Aircraft Maintenance Hanger Construction Bid

Aircraft Maintenance Hanger Construction Bid Introduction Many hangar projects are erroneously started in what should be the fourth step project execution. Bypassing the first three planning steps usually leads to frustration and project failure. There is no way to shorten the process by skipping any particular step. Planning the development of any construction site ultimately saves time, effort, and money. All of the project pre-planning and preparation to this point begins to pay off. During the project execution phase project manager completes the project design and funding, solicit bids, award the construction contract, build the hangars, and move in tenants. There will be changes that must be incorporated into the project plan (change in funding sources, regulations, stakeholders, size of project scope), and using the principles of project management can ensure the best possible outcome. This case is about the construction bid for an Aircraft maintenance hanger. ABC Construction Company is in the business of the Aircraft hanger construction. The company has bid for the construction of Aircraft hanger at one of the client site. The Project Manager of the ABC Construction Company has been entrusted with the responsibility of coming up with the project management plan for the entire construction. The following sections provide the baseline plan, progress of the activities against the plan on a given date (15/12/2010) and the efforts by the project manager to bring the plan to the original schedule. The second part of the task is to develop a project cost plan for the main contractors preliminaries associated with the construction of the aircraft hanger. When calculating the preliminary costs, following information is referred: NRM Group element 10 guidance Drawings of the Aircraft hanger Contractors master program The cost plan also discusses the implications of earned value techniques on the project as part of the project control process. The discussion also includes examples to illustrate the application of the earned value techniques in the management of the preliminaries costs. Finally, the value engineering process is conducted to the project, and a better deal is offered the client, which has a better value but at a lower price. The value engineering report prepared as part of this process demonstrates each step of the value engineering process. Time and resource planning and control Project scheduling Assuming the project starting date is of 06/09/2010, and 5 working days a week with Saturday and Sunday as holidays. Based on the tasks lists provided to you, Input activity information into Microsoft Project and schedule the hanger. Based on the schedule that you have generated using Microsoft Project, provide the following outputs: project schedule information (activity ID, activity description, activity duration, predecessors, skilled labor, unskilled labor, early start, early finish, late start, late finish, and total float); CPM network diagram; Bar charts; and Project resource profiles (skilled labor and unskilled labor). Program control By now, you should have developed your baseline schedule for the office building. As an exercise in monitoring and control, you will be required to monitor and control your project based on certain deviations from your initial project plan. Save your initial schedule plan as a baseline schedule and identify all the critical activities; Assume the current date to be 15/12/10 and induce delays into your project based on the following considerations: Due to the problem for the selection of the color of bricks, the hanger starts on 15/10/10 instead of 06/09/10; all activities in progress on 22/10/2010 are delayed by 3 days each; all activities in progress on 01/11/2010 are delayed by 5 days each; all activities in progress on 20/11/2010 are delayed by 2 days each; Update the project and save this as actual project information. After updating, please provide the following information Project schedule information (activity ID, activity description, activity duration, predecessors, skilled labour, unskilled labour, early start, early finish, late start, late finish and total float); Barcharts; Project resources profiles (skilled labour, unskilled labour); and Critical activity list. Do a comparison between both baseline and actual schedules. For comparison, you may compare activity start and finish dates under both situations. Since your project should have been delayed, it is your duty as a project manager to bring the project back on schedule with the least cost. Using 15/12/10 as a current date, try compressing some activities (these activities should not have started yet) and bring the project back on schedule. Compression should be logical and at a minimum cost. This may require several trials. Assume that the extra cost incurred as a result of activity compression is  £50/worker/day. After bringing back your project on schedule, please provide the following information: Project schedule information (activity ID, activity description, activity duration, predecessors, skilled labor, unskilled labor, early start, early finish, late start, late finish and total float); Bar charts; Project resource profiles (skilled labor, unskilled labor); and Critical activity list. Do a comparison between baseline, actual and updated schedules. For comparison purposes, you may compare activity start and finish dates under all situations. All the above details related to above questions have been entered into MS-Project and the three mpps are enclosed with the assignment. Cost Plan Develop a project cost plan for the main contractors preliminaries associated with the construction of the aircraft hanger. The Project cost plan includes the schedule of costs to be incurred during the project and the associated estimates. These are the costs which are expected to be incurred as a result of the completion of project activities. The schedule of activities and the resource plan feeds into the Cost plan and hence it is prepared subsequent to them. As a result of the project planning activities, the project manager is aware of the details regarding the project and hence the refinement of project budget can take place. This activity is particularly important when the project in full or part is expected to be executed under a contract. This is not to undermine the importance of accurate cost planning for the in-house projects as accurate and realistic cost plan helps in effective monitoring and of costs during the execution of the project. The monitoring of the cost helps the project manager to execute the project within the budget. Following three activities are important to develop the cost plan The expected cost identification and estimation Estimation of schedule when these costs would be incurred Cost per activity/task estimation The development of the cost plan for simple projects may only involve the consideration of the overall cost vis-à  -vis the project activities on the schedule of activities. Nevertheless, the situation is different for the complex projects, where, a detailed cost plan needs to be drawn in order to effectively monitor the overall expenditure. The NRM is also known as New Rules of Measurement. It provides a structured basis for preparing order of cost estimates and elemental cost plans including all the costs and allowances forming part of the cost of the building to the client but which are not reflected in the measurable building work. NRM covers the non-physical aspects of a project that the client may require as part of his overall budget for the project. NRM rules for order of cost estimating Information required Constituents Measurement rules Floor area Functional units Elements floor area, Element unit quantities Updating historic costs Preliminaries Contractors overheads and profit Discuss how earned value techniques could be employed on the project as part of the project control process including examples to illustrate their application to the management of the preliminaries costs. Earned Value Analysis (EVA) was developed by the US Department of Defence to determine the performance of large military procurement contracts. Its techniques can still be applied to the smaller projects currently in use today. Indeed, as Microsoft Project allows drilling down through and across a project, specific variances and general trends can be easily found. EVA looks at three basic parameters: What value of work SHOULD have been accomplished to date? How much value has been realized to date? How much has actually been spent to date? By comparing these parameters, an objective assessment of cost AND schedule performance can be gained. Instead of simply concentrating on how much time has been taken to achieve progress, earned value looks at how much value has been achieved so far. For example, take the following project summary task: This project started on time, but it is currently expected to finish 5 days late. This project is expected to overspend by $1,280 approximately 13% greater than its baseline cost. So far (as of the projects status date), the project is behind schedule to the value of $1,600 worth of work. In addition the current best estimates indicate that it will (if things continue as planned) overspend by $2,004, which is $725 more than forecast in the topmost example. Whilst these figures may not indicate large overspend or overrun, these figures are from a sample project containing ONLY seven tasks. If there were 70 tasks (or even several hundred tasks), the potential for error becomes much larger. Value Engineering Efforts to reduce the Cost Value Engineering is defined as an organized effort directed at analyzing the functions of systems, equipment, facilities, services and supplies for the purpose of achieving the essential functions at the lowest life cycle cost consistent with the required performance, reliability, quality and safety. Numerous other terms (value management, value analysis, etc.) are also used when referring to VE. While there are subtle differences among these terms they all refer to-generally the same process. There types of benefits associated with the VE exercise in the current case are First Cost Reduction: These reductions are attributed to the VE program only when required project functions or features can be delivered at the reduced cost. Simple cost cutting e.g. reducing cost at the expense of required features or functions is not VE. VE first cost reductions are counted as VE savings to the extent that dollars are withdrawn from approved budgets based on the results of VE studies. Life Cycle Cost Reduction: LCC reductions are based on the aggregate of first cost and anticipated future cost in maintenance and operations. When additional first cost is required to implement a specific VE suggestion, this can be offset by other VE suggestions which reduce initial cost. If the project budget must be increased to accommodate the additional investment, first cost savings derived from other projects may be used for this purpose after appropriate approvals. As long as they do not entail first-cost project budget increases, VE suggestions based on apparent life-cycle cost reductions may be adopted without formal LCC analysis. However, LCC reductions will be counted as VE LCC savings only when supported by sufficient economic analysis. Value Improvement: Value improvement is a subjective expression referring to a projected or apparent favorable shift in cost/worth ratio. The objective of all VE suggestions is value improvement, whether or not cost reductions are involved. VE suggestions maybe to reduce life cycle cost with no reduction or a lesser reduction in worth, to increase worth with no increase or a lesser increase in life-cycle cost, or (ideally) to increase worth and reduce cost. All VE suggestions which involve adjustments in worth should be related to specific forms of such adjustment (e.g., productivity, flexibility, expandability, aesthetics, etc.), whether or not they also involve cost adjustments. Following two studies were conducted as part of the VE exercise: The completion of Concept Design The completion of Tentative Design As it is a new construction projects, the first study at Concept Design is intended to review basic design decisions that pertain to areas such as: Siting and building orientation Building form, shape and massing Layout Occupiable to gross area relationships Design criteria Building systems selection options Space program options Building space/volume parameters Vertical and horizontal circulation Major Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing (MEP) considerations Overall energy considerations Site access/egress Overall phasing/scheduling plans (as appropriate) Sub-soil conditions and geological data Utility availability The second study at Tentative Design will focus on more detailed design decisions including (as applicable): Specific building system design Specification and performance requirements Proposed design details Layout options within overall building geometry Specific MEP system selections Site paving, grading and utilities Phasing and scheduling plans Major constructability issues The basic approach is intended to consider macro level issues at Concept Design and more micro level issues at Tentative Design. In general, decisions made as a result of the first study will not be reconsidered in the second study unless significant new information is available. Furthermore, design changes implemented as a result of the studies will generally be considered to be within the bounds of the normal design process. VE Job Plan The recommended VE methodology (Job Plan) used by the VE team during the Workshop had five distinct phases. Briefly, these phases are: Information Phase: During this phase, the VE team gains as much information as possible about the project design, background, constraints, and projected costs. The team performs a function analysis and relative cost ranking of systems and sub-systems to identify potential high cost areas. Speculative/Creative Phase: The VE team uses a creative group interaction process to identify alternative ideas for accomplishing the function of a system or sub-system. Evaluation/Analytical Phase: The ideas generated during the Speculative/Creative Phase are screened and evaluated by the team. The ideas showing the greatest potential for cost savings and project improvement are selected for further study. Development/Recommendation Phase: The VE team researches the selected ideas and prepares descriptions, sketches and life cycle cost estimates to support the recommendations as formal VE proposals. Report Phase: The VE consultant will work in concert with the A-E and the PBS representative to produce a preliminary written VE Report which is intended to represent the results of the VE workshop activities, and meet the VE Program objectives. Finally, post workshop, all the suggestions were collated and classified into three categories of high, medium and low complexity. The suggestions associated with the current projects were as follows Modification of architectural designs: The hangar roof was designed to be an opaque structure. This roof can be made transparent through the ample use of the transparent glass which would allow more volume of sunlight. The high amount of sunlight during the day would result in the low usage of electricity and hence reduction in the variable cost of the running the hangar. Substitution of building wall material: Building wall material is designed to be made up of steel which can be replaced with high grade brick. The brick would also keep the temperature under control within the hangar. Reuse of existing materials such as fencing: The material used in fencing can be reused in the construction activity as the fence would not be required eventually. Use of Solar power: The Solar power can be effectively used to heat the water as well as to provide the night time lighting. This would reduce the variable cost of running the hanger. References Cooks, Sarah (2002), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, PMI, 3rd Edition (PMBOK Guides) Public Procurement Directorate (2007), [Internet], Public Procurement best practices guide, Available at :< http://www.publicprocurementguides.treasury.gov.cy/OHS-EN/HTML/index.html?7_4_3_cost_of_project_development.htm>, accessed on: 25 May 2010 Homepage (2007), [Internet], Aircraft Hanger development guide, Available at :< http://www.aopa.org/asn/hangar-execution.pdf>, accessed on: 25 May 2010 Jack J. Champlain, Auditing Information Systems, Second Edition (2003), Pages 277, 278, 279 280, John Wiley Sons Publication. Mulcahy, Rita (2003), Risk Management, Tricks of the Trade ® for Project Managers, 4th edition, RMC Publications. Mulcahy, Rita (2003), PMP Exams Prep, RMC Publications. Rich, Jason R, Design and Launch an Online E-Commerce Business in a Week, Entrepreneur Press, 2008, ISBN: 1599181835, 9781599181837. Schwalbe, Kathy (2009), PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) reference and Information Technology Project Management, 6edition.

Brand Management Sara Lee: The Unno Launch Essay

1. What were Grupo Sans’ brands and what brand identity did they have? Grupo Sans, a leader in Spanish underwear market in 1970s and 1980s, was founded in 1960 in Matarà ³. Becoming a part of Sara Lee Corporation, the multinational company with the biggest at that time textile division in the world, in 1991, contributed to the growth and development of the company, and has led to the fact that 9 years later(in 2000) Grupo Sans’ income accounted for more than one-fourth of Sara Lee’ income in Spain. Source: Google Images Name Year Target Group Values Name Year Target Group Values Name Year Target Group Values Abanderado 1963. 1st underwear brand of Grupo Sans. Men and young boys. Was the market leader for men’s underwear in Spain by the year 2000. Traditional, solid, masculine, attractive price, best materials. Princesa 1969. 2nd underwear brand of Grupo Sans. Young girls and grown-up women. Traditional, feminine, attractive price, best materials. Princesa 1969. 2nd underwear brand of Grupo Sans. Men and young boys. Comfortable, sophisticated, attractive price, best materials. Love at first sight! As we can see, all 3 underwear brands of Grupo Sans shared the same values: to provide their customers with the highest quality product at an affordable price. A distinctive feature of the underwear of the group was conventionality of products, which was important for the main target audience: adults and the elderly. This led to the fact that although with existing brands Grupo 1 Sans managed to become the market leader in Spain with market shares of 35% in slips and boxer shorts, 45% in men’s T-shirts, 23% in women’s T-shirts, 15% in panties, and 37% in baby’s romper suits, there was a gap in target audience between 15 and 35, who perceived the underwear as too traditional and nonfashionable, and thus didn’t want to buy it. That, and several other factors, have led the management of the company to the decision to create a new, non-traditional and modern brand of underwear – Unno. 2. When and why was the Unno brand launched? The year 1994: Here comes digital era with cell phone and Internet businesses. A new generation of brands had appeared in Spain, all attacking the youth segment and bombarding it with new concepts, new technologies, and new brands. Suddenly the understanding comes that youth is the segment that consumes most and, with the advent of social networks and other modern means of Source: Google Images communication, represents opinion leaders. Meanwhile, Grupo Sans faced difficulties in achieving further growth due to static situation on domestic market, at which 90% of sales were made. Spain had the lowest birth rate in Europe and there was zero population growth. Moreover, underwear quality was constantly improving and it took longer for garments to wear out. That is why Group Sans had to target teens in underwear industry in order to increase profit and achieve further growth. It could be made by means of line extension of the group’s traditional brand (such as Abanderado, for example) or by creating a new brand, which would specially address young people aged 15 to 35. The problem with first choice was described by Josep Maria Sans: â€Å"Boys growing up wanted their own brand once they became teenagers. Abanderado couldn’t satisfy that need because the kids had worn the same brand as children and it was also what their parents wore. The same was true of the Princesa brand in the case of girls†¦Ã¢â‚¬  That is why in 1999 the company decided to adopt a new concept, and establish a new brand Unno which became successful due to several reasons: 1) Employing the seamless garments now possible with the new technology 2) Simple and understandable for teenagers brand name â€Å"Unno†, which communicated that the product was the first, the best and unique. 3) you?† 3. Was it really preferable to laungh the Unno brand than to ext end one of the existing brands (Abanderado and/or Princesa)? The marketing campaign, with slogan â€Å"Are you wearing it, or aren’t At the moment of the launch of the new line of underwear that used the new technology, Grupo Sans was facing a dilemma: should the new line be launched as an extension of one of the group’s existing brands (Abanderado, Princesa and Ocean) or should it be launched under an entirely new brand that the company would create from scratch? 3 Given the fact that Grupo Sans’ brands have a big share of the underwear market and both are well-known brands by the consumer, the initial thought would be to extend either of these brands to launch the new solution. However, as strong as these brands were at the moment of the launch, they were targeting very specific segments: while Abanderado targeted adult men and boys, Princesa targeted adult women and girls. This meant that, even if these brands were very successful in these segments, it could be hard to extend them onto other target segments such as the one Grupo Sans identified: young adults between 15 and 35 years old. This new segment didn’t want to wear any of the other brands because they saw them as â€Å"something their parents wear†, something uncool and boring. As the following positioning map shows, none of the existing brands could easily be extended to cover the targeted segment. Moreover, if one of the brands was to be repositioned in order to fit the new segmentation, its sales from existing customers could drop significantly. In addition to this, Grupo Sans wanted the new line to be perceived as something innovative and cool and decided to give the new line the highest priority in the company. Therefore, it made more sense for them to launch the new product and new technology under an entirely new brand: Unno. That way, they could focus on building the brand from scratch and making sure it was perceived the way they wanted. 4. How would you assess Unno as a brand name? Makes think of leader Brand â€Å"the first to do something† Unifies brands for women and men Short, â€Å"cool† name – just what teenagers want May lead to confusins â€Å"Unno† or â€Å"You no† in English, for example Unno – one piece Sounds Italian – this is good for fashion industry The goal of launching the Unno brand was to create a new product line that was perceived as something modern and innovative. We believe that the name Unno fits perfectly with this goal because of several reasons. First of all the word â€Å"Unno† is an alteration of the word Uno, which means one in Spanish. This is perfectly in line with Grupo Sans’ strategy for the new brand: to be the leader in the new technology and in the new segment they target. Moreover, it can be associated with being the first to get into this market, being the first mover. In addition to this, the brand â€Å"Unno† also signifies the unification of Grupo Sans’ male and female brands. As a name, Unno sounds cool and is short enough for people to remember easily. Young adults, Unno’s main target, will feel identified with the brand and the name will help them perceive the brand’s image. Moreover, the name sounds very Italian, which can be beneficial thanks to the positive perception of Italian fashion. Finally, the name â€Å"Unno† perfectly portrays the new technology Unno represents. A one-piece garment that feels like you are not wearing anything. It becomes one with your body. 5. What were Unno’s main communication objectives in 1999 and 2000? Why? Even though there were specific communication objectives in 1999 and 2000, the main objective of Unno’s advertising was to sell the concept of a one-piece garment that moulded to the body’s shape, didn’t leave marks, and stretched to fit. The brand was communicating the idea that comfort was the main product benefit, and that it was like not wearing anything at all. Unno’s communication was also aimed at achieving brand awareness for being the first and only brand selling this kind of product at that moment. But, advertising and commercials were not exactly the same in 1999 and 2000. In 1999, the year of the new product and brand launch, the main communication objectives were to inform about the benefits of the new technology used in the new product. The company focused on letting people know what were the benefits and the garment qualities of the Unno innovative underwear. These garment qualities were mainly that it was seamless and hugged well the body, so it was pretty well related to the idea of 6 â€Å"selling comfort† to people. In order to communicate all these features and create brand awareness, most commercials had a very long audio which exposed the main benefits of the new technology. Moreover, advertising was made using provocative images as to attract people’s attention and make them know the brand and the product. The year after, in 2000, something changed. The fact that they had ran out of stock, made the company feel that not as much communication efforts were needed, so they decided not to allocate as many resources as they did while the brand’s launch and to shorten the length of the audio in commercials. So, in general terms, communication changed in the sense that less was spent on it and adverts got short, but the slogan was kept the same as the company wanted to keep on communicating what were the productâ₠¬â„¢s benefits and to generate brand awareness. The reason why the company was communicating such things was mainly to educate customers about the new technology and its benefits, in order to make them first try the product and then wanting to change from the traditional underwear to the seamless and hugging one. They decided to communicate it in an innovative differentiated way, with the half-naked models in ads, to attract people’s minds in order to recognize the product and create brand awareness. This kind of advertising was done due to the fact that they were targeting the young people segment and had to find a non-traditional way to advert non-traditional underwear. On the pictures below we can see the kind of provocative advertising that the company was doing, as well as the slogans: â€Å"Are you wearing it or not?† â€Å"You’ll feel as if you’re wearing nothing†

The Burnout Athlete

Many athletes dedicate their lives to their sport; however, the human body cannot always handle the demands of sport. The general consensus among athletes is that you must work very hard in order to improve performance. For the most part, that assumption is true. Hard training places much stress on the body and makes a person weaker, and it is in the rest period where the gains are actually made. Overtraining is seen in athletes when sufficient rest is not included in their training program and their performance plateaus, and then eventually declines. This chronic debilitating syndrome is characterized most commonly by fatigue, the inability to exceed the former level of performance, and a decreased ability to recover. If an athlete continues to overtrain, it can ultimately lead to burnout, which is total mental, emotional and physical exhaustion, often resulting in early withdrawal from the sport environment. Burnout is characterized by loss of desire to play, lowered self-esteem, emotional isolation, increased anxiety and mood changes. In the following studies, psychologists have tried to determine what exactly causes repeatedly poor performances and the tendency for athletes to prematurely quit the sports they love. The study done in 1984 on the psychological burnout in high-level athletes, David Feigley notes the lowered quality of our national team programs due to high rates of dropout much before athletes reach their prime. He focused on elite adolescent athletes because their attrition rate is so high. Until this study was done, burnout was related mostly to job stress, but the findings were seen to be applicable to sporting situations. When bureaucratic management organizations were compared to sports programs, many similarities were discovered including hierarchical authority, rational authority, impersonal application of rules and the division of labour. In this study, Feigley refers to burnout as a condition produced by working too hard for too long in a high-pressured situation, accompanied by a progressive loss of idealism, energy and purpose that is often paralleled by a feeling of being locked into a routine. The individual displays a pattern of physical and emotional exhaustion involving the development of negative self-concepts and negative attitudes towards work, life and other people (Feigley, 1984). There were several characteristics that identified people as more susceptible to burnout including perfectionism, being other-oriented and lacking assertive interpersonal skills. His research found that burnout could be the result of demotivation occurring from the change and nature of feedback, the increasing need for autonomy, and the increasing awareness of the physical, competitive and social consequences of intense participation (Feigley, 1984). Feigley concludes that by diagnosing the symptoms early, recognizing susceptible individuals, and combating demotivators can assist in preventing and amending this disorder. In 1987, Morgan, Brown, Raglin, O†Connor and Ellickson, engaged in a study on the psychological monitoring of overtraining and staleness involving competitive university swimmers. Overtraining is seen as deliberate and important in endurance sports, which is the reason he chose the sport of swimming. The general procedure was a psychometric assessment using the Profile of Mood States (POMS), which measures relevant levels of mood, tension, depression, anger, vigour, fatigue and confusion. The POMS was administered to approximately 400 members (male & female) of the swimming team over a period of ten years within a realistic setting and training load, instead of one manipulated experimentally. They came to the conclusion that mood state disturbances increased in a dose-response manner as the training stimulus increased. The possibility that the changes in mood state could be attributed to something other than training for a competition like academic, economic or social stressors, led Morgan et al. (1987) to carry out an investigation using swimming and control groups. The findings supported the view that increased mood disturbance with overtraining is associated with the training stimulus rather than the other stressors. This study also looked at an aspect known as tapering and came to the conclusion that this reducing of the training load can be as effective as complete rest, if sufficient time is available. A few years later in 1990, Murphy, Fleck, Dudley and Callister examined the training loads of athletes in a controlled environment as opposed to the previous studies done during a usual training season. In monitoring psychological tribulations, this study used standardized clinical instruments, which hadn†t been used before as there has been little research done in this area. The objective was to discover psychological characteristics of overtraining. Athletes participating in judo at a United States Olympic Training Center were chosen for the study because of the high volume and intensity demands in their training programs. The subjects were monitored over a ten-week period consisting of three phases. They were assessed by use of psychological instruments such as the POMS, the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory, the Spielberger State-Trait Personality Inventory, the Derogatis Symptom Checklist and the Psychological Skills Inventory for Sport. An increase in negative mood states following an increase in volume training was not seen in this study as earlier ones have shown. The most reliable gauge used until this point had been the POMS score, but in this study there was no substantial change for the duration of the experiment. Another study was done in 1990, this time by John Silva in order to present conceptual models that define the nature of positive and negative adaptations to training stress using intercollegiate athletes involved in ten different sports. Since little was known about the prevalence of negative responses to training stress, what the athletes perceive as the causes and symptoms, and how often athletes experience negative training stress Silva decided to investigate it. He first divided training stress into three phases, staleness, overtraining and burnout. Staleness, which Silva defines as the initial failure of the body†s adaptive mechanisms to cope with the psychological stress created by training stimuli, was experienced by 72. 7% of the athletes, who perceived it as tolerable. Of the respondents, 66. 1% indicated that overtraining, as Silva describes, as the repeated failure of the body†s adaptive mechanisms to cope with chronic training stress, was bad to experience. The number who experienced the final phase of burnout, (the exhaustive psychophysiological response exhibited as a result of frequent efforts to meet excessive training demands), dropped to 46. 9% and was rated as being the worst effect of negative training stress. A few years later in 1994, Bo Berglund and Hans Safstrom engaged in a study, which monitored the psychological changes during training and racing seasons in fourteen world-class canoeists to determine whether mood disturbances are the result of an increase in training load. On the basis of distress markers, they also tried to titrate the training loads of the athletes during periods of hard training and tapering. Starting in the off-season, (when there was a low training load), and continuing until the end of the season, Berglund administered a Swedish version of the POMS, because previous research had consistently shown that mood responses are sensitive indicators of how well athletes can tolerate overtraining (Berglund, 1994). At the same time, the athletes were also asked on a weekly basis, to complete a training load rating test describing the previous week†s workouts. During the heavy training, the POMS score increased significantly to approximately 160, until the athletes reached the tapering period, where there was a significant improvement in mood state in which the score decreased to 120. The findings were consistent with earlier studies that an evaluation of mood response to hard training can reduce the risk of staleness. Recently, in 1997, Hooper, Mackinnon and Hanrahan were interested in determining whether athletes who are stale showed different values in the POMS from those who are intensely trained but not stale. Hooper indicates staleness in this investigation as when the athlete has reached any of the states of negative adaptation to training stress (staleness, overtraining, or burnout). The POMS mood states of nationally ranked swimmers were measured over an entire season. There were five times during the season when the subjects were tested: early, mid and late season, during tapering and post-competition. This questionnaire was answered before the testing of performance. Hooper et al. (1997) classified the swimmers as â€Å"stale† or â€Å"not stale† at the end of the season based on certain criteria. Compared to previous times, stale athletes demonstrated poorer competitive performances. In contrast, the non-stale athletes showed an improvement in performance. In comparing the POMS scores of the stale versus non-stale swimmers, there was no notable difference. Hooper et al. (1997) coupled this current data with that of a previous study (Morgan et al. , 1988), which showed that significant increases in POMS scores have been observed in athletes after intensified training, which did not result in staleness, to come to their conclusion. The fact that there were only three stale athletes and the POMS assessment was administered only five times on non- training days, are limitations that Hooper et al. (1997) declare in their study. The general conclusion drawn from this study is that while it appears that the POMS may be useful for monitoring for those athletes predisposed to staleness, it may not reliably differentiate between stale and non-stale athletes under all circumstances (Hooper et al. , 1997). Also in 1997, Ralph Vernacchia composed an article on psychological perspectives on overtraining. He uses the combined results of previous studies to define overtraining, identify the overtrained athlete and also caution risk factors for this syndrome. Vernacchia agrees with Morgan†s (1992) use of the word overtraining implying it is an ongoing process, whereas staleness and burnout refer to the outcomes of overtraining. This article emphasizes the need to stress an athlete just before, but never to, the point of exhaustion. There are two motivational patterns displayed by unsuccessful athletes, discussed by Vernacchia, which need to be investigated in order to understand the motivations of the overtrained athlete. They are the undermotivated, overconfident underachiever and the overmotivated, underconfident underachiever. Two tools identified by Vernacchia used to recognize overtrained athletes are the POMS and the Daily Analysis of Life Demands for Athletes Inventory. It concludes by offering recommendations for preventing overtraining in athletes. Overtraining in athletes is a phenomenon, which manifests symptoms that are detrimental to an athlete†s performance. Interest in this subject arose in the mid 1980s, therefore has not been studied to a great depth. Every study has its own set of signs and symptoms associated with this syndrome, but are becoming more similar and distinct as the years go on. The psychological assessment tool that has been used most often throughout these studies is the POMS, which is seen to have both positives and negatives associated with it. The only known treatment for this syndrome is rest, which is why early detection is very important. The longer the overtraining has occurred; the more rest is required. The athlete may then slowly resume training at low volumes on alternate days and gradually work their way back up to reasonable loads, being careful not to let it recur. A general conclusion to date has been that monitoring athletes during periods of strenuous training for symptoms, which are indicative of overtraining, are beneficial in prevention. Coaches and athletes need to be educated on the factors that lead to overtraining in order to eliminate the possibility of occurrence and adhere to the old saying, â€Å"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure†. Many steps can be taken to prevent overtraining, and they all begin with good communication between the athlete and coach. The athletes could start by keeping a log of training and include how they felt, muscular soreness, fatigue and general heath after each workout. The coach must allow the athlete adequate rest following intense, high volume workouts and it is the athlete†s duty to express concerns when this is not happening. Ultimately, a training program should allow for flexibility, and when early warning signs of overtraining are evident, adjustments need to be made accordingly. In reviewing the literature to date on this topic, and realizing the disastrous consequences for athletes, it is safe to say that being undertrained is far better than being overtrained. Nonetheless, continued research on intensive training and tapering cycles, involving more subjects and a greater range of sports is necessary for the benefit of athletes.

Being An Alcoholic - Original Writing - 1676 Words

This time they decided to send me out of town to a program in Arizona. I arrived there on a Friday, however, the program wasn t to commence until that Monday. There was no way I was going to check in and be on lockdown, knowing that I still had a weekend to play with. I checked into a hotel and prepared myself for, what I thought would turn out, a great time. I learned that things don t always turn out as planned. I hit the town running at full speed seeking the first bar I could locate to get things kicked off. Before I knew it, I had gone from one bar to another, even catching taxis to get to and from them. When I made it back to the hotel room, I was pretty loaded and should have called it quits. But there s another thing I†¦show more content†¦But the party didn t end there. Later that Saturday afternoon, I was released on my own reconnaissance and I headed back to the room. I still had a full day to enjoy prior to checking in on that Monday and I had no plans on allowing it to go to waste. I had my wallet with my debit card in it and conveniently enough, there was an ATM machine in the lobby of the hotel. I withdrew additional funds from my bank account and once again I was out and about in pursuit of some to drink. I tried to convince myself to be more careful the second time around because I didn t want to repeat what I had just experienced the night before. Early on, everything was going as planned. I was drinking, feeling good and was still partially coherent. I was feeling well enough to call it quits, but the night still seemed young and I thought I d challenge a few more shots prior to retiring for that evening. I believe I can vaguely remember having one more drink before everything went pitch black again. By the time the lights came back on, once again, there I was on the county s floor as a repeat offender of public intoxication. There was, however, something different about this time. Before I was released that Sunday, one of the deputies pulled me to the side for a quick chat. He told me that I was found in a dark space behind an abandoned building with my shirt open and my pockets turned inside out missing all of its contents. I