Dream Chocolate Company Essay

Analysis of D.C.’s Competitive Environment and Information Need Dream Chocolate (D.C.) is a small company trying to survive in an industry with many competitors. The competitive environment comes from some factors. Firstly, D.C. bars are sold in specialty markets, fine gift stores and also available online. However, the competitive companies can also provide various chocolate bars for customers with the low price on the Internet. Secondly, comparing to the big chocolate company like Mars, D.C. is a small company that has the lower brand reputation. Therefore, there may be not many people would trust their products. On the other hand, facing this competitive environment, D.C. has developed many competitive advantages that could attract customers to choice its products. D.C. Company pursues the high quality chocolate and changes the basic milk chocolate bar into variety of flavors. The company’s niche is European-style custom chocolate bars and labeling, and it is known f or its flexibility and speed. A small customer order can be printed, labeled, and ready for pick up or shipping within one hour if the company already has the label in its system, which few company can achieve that level. Moreover, D.C. also faced the pressure from the continued national recession hurt sales in 2011. Thus, in order to deal with the internal and external competitive environment, the D.C. Company needs more business to utilize their capacity and make a profit. The main issue will be training people. It takes up long time to train people adequately. Also, customer labeling needs to be more effectively marketed, which is D.C.’s best margin area. For purpose that the company’s strategy and product can be efficiently carried out, D.C. Company should provide actual cost per order or per unit that can compute the operating margin for the individual products and the allocation of overhead costs that can know whether orders are profitable or not. Pros and Cons for Different Costing Systems Job Costing System A job is simply a product or service that can be easily distinguished from other products or services and for which the firm desires that a specific cost be recorded for the product or service. Job order costing records the  actual materials and labor expenses for specific jobs and assigns overhead to jobs at a predetermined overhead rate. Job order costing offers a detailed analysis of the costs of materials, labor cost and overheads by functions and nature. One advantage of job order costing is that it allows managers to calculate the profit earned on individual jobs, helping them to better decide whether specific job are desirable to pursue in the future. This is best for businesses that do highly custom work, such as construction contractors and consultants. Also, Job order costing gives managers the advantage of being able to keep track of individuals’ and teams’ performance in terms of cost-control, efficiency and productivity. It can evaluate efficiency of diff erent types of jobs with cost records by using statistical techniques. Job order costing facilitates the estimation of the cost of a similar job and allocates overheads on the basis of a predetermined rate. Moreover, job order costing makes easy to identify spoilage and defects to take corrective actions. However, there are also several problems with the job order costing system. Firstly, job order costing needs a great deal of clerical work in recording material issue, wage computation, payment and overhead charges. Therefore, the employees are required to track all materials and labor used during the job, which will need more accountants to works and creates additional cost for small company. Secondly, job order costing focuses attention primarily on products rather than on departments or activities. This is not an issue if there is supplemental systems in place that record information about other cost categories, but it leaves management with inadequate information if this is not the case. Additionally, strict control of cost associated with a job is difficult since overheads are allocated on estimation, which should using reasonable parameters like selecting suitable basis. Process Costing System Process costing typically used by companies that produce large quantities of identical products that are made in long, continuous production runs through a series of process centers (departments). Process costing accumulates costs in a department for an accounting period and then spreads them evenly, or on an average basis, over all units produced that month. Process costing is an easier system to use when costing homogenous products compared to other cost allocation methods. Each process applies direct materials, labor and  manufacturing overhead to the production cost total. Management accountants take the total number of goods leaving the process and divide the total process cost by this number. This creates a simple average cost for each item produced. Another advantage is that business owners use process costing because it creates a flexible production process. Companies needing to refine their process can simply add or remove a process as necessary. This also allows companies to lower their production cost for each good. Adding a process allows companies to produce slightly different goods or improve product quality. This flexibility ensures companies can produce at the most competitive cost in the economic marketplace. Also process costing provides an approach to allocate costs to partially completed production. But the process costing also exists several disadvantages. Production cost error is a significant disadvantage for cost accounting systems. Process costing does not use direct allocation to apply business costs to individual goods, which will arbitrarily increase each item’s cost and also increases the consumer product price. Management accountants may also create under-costed products. Under-costed products usually result in lower business profits because goods are actually more expensive than actually reported. Other problem is that accountants must calculate equivalent units in the process costing system. Equivalent units represent the amount of unfinished goods left in a process at the end of an accounting period. This information is reported as the work-in-process on a company’s balance sheet. Inaccurate work-in-process accounts may also result in distorted finished good totals. This creates a difficult process for managing inventory and determining how many products the company has to sell in the open marketplace. Operation Costing System Operation costing is a hybrid of job and process costing, which is used in manufacturing goods that have some individual characteristics plus some common characteristic. An operation is a standardized method of making a product that is repeatedly performed. Operation costing is often used when different products use common processes but differ in their material. The advantage of operation costing system is that some products are mass-produced and can be customized to order, which cost accountants use the operation costing system. Using operation-costing system could be more accurate to record the cost of product because it separates materials for  each type of products and allocate the conversion costs through departments. Also, because much of the production is the same for all products manufacture, accountants use operation costing to distinguish these costs and determine individual product costs However, operation-costing system is more complex to calculate, company should require collecting much more data comparing to process costing or job costing. It needs to compute the units of production and the product cost of each unit according to the information of materials be collected and the unit of equivalent products. Activity-Based Costing System Activity-based costing (ABC) is two-stage product costing method that first assigns costs to activities and then assigns them to products based on the products’ consumption of activities. The use of ABC is especially important to businesses that provide customized products or services. A customized production environment requires ABC’s allocation of actual indirect costs to a product to identify its true cost. Implementing ABC is a challenging task for any business and the process carrying several advantages and disadvantages. One of advantage of ABC system is to improve business processes. It allocates indirect cost based on a product’s cost drive or the factor that creates the cost, which would be more accurate than the other costing methods. ABC can be used to identify non-valued added activities and can help to better allocate resources to efficient and profitable activities. Another advantage of ABC system is to identify wasteful products. ABC can allow the business to better understand where overhead costs are going. The data can identify wasteful products and unnecessary costs, so that resources can be used productively. The method also helps to fix the price of products or services that are excessive or incorrect. Overall product and service quality can improve as ABC’s data details production and cost issues that need to be resolved. Additionally, ABC system tends to reduce per unit cost of high volume products and increase per unit cost of low volume products, but the impact is more dramatic on the low volume products. However, implementing an ABC system can be expensive and time-consuming. Manager should break down business activities into each activity’s individual components. The entire process needs to collect much valuable resource as data to measure and enter into the new system.  Businesses may also require hiring the assistance of a consultant who specializes in the setup of an ABC system and provide training for them. Moreover, using ABC system sometimes is easily to misinterpret the data. It is also possible that some ABC may be irrelevant in certain decision-making scenarios. For instance, ABC does not conform to accounting standard and should not be used for external reporting. Since traditional cost figures tend to be the norm, interpreting ABC data along with regular accounting information can be confusing and lead to bad decision-making. Recommend a Costing Method to D.C. D.C. is a small but growing company trying to survive in an industry with many players. This small company has limited staff and they do not currently track actual cost information during production. However, D.C. has the competitive advantage that it combines high-quality, variety of flavors and custom labeling together. Due to D.C.’s high-end process, high volume and various types of chocolates, I recommend D.C. use operation costing system that combines the process costing and job costing together. Firstly, D.C. has three sizes of chocolate, which are 1.25 oz. bar, 3.0 oz. bar and 3.25 oz. Bar. And the three sizes bar can be divided into two types chocolates that are organic and non-organic. The different materials will be added into production to get various flavors. Thus, the martial of production that is direct cost can use job-costing method. Using job order costing is that it allows D.C. to calculate the profit earned on individual jobs, helping them to better decide w hether specific job are desirable to pursue in the future. Job order costing also makes easy to keep track of the production, identify spoilage and defects to take corrective actions during the period of production. Then, the labor cost should be included in product cost. Direct labor comes from pouring, inspecting, foiling and labeling. Notice that larger bars can be inspected twice as fast as the smaller bars. Because each area might be working on multiple customer jobs at a time, it is difficult to track labor hours for each customer order. Therefore, using the job costing system records the different type of customer order, which would be more accurate to record labor cost. And we should also calculate equivalent unit to compute labor cost per bar for each department. Finally, for the overhead cost which is indirect cost, each product is produced using the  same process, which means there is no difference in the overhead costs for the different products. So it is suitable to use process-costing method. And process costing is more flexible in allocating conversion costs, because it only accumulates the total costs and allocates the costs to each department or process. The operation costing system is a flexible way to handle high-volume or low-volume production month. It is used when different products use common processes but differ in their materials. When the volume is high, D.C. company do not need to hire more employee to work because the combination of job costing and process costing could figure out the mass production. Also, the operation costing can easily find any mistakes and don’t have to wait till the end of the month to fix the problem. Handling the new special order and new cost Recent order from the wellness company shows that bars can have one or more types of special flavors and ingredient additives. Bars with higher-cost flavor additives such as coffee and Kava can be viewed as direct cost. Thus, they would be treated for the same as direct materials and be allocated to the specific products. But less expensive additives, such as flavoring oils are not included in direct costs and these cost usually show up in overhead cost. In addition to the direct materials cost for these ingredients, there is additional labor required for stirring to achieve equal distribution throughout the bar. Moreover, the labeling design cost for new special order is overhead cost, which is related to the product cost. So it would be allocated to the specific product separately as well. Summary and Implementation In conclusion, I will recommend the company using the operation costing system, which combine the job costing and process costing. In case of DC the manufacturing environment is complex. Product in its initial stages has identical processing, and then is finished using specific procedure like adding activities or customized packaging. The method accounts for costs based on difference in the products. Also operation costing as it will give clear cost of products and their profitability. It will help Kay to set up the price of the products will help him to determine most profitable product. In order to calculate the cost of chocolate bar, we should require  the actual production for organic and non-organic bars, cost of ingredients for special orders and additional training and labor hours for special order.

Cultural Characteristics of India Essay

With more than half of the workforce being in agriculture, services however, is the biggest contributing factor the economic growth in India. The information technology (IT) sector is where most of the growth is taking place. Many companies in the United States are beginning to outsource their help desk and programming specialties to India where the labor is cheaper and there are an abundance of qualified individuals. In-fact many of the positions you see in IT are filled by people native to India simply because training for these specialties is limited in the U. S. For example, if you were looking to hire an Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) developer it is highly unlikely that you will find a U. S. citizen with these skill sets, and if you did the U. S. candidate would certainly be demanding more money. India’s ability to train highly qualified IT professionals and ability to provide cheaper labor will continue to contribute to their increase in economic growth. Ultimately, it is those cultural characteristics we have discussed in class that has led India to so much growth over the last decade. They are a collectivist society, with a large power distance and a different set of value orientations from our own. Higher education is of upmost importance, and often times, much more important than interpersonal relationships. This is evident of the fact that they place so much importance on one’s education and its correlation to family status when selecting a bride/groom in an arranged marriage. India is considered a large power distance culture because there is a clear hierarchy within the family, â€Å"the father rules authoritatively, followed by the eldest son and moving down the ladder by age and sex† (Neuliep, 2009. 9). Within the Indian culture the children are expected to be obedient and many Indian children feel that their parents really don’t understand what it is like to grow up in today’s diverse society. Indian parents constantly expect their children to go to the right schools, only converse with people who share the same cultural backgro unds and to marry within their own race and religion. There are many different religions in India which include: Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Sikh. In India, even though you may share the same ethnicity if you do not share the same religious beliefs, marriage is forbidden. In my research I have come across a common theme within the Indian culture, and that is that Indian parent’s love to gossip about everything; they constantly discuss who got into what school, and who is getting married to whom. It’s not to say that Indian parents don’t want what’s best for their children because they do. In the article Indian Parents and Societal Pressure the author Arti Nehru states, â€Å"The really sad part about all of this is that parents truly want their children to be happy. But they are unsupportive in many instances because they worry about ne thing: What will people say? † The Indian culture is more of a collectivist culture who has the tendency to stress the importance of a group over the importance of the individual. Neuliep confirms that, â€Å"In collectivist cultures, people are not seen as isolated individuals. People see themselves as interdependent with others their (e. g. , their ingroup), where responsibility is shared and accountability is collective. A person’s identity is defined by his or her group memberships† (Neuliep, 2009. Pg. 41). Most of their values come from their traditional beliefs, their religious devotion and their secular spirituality. It is these value orientations that shape the way the Indian culture communicates with individuals in their own culture as well as with individuals outside of their culture. Values can affect the way people communicate within their own culture and with people of different cultures. They are â€Å"evaluative beliefs that synthesize affective and cognitive elements to orient people to the world in which they live† (Mooney, 2001, 2828). The value orientation model is used to compare high-context cultures such as the Indian collectivist culture with low-context individualistic cultures such as the United States. It can be broken down into six different categories: self, family, society, human nature, nature, and supernatural. In a collectivist culture such as the Indian culture â€Å"self† refers to how one may view themselves in relationship to others, and can further be broken down into three different sub-categories: self-identity, age, and activity. In India self-identity would suggest that people value conformity and cooperation. In India people are â€Å"interdependent with others, and for them, responsibility and accountability are shared and divided among the group members. † (Neulip, 2009, 63-64). Age for a collectivist, high-context culture is admired when they are old and conversely, in an individualistic, low-context culture, age is admired when they are young. In a collectivist culture like India the people tend be very spiritual and believe that people should embrace life. The activity one performs on a daily basis is of less importance in a country like India. Whereas in the United States, activity ften refers to how people identify themselves through their activities such as their professions and occupations. Often times when Americans are asked who they are, they will answer with what they do for a living; indicating that they tend to associate who they are, with what they do. Family within a collectivist culture such as India tends to be more authoritative in nature. The â€Å"head of the household† will make the decisions rather than having everyone work together as a democracy when making decisions. In India, families are less mobile, and will always attempt to sit down together when eating dinner. There is often a strict hierarchy that is followed among family members with the man of the house being at the top. The men and women in Indian families have very different roles within the family, which coincide with one’s hierarchal power. The male of the house makes the decisions, provides for the family and the women often times make the meals at night and take care of the children. In Indi,a family is a very important concept and marriage is considered to be sacred and is meant to last a life time. The term â€Å"society† in India can be broken down into two categories: social reciprocity and group membership. According to Neuliep â€Å"social reciprocity refers to the mutual exchanges people make in their dealings with others† (65). In collectivist cultures like India, if one asks another for a favor it is expected that an equal exchange of favors will occur. In India, group membership is often a pervasive formality; they have a tendency to join only a few different groups over a life-time. In the United States membership in a group is usually short lived, whereas in India people are highly selective and group membership is usually a prolonged commitment. This idea of a prolonged commitment to a group stems from those same cultural values that marriage does. In India, they practice arranged marriages and it is considered a lifelong commitment that is viewed as sacred. What may seem strange to the youth in the United States is actually embraced by youth in India. Many children in India feel that it gives them the ability to focus on their youth, and their education without the distraction or worry that an adolescence relationship can bring to the picture. It is also said that the youth in India â€Å"feel secure in their parent’s ability to choose an acceptable partner for them, trusting that their parents have enough experience and knowledge to do so without creating a disastrous situation† (Galt, 2011, 2). Many cultures like India believe that when marriages are not pre-arranged they tend to burn out too quickly. They believe it is because the two people have already gotten to know each other, rather than spending a life-time together after marriage getting to know each other. Marrying a person you don’t know gives one a lifetime to learn to love them, as opposed to the American ideal of learning a person inside and out before entering into marriage† (Galt, 2011, 3). In the United States, many believe that the idea of an arranged marriage is something that is forced upon the two getting married. This however isn’t true, in India before a marriage can become official the bride and groom are afforded the opportunity to meet each other to decide if they would like to go forward with the marriage. You might be surprised to hear that any rejection to a proposed marriage rarely occurs, and more often than not the proposed bride and groom will go through with the wedding as planned. This is because the parents of the bride and groom do their due-diligence and will often times spend years looking for a suitable bride or groom. They spend countless hours meeting with the families and friends, â€Å"considering hundreds of different aspects and comparison points before the potential bride and groom ever meet each other† (Galt, 2011, 6). In many ways the Indian culture is different than our own, we have the tendency to be more of an individualistic culture while they tend be more collectivist. We are considered a low-context culture, while India is considered a high-context culture. We value or independence and look out for our own self-interests over that of the group. In India, they value the group over the individual and believe that if one fails, they all fail. Even though we may differ culturally we are still similar in many ways, the biggest being our level of diversity; we are both comprised of many different values, ethnicities, and religious beliefs.

Raoul Wallenberg - The Holocaust Rescuer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Raoul Wallenberg - The Holocaust Rescuer - Essay Example He hated witnessing hunting and killing of animals just for entertainment and sport (Handler, 1996). As an adolescent Wallenberg travelled far and wide and gained proficiency in English, German, Russian and French plus his native Swedish. He attended the University of Michigan for four years where he took up architecture. After finishing his degree he apprenticed in a Dutch bank located in Haifa, Palestine. Throughout his six months working in Palestine, he met Jews who luckily got away from Nazi Germany. The mad, sadistic, and hideous stories they narrate to him appalled and profoundly affected him not merely because of his compassionate nature, but because his great-great-grandfather was a Jew (Handler, 1996). When he went back to Sweden in 1936 he desired to work in the discipline of architecture, except that his American architecture did not meet the criteria for such profession in Sweden. Hence over the subsequent years he committed himself in different business ventures. He was hired in 1941 as the foreign sales representative for a Central European Trading Company located in Hungary. Hungary became a collaborator of Germany in 1939 because the Americans failed to rescue the pitiful and blameless Jews who were persecuted under the Nazi regime. Hence Sweden consented to send a special representative whose only objective would be to save the Jews from the evil clutches of the Nazis. For this mission the Swedish people chose Raoul Wallenberg for the reason that he spoke German proficiently and comprehend the ways of the Nazis (Tokudome, 1999). Wallenberg sensed that a number of Hungarian and German authorities were starting to be apprehensive of post war retribution for the heinous crimes they did to the Jews. He took advantage of this opportunity and immediately got the Hungarian and German authorities to reconsider their decisions and actions through encouraging them with intimidations and

Part 1. 1500 words Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Part 1. 1500 words - Essay Example In addition, I make mistakes while choosing the right methods for the projects. I am sure that I can overcome from these problems and turn these weak points into my strengths by conducting a research on the basis of certain criteria. The topic of the project is â€Å"Human Resource (HR) Issues Related to Cultural Diversity Faced by Marks and Spencer in China†. I have chosen this topic for this particular study to evaluate cultural diversity of Wu Han, where the company Marks & Spencer (M&S) wants to expand business operations (Alon, 2000). This particular study has facilitated in elaborating the issues of cultural diversity and the implications that these issues would have on the work environment and culture of M&S. Accordingly, I have ascertained the importance of Human Resource Management can be identified for resolving these issues on the basis of strategies (Lauby, 2005). This particular research aims to study about the issues of the employees regarding cultural diversity in Wu Han, China. It is the core duty of the company i.e. M&S to ascertain that issues that may be faced by the employees, so that effective measures can be implemented with the intention of mitigating these issues for better sustainability of the company in the long run. Employees’ individual growth is related to M&S overall growth. In this respect, it is important to recognize critical issues related to work environment of M&S to meet the objectives of the company (Albrecht, 2010). Accordingly, I have related the subject of the study on the consumers as well as the employees of the company to determine the issues associated with cultural diversity in Wu Han, China. In addition, I have conducted a survey about the services, which are provided by the company to have a better understanding about the perceptions of the customers about their preferences, so that quality products can be offered on the basis

State Tax Reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 17

State Tax Reform - Essay Example Investments in education and infrastructure have escalated. In response to the continuously weak economic performance of North Carolina, a significant change to the tax system has been proposed. According to research conducted by Civitas Institute, chaired by Arthur Laffer, it is claimed that a reduction of tax rates for the wealthy and the elimination of corporate tax will revive North Carolina’s economic performance and induce the creation of numerous job opportunities (Johnson, 2013). The Civitas/Laffer proposal would profoundly change North Carolinas tax framework by abolishing the personal income tax, franchise tax and corporate tax, which in aggregate generate 65 percent of the states income, and to a great extent supplanting this income with a higher sales tax that would apply to more products and services. In particular, the proposal would: first, abolish the personal income tax. Second, abolish the tax on corporate income (Johnson, 2013). Third, abolish the tax imposed on franchise business. Franchise businesses are businesses that benefit from already established brands and models by another organization. In California, the franchise tax is proposed to apply only to those franchise businesses incorporated within the State. The franchise tax is significant to the government since it is a source of revenue. The tax generates $ 650 million, thus the source of its significance. However, it is not as important as a corporate tax since the latter generates more revenue to the State government – $ 1.1 billion. Personal tax is the most important since it generates the highest amount of revenue to the government - $ 10.3 billion based on the fiscal period 2011-2012 (Johnson, 2013). Â  

Hard factors of TQM implementation in the Project division at GASCO Essay

Hard factors of TQM implementation in the Project division at GASCO - Essay Example Proper implementation of the procedure IP-PR-021 would offer solutions to this problem. The CTN format does not have provisions for the history of the CTN. As a result, the CTN goes through the approval process of the GASCO shareholders without their knowledge of the history of the CTN in the firm. They need adequate knowledge on the importance of CTN, in order to determine whether it is worth the budgetary allocations. Modifying the formats of the CTN to would include its history would provide adequate knowledge. Since there is no analysis of the main cause of CTN, there is a wrong evaluation of the KPI. The main factor put into consideration when evaluating KPI is CTN. Therefore, understanding the causes of CTN in the organization would help in preventing their occurrence in future. This is however possible if there was a proper procedure of solving the CTN put in place. GASCO, while calculating the average KPI does so division wise. This omits the evaluation of the actual performa nce in each department. There is however a high likelihood of some of the departments doing very well, while others have poor performances. There is however no reflection of this in the KPI. Applying KPI at the department level would solve this problem. Finally, there is poor and low communication of the KPI to the engineer’s level. This makes information flow in this level inadequate. As a solution, proper communication of the KPI to all parties would solve all communication problems available. Research questions With reference to the hard factors of TQM, this research will try to establish how effectively GASCO utilizes these factors to achieve organizational performance. How efficiently does GASCO use TQM in achieving its organizational goals? To what extent does GASCO staff exhibit high quality standards in serving their customers? How effectively does GASCO as an organization use TQM in managing its projects? What is the overall impact of TQM in satisfactorily serving cu stomers at GASCO? To what extent does GASCO use TQM in its Business Support Activities? Objectives of the report TQM, being an important element in achieving organizational performance, contributes to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives (Salaheldin 2009, p. 216). The main objective of this report is establishing the extent to which TQM contributes to organizational performance, with reference to GASCO. Further, since there are two types of TQM, the soft factors and the hard factors, this report hopes to establish the impact of proper use and application of the hard factors in an organizational setting. Finally, it will establish whether there is any relationship between proper maintenance of QMS, relative to GASCO QMS. Aims of the report The main aim of this report is to establish whether GASCO has QMS and the impact that hard TQM factors have on the overall performance of the organization. Data analysis The time taken by employees in assessing resources significa ntly determines their output (Grover, et al. 2006, p. 450-458). Subsequently, this determines the overall organizational performance. The longer an employee takes while assessing resources; the lower is their level of productivity. According to data obtained, 11 respondents agreed that the period it takes for an employee to access resources was good. This positively contributes to overall organizat

Kaizen Costing and Target Costing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Kaizen Costing and Target Costing - Essay Example Target Costing Process: Mostly companies use target costing to project visible cost targets for any new products they seek to establish in the market. The targets set by companies are very aggressive. The idea behind this approach is to maximize cost control and ensure that profit is as steep as possible. The process begins when a company's top management establishes its target cost for the new product. For instance a Chrysler Neon or Caterpillar Excavator. The cost estimating group in the company will break the costs for the whole product into cost targets for sub-assemblies and individual components of the product. These could be engine, the transmission seats, the steering, the gear, the covers, the paddle, the clutches etc. Mostly a gap exists between the target costs as well as the cost projections for the new product based on current designs and manufacturing capabilities of the product. The real deal lies in narrowing down the gap that exists between the cost projections and target costs through cost reduction. This is where the cross functional teams come into play. By analyzing modes of manufacturing involved, process associated with the product, the raw material requirements and the costs, they figure out the cost saving opportunities. The following paragraphs will focus on the approach applied by DaimlerChrysler and Caterpillar deployed target costing in their companies. In these companies, target costing is supported by a matrix organizational structure which has both horizontal as well as vertical functional teams.

Strategic Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Strategic Information Systems - Essay Example In the contemporary business setting, the ERP program is important as it can coordinate and organize all transactions taking place and the employee database and performance. Managing the work force especially in medium and large organizations is tasking and the introduction of ERP systems ensures follow up and implementation of polices where necessary (Axtell, 2001). Managing the organization in terms of the internal and external aspects becomes easier with an ideal ERP system. Apple Inc. has enjoyed improved and less hectic management processes that have enhanced good employer-employee relationships.  Another importance of the ERP systems in the contemporary organizations is that old systems of resource planning often wasted a lot of organization’s time and resources. This was due to the challenges of time, communication and coordination (Axtell, 2001). The long chain of communication lengthened the time taken to produce affective as compared to the modern ERPO systems. App le Inc. is a company that employed the ERP system to eliminate the unnecessary formalities that came in the way of ideal production and delivery. Recording of data in the company and retrieval of the same is now instant with employment of ERP systems that are powered by technology (Doloreux, 2010). Apple is proud of its association with the ERP idea that has enabled the company to soar to unprecedented heights through a wide market share and an improved brand image.Enterprise resource planning is described as computer based systems.

Market and Social Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Market and Social Research - Essay Example The word frequently means daily in a week. Alcohol is the drug that many youths prefer; this is because of many young people like experimenting that leads to experiencing many consequences of too much drinking. As a result, underage drinking is currently rated the first public health problem in the country(Norman 2011, pg. 504). According to the latest survey of 2005 of monitoring the future, showed that youths as young as eight years were getting involved in drinking of alcohol. Moreover, when they drink they use to drink intensively, often consuming five to six drinks at one time. The research result showed that average age of engaging in the use of alcohol was 14 as compared to 17 years in1960 and serious drinking that was associated with middle age begun to appear during the young adulthood and occasional adolescence. In United Kingdom, many researchers have been done to answer the question why young adults get involved in binge drinking. One of the explanations was that; as adolescence move to young adulthood they occasionally encounter a full dramatic change in their lives. These changes include physical, lifestyle, independence and emotional changes. Such developmental transitions have associated them with drug use mostly alcohol abuse. Therefore just being a young adult is a risk factor for drinking dangerously(Courtney & Polich 2009, pg. 146). With the continuous rise of alcohol abuse among the young adults and teenagers, there is a need that should be taken to prevent the vice from escalating further. It means that the study must be performed to determine the knowledge and awareness of the population at risk of alcohol abuse, and the methods that can be used to prevent the vice. Some methods that can be used include; introducing stringent rules in pubs regarding drinking alcohol, collaborating with landlords to evict those young adults who are the worst drinkers, and changing the outlet to

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Article Review Essay Example for Free

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Article Review Essay The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was a daring attempt to legislate morality with the intentions of restoring integrity with the public in financial markets. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a direct result from corporate scandals like WorldCom, Enron, Adelphia, and Tyco, which succeeded in the collapse of these major corporation and ruined people’s lives. The mistreatment of employees and investors by flagrantly unethical business practices cost some their life savings and retirement portfolios while others went to jail because they were part of the scandals. The provision regarding ethics in business contained within the Sarbanes-Oxley Act help to ensure and deter unethical business practices. There are two particular provisions that have a big effect on organizations on their ethical decision making. The first is the requirement corporations must create a code of ethics for senior financial officers that include enforcement mechanisms and the regular rotation of outside auditors. There are other requirements such as Section 303 â€Å"improper influence on conduct of audits,† Section 306 â€Å"insider trades during pension fund blackout periods,† and Section 307 which state â€Å"rules of responsibility for attorneys,† (Orin, 2008) but the first two mentions have the power collectively to regulate corporations internally and externally. The Code of Ethics is a schematic for each corporation for governance within the organization to regulate and set acceptable standards for directors, officers, accountants, and employees. The mandatory rotation of auditors ensures the organization has a truly independent audit that allows auditors to question and criticize business practices of the corporation experiencing the audit. The SOX should have went one step farther by mandating audit –firm rotation rather than just rotation of the lead person doing the audit, which would ensure complete independence of the audits. The rotation will ensure if one auditor misses unethical practices or is part of it will be discovered and discontinue with the rotation. The out-of-pocket expense for compliance has many critics who say this is an unfair burden on corporations; however have made significant strides against unethical business practices. The criminal penalties for which the act provides includes fines, imprisonment, loss of exchange listing, and loss of DO insurance depending on which section of the SOX the corporation is out of compliance with. The CFO or CEO who unknowingly submits a wrong certificate could be fined up to one million and up to 10 years of prison, if knowingly then he or she could be subject up to five million and up to 20 years imprisonment. â€Å"The ultimate incentive, which may prove to be the sine qua non, is that a failure to do so could expose them to the disastrous possibility of being deemed to have embraced these historical problems and to become accountable for them as their own† (Orin, 2008). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was drafted by Representative Michael Oxley and Senator Paul Sarbanes, which was intended to protect investors by ensuring/improving the reliability and accuracy of corporation’s disclosures of corporate financial performances. The SOX ensures that executives are held accountable for all financial issue even if unknown, forcing them to become more involved and monitor the accuracy of what is being reported to be true and accurate. References Orin, R. M. (2008). Ethical Guidance and Constraint Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Journal Of Accounting, Auditing Finance, 23(1), 141-171. SOX-Online, (2012). Sarbanes-Oxley essential information. Retrieved from http://www. sox-online. com/basics. html

Models of Accounting Analysis

Models of Accounting Analysis Historic Cost In accounting, historic cost is the first money related quality of a financial item. Historic cost is focused around the stable measuring unit assumption. In a few circumstances, assets and liabilities may be demonstrated at their historic cost, as though there had been no change in value from the date of acquisition. The balance sheet value items may subsequently vary from the accurate value (WIKIPEDIA). Principle An accounting system in which assets are recorded on an balance sheet with the value at which they were obtained, rather than the current market value. The historic cost standard is used to get the measure of capital expended to acquire an asset, and is helpful for matching against changes in profits or expenses identifying with the asset purchased, and in addition for deciding past opportunity costs (Business Dictionary). Impacts Under the historical cost basis of accounting, assets and liabilities are recorded at their values when first acquired. They are not then generally restated for changes in values. Costs recorded in the Income Statement are based on the historical cost of items sold or used, rather than their replacement costs (WIKIPEDIA). Example The main headquarters of a company, which includes the land and building, was bought for $100,000 in 1945, and its expected market value today is $30 million. The asset is still recorded on the balance sheet at $100,000 (INVESTOPEDIA). Current Purchasing Power Accounting Capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power (CMUCPP) is the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) basic accounting model originally authorized in IFRS in 1989 as an alternative to traditional historical cost accounting (WIKIPEDIA). Principle Current Purchasing Power Accounting(CPPA) includes the re-statement of historical figures at current purchasing power. For this reason, historic figures must be multiple by conversion factors. The formula for the calculation of conversion component is: Conversion factor = Price Index at the date of Conversion/Price Index at the date of item arose Conversion factor at the beginning = Price Index at the end/Price Index at the beginning Conversion factor at an average = Price Index at the end/Average Price Index Conversion factor at the end = Price Index at the end/Price Index at the end Average Price Index = Price Index at beginning + Price Index at the end/2 CPP Value = Historical value X Conversion factor (Account Managment Economics). Impacts on Financial Statements financial statements are ready on the basis of historical cost and a supplementary statement is ready showing historical items in terms of present value on the basis of general price index. Retail price index or wholesale price index is taken as an appropriate index for the conversion of historical cost items to show the changes in value of money. This method takes into consideration the changes in the value of items as a result of general price level, but it does not account for changes in the value of individual items (Accounting Managment). Example XYZ Company had a closing balance of inventory at 30 June 2012 equal to $10000. This inventory had been purchased in the last three months of the financial year. Assume the general price level index was 140 on 1 July 2011, 144 on 31 December 2011, 150 on 30 June 2012, the average for the year (July 2011-June 2012) was 145 and the average for April 2012 June 2012 was 147. For showing updated inventory with CPPA, we will use following formula Book value of inventory X current month general price index/ average index of three months = 10000 X 150/ 147 = $ 10204 (Accounting Education). Current Cost Accounting Current cost accounting is a procedure of accounting that attempts to give quality of benefits on the basis of their current replacement require as opposed to the sum they were purchased for (Ask). Principles It influences all the records and accounting reports also their balancing items. A fundamental principle underlying the estimation of gross value added, and hence GDP, is that yield and intermediate utilization must be value at the costs present at the time the processing happens. This intimates that goods withdrawn from inventories must be value at the price prevailing at the times the goods are withdrawn and not at the costs at which they entered inventories (Glossary Of Statistical Terms). Impacts Accounting systems that help in the preparation of financial reports, the cost accounting systems and reports are not subject to rules and standards like the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. As a result, there is huge variety in the cost accounting systems of the different organization and sometimes even in different parts of the same organization (WIKIPEDIA). Advantages Of Historic Cost Historic Cost provide straight forward procedure. It records gains until they are recognize. Historical Costing method are still using in accounting system. Dis-Advantages Of Historic Cost Historic Cost consider as a acquisition cost of an asset and does not recognize current market value. Historic Cost only interested in allocation of cost, not in the value of an asset. It’s neglect the current market value of the asset that may be higher or lower than its suggested. It’s gives flaws in time of inflation (Study Mode). Comments Historical Costing method is still using in accounting system, it is a traditional method of accounting system it is not represent the market value of items, due to which it is not a appropriate method to adopt. Advantages Of Current Purchasing Power Accounting Current purchasing power method uses as measuring unit. It’s provide the calculation facilities to gain or loss in purchasing power due to holding monetary items. In this method, historical accounts continue to be maintained because they prepared on supplementary basis. This method intact the purchasing power of capital contributed by shareholders, so the method is important from the shareholders point of view. This method provides reliable financial information for the management to formulate policies and plans. Dis-Advantages Of Current Purchasing Power Accounting This method is only consider changes in general purchasing power, it does not consider the changes in the value of individual items. This method based on statistical index number which not used in individual firm. It’s difficult to use suitable price index. This method is failed to remove all defects of historical cost accounting system (Accounting Management). Comments Purchasing power accounting is very useful to provide financial information for management and its intact the purchasing power of capital which contributed by shareholders, its useful in inflation time so now in current time this method is very useful. Advantages of Current Cost Accounting This methods use present value of assets, instead of the original purchase price. This type of accounting is addresses the difference between historical and current cost accounting system. This method assigns higher values on the assets owned by the business. This method also used during bankruptcy and liquidation procedures to find the total loss to the owner (Ask). Comments Cost accounting provides accurate situation of the connection between specific cost and specific outputs because traces resources as they moves through company. By adopting cost accounting for business, in that way we learn resources are being wasted and which resource are most profitable (Chron).

Women, Title IX and Film :: Sports Essays

Women, Title IX and Film When I was younger I can remember watching old movies with my mother every Sunday. I loved watching the dashing men sweep away the pretty women and the extravagantly cheesy music. However much I loved the romance part of the story, it always struck me as kind of funny the way the woman was usually a very passive part of the whole relationship making model. She waited for him to kiss her, and the (or I should really say perhaps then) the ball is in her court and she has the ability to make decisions. In countless movies the woman is mad at the man and so what does he do? He grabs her and kisses her passionately. I always thought that it looked like it hurt. Some guy mashing his face into yours when you really do not want to be kissed? Not pleasant. My point in all this is that if you look at movies like these and then watch, say, Bend it Like Beckham or Girl Fight, the woman is actively choosing her sport, her path in life, and her relationship. Women now have the right to be empowere d in film (despite the still pervading Hollywood kitsch) and on of these ways, is inherently, through sport. Sport empowers women. That is a proven fact, and for many of us Title IX babies, a no-brainer. The question is why? When Title IX was still a fresh, new thing, for women sport served as something once denied them that they could finally experience. It represented getting the ball and being able to play just like "one of the boys." Now women were on an even playing field, and that is always empowering. For these women it represented a chance more than anything else, but women of my generation get something else out of sport that makes the modern woman different. In films across the board, sport or no, the image of woman is changing. She is thinner, yes, to keep up with the Hollywood standard of the waif, but she is also fit and muscular. Jada Pinkett-Smith is my favorite example of the new Hollywood body. She has muscular definition in her body but she is still very feminine. Women are expected (not just in Hollywood) to go to the gym regularly and work out. A woman who is not physically fit is not as attractive in today's modern world and that is the truth.

Driving In India :: essays research papers

Driving in India Traveling in India is an almost hallucinatory mixture of sound and sight. It is frequently heart-rending, sometimes hilarious, mostly exhilarating, always unforgettable - and, when you are on the roads, extremely dangerous. Most Indian road users observe a version of the Highway Code based on some ancient text or on the position of the moon. In general the 12 rules of the Indian road code are: ARTICLE I The assumption of immortality is required of all road users. ARTICLE II The following Order of Precedence must be accorded at all times. In descending order give way to: cows, elephants, heavy trucks, buses, official cars, camels, light trucks, buffalo, jeeps, ox-carts, private cars, motorcycles, scooters, auto-rickshaws, pigs, pedal rickshaws, goats, bicycles carrying goods, handcarts, bicycles carrying passenger(s), dogs, pedestrians. ARTICLE III All wheeled vehicles shall be driven in accordance with the maxim: to slow is to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat. This is the Indian drivers' mantra. ARTICLE IV Use of horn: Cars (IV, 1, a-c): Short blasts indicate supremacy, i.e. in clearing dogs, rickshaws and pedestrians from path. Long blasts denote supplication, i.e. to oncoming truck, "I am going too fast to stop, so unless you slow down we shall both die". In extreme cases this may be accompanied by flashing of headlights. Single casual blast means "I have seen someone out of India's 870 million people whom I recognize", "There is a bird in the road (which at this speed could go through my windscreen)", or "I have not blown my horn for several minutes." Trucks and buses (IV, 2, a): All horn signals have the same meaning, "I have a gross weight of 12.5 tons and have no intention of stopping, even if I could." This signal may be emphasized by the use of headlights. Article IV remains subject to the provision of Order of Precedence in Article II above. ARTICLE V All manoeuvres, use of horn and evasive action shall be left until the last possible moment. ARTICLE VI In the absence of seat belts (which there is), car occupants shall wear garlands of marigolds. These should be kept fastened at all times. ARTICLE VII Rights of Way: Traffic entering a road from the left has priority. So has traffic from the right, and also traffic in the middle. Lane discipline (VII, 1): All Indian traffic at all times and irrespective of direction of travel shall occupy the centre of the road. ARTICLE VIII Roundabouts: India has no roundabouts. Apparent traffic islands in the middle of crossroads have no traffic management function. Any other impression should be ignored. ARTICLE IX Overtaking is mandatory. Every moving vehicle is required to overtake

The Morning Of The Dolphins :: essays research papers

Taryn awoke to the buzzing of the alarm beside her bed. As her eyes adjusted to the morning light, she saw the tacky flowered wallpaper and smelled that smell of a room that had been cleaned thousands of times with the same Lysol cleaner. At first she couldn’t recollect where she was. After a few moments, Taryn remembered, she was at the Seaside Hotel. Her mother, father, and she had arrived at the little lived in hotel the night before after a 4-hour plane ride from Connecticut. Taryn loved Florida. She loved the heat, the sun, and, most of all, the ocean. The sound of Taryn’s mother’s voice brought her out of her sleepiness. â€Å"Taryn! For god’s sake, get up. You are on vacation, a good child would definitely be up and showered and ready to go by now,† Taryn sighed at this remark. All through her child hood she had listened to that same phrase â€Å"a good child would†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was just one of her mother’s ways to get her motivated, but it never worked. â€Å"I’m going, I’m going. What is the rush anyway? I thought dad said we weren’t doing anything special, we were just going to be spontaneous today?† Taryn replied with a smirk. Her father always tried to make their family vacations more exciting, but it NEVER worked out. â€Å"You’ll see.† Her mother said, with one of her own little smirks. â€Å"Now get out of bed!!!† With a melodramatic sigh Taryn rolled over the side of the bed and drudged into the bathroom for a shower. She wondered to herself what her mom was up to. It was probably nothing, as usual. Taryn shoved the idea out of her mind and finished her shower and changed. Her dad walked into the hotel room as Taryn was brushing her long brown hair. â€Å"You ready yet kid?† he asked. He had a look on his face like he was up to something. â€Å"Okay! Tell me what is going on!† she shrieked with impatience. â€Å"Just get in the car and enjoy the ride,† he said, the look growing stronger. Taryn eagerly but cautiously obliged, throwing looks of curiosity at her father as they walked down the hall and got into the car. Her mother was already waiting, doing her makeup in the visor mirror. Taryn received another mischievous glance from her mother as she buckled her seatbelt. They drove for about 15 minutes, looking out at the glistening gulf water. The Morning Of The Dolphins :: essays research papers Taryn awoke to the buzzing of the alarm beside her bed. As her eyes adjusted to the morning light, she saw the tacky flowered wallpaper and smelled that smell of a room that had been cleaned thousands of times with the same Lysol cleaner. At first she couldn’t recollect where she was. After a few moments, Taryn remembered, she was at the Seaside Hotel. Her mother, father, and she had arrived at the little lived in hotel the night before after a 4-hour plane ride from Connecticut. Taryn loved Florida. She loved the heat, the sun, and, most of all, the ocean. The sound of Taryn’s mother’s voice brought her out of her sleepiness. â€Å"Taryn! For god’s sake, get up. You are on vacation, a good child would definitely be up and showered and ready to go by now,† Taryn sighed at this remark. All through her child hood she had listened to that same phrase â€Å"a good child would†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was just one of her mother’s ways to get her motivated, but it never worked. â€Å"I’m going, I’m going. What is the rush anyway? I thought dad said we weren’t doing anything special, we were just going to be spontaneous today?† Taryn replied with a smirk. Her father always tried to make their family vacations more exciting, but it NEVER worked out. â€Å"You’ll see.† Her mother said, with one of her own little smirks. â€Å"Now get out of bed!!!† With a melodramatic sigh Taryn rolled over the side of the bed and drudged into the bathroom for a shower. She wondered to herself what her mom was up to. It was probably nothing, as usual. Taryn shoved the idea out of her mind and finished her shower and changed. Her dad walked into the hotel room as Taryn was brushing her long brown hair. â€Å"You ready yet kid?† he asked. He had a look on his face like he was up to something. â€Å"Okay! Tell me what is going on!† she shrieked with impatience. â€Å"Just get in the car and enjoy the ride,† he said, the look growing stronger. Taryn eagerly but cautiously obliged, throwing looks of curiosity at her father as they walked down the hall and got into the car. Her mother was already waiting, doing her makeup in the visor mirror. Taryn received another mischievous glance from her mother as she buckled her seatbelt. They drove for about 15 minutes, looking out at the glistening gulf water.

Critical Analysis Worksheet Essay

Perform a critical analysis of each reading using critical thinking techniques from this week’s readings. Respond to the following based on your critical thinking analysis of the â€Å"Common Core† and â€Å"The Battle Against Common Core Standards† readings. 1) Define the term conclusion. Aside from being the obvious result or closing, a conclusion is also â€Å"a proposition concluded or inferred from the premises of an argument† as defined by dictionary.com. This means, the conclusion is a final logically reasoned deduction. 2) What is the conclusion of each article? The conclusion from the â€Å"Common Core† perspective is that students will learn the essentials for success in college and business prior to graduating high school. The conclusion for those that are in â€Å"The Battle Against Common Core Standards† is that implementing these standards is politically motivated and not in the best interest of students. See more: how to write an analysis 3) Define the term premises. The premise is the basis of support for a given conclusion. 4) What premises support the conclusions in each article? Those working against common core implementation cite government control due to the funding provided to school districts and lack of proof that the system works as basic reasons for their conclusions. Those in favor of common core cite better prepared graduating students, a more educated workforce, and standardization amongst students. The article indicated that if districts had to define their own educational standards, they would start  by seeking out â€Å"common core standards.† 5) How convincing is the conclusion of each article? Explain your answer. I was more convinced by the arguments in favor of implementing common core standards. I noticed more bias in Smith’s article against common core implementation. I was more convinced by Sell’s article because of the objectivity. 6) Define the term biases. A bias is â€Å"a particular dendency or inclination, especially one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a quesiton; prejudice† according to dictionary.com. Anything that prevents someone from objectively drawing a conclusion is a bias. 7) What biases did you observe in each article? Why do you think they are biases? While the â€Å"Common Core† article objectively defined common core and explained its function all of the sources cited were supportive of implementing common core standards. The article would state the opposition and then Sell would quote someone in favor of common core. Smith’s title alone lets you know that this is an opposing argument. The article is politically motivated. Throughout the article, Smith discusses democratic initiatives and state’s â€Å"relinquishing their right to control.† 8) What might be the sources of the biases in each article? Personal expertise is the initial bias. Perhaps they have a child that has fallen below common core standards. Living in a state that has already implemented common core values, I have dealt with standardized tests as both a student and parent. While I was able to pass them with ease, I have witnessed students taken them multiple times to no avail. Those politically motivated are driven by funding and votes. It’s hard to determine if their focus is genuine or if ulterior motives are present. I recognize my personal bias with regard to choosing or opposing common core. References Bias. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved November 14, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bias Conclusion. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved November 14, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/conclusion Premise. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved November 14, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/premise Sell, M. (2013). Common core. McClatchy – Tribune Business News [Washington]. Smith, H.K. (2013, March). The battle against common core standards. FreedomWorks, Retrieved from www.freedomworks.org Link to the article: http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/rousseau/the-battle-against-common-core-standards

No Child Left Behind Policy Essay

People have been used to announcements of various highly contagious diseases like the H1N1 influenza. A closer look at the course of the events shows that various public policies are instituted or strengthened to enhance control and mitigation of these diseases. What are the implications of these policies to a state like Georgia and Catoosa County in particular? On the same level there are various communication policies that have been instituted or even strengthened to enhance the human development especially with respect to freedom of speech and communication in general (Peterson & West (2003). Education has also been affected in a number of ways by various policies. This paper attempts to assess the impact of the ‘No Child Left Behind† policy on the state of Georgia with an emphasis on the Catoosa County. The â€Å"No Child Left Behind† is a public policy that was established to enhance education and academic development in the United States across all the states. In Georgia, one of the effects of the policy was the formation of charter schools. These are institutions that receive public funding just like other public schools in the public schools system. However, they have considerable reliance on the support of the communities in Georgia. The impact of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ can therefore be looked at in several ways as a multifaceted aspect in the sense of a Georgia community perspective. Given their nature, it would help to look at the financial implications of this policy (Wood & Meier 2004). The fact that these schools have been built because of the policy explains, in part, the positive impact of the policy. Thus, if it can be put in terms of Cost-Benefit Analysis, it would not be difficult to conclude that the force of the positive impact (which is the general development acquired from the more established schools) overweighs what would be though of as a burden (Olivert 2007). These effects are felt throughout Georgia including Catoosa County as small a county as it might be. NCLB are the most recent standard based education reforms that have been legislated by the government towards the No child left behind policy in order to provide measurable goals and high standards to improve productivity of individuals through proper education. Assessment of basic skills is supposed to be conducted by the state to determine the grade standards of educating and funding of education for each student and the school as a whole (Peterson & West (2003). Congress increased funding to education after the inception of the No child Left behind policy by about 40% to make the course more practical and to reach a wider population of students. The local governments were seen to be lax, failing students leading to the intervention of the federal government to push the course for No child Left behind in education to address issues like teachers teaching areas distant from their profession and failure to cater for special education. . Another impact of the policy is on governance. With the implementation of the policy, there were various objectives and targets each community had to achieve. These objectives and targets could only be met if the mode of governance was transformed to match the requirements of the policy (Wood & Meier 2004). While assessing the problems facing the efficiency and effectiveness of the charter schools as a response to the ‘No Child Left Behind’, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation noted that there are problems in governance and financing. This is because it is important that those who are engaged in organizing the charter schools, for instance, must have good knowledge of realms of education and must also be equipped with knowledge in finance (Wright et al 2004). If this is not the case, then they must be in a position to put a team together which is proficient in both aspects. Failure to meet standards of fiscal management will automatically qualify a charter for closure. There has been increased accountability in public schools after the enactment of the NCLB that have in deed significantly contributed to the no child left behind Policy and to improve the standards of education. The students in a particular public school can move to a higher performing school if the assessment finds that they have undergone an adequate yearly progress in consecutive years (Olivert 2007). The policy therefore brings a direct economic connotation to Georgia given that the established charter schools rely on the local governance to survive. Even though there is an economic burden put on the local communities, the policy itself has enabled more development to be achieved. A number of notable ends come from the No child left behind policy including: students outcomes being linked to the state academic standards in regards to the policy framework, the performance of students and their progress in math and reading measured annually to determine if they are within the set standards, parents receive adequate information as this is required of the state and school district and a foundation for parental involvement in the district and state schools affairs is consequently laid (Wood & Meier 2004). Parental involvement is important in promoting proper administration of and improvement of schools as well as check against any misappropriation of funds The No Child left behind is in deed a noble course championed by former president Bush to facilitate the achievement or even surpass the achievement of state standards in line with the federal standards mathematics and reading in the coming decade. Progress is significant in this policy that actually measures the achievement by a state assessment. Reference: Peterson H. & West M. (2003). â€Å"No child left behind? The politics and practice of school accountability,† Brookings Institution Press: New York. Wood H. & Meier D. (2004). â€Å"Many children left behind: how the No Child Left behind Act is damaging our children and our schools,† Beacon Press: New York. Wright D et al. (2004). â€Å"No child left behind,† Harbor House Law Press: New York. Olivert D. (2007). â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act: text, interpretation and changes. † Nova Publishers: New York.

Christina Rossetti Essay

   So this gives the cottage maiden some comfort that she knows this and he does not, it therefore gives her power over him and her cousin Kate. The narrator tells us what she would have said and done to the Lord if she had been in Kate’s position. There is loyalty in the narrator when she says she would have â€Å"spit in his face and not have taken his hand. † Whether she would really have acted like this, we do not know, but the reader is made to believe that she wishes cousin Kate had done that, perhaps showing a hint of jealousy. The beginning of the poem is in past tense, â€Å"I was a cottage maiden. † The narrator is looking back, at this point, to what her life was like before she had met the Lord. This poem at no point refers to the feelings of Cousin Kate or the Lord. The narrator in â€Å"The Seduction† seems extremely distraught about her pregnancy. She rips up all her â€Å"My Guy and her Jackie photo-comics† and breaks the heels of the high white shoes which she had worn that night. To the reader, it seems like she is trying to destroy the memories and what happened the night of the party. The girl realises that she is â€Å"truly frightened† and â€Å"cheated† by the promises only tacitly made in her comics. The comics show pictures of girls that are happy with their boyfriends, and stories that tell the teenage readers that everything will work itself out. The girl at the beginning of the story goes out of her way to look beautiful, to be more mature and grown up. Whereas now that she is pregnant, she does not wish to grow up, she wants to stay â€Å"innocent†. The girl looks back on her life before she met the boy, and tells the reader what her life could have been like. She talks about day trips to Blackpool and â€Å"jumping all the rides†, now that she was pregnant she could not do either of these. â€Å"She cried that she had missed all the innocence around her† because having this baby would change her life, she would have to grow up quicker and so miss all the fun teenage years. The narrator talks about ways she thinks would be better to ruin her life than having a baby. She believes that it would be better to smoke â€Å"scented drugs† and â€Å"starve yourself, like a sick, precocious child† than to be in the â€Å"feminine void† of pregnancy. The narrator is obviously extremely distressed about her situation; the reader is made to believe that she has not yet told her parents or even the boy of the pregnancy. Many things in â€Å"Cousin Kate† make it recognisable as having being written in the Victorian era. The obvious one is the archaic language used, â€Å"Woe’s me for joy thereof† is a perfect example. In modern day English it can be translated to mean â€Å"How sad I am that I was joyful about it. † The people described in the poem are also a clue to the era in which it was written, there is a Lord and a cottage maiden. Also the way the neighbours react to a pregnancy out of wedlock, nowadays this is quite common. The narrator was â€Å"not mindful [she] was fair. † This is an old way of saying she did not know she was pretty, whereas the girl in â€Å"The Seduction† went out of her way the make herself look beautiful. This is also a difference between the attitudes of Victorian girls and girls of the 20th Century. The expression â€Å"little slag† used in â€Å"The Seduction† is also very common for its era, whereas the curse words in the era of â€Å"Cousin Kate† would be less abusive and harsh. A peculiar rhyme scheme is used in â€Å"Cousin Kate†. Every other line in each stanza rhymes, whereas the rhyme scheme in â€Å"The Seduction† is not bound to a rule. In some stanzas, the second and forth lines rhyme, but in others, the first, third and fourth lines rhyme. The setting of the poems also shows the reader the time the poem was set. â€Å"Cousin Kate† lived in a cottage and worked â€Å"among the rye†. â€Å"The Seduction† is set at a friends party and also by â€Å"The Mersey, green as a septic wound. † The filth and dirt of the location mirrors the way the boy treats her and the way the girl feels afterwards. Things about at the two poems which are no different despite the gap of nearly a century and a half between them are the position the girls are in. They are both either pregnant or have a baby, both of the fathers do not love the girls. The girls both loved the males at the time although in someway regret what they did. There are boy problems involved even though the men in the poems were of a different class; in ‘Cousin Kate’ the man was a very upper class lord whereas the man in ‘The seduction’ was working class ‘He spat into the river, fumbled in a bag’. These poems both contain different aspects of deceit. â€Å"Cousin Kate† because of the Lord leaving her for the younger cousin, and â€Å"The Seduction† because of the lies in the girls comics. Hayley Beynon 10G1 Page 1 Mr Jagger Hayley Beynon 10G1 Mr Jagger Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE JRR Tolkien section.

Rudolf Laban

Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) is considered to be one of the founders of European Modern Dance. He was a dancer, choreographer and movement theoretician. In his new ideas on dance notation and strong belief that dance should be available for everyone; he has transformed modern dance and dance education. After refusing to Join the army, as his father had planned for him, aged 33 he moved to Munich as an artist. His previous study of architecture in Paris led to him to develop an interest for the moving body and its spaces.It was in Germany he furthered this interest by spending his summer trying to redesign Bewegungskunst (the art of movement). In 1919 Rudolf Laban set up two Dance Theatre Company's, a movement class for armatures, opened a main dance school, wrote articles and books, performed himself and also choreographed. In 1927 he moved to Berlin and opened the Choreographisches Institut and 3 years later he was appointed director of movement and choreographer of the Prussian State T heatres in Berlin.After failing to Join the ‘Nazi way of life' in 1936, his name and work was destroyed by the Government Propaganda Ministry whilst at the height of his career. So in 1938 he took refuge in Britain. When Rudolf Laban was sixty he began to introduce dance study methods such as Laban's analysis (splitting the analysis of dance into 4 simple categories: action, space, dynamic, relationship) with the help of Lisa Ullmann. Then finally in 1946 he opened the Movement Studio in Manchester.Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) is considered to be one of the founders of European Modern Dance. He was a dancer, choreographer and movement theoretician. In his new ideas on dance notation and strong belief that dance should be available for everyone; he has transformed modern dance and dance education. opened the Movement Studio in Manchester. and also choreographed. In 1927 ne moved to Berlin and opened t turtnered this interest by spending his summer trying to redesign egungskunst

Social Performance of Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Social Performance of Organizations - Essay Example However, some of the producers refused making the De Beer to flood the market with products that were similar to those who refused to join it and it afterwards purchased all the products that were produced by the rivals thus controlling the market prices (Edward, 1982). The company is involved in mining activities in various countries. For example, in Botswana De Beers mine through the company referred to as Debswana. In South Africa, De Beers Consolidated Mines is responsible for the mining activities. As far as business structure is concerned, De Beer has two major shareholdings which include Botswana government owning 15% and Anglo America Company that owns 85%. Other related companies that are involved in the De Beers diamond value chain include Diamdel, Namdeb, De Beers Canada, Diamond Trading Company South Africa and Namibia Diamond Trading Company. As an international company, De Beers can be affected by two main external environment factors. First, the custom duties and quota s imposed by countries may make the company demand for its products to decrease. This is based on the government’s policy to lower the importation of foreign products in order to enhance domestic consumption. Secondly, the stiff competition from other companies in the mining industry may result to decrease in the prices of the company products. This may be due to the other companies’ intention to face off the companies in the international market. One of the major stakeholders of De Beers Diamond Company is Diamond Trading Company (DTC). DTC main duties include selling and distribution of the company products. By selling approximately 75% of rough diamond in the international market, DTC is able to generate high revenue for De Beers an aspect that has made the company to effectively expand in the international market (Martin, 2007). The second important part of the stakeholders is the employees. With more than 20,000 employees, the company objectives

S.O.A.P Analysis For Henry David Thoreau's Brute Neighbors Essay

S.O.A.P Analysis For Henry David Thoreau's Brute Neighbors - Essay Example The piece looks like a journal entry, and has a laidback, slow paced style, which shows that the author wrote it as a form of meditative activity. The author has a great respect for the natural world, which he wishes to share with people who may or may not have encountered this type of lifestyle. [80 words] The essay is aimed mostly at the city dweller, somebody with little familiarity with life in the woods but is interested to know what it is like. The description of the landscape, the birds and animals, and the authors meditative thoughts and the comparison between the animal and human world are more of interest to the person educated in the city, with some level of higher education. Also, the historical references are more likely to be understood by somebody with this background. [83 words] The essay was written to familiarize people about the natural world. The second purpose is to share the insights into human nature gained through observing nature. The speaker is in a relaxed state of mind, but minutely observes the natural world around him and informs the audience of everything that is going on in the world that he is living in currently. Sometimes the author uses short sentences and exclamation marks to describe the happenings around him and draw the reader into the story. [84 words] The speaker starts by reporting a conversation between him and a friend who came over to stay for a few days. The conversation, between a hermit and a poet, sets the pace for the rest of the essay. The poet exploring the beauty of nature as opposed to the philosophical vision of the hermit gives an indication of things to come. The rest of the essay discusses the authors meetings with different animals, and the chain of thought each animal sets off in the author, who often compares their activities to that of humans. [93 words] The author, who refers to himself as a

Taking Care of Teenagers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Taking Care of Teenagers - Essay Example Given that reasoning, one must wonder as to whether or not it pays off in the long run to raise a teenage kid. Those that oppose raising teenage kids do so on the premise that anybody between the age of 13-18 require too much parental supervision in their academic, social, and family lives. It becomes difficult to keep track of the teenagers activities at these ages because of their quest for self discovery and self-understanding. Some parents get confused because the teenager seems to wear his personality the way he wears his clothes, it changes everyday. One minute you can have a loving, clingy teenage child who wants nothing more than to cuddle with mom and dad. Then the next minute, you have a kid asking you to park the car 3 blocks from school so his classmates wont see him being dropped off by mom or dad. So, it becomes understandable when parents say raising a teenage kid requires volumes of aspirin in order to combat the headache that it is. But if you analyze it, these mind boggling personality changes within a teenager are exactly the stuff that a parents memories are made up of. T hese are the very moments that are to be cherished for a lifetime and make it all worthwhile to raise a teenager. Parents say that teenagers are rebellious and do not have a clear understanding of life and its intricacies. They get into so much trouble that sometimes a parent wonders if he should just prepare bail money instead of an allowance for the kid. These are the parents who give up on raising their teenager when they should be the most involved in the raising of their teenager. A parent has to understand that a teenager is on the verge of adulthood. Their problems are caused by the fact that they want to be treated as adults but still act like the children that they are during certain situations. This is the time when a teenager needs his parent the most. The teenager needs to know how to be an adult before he turns 18 and is officially given the reins to his life

Paris in 1792 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Paris in 1792 - Essay Example The events of this year thus, also heralded a new form of governance, complete democracy as the major form of governance. Even though democracy was followed in varying degrees in many parts of Europe, it was the French Revolution that gave the impetus for its establishment as the sole form of government acceptable to the people of a nation. As is the case with any historic event, the actual event is preceded by a build up consisting of mounting tensions, resentment and dissatisfaction on the part of certain communities. The involvement of the French government in the American Revolution and the huge expenditure that this interference had cost had created widespread dissatisfaction among the middle classes of France, who felt that this expenditure was needless and could have been avoided, had the government been more astute in the evaluation of the situation. The refusal of the nobility to have helped out the government had meant that an unfair share of the taxes required for the expe nses were extorted out of the bourgeoisie. This bred a lot of resentment amongst them, not only against the monarch, Louis XVI, but also against the nobility of France. France’s unsuccessful attempts to defeat England in war had also placed a heavy burden upon the exchequer that fell largely upon the French bourgeoisie whose standards of living dipped drastically. The constitution of the National assembly, a body of people who were picked out of the middle classes was an important development during the year of 1792. This led to an understanding on the part of both the king and the bourgeoisie of the power of a collective. Michael David Sibalis remarks upon this understanding of the power of the collective as an outcome of the class-consciousness that had seeped into the minds of the middle classes of France, as is seen in the emergence of â€Å"mutual aid societies† in Paris before 1789. These societies enabled the mobilization of the masses during the constitution of middle class citizens during the creation of the National Assembly that was created for the purpose of the creation of a national constitution for France that would invest the bourgeoisie with more powers that it had till then. This constitution of the National Assembly represents, for Sibalis, an attempt on the part of the Parisian middle classes to â€Å"provide themselves with some minimal economic security through their own efforts† (http://fh.oxfordjournals.org/content/3/1/1.extract). Many of these efforts were frustrated by later events of the Revolution but the events of 1789 displayed a passion and fervor on the part of the Parisian middle classes to rise above their petty divisions and fight for the causes of equality that the French Revolution stands for, even today. The fight was also against what Barry M. Shapiro refers to as an â€Å"irrational and inhumane judicial system† (Barry M. Shapiro, Revolutionary Justice in Paris, 1789-1790, ix) that refused to treat every subject of the state equally. The embodiment of this passion and fervor and one of the turning points of the revolution, according to historians like Eric Hobsbawm, was the storming of the Bastille on the morning of the fourteenth of July in 1789 (Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of

Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 31

Article Example ard that whether there exist the survival of Bitcoin or not in this contemporary world, the technology underlying the same would stay for a longer time (Casey and Vigna, †Bitcoin and the Digital-Currency Revolution†). One of the important points or the lessons learned from the selected article â€Å"Bitcoin and the Digital-Currency Revolution† is that the wide application of Bitcoin will certainly develop the conditions of global economy in a positive manner through varied ways. These ways may include computerizing the operational procedures like introducing payment processors, slashing down the amounts of financial fees and generating opportunities for the people who does not hold bank currents currently among others. Apart from this, the other important point or lesson, which can be learned from the aforesaid article, is about the operational procedure of Bitcoin based on which, the conditions of global economy are developed to the maximum possible extent. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that Bitcoin, acting as an efficient digital currency system, takes into concern certain core software programs that restrict in conducting unfair practices such as hacking attempts(Casey and Vign a, ‘Bitcoin and the Digital-Currency Revolution’). Thus, Bitcoin plays a decisive role in making the system of digital currency quite standardized, which in turn, assists in developing the disrupting conditions of global economy at

ART Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

ART - Essay Example Her serene expressions depict her inner tranquillity or it could be a sign of melancholy. The Lady in the portrait has alluring lush dark-long hair; her skin tone is fairly light brown, her body is shapely and subtle. Hence, she fulfils all the terms of being an aesthetic beauty, who is out in the nature to be noticed by the artist. Her noticeable ornaments are a finger ring, two bangles in her wrist and a shoulder band tightly enclosed around her upper arm. Ornaments like finger rings either portray commitment or are a sign of wealth. In this portrait, the woman is dominated by blue colour and has beauty all around her in the form of flowers and crystal blue water, but she has tightly closed her eyes either due to serenity or despair. Hence, the portrait leaves one a bit perplexed, the expression spread across her face depict self-possession or serenity, but the element of bliss cannot be suggested for it. Thus, one concludes that the lady in blue is either feeling grey, blue or

Fashion - customer service can help in build the loyalty of a brand Essay

Fashion - customer service can help in build the loyalty of a brand - Essay Example The paper "fashion - customer service can help in build the loyalty of a brand" talks about how the customer service can help in build the loyalty of a brand. The luxury fashion retailing sector of Hong Kong is exceptionally well developed hence one of the fashion capitals of Asia. The fast growing expenditure from Chinese tourists has turned Hong Kong into a regional distribution hub for popular designer brands around the world, providing a great variety of high-end fashion brands and luxurious products in the market. With the Chinese tourists continuing to pour in, the product demand is high. Many high-end retailers try to provide extra services to retain their customers. Top brands try to find ways to capitalize on the buying interest of their customers and provide quality customer service due to the limited space. Besides globalization, many prestigious retailers are turning their focus to generating a greater profit from their existing customer base by developing brand loyalty. Such ideas are also backed by a number of researchers. Homburg, Koschate & Hoyer (2005) stated that brands were benefited from brand-loyal customers due to repeated patronage and their tendency to pay premium prices for additional services. The findings of Graner and Sterling (2003) further strengthened the incentive for retailers to develop brand loyalty as they found that retaining 5% more customers would boost profits by 25% to 125%. Quality customer services provided by the business are essential.

Diversity Among Society Essay Example for Free

Diversity Among Society Essay The United States is made up of millions of people that come from different backgrounds, religions and cultures. These differences are what make America the type of place it is today, because without these differences we would be just like every other country in the world. One of the biggest resources that we would have to help find information on Diversity would be the internet and this is mainly because we can find out almost anything that we would need on a certain race or culture. An article from US Life-U. S Department of State had a quote from former U. S.  Secretary of State Colin Powell that states, â€Å"America is a nation of nations, made up of people from every land, of every race and practicing every faith. Our diversity is not a source of weakness; it is a source of strength, it is a source of our success. That quote alone can explain the true meaning behind the diversity in America and why we are the way we are. Through all the information that I acquired during this course, I have come to a better understanding of my racial and ethnical background. I have learned that according to the American Community Survey conducted by the U.  S. Census Bureau there are roughly over 36 million Americans that claimed there American heritage and that great political figures such as John F. Kennedy had an Irish background. I have also learned that it was never easy for Irish settlers years ago, because in the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s Irish immigrants were considered poor trash and were treated as such. It took many years for the Irish to establish a good name in America and over time people would stop hiding their Irish heritage and proudly display out in the open the love of their background. It is very hard to tell what the U. S. will look like in the year 2050, because we are constantly changing and we will continue to do this throughout our time. One thing that I can say is that we will have more humans then we know what to do with, because modern medicine is figuring out new ways to help people live longer and stay healthier. As for the demographics in the U. S. go, I would have to say that all raciest will be about equal in population and the white race will no longer be the dominant race. There will be more diversity in olitics and in the media, because as of right now we have a black president and that is just the beginning of what the future will be like. It’s hard to say if there will ever be any big race wars in America, because in today’s modern world everything seems ok, but no one is ever really sure what lies beneath the surface of individual groups. There could be a great race war that might happen in the future, or everybody will finally start to accept each other and we could live a beautiful existence. The challenge that the United States faces with diversity is that everyone is diverse and the want to be proud and show there true diversity. The main problem with that is that some other cultures don’t agree with them and they might want them to change their ways, or leave. This has always been a big challenge for the United States, because as time goes on we should be comfortable with diversity and accepting it along with ours, but there always will be certain people out there that will never change and they will make sure that they are heard within any means necessary. On the other side there are many great benefits that Untied States could benefit from with being such a diverse place. The fact that there are so many different views and opinions in America of the world around them, they could never truly run out of ideas. So many cultures offer such good things to America and they will continue to keeping adding on to that list. In today’s modern society certain individuals still feel the need for racial security and what that means is that someone might still feel more comfortable around their own kind. For example; a white family starts to pack up out of their home and move away from a changing neighborhood. The family finds a place that is more suitable towards their own security which is an all white suburb. The enroll their kids in an all white school and feel that nothing bad will happen to them. Little do they know is that their son’s new friend from school is a thief and deals drugs throughout the school. As time moves on the family starts to see a change in their child’s behavior, as if he was on some sort of drug, they ignore it, because they are amongst white people are they think that things like that couldn’t happen. Fast forward a little more and the child is grown up and in jail for armed robbery. The parents are clueless and confuse, because they never thought that it would happen in an all white neighborhood. Now the point to that story is that in order to foster a climate for acceptance we need to understand that not every other race is bad or will corrupt their race; in fact if each race got together and helped one another out with this kind of problem they could share their experiences and find a proper solution for the problem. The issue with racial profiling in the media is that the reader does not understand what is going on and assumes that a certain situation is a result of that entire race. A perfect example would be the 9/11 tragedy, because after that the media and the people reading the media pretty much made it seem that the situation was a result of all Muslims, when in fact it was only a handful of people that had hateful opinions towards America. The media may not be all bad and include nothing but racial profiling; in fact the media can also showcase the coming together of different races. The media recognized that we would have a black president and that many different races had voted for him, because they felt that he could do the job right regardless of color or background. If everyone in America could understand the power that we have and this is not because we have missiles or a great army, instead it is because we have so many different cultures that bring many different things to our Nation. We would have the power of America’s spirit on our side and it would be hard to break the spirit and will power of that many different people. I am also one that sadly shown my negativity towards another race at one time and it might of not been violent, because it was only in my head, but it goes to show that almost everyone in some way and another will or have experienced that and the best way to overcome that barrio is to understand, research and understand another cultures meaning to behind what they do and then an alliance with each other could happen and we could one day become brothers and sisters of the world again.

Types of business Essay Example for Free

Types of business Essay A sole trader is one who is wholly responsible for his business and hence has complete control over it. He keeps all the profit generated from the business and runs the business according to his own will. He does not have access to substantial capital for expansion; he does not have anyone to manage his business affairs and therefore has to do all the work by his own. Sole proprietorship has unlimited limited which means he will have to sell his own assets apart from business in order to pay back the debts. Partnership: the Business is run by partners who share the profit and loss according to the share of capital put into the business. It is run by mutual ideas of the partners. They can overcome each other weakness which can be helpful in making the business more profitable. They loss form the business is shared among the partners. One of the disadvantages is that the profit generated from the business has to be shared among the partners . The partners may get into conflict when making any decision. Corporation: There are two types of corporations. Private limited and Public limited. Private Limited corporations are those where the shareholders have limited liability and the shares of the corporate may not be offered to the general public. One of the major advantages of private limited company is that the corporation is separated from management and its members (the shareholders). Another advantage is that all the shareholders have limited liability that means only there share in the business is at stake and they are not liable to pay back the debt from their own property. Disadvantages may be that all the decisions have to be consulted with every shareholder that takes time and effort. The other form of corporation is the public limited corporation where the ownership is held by the public . The company has limited liability; a public limited corporation has a greater access to financial institutions for loans which is not the case with sole traders or partnership. With so many shareholders, they can all contribute their ideas for the benefit of the company. The disadvantages of a public limited company is the double taxation , at first the company has to pay the corporation tax on the profit earned and then the shareholders pay the tax on the dividends they get . Second advantage of a public limited company is that there are many legal formalities involved in setting up. The third disadvantage may be that the public limited corporation is bound to disclose all the financial information to its shareholders that takes a lot of time, effort and money. (Cinnamon and Larsen, 2006) Franchising: It is a method by which a person uses a business name that already exists. The person who takes the name is know has franchisee and the person who owns that business is know as franchisors. The franchisee in order to get authorize to use the name of the business has to pay a fees and a percentage of gross monthly sales. Sherman , 2004) Advantage to the franchisor may be that it can come near to the market by giving out the name to a franchisee. For a franchisee the advantage may be that he can earn from a business that already exists and is well renowned. Disadvantage for the franchisor is that the franchisor has to keep in eye on the quality of the products available in the franchise and also on the customer service given by the franchisee. For a franchisee the disadvantages may be that he has to give some profit to the franchisor. (Sherman , 2004)