The role of stand up meetings in agile software development ( benefit) Essay

The role of stand up meetings in agile software development ( benefit) - Essay Example This study investigated one of the most important elements of the Agile approach, daily stand-up meetings. Over 40 percent of all the respondents were developers, the other bigger proportions were made up of project managers, analysts, software testers and solution architects. This can probably be attributed to the fact that in any process of software development, developers play the greatest role as they are directly involved in the technical processes. According to Martin (2003), an Agile development team needs sufficient software development personnel with deep experience and good working relationship to succeed. Project managers also formed a substantial proportion of all respondents; this too can be explained by the fact that every Agile team has got to be led by a project manager. Sometimes we have a larger project split into smaller project tasks each with a project manager (Larman, 2004). Other roles represented by respondents included Team Leads, Scrum Masters, CEOs, Testers , Delivery Managers, Agile coaches and Product owners. Many responses were not obtained from these groups, probably because they did not play huge roles in their team or they happened to be in leadership positions e.g. CEOs and Team Leads.The software development process function better at optimal conditions; this can only be made possible with the right number of members in a team, each playing a key role. Depending on the company and software development requirements of a project, Agile team sizes differ from project to another, Scrum and DSMD recommend that an ideal project team should have about 10 or twelve people. XP does not have a particular preferred number but recommends that teams be as small as possible. Over 83.8 percent of the respondents indicated that they worked in a team of between one and ten members - these are relatively small groups. Many software developers prefer to carry out projects in small flexible and manageable groups as recommended by the Agile methodo logy. Agile software development is particularly very iterative and participative and requires excellent communication, consultations and interaction between the members. For such teams to work effectively they require a moderate to minimum number of members for flexibility and greater team bonding, for example, stand-up meetings can be more effective and practical with fewer members in the team rather than a large number of members (Larman, 2004). A number of different Agile methods are used in software development. These include Scrum, DSDM, Extreme Programming, and Lean-Kanban. The choice of method is largely determined by software development needs as well as preference. According to Larman (2004), project needs sometimes dictate the choice of method between the various Agile methods. - Developer preferences also play a large part in determination of the methods to be adopted, in most cases once a method is adopted it is used by a company consistently for all other projects. Thi s study found that scrum is the most preferred Agile method with over 59 percent of the respondents using it. The popularity of scrum can be attributed to its ease of use and flexibility. According to Rising and Janoff (2000), Scrum remains the most

Histology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Histology - Case Study Example However, the epithelium does not contain any blood vessels. The native parenchyma has bloods in contrast to the invasive melanocytes tissue. The melanoma cells exhibits the features by rapid regeneration forming a pattern beneath the epithelium. The invasive tissue such as the carcinoma grow and break out of the bronchi structures and are not confined in the within the required acini structure of the lung, which possess a great danger as they can migrate to other human body parts or metastasize. The lung parenchyma is curbed within the bronchi structure and only grows and regenerates within the confined region of the bronchi. The characteristics of invasive tissue to grow out of the bronchi bock the airways hence are responsible for the tumor as they invade the adjoining tissue. Invasive tissue cause stellate arrangement of the cells in a spiral structure compared to the lung parenchyma tissue compactly arranged in rows. The case of the Caucasian woman in the case study requires more aspects in determining the cause of solitary lung metastasis after five years since the surgery of primary melanoma of the oesophagus Lung. Schueller and Herold spiral explains how the hamatogeneous spread is frequently found in tumors with venous drainage that is direct into the lung, which includes melanoma, testes, neck and head, adrenals, and osteosarcoma malignancies (126). The differential diagnosis of the lung metastases from this source indicates that patients initially known to have melanoma are frequently exposed solitary pulmonary nodule development later in life. Casciato affirms that the resection of a solitary Lung metastases in patients who fulfill the criteria of having history of Primary melanoma of the oesophagus (598). Keshamouni, Arenberg, and Kalemkerian emphasize on the question whether a tumor is primary or metastatic is of great significance for the

Biol Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Biol - Essay Example (Lipstadt 27) Lipstadt is a well-known researcher and historian with a Ph.D. and the professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. (Alumni, Lipstadt Ph.D.) What Dawkins is discussing is the inevitable progression of people from belief to disbelief to outright lies in the attempt to ignore what we know is true. He later makes the statement that evolution is fact not a theory and that there is a difference between the fact that is evolution and the theory of its journey (Dawkins, Ph.D. FRS, FRSL) Clearly the purpose of this book is to first discredit attempts to disprove evolutionary theory while providing a basis for his approach. It is my opinion that he does a credible job in his approach In continued reading it becomes apparent to me that he has done his research and his proofs abound. His clear delineations between the â€Å"fact† as he calls it and the â€Å"theory† of what drives it tend to be very convincing.

Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizational Behavior - Essay Example 1.1. Effectiveness of the Discussion between Robert Denton and OD Consultant Robert Denton, the Plant Manager of Kenworth Motors held job for eight months with the belief that things are going on well. With the purpose to stimulate the organization’s performance, Denton invites the OD Consultant to discuss the situation. Thereby, the discussion was conducted about how the work is going on in the plant through employee interview. Denton explained that if the employees work together with full effort and cooperation then there will be good progress in the organization and this will lead to a high level growth. The effective words were to work well together and do a good job. These words are most effective because any person desires to get a good job in any of the organizations to obtain a specific goal or objective. People look for jobs in those organizations that are having good name and fame. Therefore, it is of considerable importance. To bring high level of growth, firstly, t he employees should be trustworthy. Secondly, the task given to the employees has to be done sincerely and thirdly, there should be proper coordination with the employees, group leaders, coordinators and also the high level managers. The consultant confirmed the things that were prevalent in the plant through an interview and also explained the shortcomings of this approach. The discussion was ineffective and in order to make those effective, proper meetings could have been held so that the Manager, Consultant and the employees could share their ideas and may also receive the feedback of each employee. The Consultant suggests that if the matters are to be held in different manner instead of interview, it would have been more effective. So, Denton responded by asking for other options, which would bring a significant effect in the organization and would also make things better. The consultant suggested a weekend retreat for the management teams through which the team could gain impro vement to various issues. 2.1. Retreat Planning and Implementation Robert Denton suggested the OD Consultant to hold a weekend retreat as it offers a place for further enrichment of the employees’ performance. This type of retreat is very helpful to the employees as this course provides different information, ideas regarding how the works are to be carried on in different fields, how to handle the issues and monitor them into the practical area. Through this course the employees can be made aware of various situations, social issues, economic conditions and other related business issues. The team leaders are often treated to be a guide to the employees. Sometime seminars are held in order to express their own views and ideas. For some employees, the working field might be totally new having no idea therefore this type of courses are most essential to know the other working fields. The employees get to know the works that are carried out in the practical field. Few problems mi ght occur due to which there may be a low growth rate, occurrence of risk etc; at this point how to tackle the problems or to find a solution, how to bear the risk, all these information could be gathered through this retreat course. Also practical things are planned and implemented in various sectors. Proper planning, maintenance, directing and controlling are essential in

Analyze woman's social status in pre-modern societies Essay

Analyze woman's social status in pre-modern societies - Essay Example First, it is important to note that the procedure of foot binding is lasting and rather painful. Small girls’ feet were bound or rather broken to prevent the feet from growing in a natural way and to make them look like â€Å"three-inch lilies† (qtd. in Whitefield 204). The feet never healed and women with the ‘three-inch lilies’ were never seen with bare feet, as limited circulation resulted in rotting flesh. Women often felt sick when washing their feet because of the unpleasant smell (Whitefield 204). It is needless to say that men never saw their wives’ feet and did not want to think about the real appearance of the ‘three-inched lilies’. All these biological peculiarities seemed to have little or no impact on the way the tradition evolved prior to the middle of the nineteenth century. It is necessary to note that the history of this tradition dates back to the period of the Song dynasty. There are different theories concerning origins of the tradition. According to the â€Å"likeliest theory†, it first appeared in the imperial court and then spread among â€Å"upper-class elites† (Whitefield 205). The fashion had a significant impact on the society in general and marital traditions, in particular. To marry successfully, young women (as well as their parents) had to follow the new rules and mothers started binding their daughters’ feet. Hence, it all started as an idea of beauty. Blake notes that there is an erotic aspect as foot binding was regarded as a â€Å"feminine mystique designed to please men† (676). Hence, men thought it was beautiful for a girl to have tiny feet and a new standard was established. Women had another view on the practice. As has been mentioned above, mothers and grandmothers wanted their daughters to have more chances to marry successfully and they bound their daughters’ feet to make them fit into the world of specific standards. Thus, the tradition was seen as something natural and something that provided

Holistic and Comparing Is the Methods of Assessments Essay Example for Free

Holistic and Comparing Is the Methods of Assessments Essay Write a statement explaining how you plan assessment with learners including planning for holistic assessments and comparing assessment methods and adapting methods to meet individual needs As assessment or evaluation is a method of judging the performance of an individual learner, therefore a written record of targets should be written out so that a learner knows what is expected of them and by when it should be achieved. The assessment method should allow the opportunity for reflection as each area of development is completed. It is a valuable source of information which can be used to help learners take control of their learning. When I first go out to visit a learner within the care sector I first establish if they know what their course entails any previous learning they already have. A discussion on their job role is also import at this time. I then get the learner to participate in a learning styles diagnostic in order to establish how they learn best, so that when it comes to providing help and support within their qualification, I can ensure that I provide the information in a manner which best suits their learning needs. I would also get them to take a maths and English diagnostic if they need to do the key skills or functional skills part of the framework. By doing this I can again find out areas which need further development and areas which they are competent in. The information I have gathered here I would place onto their annex A ILP, stating how I would best support them with their learning, i.e.:- booklets or discussions on problem topics. My next step would then be to carry out a skill scan with them to find out which parts of the Diploma framework they participate in and how confident they are in carrying them out. By doing this we can ascertain what areas of the NVQ would be suited to a particular learner. This information would again be added to the learners Annex A ILP By placing all of this information onto the Annex A ILP I can then look at the best way of going about assessing for each criteria taking into account learners individual needs using the best assessment methods for each of the learners i.e.:- *Test *Observation *Past experiences *Knowledge evidence *Question and answers *Witness Testimony It is import to clarify with the learner a safe and valid process of assessment which both assessor and learner are happy with and ensures that it is a suitable method for providing the required evidence needed to hit the required target. By ensuring that a holistic approach to assessment takes place in the planning and collecting of evidence, we can ensure that a wider scope of the frame work can be covered. For example if I go into a care home to observe a personal care activity I may also find that other areas are also covered such as communication moving and handling etc. The assessment method is about assessing whether or not the learner is competent within their field of work, assessing them against the framework set out within the NVQ framework. This can be achieved through using arrange of assessment methods *Test *Observation *Past experiences *Knowledge evidence *Question and answers *Witness Testimony With the range and flexibility of assessment methods available to a learner it has the advantage of allowing assessments to be individualised to the needs of individual learners. It also allows assessment to be carried out in a way that is highly individualised to the needs of the candidate, assessor and the area of work being assessed.

E-commerce travel industry

E-commerce travel industry Introduction According to Keith Blois, (2003), in recent years, increasing numbers of businesses have been using the Internet in their marketing efforts. The Internet is unique because it is both a market and a medium. This means that it can efficiently assume a multi-channel role by serving as a computer-mediated market in which buyers and sellers access each other, and as a medium to conduct and execute business functions such as marketing, sales, and distribution. Many e-commerce principles were pioneered by the travel industry. These include the first business-to-business electronic information exchange and industry-wide electronic marketplace. This environment provided unprecedented opportunity for operations research (OR) modeling. Travel companies continue to derive billions of dollars annually from these and derivative models. The availability of reliable, low-cost communications via the Internet is not only providing new modeling challenges within the travel industry, but it is also providing similar opportunities in other industries [1]. Tourism industry is one of the most competitive industries within the economic environment. Within industrys boundaries actors have more or less recently and with significantly different patterns of action undertaken efforts to achieve an integration of the internet platform and its applications. In this section, we explore the effects of electronic commerce and its potential for competitive advantage f or airline industry by using Michael Porters seminar work on industry analysis as a framework.  § Website Comparison www.travel companiesocity.com: The moment I visit the Travel city site -the first page gives me the impression that my country, Sultanate of Oman is not there in listed? And I dont like it that my country is not listed here. Moving in to the website with this sad feeling in mind that my country is not listed we go ahead to log in to one of the global sites as they say, the nearest country, and the company wants to say too many things in one go to the customers and this is something that is difficult to digest for the first time visitors. The first-timer is very confused to be able to relate to all the features in the website. Though the regional flavor and link through the local site helps it is difficult to do a very high level of localization of the content to cater to all the segments of the market www.southwest.com The look and feel of this website is a lot cleaner than other travel companies website for instance in Travel city. The most important feature that this website it that most of the commonly used menus are neatly tucked inside the main menus and just on the movement of the mouse they unfold in to the options. This is a very good feature that helps maintain the clean looks and still does not compromise on the functionality www.Adrenalin.com This Polaris group company that is selling the HR software is using the website more for servicing functionalities The overall framework: Generating demand Ordering Fulfillment Processing payments Service and support Security Community Regardless of which business model travel companies adopt, to be successful, travel companies need to understand how the Web and e-commerce affects their business [2]. Travel companies need to develop an overall strategy covering: strategic management, IT infrastructure, design, content, e-commerce systems, marketing and customer service. Travel companies also need to be creative and entrepreneurial. As every entrepreneur knows however, you will only be truly successful if you provide genuine value to your customers and solve a problem for them. As it is evident from the above list that its easy to navigate through the website by following the links. Its user friendly and the home page of the airlines gives a glance of the services provided by them and the beautiful destinations and the activities which can be performed. It also gives the information about the hotels and resorts in each destination. All the document or equipments requirement for all the situations is also mentioned i n the website e.g. when traveling with pet, traveling with children, baggage rules etc. Over all it gives every possible information to the passengers they might need to make their travel plan and during their stay at various destinations. Sources of Competitive Advantage Travel companies do conform to those which Porter describes: Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus. The proposition is that travel companies that can successfully work in one of these areas will be able to establish and sustain a competitive advantage.  § Cost Leadership Travel companies can generate significant cost savings by sending tickets, newsletters, quotes, and other documents via Internet, rather than by post or facsimile. Travel companies can use Web site to publish in a cost-effective way public domain documents such as annual reports, product brochures, positions vacant, contact details and other important Travel companies information. Travel companies can save on the cost of running â€Å"bricks and mortar† outlets and can reach global markets without having to develop a physical global distribution network. Most importantly, Travel companies can save on customer service costs by enabling customers to serve themselves. One of the American Travel companies CEO said that the Web site is playing a major role in mitigating the rise in unit costs affected by high fuel prices. Its 10 times cheaper to deliver to customers through the online service than through a travel companys agent and costs 5 times less than using travel companiess own reservation staff. The booking cost per passenger online is well under $1, and is scaling down even further. He said Internet use by passengers was helping the carrier keep fares at low discount levels [4]. Massive investment in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) information systems is expected to translate into important cost savings in procurement, sales, billing and other support activities. The travel companiess fully automatic ordering system, for example, should reduce order processing costs by 90%. [5].  § Differentiation E-ticketing the issue of a booking code at the conclusion online transition that replaces the traditional travel companies ticket. E-ticketing seems to be a win-win solution for the travel companies business. It offers the travel companies the chance to make considerable savings in both trade terms as well as in invoicing and internal accountancy procedures. Moreover, it helps to fight the downward profit spiral that has affected the industry for years. Secondly, it is very attractive to customers, who may benefit from a service offer both technologically advanced and of high intrinsic value.  § Focus The travel industry gives us a perfect example of successful Focus strategies that is the so-called â€Å"Integrated Operators† of the travel business. FedEx, the integrated cargo carrier, was the pioneer. Having developed a very efficient and fully computerized system for tracking individual parcels anywhere on its network it took the next logical step. In 1994, through its website, it allowed its customers to book and pay for its services without restriction via the Internet [6]. The e-Commerce infrastructure developed by travel companies allows collection and central storage of sales and marketing data. Travel companies use this data to drive decision support tools for planning and marketing.  § The Business Theories and concepts: The old pillars and new meanings The Laudon and Traver framework 2005 is very elaborate explaining the different pillars that have contributed to the development of the E-Commerce framework. This framework at the very top of the list has E-Commerce application that can be used for the development of businesses in the future. These applications may seem at the outset like out of a science fiction book but are indeed realities. The disintermediation and Reintermediation: The travel agents for example it was believed that will lose their jobs when more people are interested on online business but interestingly the use of these web-enabled features have only increased the use and conveniences of these businesses. For example two of the three websites that have been taken up for analysis by our group are Travel websites. These are supposed to wipe out the businesses of the intermediary called the travel agent but interestingly, these have added to the convenience of the travel agent hence creating a new intermediary. The Grover V and J Teng (2001) model of the infomediaries and information flow model gives a more clear idea about the various channels that carry information between the buyers/sellers and the infomediaries. The Themes: Hence the themes that came up to us were the B2C models and we were interested in looking specifically at the travel related websites. There was one website travel that we could not get an approval for but the group was happy to consider the business model of B2C B2C: The group was of a very uniform opinion that the websites have to be B2B only since some of the data that was spoken about were like $ 250 billion revenue in 2005 from B2B as against 6.3 trillion in B2C. Although the difference is huge the group came to a strong consensus that the gap will be bridged and it will be worth pursuing with all the hopes for new business models in the future happening in the B2C segment rather than the B2C segment. The death of the Physical travel agent or the focus on creation of new intermediaries Considering the new intermediaries that are being evolved because of the e-business it is was discussed if the websites will wipe away the travel agent. But the discussion pointed in the direction of all websites have been playing a supportive roles in the B2C front and the travel agent themselves are using these websites to help customers and give them a better service. The Adrenalin.com website that sells software has been using the site to reach out to the resellers as well. In a business where there is a very high connectivity on the internet, this is a unique feature that this company is using it build customer loyalty as well as expand the channel of distribution.  § The criteria for evaluating the websites: Adrenalin South West Travelocity Site Design 6 8 6 Navigation 6 8 6 Customer Interface 9 7 7 Business Model 8 7 6 Criteria Explanation Navigation Is it easy for visitors to find their way around the site? Does the site comply with three click rule? Consistency Are design elements, especially look and feel, consistent from page to page? Will the website and contents appear the same on all visitors screens? Performance How long does it take for the page to appear? Doest site comply with the 12-second rule? With the 4-second rule? Appearance Is the site aesthetically pleasing? Does the sites look and feel express the companys desired image? Is the site easy to read, easy to navigate and easy to understand? Quality Assurance Do the site calculators, navigation links, visitors registration process, search tool etc. wok properly? Are all the dead links fixed promptly? Is the site available for the full service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Interactivity Does site encourage the visitor to play an active role in learning about the businesss products or services? Are all appropriate contact details available on the Website so that visitors can submit feedback and ask questions? Security Is the customer information protected? Does the customer feel safe in actions such as submitting credit card information? Scalability Does the site design provide a seamless path for enhancements or upgrades in the future? Will site growth and increased usage protect the initial investment in the site construction? The Criteria for assessment were selected after deliberations on how the customer will view the details of the site. The criteria customer interface was included to assess how the company was recording the details of the customer traffic and recording them in to usable database. In the case of Southwest it was very clear that the website is a place for building the loyalty programs of the airlines. The Adrenalin website is a good place with its feature of blog, for all troubleshooting and technical whitepapers How Web Site Visitors Evaluate â€Å"Content† Criteria (and related â€Å"subcriteria†) Explanation Relevance (applicable, related, clear) Concerned with issues such as relevancy, clearness and â€Å"goodness† of the information Timeliness (current, continuously updated) Concerned with the currency of the information Reliability (believable, accurate, consistent) Concerned with the degree of accuracy, dependability and consistency of information Scope (sufficient, complete, covers a wide range, detailed) Evaluates the extent of information, range of information and levels of details provided by the web site. Perceived usefulness (informative, valuable, instrumental) Visitors assessment of the likelihood that the information will enhance their purchasing decision How Web Site Visitors Evaluate â€Å"Web Site Design† Criteria (and related â€Å"subcriteria†) Explanation Access (responsive, load quickly) Refers to the speed of access and the availability of the website at all times. Usability (simple layout, easy to use, well organized, visually attractive, fun, clear design) Concerned with the extent to which the website is visually appealing, consistent, fun and easy to use. Navigation Evaluates the links to needed information. Interactivity (customized product, search engine, ability to create a list of items, change the list of items and find related items) Evaluates the search engine and personal features (e.g. shopping cart) of the website. Recommendation: Website should be more informative. It should be easy to navigate through various pages even for the new online users. Since the Travel Agency is providing lot of services and products for its customers so must have â€Å"Search† function should have drop down menu so that even the customer who are not aware about all products and services of the Travel Agency can get information about it. May be it will help the Travel Agency to have more customers as sometime customers are not aware about all the products offered by the Travel Agency. As it is clear from the financial report of Travel Agency which is available on website that the latest report is not available i.e. for third quarter. So it should be taken care that the website is updated regularly.