The European Union And Foreign Policy - 2253 Words

The European Union is an organization unlike any other which includes an economic and political union between many different countries in Europe. It operates as a single institution with one foreign policy although it is composed of 28 individual countries with their own foreign policies. This paper, therefore, seeks to understand the institutional organization of the European Union in regards to foreign policy as well as provide an analysis of the actions the EU takes in its diplomacy. The EU has an interesting, albeit confusing, system in which it operates. In order to understand the organization of its foreign policy, we must look into the different institutions which govern the EU and explain their roles. First, there is the European Commission, which is composed of 28 ministers from each country and manages the day-to-day business of the EU as well as drafting proposals. The President of the European Commission is essentially seen as the head of the EU. It is designed to represent the EU as a whole. The European Council is composed of the president or prime minister of each member country and represents each countries’ interests. The President of the Commission and the High Representative of Foreign Affairs sit as nonvoting council members. Then the Council of the European Union, which is a separate entity from the European Union Council, is made up of representatives from each country which are ministers for a specific subject. They pass EU laws and approve theShow MoreRelatedEuropean Union Foreign Policy1639 Words   |  7 PagesEnlargement of the European Union (EU) is a contentious issue for the public and scholars alike due to its novelty, even garnering the phrase sui generis. There are many legitimate reasons for opposing enlargement, including: loss of sovereignty and autonomy, diverting efforts and resources from deepening integration between member states, and the stress being put on the institutions and economies of member states by countries with unfair trade, rampant corruption, and territorial and ethnic disputesRead MoreEuropean Union s Foreign Policy961 Words   |  4 Pagesanalyze European Union’s Foreign policy. Some interpret the policy to be an ‘ongoing puzzle’, emerging from the distinction of either being a derivative policy of a common Union, or being a policy of cooperation amongst the independent EU member states, while the others consider the policy area to be ‘a moveable fea st in a state of constant flux’. (Christiansen Tonra, 2005) (Smith H. , 2002) . There are even those academicians who presume that European Union does not have a foreign policy as it isRead MoreEuropean Union Foreign Policy In A Changing World Summary896 Words   |  4 PagesSmith’s book European Union Foreign Policy in a Changing World is another installation of the series started in 2003. The second installation is an update and expansion in which she offers a crisp and different outlook on the intricacies of the contemporaneous European Union’s foreign policy. Karen expounds on EU foreign policy by not only examining what the European Union is but also what it does. The book has nine chapters that delve into different aspects of the European Union policy but all focusingRead MoreNation and United States Essay833 Words   |  4 PagesStates and around the world. There are many defining characteristics that allow countries and groups of countries to understa nd each other, and in some cases, for unions. The purpose of this essay is to briefly discuss nations, states, and nation states, how the United States constitutes a nation state, and the European Union. A nation is a union of people who share social similarities such as language, beliefs, culture, possibly religion, and values. A state is defined by laws and politics, uniting peopleRead MoreThe Characteristics of the Nation-State and Transnational Entities1343 Words   |  6 Pagesapproximately 1,000 miles south of Oahu, Hawaii. Through the appropriation of the Republic of Hawaii in 1898 the territory of Hawaii was integrated, Palmyra Atoll was integrated as component of that territory. When the State of Hawaii was accepted to the Union in 1959 Congress separated Palmyra Atoll from the recent federated state. Palmyra stayed an integrated territory, but obtained no organized government. (Wikipedia) The United States government and American society have worked to foster sovereigntyRead MoreThe Relationship Between National And Supranational Levels Of Governance1209 Words   |  5 PagesIn the world of politics, the act of governing policies, actions, and affairs can be conducted through a national level and a supranational level. In other words, influence can be concentrated within national boundaries or it can surpass the boundaries to encompass several states. One significant example of the relationship between national and supranational levels of governance is the relationship of the European Union and its member states. In order to effectually scrutinize this relationship,Read MoreGaullism1002 Words   |  5 Pagesthen president Charles de Gaulle. Contents * 1 Doctrine * 1.1 Foreign policy * 1.2 Domestic policies * 2 Political group * 3 Germany * 4 Gaullist political parties * 5 References * 6 See also | Doctrine Foreign policy The main theme of de Gaulles foreign policy was national independence, and maintaining as much control as possible of as many of Frances colonies as possible (cf. de Gaulles policy on Indochina) with, as some practical consequences, some degree of oppositionRead MoreCharacteristics of the Modern Nation-State Essay1600 Words   |  7 PagesThis essay will describe the characteristics of the modern nation-state, explain how the United States fits the criteria of and functions as a modern nation-state, discuss the European Union as a transnational entity, analyze how nation-states and transnational entities engage on foreign policy to achieve their interests, and the consequences of this interaction for international politics. Some of the characteristics that make up a modern nation-state are; the population of the territory is unitedRead MoreThe European Union ( Eu )1393 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction The European Union (EU) is not a typical international organization. With a mixture of supranational and intergovernmental institutions, its unique structure has become a distinctive political system with some resembles a federation. With no path to trace, the EU must determine which direction it should follow suit. However, these difficult discussions foster constant dispute over how much further integration of member states should proceed. Support for the EU moving towards a federationRead MoreWhy Did the Treaty of Maastricht Mark a Milestone in Creating a Political Union?1587 Words   |  7 PagesMaastricht mark a milestone in creating a political union? The Treaty of Maastricht, formerly known as the Treaty of the European Union came at a pivotal time in European history.   Eastern Europe was a victim of the collapse of Communism, which had a strong impact on the European Commission (EC) as this meant new potential markets were open which they were keen to take over (Bache, 2001:124).   However, the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union meant that there was unsettlement in the east. During

Chemistry Self Assessment Test - 1896 Words

Self-assessment practice tests Test 1 – Material from Chapters 2–4 | 45 minutes 1 The kinetic theory suggests different arrangements for the atoms or molecules in the three states of matter. The diagrams below show how evidence suggests the particles are arranged in the three states of matter. 1 2 3 What are the three states shown? 1 A B C D 2 gas liquid solid liquid 2 liquid gas liquid solid 3 solid solid gas gas The graph shows the heating curve for a metal that is solid at room temperature (25  °C). The metal has been heated until it turns to vapour. D Temperature /  ºC C B A Time Which part of the graph represents the period of time when the metal is melting?  © Cambridge University Press IGCSE Chemistry Self-assessment practice†¦show more content†¦The table below shows the electronic structures of four elements. Which element is a noble gas? Element Number of electrons Shell 1 A B C D 2 2 2 1 Shell 2 0 2 6 0 18 The reactivity of elements within a group in the Periodic Table changes with their position in the group. What is the order of increasing reactivity of the elements in Group I and in Group VII? Group I A B C D Cs → Li Li → Cs Li → Cs Cs → Li Group VII F→I I→F F→I I→F  © Cambridge University Press IGCSE Chemistry Self-assessment practice test 1 6 19 The diagram shows an outline of the Periodic Table with certain elements marked. W V Y X Which of the elements V, W, X or Y is a metal and which is a non-metal? Non-metal A B C D Y Y W W Metal V X X V 20 Elements in the same group of the Periodic Table have similar properties. Element X is a colourless, unreactive gas. Which group of the Periodic Table is X in? A Group VI C Group 0 B Group I D Group VII 21 The structure of any atom is essentially defined by two numbers. How many protons, neutrons and electrons are present in an atom of the element with proton (atomic) number 6 and nucleon (mass) number 14? Protons A B C D 6 8 6 8 Neutrons 8 6 8 6 Electrons 6 6 8 8 22 Metals usually form compounds involving ionic bonding. How do metals form their ions? A by gaining protons C by losing electrons B by gaining electrons D by losing protons 23 Chlorine is a highly reactive non-metal. What particles are gained byShow MoreRelatedAcademic And Incentive Needs Of Science Teachers Essay1384 Words   |  6 PagesINCENTIVE NEEDS OF SCIENCE TEACHERS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA This study identified the perceived academic and incentive needs of Science Teachers and the significance of their experience on their needs using survey design. The instrument which was an assessment profile – Teachers’ Needs Questionnaire was used to collect data from Science Teachers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Introduction Science teaching in Nigeria has faced a lot of setbacks. One of the setbacks is teachers’ needs. This research is dealingRead MoreMy Letter : The Investigative Personality967 Words   |  4 Pagesinvestigations. They perform tests on evidence collected and often testify in court as expert witnesses. Their work environment is both outdoors and indoors. Most of their time is spent in a laboratory conducting tests and less time is spent at a crime scene collecting evidence. The median wage for this job is $55,360 annually. The projected growth is much faster than average, at about 14%. A bachelor’s degree is required for this job. Some of the subjects this job focuses on are chemistry, law and governmentRead MoreTesting Controls Much Of The Academic Career Of A Student1203 Words   |  5 Pagescareer of a student. Today, test such as the ACT and SAT determine the probability of getting into college while state test such as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) serve as an assessment of preparedness toward the upcoming grade of learning. There is still controversy over the workings of standardized test works. While it does check the proper essentials needed to progress from grade to grade, these tests fail to portray the real depthRead MoreArticle Summary: The Age of Educational Romanticism1061 Words   |  4 Pagesthe twentieth century only about a quarter of adults had a fifth grade education and half had not reached eighth grade. In todays classrooms almost one hundred percent of children are in school and all are tested albeit some with accommodations. We test everybody, and this will lower the average. The second phenomenon is the periodic discovery of the magic bullet. This encompasses the belief that intellectual differences can be alerted through teaching methodologies and practices. As an exampleRead MoreMichael Hansen Of The American Institutes For Research954 Words   |  4 PagesMichael Hansen employed an estimated value-added methodology to assess teaching and learning (2014). Value-added assessments review student test score gains from prior year (Center for Greater Philadelphia, 2004). This data becomes the foundation for predictions regarding the expected growth during a specified year (Center for Greater Philadelphia, 2004). Based on a review of students test score gains from previous grades, researchers can predict the amount of growth those students are likely to makeRead MoreCHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION 6.1 Conclusions In summary, this study found that CHM group had better1200 Words   |  5 Pagesresearch approaches are needed to assess different types of clinical practices such as CHM with different approaches of philosophy. Observational studies and case reports are often done on the research methods. These studies are more suitable for the assessment of CHM efficacy than for RCT, because they often ignore CHM clinical practice. This is due to the highly personalized therapeutic regime and the difficulties in the fulfilling the treatment, which are the important elements in TCM. The importanceRead MoreTeaching Is A Difficult Job1478 Words   |  6 Pagesprocrastinate. Involving the administrator in the room is necessary to prevent lack of control. Though Magill was correct with his statement of procrastination, he is also correct with his statement that, While it is true that many economies can be had in self-paced learning, sufficient attention and resources must be applied to establishing an environment in which it can succeed (Magill 1). The administrator provides sufficient attention so that the individual can succeed in online education. OnlineRead MoreAssessment Of Bod, Cod As Organic Pollution Indicator Levels Of Varhala Lake Essay1442 Words   |  6 PagesASSESSMENT OF BOD, COD AS ORGANIC POLLUTION INDICATOR LEVELS OF VARHALA LAKE ABSTRACT Lakes are of great importance both from the natural and economic point of view. Lake water is a source of drinking and domestic water supply for people living in and around the area. The present study was conducted to assess the organic pollution indicators like BOD, COD and DO. The sampling of water was based on human and aquatic activities around the lake. Water from five sampling stations of Varhala Lake wasRead MoreCstep Essay1089 Words   |  5 Pageseconomically disadvantaged students pursuing careers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The program consists of training in research methods, internships, graduate/professional school admissions counseling, standardized test preparation, as well as with academic and career development activities. Must students in the program are required to have a 2.7 GPA to be eligible for CSTEP services; hence making this program academically vibrate. CSTEP focuses on addressing theRead MoreAsking For Help Es say1241 Words   |  5 Pagescompleting Skip Downing’s â€Å"On Course Self Assessment,† I was starting to realize one of my most sabotaging behaviors. I find it incredibly difficult to say a three-word phrase. When it comes to assisting others, I have no problem lending a helping hand, but I cannot tell anyone that â€Å"I need help.† In writing this paper I hope to recognize the roots of my problem and adopt a plan to aid me in overcoming this negative behavior. After I took the self-assessment and received a low score in the area

Personal Response on Sexual Identity Free Essays

I am guided by the pursuit of pleasure because I prefer to do what feels right rather than what is best. I answer to my gut feeling or listen to my heart if you will. Was raised to do what Is best for me and not for anyone else, and have also taught myself never regret anything that I do but learn and grow from my mistakes. We will write a custom essay sample on Personal Response on Sexual Identity or any similar topic only for you Order Now I also relate to the value rationalism, which may seem like I contradict myself but sometimes I do stop and think about the consequences before I act instead of living in the moment. In my past, I have made some terrible mistakes and has made me want to be more cautious about certain situations I come across. I believe that I will always relate to these values. Critical Thinking and Sexual Decision Making People may not know that they use critical thinking every time they make a sexual decision, but I know how Important It Is to think a sexual decision through before making a decision. I would consider myself a skeptic even after this class. Being a skeptic means that I have to question anything related to sexual activities. I find it important to think about the consequences before making a decision because I can avoid making mistakes. A time that I had to use critical thinking was when I was deciding whether to lose my virginity or not. That decision was not something that I could choose right away but would take me a while to think about the consequences. It was my decision ultimately to make, and no one could help me decide. Critical thinking is a must anytime you are about to make a life-altering decision. Gender Identity Gender identity is the belief in which you truly are. Before we are born we are given a sex assignment, based on the internal and external organs we have in the womb. As e grow up, we learn whom we are and determine which gender we agree with. Most of the time we identify with the gender we were assigned with when In the womb or after birth. There are times that Individuals choose the opposite gender than the one they were assigned. Factors that help determine gender identity is genetic factors, social factors and environmental factors. Between man and woman, 23 chromosomes are combined to make up the genetic code. The egg carriers the X sex chromosome and the sperm can carry either the X or Y sex chromosome. This is the sex assignment and usually the gender most people identify as. Social factors help they raised you as a boy, you would most likely identify yourself as a boy. Also, your peers can have an effect on how you determine your gender identity. If one wants to fit in, he or she may try to identify as the gender that their peers are. Environmental factors can help determine your gender identity by naturally shaping you into whom you believe you are. People go through many situations that can have an effect on your gender identify. The factors that have affected my gender identity are genetic factors, environmental factors and social factors. At birth, it was determined that I m a girl because of my internal and external organs I have. Social and environmental factors determined my gender identity because my parents raised me based on my sex assignment. My parents and our society taught me that there was only one way. Which technically meant that I had no say in my gender identity since I was born as a girl I was to remain a girl. The factor that most helps me to determine my gender identity was the social factor of my parents raising me as I was meant to be. Masculinity and Femininity On the continuum of masculinity-femininity, I fall close to the middle but closer to Minnie. I like to get dressed up and be â€Å"girl’ with makeup and purses, but I also like to hang with the guys and watch football and drink a beer. I would not say I am masculine in any way, but I do have masculine tendencies because I’m not afraid to get dirty. I grew up with both parents so I would say they balanced my feminine and masculine qualities. They taught me the important parts of being feminine and masculinity. My mother taught me to act like a lady, and my father taught me how to change a tire. Attraction There are three components of attractiveness; they are attitude, physical attraction ND reciprocity. The first thing someone notices about another person is his or her physical appearance. What makes a person want to further the relationship is his or her attitude. If they find the attitude to be attractive, chances are they will try to further the relationship. Reciprocity is when both parties want the same thing and will work together to make their relationship a lasting one. The factor that is most important to me would be an attitude because while physical attraction is the first thing I notice, attitude is the component that makes me want to act on my feelings. If someone does not have a good attitude or a similar attitude as mine, I will not find him or her attractive. Styles of Love The styles of love that are constant in my life right now are romantic love, possessive excited love and friendship. Romantic love has always been a constant in my life because I am a lover. When I fall in love, I fall hard. Romantic love is probably the truest love today. Possessive excited love is a style of love that I find in my life today. Although my boyfriend and I are not possessive, we have a lot of excitement in our relationship. The excitement to see each other after a long day of work or the excitement to have a date night keeps our relationship strong. Before my boyfriend and I decided to be in a relationship, we were really great friends. We bonded instantly and got along very well. When I started to feel like being friends was not enough for me, I had to let him know. Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality Homosexuality is when an individual is attracted sexually or romantically to people of in our society we have people who protest against gays having equal rights such as arraign. Of course, our society has come a long way with heterosexuals fighting along side the homosexuals for the their rights. Historical and scientific perspectives have shaped the way I perceive my sexual orientation and myself. Historically, homosexual practices were either done in secret or known about but shunned. Homosexuals were looked down on and seen as abominations. In the past individuals who were accused of homosexuality were convicted by the â€Å"Office of the Night†, which was a group of Christians who felt negatively on homosexuals. In today’s society, homosexuals do not have to hide that they are gay because they can not be convicted for whom they are. Unfortunately, there are still individuals out there that do not agree with homosexuality. There is still the potential of gay individuals being harassed by those individuals. Hate crimes are still common in our society. I am not gay, but I do have gay friends and family, and I do not look at them any differently; instead I stand beside them and protect them from any hate that comes their way. History has only taught me that we need to fight for the rights and that I need to be true to myself. Scientific perspectives have researched the possibility of genetics and mental health being the cause of homosexuality. They have studied family trees to determine if homosexuality can be passed down through generations. They only found that the X chromosome could influence sexual orientation. The researchers have also studied the brain and the possibility that homosexuality can be caused by a mental illness of some sort. Scientific perspectives have not reflected on my sexual orientation. I am straight because I choose to be. I believe that anyone should be able to love whoever they want without being Judged for it. Abortion When I was younger I always thought abortion was wrong because it was taking a life of a baby. As I grew up and learned more, I realized I was making my decision on abortion based off of others ideas of abortion. I became aware of abortion when a friend of mine in high school had an abortion after having sex once. I understood why she would want an abortion because of being in high school and she had her whole life ahead of her. Her family was very strict, and she was worried about her parents disowning her. How to cite Personal Response on Sexual Identity, Papers

Business Intelligence for Different Business Situations

Question: Describe about the Business Intelligence for Different Business Situations. Answer: Accounting firm case Business Intelligence (BI) Business climates are constantly changing to which organizations have to respond with appropriate decisions. Business intelligence is the conceptual foundation for making such business decisions and thus, they can be used for getting data, visualizing it, performing models, dashboards, and taking critical decisions. To survive in a challenging business environment, companies have to keep responding to competitive pressures and measure if the response is in the right direction towards achieving right business objectives(Cokins, 2006). At any point of time, this requires a manager to navigate through hordes of responsibilities and information to come up with appropriate decisions in different business situations. This would demand designing of business situational models such that decisions can be made tactically and strategically in an organized way. These decisions can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured. Use of computers for making such decisions can speed up the process and improve the accuracy of efficiency of decision-making. Business Intelligence tools like Decision support systems are thus being used by many organization that act as the foundations to rely on for taking critical business decisions (Holodnik-Janczura Golinska, 2010). Business Intelligence is actually an umbrella term for a various set of IT entities including databases, tools, architecture, applications, and methodologies. The key approach used in any of the BI system is consolidation of data on company processes, extraction of information from this data and presentation of the same in such a way that it can be used as a foundation for taking strategic and tactical business decisions. There are a wide variety of BI tools that are available for use such as Enterprise resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Supply Chain Management (SCM)(IBM Cognos, 2009). For presentation of the business information, certain front-end components and tools are used in BI software systems such as databases, data transformation tools, analytics, visualization, and connectivity tools. BI is used in many areas, disciplines and departments of an enterprise including marketing, sales, customer relationship management, procurement, logistics, m anufacturing, financial control, search engineer optimization, human resource management, information and communication management and so on(Horakova Skalska, 2013). Competitive Advantage with BI Business Intelligence implementations in organizations bring some major benefits that include: Saving in data management costs due to consolidation Time saved on data search and deliveries Better quality of information Support for decision making Business process reengineering (Kumar, et al., 2013) Support for strategic goals of a business reduction of the dispersion in the business related information Improved interaction between users real time information availability flexibility built into system in adopting to dynamics of business Improvement in employee productivity(Nandi, 2012) With a set of these benefits in place, a company can build a competitive advantage for its business. Some ways this can be done by deploying BI tools are: Visualization: Visualization can be used for identifying patterns in data and companies can detect even that information, which can otherwise go ignored, in a manual data scanning. This could reveal if the data or information is aligned with the strategic goals and objectives of the organization such that deviations can be observed and corrective measures can be taken(Guarda, et al., 2013). Figure 1: Tableau Software Screenshot(Ajayi, 2013) In an accounting organization, visualization can be used for analysing and explaining complex financial problems with information dashboards and data models. Financial reports like Balance sheet and PL accounts can also be created fast through data abstraction making it easier for accountants to compare yearly reports and analyze exact numbers in financial statements for better understanding of company performance. Interactive charts and dashboards can be drilled down to minute details to discover patterns and issues in the accounting data. For instance, Tableau is a BI tool that allows one to create pie charts and histograms that are interactive allowing users to go deeper into the data (Ajayi, 2013) Consolidation of historical and new data: Any organization can utilize the repository of its historical data to identify patterns that could be advantageous for understanding business processes and improving them. This can help organizations take critical business decisions such as arriving at the most influential pricing model, identifying most effective marketing strategy and so on. In an accounting firm, the historical data on financial performance can be used for comparing performance of the company over the years to understand if the company is able to achieve the strategic goals of the organization over the years(Walker, 2006). Integration of information: Any organization that is a part of a supply chain may get affected by or need information from other members of the channel. With BI, all these supply chain partners can be brought together with their data consolidated enabling a smooth flow of information between them such that business processes can be formalized and real time information about the business can be obtained (Munteam Mircea, 2008). System integration: With integration of different tools used for various processes such as monitoring, reporting, data management, and other features, standards and procedures can be formally defined such that the organization can ensure that the procedures adopted comply with objectives and there is a proper visibility into the system(Horakova Skalska, 2013). Defining Stakeholder requirements: BI tools can be use to record and define stakeholder requirements for any project such that any deliveries made by any organization using BI tool can ensure that all stakeholder requirements are met thereby improving the stakeholder satisfaction. Various stakeholders can be team members, internal customers, external customers, line managers, senior managers, other departments, clients, industry experts, opinion leaders, communities, government agencies, shareholders, trade unions, and suppliers. Recording of stakeholder requirements in an accounting firm can help a firm understand if there are any conflicts in the requirements such that the same can be resolved. As stakeholders have a strong influence on the success of any organization, this information would be helpful in understanding their needs such that conflicts between different stakeholders could be avoided and communication can be improved so as the improve the performance of internal stakeholders and perception of external stakeholders about the organization(ContentExtra, 2012). Data Mining and Analytics in retail loyalty card schemes Analytics can be used for identifying meaning patterns from a data set. In a retail industry, the customer data is used for performing analytics such that the results obtained can be used for designing customer loyalty schemes. Analytics can be used for predictive modelling in retail by studying pas data about consumer behaviour to predict specific consumer behaviour as a reaction to a product or in response to a marketing message or campaign. Descriptive models may also be used for identifying consumer relationships and creating a classification for them. With the use of analytic tools, a retail organization can do the following: Identify consumer segments and do a detailed profiling of each segment to identify target customers who can be most profitable for the organization. A special loyalty benefit may be provided to these consumers in response to their purchases. Identify consumer needs and predict their behaviour in response to various loyalty schemes such that loyalty scheme that gives most profitable customers can be utilized to build loyalty in customers. Targeted promotions and advertisements can be formulated and delivered based on the analytics to get more loyal customers Retail organizations use the methods for overcoming specific challenges of loyalty schemes by using in-store and online analytics. In the in-store analytics, consumers are monitored physically in the store and the data is collected on their movements through video capture, about their gender, store visits and so on. This is often used for identifying products that are hot for customers and their movement patterns can be used for designing a better store experience. Online analytics is possible through the collection of data from social media, mobile devices, and web searches that could be useful in understanding online movement of consumers, sentiments of consumers about the brand, and their online shopping patterns. This can help a company understand the satisfaction levels of customers. It also helps a company design personalized services to consumers based on their preferences, demographics and other personal information(Gupta Kumar, 2014). Data Analytics is now being used as a core of loyalty programs by many organizations for segmenting consumers by using consumer data such as demographics, transactional data, and credit reports and so on. The analytics data is obtained by these organizations from multiple sources including websites, mobile devices, and social media and analytics methods that are used for gaining insights from this data include market basket analysis, customer experience analysis, social media analytics and so on(Friesen, et al., 2014). Figure 2: Customer Loyalty Trends There exist some key trends that are being observed in retail organizations that use insights from consumer analytics to design and customize their loyalty programs such as providing seamless channel experience, use of customer rating mechanism, automated product placements and so on. Queensland Health systems implementationCase Implementation Failure Queensland government consisted of three types of organizations that were connected including government departments and agencies, their owned corporations, and general statutory bodies. Queensland health was one organization that was run by the government for providing medical, dental and age care services across geography for Australian population. The employees of the organization were paid through a payroll system called LATTICE which as rolled out in the organization between 1999 and 2002. However, by the year 2005, the system became obsolete and a decision was taken to replace the legacy system by a standardized software solution (SSI) including SAP HR and SAP Finance. Figure 3: Queensland Health Schedule Delays This SSI was expected to deliver a series of benefits including system consolidation, increased cost visibility, reduced duplication of data, licence cost reduction, reduction in personnel requirements, economies of scale, increase in service standards through focus on core, and information consistency across governmental organizations. However, due to inherent system and solution complexities, the implementation project completely failed after exceeding both budget and planned schedule with huge variations. While the go Live was to happen in the year 2008, the dates were missed over the coming years and the project could only be completed by 2010. While the project was 18 months behind schedule, the cost variance was even huge going 300% over budget. Several reasons that had caused these cost and time overruns included: NO specific project management methodology was followed for implementation The roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders were not properly identified and defined Business requirements were not defined properly leading to challenges in testing The approach and structure used for the implementation was same as used for department of Public Housing project, which was not as complex as Queensland health and thus, did not suit the needs of new project. Any organization that plans to go for a complex software implementation process should follow certain best practices of project management such as clear articulation of requirements, use of an appropriate strategy for implementation, appropriate levels of system testing before go live, use of appropriate project management methodology and communication of project requirements and progress to stakeholders. None of these processes was followed in the case of Queensland health payroll system implementation(Mansharamani, 2011). Major challenges that were faced by the implementation project included: Industry Complexity: Healthcare industry catered to people, processes, and services that were managed by hospitals, pharmacies, and different diagnostic agencies. The industry structure was very different from other industry in terms of focus and size. While other industries catered to a few thousands of clients, this industry had to deal with millions. The diversity was huge, every case of individual patient was different, and thus, the requirement for having specialists was huge in numbers. There was a huge array of different roles, responsibilities, and salary brackets. There were some 24,000 combinations of wages for different types of healthcare professionals who managed cases of around 40,000 patients per day across 300 sites in Queensland. Requirement Definition: requirements of the project were not articulated clearly in the case of Queensland health payroll system implementation. There was no clear documentation of this requirement and thus, when the stage of testing came, issues arose in user acceptance and functionalities testing. The issues identified demanded additional components that were to be added to the project scope resulting in the increase of the project cost. Implementation strategy: The project was actually a part of solution that was to be implemented for the whole government and thus, it could have been done one by one in smaller and less complex government agencies but due to the LATTICE system which was obsolete, the payroll systems would not work if the implementation was not done for whole system and thus, the implementation was decided to be carried out for the entire government. For this complete implementation, the case of Department of Housing was taken as a base for developing implementation strategy. However, the complexities involved in the housing department was much less as it was a much smaller entity and thus, the approach was unlikely to appropriately manage the complexities of healthcare system which was much larger and complex(Devedzic, 2000). System testing and data quality: For the testing of the project, 10% of employees were involved before Go Live, which revealed discrepancies of $1.2 million AUD in fortnightly payroll, and these were majorly attributed to casual staff and overnight claims. Another test followed excluding these types of claims resulting into $30,000 AUD discrepancy. Because of the defects found in four categories, the system was stopped from going live. During subsequent testing phases, more issues were identified and the same were reclassified from time to time. Because of no rigorous testing performed at one point of time but only considering small number of testing samples, no tests revealed complete picture and thus, many critical issues were not resolve till the end resulting into incorrect payment and non-payment to a huge number of people from staff in the end. Figure 4:quasi-multiple client-contractor relationships Client consultant relationship complexities: Usually, in any project, one prime contractor is involved who may hire additional sub-contractors to manage certain activities. However, in the case of Queensland healthcare project, two contractors were involved including CorpTech and IBM resulting into quasi-multiple client-contractor relationships. This resulted into lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities of different parties. Project management and governance complexities: Queensland project did not use any formalized project management methodology for managing the project. This resulted into issues of communication as no proper governance technique was formalized for defining individual roles and responsibilities. Communication Issues: IBM did not put their best people on the project and those put on the project were resisted by the government employees who were not willing to cooperate and transfer required functional knowledge to the IBM team(Eden, et al., 2014). Systems Development Lifecycle approach for Improvement System Development Lifecycle Approach (SDLC) is used by software companies for designing, developing and testing of software. The aim is to produce high quality software that meets quality expectations of customers and help completing the project as per the planned time schedule and within cost estimates. Thus, this methodology is suggested for cases like Queensland Healthcare payroll system. SLDC consists of six simple stages including planning, defining, designing, building, testing, and deployment of a software. In the planning stage, senior members of the project team are made to take the inputs from customers, company departments, domain experts, and individuals through surveys. The information obtained at this stage is actually utilized to conduct a feasibility study for the software development involving economical, operational, and technical concerns. If the development is found feasible then in this stage, approaches are considered to take decisions on approaches that can be used for development and implementation of software with minimum risks(Franch Carvallo, 2003). After the plan for implementation is clear, the next step is to define requirements, document them appropriately, and get them approved by customer or through a market analysis. This could be done by using a Software Requirement Specification (SRS) document. This document would record all the requirements of the product to be developed for the entire product life cycle. With this definition, the testing could have been done much smoothly in the case of Queensland project. The next stage involves designing of a product architecture that suits best to the needs of the project. Design approaches can be documented in Design Documentation Specification (DDS) such that they can be reviewed by various stakeholders based on certain parameters like risks, robustness, design modularity, budget constraints, time constraints, and so on such that the best approach for development could be selected. In the current case, no options for different design approaches were considered but a direct base case of Department of Housing was taken to develop the architecture for the software(Chang, 2012). After the design is chosen, actual development of the project begins as per the DDS. After development, the testing of product is required which could be done to identify bugs. Issues are tracked, resolved and retests are done until all bugs are removed and the product assumes the same level of quality standard as defined in the SRS. Only after the functional testing is completed successfully, the product may go to the users for final testing and acceptance. In case of the Queensland project, there was no appropriate functional testing that was performed but a direct user testing on a very limited number of users was conducted for first and for all retests leading to unresolved issues that were not revealed during user testing(Vennapoos, 2008). The company may use one from a variety of SDLC models including waterfall, iterative, spiral, and V-model. An appropriate approach may be chosen by an organization based on certain parameters like user requirements, familiarity of users with technology, complications of a system, reliability of system, schedule, cost constraints, project management methodology used stakeholder visibility, team skills, documentation needs, and components reusability and so on. For instance, if the user requirements have to be made very clear on a project then a waterfall or V-shaped approach may not be most appropriate. Further, if the system to be developed is very complex, agile methodologies may not be feasible. With limitations on costs, an iterative SDLC approach would be most appropriate. In the case of Queensland project, the requirements need to be very clear, the system is very complex, and thus, a spiral approach may be most appropriate(Mishra Dubey, 2013). References Ahmad, N. Laplante, P. A., 2009. 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