Managerial Accounting in Managing Complex Organizations Research Paper

Essays on Managerial Accounting in Managing Complex Organizations Research Paper ï » ¿Managerial Accounting in Complex Organizations Contemporary developments in the organization and technology of manufacturing and in the deregulation of service industries are generating demand for entirely new approaches to cost accounting and managerial control. The traditional direct labor focus of most cost accounting systems has become obsolete in light of the much smaller ratio of labor to total manufacturing costs and the increased importance of capital costs and knowledge workers. Current research is exploring the initiatives of innovative organizations across a wide variety of industries to deal with these changes. The role of management accounting systems, including the use of multiple non-financial measures to supplement traditional profit and loss statements, is studied in relation to the firm's production, marketing and strategic goals. Accounting Data in Productivity Measurement and Strategic Decision Making As businesses strive to improve their profitability, it becomes vital to develop cost and profitability data that will support the firm's desire to promote their most profitable products and identify their most profitable market segments. Further, information needs to be collected and classified to ensure the firm's continuing commitment to enhanced productivity and adherence to budgeted performance. Research is focusing on the implications for a firm's cost accounting system of these demands for improved productivity and profitability measurements. Financial Reporting and Industrial Structure Discussions of financial accounting disclosure policy by regulatory bodies such as the S.E.C. and the F.A.S.B. are typically phrased in terms of the effect of such disclosure on the efficiency reporting firms is rarely considered because such effects are thought to be negligible. However, the information produced by a reporting firm is received by its competitors as well as investors. Recent research has studied the effect of different levels of mandated financial accounting disclosure on the behavior of the reporting firms. Of particular interest is whether the level of such disclosure increases the level of competition among the reporting firms, increases tacit collusion among them, or has no effect. These issues have been addressed using experimental markets. Empirical Evidence on the Relation of Accounting Information to Capital Market and Managerial Behavior Much work has studied the effect of publicly available information on the behavior of the stock market. One of the important sources of such information is the accounting data generated by a stream of recent research assesses how accounting information is processed in the capital market securities. Related research examines the capital income, cash flows, and accruals. This research focuses on the market properties of the components of accounting numbers such as information content and relative importance of one information cue vis-a-vis the others in pricing corporate securities. Another avenue of research evaluates the influence of managerial incentives and market/regulatory forces on managerial accounting choice decisions, such as accruals. Cash Flow Accounting and Its Structure While investment decisions are based on cash flow forecasts their consequences are evaluated on the basis of current earnings, which include many non-cash adjustments like depreciation. Such non-cash items are often quite subjective and susceptible to corporate discretion. It seems both feasible and desirable to build an accounting system that excludes such non-cash items, and is capable of providing a profitability indicator that is useful for performance evaluation. In this research, new concepts and measurement techniques are developed in order to construct such a system. Delegating the Choice of the Financial Accounting Method It is usually observed that shareholders delegate the choice of the financial accounting method to managers, and that the latter's compensation is at least partially based on the output of the chosen financial accounting method. But this seems to create incentives for managers to choose the financial accounting method in order to maximize their compensation, rather than to most accurately report the results of operations. Recent research addresses the question of why shareholders find this arrangement in their best interest. This research indicates that production distortions are created when the choice of the financial accounting method is delegated to either the manager or the shareholders. The delegation decision should therefore be based on minimizing these production distortions. This research establishes sufficient conditions under which it is optimal to delegate the choice of the financial accounting method to managers. The Returns to Monitoring and The Effect of Monitoring on Production and Allocation Distortions Much of the recent work in managerial accounting has been based on the principal-agent model in which managerial accounting systems are viewed as monitoring systems which produce information on which the principal (owner) and the agent (manager) base their contract. Recent research addresses whether the gross returns to monitoring are always concave, as they are assumed for other inputs, or whether they can be convex. It is found that the gross returns to monitoring an agent's private information can often be convex. In other words, the better the monitoring system, the more valuable it is to improve it. In addition, this research studies how improvements in a monitoring system affect the size of the production distortion and the excess return or rent earned by the agent on his private information. Collusion in Auditing Historically, auditing arose to overcome informational asymmetries between owners of resources and the managers who traded or transacted on their behalf. Therefore, the value of auditing depends crucially on whether the manager and the auditor collude. Recent research has studied a three-person problem consisting of an owner, a manager, and an auditor in which the latter two can collude against the former. The optimal owner-manager and owner-auditor contracts are characterized and the extent of distortion caused by the potential for collusion is studied. The optimal owner-manager contracts are similar to those found in the leasing of income producing assets such as retail space and mineral and oil deposits. In these instances, it is difficult for the owner to independently verify the amount earned by the asset and the manager can consume any amount not reported to the owner. Empirical Implications of Agency Theory and Their Impact On Management Control Systems Agency theory research focuses on the optimal contractual relationships among members of the firm, where each member is assumed to be motivated solely by sef-interest. Accounting researchers are interested in agency theory because it provides a model from which uses of managerial accounting information and managerial accounting systems can be derived and studies. Executive compensation contracts are important elements of management control systems and therefore, the compensation data can be used to empirically test the theoretical predictions of agency theory regarding the sensitivity of accounting based and non-accounting based performance measure to the total compensation package. A Contract Theory of Accounting and Control If organizations are seen as sets of contracts among economic agents who contribute resources and receive inducements in exchange, accounting and control systems can be seen as means of implementing and enforcing these contract sets. Various forms of accounting for a variety of organization types can be examined in terms of how they serve the following functions; (1) measuring the contribution of each agent; (2) determining and disbursing the contractual entitlement of each agent; (3) informing various agents about the extent to which other agents have fulfilled their contractual obligations and received their entitlement; (4) providing information to potential agents in order to maintain a liquid market for contractual slots or factor of production; and (5) providing a pool of common knowledge of verified information to all participants to facilitate negotiation and contract formation. This research examines various aspects of accounting practices and institutions in terms of this u nified economic model. Market for Information When asset markets reveal the private information possessed by the traders to other participants through price and other market variables, the ability of information produces to recover their cost through trading is attenuated. This research examines the complex interactions between, and equilibria in, the asset markets that reveal private information on one hand and markets for information on the other.

Consumer Society Is a Divided Society Free Essays

TMA 2 Consumption has great control on individual’s lives, the whole development, contemporary UK and the rest of the world. Consumer society is characterization used to explain a society that is defined by the way individuals acquire goods, how they use them and the disposal of these goods. (Hethering, 2009, p. We will write a custom essay sample on Consumer Society Is a Divided Society or any similar topic only for you Order Now 33). Consumption comprises of individual that acquire goods for personal use and those that acquire for manufacturing and resale. However Social Scientist comes in to try and analyse consumer behaviour when acquiring these goods. The question now is whether the consumer society is a divided society. Some view consumer society as divided society and others see it as a society that acquires goods for personal use and that reflects personality and individuality. For some consumer society is not only about purchasing good for essesntial use but also as a way of trying to get a sense of belonging in society. Social Scientist Zygmun possed a question on whether the ability to be part of a consumer society was equally available to everyone. (need referencing. )Bauman’s concept of seduced and repressesd consumers visualise inequalities and differences created by a consumer society. Bauman, claims that we live in a consumer society where divisions are entranched not by class, but by the economic ability to consume. (Hethering,2009,p. 25) Buman described the consumer society by dividing them into two group, the seduced and the repressed. The seduced being the weathy, highly paid professional. This group often run an expensive lifestyle, for example buying expensive houses, cars, designer clothes etc. The repressed as the ones that are not employed, on low paid jobs, the disabled and many others. Hethering,2009,p. 25). this concept in Bauman’s view reflects his understanding in consumer division. How to cite Consumer Society Is a Divided Society, Essay examples

Mountain Dew free essay sample

MOUNTAIN DEW: Selecting New Creative CASE STUDY SECTION A GROUP 5 Roll Numbers : FPM/04/005 (SUPRIYA K. K. ) PGP/14/005 (AMIT KUMAR) PGP/14/015 (ARITRA BASU ROY) PGP/14/025 (DEVARAJAN K) PGP/14/035 (KRISHNAN VR) PGP/14/045 (SAURABH MAHAJAN) PGP/14/055 (TANOY DHAR) Issues identified: 1. â€Å"Do the Dew† campaign was more than 8 years old. 2. Ads were becoming too predictable and repetitive. 3. Use of alternative sports was becoming predictable. 4. Increase in competition amongst CSD and non CSD categories. Increase in ad budgets by Competitors. Recommendations: Based on the analysis our recommendations for the AD’s to be selected for broadcasting at the Super Bowl are * Cheetah * Mock Opera The recommendations for broadcasting throughout the year 2000, based on the criteria listed above are, * Cheetah * Mock Opera * Showstopper Analysis: The STP Identified by the Mountain Dew Management for the financial year 2000:Objective: Expand appeal of Mountain Dew to new users while reinforcing it among current usersPositioning: To 18 year old males, who embrace excitement, adventure and fun, Mountain Dew is the great tasting carbonated soft drink that exhilarates like no other because it is energizing, hirst-quenching, and has a one-of-a-kind citrus flavor. We will write a custom essay sample on Mountain Dew or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Communication Strategy:   Symbolize that drinking Mountain Dew is an exhilarating experience. Target: Male Teens—18 year-old epicenter * Ensure appeal amongst 20-39 year olds (current users) * Drive universal appeal (white, African-American, Hispanic, and other ethnic) Product Benefits| Emotional Benefits| Personality | Energizing| Exhilaration| Irreverent| Quenching| Excitement| Daring| Great Taste| | Fun| | possible choice of ads, before Pepsico for the superbowl * Labor of Love * Cheetah Ad * Dew or Die * Mock Opera * Showstopper 3 to be chosen among the above 5 above which would enable Pepsico to project its new positioning while at the same time maintaining it existing users. Decision filters used to evaluate brand communications: 1. Market research carried out to assess brand health (KPIs) measures 2. Unofficial sources of information like websites, talk shows and other mass media 3. Official sources like brand’s 800 number and Mountain Dew website Evaluation of 5 Ad Campaigns: Labor of Love Pros * Conveys irreverence for rules * Consistent with humorous ad image Cons * Does not conveys product benefits * Involves risk in terms of alienating the existing consumers, especially during the Super Bowl. * Target positioning not clear * Humor may be taken in bad taste especially those with kids * Inconsistent with the brand STP Cheetah Ad Pros Consistent with the Dew Dudes image of wild, athletic, young and adventurous * Conveys exhilaration, excitement, daring and fun so consistent with the new positioning adopted * Focus on overall image perception of the consumer, no specific sport highlighted * Consistent with the Super Bowl energy and excitement * Potrayal of Cheetah will convey an universal imagery of energy ,athleticism which can appeal to all sections in the youth population (African Americans, Hispanics ,Whites and other ethnic). * Brings out the produc t benefit, like taste Consistent with the brand STP Cons * Like extreme sporting action, almost on similar lines with previous ads. Showstopper Pros * Cashes on the retro phenomenon * BMX riders and skate boarders represent fun, wild and athletic * Consistent with the brand STP Cons * Dew Dudes image not consistent * Does not convey excitement and exhilaration Mock Opera Pros * Conveys irreverence with the parody * The athletic action relates to the present Dew image * Consistent with the brand STP Cons * Does not convey exhilaration as much as previous extreme sport ads Dew or Die Pros Consistent with Dew Dude image showcasing exhilaration, daredevilry, excitement and fun * Showcasing competitive spirit Cons * Loses on product benefit attributes * Cliched ad, low on creativity, will not appeal much to the target audience * Inconsistent with brand STP The decision filters used by us: 1. Target positioning being followed a. Universal consumer appeal across different ethnic groups b. Leveraging and developing further on the strengths of the brand image c. Ensuring brand consistency with the existing consumers 2. Consistency of the ad with the product benefits, emotional benefits and personality

The Scarlet Letter Essay Summary Example For Students

The Scarlet Letter Essay Summary The Scarlet Letter, a story of the diffficulties faced by Hester Prynne in committing adultery, is pertinent to today’s teenage mothers in particular. The Scarlet Letter teaches one to face the responsibilities and consequences of his or her decisions. It shows the perspective of the commonly misunderstood people. The novel shows that the hardships and capability of teenage mothers. The Scarlet Letter is an inspiring novel which teaches to make the best of any situation and be strong. Hester Prynne commits adultery with Dimmesdale while her husband is in another country. Dimmesdale is a minister and fears slaughtering his reputation by making it known that he is the father of their child, Pearl. If Hester reveals the father, she may take the scarlet letter off, otherwise she must wear it for life. Honorably, Hester will not reveal his identity. As a result, she becomes the symbol of sin. â€Å"When strangers looked curiously at the scarlet letter-and none ever failed to do so-they branded it afresh into Hester’s soul; so that, oftentimes, she could scarecly refrain, yet always did refrain, from covering the symbol with her hand. We will write a custom essay on The Scarlet Letter Summary specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Teenage mothers receive many stares. It’s difficult to help from staring at a teenager mother with her baby. Some teenage mothers might feel embarassed at this, as Hester does. People can be very judgemental. The Scarlet Letter reveals how people may judge a teenage mother in a wrong way. â€Å"Lonely was Hester’s situation, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As a consequence for her sin, Hester becomes an outcast from society. Her reputation diminishes and she no longer has a social life. Many teenage mothers are forced to give up their childhood and don’t have much time for a social life. They have to care for someone else now. Most mothers sacrifice sports and time for homework in order to care for their child. Today’s society might say all people are equal and no one is an outcast. Unfortunately, many people are misjudged and not given a chance; like Hester, whom no one would be associated with. Even while applying for jobs or to colleges, teenage mothers are treated differently. ecause they have a child, people believe they can’t take on serious responsibilities. Hester feels as if her sin will affect the way Pearl is raised, â€Å"Day after day, she looked fearfully into the child’s expanding nature; ever dreaming to detect some dark and wild peculiarity, that should correspond with the guiltiness to which she owed her being. †Ã‚   This shows Hester’s fear of being incapable to raise a child after committing a sin. Many teenagers might feel insecure as mothers. They are learning that their actions will affect their child’s. Teenage mothers might feel as if they are depriving their kids, since they are young and inexperienced. † ‘Woman, it is thy badge of shame! ’ replied the stern magistrate. ‘ It is because of the stain which that letter indicates, that we would transfer thy child to other hands. † This shows the responsibity and good which can come from being a teenage mother. They can show their children the consequences of having a child at a young age. They can tell their children, firsthand, the problems which are faced. â€Å"Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge? It is our Hester-the town’s own Hester-who is kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted! †Ã‚   This qoute shows that no matter what, there can always be a brighter future. Teenage mothers may have to work harder to attain a good reputation and be successful; bu it is very possible. It shows that good things can come out of any situation. The Scarlet Letter shows the obstacles and consequences which teenagers must face. Hester’s situatuion is applicable to teenage mothers. Many teenagers feel the isolation from society and the false judgments made by people. .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac , .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac .postImageUrl , .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac , .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac:hover , .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac:visited , .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac:active { border:0!important; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac:active , .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ueb0bd216803da010edfe1899b657e6ac:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Meet Carl Robinson, he is a 13-year-old student at St. Mark's School in North London EssayThese teenagers might be inspired by Hester’s story. â€Å"until, on the threshhold of the prison door, she rfepelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and force of character, and stepped into the open air, as if by her own free will. † Hester’s acceptance of her punishment and her pride teaches teenage mothers a valuable lesson they might commonly forget. Whatever the consequences may be, they should face them boldly and independently. Also, no matter how society treats them, they should be brave and have pride in themselves.

The Heir of the Ancient Celtic Artistic Tradition Essays

The Heir of the Ancient Celtic Artistic Tradition Essays The Heir of the Ancient Celtic Artistic Tradition Essay The Heir of the Ancient Celtic Artistic Tradition Essay Celtic art is a complex, unique and beautiful style. Through its history it has undergone many changes and yet remained a distinct and identifiable style. Celtic art underwent a number of changes like the adoption of a number of Roman motifs, which continued to be used during the Christian era, during the Roman occupation of the Celtic heartland. Celtic art was also greatly influenced by foreign artistic styles, including Germanic and Mediterranean art, and underwent a rapid shift, from symbolic to realistic, during the Celtic conversion to Christianity. This essay will argue that the illuminated manuscripts of the 8th-9th centuries CE are the heirs of ancient, pagan Celtic style; that despite all the changes and foreign influence that Celtic art experienced that the genius, ingenuity and resilience of the Celtic artists and his artistic traditions allowed Celtic art to remain a distinct identifiable style. Early Celtic is full of complex and beautiful abstract patterns and aimed to situate itself between the two extremes of realism and abstraction1. The La Tene style of the last four hundred years BCE is described by Ramsey MacMullen as showing a fondness for abstraction [ through] the reduction of faces to triangles or in the rendering of hair in straight lines [ ] or in the reduction of the joints of an animals legs to mere circles. The La Tene style also utilized a more fluid type of abstractism illustrated by the wild patterns of whorls, spirals and volutes2. One of the best examples of the La Tene style is the Petrie Crown. It shows almost no foreign influence3. Early Celtic art also had a tendency to reduce three dimensions to two; it had a tendency to flatness, to decorate line. Motifs were designed to fill space, not to narrate4. But, the fact that some motifs are repeated throughout Celtic art fosters the belief that there was a meaning behind the some of the images. Those repeated symbols could have had a communicative property. According to D. W. Harding Celtic art [would have ] conveyed a meaning, overtly or subconsciously, to those who were aware of its significance5. Until it was engulfed by Rome, the heartland of Celtic art was in the Souths of them include paterae or skillets. Some of these skillets are decorated with the names of Roman outposts and/ or designs thought to be of representative Hadrians Wall9. During the occupation of Rome Celtic artists also attempted to imitate classical forms. The Celts were largely unaware of the meanings behind the images they copied and most attempts resulted in a very unrefined rendering. This was due, according to Ian Finlay, because the poetic abstraction of early Celtic art was unable to co-exist with classical realism10. As Roman pressure increased in the South, a number of peoples moved North into Wales, Scotland and Ireland. There, they were able to preserve their artistic traditions; because only where the legions did not penetrate did the [Celtic] style survive in sufficient strength to continue developing11. This is especially true of Ireland. There the basis of the next evolution in Celtic art developed. In Ireland, Celtic artists continued working in a[n artistic] tradition long forgotten on the continent12. The dominance of Rome in Celtic lands was not absolute. With the Celts Rome encountered a resistance never met within [the other] countries that had known Romes military domination13. This sentiment is echoed by Judith Mederos. She states that the Celts had a stubborn capacity to outlast [ ] alien conquers and still emerge as a victorious and imaginative people14. While the culture brought by the Romans probably never greatly influenced more than the ruling and official classes15 it did have a profound impact on the art of the early Medieval Celts16.

Pros and cons to being friends with your boss

Pros and cons to being friends with your boss In a perfect world, since you spend such a large chunk of your life at work, you’d be friends with all of your colleagues. But when it comes to your manager, lines can be difficult to define. No matter how well you get along and how chill your office is, becoming besties with your boss isn’t always in the cards. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though- there are pros and cons to turning that professional relationship into a friendly, personal one. Pro:  Congratulations! You just made a new friend!Well, this one’s pretty obvious. It’s the pro of making friends with, well, anyone. Making friends is great! It’s always nice to have someone new to chat with and lean on for support in times of stress. If you and a coworker click well and have a great rapport and lots in common, who cares if that someone happens to be your boss?Con:  Constructive criticism becomes complicatedOne downside to having a buddy as a boss is that he or she might be l ess inclined to give you negative feedback when you’re not working up to your full potential. And sometimes you really need that criticism. Offering constructive criticism is often a key aspect of a boss’s job, but if she or he feels uncomfortable giving any for fear that it might damage a friendship, you’ll keep making the same mistakes over and over again and fail to grow professionally.Pro: Knowing your boss as a friend means knowing what your boss needsBefriending your boss is not just beneficial on a personal level. Believe it or not, it can actually make you better at your job. If you know your boss as a friend, you have a better understanding of your boss’s personality and needs. Knowing a boss inside and out makes any employee a better one.Con: Worlds colliding can be toughLeaving work behind when you walk out the office door is healthy. That will be a lot harder to do when you’re meeting up with your boss during your free time. Conversatio ns may veer back toward work issues. Over cocktails, your boss might even start picking your brain about other employees who aren’t pulling their weight, and that’s when issues of betrayal can arise and things can get really sticky from 9 to 5. Also, your boss may also learn things about your personal life that could come back and bite you at work.Pro: You’re less likely to get in troubleBeing friends with the boss isn’t just a pro in times of plenty. It can also be a real benefit when things go awry. If you mess up at work- and who doesn’t from time to time- you might be less likely to get chewed out if the chewer has plans to go to the movies with you this weekend.Con: Here come the accusations of favoritismYour relationship with your boss can get a bit weird if the two of you become friends, but just think of what it will do with your relationship with the other employees! First of all, they’ll probably get a little wary whenever you get a promotion or a raise, wondering if you got that benefit on merit or because the boss likes hanging out with you. Your co-workers might start making accusations of favoritism, which often leads to†¦Con: You May alienate your peers†¦being on the outs with your office peers. Becoming really tight with the one in charge can do a lot of damage to your relationship with your co-workers. If they think you’re getting preferential treatment, they won’t just accuse you of receiving favoritism- they won’t want anything to do with you, or in worst case scenarios, they may actively work against you.The bottom line? Tread carefully when it comes to bonding with your boss on a personal level. There may be some superficial pros that come with it, but the cons can be pretty serious.

Development Economics nd interntionl debt crisis Essay

Development Economics nd interntionl debt crisis - Essay Example Rther, it must be understood within the broder context of ntionl governnce nd economic mngement s well s the globl politicl economy, especilly the interntionl finncil rchitecture. The debt problem is intimtely relted to openness nd the cpcity or lck thereof for competitiveness nd beneficil globliztion. Those countries unble or unwilling to tke dvntge of globliztion hve the highest debt burden. In the following pper I will be discussing interntionl debt crisis tht hs been the issue for the lst decdes s well s previous yers. I will provide techniques nd methods tht re considered to be effective in eliminting the debt, review the finncil stte of countries tht mostly suffer from the debt nd come up with conclusions nd recommendtions. To provide blnced pproch, I will briefly discuss domestic debt: wht it is, its importnce for the domestic economy, why it hs been going up for most of the poor indebted countries, nd the need to tke n integrted pproch to understnding nd mnging the ntionl deb t. The prolonged debt crisis of developing countries hs lwys been ssocited with ctive serches for different strtegies for solving the crisis. t the beginning, emphsis ws on rescheduling debt pyments to give debtor countries more time nd to provide them with dditionl finncil resources to meet their current nd future obligtions. Debt-equity swps, lso known s debt-equity conversion, refers to process or processes by which debt instrument of debtor country, denominted in foreign exchnge, is converted into n equity investment in tht country. For exmple, if Brzil borrows $100 million from n mericn bnk, the lon cn be converted into debt-equity swps whereby the mericn bnk, or other investors, converts the mrket vlue of the lon into equity shres of Brzilin compny. The process of converting debt into equity vries from country to country. In simplified form, here re the common steps. To begin with, n investor wishing to invest in debtor country through the debt-equity swps submits proposl to the debtor government. Once the proposl is pproved, the investor purchses the debt of tht country, often owed to n interntionl bnk. The price pid is less thn the fce vlue of the debt instrument, clculted to reflect the mrket expecttions concerning the likelihood tht the debt will be serviced ccording to the originl schedule. The more severely indebted country is, the less likely it is to service its debt ccording to schedule nd, therefore, the lower the price the investors py for the debt-equity swps. Once the sle is complete, it is presented to the centrl bnk for redemption in the locl currency. The centrl bnk pys somewhere between the fce vlue nd the secondry mrket vlue of the pper. Investors then use these funds to mke their investments. To mximize the benefits nd minimize the costs of debt-equity swps, debtor countries develop policy frmework nd detiled guidelines for their implementtion. The guidelines generlly define the eligible investors, purpose for the investments, priority sectors or geogrphicl res for the investments, restrictions on profit remittnce nd cpitl reptrition, nd requirements for new money inflows. Regrding eligibility, n importnt issue is whether the debtor

Mgt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Mgt - Essay Example It would help address the issue and accelerate change within and across industries. This is highly relevant because it promotes collective action and wider perspectives of the issue with long-term ramifications on environment. Sustainability is inherently linked with people that integrate vital elements of socio-cultural and economic paradigms. Thus, environmental issues also become part of socio-economic issues that impact the wider welfare of the society or people. Stephen Ritz, Bronx Green Machine has stressed that businesses need to recognize sustainable efforts are not standalone issues but businesses play important role in society and their proactive participation in social issues becomes significant catalyst for changes within society. Food sustainability and food chain link key ingredients of natural resources that are finite and raise pertinent concern regarding greater consumption of energy, natural resource use and waste within the broader precinct of food sustainability. Population growth has led to more consumption of food and production of food on limited land results in greater environmental stress. Sarah Alexander believes that innovative measures that influence food system and awareness about food sustainability across the globe are important factors for ensuring sustainability of resources and their judicious use. Thus, environmental trends bring about changes within the system so it must become intrinsic part of work culture rather a temporary

Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action Essay Example for Free

Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action Essay Affirmative action is a policy in which the previously disadvantaged due to discrimination receive priority.   It came to existence as a remedy toward discrimination and then became a problem all by itself according to some theorists, who are opponents to it. Supporters believe affirmative action should be adopted to provide equal employment opportunity, but facts show that it does not.   Affirmative action is a very controversial issue, which has been debated for more than thirty years.  Ã‚   Unlike discrimination, there are not so many laws against affirmative action, but opponents are indeed working on banning it wherever it is possible for them to do so. TABLE OF CONTENTS Brief Overview of Affirmative Action Origin of Affirmative Action Views of Affirmative Action People who benefit from Affirmative Action Employment and Affirmative Action Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Legal Issues of Affirmative Action How to Stop Affirmative Action from Being Taken Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action Brief Overview of Affirmative Action   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Affirmative Action is usually defined as an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups and women or one to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged people. (Websters Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In practice, affirmative action is taken by giving women and people from a minority group priority.   For instance, a company has an opening for a bookkeeper.   On determining who should be hired, the company gives women and people from a minority group priority.   This could also happen with promotion: only women and people from a   minority group are likely to be promoted, and with education: women and people from a minority group have better chances of obtaining grants and scholarships that would enable them to attend college.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another way of illustrating how affirmative action is taken would be with a classroom in which some students receive a great deal of unfair punishments.   One day it is brought to the teacher’s attention that she will be dismissed unless unfair practices are stopped.   In an attempt to correct the past unacceptable behavior, the teacher starts treating those students with some kind of preference.   In the beginning this will be certainly appropriate, as those students will need to feel that they are not ill-treated anymore. Origin of Affirmative Action   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Affirmative action is believed to have come about as a remedy to the awful  discrimination that regrettably used to take place.   As a matter of   fact, according to T.H. Anderson, (2004) in 1940 discrimination was tradition and in some states it was  even law.   Sad though it might now sound to us, the most educated and  refined African-American did not have the rights the most illiterate  and indecent white individual did (p. 2). Therefore, when discrimination  became illegal in the United States, affirmative action started to  take place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By the mid-1970’s minorities and women were winning significant victories, which could be seen on construction sites,  exemplified by the Metro in Washington D.C.   Mayor Walter E.  Washington took a dramatic step, mandating a strong affirmative action  program in which all private companies doing business or having contracts with city hall would have to submit plans with goals to  advanced minorities and women. (J.H. Anderson, 2004, p. 142)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A valid affirmative action plan is one means of trying to undo the  effects of past illegal discrimination.   Under such a plan, an  employer makes employment decisions based on race or sex factor that  ordinarily can’t be considered, in order to restore equal opportunity  employment for groups that have faced discrimination. When a court finds that a business has discriminated and there are no  other effective means to remedy the discrimination, the court may  require the business to take affirmative action.   For example, a court  may order a company to hire one African-American employee for every two white ones hired until the company’s workforce resembles the  racial mix of the community.   (F.S. Steinhold, 2007, p. 156)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A business may also have to set up an affirmative action plan as part  of voluntary settling a court case or the proceeding of E.E.O.C. (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).   Any voluntary  program must meet the E.E.O.C.’s Guidelines on Affirmative Action Plans. (F.S. Steinhold, 2007, p. 156) Views of Affirmative Action   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Because it appears that originally valid plans of affirmative action became in a way corrupted or abused, there have been some opponents to it.   Affirmative action is a subject that has been debated and analyzed by philosophers, legal scholars, social scientists, politicians, journalists, editorial writers, and common citizens for three decades.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Basically, the debate has two sides: the Right and the Left.   The Right, which is totally against it, states that Affirmative action only causes people to obtain what they desire not because they deserve it, but because they belong to a group that was discriminated in the past.   According to this site, affirmative action is unmeritocratic, leads to reverse-discrimination, and is an un-American guarantee of equal results instead of equal opportunity.   The Left, which supports it, states that affirmative action is a compensation for past injustices and a guarantee of a fair share of the economic pie. (J.D. Skrentny, 1996, p. 1 2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To reconcile the two views, it could perhaps be said that an affirmative action plan might be proper in the beginning of a non-discriminatory period of time; women and people from minority groups should feel that they are not discriminated anymore.   On the other hand, there is no reason for this period of time to last forever.   For instance, in the United States discrimination became illegal a very long time ago, so previously discriminated people should not be given any kind of priority because of what it used to happen in the distant past.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When it became vital to take the affirmative action in the turbulent period of 1964 to 1971, a careful consideration of the cultural and historical circumstances became absolutely necessary in its debate and an explanation for why it happened was needed as well.   (Clayton Crosby, 1992, p. 2) Nowadays, more than thirty years after that period, affirmative action would simply be against logic and no explanation could possibly be given as a result.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Affirmative Action is believed to be one of the most controversial policies in the United States.   â€Å"The issues are complex, they stir strong feelings, and in the media everyone seems to have an opinion on the topic (Clayton Crosby, 1992, p. 1).   This implies that a great deal of understanding is needed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The complexity of affirmative action as a topic is illustrated by the controversy of whether the version of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 required or prohibited quotas – George Bush’s belief versus his proponents -, the appointment of Clarence Thomas – an affirmative action beneficiary who surprisingly opposed it -, and the apparent shift in the Supreme Court. (S.D. Clayton F.J. VanDeVeer, 2000, p. 4)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Opponents of affirmative action are believed   to come from a variety of quarters: Supreme Court Justice Thomas – an African-American who opposes it – Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, and Glenn Lowry – African-American critics who gained national attention speaking about the policy -, and Stephen Carter – William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale University. Their reactions to affirmative action seem very intriguing. (S.D. Clayton F.J. VanDeVeer, 2000, p. 4)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Why people who benefit from affirmative action oppose to it deserves the amazement of whoever learns of the fact.   It could perhaps be interpreted that they want to be equal – neither better nor worse.     The fact that they are now granted more rights because they were once deprived of the ones they should have in the first place is likely to make them feel inferior.   In other words, their equality should be put in force and they should only obtain what they rightly deserve regardless of their background.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Affirmative action became a major issue in state courts in California and in Pennsylvania, where it was indeed claimed that its almost inevitable effect was reverse discrimination. People who benefit from Affirmative Action   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In general, belonging to a minority group is due to an inborn or inherited matter, like women, African Americans, and people from different origins.   On the other hand, there are some groups of people who willfully joined a minority group.   For instance, many people learned one religion at home and later converted to a different one.   Homosexuality and bi-sexuality is debatable: some theorists believe uncommon sexual orientations are in the genes, whereas some other ones believe they are a matter of option.   Regardless of which theorists are right, homosexual and bi-sexual people were victims of discrimination in the past and later became beneficiaries of affirmative action.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As we all know, African Americans were virtually the worst victims of discrimination.   Without any right whatsoever, people were taken from Africa and brought to America to be sold as slaves.   The awful slavery was abolished a few hundred years later, but African Americans were still unable to obtain what the average person usually could.   In the middle of the twentieth century, discrimination against African Americans became illegal and the law started to call for a total equality, and affirmative action was taken as a remedy. Employment and Affirmative Action   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before focusing on the fact of whether or not affirmative action should be adopted to provide equal employment opportunity, we need to understand thoroughly the basic concepts or employment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   P. K. Edwards (2003) states in his book Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice that the employment relations has two parts: market relations and managerial relations.   The former is more obvious because it covers price of labor, which embraces not only the basic wage but also hours of work, holidays and pension rights.   In this respect, labor is like any other commodity, with a price which represents the total cost of enjoying its use. Yet labor differs from all other commodities in that it is enjoyed in use and is embodied in people.   A machine in a factory is also enjoyed in use and for what it can produce.   Yet how it is used is solely up to the owner.   The ‘owner’ of labor, the employer has to persuade the worker, that is, the person in whom the labor in embodied, to work. (p. 9)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most companies have employees nowadays, given that it simply becomes impossible for the owner to do everything all by him- or herself.   On hiring a new employee, companies have their own criteria.   We see quite often that the same employee who does not qualify for one company does for another one.   Employees are chosen based on the companies’ budget and needs.   In general, a large, profitable business is likely to choose a better skilled worker than a small business that operates at low budget.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Small businesses, which are usually constrained by the pressure of not exceeding their low budget, might also be selective in their own way.   A very unskilled person, however economical he or she might be, is likely to be of no significant assistance to the company.   As a result, the company might end up loosing money because of him or her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When a person is to be hired by a company, it is imperative that it be done under the equal employment opportunity basis.   The best candidate should be the one taking over the position.   Failure to do so would be an unfair practice that might eventually lead to some significant problems.   F.J. Crosby and C. VanDeVeer (2000) wrote in their book Sex, Race and Merit: Often, when a problem has been identified, hiring or promotion goals are instituted. In classical affirmative action programs (where the employer monitors to make sure that qualified people are hired and promoted) the goals are derived from close study of the organization and are based on realistic appraisals of the labor market. (p. 4) From the above, we see that classical affirmative action is a way in which equal opportunity employment is achieved, and supporters of affirmative action indeed focus on the remedy of unfair acts of discrimination performed in the past.   Everybody believes that the employer is to monitor to make sure that qualified people are hired and promoted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In fact, the goal of affirmative action when it came to existence was equal employment opportunity.   Nonetheless, its practice later on became corrupted and its present goal is to give priority to people who belong to a minority group that was discriminated in the past.   Many opponents of affirmative action would indeed oppose to discrimination and would agree to a policy in which only qualified people are hired and competent employees are promoted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  J.M. Bernbach (1998), who so much disapproves of discrimination wrote: In 1996, affirmative action (the practice, fostered by federal government, of providing preferential treatment and / or opportunities to specified groups of persons in hiring or promotion, etc., as a means of correcting the present effects of past discrimination) received a good deal of negative attention. (p.3) On certain occasions, affirmative action seems necessary or  appropriate to remedy past injustices, but there is no reason to  believe that everybody, including people who were always against  discrimination, must follow suit. Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the name implies, equal employment opportunity is the right of every single person to be employed regardless of his or her background, i.e. race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, or reprisal. In the United States there is an organization called Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that focuses on how this right is actually granted to every individual. Burstein in his book Discrimination, Jobs, and Politics (1998) states: In order to form a satisfactory picture of what public wanted on EEO, members of the congress would, ideally, want to know about three aspects of constituents attitudes: first, whether their constituents favored EEO, second, whether they wanted the government to do anything about it; and third, whether they felt strongly about the issue.   (p. 42)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We see that the government is very much concerned about fair hiring and promotion practices.   It is indeed a fact that everybody wants equal employment opportunities; nobody favors priority on the basis of discrimination or affirmative action.   People want the government to ascertain the equal employment opportunities are in effect and they do feel strongly about the issue.   The answer of most people is that the right person should take over the position he or she rightly deserves   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Antidiscrimination programs are believed to be inefficient and costly.   The reason might be the stagnant economy that has apparently not permitted to continue with them.   Government pressures to employ or promote women and minorities may force firms to misallocate labor and thus suffer production losses.   Keeping with the current concern over productive efficiency can rather be an antidiscrimination effort. (P. Burestein, Equal Employment Opportunity, 1994, p. 85)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Better production in a company as a whole could rather achieve equality.   For instance, a company has been in business for many years and, on analyzing their activities, they come to see that their production was better when they had people with more skills in the engineering department.   As a result they decide to hire a high-skilled engineer.   When doing so, they carefully evaluate every candidate regardless of their background until they end up hiring the most suitable one.   One year later, the company analyzes their activities and see some remarkable improvements.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One might want to ask how it is possible for someone who is not so skillful to become skillful in the future.   The answer would be quite simple: more education or training, and, as we all know, education is very easy nowadays. There are many ways online that would enable one to obtain it, and there are many regular schools that could help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some people take their not being hired as a lesson to get more education or training.   Inevitably, when the person being hired is from a majority group, some people accuse the company of being discriminatory, and, when someone from a minority group is hired, the company might also be accused of having taken affirmative action.   When something alike happens, the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) needs to be contacted, and they need to investigate the situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The beginning of antidiscrimination and or against affirmative action is perhaps freedom.   One might question what freedom has to do with either discrimination or affirmative action, and the answer might be the actual explanation of what freedom means.   Freedom is the right to share fully and equally in American society – to vote, to hold a job, to enter a public place, to go to school.   It is right to be treated in every part of national life as a person equal in dignity and promise to all others.   (Curry, G.E. West, C. , 1996, p. 17)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a society in which freedom is in existence, the equal opportunity employment practice is easier to put in practice.   Some people might use this freedom in an abusive form, ending up in discrimination or affirmative action.   That is why it is necessary that a commission EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity) exist.   The goal of this organization is to establish rules and regulations and, whenever a case of discrimination or affirmative action is reported, this organization needs to study it thoroughly and then determine how it could be corrected.   In some occasions, it is even necessary to take legal action. Legal Issues of Affirmative Action   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unlike discrimination, which is so clearly against the law and there is a great deal of coverage both constitutionally and statutorily, it has not become possible to have affirmative action at the same level.   No one constitutional or statutory provision covers all the many different varieties of affirmative action.   (C. Wolf-Devine, 1997, p. 182) As a result, it becomes very intricate for both judges and attorneys to deal with a case of affirmative action.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If a man that does not belong to a minority group is not hired solely because that company is currently taken affirmative action when hiring, he would first report the incidence to Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.   If the E.O.E.C. determines that the individual has brought prima facie evidence, they might decide to take legal action against that company.   The judge and the attorney are likely to regard the whole case as a reverse-discrimination and by doing so, the same sources of law that are used in a discriminating case can be used for this particular one. After all, the individual that was hired was only successful to obtain this job because he or she belongs to a minority group, not because he was the best qualified for it.   If the case had been just the opposite – the individual that was hired did not belong to a minority group, whereas the one that was not hired did it would have been a regular discrimination case, which would have had a great deal of coverage in the American legal system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The very same situation would have been with someone who has been working at a company for a very long time and, due to his valuable qualifications, would deserve promotion.   Besides the fact that promotion is not given to him, two other co-workers a woman and an African American – do become promoted in an attempt to take affirmative action.   Given that promotion is also controlled to E.E.O.C., the individual contacts them immediately and they determine that the matter is to be brought in front of a judge.   This case would also be treated as a discriminating case, and it indeed is a case of reverse discrimination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Herman Belz, in his book Equality Transformed (1991): Affirmative action lacks consistency and coherence insofar as the Supreme Court applied two antithetical theories of employment discrimination, upheld quotas in hiring and promotion while prohibiting them in layoffs, and used some form of strict scrutinity review to analyze discrimination under the Constitution while forsaking such reviews under Title VII – and only then asking whether a race conscious measure promoted the goal of minority employment. (p. 225 226) The above shows up to what point affirmative action is to be treated like discrimination when it comes to legal matter.   However, the fact that when affirmative action is taken does not at all mean that there has in fact been discrimination put judges and attorneys in a cumbersome situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While discrimination has the same principles, is clear and can be carefully considered, affirmative action – in general regarded as the opposite of discrimination – is never clear enough to be handled by a judge and attorneys.   As we know, affirmative action is sometimes taken as a remedy, whereas discrimination comes as a matter of opinion.   For instance, a company that never hires African American is sued for discrimination.   The basis of this type of discrimination will always be the same; the accused will try to deny the fact.   Someone that is sued for taking affirmative action will rather try to justify his attitude. How to Stop Affirmative Action from Being Taken   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Affirmative action is definitely not an effective diversity or opportunity policy; it is merely reverse discrimination. Given that a person obtains what he or she wishes because he or she belongs to a minority group – not because he or she deserves it, the policy is very unfair indeed.   A fair policy would be one in which the best-skilled individual takes over a position at a company or someone who qualifies for a grant or scholarship to attend college obtains it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On some occasions, there might be a court order for a company to take affirmative action.   When this happens, it is usually in an attempt to settle a lawsuit that was placed because discriminatory policies were adopted by that particular company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When affirmative action is taken on a voluntary basis without any good reason whatsoever, it becomes a legal transgression that is just as awful as discrimination.   Obviously, a court cannot order a company taking affirmative action to be discriminatory from now on, as this would only be an awful crime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The solution toward the problem of taking affirmative action is quite simple: the company should make their hiring and promotion decision based on the workers skills and qualifications, not based on the fact that that particular individual belongs to a minority group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should come up with some guidelines to prevent companies from taking affirmative action altogether.   Those guidelines should be brought to the attention of the U.S. Senate in order for them to become laws.   As we know, when a company is accused of taking affirmative action, judges and attorneys find it difficult to handle the case, because there are not enough laws against it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Copying the laws of discrimination would not be an option, because a court would never order a company to discriminate, whereas it might order a company to take affirmative action as a remedy for past discriminatory activities.   New laws need to be put in force, as laws against affirmative action were in some occasions questioning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is very painful to pinpoint that extreme affirmative action is widespread in the United States, and there does not seem to be any solution at first sight.  Ã‚   Under the assumption that affirmative is taken as a remedy toward discrimination, the number of individual that claim to suffer from affirmative actions exceeds the number of the ones who suffered from discrimination in the past and now benefit from the policy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Empirically the official case for affirmative action is weak and conceptually it is loose.   Believing that the policy has been good for America and that it has been an instantaneous move to color-blindness would be ill-advised.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Equal opportunity is supported by everybody, but it would be inappropriate to the extreme to believe that the way to achieve it is phasing out affirmative action. Michigan, a state in which there are many opponents, is one of the ones that have intended to ban affirmative action altogether, and such a measure is believed to be one of the harshest attacks on affirmative action to come to a vote anywhere in the country. This movement has been called Michigan Civil Rights Initiative and it deserves to be called the Michigan Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative. It was also intended to add language to the Michigan state constitution to disallow preferential treatment based on gender, or race. Other states following suit are California, Washington State, and Florida.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The passage of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative would specifically ban public institutions from using affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to people from minority groups and prohibit public institutions from discriminating against groups or individuals that do not belong to those groups.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is indeed very appropriate and the whole country, as well as the whole world, should follow in their footsteps. Anderson, T.H. (2004). Pursuit of Fairness: A History of Affirmative Action. Oxford University Press, (p.2, 3 142) Belz, H. (1991) Equality Transformed, Transaction Publishers (p225 p226) Bernbach, J.M. (1998). Job Discrimination II, Voire Dire Press (p. 3 4) Burestein, P. (1994). Equal Employment Opportunity, Aldine Transaction (p. 85) Burestein, P. (1998). Discrimination, Jobs, and Politics. University of Chicago Press (p. 42) Clayton, S.D., Crosby, F.J. (1992). Justice, Gender, and Affirmative Action. University of Michigan Press (p. 1 2) Clayton, S.D., by F.J. , VanDeVeer, C. (2000). Sex, Race, and Merit.   University of Michigan Press (p. 4) Curry, G.E. West, C. (1996). The Affirmative Action Debate, Basic Books (p. 17) Edwards, P.K. (2000). Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice. Blackwell Publishing (p. 9) Skrentny, J.D. (1996). The Ironies of Affirmative Action: Politics, Culture, and Justice in America. University of Chicago Press (p. 1 2) Steinhold, F.S. (2007) The Employee’s Legal Handbook, Nolo, (p. 156) Wolf-Devine, C. (1997) Diversity and Community in the Academy, Rowman Littlefield, (p. 182) Websters Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002

How Music Effects Mood and Perception in Motion Pictures Essay

Music is a fundamental necessity in the world that we live in today. We all implement music in our everyday lives whether it’s professionally or solely for entertainment purposes. Some people build careers on music as musicians, composers, singers, or teachers while the latter of us just need music to get through the day whether we’re driving or at work or just need to relax. The need for music in our contemporary society affects us in a myriad of different ways--including the undeniable effect on our moods. The sound of just one note, one chord, can send an instantaneous message to the brain that, psychologically, can make us think or act in a certain way. These reactions can positively or negatively our moods depending on the composer’s intentions and our perceptions. Filmmakers implement the same idea using music to evoke a certain feeling or reaction/perception in their audience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Music in motion pictures is an indispensable tool filmmakers utilize to effect the mood of their audience. It often gets underrated as a predominant psychological force as it is employed subliminally by filmmakers under their narrative so that their audience is unaware of its presence. Nicholas Cook, author of Analyzing Musical Multimedia, states, â€Å"words and pictures deal primarily with the specific†¦while music deals primarily with responses--that is, with values, emotions, and attitudes†¦.†(22). However, there is certain music that is suppose to be heard by the audience as part of the cinematic diegesis. All sounds that are understood by characters in the narrative are referred to as diegetic; however, those sounds that are not part of the diegesis are referred to as nondiegetic. This would suggest that diegetic music is processed on the conscious level while nondiegetic music might remain on the subconscious level (Gorbman, 75). Although many people might be unaware of these two types of sounds while screening a film, it effects their reactions, interpretations, and moods significantly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The role of music in a motion picture is in direct relation to the level of ambiguity in a particular visual scene. The more ambiguous a scene is, the more filmmakers rely on their composers to develop a musical score that interprets the meaning of the scene for their audience. Therefore, music provides a cue for the listener to tell... ...t in a film and exactly how they felt in that moment. Most importantly, music sets the pace of a film to play on our emotions. Some films are slow and emotive that allow directors to incorporate music to influence the audience’s emotions; other are fast paced and exciting which can also exuded through the use of music. Where would the art of cinema be without the use of music today? I know for sure that films wouldn’t be as powerful and as captivating to the mind and soul of viewers without the use of this powerful tool.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works Cited Boltz, Michael. â€Å"Musical Soundtracks as a schematic influence on the cognitive processing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of filmed events.† Music Perception. Vol. 18 (4). 2001. Cook, Nicholas. Analyzing Musical Multimedia. Oxford University Press: New York,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1998. Gorbman, Claudia. Unheard Melodies: Narrative film music. Indiana University Press:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bloomington, Indiana, 1987. Langer, Suzanne. Feeling and Form. Prentice Hall: London, 1977. Whittall, Arnold. â€Å"Leitmotif† The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online. 2003. 20 Nov.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2004. .

Tax Evasion and Tax Audit

Definition of Tax Evasion: Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability and includes in particular dishonest tax reporting, such as declaring less income, profits or gains than actually earned or overstating deductions,. It is an illegal practice where a person, organization or corporation intentionally avoids paying his/her/its true tax liability. Examples of practices which are considered tax evasion: Knowingly not reporting income * Under-reporting income (claiming less income than you actually received from a specific source * Providing false information to the NBR about business income or expenses * Deliberately underpaying taxes owed * Substantially understating your taxes (by stating a tax amount on your return which is less than the amount owed for the income you reported). Tax Audit: A tax audit is an investigation into the background of tax returns submit ted by an individual or business to a tax agency.While it is true that a tax audit may be called due to some perceived irregularity in one or more returns, it is also true that an audit may be done simply as part of a random sampling. Tax audit is when the IRS decides to examine your tax return a little more closely and verify that your income and deductions are accurate. Tax return is chosen for audit when something you have entered on your return is out of the ordinary. There are three main types of IRS audits: the mail audit, the office audit and the field audit.

Location Decision and Sustainability Essay

In this paper we are going to give an in-depth perspective on the subjects of location decision, clusters and corporate social responsibility. First, we will address the location decision subject. Second, we will discuss clusters and different cluster types. Last, we will review the corporate social responsibility subject. After giving an in-depth perspective on the three subjects, we will discuss the relationship between these different topics. Location Decision Location decision is an important strategic decision that must be considered by a firm. It is important because the location strategy could affect the ability of the firm to reach it consumer, to produce in economic scale, or even to get access to the resource they needs. Location decision could also be able to give the firm a competitive advantage, because of transfer of knowledge, innovation, specialisation, and complementariness. In choosing a country, there are two main dimensions that usually be considered. Those two main dimensions are country competitiveness and also risk of the country. The country competitiveness usually is divided into two main categories, which are the market competitiveness and also the industry competitiveness. A firm should able to assess those categories to find out in which location or in which country they should operate to maximize their opportunity and profits and minimize their risks and costs. Country Opportunity Assessing the market opportunity for a country means that we assessing the potential demand that available in a country. The variables that take into account for this assessment are the growth of the market, the size of the market, and also the quality of the demand that exist on the market in a certain country. This market assessment will define whether it is worth or not to start a business in that country, will the firm have a good demand or not, and will that demand able to generate profit for the firm or not. Looking some macroeconomics indicators can assess the market opportunity. Those indicators can be the GDP, GDP per capita, and income distribution, etc. ooking to those indicators can give us an insight about the market size of the country or country buying power compared to another country, etc. the quality of demand is describing the segmentation of the countries. Generally countries are grouped into 4 main clusters: †¢Developing countries, low income per capita, and low growth †¢Emerging countries, relatively low income per capita but high in growth †¢The newly industrialized economies, high growth and moderate to high wealth †¢The final cluster, low growth and high wealth, usually these countries have already reached their ‘maturity’. The other important opportunity that needs to be considered is the industry opportunities. The industry opportunity is including a broad part of aspects. Those aspects are the resource (including human resource and natural resource), the infrastructures, and also government policies (such as government incentive to enhance foreign investment, or tax reduction). A company needs to consider the human resource issue. It is usually addressing the quality of the labor in a country. It is also considering the minimum wages or average wages of labor in a country. That issue is an important issue because it will affect the production cost and production process. The natural resource issue usually also become some major strategic issue because it enables the firm to get closer to the input that they needs including strategic geographical location that can benefits their mobility. Country Risks Beside the opportunities, a firm should also consider the risks of the country. There are some major risks that need to be considered. Political risk, this risk have a high relation with the government policies and political condition in each country. A country with an unstable politic environment may have higher risk of rioting or policy changed. It can cause disadvantage for the firm such as vandalism to firm’s assets, or difficulties from the bureaucracy. Economic risk, this economic risk is including the inflation rate, economic growth, exchange rates of the currency, and also the variability. A firm needs to consider it carefully because it surely will affect the company stability and profitability. Competitive risk, this risk refers to the risk that company gets from the competition, the business group, cartels, or even the competitive advantage among product that being sold in the company. Operational risk, this risk is covering the risks from infrastructures, supplier policy, or even government regulation such as taxation, and nationalistic preference. Location Strategy After knowing the opportunity and the risks that exist in a country. A company should use that data to forming their strategy. The firm needs to compare a list of country to know which country that is the best for their investment, considering the risk and the opportunity of each of them. Clusters In this section of the paper we are going to discuss clusters. In order to explain what clusters are, we will use the definition given to clusters by Michael Porter (1990), which he used for his study of clusters. â€Å"clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions in a particular field that compete but also cooperate†. There are many different types of clusters, which we will discuss below. However, we are going to start by explaining how and why corporations form clusters. Usually for clusters to arise there are already certain resources and capabilities available in a certain area, which are important for the industry and thus the cluster that is formed there. Next, there need to be several corporations that see the advantages of joining and creating a cluster. This is necessary so the different corporations can work together to improve their cluster and add value to it. This will attract new players for it, who can add even extra value to the created cluster. As this process continues, more players tent to join the cluster because it becomes more important every time for the general industry on which the cluster is based, but also because a lot of knowledge and resources are generated within the cluster on which a corporation not joining it, would miss out. Besides generating a lot of knowledge and industry advantages, clusters also improve the general competitiveness of a certain area. Moreover, they can significantly boost the economy of the area were the cluster is situated as many employment opportunities are created alongside the expansion of the cluster. According to the research of Lundequist and Power (2002) four types of clusters exist. These are the industry-led initiatives, the top-down cluster-branding exercises, the visionary projects and temporal clusters. We will discuss each type separately below. The industry-led initiatives are clusters that depend greatly on involving the public sector into the cluster. Moreover, they are the key importance of regional economic growth in their area and they can even bring national economic growth. The second cluster type is the top-down cluster-branding exercises. This type does not have the industry as its key building block but instead builds on the public sector. Also, this type does not find the creation of the clusters itself very important, but focuses on the creation of a brand name first. The third cluster type is the visionary cluster. As the name says, this cluster builds on one strong vision and it therefore needs good leadership in order to execute this vision. Thus, this type needs ‘cluster motors’ (Lundequist and Power, 2002) which are firms that can really start up the cluster and keep it going. In order to sustain this cluster there needs to be a good task division in terms of responsibilities and tasks. This all needs to be supported by a good and strong network and environment. The last cluster type is the temporal cluster and is usually build up around natural resources and physical conditions. Noteworthy is that this type can even be climate-driven and seasonal, meaning that the cluster does not always exist outside certain seasons for example. Lundequist and Power (2002) mention some similarities in all these types of clusters and they are worth mentioning quickly. First, all types work best when there are multiple players with a large interest in the cluster. Moreover, it is important that a clear vision is present for it. Above we mentioned the ‘cluster motors’ which is especially important with regard to the visionary cluster, but all types benefit greatly if such motors are present. Second, it is important if every corporation has a clear view of what they add to the cluster. Thus, good management should be present to support this. Third, it was mentioned explicitly for the second cluster type, but again all types benefit from brand building and thus attention should be paid to marketing this. Last, the progress made within the clusters is very important and appropriate policies and strategies should be present to support this. To conclude, not all cluster types fit exactly in the definition given at the beginning of this part but all have proven to be successful initiatives (Lundequist and Power, 2002). However next to Porter also Eden (2002) and Markusen (1996) identified a cluster typology. According to Eden a cluster could be horizontal (specialized) or vertical (complementary). However it must be said that Eden actually identifies the cluster characteristics than cluster types. Markusen on the other hand identifies the type of clusters by the geographic area, the type of clusters are formed within a metropolitan area. The four types she identifies are Marshallian Industrial Districts and Subdistricts, Hub and Spoke Industrial Districts, Satellite Platform Districts and State Anchored Industrial Districts. The typology in her case is derived from the geographic, public or private investment decisions, the availability of labor, and amount of trade within and outside the district. It is said that there are several similarities between Markusen and Porter’s work. (Fraizer and Zelbst, 2010) Corporate Social Responsibility Affected by the globalization and thus growing importance and awareness of ethics and human rights, as well as being environmentally, socially and economically responsible, internationally operating corporations have to deal with a lot more issues than several years ago. This area of growing importance is called â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† (CSR) and will be explained as follows: In the past decades most of the corporations did not care about issues like sustainable development, business ethics, human rights or global citizenship, instead only focused on making as much financial profit as they can, however they could achieve it. But over the last several years the number of natural disasters and the increasing warming of the planet have made the people more aware of issues such as sustainable development and allocation of resources. Furthermore the globalization and advanced technologies such as the World Wide Web make the markets and the operations of internationally operating corporations much more transparent to all parties concerned. This is why consumer have also started to base their buying-decision on issues such as human rights, business ethics and sustainable development and take into account if a company does well in the field of â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† or not. Moreover, laws and public initiatives put a lot more pressure on corporations to improve ethical and sustainable actions in the regions they are operating in. As a consequence, companies started to consider these aspects more seriously than before and tried to implement such topics in their strategic activities. To combine ethical, environmental and social aspects with economic aspects is a challenge and one of the most difficult strategic issues corporations have to deal with. Nowadays, corporations are ade feel responsible for the regions they are operating in, as well as for the people who are working for them. Because of that, â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† has become one of the core strategic issues of them to maintain a good image, which is finally responsible for their financial results. By investing in their employees, in infrastructure of the region they are operating in and in acting natural friendly or investing in sustainable energy, corporations not only generate a greater image of them and help the public, they also make finally profit out of it. Because of that, we can say that it is a â€Å"win-win situation† for both. Customers are being strongly influenced by such issues, because they sensitively recognize the â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† performance of a corporation. When a company does well in this field, the customer is finally willing to buy its product or to keep on buying its product, because he or she feels comfortable investing in a company who helps the public and treats its employees very well. This finally results in better revenues, which is a financial parameter. Furthermore employees are feeling much more comfortable and thus work more efficient, when the corporation gives them the feeling of feeling important and investing in them. Higher Efficiency finally results in better products, which affects the buying-decision of the customer, again. Moreover business partner and suppliers are more willing to cooperate with a corporation, who has a good image and who treats them fairly. By cooperating with good business partner and suppliers the corporation ensures good quality of its products, which finally results in better products and thus greater customer-satisfaction, again. So we can see that there is a strong correlation between the financial performance of a corporation and its social performance, which we also know as â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility†. Additionally, according to Kanji and Chopra (2010) these are the six dimensions in CSR that are most important for companies, they are (1) Organizational Strategic Planning Systems, (2) Social accountability and Social Investment, (3) Environment Protection and sustainability, (4) Corporate Governance and Economic Responsibility, (5) Ethics and Human Resources, and (6) Corporate Social Responsibility Index. Furthermore, there are more advantages of â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† than the financial one, which we can see while looking at the business relations, mentioned above. Although, â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† has become much more important over the last years, it is still a field, which has to be more researched about, when we refer to the number of articles already published. The less number of articles published in this field could be related to its definitions, which are very broaden and sometimes difficult to express, because of large number of issues involved. To sum it up, because of the growing awareness of ethical, social and sustainable activities of corporations the field of â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† has become a core strategic activity of corporations and for some even a source of competitive advantage. Location decision, clusters and CSR in relationship. As one can already notice when reading the in-depth perspectives above, there are some common grounds for the three topics. When one forms a cluster it will likely increase the country opportunity by specifically creating very attractive industry opportunities. As the cluster generates knowledge, resources, and capabilities attractive for some specific firms. Moreover, they create the necessary infrastructure and often the right political climate is thus present. Often this contributes to better economic circumstances in that area or region, increasing the market opportunities. Market opportunities are strongly connected to corporate social responsibility. Often industrialized countries demand more corporate social responsibility of a firm than a developing country does. Again this whole process influences the location decision that a company has to make and the market attractiveness for a firm.

Effects of Welfare Reform On The Acquistion of Education for Women essays

Effects of Welfare Reform On The Acquistion of Education for Women essays This entire research centers around identifying the influence and impact of the benefits, or lack thereof, welfare reforms on the educational attainment of adult women, in particular those identified as at risk, which also included the dropout rates of female students. In August of 1996, President Bill Clinton signed into law the most extensive welfare reform legislation ever enacted since Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was revised in the 1960s. With the signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, the federal government implemented a "work- first" policy that imposed strict time limitations and work requirements for parents receiving aid. Even though the "work- first"legislation was praised by federal policy-makers as being the answer to welfare dependency, this legislation has, in fact, become an obstacle to financial independence for many low income parents who see education and training, rather than immediate low-wage employment as the ticket out of poverty. The new law imposed work requirements that make it unfeasible if not impossible for parents receiving aid to complete a degree program. Under the new federal law, the guaranteed JOBS program was eliminated and replaced by Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) specific The new welfare policy was created with the idea that education is a luxury which is helpful, but not necessary. According to the new federal system of beliefs (at that time), job experience is seen as an adequate and less costly alternative to education, therefore it took precedence over education programs. In order to ensure that recipients engaged in work activities, the new law imposed monetary sanctions. The authors felt that the adjustments on education in adult women have been abandoned by researchers, therefore creating a huge knowledge gap that this study attempts to address...

Analysing Risk Management In Holiday And Hospitality Industries Tourism Essay

Analysing Risk Management In Holiday And Hospitality Industries Tourism Essay Loyalty of guests and tourists is created only by strong relationships where the guest feels special and important. Generally, people go to a hotel or plan for a trip on an emotional feeling. The feeling should be good, risk free, safe, and effective and even to increase their confidence. Almost all guests go to a hotel for the same reason. If the hotel gives them a homely feeling then they will come over there again and again. But, if the hotel is not making them feel important or special, they will buy it somewhere else. The loyalty of customers is totally dependent upon how safe they feel at hotel. They should feel important and special. They should get proper attention by the hotel they dealing with. The hotel should believe that the guests coming to the hotel are an important part of servicing customer needs. In order to make a loyal guest, we need to go ahead of their expectations from the hotel. The WTO (World Tourism Organization) had conducted a research on tourism all acro ss the world. They have provided some of the critical and interesting facts on the contribution of Tourism and Hospitality Industry to the whole world. The Average Annual Increase is 4.0 %. But his sector is also facing a number of risks and we are trying to manage those risks! The main aim of the risk management process is to increase the prospects and opportunities and decrease the consequences of a risk event. During the whole process, there are common conventional stressors, but our reaction to those stressors differs from person to person as we are all unique persons. The anxiety and confusion that come from not knowing what lies ahead can create stress. People used to utilize basic defenses when high degree of uncertainty arises. In this state of vagueness, generally people easily way out to disbelieve, removal and self-defense. Individuals are told that the ways used in old days are no longer functioning and often this note becomes modified that they are not appreciated. We n eed to work hard to manage any kind of risk successfully. When everything is planned carefully, the proper foundation is being built, launching a product becomes much easier, and we can improve the chances of success. If we are too impatient, and if we expect too many results too soon, our plans for change are more likely to fail. It is therefore of critical importance that the present tourism systems should be considerably made stronger to give comfort to the tourists from all across the world. www.gov.ab.ca/edt/tda/abstats.htm B.C. Visitor Study Highlights; Tourism British Columbia. Today the Hospitality and Tourist Industry is facing the following type of risks: Safety Risks Technology Risk Political Risk Business Risks Financial Risks Following is the process of Risk Management: The big Picture; 1997-98; Vol. 41, Travel Industry World Yearbook. METHODOLOGY Online research data has been taken from different web sites, articles, and theoretical studies from different books. We hav e used the methodology of collecting information from both the sources. And these sources include personal interaction with experts which is the primary source of information and information collected from websites is the secondary one.

Human resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Human resources - Essay Example Noe, et.al, Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage Boston, McGraw-Hill, 2006). HR Skills Training: Job related skill development programs and education is important to be conducted on the employees to enhance and improve their knowledge and work skills. In order to execute tasks and assignments in an efficient manner, employees must achieve behavioural competencies. The training and development program helps employees to gain motivation and efficiently contribute to quality performance at a lower operational cost which leads to higher employee satisfaction and retention (M. Armstrong and S.Taylor, Armstrongs handbook of human resource management practice UK: Kogan Page Publishers, 2014). Remuneration: It refers to the compensation granted to the employees in return of the amount of output given by them during work performance and target achievement. These compensations are the salaries, wages, bonuses, benefits and perquisites in terms of cash and kind given to the employees. Employee Relations: This HRM function leads to better employee relation with the organization and the employer. This leads to motivation and maintenance of employee morale leading to higher productivity. Problem solving and following a specific organizational code of conduct are part of employee relationship maintenance (M. Armstrong and S.Taylor, Armstrongs handbook of human resource management practice UK: Kogan Page Publishers, 2014). Line managers have accountability for directly managing and supervising an employee or a team. They are answerable to the higher management authority on the employee performance and their well-being. The front line managers are also referred to as the line managers and have a supervisory role. They can also be team leaders and are appointed internally by the management, as well as they are represented as the