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Do rude and disrespectful behaviors have an effect on patient safety?
by Gerald B. Hickson, MD
Patients and their families are critical members of the health care team and are uniquely positioned to observe the behaviors of clinical team members. Organizations who listen will find that patients' stories can be sources of valuable information that can promote improvements in care.
"Study results remind me how important it is
to engage patients and families in our efforts
to promote safe care."
—Gerald B. Hickson, MD
Fifteen years ago, our Vanderbilt research team recognized that if patients' unsolicited complaints were documented, coded, and aggregated, they reliably identified a small subset of physicians (2-8% by specialty) who accounted for more than 75% of malpractice claims and costs. Our early studies, however, did not answer an important question: Is high claims risk simply about making patients and families unhappy or is there something more?
In a study published in JAMA Surgery, we asked if patients who received care from surgeons associated with high numbers of complaints about perceptions of disrespect were more likely to experience complications from surgery than patients who were seen by surgeons who attracted few, if any, complaints.
We used data from the American College of Surgeon's National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP®) and our Vanderbilt Patient Advocacy Reporting System (PARS®), which uses unsolicited patient complaints to identify physicians with a high risk for malpractice claims. The study design allowed us to look at a surgeon's complaints for 24 months prior to the target surgery and any postoperative complications in the 30 days post procedure. Seven medical centers that participate in both PARS® and NSQIP® contributed 817 surgeons and more than 32,000 surgical procedures to the study.
The analysis revealed that patients whose surgeons were associated with the highest numbers of complaints had almost 14% more postoperative complications when compared with patients seeing surgeons viewed as respectful, even when the analysis controlled for patient, surgeon, and operative characteristics. If extrapolated throughout the US (27,000,000 surgeries annually), failures to model respect and communicate effectively contribute to more than 350,000 additional surgical site infections, cases of sepsis, and urinary tract infections, representing more the $3 billion in additional costs with no way to calculate the magnitude of the impact on patients and families.
Study results remind me how important it is to engage patients and families in our efforts to promote safe care. Patients experience our dysfunctional systems and unprofessional clinicians. The question is, when they are willing to share, are we willing to listen, learn, and respond? Patients do not always describe their observations in "proper" medical language and as a result are too often discounted or ignored. Our results make it clear, however, that what is experienced and reported is valuable and serves to identify surgeons who have difficulty working with others contributing to surgical complications and excess malpractice claims risk. We suspect that our research team will identify similar findings in ICUs, emergency rooms, cath labs and wherever medicine is practiced.
Results also answer the question that our team has pondered for 20 years: Is high claims risk just about the random bad outcome and routinely making patients and families unhappy? The answer is no. It is not "just" about modeling disrespect toward patients. The same behaviors reported by families are also experienced by medical team members who can become distracted, lose situational awareness and willingness to speak up or ask for help when needed contributing to thousands of avoidable surgical and medical complications each year.
The good news is that our experiences in supporting interventions, with more than 1800 high-risk clinicians from our national partnerships, has taught us that most physicians modeling patterns of disrespectful behaviors (approximately 75%) just need to be made aware that they stand out (see Pichert et al. 2013). However, setting the stage to deliver "awareness" is critical and requires leadership that does not blink (rationalize) when the disrespectful surgeon is perceived to have special value. It also requires leadership that will commit to building the infrastructure to support professionals who are willing to deliver peer-based comparison data to help their at-risk colleagues pause and reflect on how their behaviors are experienced by others. The work is not for the faint of heart but is professional and aligns with the NPSF commitment to creating a world where patients and those who care for them are free from harm.
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St. Pius Cougar Athletics
Supporting our students as they develop their interests is a priority for us at St. Pius Elementary School! Just as the school's mission includes leading students to see the relevance of the Gospel in their daily lives so it is with the athletic program. Because it is a reflection of real life, athletics at St. Pius Elementary School provides an environment in which effective role models can help mold students into responsible Christians. The school administration and athletic staff emphasizes spiritual and emotional growth as a primary goal and competition/winning as a secondary one.
St. Pius Sports Teams
- Baseball (6-8)
- Basketball (6-8)
- Cross Country (5-8)
- Flag Football (6)
- Football (7-8)
- Golf (5-8)
- Soccer (6-8)
- Tennis (5-8)
- Track and Field (5-8)
- Basketball (6-8)
- Cross Country (5-8)
- Golf (5-8)
- Soccer (6-8)
- Softball (6-8)
- Tennis (5-8)
- Track and Field (5-8)
- Volleyball (6-8)
St. Pius Physical Education teachers sponsor a host of after school athletic clinics throughout the year for second through fourth graders. These clinics help students to learn the sport, develop skills needed then move to competition among clinic attendees. The goal of the athletic clinics is to help our students determine where their interests and talents lie so that they can develop needed skills as they prepare for becoming members of competitive teams in middle school. Many of our SPES alumni who participated in these clinics have gone on to be strong varsity athletes in high school.
For more information regarding SPES Athletics, contact Athletic Director Josh Falgout at email@example.com or by phone at 337-237-3139, ext 3306

subset: commoncrawl


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By TED CARTER
Mississippi's business leaders may have waited too long – or perhaps not long enough – in targeting winter 2016 for a legislative showdown on how Mississippi pays for upkeep of its roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Today, any comprehensive transportation package that includes new funding is up against a 2016 legislative class with a sizable number of members who won election with vows of no new taxes (or fees). Waiting for the immediacy of those vows to wear off may offer the best chance of getting something done, political analysts say.
Business leaders selected 2016 two years ago, after legislators declined to pursue funding proposals from a task force of elected officials and business and civic leaders. What Mississippi needed, they decided, was a wider and deeper look at its transportation picture.
In stepped the Mississippi Economic Council, the state's Chamber of Commerce, with creation of a new transportation task force. As the MEC-led private-sector executives delved into the state's transportation issues, candidates for the state House and Senate in all corners of the state started winning voters over with pledges of no new taxes or fees.
So, not surprisingly, many first-time lawmakers and their re-elected counterparts will arrive at the Capitol beholden to pledges of not only no new taxes but no increased spending at all.
If business leaders and their allies want a comprehensive fix to pass, they'll have to persuade the legislators to break their promises. That is easier to do a year after an election rather than right after one, political pros say in predicting that 2017 may offer better odds for comprehensive transportation legislation.
On the other hand, Mississippi's business leaders have vowed to push hard for a 2016 overhaul of transportation funding, insisting the state's economic future hinges on getting something done.
They must persuade members of a Legislature that became even more conservative with the Nov. 3 elections that they should make motorists pay more to cover the estimated $400 million the state needs annually to keep roads and bridges from deteriorating further.
Mississippi's last did that in 1987, adopting an 18.4 cents a gallon tax on motor fuels that helped to pay for an 1,800-mile network of four-lane highways that made the state the envy of its Southern neighbors. Today, transportation experts say, an absence of maintenance money has left stretches of the parkways crumbling and a vast number of bridges too risky to cross. Some estimates are that catching up will run $2 billion.
Coming off a legislative revenue conference that projected a 1.9 percent increase in state revenue in 2016, Senate Finance Committee Chair Joey Fillingane said he is going to have to know a lot more than he does now before saying what sort of funding package he would let come up for a vote in his committee. What the Republican from Hattiesburg said he does know is that he does not need to be convinced of the severity of Mississippi's road-and-bridge maintenance backlog.
A legislatively appointed task force urged $600 million in new transportation spending in 2013. That proposal died quickly but led to a pledge from key legislators and business leaders to return with a comprehensive transportation study that identifies state needs and presents options for covering their costs.
In the next week or so, a 15-member transportation task force created by the Mississippi Economic Council, the state's Chamber of Commerce, is expected to present its report to legislators.
Soon after creation of the MEC panel, its chairman, Sanderson Farms CEO Joe Sanderson Jr., said the state's business leaders will lead the push. "It's going to be easier for elected officials to deal with this more effectively if they have the support of business leaders," Sanderson, who heads a multi-state, nearly $1 billion poultry operation based in Laurel, said in an October 2014 interview.
Sanderson and other state business leaders can make the difference in the outcome in 2016, said Dick Hall, central district commissioner for the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Business led the way in 1987 and must do it again next year, added Hall, who as a legislator 28 years ago led an override of Gov. William Allain's veto of the 18.4 cents a gallon motor fuels tax.
"Without the real energetic support of the business community, we don't have a chance to pass anything," he said. "It passed in '87 as a direct result of the business community."
Sanderson said at the outset of the task force's work that the panel likely would propose increases in the motor fuels tax, car tags and drivers licenses. "I don't know if there will be additional ones, but those are the primary sources," he said at the time.
The focus will be on user fees, Sanderson said. "The people who use the highways are going be the ones who pay for the upkeep of the roads."
Fillingane, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he is anxiously awaiting the report from Sanderson's task force and acknowledged the extensive time and resources that went into the task force's work.
"We're very much interested," he said, but emphasized he does not want to "prejudge" the options the task force will present.
"There's not any question we need the upgrades," Fillingane said in an interview in mid-November. "The question is how we get from point 'A' to point 'B'."
Sen. Willie Simmons, a Cleveland Democrat who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, said he is encouraged that it will be the business community presenting the plan. "Legislators will probably be receptive to doing something," he said. "The question is, 'What?'"
Whatever they do, the first year after an election is the year to it, Simmons said. "This is the best time to do it – the beginning of the term."
Simmons' fellow Democrat Bobby Moak does not agree. "I think it is going to be difficult" to get a comprehensive package passed, said Rep. Moak, the House Democratic leader who will miss his first legislative session in 33 years, having lost his Bogue Chitto seat to Republican Vince Mangold.
"A lot of these folks who are going to show up in the Legislature for the most part have pledged no increase in taxes."
Those "folks" are Republicans who represent the "Party of No" and who see any fee as a tax, Moak said. And they now have more control than ever, he added.
Moak said if the opposition appears strong going in, he does not expect the business leaders backing the transportation package can enlist much Democratic support. "The Democrats will sit on their hands" to avoid getting tagged as tax-and-spenders, Moak said, though he noted that could change if House and Senate leaders promised them a substantial amount of transportation dollars for their districts.
Nor does Moak think Democrats will allow Republicans to strip money from mental health, education and other areas to fund road and bridge upkeep. "I don't think we'll see the Democrats falling for that," he said.
Legislators are going to either have to raise taxes to pay for the transportation backlog or dip into a rainy day fund that is approaching three-quarters of a billion dollars, Moak said.
But, he added, there is always next year. "I think that this year — the first year of a new term – to break the promise of no additional fees or taxes is going to be a very heavy burden to carry."
On the other hand, if a promise must be breached, the "second year seems to be historically a good year" to do it, he said. "Six months is a lifetime in politics. It's enough time to get around the voting cycle."
Political scientist Dr. Jon Winburn sees it that way as well. "Since Mississippi uses 4-year terms, I would think years two and three are most likely to see new initiatives pass as legislators probably think the public is paying less attention to them," said Winburn, a University of Mississippi political science professor.
But 2016?
Winburn said he would be surprised to see anything happen. "Generally speaking, legislators are more likely to stand by their campaign pledges (like no new taxes) immediately after an election and reassert those again once they are back on the campaign trail," he said in an email.
"Despite the fact that transportation needs are very important in the state and the business community has traditionally carried a lot of clout, I'm not sure any of that matters to many of the new Tea Party types being elected. Many of these individuals fundamentally don't believe in raising revenue (taxes) for any reason," he added.
" Now, this may change as they learn more about the way governing actually works, but I'm not sure this new breed of conservatives will be quick to budge from their 'no taxes' pledges."
… we'd like to ask for your support. More people are reading the Mississippi Business Journal than ever before, but advertising revenues for all conventional media are falling fast. Unlike many, we do not use a pay wall, because we want to continue providing Mississippi's most comprehensive business news each and every day. But that takes time, money and hard work. We do it because it is important to us … and equally important to you, if you value the flow of trustworthy news and information which have always kept America strong and free for more than 200 years.
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Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'shadows'.
Found 15 results
Shadows Disappearing
Lethal Raptor Games posted a question in Technical AssistanceI have a large world and there are heights exceeding 2000m, this quick code example shows that at a height higher than 660m the shadow disappears but interestingly the stats still say it's being drawn. Can anyone else confirm this? Is there shadow range for the world or something or is this a bug? #include "App.h" using namespace Leadwerks; App::App() : window(NULL), context(NULL), world(NULL), camera(NULL) {} App::~App() { delete world; delete window; } Model* box; Camera* camera; bool wireframe = false; bool App::Start() { window = Window::Create("Shadows",50,50, 1024, 768); window->Show(); context = Context::Create(window); world = World::Create(); DirectionalLight* light = DirectionalLight::Create(); light->SetRotation(35, 35, 35); float offsetY = 670.0f;//Increase to 670.0f and shadow disapears. camera = Camera::Create(); camera->Move(0, 1 + offsetY, -2); box = Model::Box(); box->Move(0, 1 + offsetY, 0); Pivot* centre = Pivot::Create(); int xGrid = 3; int zGrid = 3; int vertIndex = 0; Model* mdl = Model::Create(); Surface* surface = mdl->AddSurface(); for (int z = 0; z < zGrid; z++) { for (int x = 0; x < xGrid; x++) { surface->AddVertex(x, offsetY, z,0,1,0); if (z != 0 && x != 0) { surface->AddTriangle(vertIndex, vertIndex - xGrid, vertIndex - 1); surface->AddTriangle(vertIndex - xGrid, vertIndex - xGrid - 1, vertIndex - 1); } vertIndex++; } } surface->Update(); mdl->UpdateAABB(Entity::LocalAABB | Entity::GlobalAABB); return true; } bool App::Loop() { if (window->KeyHit(Key::Escape) == true) { return false; } if (window->KeyHit(Key::F1) == true) { camera->GetDebugPhysicsMode() == true ? camera->SetDebugPhysicsMode(false) : camera->SetDebugPhysicsMode(true); } if (window->KeyHit(Key::F2) == true) { if (wireframe == true) { camera->SetDrawMode(0); wireframe = false; } else { camera->SetDrawMode(2); wireframe = true; } } Vec3 rot = box->GetRotation(); rot.x += 0.2f; rot.y += 0.2f; rot.z += 0.2f; box->SetRotation(rot); Time::Update(); world->Update(); world->Render(); context->SetBlendMode(Blend::Alpha); context->DrawStats(10.0f, 10.0f, true); context->Sync(true); return true; } EDIT : It seems to be fine in the editor. I have some objects at a Y position of 23000.0
What is causing "shadow banding"
Core posted a question in Technical AssistanceHi! I have noticed this here and there every once in a while, but now that I'm finally building a map with aesthetics in mind, I think it is time to dig deeper into this. So what is causing this banding with shadows, and how I'm able to prevent it from happening? I understand that it must be some kind of limitation with the engine, but just knowing how to avoid it would be awesome! Thanks again for any tips. Edit. Oh, numerous times I've been asked to send a map for an example. I would, but noobish question... How? What files I should include? Is there an easy way "create" a file that includes everything you need to run a map on another computer? Thanks again.
Models do not cast shadows
Core posted a question in Technical AssistanceNot sure is this a bug or just me. But I can't get my models to cast shadows. CSG objects cast shadow. I have no parent objects, I've tested with point light and spot light, with dynamic and static shadows. What am I missing?
Trouble with Shadows & Rendering them properly
Phodex Games posted a question in Technical AssistanceHi, I recently had a lot of fun, playing around with some low poly stuff. Unfortunately a problem occured, I am having pretty often, I haven't found a good fix yet. I dont know, shadow rendering in LW is weird, or I most likley just dont understand it. Look how, the shadow at the leaves of this tree just disappears, after you are 20 meters away: This does not really happen (or at least it does not look as ugly) for this tree: Another example that shows my problem is this. On the right is is how it is rendered in Blender. What I want is kind of the same shadow type, but including an shadow the house is drawing on the ground. And do you see that door? Looks super ugly. I would be glad if sombody can point me towards a solution. I know, that you can take effect on this by calculating the normals, but what settings would you recommend for low poly? To bring it to the point, this is what I want it to look like. I think the funny thing is that the lightning of the scenes below, are "worse" more simplisitc as the one leadwerks includes, but the shadows are consistent on farer distances and fit the low poly style. I need this for creating a good overall look for my project. I am thankful for any documentation, information you can give me for setting up a scene like this in Leadwerks. Thanks for your answers in advance! Markus
Terrain Size and Terrain Shadows
LarryEllis posted a topic in General DiscussionI noticed that just recently (4.4) the engine supports terrains as big as 8192x8192 if you Set exterrain=1 in the Leadwerks.cfg Awesome! Im just curious if this affects the terrain detail? Does it simply double the scale of the terrain and therefore reduce the detail by half, or does the resolution remain the same? Also, I read that the engine has not supported terrain shadows since about LE2.5, is this true? Not having terrain shadows is kind of a deal breaker for me, is there any chance this will return in the future? Thank you!
Shadows disappear when grouping objects under pivot
Core posted a topic in General DiscussionI noticed that suddenly I could not see shadows on 3d-models. After some hairpulling, I noticed that shadows disappear if you group stuff under pivot. Again pivot makes problems that seems NOT to be related at all. This is really annoying. Don't get me wrong, I love so many aspects in Leadwerks, but these times it feels that I'm fighting against the editor more than trying to solve problems with my game or code... But, is this a known problem? Or am I using pivots wrong? Here, same scene with everything grouped under pivot and without.
(4.3) Child Entities Do Not Cast Shadows
TØXIN posted a topic in Bug ReportsThis is a bug that is found in the new update (4.3). Models with either "Dynamic" or "Static" never cast shadows if it has a parent. By removing the parent and have the model by itself, it casts shadows. Sames goes for CSG brushes. See screenshots:
Changing Shadow Resolution
SlipperyBrick posted a topic in Game ArtHi, I would like to know if it is possible to change the shadow resolution in Lua. Or is this something that can only be done through C++? My SetLightQuality() is at 2 which I believe is the maximum.
Shadow Falloff
SlipperyBrick posted a topic in Game ArtI was wondering if this can be fixed without having to change or amend anything in C++ I've set my lighting quality to 2 but have had no change. When I go a little far away from objects that are receiving shadows the shadow seems to have some sort of falloff. Here is an image to show you what I mean, you can see where my mouse cursor is the top of the wall the shadow is disappearing. I am wondering if there is anything I can change in my project to stop this from happening, or if there is some values I can change to makes this effect not so prominent?
Problem with shadows
ByPoLaT posted a topic in General DiscussionHi all, Firstly sorry for my bad english. I have a problem: How can I fix? thanks. My system: AMD FX-6300 ASUS Nvidia GTX 560 Titan GIGABYTE 990XA-UD3 GSKILL RipjawsX DDR3 8GB All drivers updated..
Objects get strange tree-like shadows
blueapples posted a topic in Game ArtThis is pretty strange. When this collection of barrels are all close together, they appear to be casting a tree-like shadow. To the left of the barrels you can see a single one I moved out of the group, which has the correct shadow. It has to be about that far away to not render the strange tree shadow. There is also a "shadow" line that intersects the entire scene at certain angles, visible in the lower-right. This is not cast by any visual object -- I have no idea where it comes from. I am sending Josh a SVN account on our server to check out the project as this will be much faster than uploading a ZIP file. Hopefully this will be okay. The bug is in Revision 4.
Alright, this seems like a pretty important issue to me. As it is desirable and expected, directional light shadows are culled (not showed/displayed) when the camera is far away from the object: it has to be within the range of 30m or so, as I've seen so far, in order that shadows get rendered (at least with default light quality). However, when camera is set far away from the object, but zooms in so that it appears very near to the object, shadows are not rendered either. If you think about it, that is a highly unrealistic behavior: Imagine a camera that simulates binoculars. If we look through our binoculars, we are supposed to see the object as if it was near us. In that case, we would see shadows it casts if it is lit by the sun, no matter how far away our binoculars from the object actually are. However, with current LE settings it seems not possible to set cast shadow rendering distance based on the camera zoom level (I'm not sure if it's possible at all, btw - I've read some past threads and no one seems to give a definitive answer). So, a simple improvment on the shadow culling calculation - which would consist in inclusion of dividing camera distance by its zoom level - would be an easy modifcation and more than welcome. At least, IMO. P.S. I've tried setting light's quality to max. It does not solve the issue.
Poor testing performance
insomniac_lemon posted a topic in General DiscussionI've noticed during the testing, performance is really bad. Whether it's the AI testing level (3-10 FPS), 2 lights+floor+kicking around a box, or a particle emitter with high particle count, as soon as something starts happening it is visibly choppy. It is bogged down from 200 FPS to around 20 FPS with hardly anything going on, and I don't see why that could be, it's not like many unnecessary things are being rendered. (the moving platform level has more lights and moving shadows, unless that's different because the fixed movement path allows the shadows to be buffered) Now my computer is a bit outdated (i7 860 CPU, GTS 450 GPU, 8 GBs of RAM), but it doesn't seem like it should be having this much trouble just from lighting, especially when I can play other games on medium/high graphics with better performance. I'm not sure if this is a general issue, as I've only tried the Linux version, so it very well could be only an issue on that version of the software.
No shadows in editor for directional light
nick.ace posted a topic in General DiscussionI apologize if this has been asked before (I tried searching, but nothing useful has come up). Anyway, in the editor after I updated Leadwerks, I get this error repeated many times. Basically, my whole scene in the editor has no shadows. Error: Uniform "shadowmapsize" is not a vec2 value. Am I doing something wrong? (I'm not sure if this is bug or a new "feature"). Note that it does work in game with the same shaders and such (except DOF, but i doubt that has anything to do with it).
Incorrect shadows on rotated csg's
Einlander posted a topic in Bug ReportsI just found that if you rotate a box csg, the shadow continues to use a backface culled version instead of updating it.


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Alhambra's Roaring Summer of FunMarketing / Print
The Alhambra Shopping Centre asked us to devise a series of events and competitions across the summer of 2013, with a view to increasing the centre's overall footfall.
Roaring Summer Fun was one such event – two weeks of dinosaur-themed arts and crafts workshops in the centre, and competitions for children and families. The design work included a 2m tall backdrop, press advertising and competition entry materials.
Across the two week period, footfall at the centre was 0.4% higher than the previous year. The treasure hunt competition had over 300 entries and over 100 children entered their artwork for our colouring-in competition.


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I need to buy some cycling shoes but I'm concerned about the width of the toe box. I don't want a shoe that squishes my foot. Anybody know of/wear a cycling shoe that won't mess up my feet?
Views: 133
Go to your LBS and try a few pairs?
The brand KEEN has a wider toe box in all shoes they make. They are specifically designed like that. Their only "bike shoes" are the commuter style I believe though......
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IAHR, founded in 1935, is a worldwide independent member-based organisation of engineers and water specialists working in fields related to the hydro-environmental sciences and their practical application. Activities range from river and maritime hydraulics to water resources development and eco-hydraulics, through to ice engineering, hydroinformatics, and hydraulic machinery.
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Alessio Radice
Polytechnic University of Milan
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María Galanty, firstname.lastname@example.com
The mission of the
Experimental Methods and Instrumentation Committee (EMI)
is to promote new experimental methods, instruments, measurement techniques, and data analysis routines for both laboratory and field hydro-environment studies as well as to coordinate international activities in this dynamic area. Because of the diversity of measured hydraulic parameters and flow situations, a wide variety of methods and instruments have been developed. The advanced state-of-the-art instrumentation is followed by increasing expectations for data acquisition, which in turn results in the necessity of increased atomization of data collection and improvement of handling and processing of large data sets.
With respect to
laboratory systems
, special emphasis is given to the development of new capabilities for studying fundamental hydraulic phenomena and their interactions with other associated environmental processes such as aquatic ecosystem functioning. The central focus is on non-intrusive methods such as methods employing acoustic and optically-based instruments.
With respect to
field systems
, EMI activities emphasize design and implementation of multi-process and multi-scale observational and experimental studies, employing both remote and in-situ measurement techniques. Such studies incorporate the most advanced instruments connected in real-time data acquisition networks that can be linked to data models and numerical simulation tools, to underpin resource management policies.
To enhance implementation of new measurement technologies into research and practice, EMI continues its efforts in linking manufacturers, designers, and users (scientists and monitoring agencies).
Research Agenda
Laboratory systems:
Despite the need for robust and inexpensive hydraulic laboratory equipment, development efforts currently focus on developing tools to analyse fundamental hydraulic behaviour and their interactions with other associated environmental processes such as aquatic ecosystem functioning. This leads to the development of more accurate methods and instruments to analyse new properties.
Systems for field measurements:
Despite the fact that more accurate instruments and methods are also needed in the field to analyse new properties, the main goal is to develop systems that are economical and robust.
Installation of data-acquisition equipment in the field:
For almost all major river systems in the world, only insufficient data on their water resource and flow-behaviour exists. The missing data may be quite basic in developing countries or very specific in high industrialised nations (pollution, flood insurance problems, etc.). The operation and maintenance of reliable measuring stations need improvement. The cost of continuous data-acquisition needed for this type of data can become prohibitive. Authorities undertake great efforts to automate the measurement, transmission and analysis of water resources data.
The IAHR-Committee on Experimental Methods and Instrumentation provides an important link between manufacturer and users of these instruments. Particular action is needed in the testing of instruments, a field in which a new system of data-exchange should be set-up in the future. EMI offers a platform to distribute ideas for new solutions and knowledge about such instruments and methods. Efforts to establish the position of IAHR as a contributor to the efforts of international standardisation are being undertaken, based on the world-wide activities of the organisation.
Past events
HydroSenSoft2017: 1st International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software
, 28 Feb-3 Mar 2017, Madrid, Spain.
: firstname.lastname@example.com
1st EMI Workshop on Advanced measurement Techniques and Experimental Research W.A.T.E.R. 2016
, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium, 1-5 August 2016
W.A.T.E.R. Workshop on Advanced measurement Techniques and Experimental Research
, Oostende, Belgium, October 2nd to 6th,2017
Hydraulic Measurements & Experimental Methods Conference (HMEM 2012)
12-15 August 2012, Snowbird, Utah
Hydraulic Measurements & Experimental Methods Conference (HMEM 2007)
10-12 September 2007, Lake Placid, New York
Hydraulic Measurements & Experimental Methods Conference
28 July - 1 August 2002, Colorado, USA. From: Cliff Pugh, Co-Chair US Bureau of Reclamation, Mail Code D-856O, P.O. Box 25007, Lakewood, CO 80225-0007, USA. Tel: +1 303 445 2151 / Fax: +1 303 445 324 or e-mail:
Hydraulic Measurements & Experimental Methods Conference
Buffalo, New York
International Conference on Vibration Measurements by laser Techniques & Short Course
5th International Conference on Vibration Measurements by laser Techniques & Short Course on "Vibration Measurements by Laser Techniques"
June 18-21, 2002. Ancona, Italy. Contact A.I.VE.LA. Secretariat:
4th International Conference on Vibration Measurements by Laser Techniques & Short Course on Laser Vibrometry
, Ancona, Italy, June 20-23, 2000. Dipartimento di Meccanica, Ancona University, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy. E-mail:
, Nürnberg, Germany, May 13-15, 1997. From: ACS Organisations GmbH, P.O. Box 2352, D-310506 Wunstorf, Germany.
2nd International Conference on Vibration Measurements by Laser Techniques,
Ancona, Italy, September 23-25, 1996. From Prof. Tomasini, Conference Chairman, Dept. of Mechanics, University of Ancona, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy.
International Conference on Physical Modelling of Transport and Dispersion,
August 7-10, 1990. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, E.Eric Adams, MIT 48-25, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
International Symposium on Modelling Soil-Water-Structure Interactions
, Delft, The Netherlands, August 29-September 2, 1988, 514 pages, Euro 115.50, US$ 136. A.A. Balkema Publishers.
International Symposium on Scale Modelling
, Tokyo, Japan, July 18-22, 1988. 437 pages. Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Sanshin Hokusei Bldg, 4-9, Yoyogi 2 chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Short course on discharge and velocity measurements
, Zürich, Switzerland, August 26-27, 1987. Ed. A. Müller, 1988, 216 pages, Euro 104.50, US$ 123. A.A. Balkema Publishers.
International Symposium on Scale Effects in Modelling Sediment Phenomena
, Toronto, Canada, August 25-28, 1986, 2 vols, Members: NLG 80; for non members: NLG 100, IAHR Secretariat.
IAHR Symposium on Measuring Techniques in Hydraulic Research
, Delft, the Netherlands, April 22-24, 1985, Ed. by A.C.E. Wessels. Hardbound 288 pages, Euro 104.50, US$ 123. A.A. Balkema Publishers.
Events with EMI-Involvement
2nd International Symposium on Hydraulic Modeling and Measuring Technology
,Nanjing, China, May 30 - June 1, 2018, Contact: Ms. Feng Sun (firstname.lastname@example.com),
Post conference report
CEDREN HydroPEAK Seminar on Experimental Methods in Hydraulics. Gaining Data for the Future. Norway, 11 June 2014
9th International Symposium on Ultrasonic Doppler Methods for Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Engineering (ISUD-9), Strasbourg, France, 27-29 August 2014
European IAHR Congress
in Munich, Germany, June 27 - 29, 2012
IAHR World Congress
in Brisbane, Australia, June 26 - July 1, 2011
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting
, December 13-17, 2010
XXX International School of Hydraulics
, Wiejce, Poland, September 14- 17, 2010
International Symposium on Hydraulic Physical Modelling and Field Investigation
, Nanjing, China, September 13-15, 2010
River Flow 2010
, Braunschweig, Germany, September 8-10, 2010
Gravel-Bed Rivers VII Conference
, Tadoussac, Canada, September 6- 10, 2010
European Congress of the IAHR
, Edinburgh, Scotland, 4– 6 May 2010
International Symposium on Ultrasonic Doppler Methods for Fluid Mechanics and Fluids Engineering
Gothenburg, Sweden April 7-9 2010
National Telford Institute Workshop - Advances in Flow, Density and Sediment Measurement Techniques in the Laboratory and the Field, University of Dundee, UK, October 5-6, 2009
EOS Topical Meeting on "Blue" Photonics – Optics in the Sea
, Aberdeen, Scotland, August 18-19, 2009
33rd IAHR World Congress
, Vancouver, Canada, August 10 - 14, 2009
XXVIII International School of Hydraulics
, Krag, Poland, September 23 - 26, 2008
6th International Symposium on Ultrasonic Doppler Methods in Fluid Engineering and Fluid Mechanics
, Prague, Czech Republic, September 9 - 11, 2008
River Flow 2008
, Cesme-Izmir, Turkey, September 3 -5, 2008.
Workshop on erosion testing methods and techniques for cohesive sediments: University of Stuttgart, Germany, May 27 -28, 200
Aberle, J. (2010). "Book review: River training and sediment management with submerged vanes."
J. Hydraul. Res.
48(4), 553-554.
Kashyap, S., Doutreleau, B., Bou-Botros, G. Rennie, C.D, and Townsend, R. (2010). "A semi-permanent method for fixing sand beds in laboratory flumes."
J. Hydraul. Res.
, 48(3), 377-382.
Muste, M., Mervade, V., Kim., D., Maidment, D., and Whiteaker, D. (2010). "Data models for multi-dimensional representation of the river processes." Hydrolink 4(2010), 58-59.
Nezu, I., Di Cristo, C., and Rennie, C. (2010). "10 Questions to Prof. Iehisa Nezu." Hydrolink 4(2010), 60-61.
Rennie, C. (ed.) (2010). "A special 75th IAHR anniversary issue of Hydrolink." - Hydrolink 4(2010).
Rennie, C.D. and Church, M. (2010). "Mapping spatial distributions and uncertainty of water and sediment flux in a large gravel bed river reach using an acoustic Doppler current profiler."
J. Geophys. Res.
, 115, F03035, doi:10.1029/2009JF001556, 2010.
Rennie, C.D. and Hay, A. "Reynolds stress estimates in a tidal channel from phase-wrapped ADV data."
J. Coastal Res.
, 26(1), 157-166.
Nikora, V. Book Review: "Streamflow measurement" by Reginald W. Herschy, 3rd edition, 2009, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London and New York, ISBN 978-0-415-41342-8. 507 pp.,
J. Hydraul. Res.
(in print).
Fujita, I., Muste, M. and Hauet, A. (2009). "LSPIV – a Powerful Tool for Measurements in Hydroscience." IAHR HYDROLINK 5/2009, 72-73.
Aberle, J. (2008). "Measurement techniques for the estimation of cohesive sediment erosion." Publs. Inst. Geophys. Pol. Acad. Sc., E-10 (406).
Rennie, C.D. and Rainville, F. (2008). "Improving precision in the reference velocity of ADCP measurements using a Kalman filter with GPS and bottom track."
Hydraul. Eng.
Zhang, Z., Bao, X., Rennie, C.D., Nistor, I., and Cornett, A. (2008). "Water wave frequency detection by optical fiber sensor."
Optics Communication
, 281(24), 6011-6015.
Clunie, T.M., Nikora, V., Coleman, S.E., Friedrich, H., Melville, B.W. (2007). "Flow measurement using flying ADV probes."
J. Hydr. Eng.
, 133(12), 1345-1355.
Cowen, E.A., Hill, D., George, C., Jirka, G., Muste, M., Admiraal, D.M., Blake, A., Frizell, W., Nakato, T., Oberg, K., Pugh, C., Rehmann, C., Rennie, C., Schmidt, A.R., Styles, S., Vermeyen, T., Wahl, T., Zhu, D. (eds.) (2007). Hydraulic Measurements & Experimental Methods Conference - 2007, Book of Extended Abstracts of the Specialty Conference. September 10-12, 2007, Lake Placid, NY, Environmental & Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the International Association of Hydraulic Engineers.
Muste, M., Vermeyen, T., Hotchkiss, R., and Oberg, K. (eds.) (2007). Special Issue of the
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
(ASCE) 133(12) on Acoustic Velocimetry for Riverine Environments published in December 2007
Muste, M., Vermeyen, T., Hotchkiss, R., and Oberg, K. (2007). "Acoustic velocimetry for riverine environments."
J. Hydr. Eng.
, 133(12), 1297-1298.
Rennie, C.D., Rainville, F., and Kashyap, S. (2007). "Improved Estimation of ADCP Apparent Bed-Load Velocity Using a Real-Time Kalman Filter."
J. Hydr. Eng.
, 133(12), 1337-1344
6th International Conference on Hydroinformatics, Singapore, June 21-25, 2004, World Scientific Publishing
2000 Hydroinformatic Proceedings
. The Conference proceedings of the 4th International Conference held from 23-27 July 2000 in Iowa, USA, contain a book (333 pages of abstracts) and full text of all papers on a CD-ROM
Related Links
Community Area (only for members)
Directory of Members
EMi Website
Hydrographic Catalogue
Terms and Conditions
Contact Us


text:
Blu-ray &Entertainment Steven Kippel on 11 Apr 2008
Pixar films to appear in 3D starting next year
Pixar films to appear in 3D starting next year
Walt Disney Company announced on Tuesday that Pixar has committed to release all of their films in 3D format beginning next year with Up. Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter is very excited about 3D technology and even made an animated short in 1989 called Nickname. "My wedding pictures with my beautiful wife Nancy were [even] made in 3-D," he said.
Even though Pixar sells tickets without fail, 3D films have drawn two to three times the sales at $3 or more per ticket. If you do not have a digital cinema nearby, these films will also be released in traditional 2D.
While I'm also excited to see traditionally hard-drawn animation coming from Walt Disney Animation Studios (The Princess and the Frog Christmas 2009), I'm also excited about the upcoming Pixar movies which will all appear in 3D beginning May 2009. Unfortunately Wall-E will not be in 3D.
Aside from the previously mentioned Up, Pixar is planning Toy Story 3 for June 2010, Newt summer of 2011, The Bear and the Bow Christmas 2011 and Cars 2 for the summer of 2012.
In addition to the new films, Disney is planning to convert the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2 to 3D! I hope they release them to theaters as well!
While DVD and HD DVD do not support 3D, Blu-ray does. We can expect to see these at home as well. Truly brining the theater home
Source: KomoTV
One Response to "Pixar films to appear in 3D starting next year"
on 11 Apr 2008 at 5:49 PM 1.MovieFreak said …
Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter is very excited about 3D technology: "My wedding pictures with my beautiful wife Nancy were [even] made in 3-D,†he said.
How about the honeymoon? *sniggers*


text:
*1007: Tsst*
Moderator: Big-Will
*1007: Tsst*
When Cartman's mom realizes she can't control her son anymore, she gets help from an expert. The "Dog Whisperer" may have what it takes but Eric Cartman's not going down without a fight.
Dont ever leave me Jesus I couldnt stand to see you go
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Levani wrote:"scott tenorman must die" and "cat orgy" both were great.no need to hate episode just because you hate the charachter for personal reasons.
Yeah, I hate him , but not so madly as the Artist Formerly Known as Mewster does
But look, I've said that most of the Cartmancentric episodes are good. And Cartman himself is very useful character for the show so he must not die . I think the two above-mentioned ones are bad just because "CO" was the first really boring episode in the show, and in the "STMD" M&T IMHO went too far with Cartman's evilness (and did not humiliate him in the end like they did repeatedly in similar cases).
Shtaad, boded but shtaad ©
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text:
Bleeding Cool's Kickstarter Correspondent, Shawn Demumbrum has lead three Kickstarter campaigns to launch comic books, two successfully funded and one that wasn't. Each week he will point out some of the unique Kickstarter projects that wouldn't normally be published by the big comic book companies, but deserve your attention. Shawn's current project Break the Walls: Stories Inspired by the Songs of the Pixies is also being funded through Kickstarter.
Full Disclosure I've been a fan of Travis' work since 2006 when I met him at San Diego Comic-con. I've also contributed to his first volume of The Bean that he funded through Kickstarter last year.
Now that that's out of the way. Let's clear the air about something that I'm sure everyone who is googling your name right now has on their mind. Do you also model underwear?
I want you to know Shawn, that I am laughing right now. No, I am not an underwear model.
I'm glad we cleared that up. How long have you been working on Bean? Is the fantasy genre always something that you wanted to work with?
I have been working on Bean for about 10 years in one form or another. I have always loved the fantasy genre. I grew up on Elfquest, Lord of the Rings, Bone and so many other great stories that it is really the only medium that I have wanted to work with.
When I met you in 2006, you had made the decision to move the Bean from comics to a prose novel with illustrations? What was behind that decision and why did you ultimately decided to turn it into a webcomic?
Bean actually started as a webcomic in 2002, jumped to an outdated indy comic, and into a prose novel, before I returned it back into a webcomic. I was listening to a lot of different people and ended up feeling very lost. It wasn't until I returned to my roots and listen to my own gut feeling that I should return my story to a webcomic, that I found my stride. It was the right choice and it has only grown. Honestly, the main reason I returned to a webcomic, when all other ways failed, was so that I wouldn't give up on my dream.
How much did the Phil Foglio web to print edition model for Girl Genius influence your decision for the Bean?
Actually not much. It was Jeff Smith, William Stout, Stan Sakai and James Owenthat really helped me decided to do a print version of the Bean. They're business model and work ethics were some of the main driving forces behind taking the Bean to print.
Prints seem to be a highly profitable and popular artistic outlet at conventions now. Most of them focus on the use of Superhero characters, but you created a business on prints based upon characters in your own "universe". I look at you and Daniel Davis of Steamcrow as two of the successful artists who have done this at a time when prints weren't popular. How have you been able to build up that business and create a fan base?
I learned a long time ago that there are many other stories that I want to tell, but I can't because of my commitment to Bean. These prints allow me to tell them and people love the fact that each print is it's own stand alone story. I don't do superheroes because everyone else does. I do my own stuff because it allows me to connect with those that might not be interested in my books. I like that connection it creates and it helped me find an entirely new audience. Daniel and I work off the same model, where we are establishing ourselves as unique artist with our own ideas and not feeling we have to lean on someone elses work to make a buck.
A lot of creators shy away from free sketches at comic conventions because of the Ebay market for con sketches, but you actually give hundreds of sketches out every convention as part of your market research. What is your con record for sketches? Talk about how you data mine your con market research?
My record, well we figured in the last 10 years I have done over 20,000 free quick sketches. They are not m
asterpieces- just a quick sketch. I meet some of the most awesome people out there. The kids love it as they try to stump me with ideas, which in return gives me some fantastic ideas for prints. My robot fish print came from a sketch at a con years ago. I have learned that by willing to give a little back, people appreciate that and in return appreciate you more as an artist.
You received an Eisner nomination for the Bean. Do you see that as a validation of your work or a challenge to push your work to meet the expectations of the nomination?
Thank you, it was a great surprise. I see it as both. One it validates that Bean is on the right track, and two it pushes me to do better and better. I want the story to grow and improve. I love the challenge that the nomination brought for me to up my game.
Congratulations on your third successfully Kickstarter campaign. You've already bypassed your goal in a personal best record time and are pushing to improve the quality of your product with additional donations. I've noticed that most successful Kickstarter projects either have a big buzz around them or a loyal fan base? Which would you consider the basis of your success?
Thank you again, I was blown away that we hit the first goal in 54 hours. I think the reason is in-part of my fans, I have a strong fan base, now. They are very supportive and I have found that the best way for a Kickstarter comic campaign by a single creator to work is to make sure the fan base is there first before you launch. Webcomics are the new indys and you have to be patient. Once it takes off, you have even more pressure to be consistent with updates and constantly interact with your fan base. I am very grateful for my fans, they have really shown their support for the Bean.
Now you've reached your goal, what are you doing to push beyond that goal?
Finishing the book. Actually I have created some cool incentives. When we hit the $10,000 mark, I will add more pages. At the $20,000 mark, I will print a very special book of Bean artwork- that will mail with each hardcopy. I want people to feel that they are getting something for their donations."
Your "trailer" for the Bean trades is slick, but I've always liked the videos that have the creator talking about their projects passionately. Will we ever see the "real" Travis Hanson in a Kickstarter video?
Thank you, I had to learn flash in a week. One day I will do a video with the real Travis Hanson, I am just really camera shy."
Travis, thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. If you haven't checked out his Kickstarter project, you can find it here. Or check out Eisner nominated The Bean here.


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Q Are all photos taken by you?
A Yes, all photos are taken by me unless something else is stated.
Q Can I use your photos on my blog?
A Yes, but only if you give credit where credit is due.
Q Can I repost your recipes?
A No, you may link back to my blog. But I spend a lot of time to create new recipes and I'm sure you understand why I want them to stay on my blog.
Q: What does "dl" stand for? Is that the same measurement as cups?
A: No, dl stands for deciliter. I'm creating all my new recipes in grams. However, there are great conversion sites available if you need them for the older recipes. Such as this site. Same thing applies for degrees in Celcius. I don't use Fahrenheit, so you will have to convert from C degrees to Fahrenheit.


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Project communications in offshore projects--best practices and lessons learned
Modern day IT project managers are challenged with the task of delivering projects with project teams that span across continents. Projects delivered across the globe can be of varying sizes, but the problems with project communications are the same in every project. Project communications challenges are not just limited to crosscultural practices, but are also present with reference to resources, technology, security and project scope. Managing communications across the globe requires managers to be sensitive to cultures and to establish or evolve communication processes in line with the project progress to ensure project success. This presentation discusses in detail the tools and techniques used by a project manager to manage the complex task of project communications across the globe. The best practices and tools used by his project team are not very common in project management. This presentation examines the effectiveness of the tools he has used, how they are customized for particular projects, and how this customization is critical to the project success. This presentation doesn't prescribe methods of communications but provides practical tips and tools successfully deployed by an organization to innovate in the process of project communications. Effective communications within the project enables the project team to innovate, which is critical to the continued success of the project. This approach enabled the project manager to deliver highly complex projects on time, within the projected budget and with a simple implemental solution, "Making it Easier" for the organization. Project communications strategy continually evolves with the project and managing that process is one of the critical success factors for a successful project management professional.
According to Upadhye (2007), "Today, 73% of Fortune 2000 companies say offshoring is an important part of their overall growth strategy. Gartner predicts worldwide offshore spending will reach $50 billion in the year 2007."
Such a statement highlights the criticality of a comprehensive and integrated corporate IT offshoring strategy, and the direct bearing that execution of that strategy will have on any corporation's growth and bottom line.
Traditional IT offshoring programs center on application development, application maintenance and infrastructure services. Today's IT program manager has the added tasks of working within the corporate offshore delivery model and managing the global development and support teams, and delivering the expected cost savings and business value underlying the corporate offshoring strategy.
This presentation highlights the numerous and varying factors that contribute to the success of any offshore project, as presented though this program manager's captured best practices and lessons learned.
Typical Challenges of Managing an Offshore IT Project
According to Hatch (2005), "Moving offshore is a major operational paradigm change. Project management style, issues, challenges, and pace will all change for your onshore team."
As is with any paradigm change, managing that change requires detailed understanding of the potential impact to the organization and its stakeholders. Such impact could vary from newly extended employee work hours associated with working with an offshore team, to morale and communications issues across the program team. Failure of any IT program, whether executed by means of an offshore or onshore delivery model, typically is rooted in common IT- or business-related delivery issues and constraints. With an offshore program though, the "remoteness" associated with managing a global team presents a fundamental challenge to the program manager: visualizing the details of the work being performed. This challenge alone may reduce the confidence of the program manager, the program team and the business stakeholders. These factors result in offshore outsourcing programs placing an even greater premium on efficient planning and controls. There are greater risks associated with the offshore projects.
Core challenges and risks associated with managing an offshore IT program include:
- Lack of shared social context between the project teams
- Need to establish and enforce processes around project governance, management and communications required to provide transparency within the offshore services
- Need to facilitate teamwork and efficiency through active management of perceptions relating to culture and people.
The challenges listed above cause anxiety by the way they bring in the fear of the unknown. A lot of challenges can be overcome by understanding the framework of the offshore project.
Framework View of the Offshore IT Projects
A lot has been said about why and how IT offshore programs succeed or fail. Babu (2006) details an offshoring management framework that collectively represents IT services and roles that are commonly executed within an offshore program. Babu attempts to address some of the most common managerial issues and challenges, and his framework may be used as a frame of reference for planning projects spanning geographic and cultural boundaries.
Exhibit 1 – Framework View of the Offshore IT Project
Exhibit 1 identifies Babu's four layers of the offshore project. The importance of each layer to the project success is defined below:
- Governance Layer—Executive management, who sponsors the project
- Management Layer—Middle management, who runs the project
- Project Execution Layer—Where the work actually happens
- Communication Layer—Medium by which all of the above layers integrate to deliver the project
Communication is the binding layer for the successful execution of any offshore project. The project manager is the hub of communications and that person's ability to communicate globally will determine the success or failure of the project or program. As we all know, the number of communication channels increase as we increase the team members, and communication complexity increases with geographical distance.
Presented topics within the following segment include:
- How to apply the PMBOK® Guide principles of communication management to ensure project success
- What are the communications challenges in the offshore project
- What are the cultural differences between the U.S. and India
- Best practices and lesson learned in communicating with offshore teams
Applying Project Management Principles in Offshore Project Management
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge Project Management Institute, 2004) provides detailed processes for managing communications within a project environment (p. 221). These processes are scalable and work well for managing the offshore project. Project communications management processes provide critical links between the associates working for the project and the information relating to the projects:
- Communications Planning—Identify the stakeholders and information that needs to flow between the project teams onsite and offshore.
- Information Distribution—Plan and identify the methods of information distribution. Typical distribution channels include the project shared drive, e-mails and the communications methods by which the offshore team would like to receive project-critical details such as scope/requirements and project design/architecture reviews. Common methods could include one-on-one reviews with the requirements analyst and the offshore project manager or participation in the requirements elicitation meetings.
- Performance Reporting—Use offshore project reports to communicate overall project progress to the various stakeholders and to emphasize the risks associated with not complying to the defined schedule.
- Manage Stakeholders—Identify the stakeholders critical to the project success at offshore sites and distribute the performance reporting. This ensures that the right level of understanding of project progress is available to all levels of the offshore project management.
Project Communications Challenges
Henry Ford said, "If there is any great secret of success in life, it lies in the ability to put yourself in the other person's place and to see things from his point of view – as well as your own." (ThinkExist, 2006)
Henry Ford said this even before offshoring as a strategy was in place. This is very true even in the 21st century, where the business models have evolved. As is with any other interpersonal skill, communication is a challenge in fast-paced environments, with their various interfaces, corporate complexities and matrices of relationships.
It is always challenging to put ourselves in the other person's shoes. It is also challenging in the case of an offshore project team. The challenges here are mostly due to:
- Differences in culture and business etiquette
- Differences in time zones
- Finding the best time of day to communicate
Culture influences anywhere from 25% to 50% of our attitudes (class, race, gender, religion, age and so forth). Culture is also one of the five risk areas that Gartner says organizations must think about before going offshore. From the above statistics, we can appreciate the importance of culture in the project communications and hence the project success.
The sections below discuss cultural differences between the U.S. and India and how each influences day-to-day interactions that influence the project. The objective is to provide insight to the cultural context in which communication happens and what can be done to improve the communication.
Understanding Culture
Hofstede (2005) measures the cultural compatibility between various cultures using the following indexes:
- PDI (Power Distance Index)
- IDV (Individualism)
- MAS (Masculinity)
- VAI (Uncertainty Avoidance)
Hofstede explains how the various factors defined above are critical to understanding and communicating between cultures. Exhibit 2 gives a graphical representation of the various indexes and their relative scores between the U.S. and India.
Exhibit 2 – Cultural Comparison between US and India
PDI (Power Distance Index) – the PDI score relates the degree of equality or inequality between people in a country's society. A high PDI score indicates that inequalities of power and wealth exist in a country, whereas in low-scoring countries, there is more social equality.
In a country with a high PDI score, one might find the following:
- The relationship between senior management and subordinate is rarely close or personal
- Those in authority openly demonstrate their rank
- Subordinates are not given important work and expect clear guidance from above.
IDV (Individualism) – the individualism score is the degree to which a culture values and reinforces the importance of the individual as opposed to the group. A high-scoring country will view individuality and individual rights as critical. Low scoring countries will value the group, such as the family or tribe. In a country with a low IDV score, one might find:
- The rights of the family (or the common good) are considered to be more important.
- Rules provide stability, order, obedience.
- "We" is more important that "I"
MAS (Masculinity) – Masculinity is the degree to which a culture reinforces the traditional role of males and females. A high-scoring country will have a more acute degree of gender differentiation, whereas in low-scoring countries there is less differentiation and discrimination between genders:
- Personal questions are general rather than intrusive.
- In business dealings trust weighs more than projected profit margins and the like.
- Nepotism is seen as a positive and people openly show favoritism to close relations.
VAI (Uncertainty Avoidance) – uncertainty avoidance is the level of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity within a culture. A culture with a high uncertainty avoidance score will have a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. This is shown by the culture being more a rule-oriented society that institutes laws, rules and regulations. A low-scoring country is less concerned about ambiguity and uncertainty and is less rule-oriented, more ready to accept change, consider new ideas, and take more and greater risks. Countries and cultures with high VAI usually:
- Have a long history
- Have a population that is not multicultural, that is, it is homogenous
- Avoid risks in business, even calculated ones
- Have difficulty introducing new ideas and concepts.
Understanding the cultural components of communication gives program and project managers valuable insights into how they can improve their team's attitudes and relationships with cultures different from their own.
Best Practices
Leverage the Organization Hierarchy and/or Processes
The best practice here is aligning the offshore and onsite teams in a way that binds the organizational (Vendor and Customer) Software processes together to ensure transparency and manage stakeholder communications.
Why Is This Important?
One of the many ways to counter the effect of cultural issues on the project communication is enabling of the organizational software processes. Organizational Software Processes range from heavy overhead to slight overhead, depending on the level of process maturity of the contracting organizations. The goal of using these processes in the context of project communications is to provide transparency and accuracy of project status, the absence of which is what causes most conflicts with the offshore vendor.
What Does It Take To Achieve This?
Most of the offshore vendors claim to a have high level of organizational software process maturity in the CMMI. For a project manager, any organizational software process leverage that can be obtained on the offshore team is critical to ensure transparency in the offshore software processes. In order to leverage the organizational processes of the offshore team, it is beneficial to understand the various models and the benefits they can bring to the project.
In a culture where processes and procedures are considered more important, it is critical that the project manager obtain and use this process leverage. Process leverage will benefit the project delivery and is critical to project success. Revisit the aligned processes at a defined frequency, such as every quarter. This quarterly review helps the project teams learn form the past three months and adjust processes as needed.
Why Is It Successful?
Any communication with the offshore team should take into consideration the hierarchical structure of the offshore organization and its value to onsite program success. This approach requires change in the way the project manager communicates with different organizations and with different teams. Managing communications in a hierarchical culture implies leveraging the organization hierarchy for effective communications. Offshore program managers are typically more senior than other team members and have had prior experience in working with Western cultures and corporations.
Effective processes are critical to the success of any offshoring engagement. An example of this is to communicate with the senior manager, who is normally a person experienced with multiple cultures. Knowing the senior manager in the offshore setup increases the leverage you can make in any environment, particularly in hierarchical culture such as in India.
How Do You Do It?
- Understand the offshore project Software processes at the start of the engagement
• Understand the offshore vendor's certification credentials
• Ask for a presentation of their software project processes Align the software processes with customer/onsite practices
- Understand the deliverables that are produced as part of their quality processes
• Ask the offshore project team to include the onsite processes in their project plan Establish direct communication with the senior management teams offshore
• Ask for the project sponsor from the offshore vendor side Establish a quarterly meeting with the executives
- Establish direct communication with the senior management teams offshore
• Ask for the project sponsor from the offshore vendor side
• Establish a quarterly meeting with the executives
Metrics to Measure the Success of These Processes:
- number of ideas generated by the offshore teams for overcoming project challenges
- number of process deviations reported by the offshore teams
- number of reviews with offshore executive teams
Proactive Communication
Proactive communication is the process by which the program or project manager takes ownership of delivering the message to the offshore team and ensures that there is understanding between the offshore and onsite teams.
Why Is It Important?
Lack of common understanding of the project's tasks and context is one of the reasons why offshore projects fail to deliver the value to the customers.
What Does It Take To Achieve This?
Take the initiative in communications. It takes two people to communicate. Change your perspective in communications and ensure that the message has been entirely understood. Explicitly state your assumptions. Ask for explicit statements of their assumptions also. Don't get frustrated. Every communication starts with trust. Measure the actions and not the presumed intent. Plan enough time for the offshore team to absorb the details. Allow overlaps between the working hours to ensure the communication flow is smooth between the teams across time zones. The project manager should ensure that communication happens.
Why Is It Successful?
Being proactive in communication enables you to understand the perspective of the offshore team and communicate along the same lines. This provides the project manager with insight in the project's progress, and hence, the confidence to handle the pressure from the onsite executive teams. This proactive behavior encourages open communications from the offshore teams.
How Do You Do It?
- Be patient in communications
• Take time to establish relationships with various team members and leaders
• Understand the cultural perspectives involved in communication
• Allow adequate time for the information to sink in with the offshore teams
- Train onsite teams about the importance of cross-cultural communications
Metrics to measure the success of this practice:
- Number of times the requirements clarifications happen in the project
- Number of questions raised by the offshore team during the discussions
Affirmative Trust with Appropriate Verification
Affirmative trust is the practice of placing faith in the offshore team even before fully knowing them. It is critical to believe that the offshore team is there to support you in achieving the business goals and your success. This will allow the program manager to engage in constructive discussions with the team.
Why Is It Important?
Humans are always the unknown. Not having a clear understanding of the offshore team's delivery capability and work ethics provides mixed emotions for the program or project manager. This have negative effects on person's decision-making ability. Negative feelings always bring negative results in the work environment.
What Does It Take To Achieve This?
"Trust but verify," said Ronald Regan at the height of Cold War. Trust in interpersonal communications is critical to the effectiveness of the communications in a distributed project environment. Trust has to be accompanied with a level of verifications. Trust and verification provide the program or project manager with increased confidence and support project decision-making processes.
Verifications can be in the form of validating the deliverables through reviews and testing, or getting a recap of progress from the meetings. In an offshore culture where "the boss is always right," giving orders and taking orders may give a wrong sense of comfort in meetings. Interactions of this type are likely to result in failure to meet project deliverables.
Define and design iterative methods to improve the deliverable's quality. It's always a best practice to have the interim deliverables provided to you. Ask the offshore teams to review the requirements and provide feedback. Ensure that offshore process documents, such as quality review documents, are visible to all who need them, so process reviews occur at the right levels.
Why Is It Successful?
This practice covers both the interpersonal aspects of the communication and the metrics of project deliverable quality. Having affirmative trust ensures that you are able to handle the feelings raised among onsite team members toward the offshore teams. As we all know, most of the challenges with offshore projects are more due to cultural perceptions than to what is actually occurring in the project.
How Do You Do It?
- Communicate the overall program objectives, achievements and statuses to the offshore project team
- Be supportive of the offshore team in meetings
- Ensure that metrics relating to deliverables are discussed with clear responsibility; for example, when discussing the number of defects, clear responsibility should be given relating to reducing defects
- Provide the right visibility into any quality issue for the offshore team
Metrics To Measure Success of This Practice:
- Number of times the offshore team has met the expectations
- Number of issues reported onsite about offshore deliverables
Lessons Learned in Communicating with Offshore Teams
Personality Clashes
Personality clashes are one of the primary reasons for any project team dysfunction. Personality clashes occur irrespective of the nationality or the location of the teams. The primary reason for personality clashes is a lack of effective leadership skills at the project management level. Differences in behavior styles, attitudes, beliefs and opinions are some of the sources of the personality clashes.
Overly Assertive
"Assertiveness means the ability to express your thoughts and feelings in a way that clearly states your needs and keeps the lines of communication open with the other" (Ryan & Travis 2004 p. 224). However, before you can comfortably express your needs, you must believe you have a legitimate right to those needs.
Assertiveness is different from aggressiveness only in the eyes of the person with whom you are communicating. If the receiver of the communication feels that the communication is aggressive, it probably is. Perceived aggressiveness toward the offshore teams always results in reduced project deliverable quality and increased project conflicts. Aggressiveness normally generates negative emotions in the receiver. In a culture where groups play a more vital role than the individual, it is very important to address the team with appropriate sensitivity.
Program communications must be as dynamic as the people and processes associated with any offshore delivery model. Communication challenges within and across a global team are unique and multifaceted, yet the continued growing corporate dependency on the offshore delivery model requires program managers to learn from offshore success stories and develop a customized strategy that best suits their program needs. This presentation strived to highlight such best practices and lessons learned, while detailing pragmatic steps a program manager can take to incorporate such real-world experiences.
Altwies, D. (2006). Overcoming team dysfunctioning. Retrieved March 7, 2007 from http://mydlc.com/pmitb/PMITampaBayPresentation101606.pdf
Babu, K. M. (2005, December), Managing and implementing outsourced projects: Using an offshoring management framework. Retrieved June 28, 2007 from http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/outsourcing/story/0,10801,107069,00.html?SKC=outsourcing-107069
Babu, K. M. (2006). Offshoring IT services: A framework for managing outsourced projects. New Delhi, India: Tata McGraw-Hill, India.
de Baar, B. (2007) Keeping in touch with offshore programming projects. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from http://www.softwareprojects.org/offshore-programming.htm
Bean, M. (2003). The mystifying IT project manager. Retrieved May 05, 2007 from http://www.certmag.com/articles/templates/cmag_howto.asp?articleid=99
George, T. (2006). Tracking the evolution of IT: Why offshoring fails. Retrieved June 10, 2007 from http://www.itmanagersjournal.com/feature/10536?theme=print
Hatch, P. (2005) Offshore 2005 research: Preliminary findings and conclusions. Retrieved May 11, 2007 from http://www.ventoro.com/Offshore2005ResearchFindings.pdf
Hofstede, G. (2005). Trust and transparency across cultures. Retrieved July 6, 2007 from http://www.info.wau.nl/people/gertjan/presentations.htm
Hofstede, G. (2005). Intercultural Communication Articles. (n.d.). Retrieved June 7, 2007 from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles-intercultural.html
Julian, J. (2006). Managing virtual teams. Retrieved June 16, 2007 from http://www.pminyc.org/uploads/MCM20061015ManagingVirtualTeams.pdf
Kalakota, R. & Robinson, M. (2005). Offshore attrition: 7 strategies for recruiting and retaining IT employees. Retrieved June 8, 2007 from http://www.awprofessional.com/articles/printerfriendly.asp?p=390818&rl=1
Manivasager, P. (2004). Realizing the value of offshore sourcing. Retrieved February 2, 2007 from http://misrc.umn.edu/seminars/slides/U%20of%20MN%20MISRC%20Sept%2010final.pdf
Noble, S. (May 20 2005) Why offshore outsourcing projects fail. Retrieved March 7, 2007 from http://www.ebcvg.com/articles.php?id=732
Project Management Institute. (2004). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® guide) (2004 Ed.) Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Reagan, R. (n.d.). Retrieved June 8, 2007 from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/ronaldreag147717.html Self help brochures – Assertiveness. (n.d.) Retrieved June 10, 2007 from University of Illinois Counseling Center Web site: http://www.couns.uiuc.edu/Brochures/assertiv.htm
Ryan, R. S. & Travis, J. W. (2004) Wellness Workbook: How to Achieve Enduring Health and Vitality Berkley, CA: Celestial Arts, Ten Speed Press
ThinkExist (2006 Retrieved from http://thinkexist.com/quotes/henry_ford/
Upadhye, A. (2007). Risks, rewards, challenges and opportunities in offshore outsourcing. Retreived from http://www.sourceparadigm.com/whitepapers.htm
© 2007, Arunachalam Krishnasamy
Originally published as a part of 2007 PMI Global Congress Proceedings – Atlanta, GA, USA
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Sunday, July 29, 2007
Are all parents that noble?
Anyway, I have this relative. As her husband cannot give them money to feed themselves in their own place (in another state, I don't know where), the mother brought her 4 children back to her mother's house in Penang. Well, first of all, I am pretty pissed off thinking that the mother, knowing that her husband cannot feed them even with 2 children dares to give birth to two more and their age gap is realy small. Like a year or two only. And the boy unfortunately is a special child. Therefore she claims that she cannot work because she needs to take care of the kids as her mother cannot really take care of them.
Secondly, the thing I am angry about is the husband. He is a real irresponsible man. He brings shame to all fathers in the world. I seriously think that a man who cannot feed his wife and kids because he gambles or drinks or has concubine outside should not be respected as a man. I heard that he spends his money drinking and gambling and even treating his friends which eventually put him in heavy debts and he cannot bring back money for the family. And now that the wife is back in Penang, he comes back once a week or something like that to see the kids. I don't think he deserve to be called a father. You have four kids at home waiting for you and if you love them, I think they wouldn't have to come to Penang. With his more than RM3000 salary (I think it is more. I am not sure), his daughter have to owe people money in order to buy her laptop. Don't tell me her daughter can't think for herself. I am leaving this out for now.
My family and I are very lucky because we have real nice relatives who brought us out of our problem but by the age of 7, my sisters 11 and 15, we took care of ourselves. My eldest sister brought us to school on the first day when I was 7. I can still remember my eldest sister bringing us on bus and she had to carry our books. My mum, on the other hand, worked to bring us up. Dad was not around but mum never gave up. If people were to say my relatives helped us, well, if my mum did not work, I bet even super relatives couldn't help us. My eldest sister and second sister are very responsible and we proved to them that we can live and we can be successful. We are now all successful in our own way. Mine is yet to be seen but it is coming. I hope. We get help but we did not act as though we are princesses. We stayed at home without our mother around each day after school. We do not go around mixing with people at our area which is a good news. That family however is super bad luck to have such relatives. RM5.00 of eggs also must count with them. The rich one don't care, the poor ones have no ability to even care. Seriously what is wrong with them?
Actually the thing that triggers me to to write this today is the fact that the father thinks it is alright. My grandma always buy something for them to eat because they are often left hungry at home because they do not have money to cook a decent meal. They said. Today, we bought 4 packets of Chicken Rice. One for the grandma, one for the grandchild, one for the mother and one more for my grandma. My grandma had hers and that father took TWO FREAKING PACKETS OF CHICKEN RICE!!! How inconsiderate? His wife got nothing to eat and the daughter had to share with her grandma. And according to the stories I heard from my grandma, the father can't even give the mother money and he dares to come and eat the rice. Just like few weeks ago, he ate the nasi kandar we bought for his daughters and wife. And his wife, said nothing. -.- If he was my dad, surely he kena tiger claws all over already. My mum will never let him. My mum always put us first. We are always important. My dad, as horrible as he can be, he will not eat all and leave us nothing. Perhaps we resemble our mother. =P Lil tigers. My dad is a weird guy, he once bought 20 'siew mai' for me and my sis and now, I hate 'siew mai'.
The mother, the father, the grandmother, the aunts. All don't know how to think one. I dread thinking how the kids will be when the two small ones grow older. I seriously against the idea of not letting the mother to work and earn her own income. If you get a very good husband then different story. Still, women should not stay at home and shut herself from the world outside. People changes. You can never know when your husband will. If you say trust is very important in the relationship then continue trusting your husband. The 2 weeks in China is just a work trip. Even if he has to go there like once every month. -.-
Women should not stay at home and not earn her own income. We must not depend on guys totally. We must stand on our own feet. If we do not have our own income, the husbands might think that we are weak, we cannot go anywhere but to be with him. So, WORK!! Want to stay at home take care of the kids?? Can. Earn USD from blogging like 5xMom la. Anytime earn more than working like mad outside and still have to see the boss punya muka. Never ever shut yourself out from the world, the fashion and your circles of friends. And earn some money so that you can survive on your own. Be independent, can?
ps: From a girl's point of view. No, she has not gone out there working and actually experience life in a whole but she strongly believes that women are NOT WEAK!
2 comments:
- 5xmom.com said...
I read and read so interesting. Tiba-tiba, aiks, masuk air! LOL. But sad fact is some women memang weak, no stand on their own and keep blaming 'fate'. And there are many of them out there.
- Mrs Chong said...
Yes. I really cannot tahan such person. Especially when she is a mom herself. For the sake of her children, why can't she work?? She often quarrel with her mother and refuse to cook. No one wants to cook and the kids eat what? Eat wind lo. If we buy for them, sometimes things like what happened last week happens, don't buy, the kids will not get anything to eat. Sometimes very geram. They should be helping themselves. If they don't help themselves, no one can help them.
When I was small, if my mum chooses not to work and sit at home with us everyday, I bet we won't be able to be who we are today. My mum worked so hard and provide us with lots of tuition classes, send us to school and make sure we do our part as her child. And seriously, my mum is someone I will look up to.


text: mhbullard 1 Report post Posted November 5, 2009 Has SDR been tested or qualified to run on Windows 7? I'd like to make sure that it will continue to work once I've upgraded from Vista. Has anyone tried it yet? Thanks, Matt Bullard Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


text:
first published on October 17, 2016 by Josh
According to ISIS propaganda Dabiq, a small town in Syria, is supposed to be the location of the final battle. All Muslims, and all Christians will apparently end up here punching it out just in time for Mohammed to return and smite the infidels. ISIS is supposed to be the vessel for that final battle. They are supposed to be the servants who deliver Mohammed onto the planet. Things changed.
Unfortunately for Daesh, this prophecy was written before the A-10 existed. In a blitzkrieg attack by Syrian rebels, backed by American air support, Dabiq has fallen. While it has fallen from the hands of one group of extremists, directly into another, at least we can say it no longer belongs to ISIS which is probably crushing morale throughout their forces across every nation that they are currently in.
Tell me I'm not the only one that thinks hearing these guys cheer on the A-10 just feels dirty. I love the BRRRT, but can't stand the victory cries these guys are making… Meh, either way, Dabiq falls and nobody in the world notices, except for ISIS, but those guys suck anyways.


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