Causes of Software Project Failure

Causes of Software Project Failure All successful software projects start with the premise that the end result will be successful. The owner of the project initial goal is to deliver on time and on budget. Although these are the primary focus when the project begins, yet is it not more important that the project deliver tangible business and consumer results? A project manager must take both the customer and the project into consideration when performing a software project. Time, thought and much consideration (focus) must be the aim of the project from beginning until completion of the software project. These are primary keys to a projects success. There are many keys that ensure the success of a project many will become familiar to the reader throughout the reading of this paper. Business drivers such as problems or opportunities that maybe encountered in the beginning and throughout the completion of the project are criteria used to measure the benefits of the project. These drivers should be the primary focus when scoping the project and setting the goals of the project. All projects begin with goals in the order of priority directly related to and supported by the business goals. Target goals are put into place to ensure the project meets the specified time and does not deviate more than those allowable in project plan. The customer and the project planner must be in complete agreement on the goal and anticipation of the project before the project begins. An understanding of what the customer expects the success of the project to look like and what measurements will be considered to determine the desired outcome of the project to the customers satisfactions are critical points when the project is started. These issues should be easily understood by all concerned. A successful project must first be defined. Question, how do we define the success of a software project? We could begin by looking at meeting desired cost, schedule, and scope objectives. Was the projects completion date met? Was it within budget guidelines and did it meet the desired specifications? Software project success has often been defined in ways that are measured the day the project was finished. This is not always the case. Some projects exceed the specified date originally set forth at the forefront of the project. This does not mean that the project was a failure because of the time constraints. Many projects require more testing than was originally set forth at the start of the project or more funds that are necessary to ensure the project is a success. One example is the Sydney Opera House (Duncan, W.R.), that cost sixteen times as much to build and took four times as long to complete as the original estimates. Although thought to be a project management disaster ending up producing an enduring and inspiring civic symbol. Would this constitute as a project failure? Project success depends on a combination of product success and project management success. Many project owners define the success of the project by the time of completion. If the project was completed in the specified time it was a success. Ask yourself this question; if the project was completed early or a day or two late with all specifications met did you have a success software project? Or if it was completed on time with continual adjustments after completion, is this a successful project? A project must follow a completion milestone that should allow for each step of the project to fall within specification. All software project should include modification allowances that provide for added research should the project require it. Literature Review Software failure can be defined as the occurrence of either deficient functionality, where the program fails to perform a required function, or deficient performance, where the program performs a required function too slow or in an insufficient manner. (Rutgers Computer Technology Law Journal. Perlman, Daniel T., 1998) We live in a society that depends extensively on computers to accomplish our everyday needs; everything from monitoring patients in hospitals to monitoring our national defense depends primarily on computer software not failing. Bearing in mind their fundamental need for computers to function properly, software project failure rates are among the highest across all industries, however the number of statistical reports analyzing those Failure are lesser then one would expect. This literature review provides an overview of general literature available on this subject, the main of objectives of the evaluation are to establish why software projects fail and the main reasons a project may fail along with what lessons can be learned   to improve software developments in order for them to success in the future. The subject of Software Project Failures is full of books, and papers that  stress Why Software Projects Fail, most of them share numerous characteristics ranging from failure due to incomplete requirements to failure due to an incompetent project manager.   Among the studies examining these failures is the 2009 Standish Group CHAOS Report. The report is a collection of data on project failures in the software industry. Its main goal is to make the industry effective and productive and to illustrate ways to improve its success rates and increase the value of the software investments. Their most recent results were published in April, 2009. The introductory statement in CHAOS Report reads: The Roman bridges of antiquity were very inefficient structures. By modern standards, they used too much stone, and as a result, far too much labor to build. Over the years we have learned to build bridges more efficiently, using few materials and less labor to perform the same task. Tom Clancy (The Sum of All Fears) (The Standish Group, 2009) With use of this quote the CHAOS Report suggests that software developers should adopt bridge builders approach of learning from past mistakes. The report explains that the difference between software failures and bridge failures is that when a bridge fails it is investigated and a report is written on the cause of the failure whereas when a software fails the failures are covered up, ignored, and/or rationalized. As a result, we keep making the same mistakes over and over again. (The Standish Group, 2009) The Standish Group investigated the failure and success rates along with the reasons for success and failure. Their study surveyed four focus groups with IT executives of major companies. The attendees represented a wide variety of industries, including insurance, state and federal government, retail, banking, securities, manufacturing and service. Three distinct outcomes, called Resolutions, were what the subsequent report divides projects into. Project Resolution Types 1 (Success), 2 (Challenged), and 3 (Impaired). Resolution Type 1 was when a project was a success; it was completed on time and on budget, with all the functionalities and features intact.   The projects that fell in this category only amounted to 16.2%.  Resolution Type 2 was when a project was completed, however it was over budget or over time, and missing some or all of the functionalities and features that were originally requested.   52.7% of all studied projects fell into the Resolution Type 2 category. R esolution Type 3 were projects that were abandoned at some point during the development cycle, consequently becoming total losses.   A staggering 31.1% of all the projects studied fell into this category.   The Standish Group further divided these results by large, medium and small establishments. A large establishment was one with greater than $500 million dollars in revenue per year, a medium was defined as having $200 million to $500 million in yearly revenue, and a small was from $100 million to $200 million. However the statistics for failure were equally discouraging in companies of all sizes. The most important aspect of the research is discovering why projects fail. The report isolated that the top five factors found in successful projects were: user involvement, executive management support, clear statement of requirements, proper planning, and realistic expectations. These indicators were extracted from surveyed IT executive managers of their opinions about why projects succeed. Project Success Factors % of Responses 1. User Involvement 15.90% 2. Executive Management Support 13.90% 3. Clear Statement of Requirements 13.00% 4. Proper Planning 9.60% 5. Realistic Expectations 8.20% 6. Smaller Project Milestones 7.70% 7. Competent Staff 7.20% 8. Ownership 5.30% 9. Clear Vision Objectives 2.90% 10. Hard-Working, Focused Staff 2.40% Other 13.90% The top factors found in Challenged projects were: lack of user input, incomplete requirements and specifications, changing requirements and specifications, lack of executive support, and technical incompetence. The list of top indicators factors found in Failed projects were: incomplete requirements, lack of user involvement, lack of resources, unrealistic expectations, lace of executive support, changing requirements and specifications, lack of planning, didnt need it any longer, lack of IT management, and technical illiteracy. Project Challenged Factors % of Responses 1. Lack of User Input 12.80% 2. Incomplete Requirements Specifications 12.30% 3. Changing Requirements Specifications 11.80% 4. Lack of Executive Support 7.50% 5. Technology Incompetence 7.00% 6. Lack of Resources 6.40% 7. Unrealistic Expectations 5.90% 8. Unclear Objectives 5.30% 9. Unrealistic Time Frames 4.30% 10. New Technology 3.70% Other 23.00% The Standish group report conclude that projects succeed because of: executive support, user involvement, experience project manager, clear business objectives, minimized scope, standard software infrastructure, firm basic requirements, formal methodology, and reliable estimates. The main causes of IT project failure were: lack of clear link between the project and the organizations key strategic priorities, including agreed measures of success; lack of clear senior management and Official ownership and leadership; lack of sufficient data; lack of effective engagement with stakeholders; lack of skills and proven approach to project management and risk management; along with lack of effective project team integration between clients, the supplier team and the supply chain. Causes of failure could also be the result of the problem not being properly defined: they may have developed the right solution to the wrong problem. This is best addressed by trying to understand the reason for do ing the job. The CHAOS Report does have its own shortcomings. Its measures of success are relatively narrow; it only measures success by examining whether a project was completed on time and on budget. The Standish group does not include measures of quality, risk, and customer satisfaction. Nevertheless, the CHAOS Report endures as an important measure for the software despite limited standards of measurement and limiting sources to interviews with executives. There are several other studies on statistics over IT project failure rates which mainly concur with the overall picture of the IT industry that the CHAOS Report provides. In 1997, a study conducted by KPMG Canada, reviewed 176 projects. Their findings determined that over 60% of projects failed to meet their sponsors expectations. A staggering 75% missed their deadline by 30% or more, and over half substantially exceeded their budgets. The main causes for project failure that were identified were: poor project planning, specifically, inadequate risk management and a weak project plan; weak business case; and lack of top management involvement and support. In September 2000, the Gartner Group surveyed 1375 respondents through interviews. (Gardner, 2010) The study indicated that roughly 40 percent of all IT projects fail to meet business requirements. In a more recent survey, the Aberdeen Group claimed 90 percent of projects came in late, while 30 percent were simply cancelled before the deadline. (Booth, R., 2000) According to Tom Carlos in his article Reasons Why Projects Fail gather major reasons   ranging from simple to complex project, The most common reasons for failure   found in the list include :      Poorly managed    Inadequate or vague requirements    Undefined objectives and goals    Lack of management commitment    Poorly defined roles and responsibilities    Stakeholder conflict    Team weaknesses    Lack of user input    Scope creep No change control process Meeting end user expectations    Poor communication    Lack of a solid project plan    Lack of organisational support    Centralised proactive management    initiatives to combat project risk    Enterprise management of budget resources    Provides universal templates and documentation    Unrealistic timeframes and tasks    Competing priorities    Poor communication    Insufficient resources (funding and personnel) Business politics    Overruns of schedule and cost    Estimates for cost and schedule are erroneous    Lack of prioritisation and project portfolio management    Scope creep No change control process Meeting end user expectations    Ignoring project warning signs    Inadequate testing processes    Bad decisions The first 10 failure in the list focus strictly on software requirements where in the requirements are defined user input, stakeholders, communication. Data and Hypotheses When we look at the success or failure of a software project we must also analyze other areas that can have an impact on the project. A review of the Business Analysis Benchmark gives the project owner and the customer a clear understanding of the organizations maturity in requirements definition and with management expectation of the project outcome. (IAG Consulting. Ellis, E., 2009) Findings in this analysis showed that requirements maturity has a strong positive correlation to every major measure of development efficiency assessed. It can be a strong motivator in the success of the project. Based upon time performance, budget performance, function performance, each can be a fundamental point in project success when there is an increase in these areas. The project owner must have a clear vision/goal to prepare for success. Failure can become apparent in many ways, i.e. changing the vision in the middle of the project, disputes on the primary focus, expectations that are beyond proj ect scope, unreliable or not enough resources to maintain project direction and possibly the most valuable to the success of the project is good leadership. An article titled, If Software Quality is so Important, Why is it So Often Neglected? (Sassenburg, H., 2006), a great title for this literature review research. This article further explores the Standish Groups CHAOS Report with a great quote, Software Crisis has not yet reached the turning point. It gives the reader a good statistical percentage, Only 28% of software projects succeed these days, down from 34% a year or two ago. Outright failures [projects cancelled before completion] are up from 15% to 18%. The remaining 51% of software projects are seriously late, over budget and lacking features previously expected. As the study reviews this article a discovery is made based upon the research that includes how the cost is distributed. The designer allows certain percentages for each area of the project phase. In the analyze s egment of the project it is projected that 10% will be utilized. Design phase will encompass about 15% while the realization and testing will average the remaining percentage. Many projects exceed the budgeted percentage and allotted funds will be taken from one phase and move over to the phase in need. This can at times cause the project to slow in progress or be placed in a temporary state or even placed on hold. The end or mid-result can be the determinant of a number of factors that are evaluated to determine how to complete a software project. The CHAOS Report gives unique information regarding how much is spent on IT application development, $250 billion each year on IT application development which equates to approximately 175,000 projects. A large company can spend anywhere from $2,322,000 to develop a project. Medium companies can spend $1,331,000 and a small company can even spend $434,000 to develop a software project. It has also been determined that many of these projec ts regardless the cost will fail. Hence CHAOS, therefore no longer can one speak the three monkeys, hear no failure, see no failure, speak no failure. In the article, Project Management Practices: The Criteria for Success or Failure, (OW, S. H., Harzadeh, I.) list the top four factors that contribute to a projects success are, user involvement, executive management support, clear statement of requirements and proper planning. This article also explores how a project fails; the main reason for failure is listed as, the inabilities of project owners to plan and estimate correctly, or fail to implement the tasks according to plan or simply failure causes by human factor. The Standish Group has estimated that American companies spend at least $81 billion for cancelled software projects. Also, that another $59 million to complete a project that has exceeded budgeted plans. It has been estimated that only 16.2% of software projects were completed on time and on budget. Only 9% of this estimation is for larger companies that have a successful project finished on time and on budget. On occasion these are simply a fraction of the original requirements. Scary? On another scale, Smaller companies do much better. A total of 78.4% of their software projects will get deployed with at least 74.2% of their original features and functions. The study determined that the most projects, 37.1% were impaired and subsequently cancelled in medium companies, compared to 29.5% in large companies and 21.6% in small companies. Many software project failures are due to cost and time overruns which result in the restart of the project. These causes the project to go over budget and exceed time requirements set forth in the original software project plan. With the three major elements for a project in place, (user involvement, executive management support, and a clear statement of requirements), there is a much greater chance that the project will be a success. Without these three elements the chance for failure increases. In the project management scorecard there are several surveys in which to score whether the project is a success or a failure. A survey list reasons most people give, regardless the type of business for failed or poorly managed Projects. This score card also list the cost of a failed project when poorly managed. A n article in the datacenter journal, facing IT Project Failures, explains that the failure of an IT project as others discoveries disclose, can simply mean that the project has gone over budget by a certain percentage, that completion of the project was delayed beyond a certain point or that the business failed to reap a certain return on investment from its project. The CHAOS report indicates that project success rates have increased to 34 percent of all projects. This percent is 100% more from the success rate found in the first study in 1994. A decline in project failure to 15% of all projects is a great improvement over the 31% failure rate reported in 1994. In this current survey a total of 51% of all projects were over the specified time required, over budget or lacking features and requirements.

“What’s Your Color?” a Study on Color Preferences

â€Å"What’s your Color? † A Study on Color Preferences A Research Paper Presented to the Languages Department Of the College of Science, University of Santo Tomas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course Academic Writing Group No. 3 1st Semester, SY 2011-2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1 INTRODUCTION Background of the Study2 Statement of the Problem2 Significance of the Study2 Scope and Limitations2 Materials and Methods2 Definition of Terms2 2 DISCUSSION Colors2 Background (Definition of Colors)3 Perception and Sensation3 Theory of Colors3 Psychology of Colors2 Research History on Color Preferences2 Color Preference By Gender3 Color Preference By Age3 Possible Factors Affecting Color Preferences3 3 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary2 Conclusions2 Recommendations2 REFERENCES2 Chapter I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Conventions of society on color preferences, whether on age or gender, are nothing but stereotypes. The traditional adage of â€Å"pink is for girls while blue is for boys† may be proven wrong. About 80% of the information which is incorporated through the senses is visual and it influences an individual’s everyday decisions. Individuals use color in choosing certain objects such as identification and selection of different kinds of food and drink, toys or cars and dresses. Colors also influence object preference in many situations, like a color of a house, clothes and furniture. However, color does more than just give objective information about the world, for it also affects an individual’s feelings. It possibly may dictate a person’s moods and emotions, perceptions, likes and dislikes. Such influence by a certain color is an important center of research in color psychology, which is called color preference. Color preference is the tendency of an individual or a group to  prefer  some  colors  over others or a strong inclination that results from identification with a certain or favorite color. People are affected by different color stimuli and it varies from person to person. However, color does more than just give us objective information about our world; it affects how we feel. A preference for a specific color can be related to how a person may or want to feel in any situation and even how it may be the basis to remember certain experiences. Many investigations have indicated that children and adults, depending n the gender and age, have differences in preferences for colors. A study done by Eysenck (1941) found that there was a relationship between gender and color and that people have a general preference for color. According to Ellis & Ficek (2001), females and males tended to be somehow divided in preferring both green and blue and said that it may be affected in taking t he view of neuroscience. On the other hand, Davis, Pitchford & Seerif (2009) found out that color preferences emerged with age and that perception of color was shown to have a mediating role in determining a color preference. Additionally, children prefer colors they find to be pleasant and comforting and it can be changed and can vary while adult color preference is usually non-malleable. Although with these researches, color psychology received minimal attention to research probably because of the inevitable ‘instability’ of the results that may vary in different researchers in the past decades. This instability is mostly due to the unpredictability of the color’s variables, making it difficult to come about with results that will lead to a concrete conclusion (Child, Hansen, & Hornbeck, 1968). Another problem is that there is no known direct cause of why and how an individual develops the certain attachment to a specific color, which brings the researchers to assumptions rather than backed by empirical evidences. With these in mind, color preference now holds a huge impact in a person’s everyday life for it can be found basis on how people will act in certain situations and is not just brought about by what parents or peers have taught to an individual to like. Moreover, the need for a new research on the issue is a priority because even some of this research’s credible references are decades old. This paper now aims to determine what these specific color preferences are, its occurrence over time, its societal effects on an individual and its psychological cause, bases and changes. B. Statement of the Problem This study aims to answer the following questions: 1. What colors are preferred by male and female individuals? 2. What changes in preference occur over time or as they age? 3. What are the psychological and societal causes and bases of the preferences and changes that happen? C. Significance of the Study Developmental Psychologists. Psychologists, from the field of Developmental Psychology, are concerned with the nature of human development or change in the cognitive, social, emotional, behavioral and physical aspects throughout the life span and this study will help them understand the role of color preference as a building block in development. Consumer Psychologists. Psychologists, from the field of consumerism, study people’s emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses to a wide variety of stimuli (advertisements, packaging, products, etc. and this study will help them understand how color preference plays an important role in the selection of a product based on its appearance. Future Researchers. Because this study has received minimal attention in the past decades to contribute to the growth of this discipline, this will help future researchers solve why people have color preferences and to improve this study. They are also heeded to develop researches based on how these preferences will affect th e person’s behavior. D. Scope and Limitations This study focuses on the color preferences of an individual based on their age and gender. This will also concentrate on the possible cause and effect and relations between the two, the psychological implications and societal effects to the preferences. Because this research is not empirical, this study will no longer conduct interviews and surveys to the population. Moreover, this will not discuss any behavioral outcomes due to a person’s color preference. This study attempts to discuss the causes to take such preference. E. Materials and Methods This research employs a Descriptive Method since the researchers aim to escribe and to discuss color preferences based on an individual’s gender, age, their possible relations with each other and the psychological explanations causing the phenomenon. This method is defined as â€Å"a process of gathering, analyzing, classifying and tabulating about prevailing conditions, trends, processes†¦ and then making adequate interpretation about such data†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Calderon & Sanchez, 1995). With this, Descriptive Method is believed necessary for the study. Different reference materials containing data relevant to the research was gathered such as books and journal articles from scholarly periodicals and online sources. F. Definition of Terms For a common frame of reference, the following terms are operationally and conceptually defined. Color Preference. This refers to the tendency of an individual to be inclined to one specific color. Color Psychology. This refers to the application of the study of psychology into sensation and perception of colors. Hue. This refers to the description of color we readily experience when we look at color. (Briggs, n. d. ) Perception. This refers to the brain’s interpretation of a received sensation. Psychology. This refers to the scientific study of the overt and covert processes of the mind. Saturation. This refers to the dominance of hue in a color. (Briggs, n. d. ) Sensation. This refers to the stimuli received by the main senses of the body. Value. This refers to the linear axis running through the middle of a color wheel. (Briggs, n. d. ) Chapter 2 DISCUSSION Colors A. Definition of Color Color studies began with the interaction of light and color because without light a person cannot observe a color, shape, or space. Understanding light and color was greatly aided by Isaac Newton's discovery that white light contains all visible color. A person can see colors because wavelengths of light vary; high energy light appears violet, while low energy light appears red. (Cherry, 2011) B. Perception and Sensation C. Theory of Colors Psychology of Colors Color psychology is the study of color as a factor of human behavior and consists of varied studies on color preference. Color preference is a vital aspect of an individual’s visual experience that influences a wide spectrum of human behaviors: buying cars, choosing clothes, decorating homes, and designing websites, to name but a few. When an individual reacts to colors, a number of factors may influence that reaction. A person's culture, gender, age, emotional and mental state, specific experiences, mood — as well as the appearance, combination and other properties of the colors themselves — can all affect the reaction. An individual’s experience of color is influenced by one’s personal and cultural associations. One would tend to approach or withdraw from objects based on how pleasing a color is or how others would imply meaning to it (Lescroart, 2010). Based on an interview conducted by Sohn (2010), Karen Schloss, a graduate student in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley agreed: I might like purple more than you because my sister's bedroom was purple and I had positive experiences there. My own personal preference is determined by all the entities you've encountered of that color and how much you liked them. † Color preference is also influenced by societal affiliations. Sohn (2010), â€Å"†¦ But it shows that people are generally interest ed in the subtle differences between people and what has driven that. Color provides a tool to understand why we like some things more than others. † (Sohn, 2010) While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, there are some color effects that have universal meaning. Colors are perceived as warm or cool primarily because of long-held and universal implications. Colors in the red area of the color spectrum are known as warm colors and include red, orange and yellow. Warm colors can bring forth emotions that range from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility. Alternatively, colors on the blue side of the spectrum are called cool colors and include blue, purple and green. These colors are often described as calm, but can also bring about feelings of unhappiness or lack of interest (Cherry, 2011). Moreover, warm colors are linked with the heat of sun and fire and are generally considered as high arousal colors. On the other hand, cool colors are associated with the coolness of leaves, sea and the sky and are considered as low arousal colors (Pantone, n. d. ). Research History on Color Preferences A. Color Preferences By Gender Most researchers may have not exactly agreed to what color do individuals prefer according to their gender, but all of them said that there is significance only to a little extent. Work (2011) concluded that only blue is the favorite color for both males and females like. However, they differ in the color that genders dislike, having brown for men and orange for women. Ellis and Ficek’s (2001) conclusions almost agrees to that of Work’s, where men places Blue and Green as their top two with the women’s counterpart interchanges the two colors. Eysenck’s (1941) experiment also sees no difference between the two sexes, ranking Blue, Red and Green as the participants’ favorite colors. Early researchers also saw if color properties would have affected an individual to such preferences in colors. Eysenck pointed out that the color’s luminosity may have affected the decision, but no longer elaborated the reason, which is confusing for the researchers of this paper. Child, Hansen, and Hornbeck (1968) focused little on sex differences, but noted that males prefer cool colors while women prefers warm, appearing not later than 17 years of age. On the other hand, Work presented a more accurate explanation that may have a role in preferences. He said that men tended to be inclined toward shade colors, or those colors with black added, because it make them feel dominant and mysterious. It is the contrary for women, liking tint colors, now colors added with white, because it made them feel young and soothed. Moreover, Work said that light and dark colors are preference for both sexes, while soft colors were preferred by women, and bright by men. B. Color Preferences By Age If there is any relation between color preferences and the individual’s age, the answer would be a yes, an almost significant yes. Michaels (1924) experimented on 6 to 15 year-old boys and concluded that there is only a little importance on colors but presented a big factor on the reason of why the preference is present. While green occurred as a favorite color for six year-old boys, the remaining years turned their attentions to like blue. Michaels said: Several possibilities present themselves as means of explanation. Should we consider that at 6 years and under there is no appreciation of the aesthetic sense; or that the individual undergoes physiological changes, which mature at 7 years, bringing into development a physiological mechanism which causes to see objects in a different light? There might be some psychological basis for explanation where the individual the keener sense of perception to aid him in his judgments. Perhaps his social environment is changed at this period to allow a little freedom of action – a vital influence of an individual in general. Could it not be that the innate tendency was unable to find a field of action until properly stimulated? These are some suggestions along the lines of which one could work out a case on the evidence at hand†¦ whether the explanation is physiological or psychological (p. 82). Most researchers, however, focused on the properties of color as determinants if there are significant differences that can be found. On value, the darker category was found preferred by older individuals, opposing younger ones who likes lighter ones, as said by Lee, Gong, and Leung (2009). Meanwhile, Child, Hansen, and Hornbeck concluded that cooler colors are preferred by all ages, which is becoming prevalent as early as six, and that there is little to no significant transcendence of color preference, raising their point to the study of Burnham, Hanes, and Bartleson in 1963 as cited in their article. But they still stressed that changes may still occur because the individual may be socially-affected, which may then change his attention from the color’s saturation as a criterion to its hue. They also added that if there is change by age, the change in cognitive functions of a child to an adult is one big cause. This is affirmed by the study of Davis, Pitchford, and Seerif (2009), which in their experiment showed that adults are more in favor of desaturated and hue colors than that of saturated ones. C. Possible Factors affecting Color Preferences Except the properties of colors and cognitive functions that is earlier mentioned, this study saw no clear cause to explain everything as different researchers concluded either biologically, psychologically, or both. Ellis and Ficek presented a biological origin that it may be a neurohormonal factor that affects color preference, but not elaborated further because the evidence supporting the hypothesis is an experiment in rats and is currently in study. Another one is that color preference came about by retinal biochemistry and the way the brain processes color information, which is sensitive to some colors that is found different in sexes. Females are more sensitive to pink and, while males are more sensitive to green and blue. Lee, Gong, and Leung also noted that elders would prefer colors related to joyful events, while the younger ones would prefer those that will make them comfortable. They agree to Child, Hansen, and Hornbeck’s hypothesis that color preference may be emotionally-evoked which may be an influence of an individual’s experience with the color. Chapter 3 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY This paper attempted to determine the colors preferred by male and female individuals, their changes in preference in their occurrence over time and the psychological and societal causes and bases of the preferences and changes that happen. The research design used in this study is the Descriptive Method wherein data from books and journal articles from scholarly periodicals and online resources were used to answer the research questions posed. The research findings are the following: 1. The color blue is generally preferred by all individuals. Based on the color properties, both genders differ in color preference with males liking cool, bright and shady colors while females favor warm, soft and tinted colors. 2. The changes in color preference by age are not specific. Cooler colors are commonly preferred throughout the life span but changes are caused by an individual’s changing criterion, from saturation to hue. 3. Psychologically, color preference exists from an individual’s emotion, cognitive function and perception stored in memory related to the color. Society also influences color but is yet to be proven. CONCLUSION Based on the findings of this study, the researchers therefore conclude that an individual’s color preference does depend on age, gender, and the color’s properties. RECOMMENDATIONS After drawing the conclusions of the study, the researchers hereby make the following suggestions/recommendations for future researchers: 1. In conducting further research on color preferences, an Empirical Method should be used to gain more accurate and more meaningful results and data. 2. It should focus on the biological bases because only a few researchers have produced information about the biological aspects of color preferences. . It should also focus on the effects of color preferences to an individual’s behavior and inclinations to certain objects. REFERENCES Briggs, D. (n. d. ). The dimensions of color. Retrieved from http://www. huevaluechroma. com/ 012. php. Cherry, K. (n. d. ). Color psychology: How colors impact moods, feelings, and behaviors. Retrieved from http://psych ology. about. com/od/sensationandperception/colorpsych. htm. Child, I. , Hansen, J. , & Hornbeck, F. (1968). Age and sex differences in children’s color preferences. Child Development, 39(1), 237-247. doi:10. 2307/1127374. Ciccarelli, S. , & Write, J. N. 2009). Psychology (2nd ed. ). Jurong, SG: Pearson Education South Asia Pte. Ltd. Davis, E. , Pitchford, N. , & Seerif, G. (2009). Does colour preference have a role in colour term aquisition?. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 27(4), 993-1012 doi:10. 1348/026151008Ãâ€"399916. Ellis, L. , & Ficek, C. (2001). Color preferences according to gender and sexual orientation. Personality and Individual Differences, 31(8), 1375-1379. doi: 10. 1016/S0191- 8869(00)00231-2. Eysenck, H. (1941). A critical and experimental study of colour preference. The American Journal of Psychology, 54(3), 385-394. doi:10. 307/1417683. Lee, W. , Leung, C. , & Gong, S. Is color preference determined by age difference?. Retrieved from http://w ww. iasdr2009. org/ap/Papers/Orally%20Presented%20Papers/Behavior/Is%20 Color%20Preference%20Affected%20by%20Age%20Difference. pdf. Lescroart, M. (2010). Favorite colors: Color preference determined by desirability of objects. Retrieved from http://www. scientificamerican. com/article. cfm? id=favorite-colors. Michaels, G. (1941). Color preference according to age. The American Journal of Psychology, 35(1), 79-87. doi:10. 2307/1127374. Munger, D. (2005). Color preference in kids and adults. Retrieved from http://scienceblogs. com/ cognitivedaily/2005/06/color_preference_in_kids_and_a. php. Pantone. (n. d. ) How does color affect us? Retrieved from http://www. pantone. com/pages/ pantone/Pantone. aspx? pg=19382&ca=29 Pinel, J. (2008). Biopsychology (7th ed. ). Jurong, SG: Pearson Education South Asia Pte. Ltd. Sohn, E. (2010). Color preference determined by experience. Retrieved from http://news. discovery. com/human/colors-preferences-evolution-style. html. Work, S. (2011). True colors – breakdown of color preferences by gender. Retrieved from http://blog. kissmetrics. com/gender-and-color/.

Compensation practices & organizations Essay

Through the use of compensation practices, organizations effort to both reward and motivate diverse types of behavior. Compensation practices comprise pay and benefits, and contemporary total compensation approaches expand the definition of compensation to comprise a variety of favorable outcomes experienced by the employee (Milkovich & Newman, 2002). As of the importance of pay to employees, compensation and benefit programs can provide as a major indicator of possible discrimination in the organization. However, pay policies can also be used to lessen discriminatory behavior and encourage diversity. Though potential race and age discrimination in compensation is a significant concern, most of the applied and research attention has been aimed at sex related issues, particularly comparable worth and pay equity (Treiman & Hartman, 1981). Organizations can lessen the negative effects of their compensation practices by auditing their policies and then, based on the results of the audits, distill their procedures to eliminate bias, and where necessary, regulate the pay of minority group members. The type of audits that organizations can engage in will correspond to the three major theories, approaches, or techniques used in significant pay discrimination. The three major approaches or types of audit are (a) an equal pay audit, (b) a pay equity audit, and (c) an analysis of across-the-board problems. Employee and Labor Relations The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 ( NLRA) specifically stated that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was empowered to remedy unfair labor practices by the issuance of cease and desist, and reinstatement and back pay orders, and by ordering affirmative action in effectuating the policies of the NLRA. Though the NLRB’s authority is limited by the statutory requisite that its orders should effectuate the policies of the NLRA and should be remedial, not punitive, the principle is one of governmental flexibility and authority to need affirmative acts by a party who has violated the law, so that an unlawful act is efficiently remedied. Such affirmative acts include, inter alia, the employment of individuals who were not hired or were fulfilled for discriminatory reasons, and, in cases linking unfair labor practice strikes, the reinstatement of striking employees yet where the discharge of striker replacements would be necessary. Interestingly, there is little or no evidence that the use and principle of affirmative action in the NLRA framework had any bearing on or resemblance to the use of those words in the context of favored treatment of minorities and women. For employee, performance appraisal can be conceptualized as an organized description of an individual’s job-relevant strengths and weaknesses that is their job performance. Though job performance data can be obtained either objectively (hard criteria) or judgmentally (soft criteria), the term â€Å"performance appraisal† is characteristically used in the context of, albeit not limited to, the latter. Performance evaluations can result in discriminatory outcomes via two mechanisms, (a) poor or ineffective appraisal or rating practices and (b) intentional distortion resulting from motivational and political factors. Concerning the former, two strategies have traditionally been advocated to address the problems with judgmentally based performance data: rating scale development and rater training. The results of rating scale comparisons indicate that format modification alone does not result in much improvement in performance evaluations (Woehr & Miller, 1997). Though, frame-of reference training, which emerged from the social cognitive approach to performance appraisal, appears to be quite effectual as a rater training approach to increasing the accuracy of ratings (Woehr & Huffcutt, 1994). In addition to rater training, job analysis must serve as the basis for constructing the appraisal instrument and the appraisal process so that employees are appraised only on job-related factors. Conclusion EEO and affirmative action in its classic form is mandated for companies entering into agreement with the federal agencies by executive orders 11246 and 11375. Yet the term has come to signify a much broader range of policies. Affirmative action has become a blanket term that refers to any number of active policies approved by organizations to remedy the effects of discrimination. In spite of of the multiplicity of affirmative action program types, however, the perception of affirmative action remains comparatively undifferentiated. In particular, many continue to associate affirmative action with quotas. There seems to be a widespread assumption that affirmative action is little more than favored selection based solely on demographic group membership. The objective of this paper has been to review and confer HR practices that can be used to achieve diversity in organizations. Practices pertaining to staffing and human resource development discussed in terms of reducing negative effects resultant from these practices and altering the behaviors of organizational members by these practices to lessen discrimination and increase diversity. References †¢ AARP (1993). How to recruit older workers. Washington, DC: Author. †¢ Arvey, R. D. , Gordon, M. E. , Massengill, D. P. , & Mussio, S. J. (1975).Differential dropout rates of minority job candidates due to â€Å"time lags† between selection procedures. Personnel Psychology, 28, 175-180. †¢ Avery, D. R. (2003). Reactions to diversity in recruiting advertising—Are differences Black and White? Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 672-679. †¢ Delahoussaye, M. (2001). Leadership in the 21st century. Training, 38, 50-59. †¢ Doverspike, D. , & Arthur, W. Jr. (1995). Race and sex differences in the reactions to simulated selection decisions based on affirmative action. Journal of Black Psychology, 21, 181-200.

Theme of Power Corruption in Animal Farm, by George...

Power can have the persuasive action in undoing the moral ethics of one’s character. This can be seen throughout history, such as World War II and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. As Lord Acton said â€Å"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.† In history what was viewed as a villain or wrong doer is never the same as the perception. A leader does not begin wanting to do wrong, they start with the best intentions, but power is a tricky thing, showcased in Animal Farm as Utopian ideals but with failed practices. Most new societies that have a Utopian idea most likely stem from a traumatic event where humanity believed it had no other choice but to go to the extreme.†¦show more content†¦This was not the beginning of the Rule of Napoleon; it was supposed to be â€Å"All animals are equal;† however, it was changed to â€Å"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.† Napoleon’s ultimate demise was shown through some small actions in the beginning. Power twisted Napoleon’s conscience and his morals created a monster from which many feared. Corrupting power has been showcased through many stories like Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Throughout Macbeth, the desire for absolute power is the main drive for the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They are consumed with a great craving for ultimate rule, and are willing to achieve it by whatever means necessary. Power had corrupted the thoughts, actions and behaviors of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. As a result of their greed, selfishness and longing for supremacy, they were unable to escape the tragic fate at the end of the play that was a result of their own doing. Power can change people into the thing or character that said they never would be. Absolute power changes people and creates something new and often times a monster. As Paul Krishner wrote in The Dual Purpose Of Animal Farm â€Å"†¦the commandments are chipped away and the pig-managers increasingly resemble farmers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 3 this demoralizes the majority oppressing them. Spencer Brown quotes Wanda Hale in Mealymouthed Critics Ignore Animal Farms Anticommunist Flavor,† Animal Farm is aShow MoreRelatedAnimal Farm by George Orwell1100 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction: Widely acknowledged as a powerful allegory, the 1945 novella Animal Farm, conceived from the satirical mind of acclaimed author George Orwell, is a harrowing fable of a fictional dystopia that critiques the socialist philosophy of Stalin in terms of his leadership of the Soviet Union. Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose initial virtuous intentionsRead MoreAnimal Farm Corruption Essay1663 Words   |  7 Pagesthe theme corruption comes with power. 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