Global Software and IT. A Guide to Distributed Development, Projects, and Outsourcing

In this book, human resource management and training expert Judy Hale demystifies training outsourcing and details how companies can successfully outsource their training and development needs—from the entire learning function to selected services and programs. It also covers the labyrinth of contractual, interpersonal, and legal dimensions inherent in any decision to partner with another service provider. Filled with practical tips, guidelines, and plenty of tools, this book explains how to determine What type of external resources will be required What to expect of external resources What will be required in terms of program deliverables, reports, quality assurance, risk management, and reporting relationships The level of readiness to outsource deliverables ranging from managing the training and development function to specific program elements The contractual elements that best protect an organization’s interests How to collaborate effectively with all of the functions involved in outsourcing decisions

To stay ahead of the competition, today?s organizations must invest in ongoing training that continuously improves their employees? knowledge and skills. A Practical Guide to Training and Development is a comprehensive resource that offers a theoretical, strategic, and practical foundation of the entire training process. The book outlines a step-by-step approach for assessing, designing, delivering and evaluating training.

Credit and credit risk permeates every corner of the financial world. Previously credit tended to be acknowledged only when dealing with counterparty credit risk, high-yield debt or credit-linked derivatives, now it affects all things, including such fundamental concepts as assessing the present value of a future cash flow. The purpose of this book is to analyze credit from the beginning—the point at which any borrowing entity (sovereign, corporate, etc.) decides to raise capital through its treasury operation. To describe the debt management activity, the book presents examples from the development banking world which not only presents a clearer banking structure but in addition sits at the intersection of many topical issues (multi-lateral agencies, quasi-governmental entities, Emerging Markets, shrinking pool of AAA borrowers, etc.). This book covers: Curve construction (instruments, collateralization, discounting, bootstrapping) Credit and fair valuing of loans (modeling, development institutions) Emerging markets and liquidity (liquidity, credit, capital control, development) Bond pricing (credit, illiquid bonds, recovery pricing) Treasury (funding as an asset swap structure, benchmarks for borrowing/investing) Risk and asset liability management (leverage, hedging, funding risk)

Disruption of a construction project is of key concern to the contractor as any delay to the project will involve the contractor in financial loss, unless those losses can be recovered from the employer. It is, however, acknowledged that disruption claims in construction are difficult to prove, usually the result of poor or inaccurate project records, but the cost of lost productivity or reduced efficiency to the contractor under these circumstances is very real. Practical Guide to Disruption and Productivity Loss on Construction & Engineering Projects is clearly written to explain the key causes of disruption and productivity loss. Disruption claims rest on proof of causation, so it discusses the project records that are necessary to demonstrate the causes of disruption, lost productivity and reduced efficiency in detail. Quantification of a disruption claim in terms of delay to activities and the associated costs are also fully discussed. With many worked examples throughout the text, this will be an essential book for anyone either preparing or assessing a disruption and loss of productivity claims, including architects, contract administrators, project managers and quantity surveyors as well as contractors, contracts consultants and construction lawyers.

Since the first edition of A Guide to Faculty Development was published in 2002, the dynamic field of educational and faculty development has undergone many changes. Prepared under the auspices of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD), this thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded edition offers a fundamental resource for faculty developers, as well as for faculty and administrators interested in promoting and sustaining faculty development within their institutions. This essential book offers an introduction to the topic, includes twenty-three chapters by leading experts in the field, and provides the most relevant information on a range of faculty development topics including establishing and sustaining a faculty development program; the key issues of assessment, diversity, and technology; and faculty development across institutional types, career stages, and organizations. «This volume contains the gallant story of the emergence of a movement to sustain the vitality of college and university faculty in difficult times. This practical guide draws on the best minds shaping the field, the most productive experience, and elicits the imagination required to reenvision a dynamic future for learning societies in a global context.» —R. Eugene Rice, senior scholar, Association of American Colleges and Universities «Across the country, people in higher education are thinking about how to prepare our graduates for a rapidly changing world while supporting our faculty colleagues who grew up in a very different world. Faculty members, academic administrators, and policymakers alike will learn a great deal from this volume about how to put together a successful faculty development program and create a supportive environment for learning in challenging times.» —Judith A. Ramaley, president, Winona State University «This is the book on faculty development in higher education. Everyone involved in faculty development—including provosts, deans, department chairs, faculty, and teaching center staff—will learn from the extensive research and the practical wisdom in the Guide.» —Peter Felten, president, The POD Network (2010–2011), and director, Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, Elon University

Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment «This book provides cutting-edge coverage by expanding the field to include specific problems such as online gaming, cybersex addiction, and gambling addiction. Its extensive attention to dealing with adolescents is essential, given the rapid rise in media and technology use by both Net Generation young adults and iGeneration teenagers. I am thrilled to have this invaluable, comprehensive, well-written resource for my own work and recommend it to people who need to understand this unique form of addiction.» —Dr. Larry Rosen, Past Chair and Professor of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, author of Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn and Me, MySpace, and I: Parenting the Net Generation «Our clients come to us when online pornography, video gaming, social networking, gambling, and surfing create untenable disruptions in their lives. If we do not understand what we are seeing and how to address it, we will not be able to provide the help they need. This book provides the practical information clinicians can use to assess and treat this growing problem.» —Hilarie Cash, PhD, coauthor of Video Games and Your Kids: How Parents Stay in Control, and cofounder of reSTART: Internet Addiction Recovery Program «Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment provides an integrated and current overview of the different types of Internet addiction-gaming addiction, gambling addiction, and cybersex addiction. The authors deserve ample praise in providing such a comprehensive and informative guide for Internet addiction.» —Ran Tao, MD, Professor and Director, and Xiuqin Huang, MD, Associate Professor, Treatment Center for Internet Addiction, General Hospital of Beijing Military Region, China The first empirically informed reference for defining, assessing, diagnosing, and treating problematic Internet use Comprehensive and timely, Internet Addiction explores: Validated assessment tools to differentiate normal from compulsive patterns of computer and online usage The most addictive or problematic online activities Epidemiology and subtypes of Internet addiction such as online pornography, Internet gambling, and online gaming Current theories on the risk factors associated with the development of an addictive disorder related to Internet usage Evidence-based treatment strategies for helping clients of various ages, taking into account main presenting problems and individual situations and circumstances International in scope and empirically based, the cultural and global impact of this subject is discussed, introducing practitioners to the latest clinical implications, assessment methods, and treatment approaches in working with clients suffering from this emerging addictive disorder.

Provides the necessary context to read elegiac and lyric poetry, designed for novice and experienced Classics and Latin students alike A Guide to Latin Elegy and Lyric explores the language of Latin poetry while helping readers understand the socio-cultural context of the remarkable period of Roman literary history in which the poetry was composed. With an innovative approach to this important area of classical scholarship, the authors treat elegy alongside lyric as they cover topics such as the Hellenistic influences on Augustan poetry, the key figures that shaped the elegiac tradition of Rome, the motifs of militia amoris («the warfare of love») and servitium amoris (“the slavery of love”) in Latin love elegy, and more. Organized into ten chapters, the book begins with an introduction to the literary, political, and social contexts of the Augustan Age. The next six chapters each focus on an individual lyric and elegiac poet—Catullus, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, Ovid, and Sulpicia—followed by a survey of several lesser-known poets and post-Augustan elegy and lyric. The text concludes with a discussion of major tropes and themes in Latin elegy and lyric, and an overview and analysis of key critical approaches in current scholarship. This volume: Includes full translations alongside the Latin throughout the text to illustrate discussions Analyzes recurring themes and tropes found in Latin poetry such as sexuality and gender, politics and patronage, myth and religion, wealth and poverty, empire, madness, magic, and witchcraft Reviews modern critical approaches to elegiac and lyric poetry including autobiographical realism, psychoanalysis, narratology, reception, and decolonization Includes helpful introductory sections: «How to Read a Latin Elegiac or Lyric Poem» and «How to Teach a Latin Elegiac and Lyric Poem» Provides information about each poet, an in-depth discussion of some of their poetry, and cultural and historical background Features a dedicated chapter on Sulpicia, offering readers an ancient female viewpoint on sex and gender, politics, and patronage Part of the acclaimed Blackwell Guides to Classical Literature series, A Guide to Latin Elegy and Lyric is the perfect text for both introductory and advanced courses in Latin elegy and lyric, accessible for students reading the poetry in translation, as well as for those experienced in Latin with an interest in learning a different approach to the subject.

An accessible, innovative perspective on using the flexibility of agile practices to increase software quality and profitability When agile approaches in your organization don't work as expected or you feel caught in the choice between agility and discipline, it is time to stop and think about software development rhythms! Agile software development is a popular development process that continues to reshape philosophies on the connections between disciplined processes and agile practices. In Software Development Rhythms, authors Lui and Chan explain how adopting one practice and combining it with another builds upon the flexibility of agile practices to create a type of «synergy» defined as software development rhythms. The authors demonstrate how these rhythms can be harmonized to achieve synergies, making them stronger together than they would be apart. Software Development Rhythms provides programmers with a powerful metaphor for resolving some classic software management controversies and dealing with some common difficulties in agile software management. Software Development Rhythms is divided into two parts and covers: Essentials – provides an introduction to software development rhythms; explores the programmer's unconscious mind at work on software methodology; discusses the characteristics of the iterative cycle and open source software development; and introduces the topic of agile values and agile practices Rhythms – compares plagiarism programming with cut-paste programming; provides an in-depth discussion of different ways to approach collaborative programming; demonstrates how to combine and harmonize these practices so they can be applied to common software management problems such as motivating programmers, discovering solution patterns, managing software teams, and rescuing troubled IT projects; and takes a comprehensive look at Scrum, CMMI, Just-In-Time, Lean Software Development, and Test-Driven Development from a software development rhythm perspective Abundantly illustrated with informative graphics and amusing cartoons, Software Development Rhythms is a comprehensive and thought-provoking introduction to some of the most advanced concepts in current software management. Written in a refreshingly easy-to-read style and filled with interesting anecdotes, simulation exercises, and case studies, Software Development Rhythms is suitable for the practitioner and graduate student alike. It offers readers practical guidance on how to take the themes and concepts presented in this book back to their own projects to harmonize their software practices and release the synergies of their own teams.

Most of the software measures currently proposed to the industry bring few real benefits to either software managers or developers. This book looks at the classical metrology concepts from science and engineering, using them as criteria to propose an approach to analyze the design of current software measures and then design new software measures (illustrated with the design of a software measure that has been adopted as an ISO measurement standard). The book includes several case studies analyzing strengths and weaknesses of some of the software measures most often quoted. It is meant for software quality specialists and process improvement analysts and managers.

Most of the software measures currently proposed to the industry bring few real benefits to either software managers or developers. This book looks at the classical metrology concepts from science and engineering, using them as criteria to propose an approach to analyze the design of current software measures and then design new software measures (illustrated with the design of a software measure that has been adopted as an ISO measurement standard). The book includes several case studies analyzing strengths and weaknesses of some of the software measures most often quoted. It is meant for software quality specialists and process improvement analysts and managers.