system. An example of this is the modernity in the processes in the criminal justice field wherein their critic al investigation has been further developed with the advancement of their facilities and technological development. Indeed, modernization brings forth the general influence of development as part of the continuous pursuit of the population towards progress.(Yelvington, 2006, 56) In

Enteprise risk management unilever by the example of unilever lipton Essay Example for Free

Enteprise risk management unilever by the example of unilever lipton Essay Introduction More and more companies begin to understand the importance of risk management (Enterprise Risk Management, ERM) — the fields of management thanks to which business doesnt revolve, and receive an additional boost. Still, quite recently many ERM programs were directed, mainly, to studying of already known problems, or to the assessment of all risks in a row, irrespective of their level. Though such activity also allows giving employees full-time job, it seldom brings benefit to the company focused on the result. It is obvious that conditions of business are accompanied by the huge amount of risks. Without preliminary preparation of the company, supported with the realization of the strategy, can fall a victim of any unforeseen event which will threaten their success, and it is possible, and to survival. In such time, it is very important to have the reliable ERM program which is interwoven into the fabric of strategy of the company and is integrated into its daily business activities. However, implementation of the effective ERM program is today not the simplest task. Having faced the uncertainty of prospects of changes in standard regulation and economy, many companies make considerable efforts to create the effective and purposeful program which will provide an understanding of the most important risks. Though each enterprise and branch has the specifics, there is a number of the general actions which will lead to the creation of more effective ERM program. Background information Unilever is the British and Netherlands company, one of the world leaders in the market of foodstuff and goods of household chemicals (including perfumery). Now in these segments, the company is the second in the world sales volumes. The headquarters are located in London and Rotterdam. The company is led by the board of director’s representative Michael Treschow. The executive managing director is Paul Poleman. The net income for the previous year was on the level of 5.2 billion euros. The company has more than 175 thousand employers worldwide. ERM Overview Risk management plays an essential role in the company in achieving its long-term goals. The success of the Unilever company. The overall company’s success depends on its abilities to identify and evaluate risks and opportunities generated by either business or markets the company is in. The total turnover of the company was more than â‚ ¬52.7 billion in 2016. 57% of the business being held across the world takes place in emerging markets. The company owns 13 brands, all of them have annual sales volume more than 1 billion euros per year. The company has more than 169 thousand employers worldwide. The gender structure of the company is following: 46% of managers are women and 54% are men. By 2016, over 610 Unilever sites were distributing zero non-hazardous waste to landfill. The Unilever company is number one FMCG graduate employer of choice in 34 of the 60 countries to be recruited. In 2016 Sustainable Living brands grew 40% faster than the rest of the business of the Unilever. ERM Integration with strategy Appraisal of Unilevers Risk Management Strategies Unilever has perceived that the vast majority of the dangers presented to it might wind up noticeably material snags to the organizations further advancement. According to this fact, it has attempted to take some viable and organized measures to distinguish and after that endeavor the key hazard administration systems for the business. There are several specific risk management strategies that are implemented with company’s mission and long-term strategy: Unilever has been carefully observing monetary markers and purchaser conduct in various territories through broad and expert research with a specific end goal to react rapidly and take new and adaptable measures to take care of the changing demand of clients. So as to manage the issue of budgetary instability, the organization has been attempting endeavors to access worldwide obligation advertises through different routes, for example, short-term or long-term debt programs. Unilever appends extraordinary importance to the change of loan cost, attempting to have distinctive sorts of budgetary administrations and adjust the dangers amongst drifting and settled rate enthusiasm after an expert forecast and appraisal of the financing cost. Regarding the remote foreign exchange rates, Unilever sets an arrangement which constrains the working organizations monetary outside trade exposures in order to reduce such risk. Unilever has made a progression of standards and strategies for the technique of design, producing, and retailing of items to guarantee the high requirements of items quality. What more Unilever has a â€Å"Sustainable Development Group† which consists of 5 external specialists, involving in the company’s strategy development. Associated Risks Conclusion References http://www.cfin.ru/finanalysis/risk/ERM.shtmlhttps://www.unilever.com/Images/risks_ar15_tcm244-477397_en.pdfhttps://www.slideshare.net/muthukum/unilevers-lipton-risk-management-with-business-intelligencehttps://www.unilever.ru/about/who-we-are/introduction-to-unilever/

Confinement in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Confinement in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman      Ã‚   Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper is a commentary on the male oppression of women in a patriarchal society.   However, the story itself presents an interesting look at one woman's struggle to deal with both physical and mental confinement.   This theme is particularly thought-provoking when read in today's context where individual freedom is one of our most cherished rights. This analysis will focus on two primary issues: 1) the many vivid images Gilman uses to illustrate the physical and symbolic confinement the narrator endures during her illness; and 2) the overall effect of, and her reaction to, this confinement.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Yellow Wallpaper begins with the narrator's description of the physically confining elements surrounding her.   The story is cast in an isolated hereditary estate, set back from the road and located three miles from town. The property boasts protective hedges that surround the garden, walls that surround the estate, and locked gates which guarantee seclusion.   Even the connecting garden represents confinement, with box-bordered paths and grape- covered arbors. This isolation motif continues within the mansion itself. Although she preferred the downstairs room with roses all over the windows that opened on the piazza, the narrator finds herself relegated to an out of the way dungeon-like nursery on the second floor, appropriately equipped with "rings and things" in the walls.   Windows in each direction provide glimpses of the garden, arbors, bushes, and trees.   The bay is visible, as is a private wharf that adjoins the... ...age or How to Read Your Own Life."    Charlotte Perkins Gilman: The Woman and Her Work.   Ed. Sheryl Meyering.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1989.   75-94.       Works Consulted:    Ehrenreich, Barbara and English, Deirdre."The 'Sick' Women of the Upper Classes," The Captive Imagination: A Casebook on the Yellow Wallpaper, ed. Catherine Golden, New York, Feminist Press, 1992, 90-109.    Hedges, Elaine R. Afterword. The Yellow Wallpaper. 1973: 37-63. Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism 9. Detroit: Gale: 1988.    Shumaker, Conrad. "'Too Terribly Good to Be Printed': Charlotte Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper'" American Literature. 57 (1985): 194-198.    Treichler, Paula A. "Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in The Yellow Wallpaper"' Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. 3 (1984): 61-77.    Confinement in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Confinement in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman      Ã‚   Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper is a commentary on the male oppression of women in a patriarchal society.   However, the story itself presents an interesting look at one woman's struggle to deal with both physical and mental confinement.   This theme is particularly thought-provoking when read in today's context where individual freedom is one of our most cherished rights. This analysis will focus on two primary issues: 1) the many vivid images Gilman uses to illustrate the physical and symbolic confinement the narrator endures during her illness; and 2) the overall effect of, and her reaction to, this confinement.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Yellow Wallpaper begins with the narrator's description of the physically confining elements surrounding her.   The story is cast in an isolated hereditary estate, set back from the road and located three miles from town. The property boasts protective hedges that surround the garden, walls that surround the estate, and locked gates which guarantee seclusion.   Even the connecting garden represents confinement, with box-bordered paths and grape- covered arbors. This isolation motif continues within the mansion itself. Although she preferred the downstairs room with roses all over the windows that opened on the piazza, the narrator finds herself relegated to an out of the way dungeon-like nursery on the second floor, appropriately equipped with "rings and things" in the walls.   Windows in each direction provide glimpses of the garden, arbors, bushes, and trees.   The bay is visible, as is a private wharf that adjoins the... ...age or How to Read Your Own Life."    Charlotte Perkins Gilman: The Woman and Her Work.   Ed. Sheryl Meyering.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1989.   75-94.       Works Consulted:    Ehrenreich, Barbara and English, Deirdre."The 'Sick' Women of the Upper Classes," The Captive Imagination: A Casebook on the Yellow Wallpaper, ed. Catherine Golden, New York, Feminist Press, 1992, 90-109.    Hedges, Elaine R. Afterword. The Yellow Wallpaper. 1973: 37-63. Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism 9. Detroit: Gale: 1988.    Shumaker, Conrad. "'Too Terribly Good to Be Printed': Charlotte Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper'" American Literature. 57 (1985): 194-198.    Treichler, Paula A. "Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in The Yellow Wallpaper"' Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. 3 (1984): 61-77.   

Music and Religion in African-American Slave Culture

The buying, selling, and trading of human beings for personal labor, slavery, Is often thought to be singlehandedly the most atrocious thing that mankind as a whole has created. The horrors these innocent men, women, and children faced on a day to day basis was parallelled perhaps only by the soldiers fighting the war over their freedom. Though slavery was full of negatives, it also blossomed with positives as a means to cope.African-American slaves used several aspects of their native African ulture to cope, two primary components being music and religion. Slaves worked under constant watch by their owners, constantly fearing punishment for a slip-up. Enslaved African-Americans obviously resented the way they were being treated, end devised ways to rebel against their owners right under their noses.Reaching back to their African roots, slaves sang seemingly harmless songs to one another as they worked under the sweltering sum Little did their owners know that the slaves had eaved in tricate secret messages into their lyrical pieces, such as metaphors intended to ridicule their masters or to send signals to other slaves. Their music was a mix of tribal African rhythms and American religious music, as they relied heavily on their religion to cope from day to day.Even though their outlook was bleak, Slaves stayed positive in the face of sheer adversity through their faith. The most common faith emong slaves was that of christlanlty. he christlan doctrine being passed down from fathers to sons and so on, Initially, some slaves were not chrlstlan. and held fast to their old polytheistic beliefs from their home, Africa. Asslmllatlon was inevitable however, and nearly all negro slaves were converted Their native religion did not cease to exist, but rather lived on through a stylized take on christianity.They incorporated several aspects of the African religion with christianity, such as rituals and vocalization. Sometimes both religion and music came hand in hand to t he slaves, who praised their Lord through song and dance. Slaves kept their heads high in hopes of being freed someday. Even today, the Influences of slave music and religion can be seen In modern religion, gospel music, hip-hop, rap. and the like. Even though slavery Is a memory many try to forget, It can still be remembered positively through the culture that emerged through the confinement

Convergence-towards-ifrs-in-malaysia-issues-challenges-and-opportunities Essay

In the year 2008 the then Malaysian Accounting Standard Board’s (MASB) chairman, Dato’ Zainal Abidin Putih, announced that Malaysia will be converging with International Accounting Standard Board (IASB)’s International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). From that point onwards many initiatives were lined up by MASB and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) in order to educate, train and inform all the relevant stakeholders in tandem with fast approaching deadline to converge, which is for the earliest year-end financial reporting date, 31 December 2012. On 19 November 2011, MASB issued the third accounting framework to be applied in Malaysia and this new accounting framework that is IFRS-compliant is dubbed as Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards framework (MFRS). The issuance of MRFS is vital to show and prove the Malaysian commitment and also it becomes a solid guideline for all entities that are administered by Securities Commission of Malaysia and the convergence begin on or after 1 January 2012. Historically, Malaysian accounting standards have always closely followed the former International Accounting Standards (IAS) and the current IFRS. This is due to the colonisation effect on Malaysia, where Malaysia was a British colony up to the year 1957 and many of the accounting standards applied in the United Kingdom has always made its way to be adopted by the Malaysian standard setters authorities and regulators. As Mohammad Faiz Azmi stated in forums that the Malaysian story of convergence has been a ‘slow and steady’ approach and this phased-in approach even though slower is expected to put Malaysian entities in a better position as the problems and challenges faced by Malaysian companies are far much reduced compared to other countries that adopted the ‘big bang’ approach, for example the South Koreans, where the accounting standard setters and regulators in South Korea agreed on full adoption of IFRS (Nazatul Izma, 2009; Suh, 2011) ACCOUNTING FRAMEWORKS IN MALAYSIA Currently Malaysian entities are subject to three sets of accounting frameworks, the first accounting framework is the old Financial Reporting Standards framework (FRS), next is the Private Entity Reporting Standards framework (PERS) and finally the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards framework (MFRS). All these three frameworks are legally approved frameworks by MASB and can be applied by entities in Malaysia but subject to the type of entity. The three types of frameworks are outlined and discussed below. MFRS framework is to be applied by all entities other than private entities for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2012. Private entities are private companies which are incorporated under the Companies Act 1965, that are not itself required to prepare or lodge any financial statements under any law administered by the Securities Commission Malaysia or Bank Negara Malaysia. Private entities are also not subsidiaries or associates of or jointly controlled by an entity which is required to prepare or lodge any financial statements under any law administered by the securities Commission Malaysia or Bank Negara Malaysia. However ‘Transitioning Entities’ are excluded from applying MFRS and these ‘Transitioning Entities’ are entities that are in the scope of MFRS 141 for ‘Agriculture’ (equivalent to IAS 41) and IC Interpretation 15 for ‘Agreement for Construction of Real Estate’, (equivalent to International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) 15) including its parent, significant investor and venture. These ‘Transitioning Entities’ have an option to either apply the MFRS framework or the old FRS framework, but this leeway is only allowed for one year, as these ‘Transitioning Entities’ need to apply the MFRS framework by  Page 43 International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, Vol. 1 ISSN 2289-1552 2012 annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013 at the latest (Nazatul Izma, 2009; KPMG, 2011; Accountants Today 2012; Ganespathy, 2012; Jebaratnam, 2012). PERS framework is to be applied only by private entities but these private entities have an option to apply MFRS framework for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2012. If the private entities choose to apply MFRS framework and these entities are in the scope of MFRS 141 for ‘Agriculture’ (equivalent to IAS 41) and IC Interpretation 15 for ‘Agreement for Construction of Real Estate’, (equivalent to IFRIC 15), therefore known as ‘Transitioning Entities’, they have the choice to either apply MFRS framework or FRS framework, but these freedom is applicable up to 31 December 2012, as these entities need to revert to MFRS framework for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013 (Accountants Today, 2012; Jebaratnam, 2012). FRS framework which is the Malaysian version of IAS, which has been the main accounting standards framework for nonprivate entities before the introduction of MFRS framework can be applied only by ‘Transitioning Entities’, but as stated earlier, such entities need to revert to MFRS framework for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013 (Accountants Today, 2012; Jebaratnam, 2012) ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN FULL ADOPTION OF IFRS IN MALAYSIA MFRS 1 covers issues pertaining to ‘First-Time Adoption of Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards’ and the transition date stated in MFRS 1 is the beginning of the earliest period for which an entity presents a full comparative information under MFRSs in its first MFRS based statements. Following the requirement of MFRS 1, MFRS 101 on ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’ requires reporting entities to present three ‘Statements of Financial Position’ and two ‘Statement of Comprehensive Income’, ‘Statements of Changes in Equity’ and ‘Statement of Cash Flows’ each. MFRS also dictates that entities need to present statement of financial position as at the beginning of the comparative financial year, therefore reporting entities requires their financial statements to be prepared based on the requirement of MFRS from the financial year beginning on and after 1 January 2010, or otherwise be very cautious to make retrospective restatements and/or reclassify items in all the financial statements and notes to accounts and the transition date would be on or after 1 January 2011. The expectation is that the entities are able to present MFRS compliant financial statements come the year-end financial reporting on 31 December 2012, which may become an issue, if these entities are not MFRS ‘ready’ (Accountants Today, 2012). Another challenge for full adoption of IFRS in Malaysia is that under MFRS 1, whenever the cost of complying with MFRS exceeds the benefits to the users of financial statements and also if retrospective application would mean that judgement by management of a known transaction is required, IASB would grant exemptions and therefore this would create unlevel playing field amongst non-private entities in Malaysia that are supposed to apply MFRS framework as the criterion for full-adoption. To ensure that the reporting entities in Malaysia are MFRS compliant, these entities should perform a comprehensive, thorough and detailed examination of the readiness of their entity in becoming MFRS compliance to avoid any investigation by the authority due to non-compliance after the grace period for full adoption is over. If Malaysia ends up trimming its MFRS as a convergence framework that can be adapted to fit the local conditions and not a one size fits all set of standards, because a full adoption forces countries to surrender their sovereignty, then Malaysia will have serious issues and will face difficulties to be endorsed as a country that compliances to full IFRS adoption (Nazatul Izma, 2009). But as it is evident, MFRS 141 and IC 15 for ‘Transitioning Entities’ is an exception given to such entities to comply to full IFRS adoption by reverting to MFRS framework for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013. Even though the IAS 41 assumption that fair value can be measured for biological assets was an issue, but this sort of issues should be communicated clearly to the practitioners and this is where the education and training of the practitioners is key for a successful full adoption of IFRS. For example MFRS 141 (IAS 41) disagreement with IASB need to be entirely made clear to the Malaysian practitioners, as IASB currently have agreed to recognise palm oil tree as a non current asset and not as an inventory (Nazatul Izma, 2009). One of the most common perceived advantages of convergence to IFRS is the possibility of increased foreign direct investment (FDI) (Gardiner, 2000; Christiansen, 2002), but as of 2010, report on the most attractive FDI destinations, the world’s highest FDI receivers are China, United States of America and India, of which none have converged to IFRS. Therefore, the notion that IFRS convergence will attract FDI is not valid, and this so called advantage cannot be applied to entice countries to adopt IFRS for financial reporting of their entities. IFRSs for SME is another reason to ponder on the real plausibility of full adoption of IFRS. If MASB chooses to adopt IFRS for SMEs to replace PERS, than we will have another version of ‘diluted’ IFRS as a framework within the Malaysia accounting scenario. Dr Paul Pacter, the board member and chairman of the SME implementation group, mentioned that some topics in the IFRS were omitted from the IFRS for SMEs, due to its irrelevance and also due to the fact that the ‘diluted’ version will be a simpler option for the SMEs to apply (Nazatul Izma, 2010). The IFRS for SMEs were simplified on the recognition and measurement and the disclosures were also reduced. Brian Blood, the Chief Executive of Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) mentioned that the IFRS for SMEs were developed to assist SMEs to prepare and present high quality and timely financial statements and information. Other benefits of SMEs applying the IFRS for SMEs are that the financial reporting is done in a consistent manner and not too expensive to prepare (Nazatul Izma, 2010). Having said all that, the fact is that there is a different set of IFRS for SMEs, therefore, it does not allow for full adoption, but maybe just a mere convergence. James Sylph, the executive director, Professional Standards and External Relations of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in a forum in 2012, strongly advocated that national accounting standard setters’ authorities and regulators should move away from the mere concept of convergence to a more profound notion of full-adoption. Page 44 International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, Vol. 1 ISSN 2289-1552 2012 Mohammad Faiz Azmi, MASB chairman, indicated that Malaysia will not require the IFRS for SMEs to avoid an ‘underconverged’ version used by SMEs due to the lack of human resources to implement new IFRS based regulations; therefore MASB is still uncertain about how exactly they should deal with the issue related to SME and IFRS (Nazatul Izma, 2010) MASB together with MIA will have to look into the issue of the readiness of the Malaysian education system to deliver enough trained accountants that are IFRS savvy, as a full IFRS adoption can be burdensome and the human capital need to be created to fulfill this need. Mohammad Faiz Azmi mentioned that MASB is working with enforcers to amend the Financial Reporting Act (1997) to allow making amendments to accounting standards in Malaysia if there are any substantial issues that MASB disagrees with IASB (Nazatul Izma, 2009). This again will give some space for MASB for not to adopt the full adoption of IFRS as there will be some possible avenue to make changes in the IFRS provided by IASB. Companies Act 1965 and Financial reporting Act 1997 are the two most important acts pertaining financial statements reporting in Malaysia. The directors are supposed to be responsible for the preparation and presentation of a true and fair set of financial statements of reporting entities and these directors should be aware and be sure that their entities are IFRS ready.

Pro-Homosexuality essays

Pro-Homosexuality essays There is a continuous debate going on with homosexuals and their rights to adopt a child. The number of gays who want to form a family by adoption is growing over the years. Although opinions can vary on this subject, I feel there is no reason why homosexuals should be denied the right to adopt. Gay adoption laws vary throughout the states. In the book on homosexuality, Focus on the Family, which was published in 1994, there are statistics referring to this very sensitive topic. It was reported that the states of Florida and New Hampshire have laws that forbid gay adoption. Meanwhile California, Minnesota, New York, and New Jersey have laws that permit homosexuals to adopt. Also, the states of Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota, and Virginia have legal precedences in which the courts ruled that gays and lesbians are automatically unfit as parents. The remaining forty states have no laws, either forbidding or permitting adoption to day individuals or couples. Times are changing however, and over ten years a few states have changed their opinions on homosexual adoption. In May of 2000, Connecticut allowed adoption by homosexuals and unmarried heterosexuals. In 2002, Mississippi banned homosexual couples from adopting. The opposition to gay adoption uses the excuse that a child needs a mother and a father. What about single parents who raise a child? Does being a single parent make someone unfit to raise a child? If the family situation is stable, what is the difference if there is a mother and father, a single parent, or two parents of the same sex? As long as there is loving care and support does it matter what the sexual preference of a parent is? Those who oppose homosexual adoption also tend to feel that homosexual parents raise homosexual children. If that were true then heterosexual parents would raise heterosexual children, resulting in no gay people. Life doesnt work like that. A homosexual child can come fr...

Sleep in Macbeth Essays

Sleep in Macbeth Essays Sleep in Macbeth Essay Sleep in Macbeth Essay A Living Nightmare * Humans look forward to it from the moment they are woken up by the buzzing of their alarm clock each morning. Without it, we grow more and more agitated as time slowly passes by. Sleep is that which relieves us of the stress and exhaustion that each day brings about, and prepares us to start a new day. This has been true since the beginning of time, and is made evident in Shakespeare’s, Macbeth. Through out history, sleep has been that which keeps all lives in order. Through the loss of innocent sleep, Macbeth becomes unable to cope with the madness occurring in his life, this nightmare eventually leads to their ultimate demise. * Macbeth’s basic idea of sleep is shown when he first realizes that it is a basic life function that he may never be able to take part in again. He tells his wife, â€Å"The innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care, the death of each day’s life, sore labours bath, balm of hurt minds, great natures second course, chief nourisher of life’s feast† (II, i, 59). Macbeth reveals much of what is commonly known to be the benefits of sleep; it heals our minds and nourishes our weakened bodies. Sleep also allows one to regain order in their life. Lady Macbeth is aware of this and tells Macbeth saying, â€Å"You lack the season of all natures, sleep† (III, iv, 167). Through losing his ability to sleep Macbeth creates a great amount of disorder in his life and the lives of his countrymen. * Fearful of the vulnerability it creates, Banquo refuses to allow himself to sleep. Confiding in his young son Banquo shares, â€Å"A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, and yet I would not sleep† (II, i, 7-8). Having been in combat along side Macbeth just a day or two before, it is only natural for Banquo to be exhausted and desiring sleep. However, he recognizes that Duncan was killed so easily, because it was done at a time when he left himself susceptible to all attackers. He fears that Macbeth will inevitably take his life, and reasons that he must remain awake to maintain constant self-defense. * The inner voice of Macbeth’s conscience shows Macbeth’s inability to sleep is simply due to bad karma. â€Å"Still it cried ‘sleep no more! To all the house: ‘ Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more! ’† (II, ii, 53 – 55). Through his act of taking the life of an innocent man, at a time when he stood no chance at defending himself, Macbeth murders innocent sleep. Murdering this innocent sleep leads Macbeth into a cursed life where he is no longer able to enjoy a good night’s sleep. Without proper rest, Macbeth begins to take actions without first thinking them through. In doing this Macbeth makes it clear that he has murdered Duncan. These careless actions will set in motion the downfall of Macbeth. * Having already killed Duncan, Macbeth begins to view sleep as a time when one is made vulnerable to the evilness of bad dreams. As Macbeth finishes a conversation with the fearful Banquo, he tells the audience, â€Å" Now o’er the one half – world nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep† (II, i, 5y – 59). Macbeth tells us that he understands that he has deceived a great deal of people, and that they are metaphorically trapped in a nightmare in which nothing is true. Blinded by this dream, the people of Scotland are unable to discover the terrible actions that Macbeth has committed. Through his triumph over Macbeth, Malcom ultimately serves to wake Scotland of the nightmare they have been tricked into, and brings his people back to a state of reality. * Lack of sleep sends Macbeth down a path full of deranged thoughts and bad choices. Losing his ability sleep, Macbeth becomes unable to regain his sanity, and ultimately dies because of it. This is the result of a principle that always been known to man, sleep is a necessary part of a fully functioning life. *

The Abolitionists, Who They Were And How They Became Influential

The Abolitionists, Who They Were And How They Became Influential The term abolitionist generally refers to a dedicated opponent to slavery in the early 19th century America. The abolitionist movement developed slowly in the early 1800s. A movement to abolish slavery gained political acceptance in Britain in the late 1700s. The British abolitionists, led by William Wilberforce in the early 19th century, campaigned against Britains role in the slave trade and sought to outlaw slavery in British colonies. At the same time, Quaker groups in America began working in earnest to abolish slavery in the United States. The first organized group formed to end slavery in America began in Philadelphia in 1775, and the city was a hotbed of abolitionist sentiment in the 1790s, when it was the capital of the United States. Though slavery was successively outlawed in the northern states in the early 1800s, the institution of slavery was firmly entrenched in the South. And agitation against slavery came to be regarded as a major source of discord between regions of the country. In the 1820s anti-slavery factions began spreading from New York and Pennsylvania to Ohio, and the early beginnings of the abolitionist movement began to be felt. At first, the opponents to slavery were considered far outside the mainstream of political thought and abolitionists had little real impact on American life. In the 1830s the movement gathered some momentum. William Lloyd Garrison began publishing The Liberator in Boston, and it became  the most prominent abolitionist newspaper. A pair of wealthy businessmen in New York City, the Tappan brothers, began to finance abolitionist activities. In 1835 the American Anti-Slavery Society began a campaign, funded by the Tappans, to send anti-slavery pamphlets into the South. The pamphlet campaign led to enormous controversy, which included bonfires of seized abolitionist literature being burned in the streets of Charleston, South Carolina. The pamphlet campaign was seen to be impractical. Resistance to the pamphlets galvanized the South against any anti-slavery sentiment, and it made abolitionists in the North realize that it would not be safe to campaign against slavery on southern soil. The northern abolitionists tried other strategies, most prominently the petitioning of Congress. Former president John Quincy Adams, serving in his post-presidency as a Massachusetts congressman, became a prominent anti-slavery voice on Capitol Hill. Under right of petition in the U.S. Constitution, anyone, including slaves, could send petitions to Congress. Adams led a movement to introduce petitions seeking the freedom of slaves, and it so inflamed members of the House of Representatives from the slave states that discussion of slavery was banned in the House chamber. For eight years one of the main battles against slavery took place on Capitol Hill, as Adams battled against what came to be known as the gag rule. In the 1840s a former slave, Frederick Douglass, took to the lecture halls and spoke about his life as a slave. Douglass became a very forceful anti-slavery advocate, and even spent time speaking out against American slavery in Britain and Ireland. By the late 1840s the Whig Party was splitting over the issue of slavery. And disputes which arose when the U.S. acquired enormous territory at the end of the Mexican War brought up the issue of which new states and territories would be slave or free. The Free Soil Party arose to speak out against slavery, and while it didnt became a major political force, it did put the issue of slavery into the mainstream of American politics. Perhaps what brought the abolitionist movement to the forefront more than anything else was a very popular novel, Uncle Toms Cabin. Its author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, a committed abolitionist, was able to craft a tale with sympathetic characters who were either slaves or touched by the evil of slavery. Families would often read the book aloud in their living rooms, and the novel did much to pass abolitionist thought into American homes. Prominent abolitionists included: William Lloyd GarrisonFrederick DouglassAngelina Grimkà © and her sister Sarah Grimkà ©Wendell PhillipsJohn BrownHarriet TubmanHarriet Beecher Stowe The term, of course, comes from the word abolish, and particularly refers to those who wanted to abolish slavery. The Underground Railroad, the loose network of people who assisted escaped slaves to freedom in the northern United States or Canada, could be considered part of the abolitionist movement.

Cash flow statement and report Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cash flow statement and report - Case Study Example No figure of tax is mentioned in the profit and loss statement of the company so it is assumed that the net income is profit before tax and the tax paid is incorporated in the tax payable figure. From the net income non cash adjustments have been made such depreciation and loss recorded on sale of fixed asset. Since these items were charged to the profit and loss account, these are added back to the net income. In addition the net increase decrease is calculated in the current assets and liabilities. If the asset has decreased from the previous year it would be taken as cash inflow. This can be understood by considering accounts receivable for example. If the account receivable has decreased this means that the debtor has paid cash (the company would have made the entry Cash: Debit and Accounts receivable: credit) and thus it is taken as cash inflow. ... pany purchased property, plant and equipment amounting to $ 125,000 whereas it received cash from the disposal of some of its property, plant and equipment amounting to $110,000. All in all, the cash flow is showing a net decrease of $25,000 as compared to the previous year. (b) The board of directors of the company needs to decide whether the funding should be equity based or debt based. Both modes of financing i.e. equity and debt have their own advantages and disadvantages. There are several factors which need to be considered before taking such decisions. For example statutory rules and requirements, terms and conditions imposed by the counter party and general economic conditions are analyzed before selecting one of the options. One of the major drawbacks of raising finance equity through issuance of equity is the fact that a lot of secretarial procedure is involved in raising such finance in contrast to acquiring financing directly from any bank. Most of the time, financing fro m any bank or financial institution is acquired by just filing an application with the bank or financial institution. The banks usually have their own procedure of screening where they evaluate the credit history, financial outlook, liquidity and other aspects of the company. Most importantly, the bank’s analyze the fact and ability of the company pertaining to the ability of the company to repay the amount of loan in the future. When it comes to raising finances through issuance of equity shares, the company is liable to fulfill several requirements such as making sure that a certain number of shares are issued in accordance with the listing regulations of the stock exchange, submitting a due diligence report to the share holder and issuing share to the current shareholder in accordance

TMA 01 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

TMA 01 - Essay Example It is a high performing organization with growing international business opportunities and it operates by both global and domestic markets by more than 32 % market share and it has more than 2000 stores only in UK. To analyze the business environment of Tesco, I here use SWOT analysis to examine factors that influence Tesco PLC’s business environment. SWOT analysis is an important part of strategic management and planning. It provides a keen observation in to both internal and external environment of a firm. Environmental factors internal to the firm can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). Tesco’s strengths are its resources and potential that can be used as means for establishing and developing competitive advantages. Tesco has a strong brand name that serves to be great market strength and it enjoys the marketing advantages. The brand loyalty of Tesco created through advertisements and customer oriented activities seems to be a strong defender for any sorts of competition from other firms within the industry. The reputation that Tesco has been able to create among their customers, results in a market of its own and it seems to be an asset as it attracts more customers further yet. A general weakness of Tesco is its lack of access to the best distribution channels as it faces difficulty to access best manufactures due to the distance and other problems. As compared to other large retailers and groceries within the UK market, Tesco should focus more on online shopping. Online shopping is becoming as the most convenient shopping method for most of the public as it needs less time for shopping and relatively less to be paid. Tesco can attract more customers through online shopping and any sort of advanced loyalty card strategies. Like other business firms, Tesco as well feels difficult to get access in to manufactures that are completely free from

The American Revolution - Discussion Question Only Essay

The American Revolution - Discussion Question Only - Essay Example In 1838, President Andrew Jackson sent federal troops to enforce the treaty and evict the Indians from their native lands. The resulting march to the west became known as the Trail of Tears. Approximately 17,000 Native Americans were put on a forced march westward. The conditions were severe and it is estimated that over 5,000 tribal members died as a direct result of the march. Most of the deaths occurred due to disease, famine, and the hardships encountered by exposure to the elements on the lengthy forced march. The US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 all failed to deal directly with the issue of slavery. By 1820 there were 11 free states that believed in a strong union government. There were also 11 slave holding states that believed in states rights and one of those rights was the right to maintain slavery. The Compromise of 1820 allowed Missouri and Maine to be admitted to the Union and thus maintained the balance of free and slave states. This instituted the two-by-two method of admitting states and resulted in the pairings of Arkansas and Michigan, Florida and Texas, and Iowa and Wisconsin. For the next 30 years, the government worked to allow admission on a two-by-two basis and maintain this balance.

English Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English Legal System - Essay Example This discussion highlights that the Court of Appeal declared that the admission policy of JFS was erroneous and highly discriminatory in nature and procedure followed in case of admission of M is highly objectionable. The governing body of JFS and United Synagogue appealed the decision of Court of Appeal in Supreme Court. The Supreme Court held that the policy adopted by the governing body in deciding the admission of M was against the natural justice and highly discriminatory in nature. It further held that the decision of JFS in denying the admission to M also violates the basic provisions of Section 1(1) (a) of Race Relations Act 1976. The United Synagogue was ordered to pay 20% of the costs incurred by R in Court of Appeal. However, the United Synagogue was told no to pay the 20%of the costs incurred in High Court which would be paid by JFS.According to the research findings  the Supreme Court strongly felt that the admission procedure for admission of children in United Kingdo m should not be directly discriminatory in nature and hence the justification for the support given to R was proper. The discrimination of people on grounds of ethnicity and racism was also objected by the House of Lords in cases like Mandla v Dowell-Lee (1983).  It also felt that the admission procedure of JFS was not questioned or criticized directly, but the students should not be treated with disadvantage on the grounds of ethnic origin.      

Strategy choice and change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategy choice and change - Essay Example Changing the approach to organisational operations is therefore expected to have a direct impact on the organisational culture. In this paper therefore, the change contexts at TED are analysed in relation to the culture of the organisation. As the change has already taken place, the appropriateness of the change process in relation to known change models will also be analysed. Three major models are used in doing this, including Kaleidoscope model, Johnson cultural web, and Kotter’s 8-step change model. Based on the Kaleidoscope model given about, there are some aspects of change context that can be identified as enablers. These include power, readiness, preservation and capacity. The reason these are said to be enablers is because they have the potential of fostering the change process that was intended to happen. For example in terms of power, the fact that power was vested in the CEO to carry out desirable changes whilst maintaining organisational processes meant that issues of resistance to change was going to be minimal (Balogun & Hailey, 2009). Again, as noted by Christensen and LÃ ¦rgreid (2002) readiness to change on the part of employees is a major determinant of success with change. Meanwhile, given the background to TED’s performance, before the coming of the new CEO, all employees appreciated the need for there to be change, which informed their readiness. In terms of preservation, even though the factors identified were downgrading, their mere existence gave th e justification for why there needed to be change and so are considered as enablers. This is because Carnall (2013) argued that whenever negative contexts are identified, they serve as catalysts for speeding up the change process because no leader wants to continue working with such negative contexts in place. Lastly, the capacity at both individual and organisational levels

English Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English Legal System - Essay Example This discussion highlights that the Court of Appeal declared that the admission policy of JFS was erroneous and highly discriminatory in nature and procedure followed in case of admission of M is highly objectionable. The governing body of JFS and United Synagogue appealed the decision of Court of Appeal in Supreme Court. The Supreme Court held that the policy adopted by the governing body in deciding the admission of M was against the natural justice and highly discriminatory in nature. It further held that the decision of JFS in denying the admission to M also violates the basic provisions of Section 1(1) (a) of Race Relations Act 1976. The United Synagogue was ordered to pay 20% of the costs incurred by R in Court of Appeal. However, the United Synagogue was told no to pay the 20%of the costs incurred in High Court which would be paid by JFS.According to the research findings  the Supreme Court strongly felt that the admission procedure for admission of children in United Kingdo m should not be directly discriminatory in nature and hence the justification for the support given to R was proper. The discrimination of people on grounds of ethnicity and racism was also objected by the House of Lords in cases like Mandla v Dowell-Lee (1983).  It also felt that the admission procedure of JFS was not questioned or criticized directly, but the students should not be treated with disadvantage on the grounds of ethnic origin.      

Balanced Scorecard and Its Application to Not-For-Profit Organisations Essay

Balanced Scorecard and Its Application to Not-For-Profit Organisations - Essay Example These measures form the framework for the implementation of the strategy. BSC obtained its name from the attempt to balance both financial and nonfinancial performance measures. While traditional approaches to strategy focused on the financial aspect of the business the balanced scorecard looks at both the financial and non-financial aspects of the organisation. Finkler (2010, p. 299) indicates that the balance scorecard approach monitors how well the organisation is achieving its goals based on four critical perspectives: financial perspective; customer perspective; internal business perspective; and learning and growth perspective. Olve and Sjostrand (2006, p. 1) indicates that a good scorecard documents a strategic logic which represents a cause and effect relationship between current activities and long-term performance. Critical Evaluation of the Balanced Scorecard and its Development The concept of a balanced scorecard can be traced to various sources including Peter Druckerâ⠂¬â„¢s â€Å"management by objectives† (Balanced Scorecard Review n.db). It has evolved from being a performance management tool in 1992 to being a strategic performance management system in 1996 (Balanced Scorecard Review n.da). ... In 2010 it developed a new emphasis in order to facilitate closer integration with organisational systems and capabilities such as Enterprise Risk Management. This development has indeed resulted in an increase in its scope to make it more applicable to all organisations including not-for-profit organisations. However, it has been criticised for not having a perspective relating to the environment/impact on the society (Drury 2009). With the impact of climate change, customers are increasingly becoming environmentally aware. Additionally, environmental groups have sought to discourage support of companies that operate in flagrant disregard to the environment. This can lead to a reduction in revenues which organisations seek to protect. Companies that Have Implemented the Balanced Scorecard Model BSC is applicable to all types of organisations. It has been applied successfully to both not-for-profit and profit organisations. Horngren et al (2011) uses a cause-and-effect relationship t o illustrate how Chipset Inc used BSC approach to grow its customer base and its revenues. The company achieved its goals by focusing on key objectives in each of the four dimensions of its scorecard. In the financial perspective Chipset increased income and shareholder value by managing cost and unused capacity; and building strong customer relationships. From the customer perspective Chipset’s increased market share and customer satisfaction was obtained by identifying customers’ future needs and identifying new target-customer segments. In terms of Chipset’s internal business process perspective they improved service response time; manufacturing productivity and quality; reduced delivery time, improved processes and improved manufacturing capability. This was done

South Carolina electricity and gas company Essay Example for Free

South Carolina electricity and gas company Essay This company deals in the supply of natural gas to homes, businesses and other users in community. Natural gas is one of the most versatile, environmentally friendly and dependable sources of energy available. Nothing will warm a home like natural gas, so let SCEG help you make the most of it (www. sceg. com) At break-even Sales = total cost Assume the rent is 20,000, fixed cost 25000, wages 12 per unit, variable cost 10 per unit If the revenue price per unit is US$ 220 the break-even will as follows:- 220X y = 12y+10y +20000+25000 45000 = 198y Y = 228 units The unit of measurement is gas cylinders In case, they want to adjust the selling price upward to 240. the breakeven will be as follows: 240X y = 12y+10y +20000+25000 45000 = 218y Y = 207 units In case, they want to adjust the selling price downward to 200. The breakeven will be as follows: 178X y = 12y+10y +20000+25000 45000 = 178y Y = 253 units.

Project Management and Business Strategies

Project Management and Business Strategies ABSTRACT Which way to go? This is a question that organizations will ask themselves in a certain time, because organizations are faced with challenges of strategic direction. Some organizations are instigated by challenging opportunities, other organizations want to overcome significant threats. The business strategy can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future. Johnson et al (2009) states that the strategy of an organization is often likely to be complex, uncertain and mostly it affects operational decisions and requires an integrated approach. But the most typically and crucial components of strategy are change and innovation. Project management is essential for managing and reducing the inherent risk associated with change and innovation. Thats why many projects are the result of strategic decisions of organizations, because projects manage changes on an effectively and efficiently way. Changing organizations need projects for making change and for obtaining its business strategy and -objectives. Nowadays sustainability is a very hot (strategic) item for organizations. Organizations are integrating ideas of sustainability in their marketing, corporate communications, business strategy and in their actions. Centraal Boekhuis, a (leading) logistics service provider in stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books, has also formulated a covering policy on sustainability for the strategy period 2009-2011 (Board of directors Centraal Boekhuis (2009)). Sustainability for Centraal Boekhuis means commitment to corporate environmental performances as well as sustainable performances on social and economic aspects. Several projects on behalf of sustainability will be conducted as well as projects will be conducted on behalf of other strategic targets. But is it possible to make project management sustainable, in order to make other projects contribute to the policy on sustainability too? In this research the relation between project management and the pursuing of the realization of business strategies will be looked at. Then the main research question will be answered: how will the business strategy influence the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and how will this in consequence lead to sustainable project management? The hypothesis is that when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability. The actual research will be executed through a web survey among several organizations as well as a case study of Centraal Boekhuis, which contains in-depth interviews with about 10 representatives project employees from Centraal Boekhuis. The research will also contain the study of qualitative data, for exampl e the study of documentation and reports that are in stock within the company about strategy, project management and sustainability. 1. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction To understand project management within organizations it is important to understand projects. The Prince2 Foundation (2005) defines a project as a temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and predefined outcome or result at a pre-specified time using predetermined recourses. In practice projects bring recourses, skills, technology and ideas together to achieve business objectives and deliver business benefits. But why is there a need for projects within organizations? Organizations are continuously striving after agility and success by for example introducing new products and services or by improving business processes or activities. Many projects are the result of organizations that wants to manage such changes on an effectively and efficiently way. According to Bryan Atkin and Adrian Brooks (2009), Change Management is the key towards innovation of organizations. In order to make progress and achieve greater efficiency and better value for money and to be more effective or competitive, organizations have to do things differently and have to make changes. Maylor (2005) stresses that Project management is essential for managing and reducing the inherent risks associated with change and innovation. Changing organizations need projects for making change. Recently Johnson et al. (2009) gives an interesting definition on business strategy. The definition describes that strategy contains the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, for achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations. Aforementioned definition displays that the fundamental principle of making changes of organizations can be the result of aiming towards targets that contributes to the fulfilment of the business strategy. In practice this means that organisational changes and the application of project management for realising those changes can thus be the result of the long term direction and scope of an organization. Simply said; project management can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future to meets its business strategy and -objectives. As mentioned above the management of projects within organization is among other things related to its business strategy, but how will the business strategy influences the selection and the execution of project management within organizations and how can project management thus contributes to the realization of the business strategy? For example, The board of directors of Centraal Boekhuis (2009) has formulated a covering policy on sustainability for the strategy period 2009-2011. Several projects on behalf of sustainability will be conducted as well as projects will be conducted on behalf of other strategic targets. But is it possible to realize more strategic focus, by linking all projects to the business strategy of an organization? This leads to the main research question of the thesis: how will the business strategy influence the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and how will this in consequence lead to sustainable project management? Another interesting question will be: if project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, will projects contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability? 1.2 The organization; Centraal Boekhuis Centraal Boekhuis is a (leading) logistics service provider in stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books. More than 500 publishers and over 1500 booksellers use the service facilities for distribution, transportation, information and administration. For publishers is Centraal Boekhuis the entry into the Dutch and Flemish (book) markets. For booksellers in the Netherlands and Flanders, Centraal Boekhuis is the provider of the assortment of Dutch-language books, general as well as educational or scientific books, and a selected range of foreign-language books (staff directory guide Centraal Boekhuis, 2007). Besides taking care of stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books, Centraal Boekhuis also offers administrative or financial services. For publishers the company organizes complete stock and sales recording, invoicing and debt collection. Booksellers as well benefit from a broad range of information technology services. The majority of Centraal Boekhuis services are integrated in a single automated system (CB Online), so customers have access to the operational and management information they need, focused on their companys business processes. Upon request, Centraal Boekhuis will also arrange the storage, distribution and transport of office supplies, stationary and greeting cards. All logistic activities and processes are linked with the transport centres delivery network. The centres range of services includes processing special offers and returned goods, (temporary) storage, order picking and carrying out special mailing campaigns with value-added logistics. The Transport Centre of Centraal Boekhuis organizes transport from and to countries outside the Benelux. In England is a consolidation point bounded, where shipments from 1600 English publishers intended for Dutch bookshops are collected and forwarded to the Netherlands. This enables Centraal Boekhuis to offer customers attractive services. Shipments from Germany and America are transported along similar lines. History For over 135 years Centraal Boekhuis have been the logistic partner in the Dutch book trade. In 1871 the Vereeniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels (VBBB) in Amsterdam lay the foundations for Het bestelhuis van de Nederlandsche Boekhandel, presently called Centraal Boekhuis. Publishers send their boxes with books to that warehouse of books, where the boxes were distributed across the Netherlands. Many years later, in 1926, the VBBB decided to found Centraal Boekhuis in Amsterdam. Well-established publishers were obliged to store their books in the central depot of Centraal Boekhuis in Amsterdam. From now on the book stores and publishers could order their books with Centraal Boekhuis from one central point in the Netherlands. In 1973, because lack of space, Centraal Boekhuis grounded their company in Culemborg, where the company nowadays is still grounded. In that same year is Het Bestelhuis and Centraal Boekhuis merged into one company: Centraal Boekhuis B.V (Intranet Centraal Boekhuis, 2008). Organization The daily management of Centraal Boekhuis is directed by the Senior Management Team (SMT). The lead direction of the 5 Senior Managers is directed by a Chief Executive Officer, namely Hans Willem Cortenraad. They have weekly meetings to discuss the company policy and how this policy is best directed to the line managers. Centraal Boekhuis in figures (2009) Full time employees: 579 Publishers: 500 Booksellers: 1500 Available Dutch titles: 80,000 Number of copies delivered per year: 60,000,000 Number of delivery addresses per day: 2500 Number of packages transported per year: 4,500,000 Number of pallets transported per year: 300,000 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT RESEARCH QUESTION According to Project Management Institute and Morris (2006) oorganizations often want efficiency, good financial results and success and they want it fast. It is for that matter that organizations generally focus on short-term results, such as immediate realizable financial goals. However, Centraal Boekhuis for example expects also from its employees to achieve results that corresponds to the overall long term objectives of the business strategy. This contradiction pointed me in the direction to ask myself if it is possible to operate more efficiently if the portfolio of projects is continuously linked to the business strategy of Centraal Boekhuis. My hypothesis subsequently is that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the business strategy. Nevertheless, the solution isnt that easy. For instance, organizations are nowadays more often integrating ideas of sustainability in business strategies. It is for that matter unavoidable that there will be projects related to sustainable strategy, namely environmental or social projects. However, will projects on behalf of other strategic objectives also be sustainable? Thats why I assume that when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will positively contribute to the realization of strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability. [2] The main question and hypothesis will be clarified for a reasonable interpretation of the research construction and approach. In this research the relation between project management and the pursuing of the realization of business strategies will be looked at. Foresaid leads to the following research question: what is the impact of the business strategy on the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and will this possible influence in consequence lead to sustainable project management? The hypothesis is: when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will positively contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it will positively contributes to sustainability; the result subsequently is that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the sustainable business strategy. Why is it so important to link the project management of an organization to its business strategies, in order to make projects sustainable? As stated by Johnson et al (2009) it is ultimately the fulfilling of the business strategy to aim on the fulfilling of the expectations of the stakeholders. If an organization have stated sustainability within their business strategies, stakeholders are involved in monitoring if the strategy is achieved the objectives and if there is corrective action needed. This is called strategic control and it will keep an organization in track with its achievements on behalf of its strategy (and also sustainable strategy). According to foresaid it is plausible that it is important to state sustainability in the business strategy, for making sure that projects will meet the objectives and goals of sustainable strategy. 3. GOALS OBJECTIVES I will try to find out if a business strategy, specifically a sustainable business strategy, can positive influence the way on how projects will be selected and executed, as I expect it to be. I will test the hypothesis that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the sustainable business strategy, to see if it is possible to make project management sustainable. If so, this offers an interesting new insight in sustainable project management, which could be the basis for more research. First it is important to study literature to get familiar with the several subjects of this thesis. The several subjects that will be described are project management, business strategy and of course overall sustainability. Next I will try to describe the multifarious relative contexts between the several subjects described in the literature, in order to make my hypotheses plausible. The most important objective of the literature review is to create an elementary basic assumption for further research. Furthermore the research methodologies that I will use are a case study research and a web survey. For the execution of the case study research are various data (re)sources used, namely in-depth interviews and the study of business documentation and reports. The case study research methodology will be used to get insights in how Centraal Boekhuis arranges its business strategy, especially how it is arranged towards its project management. Then it is important to look at how the sustainable policy of Centraal Boekhuis affects the daily operations as well as the sustainable policy affect its project management. For comparison and further research I will send a web survey to approximately 100 companies with sustainability stated in their business strategy. Hopefully this will give me insights in how other companies arrange their project management related to its business strategy and maybe they have certain methodologies to make project management sustainable, so I have some interesting data to work with. My research will focus on project management, business strategies, sustainability and sustainable project management in an attempt to find relative contexts to integrate business strategy and projects in order to facilitate development of sustainable project management. Overall I hope that the executed research will create a certain frame work for linking project management to the overall business strategy of an organization, in order to make project management sustainable. 4. LITERATURE REVIEW As mentioned earlier my research will focus on project management, business strategies, sustainability and sustainable project management. Therefore the theoretical background of my research will also be focused on foresaid topics. 4.1 Business Strategy The traditional literature about business strategy is often about the general definitions of business strategy, where organizations focus on where they want to be on the long term (mission and vision) and how this is achieved (goals and objectives) (Alblas Wijsman, 2001) in order to gain competitive advantages. The current literature about strategy describes more that strategy is about the importance of achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations (Johnson et al., 2009). Aforementioned shows that the current literature on business strategies discusses the importance of the characteristic aspects change and configuration (Kloosterboer, 2005). The relative context between business strategy and changes is an important aspect that must be taken into account before I continue my research. According to Bryan Atkin and Adrian Brooks (2009), Change Management is the key towards innovation of organizations. In order to make progress and achieve greater efficiency and better value for money and to be more effective or competitive, organizations have to do things differently and have to make changes. Harvey Maylor (2003) characterizes project management as essential aspect for managing and reducing the inherent risks associated with change and innovation. Therefore changing organizations need projects for making change. 4.2 Project Management The Prince2 Foundation (2005) recognizes that organizations are continuously striving after agility and success by for example introducing new products and services or by improving business processes or activities. Many projects are the result of organizations that wants to manage such changes on an effectively and efficiently way. Furthermore Prince2 (2005) defines a project as a temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and predefined outcome or result at a pre-specified time using predetermined recourses. In practice projects bring recourses, skills, technology and ideas together to achieve business objectives and deliver business benefits. According to the International Project Management Association (2006), professional project management is broken down into the following three competences (see also figure one): Technical competences for project management; behavioral competences of project personnel; and the contextual competences of projects programmes and portfolio. The technical competence covers the techniques of project management, for example the practice of Prince2. The behavioral competence represents the professional behavior of the project personal, like project management skills. The contextual competence is the linkage between the project and organizations involved. The vision on project management by IPMA in the International Competence Baceline presented in October 2006 will be critically looked at for my research. This project management approach will also be studied and discussed during the master program of the Master of Facilities Management and Real Estate. The eye of competence figures the integra tion of the elements of project management as seen trough the eyes of the project manager. So the essence of project management is to support the execution of an organizations strategy to deliver a considered necessary outcome (Clifford and Gray, 2002). The research of recent literature shows us that project management is nowadays recognized as one of the primary business processes (Atkin Brooks, 2009). It is for that matter that organisational changes and the application of project management for realising those changes must be linked to the overall business strategy of an organization, in order to accomplish the business goals and objectives. Simply said; project management can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future to meets its business strategy and -objectives. For this thesis I will mainly focus on the SWOT analysis, because this management and strategy tool is used by Centraal Boekhuis for defining its strategy. The SWOT analysis can be used as a strategy formulation tool. It helps organizations to identify its Strengts, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). The Strengths and Weaknesses represent the internal factors that create value or can destroy value. Opportunities and Threats are the external factors that can influence the organization value (Ahaus, 2005). 4.3 Business Strategies vs. Project Management According to Sabin Srivannaboon (2006), previous research on project management and its relation with business strategy mostly links the project management with business strategy through critical project selection, viewing it as part of the alignment process (For example Bard, Balachandra Kaufmann (1988); Cooper, Edgett Kleinschmidt (1998); Englund Graham (1999) etc). Also often displayed in previous research is project portfolio management. This is another concept suggested in the literature to ensure the strategic alignment of project management and business strategy and it is defined as a dynamic decision-making process, which an organization can update and revise its list of active projects (see for literature: Turner Simister (2000); Cooper, Edgett Kleinschmidt (1998) etc.). Current literature shows us more about the research that has been done on the alignment of project management with business strategies of organizations, for example research of Sabin Srivannaboon (2006) , Tony Grundy (2001) Peter Morris Ashley Jamison (2004) etc. 4.4 Sustainability sustainable project management On Wednesday the 4th of November, member of the House of Representatives Esmà © Wiegman talks about faith in Sustainability and vice versa, please note: in church! That sustainability has even penetrated the Christian church sais a lot. We are all confronted with it and action is expected of us. Sustainability is a hot item, that is no surprise. Looking at the quotes mentioned below you can conclude that there is no process in an organization that is not interfered with sustainability items. â€Å"Managers are more and more beginning to consider the environment as an additional parameter on which they base their decisions.† (North, 1997) That is what Klaus North wrote is his environmental business management introduction in 1997. And Carin Labuschagne wrote almost a decade later: â€Å"Various driving forces originating from society, government employees and business partners are forcing companies to both incorporate sustainable development in their business practices as well as to align all internal operations and practices with the principles thereof.† (Labuschagne, 2005). Sustainability, what does that really mean? Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland formulated it as followed; â€Å"The development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†. As Labuschagne already said, there is no process in an organization that is not interfered with aspects of sustainability. Project management is just one of these processes that cannot be ignored. That is also made clear in the APM sustainable outlooks, where is mentioned that they are considering a database with project and programme managers who have specialist knowledge, experience and expertise in sustainability issues generally or by specific sectors, locations or types of project. They also plead for the triple bottom line approach in every project. The triple bottom line approach includes environmental, social and economical sustainability (APM, sustainable outlooks). As organizations become more and more focused on environmental responsibilities, project managers cannot stay behind. (Zoyd Reed Luce) Where sustainability is grounded in almost every strategy of every large organization, this automatically is reflected in the projects of an organization. Project manager are forced to focus on sustainability these days, it becomes part of the project. 4.5 Theoretical Framework for aligning projects with strategy There are several articles expanding on the idea that there should be a certain focus on the corporate strategy when managing projects, for example the articles of Tony Grundy (2001) or Morris and Jamison (2004). Milosevic and Srivannaboon (2006) support this vision in their article and wrote an article which describes a theoretical framework for aligning project management with strategy. Milosevic and Srivannaboon have developed an empirically based theoretical framework that explains the impact of business strategy on project management and vice versa and discusses how mechanisms can be used to strengthen that alignment. As discussed earlier, strategy is about the importance of achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations and defending it against competitive forces (Johnson et al., 2009). Milosevic and Srivannaboon have based their theoretical framework on the vision of Porter (1980) about Generic Business Strategies. Michael Porter states that to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, an organization must chose a certain type of strategy. Porters generic strategies distinguishes three types of strategies, namely cost leadership, differentiation, and cost focus (see figure 3). Competitive advantage can only be achieved by choosing one of these strategies. If an organization chooses to pursue more than one generic strategy, it will perform being badly without competitive advantage and Porter refers to that as being ‘stuck in the middle. Milosevic and Srivannaboon use cost leadership, differentiation, and best cost as the primary focus of their analysis. They also use Shenhars strategic project leadership framework which consist of project elements like project strategy, project organization, project process and tools metrics and culture. Differentiation is about organizations pursuing a differentiation strategy by offering products and services that are unique from competition in order to satisfy the desires of their customers. This differentiation allows the organization to charge a premium price (Porter, 1980). Cost Leadership is about organizations pursuing a cost leadership strategy to gain competitive advantage and increase market share by operate with lower costs than competition, for example tight cost controls e.g. efficient facilities (Porter, 1980). Best cost (also called focus niche) is about organizations creating a sustainable competitive advantage through combining cost leadership and differentiation. This can be realized by offering a unique product or service to a special market segment and seek to offer low cost products within a special market segment (fast time-to-market, superior product quality, etc.). According to Milosevic and Srivannaboon the competitive aspects of the business strategy drive the focus of the project management elements. They see a pattern in project management elements for the differentiation of business strategy. Their research indicates that organizations can align projects with business strategies into three levels, namely the strategic level, the tactical level, and the corrective emergent strategic feedback. The first level of this framework (typified as mediating process at the strategic level) is the first step of the alignment process. At level 1 organization should use their intended strategy and select projects into their portfolio to determine the right projects that would contribute to the organizations strategy. The second level (typified as mediating process at the project level) involves the further planning of project details to ensure that alignment with the project life-cycle phases (Shenhars project classification) is realized. Proper alignment of projects with strategy during the project life cycle can be classified as the planning process and the monitoring process. Managers should develop a project management plan that has a certain focus on the business strategy. The third level (mediating process at the emergent strategic feedback level) is a process which uses stages, or also called stage gates or milestone, for evaluating or reviewing the project status on time, cost, and performance. These project stages are points in the project life cycle where projects transition from one stage to another. These stages provide project teams the opportunity to realign the project to its business strategy. 5. RESEARCH DESIGN 5.1 Research methods Based on the literature of Baarde and Goede (2001), the research on behalf of this thesis is categorized in a preliminary research study, a literature review, a case study research and a web survey. For the execution of the case study research are various data (re)sources used, namely in-depth interviews and the study of business documentation and reports of Centraal Boekhuis. The preliminary research study has given multifarious insights in for example the company of the case study, but also insights about project management and the business strategy of the concerning organization. In the preliminary research study is a critically literature review completed and several managers of the human resource division have been interviewed for creating a basis for this research. The products of the preliminary research study are a defined approach of the case study research, a description of the company and a defined approach of the web-survey. The case study research can be categorized in descriptive- and exploratory research study methods (Sanders et al, 2009). The descriptive study of this case study is defined by the research of qualitative data, for example the study of business documentation and reports that are in stock within the company about project management, its business strategy and sustainability. The exploratory part of the research describes the research methods in depth interviews and a web survey. In order to test how organizations work with project management related to its (sustainable) business strategy, two steps will be carried out. First, on Tuesday March 6, I will send a web survey to approximately 15 companies with sustainability stated in their business strategy. This short questionnaire will offer me data on the way the concerning companies arranges their project management related to the business strategies, to test on how the companies makes their projects sustainable. In order to increase the number of responses and to raise the chances of the answering the questions themselves, I will keep the survey very short, and stress this in the attached e-mail. Second, I will arrange in-depth interviews with about ten representatives of project management employees of the project department of Centraal Boekhuis. In these interviews, I will attempt Project Management and Business Strategies Project Management and Business Strategies ABSTRACT Which way to go? This is a question that organizations will ask themselves in a certain time, because organizations are faced with challenges of strategic direction. Some organizations are instigated by challenging opportunities, other organizations want to overcome significant threats. The business strategy can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future. Johnson et al (2009) states that the strategy of an organization is often likely to be complex, uncertain and mostly it affects operational decisions and requires an integrated approach. But the most typically and crucial components of strategy are change and innovation. Project management is essential for managing and reducing the inherent risk associated with change and innovation. Thats why many projects are the result of strategic decisions of organizations, because projects manage changes on an effectively and efficiently way. Changing organizations need projects for making change and for obtaining its business strategy and -objectives. Nowadays sustainability is a very hot (strategic) item for organizations. Organizations are integrating ideas of sustainability in their marketing, corporate communications, business strategy and in their actions. Centraal Boekhuis, a (leading) logistics service provider in stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books, has also formulated a covering policy on sustainability for the strategy period 2009-2011 (Board of directors Centraal Boekhuis (2009)). Sustainability for Centraal Boekhuis means commitment to corporate environmental performances as well as sustainable performances on social and economic aspects. Several projects on behalf of sustainability will be conducted as well as projects will be conducted on behalf of other strategic targets. But is it possible to make project management sustainable, in order to make other projects contribute to the policy on sustainability too? In this research the relation between project management and the pursuing of the realization of business strategies will be looked at. Then the main research question will be answered: how will the business strategy influence the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and how will this in consequence lead to sustainable project management? The hypothesis is that when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability. The actual research will be executed through a web survey among several organizations as well as a case study of Centraal Boekhuis, which contains in-depth interviews with about 10 representatives project employees from Centraal Boekhuis. The research will also contain the study of qualitative data, for exampl e the study of documentation and reports that are in stock within the company about strategy, project management and sustainability. 1. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction To understand project management within organizations it is important to understand projects. The Prince2 Foundation (2005) defines a project as a temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and predefined outcome or result at a pre-specified time using predetermined recourses. In practice projects bring recourses, skills, technology and ideas together to achieve business objectives and deliver business benefits. But why is there a need for projects within organizations? Organizations are continuously striving after agility and success by for example introducing new products and services or by improving business processes or activities. Many projects are the result of organizations that wants to manage such changes on an effectively and efficiently way. According to Bryan Atkin and Adrian Brooks (2009), Change Management is the key towards innovation of organizations. In order to make progress and achieve greater efficiency and better value for money and to be more effective or competitive, organizations have to do things differently and have to make changes. Maylor (2005) stresses that Project management is essential for managing and reducing the inherent risks associated with change and innovation. Changing organizations need projects for making change. Recently Johnson et al. (2009) gives an interesting definition on business strategy. The definition describes that strategy contains the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, for achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations. Aforementioned definition displays that the fundamental principle of making changes of organizations can be the result of aiming towards targets that contributes to the fulfilment of the business strategy. In practice this means that organisational changes and the application of project management for realising those changes can thus be the result of the long term direction and scope of an organization. Simply said; project management can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future to meets its business strategy and -objectives. As mentioned above the management of projects within organization is among other things related to its business strategy, but how will the business strategy influences the selection and the execution of project management within organizations and how can project management thus contributes to the realization of the business strategy? For example, The board of directors of Centraal Boekhuis (2009) has formulated a covering policy on sustainability for the strategy period 2009-2011. Several projects on behalf of sustainability will be conducted as well as projects will be conducted on behalf of other strategic targets. But is it possible to realize more strategic focus, by linking all projects to the business strategy of an organization? This leads to the main research question of the thesis: how will the business strategy influence the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and how will this in consequence lead to sustainable project management? Another interesting question will be: if project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, will projects contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability? 1.2 The organization; Centraal Boekhuis Centraal Boekhuis is a (leading) logistics service provider in stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books. More than 500 publishers and over 1500 booksellers use the service facilities for distribution, transportation, information and administration. For publishers is Centraal Boekhuis the entry into the Dutch and Flemish (book) markets. For booksellers in the Netherlands and Flanders, Centraal Boekhuis is the provider of the assortment of Dutch-language books, general as well as educational or scientific books, and a selected range of foreign-language books (staff directory guide Centraal Boekhuis, 2007). Besides taking care of stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books, Centraal Boekhuis also offers administrative or financial services. For publishers the company organizes complete stock and sales recording, invoicing and debt collection. Booksellers as well benefit from a broad range of information technology services. The majority of Centraal Boekhuis services are integrated in a single automated system (CB Online), so customers have access to the operational and management information they need, focused on their companys business processes. Upon request, Centraal Boekhuis will also arrange the storage, distribution and transport of office supplies, stationary and greeting cards. All logistic activities and processes are linked with the transport centres delivery network. The centres range of services includes processing special offers and returned goods, (temporary) storage, order picking and carrying out special mailing campaigns with value-added logistics. The Transport Centre of Centraal Boekhuis organizes transport from and to countries outside the Benelux. In England is a consolidation point bounded, where shipments from 1600 English publishers intended for Dutch bookshops are collected and forwarded to the Netherlands. This enables Centraal Boekhuis to offer customers attractive services. Shipments from Germany and America are transported along similar lines. History For over 135 years Centraal Boekhuis have been the logistic partner in the Dutch book trade. In 1871 the Vereeniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels (VBBB) in Amsterdam lay the foundations for Het bestelhuis van de Nederlandsche Boekhandel, presently called Centraal Boekhuis. Publishers send their boxes with books to that warehouse of books, where the boxes were distributed across the Netherlands. Many years later, in 1926, the VBBB decided to found Centraal Boekhuis in Amsterdam. Well-established publishers were obliged to store their books in the central depot of Centraal Boekhuis in Amsterdam. From now on the book stores and publishers could order their books with Centraal Boekhuis from one central point in the Netherlands. In 1973, because lack of space, Centraal Boekhuis grounded their company in Culemborg, where the company nowadays is still grounded. In that same year is Het Bestelhuis and Centraal Boekhuis merged into one company: Centraal Boekhuis B.V (Intranet Centraal Boekhuis, 2008). Organization The daily management of Centraal Boekhuis is directed by the Senior Management Team (SMT). The lead direction of the 5 Senior Managers is directed by a Chief Executive Officer, namely Hans Willem Cortenraad. They have weekly meetings to discuss the company policy and how this policy is best directed to the line managers. Centraal Boekhuis in figures (2009) Full time employees: 579 Publishers: 500 Booksellers: 1500 Available Dutch titles: 80,000 Number of copies delivered per year: 60,000,000 Number of delivery addresses per day: 2500 Number of packages transported per year: 4,500,000 Number of pallets transported per year: 300,000 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT RESEARCH QUESTION According to Project Management Institute and Morris (2006) oorganizations often want efficiency, good financial results and success and they want it fast. It is for that matter that organizations generally focus on short-term results, such as immediate realizable financial goals. However, Centraal Boekhuis for example expects also from its employees to achieve results that corresponds to the overall long term objectives of the business strategy. This contradiction pointed me in the direction to ask myself if it is possible to operate more efficiently if the portfolio of projects is continuously linked to the business strategy of Centraal Boekhuis. My hypothesis subsequently is that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the business strategy. Nevertheless, the solution isnt that easy. For instance, organizations are nowadays more often integrating ideas of sustainability in business strategies. It is for that matter unavoidable that there will be projects related to sustainable strategy, namely environmental or social projects. However, will projects on behalf of other strategic objectives also be sustainable? Thats why I assume that when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will positively contribute to the realization of strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability. [2] The main question and hypothesis will be clarified for a reasonable interpretation of the research construction and approach. In this research the relation between project management and the pursuing of the realization of business strategies will be looked at. Foresaid leads to the following research question: what is the impact of the business strategy on the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and will this possible influence in consequence lead to sustainable project management? The hypothesis is: when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will positively contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it will positively contributes to sustainability; the result subsequently is that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the sustainable business strategy. Why is it so important to link the project management of an organization to its business strategies, in order to make projects sustainable? As stated by Johnson et al (2009) it is ultimately the fulfilling of the business strategy to aim on the fulfilling of the expectations of the stakeholders. If an organization have stated sustainability within their business strategies, stakeholders are involved in monitoring if the strategy is achieved the objectives and if there is corrective action needed. This is called strategic control and it will keep an organization in track with its achievements on behalf of its strategy (and also sustainable strategy). According to foresaid it is plausible that it is important to state sustainability in the business strategy, for making sure that projects will meet the objectives and goals of sustainable strategy. 3. GOALS OBJECTIVES I will try to find out if a business strategy, specifically a sustainable business strategy, can positive influence the way on how projects will be selected and executed, as I expect it to be. I will test the hypothesis that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the sustainable business strategy, to see if it is possible to make project management sustainable. If so, this offers an interesting new insight in sustainable project management, which could be the basis for more research. First it is important to study literature to get familiar with the several subjects of this thesis. The several subjects that will be described are project management, business strategy and of course overall sustainability. Next I will try to describe the multifarious relative contexts between the several subjects described in the literature, in order to make my hypotheses plausible. The most important objective of the literature review is to create an elementary basic assumption for further research. Furthermore the research methodologies that I will use are a case study research and a web survey. For the execution of the case study research are various data (re)sources used, namely in-depth interviews and the study of business documentation and reports. The case study research methodology will be used to get insights in how Centraal Boekhuis arranges its business strategy, especially how it is arranged towards its project management. Then it is important to look at how the sustainable policy of Centraal Boekhuis affects the daily operations as well as the sustainable policy affect its project management. For comparison and further research I will send a web survey to approximately 100 companies with sustainability stated in their business strategy. Hopefully this will give me insights in how other companies arrange their project management related to its business strategy and maybe they have certain methodologies to make project management sustainable, so I have some interesting data to work with. My research will focus on project management, business strategies, sustainability and sustainable project management in an attempt to find relative contexts to integrate business strategy and projects in order to facilitate development of sustainable project management. Overall I hope that the executed research will create a certain frame work for linking project management to the overall business strategy of an organization, in order to make project management sustainable. 4. LITERATURE REVIEW As mentioned earlier my research will focus on project management, business strategies, sustainability and sustainable project management. Therefore the theoretical background of my research will also be focused on foresaid topics. 4.1 Business Strategy The traditional literature about business strategy is often about the general definitions of business strategy, where organizations focus on where they want to be on the long term (mission and vision) and how this is achieved (goals and objectives) (Alblas Wijsman, 2001) in order to gain competitive advantages. The current literature about strategy describes more that strategy is about the importance of achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations (Johnson et al., 2009). Aforementioned shows that the current literature on business strategies discusses the importance of the characteristic aspects change and configuration (Kloosterboer, 2005). The relative context between business strategy and changes is an important aspect that must be taken into account before I continue my research. According to Bryan Atkin and Adrian Brooks (2009), Change Management is the key towards innovation of organizations. In order to make progress and achieve greater efficiency and better value for money and to be more effective or competitive, organizations have to do things differently and have to make changes. Harvey Maylor (2003) characterizes project management as essential aspect for managing and reducing the inherent risks associated with change and innovation. Therefore changing organizations need projects for making change. 4.2 Project Management The Prince2 Foundation (2005) recognizes that organizations are continuously striving after agility and success by for example introducing new products and services or by improving business processes or activities. Many projects are the result of organizations that wants to manage such changes on an effectively and efficiently way. Furthermore Prince2 (2005) defines a project as a temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and predefined outcome or result at a pre-specified time using predetermined recourses. In practice projects bring recourses, skills, technology and ideas together to achieve business objectives and deliver business benefits. According to the International Project Management Association (2006), professional project management is broken down into the following three competences (see also figure one): Technical competences for project management; behavioral competences of project personnel; and the contextual competences of projects programmes and portfolio. The technical competence covers the techniques of project management, for example the practice of Prince2. The behavioral competence represents the professional behavior of the project personal, like project management skills. The contextual competence is the linkage between the project and organizations involved. The vision on project management by IPMA in the International Competence Baceline presented in October 2006 will be critically looked at for my research. This project management approach will also be studied and discussed during the master program of the Master of Facilities Management and Real Estate. The eye of competence figures the integra tion of the elements of project management as seen trough the eyes of the project manager. So the essence of project management is to support the execution of an organizations strategy to deliver a considered necessary outcome (Clifford and Gray, 2002). The research of recent literature shows us that project management is nowadays recognized as one of the primary business processes (Atkin Brooks, 2009). It is for that matter that organisational changes and the application of project management for realising those changes must be linked to the overall business strategy of an organization, in order to accomplish the business goals and objectives. Simply said; project management can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future to meets its business strategy and -objectives. For this thesis I will mainly focus on the SWOT analysis, because this management and strategy tool is used by Centraal Boekhuis for defining its strategy. The SWOT analysis can be used as a strategy formulation tool. It helps organizations to identify its Strengts, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). The Strengths and Weaknesses represent the internal factors that create value or can destroy value. Opportunities and Threats are the external factors that can influence the organization value (Ahaus, 2005). 4.3 Business Strategies vs. Project Management According to Sabin Srivannaboon (2006), previous research on project management and its relation with business strategy mostly links the project management with business strategy through critical project selection, viewing it as part of the alignment process (For example Bard, Balachandra Kaufmann (1988); Cooper, Edgett Kleinschmidt (1998); Englund Graham (1999) etc). Also often displayed in previous research is project portfolio management. This is another concept suggested in the literature to ensure the strategic alignment of project management and business strategy and it is defined as a dynamic decision-making process, which an organization can update and revise its list of active projects (see for literature: Turner Simister (2000); Cooper, Edgett Kleinschmidt (1998) etc.). Current literature shows us more about the research that has been done on the alignment of project management with business strategies of organizations, for example research of Sabin Srivannaboon (2006) , Tony Grundy (2001) Peter Morris Ashley Jamison (2004) etc. 4.4 Sustainability sustainable project management On Wednesday the 4th of November, member of the House of Representatives Esmà © Wiegman talks about faith in Sustainability and vice versa, please note: in church! That sustainability has even penetrated the Christian church sais a lot. We are all confronted with it and action is expected of us. Sustainability is a hot item, that is no surprise. Looking at the quotes mentioned below you can conclude that there is no process in an organization that is not interfered with sustainability items. â€Å"Managers are more and more beginning to consider the environment as an additional parameter on which they base their decisions.† (North, 1997) That is what Klaus North wrote is his environmental business management introduction in 1997. And Carin Labuschagne wrote almost a decade later: â€Å"Various driving forces originating from society, government employees and business partners are forcing companies to both incorporate sustainable development in their business practices as well as to align all internal operations and practices with the principles thereof.† (Labuschagne, 2005). Sustainability, what does that really mean? Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland formulated it as followed; â€Å"The development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†. As Labuschagne already said, there is no process in an organization that is not interfered with aspects of sustainability. Project management is just one of these processes that cannot be ignored. That is also made clear in the APM sustainable outlooks, where is mentioned that they are considering a database with project and programme managers who have specialist knowledge, experience and expertise in sustainability issues generally or by specific sectors, locations or types of project. They also plead for the triple bottom line approach in every project. The triple bottom line approach includes environmental, social and economical sustainability (APM, sustainable outlooks). As organizations become more and more focused on environmental responsibilities, project managers cannot stay behind. (Zoyd Reed Luce) Where sustainability is grounded in almost every strategy of every large organization, this automatically is reflected in the projects of an organization. Project manager are forced to focus on sustainability these days, it becomes part of the project. 4.5 Theoretical Framework for aligning projects with strategy There are several articles expanding on the idea that there should be a certain focus on the corporate strategy when managing projects, for example the articles of Tony Grundy (2001) or Morris and Jamison (2004). Milosevic and Srivannaboon (2006) support this vision in their article and wrote an article which describes a theoretical framework for aligning project management with strategy. Milosevic and Srivannaboon have developed an empirically based theoretical framework that explains the impact of business strategy on project management and vice versa and discusses how mechanisms can be used to strengthen that alignment. As discussed earlier, strategy is about the importance of achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations and defending it against competitive forces (Johnson et al., 2009). Milosevic and Srivannaboon have based their theoretical framework on the vision of Porter (1980) about Generic Business Strategies. Michael Porter states that to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, an organization must chose a certain type of strategy. Porters generic strategies distinguishes three types of strategies, namely cost leadership, differentiation, and cost focus (see figure 3). Competitive advantage can only be achieved by choosing one of these strategies. If an organization chooses to pursue more than one generic strategy, it will perform being badly without competitive advantage and Porter refers to that as being ‘stuck in the middle. Milosevic and Srivannaboon use cost leadership, differentiation, and best cost as the primary focus of their analysis. They also use Shenhars strategic project leadership framework which consist of project elements like project strategy, project organization, project process and tools metrics and culture. Differentiation is about organizations pursuing a differentiation strategy by offering products and services that are unique from competition in order to satisfy the desires of their customers. This differentiation allows the organization to charge a premium price (Porter, 1980). Cost Leadership is about organizations pursuing a cost leadership strategy to gain competitive advantage and increase market share by operate with lower costs than competition, for example tight cost controls e.g. efficient facilities (Porter, 1980). Best cost (also called focus niche) is about organizations creating a sustainable competitive advantage through combining cost leadership and differentiation. This can be realized by offering a unique product or service to a special market segment and seek to offer low cost products within a special market segment (fast time-to-market, superior product quality, etc.). According to Milosevic and Srivannaboon the competitive aspects of the business strategy drive the focus of the project management elements. They see a pattern in project management elements for the differentiation of business strategy. Their research indicates that organizations can align projects with business strategies into three levels, namely the strategic level, the tactical level, and the corrective emergent strategic feedback. The first level of this framework (typified as mediating process at the strategic level) is the first step of the alignment process. At level 1 organization should use their intended strategy and select projects into their portfolio to determine the right projects that would contribute to the organizations strategy. The second level (typified as mediating process at the project level) involves the further planning of project details to ensure that alignment with the project life-cycle phases (Shenhars project classification) is realized. Proper alignment of projects with strategy during the project life cycle can be classified as the planning process and the monitoring process. Managers should develop a project management plan that has a certain focus on the business strategy. The third level (mediating process at the emergent strategic feedback level) is a process which uses stages, or also called stage gates or milestone, for evaluating or reviewing the project status on time, cost, and performance. These project stages are points in the project life cycle where projects transition from one stage to another. These stages provide project teams the opportunity to realign the project to its business strategy. 5. RESEARCH DESIGN 5.1 Research methods Based on the literature of Baarde and Goede (2001), the research on behalf of this thesis is categorized in a preliminary research study, a literature review, a case study research and a web survey. For the execution of the case study research are various data (re)sources used, namely in-depth interviews and the study of business documentation and reports of Centraal Boekhuis. The preliminary research study has given multifarious insights in for example the company of the case study, but also insights about project management and the business strategy of the concerning organization. In the preliminary research study is a critically literature review completed and several managers of the human resource division have been interviewed for creating a basis for this research. The products of the preliminary research study are a defined approach of the case study research, a description of the company and a defined approach of the web-survey. The case study research can be categorized in descriptive- and exploratory research study methods (Sanders et al, 2009). The descriptive study of this case study is defined by the research of qualitative data, for example the study of business documentation and reports that are in stock within the company about project management, its business strategy and sustainability. The exploratory part of the research describes the research methods in depth interviews and a web survey. In order to test how organizations work with project management related to its (sustainable) business strategy, two steps will be carried out. First, on Tuesday March 6, I will send a web survey to approximately 15 companies with sustainability stated in their business strategy. This short questionnaire will offer me data on the way the concerning companies arranges their project management related to the business strategies, to test on how the companies makes their projects sustainable. In order to increase the number of responses and to raise the chances of the answering the questions themselves, I will keep the survey very short, and stress this in the attached e-mail. Second, I will arrange in-depth interviews with about ten representatives of project management employees of the project department of Centraal Boekhuis. In these interviews, I will attempt