COMPLETING THE VISION PART OF YOUR CANVAS

 

TEMPLATE V.1 – VISION DEVELOPMENT

Our values
House hold valuesWhat are the kind of things we can do together (a vision that realizes all values)Market (what will the new system provide for stakeholders)Challenges (what is outside your control)What are the success measures that we want to achieveSystems involved (Partnership)Key requirementsTo introduce a technology that will lead to the management of electricity on the demand side.Electricity is crucial to the urban communities targeted by this project. The community has continued to use the more electricity, characterised by increased capita consumption which further drives the power lines on the supply side to meet the high demand.The installation of the smart meters is a technological solution that leads to the efficient consumption of electricity leading to reduce cost due to frequent installation of the plants to meet increased demand(Anderson and White 403)..The introduction of the smart meters will serve all the stakeholders by provision of better information on the householders about the amount of energy used. The retailers of the generators could omit the functionalities that are to deliver benefits to the environment and the consumer householder. It is important that the technology achieve 100% success in meeting all the objectives of all the stakeholders.

This will be measured by home are network that has ability to deliver sustained reduction in the demand for electricity that is measured by the appropriate tariffs and shedding of loads (Darby, 300).
For effectiveness, the system has to comprise the house community members in the urban centres who are the most affected; the retailers of the gadgets should be given financial motivation to sell the right technology, the local government and the power supply companies.All the ministries concerned like the one in charge of infrastructure, ministry of energy and the local government should ensure that the smart meters that are installed meet the requirements for home are network by developing the relevant guidelines (Boice, 133) To increase the conservation of the environment by reduction of the carbon dioxide and also reduce the need to construct new power plants to meet the increased demand.

Increased real time interaction between the retailers and the house hold community that consume the electricityIt reduces consumption and competitive demands leading to poor services by the company. The householders will be able to control their habits in the use of the electricity and energy since it has financial incentivesThe efficient use provision of the electricity provides little financial benefits to the retailers. The smart meters for the house holder’s community have to be fitted with real time home displays in places where they are easily visible. This will enable the consumers to daily regulate the energy consumptions in the homes.

All the protocols that are used in the smart meters and related appliances should be made open to access to enable the consumers to easily switch between the retailers. It has positive impact on the environment since it leads to reduction of the carbon dioxide and other negative impacts on the environmentIt reduce the cost of the city council and the power companies in reducing the cost of energy productionThere are risks of stalling the deployment of the smart maters to the householdersMany household in the communities already have the smart meters that do not have the home area network, for enjoyment of the consumer and environmental benefits, public awareness campaign should be done to inform the householders about the smart meters that are needed.   The community and the government will benefit by reducing negative impact on the environment. The process require huge financial cost on the part of the government and the local councilExperts have indicated that there are also risks of installation of the wrong technology that will disrupt normal power supply for sometimes.

TEMPLATE V.2 – MISSION DEVELOPMENT
Proposed missionsKey Requirements addressed by the missionHow the key activities address the key requirementMarket needs addressed by the missionSystems and PartnersWays mission addresses challengesSuccess parameters for the missionTo ensure there is consumer and environmental benefits of the smart metering in among householders and the country at large.Making the consumers aware of the smart meter needed (Boice, 54)Improve the consumers understanding of the smart meter technology. There is need among the consumers to reduce the amount of money that is spending on electricity.The smart metering project work with many partners like energy suppliers, consumer groups in the community and government regulators and ministries.The use of the smart meters enables the household in the project to not only control the amount of energy but also bring about efficient control of the budgets (Anderson and White 609). Success of the project will be measured by:
Flexibility on the part of the householders in the use of electricity
 Provision of the in home displays features in the smart meters to provide real time information about electricity consumption The smart meter will be made to work in the pre paid mode thus the house hold consumers are to set control the use of the power and top up whenever they require at night and day time.It reduces consumption and demands of electricity at peak hours.This mission ensures that the house holders using the smart meters have display of the use of the energy within their reach
Reduction of spending in electricity due to energy saving solutions in the smart metersMore than 800,000 smart meters have been installed in homes without the home area network capability. Our project will be standardised to ensure HAN is installed in all the smart meters in the households.The overall effect is the reduction of emission of carbon dioxide leading to reduced environment pollution and climate charge (Darby, 120).  The missions empowers consumers with flexibility to reduce consumption at peak hours
Reduction in the emission of the green house gases which cause pollution in the environment and climate change.

TEMPLATE V.3 – MISSION EVALUATIONS

MissionStrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreats

Mission 1
 Empowerment of the consumers to control energy use
The lack of the home display for provision of information deny the customers the intended services There is potential in the market for supply tested and regulated smart meters that provide needed information about energy use The retailers supplying the smart meters without the functionality that is delivering benefits to the consumers and the environment are cheaper but could make the householders delusion
Mission 2

Reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and climate change
This require huge financial cost since it need to be rolled out in large communities for effect to be felt in the environment
The use of the cost effective tariffs is vital in trading the emission of the carbon dioxide and strengthen the price signal. 
More research needs to be done on the load shifting of the carbon dioxide.



Template V. 4 SELECTED MISSION DESCRIPTIONS

Broad Mission Description:
To ensure there is consumer and environmental benefits of the smart metering
Key Requirements addressed by this mission:
Making the consumers aware of the smart meter needed
Key Activities to be developed in this mission to meet the key requirements:
Improve the consumers understanding of the smart meter technology
Ensuring that the installation is done in phases to avoid disruption
What services are suggested
The installers will be expected to provide electricity efficiency advice to the householders
The privacy of the householders will be protected and given full control over the smart meter
Resource Requirements (estimated)
The entire project will cost 6.7 billion us Dollars
Success measures relevant to this mission
The provision of quality meters to the householders
More householders saving money on the use of energy
Systems or partners involved:
Energy suppliers, consumer groups in the community and government regulators and ministries.
Challenges addressed by the mission:
Provision of the smart meters to the household in urban areas
Reduction of the energy that is used in the household and the cost of electricity to the consumers.
Reduction of the emission of carbon dioxide and pollution

Works Cited
Anderson, W. and White, V. Exploring the Functionality of Real-time Home Energy Displays, Report to the Energy Saving Trust, Centre for Sustainable Energy, Bristol, 2009.
Boice, C. Home Energy Display Market Test. Demand Side Plan Technical Appendix, Demand Side Plan, Book 4 of 9, testimony presented to the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada by the Nevada Power Company, February 2009.
Darby, S.,Social learning and public policy: lessons from an energy-conscious village. Energy Policy, 34, 2929–2940.2007.

Surname 1

Assignment 4: Communication Strategies

Abstract
Project management requires an application of various strategies for the success of the project, and one of them is communication strategy. It is upon the project manager to come up with communication strategies to solve any problem arising at various stages of the project. In this paper, a scenario for a project in its tenth month has been assumed. Strategies for communicating solution have been proposed for three scenarios. In the first scenario, a communication strategy for Virtual team members who have reported feeling isolated has been suggested. In the second scenario, a communication strategy for the case where one of the project team members wants to take a week’s vacation during a major holiday season and at a time when critical project deadlines are imminent has been proposed. Lastly, a communication strategy for the case where a technical team member has requested a transfer due to project team conflicts has been suggested.

Strategy for the Case where Virtual Team Members Reports on Isolation
Nature of the Problem
In a complex project, virtual team members link with the rest through a system of extranets or online arrangements. Communication through online means, though fulfilling has some disadvantages whereby the group lacks a tangible aspect of team-working and social cohesiveness. Information is digested by office workers before virtual workers are given access and therefore, they may feel isolated. Feeling of isolation at the point when the project was near completion is detrimental to the project progress because such members may lose their working enthusiasm and drag the project beyond the set deadline. Also, they may hatch a plan to thwart the progress of the progress in order to get the needed attention. Such scenarios are worse for the project because at near completion, it is not possible for the project manager to replace them and therefore, a communication strategy ought to be put in place to counter the problem (Elkins, 2000).

A Proposed Communication Strategy
As a project manager, one should redefine the objectives of the projects to the virtual members for them to understand how their input contributes to the success of the project. Since all parts of the entire project will be redefined to virtual members, they will be in a position to understand that every member of the team has his or her own part and thus no one is isolated. The project manager should thereafter review and utilize a communication plan for the remaining project time. The plan outlines when and what the communication entails, who needs to be communicated to, the frequency of communication media. Thereafter, the project manager should consider the team’s agreement and reaffirm to the virtual members that everyone ought to adhere to the signed team agreement document. The team agreement refers to a document outlining how the team is supposed to work together on daily basis and how to resolve a given conflict. If possible, a new team’s agreement should be made to accommodate any emerging demands from virtual team members.

A review of the technologies used in communication will be reviewed. Perhaps the existing technology is not interactive and thus members feel isolated. Interactive technologies, such as video communication, will be considered as long as it does not affect the cost of the project. Thereafter, the project manager should devote to learning the cultural background of members who have complained to ascertain if their cultural affiliations influences their feeling of isolation. To ensure the team does not feel isolated, the manager should foster collaboration through the building of trusts. In this case, he or she will establish a non-official communication with the members and try to understand them better (Elkins, 2000).

How an Improvement on the Communication Strategy May Prevent Similar Problems In The Future
Further improvement to the communication strategy should involve conducting a prelaunch face-to-face team building interactions for members before starting the project. In this case, it is possible for the team members to build trust and emotional attachment with each other. This trust makes them interact with each other on social network and avoid feelings of isolation. In addition, further improvement to the strategy is to ensure a well elaborate team agreement is signed before the start of the project, such that members are well aware of difficulties, such as feeling of isolation before starting the project. In this case, members will develop personal strategies for dealing with isolation (Kirkman, Rosen, Gibson, Tesluk, & McPherson, 2002).

A Backup Plan That Might Be Implemented
In case the strategy fails, the project manager may be forced to organize a one-day team building exercise for virtual team members to meet face-to-face and erase isolation. Although it might derail the project by a day, it is worthy the efforts rather that the risk of the entire project stalling or underperforming.
Strategy for the Case Where One of the Project Team Members Wants to take a Week’s Vacation During a Major Holiday Season And at a Time When Critical Project Deadlines Are Imminent
Nature of the Problem

A vocational holiday is the right of an employee, especially if the contract of employment grants them the right. However, a project with a stipulated deadline demands a strict schedule that may exclude vocational holiday. If one member of the team insists on going on a vocation, the project is likely to stall and fail to meet the deadline. At the same time, the delay may affect other members because they need to co-work to move the entire project forward. Also, the general morale of other members may be killed because they are likely to feel that they too require a vacation holiday. It should be noted that such a situation should be dealt with because it is likely to affect the entire project (Caproni, 2001).

A Proposed Communication Strategy
A project manager should first review the contract of employment to ascertain the terms in the contract. One important fact to consider in the project contract is the duration of the project and the objective of the project. He or she should review this objective with the employee who wants to go on vacation and explain the essence of the project duration and an attainment of its objectives. Step by step, he or she should review the remaining project phase with the employee and give him the exact duration and activities needed to be accomplished and his role within that time. The manager should thereafter, elaborate on the consequences of not meeting the deadline and convince the employee to rescind his vocation plan. He or she should thereafter inform the employee that there will be a vacation after the project completion and thus there is no need of hurrying to stall the project. He should thereafter make an official communication to the entire team informing them that no one was supposed to go for a vacation because they have to honor a project deadline.

How an Improvement on the Communication Strategy May Prevent Similar Problems In The Future
Vocations are essential as they give workers time to refresh and reenergize. Since they come at the end of the year, there should be a clear communication concerning vacation holidays to avoid stalling the project. During the beginning of the project, there should be a clear communication on project scaling whereby the majority of the work, including overtimes should be scheduled at the beginning of the project. Thereafter, there should be a clear communication on areas of priorities whereby workers should be aware of the most important areas of the project and role each one is supposed to play, failure to which there will be no vacation (Caproni, 2001).

Before signing the contract, there should be a clearly defined policy stating when employees are likely to go for a vacation and its duration. Also, the vocation policy should have a clause whereby the management has the right to revoke the vacation if there is a genuine situation for the same. Lastly, a deadline for submitting vacation requests should be set to be at least four weeks in advance to give the management time to plan for the project without the employee (Philips, 1998).

A Backup Plan That Might Be Implemented
In case the strategy fails, the manager should plan for a week without one employee. In this case, he should tell the employee to delegate the work to an immediate person. If there is no person to fit the place, the organization should scale up the time to accommodate lack of one member. In this case, there will be a clear communication regarding the adjustment on the schedule with roles for each person clearly explained.

Strategy for the Case where a Technical Team Member has Requested a Transfer Due to Project Team Conflicts
Nature of the Problem
Conflict arises in a team as a result of conflicting goals, perceptions, resources, and roles. It also results from unpredictable policies and different personal values. Granting a transfer request to an affected member is not the solution to the problem because more members are likely to request for transfers incase such problems occurs. At the same time, the person requesting for a transfer may cause a similar conflict in the new destination. If the organization yields to such demands, one area is likely to lack needed manpower because personnel in the technical departments are normally few and every person has his or her own special task (Gatlin, Wysocki, & Kepner, 2009).

A Proposed Communication Strategy
The first step to resolve this case will be to set the scene for the resolution. The manager should establish the rules to be used in approaching the conflict, which are in agreement with both parties. During this time, active listening skills should be emphasized to get a clear view of the situation. Thereafter, the manager should gather information from all parties. During this process, the manager should listen with empathy and visualize conflicts from other people’s point of view. Next, the manager should emphasize on an agreement whereby both parties agree on a common problem that needs to be resolved. Thereafter, he or she should give both parties an opportunity to brainstorm on the solution to the problem. The solutions given should be negotiated based on some restrictions that imposed. Restrictions depend on the objective of the project whereby it should be made clear that the company will not stoop low to the demands of some parties. The solution agreed upon should be implemented and the strategy communicated to the entire organization.

How an Improvement on the Communication Strategy May Prevent Similar Problems In The Future
To avoid conflict arising in a group, the avenues for conflict in a group should be sealed during the start of the project. In this case, a team should be given enough resources and clear goals set and conflicting goals avoided. Also, roles should be defined and communicated well to avoid conflicting roles. In addition, ethical codes of conducts inline with the objective of the project should be communicated before beginning the project. Lastly, there should be a clear conflict resolution mechanism and disciplinary measures, which should be communicated to all teams (Manktelow & Carlson, 2012).
A Backup Plan That Might Be Implemented
Incase this strategy fails the project manager should engage an external party to look into the solution. If the external mediator agrees with the victim’s request for a transfer, it should be granted.

Conclusion
Communication is an essential aspect of dealing with issues arising from a project. In this paper, considerations have been made for three scenarios. They include a scenario when virtual team members who have reported feeling isolated, where one of the project team member wants to take a week’s vacation during a major holiday season and at a time when critical project deadlines are imminent has been proposed, and where a technical team member has requested a transfer due to project team conflicts has been suggested. From the strategies proposed, the project manager should balance the progress of the project and the demands of the affected party. He or she should be armed with a backup plan incase one fails. However, the overall scenario indicates that most of the problems can be avoided if clear communication is implemented at the start of the project.

References
Caproni, J. (2001). The practical coach: Management skills for everyday life. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Elkins, T. (2000). Virtual teams: Connect and collaborate. HE Solutions, 32 (4), 26–32.
Gatlin, J., Wysocki, A., & Kepner, K. (2009). Managing Conflict in the Workplace. Florida: University of Florida Press.
Kirkman, B., Rosen, B., Gibson, C., Tesluk, P., & McPherson, S. (2002). Five challenges to virtual team success: Lessons from Sabre, Inc. Academy of Management Executive, 16 (3), 67-79.
Manktelow, J., & Carlson, A. (2012). Conflict Resolution:Resolving Conflict Rationally and Effectively. Retrieved May 27, 2013, from Mind Tools: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_81.htm
Philips, M. (1998). Effects of realistic job previews on multiple organizational outcomes: A meta-analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 41 (6), 673–690.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES 10

Running head: COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

 

Operations Management

Chapter 17 is focused on project management. The writing introduces readers with the different aspects of project operations, which are functions that sustain businesses. The project management is defined as the usage of different approaches in order to maintain a team’s activities led by competent leaders. Projects have a set of metrics that measure their success including time, cost, and scope. A successful plan also satisfies customers and meets their major objectives. To ensure achievement of goals, project managers develop work breakdown structures, network diagrams, and Gantt charts to enhance proper planning and monitoring of projects.

Most progrms present a high failure risk due to delays and budget overruns. Thus, it is necessary to invest a substantial amount of financial and time resources into projects to ensure success. According to “Drilling and the American Dream: Life in a Gas Patch” (2013, 1), examines the significance of proper project management.

The Thompsons dreamt of spending the rest of their life in Colorado. Their dream would come true only in forty years after. However, a Colorado Oil and Gas Association came to dig a gas well at the nearby home to the Thompsons. There were petrochemicals released, dust, soot, and fumes that forced the couple to stay out for long. The gas eventually infected the all the raletives and other couples, until they started to bleed from their nostrils. The Thompsons held regular meetings with the Gas Association, but nothing changed, other than the faces and names of people that the gas, fumes, soot, and dust infected. The couple was forced to move back to Texas to live there. Colorado Oil and Gas Association, however, said that drilling does not influence housing prices. Therefore, they would not compensate the family for forcing them moving away to Texas. On the other hand, government assessors do not consider these factors while valuing land for tax purposes. This is regardless of the health, safety, emotional issues that the Colorado Oil and Gas Company presents to the community (Greene 1)

This case study is a real life application of the project management concept. The Colorado Oil and Gas Company aims at drilling and providing its clients with energy sources. The project is a success as it is able to deliver energy resources to its clients. Thus, it meets the key metric of time and cost, since the operations are profitable. The project also succeeds in meeting the demands of its clients. However, the program fails due to the wrong positioning. It chose an area in close proximity to human residential to carry out its operations. The activities emit dangerous dusts, soot, and fumes that contain petrochemicals and this affects the residents. Citizens, such as the Thompsons face various health, safety and emotional disturbances due to the Colorado Oil and Gas Company emissions. Despite several complaints from the residents, the company does not resolve these issues.

This forces the people to relocate without compensation, and this also affects the image of the company in the market. To resolve the issue of pollution, the company may have to compensate the residents, relocate, or shut down. These options affect the cost metric and may lead to the eventual failure of the project. The government surveyors need to consider the risks and consequences that land owners get from their lands so that they can offer better compensation to the victims.

Works cited
Greene, Susan. “Drilling and the American dream: Life in a gas patch,” The Colorado Independent, Wed., November 6, 2013. Print.

Surname 1

Sponsorship proposal for the Elderly Organization International

Please find enclosed a sponsorship proposal for your consideration.
I am contacting you as from the cordial relation we have had from our last encounters in the children suffering from cancer. Since the last work we have done by your organization we are working closely with different nongovernmental groups in bringing the difference in many people’s life’s in various parts of the country. We are currently made up of 230 regional offices and a membership totaling to 1569 that service the organization in a permanent capacity.

On May 35, 2013, The Elderly Organization International will be hosting an old women’s awareness that will feature prominent aged women from around the globe. This event titled empowering the old aged woman to secure a productive world will attract more than 250 multinational companies that have championed the need for empowering the old women in the society.

Last year our event attracted more 5,600 participants and the participation of 22 well-known medical organizations and individual companies. It was sponsored by the John Walters’s foundation and marketed as a networking event for hospitals and drug companies in addition to the aged homes in the area. The event drew an affluent audience with a median household income of $13, 000. Approximately 45 % of the attendees purchased products while 29% promised to purchase the products after consulting with the interested parties.

We invite your company to be the exclusive insurance brokerage company at the event in 20013. In addition to be listed in all the advertising material and banners as the patron of the event your insurance firm will receive an opportunity to host a booth at the event of which you will offer advice to interested individuals and companies.
Sponsorship benefits such as coupons, T-shirts, badges and pens will be useful in driving new segment of customers to your company after the event.
We hope to have an opportunity of sharing our detailed presentation of sponsorship benefits at a later date. If you wish to discuss this in the future, please do not hesitate to contact the main office. We shall be in touch with you in the next couple of days to discuss our proposal.
Regards
Name:—————————————–
Event coordinator The Elderly Organization International
Enclosure

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Elderly Organization International is seeking sponsorship from the Marshal Insurance Group for the retired and elderly women’s conference. The event started ten years ago, its main aim is showing support for the elderly and their family the aged organization internationally. . The event will take place on August 23 to 27, 2013. The Elderly Organization International is the only event that attracts the retired women around the entire region and a total of more than 10 Million comments and opinions. One of the countries internet survey company, media tracking services came to discover that the event had more than 15,000 mentions in the blog for just a week. The Elderly Organization International attendee statistics show that 85% are the beneficiaries of government or any other retirement package. It is estimated this year’s event to host more than 7,000 members as compared to the last event, which had 5,600 attendees. The attendees include 85% are the beneficiaries of government or any other retirement package.

By sponsoring the event, the Marshal Insurance Group will be able to benefit from Renaming of the event with the corporate name and an innovative logo if it will be mutually agreed. In addition, it will include the corporate sponsor name logo on all the publications of the and all collaterals together with letterheads, organizations’ websites, directional signs, and program advertising material among other printed media.

According to the previous events it has been concluded that the notion produced by our past event it has helped marketing people to create a positive ROI. The research indicates that it is possible to achieve a similar even greater ROI on an international level this year since it is an international event and all this depends on continued sponsorship.

Event Property Details
Event details
The event Last year’s our event attracted more 5,600 participants and the participation of 22 well-known medical organizations and individual companies. It is the only event that attracts the retired women around the entire region.
News reports on the event were carried in the daily newspaper in the country and on four national televisions attracting a total of more than 10 Million comments and opinions.
One of the countries internet survey company, media tracking services came to discover that the event had more than 15,000 mentions in the blog for just a week. This indicated how the event was popular in the country. The YouTube video of last year’s event attracted more than 86,000 views across the world.

Target markets
The Elderly Organization International provides an audience that will probably resonate with The Marshal Insurance Group. Our annual attendee statistics show that 85% are the beneficiaries of government or any other retirement package. Some seek out relevant health insurance packages since they are becoming aware of the relevance of health insurances due to the health issues related to their age.
Marketing Mix
Key benefits of the sponsorship
Renaming of the event with the company name along with a new logo it if will be mutually agreed.
Corporate name logo on the streets heading to the event venue and on vehicles that will be caring attendees.
Corporate sponsor identity on all the publications of the organization and all guarantees including letterheads, company websites , directional signs, program promotional material among other printed media.

Sponsorship could also include
Privileges to use the event for the product sampling
Company spokesperson will be given a chance to speak at the event.
Investment& Value
Event details
When it comes to showing support for the elderly and their family the aged organization internationally and its employees are without equal. These events started 10 years ago. The event has grown each year attracting members from all the areas that we are grounded in. This year’s early registration shows that the event is likely to exceed 7,000 members from all the countries that we are based in.

Many of the event attendees each year have told as the highlight of the event is the motivational dinner, which gives them strength to continue having hope in life. The event will take place on August 23 to 27, 2013. The event will be conducted in the reeds resort 10 kilometers drive from the city. The aim of the event is to encourage elderly women to be the mentor of their family and take care of their health and families too. Attendees are registered members who generate found towards similar causes in developing countries. Their prices are catered in their annual contribution, which is usually $800. We are able to supply them with accommodation but there is still a lot that is needed to be done for instance local transportation, payment for speakers and mentors in the event hence the need for sponsorship.

Budget for advertising for the event
The organization will use print media and broadcast media for the advertisement of the event wile at the same time capitalizing on the easy availability of the social media.
Broadcast Media
Radio $15 CPM
Television (free to air) $21 CPM
Television (pay tv) $ 10CPM
Social Media
Facebook: $16 CPM
Twitter: $11 CPM
List of Sponsorship Benefits
Renaming the event the “the Marshal Insurance Group care for the elderly.”
Marshal Insurance Group. Will be the elite naming sponsor for a period not less or exceeding 4 years.
The company name will be used in the authorization of the event to 6 extra cities and regional countries.

The Marshal Insurance Group will continue to support the motivational dinner held on the night before the main event in all the membership countries.
The Marshal Insurance Group will have their identity on all promotional materials for all events, together with transport car banners, all registration forms, T-shirts, and all event advertising.
Marshal Insurance Group executives will take part in all the events together with the media conferences leading up to the event and after the event including their representative giving speech at the event.

Budget and Investment
SPONSOR SHIP OPPORTUNITIESOUR GOALS
Our aim is to conduct an elderly women meeting for the sole purpose of encouraging elderly women to be the mentor of their family and take care of their health and families too.THE COST TO REACH OUR GOALS
The cost to achieve our goals is approximately $ 1.5 Million
Transportation from the airport to the resort $ 255, 000
Accommodation and health checkups $ 345,000
Mentoring and equipment expense $ 150, 000
Security and management $ 250, 000
Meals and refreshment $ 500, 000MAJOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY $1,000,000
As a major sponsor of The Elderly Organization International your organization will be entitled to
Renaming the event the “the Marshal Insurance Group care for the elderly.”

Marshal Insurance Group. Will be the elite naming guarantor for 4 years.
This name will be used in the franchising of the event in all the cities and regional areas.
The Marshal Insurance Group will carry on sponsoring the motivational dinners before and after the events in their respective locations.
The Marshal Insurance Group will have their identity on every one of promotional fabric for all events, together with transport car banners, all registration forms, T-shirts, and all event advertising.
Marshal Insurance Group executives will engage themselves in each and every one events and media conferences before and after the event including their representative giving speech at the event.

SUPPORTING SPONSOR SHIP $500,000
As a major sponsor of the elderly organization international your organization will be entitled to

We hope that we can work with you to achieve a noble achievement in empowering the elderly in the society. Your sponsorship will be greatly appreciated.
Contact…………………..Value of the Sponsorship

We are confident the sponsorship of the event will provide millions of impressions on both local media and the social sites. In addition to the exposure our research has indicated that our company will increase its campaign efforts and in undeviating percentage to the media attention that it will receive. According to the previous events it has been concluded that the intuition created by our past event it has helped marketing people to create a positive ROI. The research indicates that it is possible to achieve a similar even greater ROI on an international level this year since it is an international event and all this depends on continued sponsorship.
In exchange for the above mentioned sponsorship opportunities we are asking the Marshal insurance group to consider investing $600, 000 annually for a period not exceeding 4 years.

Appendices
Appendix A
Sponsorship form
Name of Business: ——————-
Address: ——————————–
City, State, Zip———————-Contact:
Contact Phone: ———————– Contact Email:————————
Sponsorship Level
[Please indicate the type of sponsorship and the amount you wish to participate] Total Sponsorship Commitment and AgreementI hereby agree to participate as an official sponsor for the said event. This
Commitment is binding and goes into effect immediately.Authorized Representative- SponsorSignature and Title—————————- Date—————————-
Authorized Representative- The Elderly Organization InternationalSignature and Title—————————– Date——————————

Appendix B
Total cash each woman will receive is
Number of women 70,000
Cost 21.44
70,000 * 21.44 = 1, 500, 000
In addition to what they had given
800 * 70,000 = 56, 000,000
Appendix C
Inventory of Assets
The Elderly Organization International Event Inventory of AssetsAssetFeatureFunctionBenefit#CostNoteValueNoteSignageMain event entrance banner16m*7m Full color
Color bond metalLink the brand to the eventPositive brand image25896.60122,4151Secondary Signage banners and 32 directional signs on city streets leading to the event3m*1m full color
Color bond metalShowcase the company new productBrand awareness108540258,3202HospitalityVIP MarqueeFully catered fine dining for 7,000 membersEntertain members while attending the main event of the gatheringThe dinner is the main talk that makes members relate to one another problems thus encouraging them to contribute128,64831,539,0403Total3,00841,619,775

Audience: ____________
Cost: ____________
Cost Plus: ____________
CPM: Prime signage: CPM $25 Secondary signage: CPM $15 Hospitality: CPM $1000
Cost * Number of Items * Cost Plus + Audience * Number of Items * CPM = $ Value
Costing Notes

Value NotesSignage production prices calculated from allnationssigns.com.uk
Costing Note: 896.60$ * 25 Items = $ 20,900
Marquee costed from blueeventshire.com.uk $500.00
Catering costed from sweetfoods.com.uk
Food (seated dining) 7,000 x 85.70 + $599,900
Staff (200 x 4 hours @ 37) + $29,600
Drinks supplied in house
4 hours x 7,000 x $8/hr (includes 1 staff) + $224,000
= $874,400
1. $896.60 (cost) * 25 (Items) *1. 2 (20% cost plus) +
7,000 (Audience) * 108 Items * $25/�1�0�0�0� �C�P�M� �=� �$�4�1�,�3�1�7�
�ÀÛÎÜ �$�8�9�6�.�6�0�*� �2�5� �*� �1�.�2� �+� �(�7�,�0�0�0� �*�1�0� �*� �2�5�/�1�0�0�0�)� �=� �$�2�8�,�6�4�8�
�C�P�M� �f�o�r� �p�r�i�m�e� �s�i�g�n�a�g�e� �=� �$�2�5�
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�(�I�t�e�m�)� �*� �$� �2�0�0�0�/�1�0�0�0� �C�P�M�
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�C�P�M� �f�o�r� �t�his event = $2000 (very exclusive fine dining experience)

References
Bryan, K., & Demand, M. (2007, April 13). The Percentage of Inventory to Total Assets. Retrieved May 12, 2013, from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/percentage-inventory-total-assets-3153.html
David, I., & Demand, M. (2011). How to Obtain a Sponsorship for Nonprofit Funding. Retrieved May 12, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/obtain-sponsorship-nonprofit-funding-21682.html
Elizabeth, L. (2009). The Rules of Fiscal Sponsorship. Retrieved May 9, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/rules-fiscal-sponsorship-12802.html
Joe, G. (2010). What Are Two Ways That a Nonprofit Business Might Secure Its Funding? Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/two-ways-nonprofit-business-might-secure-funding-56706.html
K.J., H. (2007). Advantages for Corporations Sponsoring Charitable Organizations. Retrieved May 14, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-corporations-sponsoring-charitable-organizations-503.html
Kim, S.-R. (2011, January 20). How Do Sponsors Evaluate Sponsorship Proposals? Retrieved May 12, 2011
Lisa, M. (2011). How to Request Nonprofit Funding in a Business Letter. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/request-nonprofit-funding-business-letter-61592.html
Lisa, M. (2011). The Advantages of Corporate Sponsorship Funding. Retrieved May 12, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-corporate-sponsorship-funding-18081.html
Michelle, A.-B. (2001). How to Gain Advertising Sponsorship. Retrieved May 12, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/gain-advertising-sponsorship-62936.html
Miranda, B. (2000). How to Get Free Motivational Speakers for Your Nonprofit Organization. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/motivational-speakers-nonprofit-organization-13757.html
The museum broadcast communication. (2013). COST-PER-THOUSAND (CPM) AND COST-PER-POINT (CPP). Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=cost-per-thou
Wake Forest university. (n.d.). Fixed Assets Inventory Procedures. Format.
Warner, C., & J., B. (1993). Broadcast And Cable Selling. Belmont, California: Wadsworth.
Webster, J., & Lawrence, L. (1991). Ratings Analysis: Theory And Practice. Hillsdale. New Jersey: L. Erlbaum.

SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL 14

Running head: SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL

 

Contracting Process in the Government

Solicitation process is the best method that our government uses when soliciting the public to bid its proposals. This method helps in saving public funds by ensuring that the best company that applies for the proposal wins it. In order to ensure that the best company wins the proposal, our government sets out what prospective companies should observe. Among other things, our government requires the companies applying for the proposal should demonstrate capacity through experience to offer the proposed services. On the other hand, the government’s agency offering the request for proposal should facilitate the protest process if companies are dissatisfied with its decision in awarding the contract (Salamon, & Elliott, 2002, p. 300). This paper will demonstrate that solicitation process helps our government to act responsibly when awarding contracts.

With regard to the sample proposal offered by the department of homeland security (DHS), our company wishes to apply for the same because it posses the necessary experience and capacity to offer the proposed services. Our company has been in the proposed industry for over ten years now and has offered similar services five times meaning that if it wins this contract, then it will be the sixth one. Our company offered similar services in Georgia, Arizona and Texas. This makes our company one of the experienced companies fit for this proposal.

During the five times our company offered similar services, it facilitated transformation process in three agencies in Arizona. In Georgia, our company installed Evergreen software in the defense department and did the same to the ministry of education in Texas. Currently, our company is not providing the evergreen services, but it is offering related services that are within its mandate. Some of the services our company is offering currently relate to sharing resources in public libraries and managing operations in multinational corporations. With regard to proposal’s cost, our company puts training cost at $20,000, system administration at $30,000 and hardware procurement at $55,000. The estimate for other cost is $10,000. These estimates are based on our previous experience in evergreen software (Salamon, & Elliott, 2002, p. 301).

The sample request for proposal does not meet all the requirements of a standard form for solicitation offered by our government, but it meet a number of them. It meets what one would require to respond to a proposal by providing the necessary information. In simple terms, it provides what one would require in estimating the cost of the project. However, it does not provide some of the details that one would require in filling the solicitation form. Some of the items missing in the sample request for proposal include proposal’s number and the date of issuing the proposal (Newell, 2005, p. 196). With such information missing, it would be difficult to fill in the standard solicitation form.

A competitive negotiation in the government for this request for proposal would never produce a cost saving for the government. This is because the proposal would be limited to a few companies that are familiar to the government and other unfamiliar companies would never participate in that process. By so doing, the government might get the best company, but pay more money for the service than it would pay if it engaged in a solicitation process. In essence, the government would never attain demonstrable cost saving because companies would quote high prices for the proposal.

In a competitive negotiation, the government assumes that only one company wins the contract. This nullifies the possibility of protesting its decision thereby hinders a competitive process that would achieve a demonstrable cost saving. On the contrary, a competitive solicitation process allows companies to protest government’s decision; hence, ensures that the government achieves demonstrable cost saving. In addition, in a competitive solicitation process, companies make proposals knowing that their competitors would win the contract if they put their proposals at high values (Salamon, & Elliott, 2002, p. 298). Therefore, companies quote proposals at reasonable value that helps in attaining demonstrable cost saving.

If a smaller company wins the contract, a larger company can protest the exercise by proving that DHS never followed the laid out procurement procedures. Such a company would start by writing a protest letter to DHS that would include the company’s name, telephone number, fax number and addresses both physical and e-mail. The protesting company should sign the protest letter and indicate the contract’s number on that letter (Salamon, & Elliott, 2002, p. 300). In the protest letter, the company should prove that irregularities occurred during the process of awarding the contract.

Consequently, the protesting company should request the comptroller general to make a ruling on that issue and request for a relief. It should also submit its protest letter within a period of ten day after DHS allows aggrieved companies to do so. Upon submitting the protest letter, the protesting company should wait for the response from DHS, which may dismiss the protest or accept it. If DHS accepts the protest, then the hearing follows which seeks remedies (Newell, 2005, p. 200).

References
Newell, M. (2005). Preparing for the project management professional (PMP) certification exam. New York ; Toronto: Amacom.
Salamon, L., & Elliott, O. (2002). The tools of government: A guide to the new governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

CONTRACTING PROCESS IN THE GOVERNMENT 4

Running Head: CONTRACTING PROCESS IN THE GOVERNMENT 1

Approval

A memo plays a very significant role in any proposal. This is because it creates a platform that allows the reader to understand some of the main arguments and how they are presented in the proposal (Coley 21). The first headline after the memo is the “Purpose of the proposal”. This headline enlightens the reader about the intended rationale for the proposal. This headline also effectively outlines the current problem at hand and enables the reader to understand the key objectives the proposal aims to achieve. The proposal presents the problem been addressed under this heading and states the importance of the problem.

The heading is comprehensible and straight to the point. Under this headline, foreign students at the University of Colorado Denver are not properly prepared for the accelerated speed of college English classes. As a result, it holds back international students both in their education and in social growth.
In any proposal, headlines are key in ensuring the reader remains captivated and interested throughout the text (Geever 54). The next headline is the “Target Population Affected”. This heading aims at identifying the intended audience for the proposal who is Pambos Polycarpou, the President of the Spring International Language Center. Other target audience includes the UC Denver’s instructors and faculty. The headline is clear, as well as, easily understandable.

This ensures that it is captivating and keeps the reader interested. “The Current Situation” is the third headline and aims at offering information about ways in which students can take up college classes. The headline effectively captures the reader’s attention and shows the authors of the proposal understand all the intricacies associated with the current problem. The fourth headline “the problem with the current program for international students” presents some of the real problems that students face everyday. The headline is self-explanatory; however, it is very wordy and risks losing the interest of the reader. The words in the heading may be reduced to come up with something close to this: “factors affecting the current program”.

The fifth headline “our proposed plan of action” plays a significant role in making the problem known. This headline shows that the proposal is about to offer solutions to the stated problem by designing a strategic plan of action. The headline is very clear and lets the reader know that the proposal will offer strategies and suggestions to solve the problems. The headline may be supported by sub-headings such as the steps for the proposed plan of action and a subheading describing how such steps will offer solutions to the current problem. The headline “cost of new program and benefits” tells the reader that the proposal is about to break down the anticipated spending for the project. This is one of the most important headings and demonstrates the practicality of the project. In most cases, finances may be a major constraint in implementing a proposal. Therefore, the heading should be very clear and comprehensible to keep the reader interested.

“Background of proposal writers” is a headline that informs the reader about the authors behind the proposal. In this proposal, the above headline will enable the reader to understand the international students particularly those that have already graduated from ESL school and are among the group. The proposal writers will be expected to know the main cause of the issue at hand and numerous interviews will be conducted to support the writer’s argument. The final headline “final thoughts and recap of purpose” assists the reader in reinforcing some of the significance of the proposal. The headline also helps in re-addressing the reader by restating the problem, the importance of the proposal, as well as, outlining the solutions to the problem the second time.

Works cited
Coley, Soraya. Proposal Writing. New York: Knopf Publishers, 2000.
Geever, Jane. The foundation Center Centeres guide to proposal writing. Boston: Havard
UNiversity Press, 2004.

Surname 4

 

Microbial removal of cyanide: Project proposal

1.0 Introduction
Cyanide is the most effective chemical that is used in the precipitation of metals mined in the ore. The procedure for collecting ore and harvesting the desired mineral involves first collection of the ore, which is then crushed and then leached with chemical to make it ready for use. Although the hydrometallurgical chemical leaching is the most cost effective and efficient process of lixiviation of gold as the cyanide easily breaks through and ionize the rock, it is accompanied by numerous problems. The waste water coming from the hydrometallurgical process still has traces of the dissolved cyanide even after some of it is removed for cycling. This It has the effect of converting the dissolved toxic cyanide to the less harmful salts through precipitation Hedley & Tabachnick, 2005).

1.1Effect of cyanide to humans
Matsumura, Mitsuo, Kojima & Toshinori (2003) argue that these processes need to be improved because cyanide is very dangerous and affects all the body tissues. Toxicity is caused in the enzymes as a result of the inactivation of the cytochrome oxidase in the process uncoupling mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and inhibition of cellular respiration. Even in the availability of adequate oxygen, the cellular metabolism changes from the aerobic to anaerobic resulting in the production of lactic acid and prevention of the production of ATP (Ingles & Scott, 2009).

Due to the effects of the post mining contamination, a number of companies use the chemical process to remove the cyanide from the environment so that it does not pose any serious threat to the fauna and flora in the vicinity. But the possibility of using organism to break down the cyanide to the level that is not harmful to the environment will not only reduce the cost of extraction of cyanide but will also ensure the safety. It is also very advantageous to the companies since the staff will not have to spend their time calculating the amount of chemicals required to removal of the cyanide control as is it currently used. The microbial degradation of cyanide is very simple and effective since it only require the introduction of the droplet of organic culture on the contaminated waste water. The organism will continue with the process of degrading the cyanide and converting them into elements that are not harmful (Dash et al, 2009).

2.0 Literature review
2.1 Cyanide use mining
The use of cyanide to extract gold form the ore is a very dangerous process that has very negative impact on the environment. This is one of the major problems associated with mining of some minerals like Gold. Even though the use of technology has made process reclamation and detoxification more easy and efficient, the topic is still the subject of much discussions and analysis due to its possibility to be very toxic and the disastrous affects it has on the environment. As a consequence, the biological treatment of the cyanide is increasingly being turned to by the mining companies. This is made possible by the fact that biological treatment is not only very well set and equally effective as the chemical process, but it is also commercially viable. The biological treatment of the cyanide follows a procedure that uses the microbial growth to alleviate the cyanide.

Cyanide that is found in the waste products from the industrial mining of the mineral like gold need to be alleviated not only coast effectively but also permanently as well. Many different types of the iron compounds are available naturally as white precipitates and are of no immediate harm to the environment. It is only when the cyanide is left in the isolation state being able to attach itself to the protons that it becomes a health hazard not only to plants but also to the animals around it.

2.2 Cyanide in the waste environment
It is an environmental requirement on the part of the mining companies to degrade cyanide in the post mining sites. But more often, elements of the residual cyanide is left dissolved on the soil in very high concentration that is harmful. This risk also spread through the waste water systems coming from the mining sites. According to Akcil, Ata, & Mudder, Terry (2003) the mining industry is still grappling with the threat of the cyanide leaking to the environment outside the mining area and causing risk to the environment. For instance, one company Orica Mining Company was recently fined about $430,000 for the accidental leakage that happened in its storm water drains that released the harmful cyanide outside the Gladstone facility (Mining Australia 2012).

2.3 The methods for removal of the cyanide in the industry
Basile & Jamel (2008) argue that the mostly used approaches for the removal of the cyanide from the waste water of mining are the chemical process and the physical process. The chemical process is also involves the process of acidification, metal addition and oxidation. The chemical consistency of the metal cyanide determines the complexity or the ease with which they are broken down. For instance, the free cyanide is the most easily broken and degradable while the iron cyanide is the most complex and difficult to degrade. The other metal cyanide ability to degrade falls in the between and follows the following order Nickel, Zinc, copper.

The biological treatment of cyanide involves introducing bacterial elements to the waste water .this has the effects of changing the free metal elements into ammonia and the bicarbonate (Young, 2004). There is a great need of an eco-friendly alternative for the detoxification and the removal for the cyanide metals form the waste of the mining. This is because the mining industry is currently facing very stringent regulations on the environment and the high cost of compliance going by the fact that the industry produces about 900 tons which require processing on a daily basis.

2.4 The Bioremediation
This is the technique of using the biological organism to extract the metal impurities form the land or waste water that was contaminated. The extraction of cyanide from the soil by microorganism is done by converting it to the elements that cannot harm the environment like ammonium (Mining Australia, 2012). Once the effective culture has been found that can be implemented on the mining site, the Bioremediation organism has the ability to expand its growth to the required level and as such it is self-sustaining process of continuously removing the cyanide. As a result this technique is cheap for the mining company to maintain.

2.4 The types of organism used in the Bioremediation
One advantage of using the Bioremediation methodology in removing the cyanide is that the use of organism is not limited. While many different types of algae, plants and fungi can degrade the cyanide element at different levels, it is the bacteria and fungi that are the most often used for detoxification of cyanide. The use of algae is also on the rise since they can be easily obtained and cultivate since they require less nutrients than fungi or even bacteria (Kwon, Woo, & Park, 2002).

2.4.1 Algae
According to Refsgaard, Kristina, Bjarnholt, Nanna, Møller, Lindberg, Saddik, Mohammed & Hansen, Christian (2010), numerous kinds of algae, comprising Arthropira maxima, are very important in the degradation of the cyanide since they are cheap and easy to manage. An alga is self-sufficient photosynthetic organism that can be both prokaryotic and eukaryotic. Algae are very robust organism that can grow in many different environments. In addition, the ability of the Algae to grow in alkaline solutions which is the environment created in the leaching of gold makes them useful for removal of potassium cyanide, calcium cyanide, sodium cyanide, and all the other compounds of the cyanide.

Longe & DeVries, (2004) claim that one disadvantage of the algae as an organism that is used in the metabolism of cyanide is the difficulty with which it acclimatizes to the industrial environments. This is because Algae require temperature range of between 16 degrees and 34 degrees Celsius. Addition, being a strict aerobe, algae species will require consisted light of about one tenth the intensity of sunlight.

In the industry use, algae has been proved experimentally to be 99% effective in the removal of cyanide in vitro and given its requirement for moist and dim light, it is very effective in removal of cyanide in the soil.
2.4.2 Fungi
Gurbuz, Fatma, Ciftci, Hasan, Akcil, Ata, & Karahan, Aynur (2004) argue that different types of fungi species can be classified into two main categories of molds and yeast. Although there are diverse as eukaryotes, all the different species of fungi are the same in the in the way they obtain their nutrients. The fungi are designed to decompose cyanide very efficiently in different types of environment even ones that are extremely salty. The strong cell wall and the external chitin filled membrane makes the fungi resistant to harsh environmental and climate conditions.
Aziz & Hoecker (2001) suggests that the fungi are useful in the degradation of cyanide because they do not require any special conditions to conducts its activities. Another advantage is that fungi nitriles are more active in the very high PH values than that of bacteria cyanide dehydrates. This is very critical for the high PH values of the waste water.

2.4.3 Bacterium
Bacterial species are very effective in degrading the cyanide into the elements that are less toxic to the environment. According to Kwon, Woo, & Park (2002) in the process of metabolism, cyanide provides nitrogen and carbon to the bacterium which converts it to carbonate and ammonia. As such the bacterium is very excellent in the process of degrading large amounts of cyanide. In addition, the se bacteria have the ability to tolerate high salt levels making them able to cyanide of concentration of 30mM and alkaline of 10 ph. Some of the bacterium that oxidizes cyanide includes the Actinomyces, Alcaligenes, Arthrobacter, Microccus, paracoccus and thiobaicillus (Young, 2004).

3.0 Research objectives
To determine the best methods of degrading the cyanide using the bioremediation
To use the genetically modified algal and bacterial organism species that is made through the microbial transformation to cultivate organism for degradation of cyanide found in the waste water
To use the two step biological treatment instead of the one step in order to effectively degrade the dangerous cyanide into the environment as safe and friendly wastes products.

Research questions
What is the best method of degrading cyanide?
Is the use of genetically modified organisms effective in degrading cyanide in the waste water?
4.0 Research hypothesis
This research is will be successful under the following assumptions
The control sample , which is the waste water without additional organism will not be very successful with the cyanide degradation
The microbiological extraction of the cyanide will be more environmentally friendly although the application of the organism for biodegrading will be more time consuming than the one for chemical use.

The microbial degradation of cyanide will be very practical and efficient on a large industrial scale just like in the laboratory
The microbial degradation of the cyanide will be on the overall more effective that the use of chemicals as it has been used in leaching in industrial mining.
5.0 Research design
This research shall make use of the Human Health and Environmental Risk Assessment Method to investigate the bioremediation of cyanide or the biological removal of cyanide. This is both a qualitative and quantitative method of characterizing and measuring the nature and the amount of risks not only to the public health but also the risk to safety and the environment that is caused by the exposure to pollutants, hazardous substances and other forms of contaminations (Matsumura, Mitsuo, & Kojima, Toshinori, 2003).

5.1 Human Health Risk Assessment methods
In undertaking this study, the research design will make use of the Human Health Risk Assessment Method (Aziz & Hoecker, 2001). This will involve the analysis of the following:
History of the cite contaminated by Cyanide
Observation of the collected contaminated water
Evaluation of data and identification of the chemicals that pose potential harm
Assessment of the exposure level of the waste water
Assessment of the toxicity levels
Characterization of Risk and analysis of all the uncertainties
Calculation of the microbiological remediation goals for all the chemicals based on the risk assessment and taking consideration the assumptions
5.2 Quantitative techniques of the distributional analysis

In assessing all the risks using the quantitative technique, uncertainty analysis shall be used in this study. This will involve:
Parameter uncertainty analysis – which will be used to provide the rational for the distribution of all the parameter used for inputs.
5.3 Environment Risk Assessment Method
5.3.1 Fish and aquatic Life
This study will first identify all the rare species and other species that are endangered or threatened in the site perimeter radius.
In cases where there is release of water to the surface, the impact of the site on the aquatic life will be done using the methods like the benthic organism studies, toxicity testing and assessment of the tissue concentration of chemicals using the octanol or water partition that has coefficient values more than 3.5.

5.3.2 Terrestrial Ecological Assessment
This will involve identifying of the rare species that can be proposed or even listed as threatened by the cyanide.
Further test may be conducted like the soil toxicity testing, ecological effects assessment if the contamination form site further affects the public land like forest and national parks.
6.0 Project schedule and expenditure
This research will make use of the laboratory conditions and the normal waste water from the mining to test the effectiveness of the cyanide degradation using the bioremediation.to this end the laboratory will involve the use of genetically modified organism.
Appropriate environmental condition will take care of
Temperature and appropriate PH
Salt concentration
Sun exposure and pressure
Oxygen in the air

6.1 Materials
Algae
Bacteria
Mixed colony
Addictive’s that will be used to control
6.2People
The project will need qualified microbiologist technician
Equipment
Equipped microbiology and genetics laboratory apparatus
4 Bioreactors
6.3 Project schedule
The project will take a couple of months to incubate the organism before they are place on the waste water for observation of the results.

7.0 Conclusion
Although the current system used by the mining industry is functioning well, the industry still faces huge regulations that are sometimes prohibitive. As such, the use of bioremediation process in which microorganism decontaminates the cyanide in waste water is a more ecofriendly solution (Grosse, 2004).

This will not only save the company’s money but the company will be able to save time that was initially used to calculate the titration of chemicals to be used. The use of microbial organism in the degradation of the cyanide is very effective. Though the initial cost of introducing the microorganism is expensive, the cost of maintains in terms of labor and management makes it to cheaper in the longer period of time.
To be effective, the microbiology organism will have to be genetically modifies to tolerate the harsh environments and also effectively metabolize cyanide.

References
Akcil, A., Karahan, A. G., Ciftci, H., & Sagdic, O., (2003). Biological treatment of cyanide by natural isolated bacteria (Pseudomonas sp.) Minerals Engineering, 16 (7), 643-649. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0892-6875 (03)00101-8
Akcil, Ata, & Mudder, Terry. (2003). Microbial destruction of cyanide wastes in gold mining: process review. Biotechnology Letters, 25(6), 445-450. Doi: 10.1023/a: 1022608213814
Amankwah, R., & Ofori-Sarpong, G. (2011). Microwave heating of gold ores for enhanced grind ability and cyanide amenability. Minerals Engineering, 24(6), 541-544. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2010.12.002
Aziz M., & Hoecker, W., (2001) Cyanide Losses under CIP Conditions and Effect of Carbon on Cyanide Oxidation, In: Proc. Int. Hydromet. Conf., Beijing, China.
Basile, Lacy & Jamel, K., (2008).Cyanide-Degrading Enzymes for Bioremediation (Master of Science), Texas A&M University. Retrieved from
Dash, Rajesh Roshan, Gaur, Abhinav, Balomajumder & Chandrajit. (2009). Cyanide in industrial wastewaters and its removal: A review on biotreatment. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 163(1), 1-11. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.06.051
Grosse T., (2004) Treatment Technology Evaluation for Aqueous Metal and Cyanide Bearing Hazardous Waste, J. Air Waste Manage. Assoc., 715-800.
Gurbuz, Fatma, Ciftci, Hasan, Akcil, Ata, & Karahan, Aynur Gul. (2004). Microbial de-toxification of cyanide solutions: a new biotechnological approach using algae. Hy- drometallurgy, 72(1–2), 167-176. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.hydromet.2003.10.004
Hedley, J., & Tabachnick, T., (2005) Chemistry of Cyanidation, American Cyanamid Co., New York, NY.
http://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/86035/Basile.pdf?sequence=1
Hyouk K., Woo, S., Park, J., (2002). Dehredation of tetracyanonickelate (II) by Cryptococcus humicolus MCN2. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 214, 211-216.
Ingles, G., & Scott, P., (2009) Overview of Cyanide Treatment Methods, Cyanide in Gold Mining Seminar, Ontario, Canada,
Longe k., & DeVries, (2004) Some Recent Considerations on the Natural Disappearance of Cyanide, In: Proc.Econ. and Practice of Heap Leaching in Gold Mining, Cairns, Australia, pp. 67-70.17.
Matsumura, Mitsuo, & Kojima, Toshinori, T., (2003). Elution and decomposition of cyanide in soil contaminated with various cyan compounds. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 97(1– 3), 99-110. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3894 (02)00248-0
Mining Australia. (2012). Orica hit with fine following Gladstone Incident. Retrieved 11th of April, 2013, from http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/orica-hit-with-fine- following-gladstone-incident
Refsgaard, Kristina, Bjarnholt, Nanna, Møller, Birger Lindberg, Saddik, Mohammed, Hansen & Christian. (2010). Dissipation of cyanogenic glucosides and cyanide in soil amended with white clover (Trifolium repens L.). Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 42(7), 1108-1113. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.03.008
Young R., (2004) Cyanide Remediation: Current and Past Technologies. http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/Cyanide/upload/CN_remediation_young.pdf

MICROBIAL REMOVAL OF CYANIDE 3

Running head MICROBIAL REMOVAL OF CYANIDE 1

 

Three Gorges Dam

 

Introduction
The three gorges dam project (TGP) in China, constructed on River Yangtze, is the world’s biggest and most complex hydroelectric power project. The project had been earmarked as fundamental for the development and improvement of the monstrous river. When peak power generation capacity is attained, the dam will be capable of generating about 22500 MW. This will make it by far the largest hydroelectric power generating projects in the world. To put this into perspective, let’s compare it to other iconic dam projects. America’s Grand Coulee project boasts a generating capacity of 6809 MW, less than a third of the generating capacity of the three gorges dam. The Hoover dam generates ‘only’ 2080 MW (less than 1/11 of TGP) at full capacity. This simply demonstrates the immensity of the TGP. This paper briefly discusses the project before outlining a terse SWOT analysis of the project. It will then at great length examine the public policy issues associated with this dam project (Hsu, 2011, p. 2).

The Three Gorges Project

For over one hundred years, China had always dreamt of building the three gorges dam. After about a half of a century of research and investigations, and the inevitable arguments that ensued, and after more than seventeen years of actual construction, the country’s dream has finally been realized. The three gorges dam is now fully operational and accounts for about 11% of China’s hydroelectric power needs. The whole dam is more than 3.3 km long and has a height of 185 m. By 2003, it had already attained the capacity to store water up to a height of 135 m. This storage height has been systematically increased over the years as construction was going on. To say that the dam is big is an understatement; its total area is about 58000 sq. kilometers, it covers twenty administration regions (counties), its reservoir is about 1080 sq. kilometers and has a total storage capacity of about 40 billion cubic meters (Boe-Jie et al., 2010, p. 2). Due to its large size and complexity, a lot of money was invested (about $ 50 billion in total). In addition, more than a million people were displaced (The Economic Times, 2012, para. 1- 2).
SWOT Analysis
Strengths

The Three gorges dam project is the biggest in the world. This simply means that its generation capacity is unrivalled. As a result, its addition of 22.5 MW to China’s national hydroelectric power consumption grid is welcome. This high generation capacity relieves the country of electricity pressure that was only increasing due to the country’s rapid industrialization. It will also reduce the country’s reliance on coal (which is not environmentally friendly) for power production. Its importance to China is demonstrated by the fact that it now accounts for 11% of the total hydropower needs (www.travelchinaguide.com, n.d., para.4).

Another factor that makes the dam project strong is that it makes the previously unreliable Yangtze River navigable. Before the project began, the Yangtze River was broad at some sections before narrowing and eventually become winding. There were many waterfalls on its course. This simply meant that navigating through it was challenging and extremely dangerous (Hsu, 2011, p. 2). The dam project, however, has addressed this issue. The water way conditions, especially from the cities of Yichang and Chogqing, have been greatly improved. The Gezhouba Water Control Project will ensure that the water levels are ideal for navigation even during the dry seasons. It is expected that ships that weigh up to ten thousand tons will be able to sail from Chongqing to Shanghai through Hankou. This will be a massive boost to the country’s transport as it will reduce the reliance on road transport (thus reducing the traffic jams and rapid dilapidation of roads). It will also make transporting wide and very heavy cargo easier (www.travelchinaguide.com, n.d., para.6).

For a long time, the people living around the Yangtze River had been experiencing floods almost on an annual basis. These floods not only interrupted their lifestyles but they also swept and destroyed their properties. There were also many deaths caused due to the flooding (it is believed that about 1 million have been killed by the floods). This simply means that the river was a blessing to the community as much as it was also a curse. The Three Gorges dam was built in part to combat this flooding. There have been numerous dams constructed to control the waters of the river. Therefore, even if there is a heavy downpour, there is a higher chance that the river will not burst its banks as the dams will hold the excess waters.

This will prevent the destruction of property and the humanitarian crises associated with the floods. The fact that some of the people living around the river have been relocated means that the occurrence of deaths caused by the floods will be limited. The expected ability of the dam project to combat floods will give it a unique appeal since there will be no property destruction, no loss of lives and no humanitarian crises brought about the river’s flooding. This ability will make the project popular in the long run (www.mtholyoke.edu, n.d., para. 1).

Weaknesses
The very large size of the Three gorges dam is also its weakness. This is because many people were displaced as a result of its construction. It is estimated that about 1.3 million people had to be moved (almost forcefully) for it to be successfully constructed. This forceful displacement of people did not go down well with these people. There are some critics who argue that this removal contravened the people’s human rights. Apart from the displacement of the people, about 1350 villages, 140 towns and 13 towns were submerged so that the project could be constructed (Ponseti & Pujol, 2006, p. 21).

The environmental impact of the project has been profound. As the paper had mentioned, many cities were submerged as a result of the project’s construction. This suggests that many factories, waste dumps and mines were also submerged. This simply means that the Yangtze River had to soak up these wastes thereby contaminating it. This had detrimental effects on the aquatic plants and animals that depended on the river’s waters for their survival (Ponseti & Pujol, 2006, p. 21).

Opportunities
The Three Gorges dam has attained an iconic status due to its sheer size and power generation capacity. As a result, it is likely to be a major tourist attraction not only for the local Chinese people but other internationals as well. This is bound to boost the country’s revenues as well as enable it enjoy some of the benefits of tourism (such as foreign currency exchange, improved international relations, cultural exchange and improved country image). Therefore, apart from just generating power for industries and businesses, the dam project will also directly earn the government some additional revenues (www.travelchinaguide.com, n.d., para. 7).

Hydroelectric power (along with solar and wind power) is one of the cleanest energy sources in the world today. This simply means that it is very environmentally friendly and is popular with environmentalists. In the same breath, the project paves the way for reduced reliance on coal for power generation (coal has been blamed for polluting the environment and causing global warming). This is going to boost the country’s image that has often been distorted by allegations of poor environment policy implementation (www.travelchinaguide.com, n.d., para. 5).

Threats
Constructing and completing such a complex project was always going to cost a lot both in terms of funding and other resources. When construction began, it had been projected that the total construction and relocation costs would be about $ 22.5 billion. However, more than $ 50 billion was used after completion. This is more than double of what was projected. There have been suggestions that about $ 70 billion was invested in the dam. Comparing the projected figures to the actual construction costs, it can be argued that the country had not initially planned to spend so much on it.

In addition, so many people were displaced; many cities were submerged; many factories were consequently submerged; a lot of farm land was lost; many businesses had to close shop and many archeological sites were lost. It is perhaps not possible to quantify all these losses. However, it can be concluded that huge losses were incurred so that the project could be completed. This simply means that the Three Gorges project has to justify its construction by earning, or leading to, revenues that will far outweigh these costs in the shortest time (Hadley, n.d., para. 2).

The expectations may put a lot of pressure on the dam’s management to deliver results that are more than satisfactory, year in year out. This may perhaps lead to unnecessary managerial changes and increased pressure on the employees and the machines (that may lead to breakdowns) to perform. In the end, the dam may not maintain its capacity (Hadley, n.d, para. 3).

Public Policy Issues
What the Project Says about the Public Policy in China
Public policy can be described as a given state’s objectives regarding health, ethics and the general well being of its citizens. This simply means that the government, through a public agency, is responsible for ensuring that the needs and the general well being demands of the people are met. China had always mulled over the possibility of building the Three Gorges Dam for quite some time.

In fact, the construction had started a long time ago had China not gone into war with Japan. The exploring surveying, designing and training of engineers had already commenced and were only stopped as a result of the war. However, the quest for building the dam was always there even after the war. Therefore, the culmination of the construction and the recent completion was only a realization of a dream long held. In this regard, it can be argued that the construction was inevitable. However, public policy issues arise not because of the construction but the impact of the construction: relocation of affected individuals. The manner with which the resettlement process was carried out suggests that the public policy in China is flawed (Hsu, 2011, p. 2).

To pave the way for the construction, many people had to be removed from the construction site and its environs and, as a consequence, they were to be given alternative land. The state had the obligation of ensuring that all those affected by construction are resettled. Public policy stipulates that the well being of the citizens cannot be undervalued whatsoever. Therefore, China had to ensure that all affected people had to be resettled and that their living standards are at least maintained. This was not the case (www.mtholyoke.edu, n.d., para. 5).

The government has made an effort to resettle most of the people that had to be removed from the project site. However, corruption in the local authorities has meant that some of the money set aside for the evictees has been pocketed by few greedy individuals. This has led to some people not getting their full resettlement package while some did not get at all. As a result, there are many people that have been rendered homeless.

During the relocation, about half a million peasant farmers were forced to move although many of them were offered insufficient resettlement compensation that could not cover new and proper housing costs. In the same breath, there have also been accusations that some of the farmers were relocated on slopes that cannot sustain farming. All these imply that the relocation was poorly planned and that the government did not make appropriate measures to ensure the well being of its citizens. In addition, there are some cases where people were resettled yet they were not provided with important social amenities such as schools, transport and communication facilities and leisure. All these imply that the resettlement program was not successful. China did not come up with a proper plan that could ensure that the people affected by the project are resettled, properly compensated and that their standard of living is improved. Therefore, its public policy is flawed (Heggelund, 2005, p. 1- 2).

Public Policy theories that best explain the Project
The development and implementation of the Three Gorges Project can best be explained by the policy process theory: a public issue is considered for a long time by a given government before it is passed via a decision agenda. This is because the project had been on the authorities’ agenda about seventy years before it was actually developed. For all those years, the areas around the Yangtze River were experiencing many episodes of flooding. There was also a strong desire by the authorities to increase the country’s electricity generation capacity due to the increasing demand.

The Three Gorges Dam project had long been viewed as providing an answer to the perennial floods and had the potential to generate a sizable quantity of electricity. Therefore, it can be argued that the project was much of a government agenda as much as it was a public agenda. Although the project had been on the pipeline for a considerably long time, it was only in 1993 that the congress resolved to immediately commence its construction. This resolution implied that the project had passed through the decision agenda stage. This was also the final step in the development and implementation of the project. The policy process theory cycle had thus been completed (www.reocities.com, n.d., para. 1).

The actual implementation of the project also closely resembles the principal agent theory which argues that a public project may bring about conflict of interests, the behavior of the implementation body may not be transparent, there are loopholes in the project (and thus malpractices) and that deception and cheating cannot be ruled out. To some extent, the Three Gorges dam project exhibits these characteristics. The government was intent on developing and implementing the project and thus disregarded the public’s concerns. This suggests that the government was more interested in the long term impact of the project while the public was interested in the short term impact (immediate relocation).

The legitimate immediate concerns of the people were not adequately addressed at the time. In addition, the whole project has never been scrutinized by the public. There have been allegations that the lack of transparency has led to some people pocketing funds that were meant for relocation. This is corruption. Therefore, people that have not been adequately compensated or those that have not been compensated altogether have been cheated. All these are characteristics of the principal agent theory (www.reocities.com, n.d., para. 10).

Public Participation
One of the complaints that have arisen as a result of the construction of the project has been the limited participation of the public especially when it comes to policy making. Public participation was inadequate. For instance, the resolution to begin construction was passed by only two thirds of the country’s National People’s Congress. Since a majority of the members of the congress were always compliant, this low approval rate indicated that the project was not widely supported. This resolution was passed by the lowest ever margin in the country’s history. The public was never involved at this stage. This simply means that the project commenced not as public’s majority initiative but as a government initiative. The public should have at least been called upon by the state to make a decision whether they supported the construction of the dam or not. Public participation at crucial this stage was lacking. Some people who tried to raise their voices were frustrated by the state. The most recognizable person who tried to challenge the project was Dai Qing (Human Rights Watch, 1995, p. 1).

In 1986, Qing surveyed many people to get their opinion about the proposed project. She then used their views to write numerous newspaper articles concerning the project. However, the level of government control on the media meant that her articles could not be printed by the recognized newspaper houses. She was none the less determined to print hers, and the public’s, opinions. Her determination bore fruit when she found an independent book publisher that was willing to put her works into print. When it was first printed, ‘Yangtze! Yangtze!’ did not elicit so much interest in the state. On the contrary, it received a lot of public attention that the government was forced to ban it within a year. In addition, Dai Qing was prohibited from attending all Three Gorges Dam related meetings. After some time, she was also prohibited from attending all state sponsored environment related meetings.

In 1989, she spent ten months in jail due to her continued opposition of the project. This case illustrates the government’s commitment to silence all those who raised their voices against the project. Therefore, it can be argued that the government denied the public the chance to participate in the policy making process. The public’s opinion was suppressed (Kennedy, 2001, para. 10).

The resettlement process was rolled out by the government but it was actually carried out by the local authorities. The affected people participation in this process was very limited. The management of the resettlement compensation funds was left to the administration (local county officials). The funds have never been scrutinized by the press, international bodies or the public. This has led to cases of corruption where the funds have been redirected to the pockets of the officials as opposed to the migrants.

As a result, many migrants received less compensation that what was allocated while some were left homeless after they were never compensated. In the same breath, a majority of the migrants have been relocated to places that they are not comfortable with. This clearly demonstrates that they were never consulted before being relocated. The relocation measures were passed by the administration without the input of the public. This has led to many people considering the whole process as being flawed. All these could have been avoided had the relocation process been publicly driven and inspected (Tan, 2004, p. 101).

Possible Improvements and Reforms: A Public policy Perspective
Since its inception, the Three Gorges project has been led by the government with most of the implementation being carried out by the local authorities and counties. However, public participation has almost been neglected in all facets concerning the program. As a result, although the program promises many benefits, it has yet to be fully accepted by the public. The input of the public before and during the designing, planning and construction of the project was vital. Most importantly, the resettlement process should have been driven by the affected persons. This author believes that reforms that increase the level of public participation in the project are necessary if the project is to gain universal public support. The project cannot succeed if the public support is lacking (Innes & Booher, 2000, p. 1- 10).

The measures to govern the relocation process were established by the authorities. The input of the public in coming up with these measures was perhaps never considered. As a consequence, many people have been relocated to places that they never wanted in the first place. Moreover, the amount of compensation that the migrants had to receive was rigid. Therefore, many of them were left worse off after relocation than they were before the relocation. This paper believes that public initiative reforms have to be constituted that will make the Three Gorges Dam project universally accepted by the public. These reforms should address the relocation issues that have already been discussed in this paper. For instance, the current relocation procedures have to be scrapped to pave the way for publicly driven procedures.

The state should let the migrants decide where they want to be resettled. Additionally, the policy of awarding a rigid compensation figure of $ 4000 should also be scrapped. This is because the economic circumstances differ from place to place (such as from rural areas to urban areas). The amount of compensation should be given only after the economic realities of a particular place have been analyzed. A successful relocation process will improve the image of China and the dam project as well as ensuring that the affected people resume their normal lives as quickly as possible (Innes & Booher, 2000, p. 12).

At the moment, the project has yet to be comprehensively scrutinized by the press and international bodies. This is because the state has always been protective. This has been counterproductive since some officials have seen this as an opportunity to engage in corruption as they will not be reported by the independent press. As a result, a lot of funds that were meant for the project were directed elsewhere. Reforms should be constituted that will subject the project to extensive auditing and scrutiny so that all malpractices are found and investigated. In this way, funds meant for the project will not be misappropriated. Therefore, accusations that some substandard materials are being used in construction will be allayed.

External auditing and scrutiny will improve the project since they will reduce instances of corruption and possible construction malpractices. This will ensure that the money meant for relocation will actually be spent on relocation while at the same time improve the functioning of the project. A transparent relocation and management of the project will make the project better acceptable (The Economic Times, 2012, para. 4).

Public Policy Approaches
The Chinese government has to open up the political space and guarantee freedom of expression to all people. This is the only way that the public will fully participate in ensuring that the project is a success. The experiences of Dai Qing (censoring of her writings and imprisonment without trial) suggest that the country has yet to implement freedom of expression. There are three farmers who tried to report corruption during the resettlement process but were ironically jailed for disturbing the process. When the international press took up the matter, the farmers were subsequently accused of maintaining outlawed relationships with outsiders. All these suggest that the government does not tolerate public condemnation or anyone questioning its practices.

This should not be the case however. This is because Qing and the farmers were raising legitimate public concerns associated with the project. The government has to let its people freely express their opinions and views as stipulated in international customary law. The guarantee that they will not be jailed for expressing their concerns will make them feel free to expose their displeasure with some aspects of the project. In the same breath, such a move will mean that the public will be involved in policy making regarding the project (Chetham, 2002, p. 42).

The government should also come up with a program that will help the migrants settle better in their new places. There have been migrants (mostly farmers) who have refused to settle in their new places since they are relatively less fertile than their original places. Such migrants have feared that they will be drawn into poverty since they cannot maintain the level of production they had been accustomed to. In such cases, the government should come up with a program that will aid the migrants maintain a decent livelihood in their new places. For farmers, they have to be provided with seeds, fertilizers, the farming tools, irrigation facilities and the necessary farming assistance so that they can improve their productivity even in their new places.

Migrants that lost their jobs due to relocation have to be given alternative jobs. Moreover, the program has to come up with strategies that will encourage the recipient community to accept the migrants. This program is simply meant to ensure that the migrants’ living conditions are at least maintained. At its current state, the resettlement process is only giving out compensation monies and there is no follow up program. This paper believes that this follow up program is very important and is vital for the success of the relocation process and thus the overall success of the Three Gorges dam project (Heggelund, 2005, p. 1- 2).

Conclusion
The Three Gorges dam project has received a lot of criticism ever since it was mooted more than two decades ago. This was perhaps out of fear that its construction may have many destruction consequences due to its sheer size. As it was feared, many people had to be relocated and some cities, factories, villages as well as archeological sites had to be submerged by the dam. However, the long term benefits of the project are many; flood effects prevention, hydroelectric power generation of unrivalled capacity, reduced dependence on dirty coal and the creation of numerous jobs for the surrounding community. The relocation process has so far been, for lack of a better word, haphazard.

This is because the people to be moved have not yet been actively involved or consulted before relocation. This has led to many of them being taken to places they cannot cope with. Some of them have even defiantly decided to return to their original places. This indicates that they were never consulted before relocation. The state has to address these resettlement issues if the Three Gorges project is to gain universal appeal.

References

Boe-Jie, F., Bing-Fang, W., Yi-He, L., Zhi-Hong, X., Jing-Hua, C., Dong, N., & Yue-Min, Z. (2010). Three Gorges Project: Efforts and Challenges to the Environment. Progress in Physical Geography, 34 (6), 741-754

Chetham, D. (2002). Before the Deluge: The Vanishing World of the Yangtze’s Three
Gorges. United States of America: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hadley, P. N. (n.d.). “The Three Gorges Dam.” Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.discoveryangtze.com/yangtzediscovery/three_gorges_dam.htm
Heggelund, G. (2005). “Running into Dead Ends: Challenges in Researching the Three Gorges Dam”. China Environment Series Vol 7, 2005, pp. 79-83.
Hsu, J. (2011). A Huge Achievement- The Many Aspects of the Three Gorges Dam. Chinese American Forum, 27 (1), p. 14.

Human Rights Watch/Asia. (1995). The Three Gorges Dam in China: Forced Resettlement,
Suppression of Dissent, and Labor Rights Concerns. New York: Human Rights
Publishing.
Innes, J. E. & Booher, D. E.(2000). “Public Participation in Planning: New Strategies for the 21st Century.” UC Berkeley: Institute of Urban and Regional Development.
Kennedy, B. (2001). “China’s Three Gorges Dam: China’s biggest construction project since
the Great Wall generates controversy at home and abroad.” CNN. Retrieved July 9, 2012 http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/asian.superpower/three.gorges/
Ponseti, M. & Pujol, J. L. (2006). “The Three Gorges Dam Project in China: history and
consequences”. ORIENTSTATS Revista HMiC, número IV, 2006
Tan, Y. (2008). Resettlement in the Three Gorges Project. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
The Economic Times (2012 July 5). “World’s biggest hydropower plant Three Gorges complete”. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-07-05/news/32551696_1_hydropower-three-gorges-dam-yangtze-river

www.mtholyoke.com. (n.d.). “China’s Three Gorges Dam.” Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~vanti20m/classweb/website/socialconsequences.html
www.reocities.com. (n.d.). “Theoretical Models of Public Policymaking”. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.reocities.com/athens/2400/pptheory.html
www.travelchinaguide.com. (n.d.). “Benefits from Three Gorges Project, Yangtze River, Yichang Hubei” (n.d.).TravelChinaGuide. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/hubei/yichang/three-gorges-dam-project.htm

Three Gorges Dam 16

 

Environmental Studies and Forestry

 

Building a Shopping Mall in a Highly Populated Rural Area
Establishing a shopping mall in a highly populated rural area is perceived as the action and initiative taken in order to enhance the living standards of communities in such areas. This is because such areas are normally characterized by a low ration of the inhabitants, while economic activities relate mainly to the production of food and raw material (Dale, 2011). Therefore, by building a shopping mall in such areas, the rural people will be enabled to have full control of their destiny, thus handling the rural poverty effectively through the optimal use and management of natural resources.

Therefore, in order to improve the lives of the rural people, a shopping mall is proposed to be established in a highly populated area.
Purpose and Need
The purpose of carrying out this project is to improve the living standards of the local residents through establishing of a relevant facility that will ensure that the local residents obtain or have access to goods and services as well as employment opportunities. In addition, the project proposes to limit the process of traveling in search for goods and services and also reduce pollution in the area.

Objectives
The project has various objectives it intends to achieve during and after its completion. For instance, it intends to supply employment opportunities during its construction period, provide jobs as a result of the project, provide local residents with access to commercial businesses otherwise not available, and to contribute to local economy through spending stimulus.

Scoping
The proposed action or the project is to build a shopping mall in a highly populated rural area. This is a project designed to ensure constant enhancements in the lives of rural residents as well as rural economies. This is because rural development projects are operational and with sustainable impact if enacted in combination with community based customary familiarity. Thus, community involvement is critical for fruitful and suitable rural expansion.

Therefore, building of the shopping mall intends to benefit the community in various ways including creating job opportunities among others. For this project to be successful, building contractors and local government and federal guidelines from said governments should apply for and legalize permits. In the process of building this shopping mall, it is essential that the natural preserve is kept intact while providing advanced travel conditions and commerce to the area. Conserving the natural wealth means using and handling these resources in an ecologically (Sadar, 2006).

As far as preservation of environment is concerned, it attempts to uphold the current condition areas of the nature or Earth, which are not yet affected by humans. It is true that by preserving natural environment can lead to a healthy setting for individuals to live in together with the improved lifestyles through the construction of the shopping mall. This project intends to take six month for the research period. This will enable the research team to have efficient time for collecting relevant data before implementing the project.

The research team will have to determine the relevant research methods that will be appropriate to collect information from the community. In addition, background information will be collected and these will include the needs of the people in the rural areas, the demographic information will also be vital, and demand of the goods and services.

The project will also involve scoping element that is vital in environmental impact assessment, which is an important regulatory requirement. For instance, scoping includes decisions regarding what is likely to be substantial impacts of a certain policy, action or project. By including, scoping process in this project will limit on the information to be collected and analyzed in an environmental assessment and thus assist in concentrating on the approach to be taken. Accordingly, there is a need to consider about three alternatives ion building a shopping mall in the rural area. The local politician and civic officials will be gathered in order to assess the project and agreements of acceptable environmental impact.

Alternatives
No build alternative
The scoping plan of this project considers three no build alternatives and these encompasses partial build alternative, which involves modifying the extent of land that is essential for building the mall. Furthermore, there will be a need to modify the quantity of stores required or lowest amount of retail store in order to limit the quantity of environmental impact. Another building alternative involves constructing only small stores and maintain larger retail outlets available only for internet ordering. By developing small stores will enable the local people with low income to attain the stores in order to set up their businesses.

This is because the prices of such small stores are likely to be affordable and have a variety of goods and services demanded by the community as a whole. On the other hand, maintaining larger retails only for internet ordering helps in improving the community in terms of technology. The project will also have a place away from the chosen Mall site that is only for large retail pickup so that construction is at a minimum in the area in question. The third no build alternative includes permitting only pickup arras for stock, and allow for part of a nature preserve to be seen by a community at a particular price. The money charged on people for viewing the nature preserve should be taken back to the community in order to help the community develop itself in other areas including creating more schools that could accommodate the large numbers of its population. This is the intention of the project in this highly populated area improving the lifestyles of people in all areas of their lives.

Affected environment
Land use
Land use is the long lasting enhancement or conservation of a location and the development of an association between the local intentions and local aims. The main tool for present land use includes the development of zones that divide the chosen area into regions, which are subject to particular regulations. This is because in most cases, zones take up the potential uses including residential, commercial, infrastructure including transport, and open space. Thus, a detailed regulation provides guidance on how each zone can be effectively utilized.

Therefore, in this case, the construction of a shopping mall will lead to various impacts both positive and negative (Westman, 2005). For instance, the construction will cause clearing of land to create space for the construction, interfering with the natural environment through the construction process and cause more traffic congestion because the road will have to be expanded to facilitate the movement. This is because the key highway of the site is a solitary path in each track. The project will also cause pollution especially the air and noise pollution in the construction site. As it is in most cases, construction process always produces a lot of dust and noise. On the other hand, the building of the shopping mall in the highly populated area will come with positive land use impacts, which include the attraction of more tourists in the area who as a result lead to increased foreign exchange within the community.

In addition, extra money will be used in local economy thus improving the living standards in various ways. The construction also intends to divert ways of traffic because of the road expansion in both directions to and from the intended site. There will be reduced pollution because the project will have to follow the right procedure that after following the guidelines provided by the environmental impact assessment officials. The future for the construction site or area is great because the area will have great opportunities especially for businesses from the local people. The nature preserve area will be enhanced even more in order to attract more tourists. This will be achieved by using the fees that will be charged by those coming to view the scene. In addition, the local population will be motivated to set up their own businesses by supporting them financially, thus developing the economic status of the community as a whole. Other secondary factors include cumulative impacts, which involve creating employment opportunities for the local individuals within the area.

Social and Neighborhood Factors
The scope of the assessment and of the analysis of potential neighborhood impacts differs greatly depending on the physical characteristics of the proposed project. Therefore, this project will identify developed zones in order to assess the demands and needs of people in such zones so that the project may base on it. The future of the area is bound to develop with or without the construction of the mall because with the current advancement in technologies, communities try their best to improve themselves despite the high population. The construction of the mall is intended to increase and improve the living standards of people in the community in various ways. For instance, people will have the opportunity to access community services such as schools, religious facilities, emergency service facilities, as well as cultural and recreational facilities within the community because of the improved roads and availability of various goods and services.

Traffic and Transportation
In most cases, some particular types of proposed projects can have effects on travel patterns, traffic quantity and flow, pedestrian access, as well as bicycle travel. Therefore, it is important that such issues are extremely assessed to avoid any future problems to the community ((Fischer, 2007). Trying to solve the conundrum of traffic and development has been largely due to the population explosion many cities have seen within the past several decades. The more people living in an area, the more people are commuting within that area and beyond. This generates complications for indigenous, government, and central designers and organizers. It is thus vital that issues such as population density, diversity of land uses, and design of the neighborhood, destination accessibility, and distance to transit are put into consideration. However, this criteria may not affect the project so much because there is enough plan in place to help avoid causing traffic congestions during and after the mall construction.

Geology and Soils
Carrying out assessment of probable impacts associated to geology and soils is substantially interconnected to other areas of impact assessment process. This project is most likely to cause an impact to the geology or soil of the chosen site through changing to physical or chemical changes in the characteristics of the actual geology or soil. For instance, this project is most likely to cause erosion of the landscape as a result of excavating the soil during the time of laying the foundation for the mall. In addition, the project may affect negatively the agricultural practices around the site in terms of pollution the project will cause.

It affects agricultural practices by leading to acid rain, which is very hazardous to the crops. Therefore, in order to avoid experiencing such issues, it is vital that the project seeks the relevant standard regarding air pollution to determine how it can succeed in its plans without causing environmental issues especially on geology and soil (Marriott, 1997). This will be achieved by seeking the help of environmental impact assessment programs in order to determine whether to proceed with the project or develop an alternative plan that is not dangerous to the environment.

In conclusion, currently, green construction as a new program is growing as the environmental impact of construction becomes more obvious in order to reduce the impact at the source. This program aims at developing healthier and more resource effectual approaches for construction, renovation, preservation, and destruction. The green construction program handles issues concerning energy use, water use, building materials, as well as the indoor environment. It is obvious that the reason for any EIS/EA is to find the common ground between environmental protection and progress in the industry. It is utterly compulsory to have a Notice of Intent (NOI) and then the scoping process to occur.

In this instance, it is significant to look at the magnitude of the said project in acres to begin. It is also vital to observe all obtainable and potential alternatives for the project. In this case, maybe a smaller mall, with large retail pickup/drop-off sites to conciliate the superior share of the rural community is the answer. Maybe the no build alternative will prove to be the best considering the proposal is located in an attainment area, and there is a nature preserve to contemplate.

It is vital for meetings to take place, and for the residents of this rural community to be informed, and be able to positively contribute to the actual process. During the process, the following aspects must be considered: land-use and development, social and neighborhood effects, economic factors, traffic and transportation, energy, air quality, noise, geology and soils, water resources, wetlands, and vegetation and wildlife. Once all aspects are covered, there one should be able to recommend the best possible situation for progress and the environment.

References
Dale, L. (2011). Environmental Policy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.
Fischer, T. B. (2007). Theory and Practice of Strategic Environmental Assessment. London: Earthscan.
Marriott, Betty B.(1997). Environmental Impact Assessment: A Practical Guide. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Sadar, M. (2006). Environmental Impact Assessment. 2nd edition. Boston.CA: Carleton University Press.
Westman, W. E. (2005). Ecology, Impact Assessment and Environmental Planning. New York,NY: Wiley.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND FORESTRY 2

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND FORESTRY 1

 

Project Management

Introduction
The catalogue half a dozen software development frameworks involves the following elements; people, skills, roles, tools, team, techniques, activities, processes, milestones, standards, work products, quality measures and team values. Standards assisted in drawing as well as selecting programming languages. Team values on the other hand determined goals and objectives the team aimed to achieve. The processes under well-guided steps, cultural values and diversity had to be achieved. Control elements included standards, activities, milestones, quality measures and deliverables among others. The project size refers to number of individuals allocated to work or/and manage the project. Project size should never match problem size. This fact is further supported by problem size lacking an absolute measure. Thus, the project management team separated problem size from project size (Alistair, 2000, p. 65).

Java Web frameworks in developing software require having a design philosophy. As a result, project team members agreed on referencing the project requirements with Java Web design philosophy and frameworks. There are five products utilized in developing a software catalogue in Java Web Frameworks. Webwork provided support in building reusable and repeatable UI software templates.

Struts a Java Servlet APU Model 2 provided a design pattern necessary in executing logics in server pages. Conversely, Beehive framework has an integrated metadata-driven program model. These two frameworks assisted linking resources and web applications through software Page Flow and Controls. Stripes have zero external configurations per Page Action. It was utilized in building software able to support multiple events, wizard forms as well as uploading transparent files. Lastly, wicket framework provides simplicity and ease in developing software. WYSIWYG HTML design tools within this framework were applied in the software design in order to enable dynamic content processing. However, the framework needs to be backed with POJO data beans. Thus, the five Java Web frameworks enabled development of high quality software sustainable even in crowded spaces (Tony & Winnie, 2006, p. 3).

The following principles were involved in selecting and designing the catalogue half a dozen software development frameworks project. The first principle required large groups to work under several elements. These elements included roles, standards, work products and reviews among others in order to coordinate the people working on the project. Therefore, project size was determined by the number of roles rather than people employed and hired. The second principle was applied to detect defects and damages. Thus, it assisted in creating a critical system easy to construct and correct because, people working on the project needed comfortable systems (Alistair, 2000, p. 65).

The system corporate programs and infrastructures had to ensure system does not fail resulting to losses both monetary and non-monetary. Money and valuables lost due to system failure, defects and damages can result to an uncompleted project; hence, bankruptcy and loss of people. The third principle determined project costs. A properly managed project requires coordinated developments without incurring consultation, testing or time consuming fees. Thus, this principle assisted in coordinating deliverable and activities elements under controlled expenses. Problem sizes in a project require a certain number of people to solve them. The project ensured a few individuals highly skilled and qualified worked on emerging problems thus, improved productivity in the entire project. Project manager believed solving a single problem by employing many people would result to lack or challenged coordination of the activities and elements (Alistair, 2000, p. 66).

The fourth and last guiding principle ensured the project utilized the most effective and efficient communication skills. In order to develop software easily, all people involved had to keep contact through flexible and frequent consultations. This reduced development costs as all types of communications were properly arranged; hence, effective and efficient among participating individuals. The project utilized face-to-face conversations, voice inflections, phone calls, video tapes, written reports, real time questionnaires and email chat sessions as the main modes of communication. The project manager put an emphasis on people working in small groups in order to encourage personal contacts mainly through intragroup discussions thus enhance productivity (Alistair, 2000, p. 67).

Besides working under guiding principles, the project manager utilized two major factors widely acknowledged in formulating peculiar project software designs by highlighting project priorities. Priorities include heeding to project sponsors wants, expectations and needs. Most sponsors desire a defect and damage free software that can be developed under clearly visible and transparent processes and recommendations. Thus, project management priorities were ‘OPEN’, which translated to an objective-oriented process in a suitable and sustainable environment and notation. Software development requires accuracy, progress visibility, repeatability, tolerance, predictability but more importantly program correctness, stable and adaptive software development (Alistair, 2000, p. 68).

Kent Beck stated all project management methodologies are mainly based on fears. He supported his statement by stating software development as a preventative process. Software and program developers, therefore, are always in constant fear as they prevent making coding errors. They also fear software designers might abandon the process before it is fully completed. It was therefore crucial for project team members to distinguish between actual risks involved in the project and the designer’s background including their skills, qualifications, experiences and biases in the past. Team members were advised to maintain a positive a positive attitude and work under assumptions recommended by the experienced designers in order to deliver a final project that is fit with high quality and standards. Under the four principles previously discussed, the software development project ensured the process was productive, visible, able to be repeated and easy to correct errors, defects and damages (Kent, 1999) (Alistair, 2000, p. 68).

Common Elements
Tony Shan and Winnie Hua listed the following design principles as crucial in developing software; simplicity, consistency, efficiency, integration, reusability, non-intrusive, development tools and diagnosis. Focusing on these principles, common elements, therefore, include people, skills, roles, tools, team, techniques, activities, processes, standards, work products, quality measures and team values. Differing elements include people, team, skills, activities, processes, standards, techniques, roles and tools. Therefore, these elements are as common as they differ (2006, p.2)

Project Life Cycle, a Product Life Cycle, or a Systems Development Life Cycle
A life cycle refers to the period between launching and withdrawal date. In project management, the life cycle includes decision-making, designing, achieving maturity levels and maintaining a positive workflow process. During software catalog development, created software is changed based on market reactions, behaviors towards it and suggestions. The project sought to enhance earned revenues by introducing new software in the market. Thus, managing its life cycle through strategic phases including planning, development, introduction, growth, maturity and decline was crucial in ensuring product units cater for market demands and relevance. The figure below represents a product’s life cycle during software catalogue project management.
(Ioannis, 2002, p.4).


Source: (Matkovic, 2010, p. 163)
System development life cycle (SDLC) is also a phase in developing models. It is further divided into ten phases as represented in the figure below (Matkovic, 2010, p. 163).


Source: (Matkovic, 2010, p. 163)
Thus, SDLC divides software development stages into distinct phases to make the entire process manageable under more controlled opportunities. They can be simplified as show in the figure below (Matkovic, 2010, p. 166).

Source: (Matkovic, 2010, p. 163)
It also provides necessary documentation standards required for software development as well as a chance to conduct trial and error on produced software. However, it lacks strategic management and flexibility in coping with required changes. More so, it is too technical, thus, unable to capture software user’s true wants, needs, desires and expectations. However, having successfully been implemented in several other projects, it was utilized in order to develop different and unique software. Project management can be summarized as follows. The figure above summarizes software development project management as evolutional trend. Therefore, future software developers will base their project on past and current achievements by enhancing and expounding on them (Matkovic, 2010, p. 169).



Source: (Matkovic, 2010, p. 163)
Conclusion
Project sponsors are happy when their needs and wants are stably fulfilled during software development. Project managers, therefore, need to ensure manage people, groups and teams working in the project. Ensuring project principles and values are respected, milestones tracked and software developed installed under the project budget guarantees development of beneficial software. Thus, elements included in a project include staff members, systems, dimensions, project size, designers, and space to be utilized. Designers of a catalog are required to get involved in different and diverse software development frameworks. More importantly, project team under the guidance of their manager ought to prioritize quality in the processes.

References
Alistair, C. (2000). Humans and Technology: Selecting a Project’s Methodology IEE Software, Addison-Wesley, Reading Mass.
Ioannis, K. (2002). Product Life Cycle Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 1(1): 1-26.
Kent, B. (1999). Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change, Addison-Wesley Reading Mass.
Matkovic, P. (2010). Comparative Development Methodologies: System Development Life Cycle (SDLC), International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 1(4): 163-172.
Tony, C. S., & Winnie, W. H. (2006). Taxonomy of Java Web Application Frameworks, International Conference on e-Business Engineering Journal, 1(1): 1-8.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 7

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1