Accounting and Society Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Accounting and Society - Research Paper Example Each business has its own industry and it has its own operational style. And, in each industry, various and numerous products and their diversified versions are available for the purpose of sale or for the purpose of subsequent processing. With the passage of time, and due to the boom and increase of diversity in the business world, it becomes more relevant and practical to introduce and implement new accounting theories and accounting standards for the purpose of harmonizing the business structure in the most appropriate and relevant structure. Thanks to this sort of thinking and approach, today, we have different specializations in the field of accounting than ever before. On the one hand, financial accounting serves the purposes and objectives of the external shareholders and stakeholders; on the other hand, management accounting helps internally; providing the best possible combination of accounting information that can be used for the purpose of making most appropriate and relev ant budget, cost, and management-related decisions. Financial accounting users prefer to see the aggregate performance of a company; for instance, they prefer to see whether the company has performed well in comparison with the financial statements of the previous year. And to what extent, the company has been successful in ensuring the achievement of its financial corporate goals and objectives. On the basis of comparative analysis, the shareholders decide and take their financial decisions. The users of financial information can be creditors, suppliers, shareholders, regulatory and government bodies and so on. It is the role of regulatory bodies like, International Accounting Standards Board, and other government bodies to ensure that whether a particular company has applied and complied with all the basic and fundamental regulations and standards. This compliance is necessary for companies and society as well. The compliance of standards ensures that the company understands the n eeds of all the relevant stakeholders and shareholders. Compliance of relevant accounting standards and legal requirements ensures shareholders that their financial investment is not at stake; rather, it is being used according to the relevant and applicable standards. In order to ensure that a company has fully or partially applied standards while preparing its annual or bi-annual financial statements, the public limited companies are required to publish their annual financial and non-financial information for the purpose of informing the general public. This explains the concept of free market, where the accounting and relevant

Gay Marriage Essay Example for Free

Gay Marriage Essay The issue of gay marriage remains controversial. Some people think that this trend has adverse effects on the society while others believe that it is seen as a natural trend and right for people to choose this type of marriage. My essay will discuss causes and effects of this problem. First, gay marriage is the result of psychological, legal, economic and biological effects. Medically speaking, if someone is born to be gay, the tendency is that he will not change his nature and want to live with people of the same sex. There are cases of men who marry the opposite sex and end up being unhappy till the day they decide to lead their own lives and stay with the same sex. Another reason is derived from economic drive. Despite not being inborn gay, several people, for sake of profit, opt for the solution to marry the similar sex. Besides, only after undergoing painful break-ups with so many people of the different sex do people lose their belief in love, and hence, choose to be by the side of the same sex. These people are believed to sympathize and care about them more. In addition, in such an open society where equality is recognized, it is inevitable that people can marry the one they love, despite the differences in age, race, family background and marriage notion. There are both positive and negative effects in this problem. As a result of recognizing the right of gay people in form of marriage, the society bestows upon these people the feeling of equity which makes them motivated to work as hard as other people. It is the acknowledgement of gay marriage that talented gay people continue contributing their best to social development, without bias. However, the fear is that no sooner has gay marriage become official than the society lacks the next generation since hardly could gay couples give birth. Another disadvantage is that children who are raised in gay families can rarely receive comprehensive education. Such purely male environment or female one is not enough for kids to develop normally, which might result in their mental disorders and sexual disorientation.

Functional areas of a business

Functional areas of a business Outcome 1 Avril Montgomery 1) Open System An open systems approach is a business approach that emphasizes commercially supported practices, products, specifications and standards. Motorola is an open system. Using this approach assists their long term success. They are able to produce an appropriate output as they know the importance of gaining input from their surroundings. As a global leader in a wide range of technologies, the most important aim of Motorola is to maintain their position. Motorola is knowledgeable to the fact that technology develops rapidly and in order to access these technologies customers will require the latest modern products. They aim to distinguish themselves from their competitors by creating cutting edge designs that meet the expectations of the customers. The launch of the worldwide marketing campaign Mobile Me which includes innovative design and wireless features has set them apart from their competitors. Their range of Bluetooth wireless devices enhances the mobile experience for customers. M otorola is aware of the effect mobile phones and other electronic products have on the environment. They apply technical skills to decrease negative effects to the environment at each stage of the product life cycle. One of their goals with regard to the environment is to produce products which contain minimal amounts of poisonous chemicals or to cut them out completely. 2) Structure During the 1980s, due to other mobile phone companies such as Nokia, Samsung and Sony creating strong competition, Motorola struggled to keep up. In order to reverse the slump in sales, top managers at Motorola decided to improve the quality. This change was needed due to global competitors and changing technology. The plan was to aim for zero defects in the production. Motorola implemented a system called Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a business management strategy which attempts to identify and eliminate the causes of defects and mistakes in the manufacture and business process. The program was stretched out from operations to the other functional areas sales and marketing, personnel and human resources. Reorganising into four business areas during 2005, allowed Motorola to improve their response to the needs of the customers and environmental changes that have taken place. As 58% of the companys total sales were made up from mobile devices, Motorola views this as a significant contributor to their organisation. 3) Organisational concepts Motorolas structure is based on their products, these are: Connected home solutions Connected home solutions Government and enterprise mobility solutions Networks Motorolas functional areas are: Research and development Sales and marketing Personnel and human resources Functional areas were set up by Motorola to support the product areas. Marketing is a very important area as the views of customers can be obtained to determine what they want. It is essential for the marketing and the research and development areas to work together to meet the needs of the customers. Technology is always advancing which means that the research and development area must stay ahead to include these advances in their design. To adjust to environmental changes, it is necessary for all functional areas to work together. 4) Advantages of Motorolas structure Continual development of knowledge in dealing with Motorolas complex products The structure allows Motorola to react quickly to environmental changes. This allows the company to respond to technological change. This form of structure allows Motorola to be extremely client orientated Disadvantages of Motorolas structure As the emphasis is the product, Motorola may have a problem of coordination They may be an apparent redundancy of effort and not much cooperation between product areas Managers may focus on their line of work to the disadvantage of the company as a whole. 5) Internal stakeholder Motorolas business unit is managed by Ronald Garriques. He is responsible for the mobile devices business unit and has the authority to guide the business unit for defining the strategy for mobile devices. He must guide the mobile device business to succeed otherwise he will be responsible for any failure and have to accept that responsibility. He has authority in the organisations formal structure. In terms of the informal structure of the organisation however, his authority is limited as this is normally governed by a group of individuals. His power could be undermined by the group of individuals, which could perhaps be detrimental to the business. External stakeholder Greenpeace is a worldwide campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment. As an external stakeholder in Motorola they could have a big effect on the formal structure of Motorola. Although Greenpeace have no power in the formal organisation, they have influenced Motorolas behaviour in terms of the environment as Motorola have a policy and commitment regarding this issue. They can exert some degree of authority, by persuading Motorola to train their staff on environmental issues and getting them to have an environmental policy. Through education programmes, they have the power to influence groups of individuals, making them aware of the harmful effects that the substances in mobile devices has on the environment.

Performance Management System Essay -- Business Management

Organizations derive competitive advantage by outperforming rivals in the execution of activities required to ensure optimum operational effectiveness in providing products and services to customers (Porter, 1996). Operational effectiveness depends largely on the extent to which the organization’s performance management system (PM) is capable of developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its people (Allan, 1994). Thus, knowledge of developing and implementing an effective PM system plays an essential role in achieving competitive advantage. Using the table provided in Case Study 1-1 (Aguinis, 2009, pp. 24-25), this paper analyzes the content and efficacy of the PM system being used by Aeternus Life Insurance Corporation (renamed to comply with confidentiality agreements) to develop its people. An effective analysis of a PM system begins by comparing the characteristics of the actual system with those of an ideal system, then assessing the capability of the system for identifying, measuring, developing, and aligning performance with organizational goals (Aguinis, 2009). The Value of an Effective PM System In general, an effective PM system contributes to the achievement of organizational strategy, administration of employee transactions, communication of organizational performance expectations, human resource planning, and employee development (Aguinis, 2009). In addition to elements corresponding to the conduct of performance appraisals, the ideal PM system addresses several key characteristics that contribute to the alignment of performance with strategic objectives. Overall, an effective PM system represents a â€Å". . . systematic, data-oriented approach to managing people at work that relies on positive reinforcement a... ...rmance management (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentiss Hall Allan, P. (1994). Designing and implementing an effective performance appraisal system. Review Of Business, 16(2), 3. Daniels, A. (1989). Performance management: Improving quality and productivity through positive reinforcement. Tucker, GA: Performance Management Publications. Hopkins, S., & Weathington, B. (2006). The relationships between justice perceptions, trust, and employee attitudes in a downsized organization. Journal of Psychology, 140(5), 477-498. Porter, M. (1996). What is strategy? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/1996/11/what-is-strategy/ar/1 Scott, S. G., & Einstein, W. O. (2001). Strategic performance appraisal in team-based organizations: One size does not fit all. Academy Of Management Executive, 15(2), 107-116. doi:10.5465/AME.2001.4614990

Climate Change and National Security Essay

That same month, the UN Security Council—at the initiative of the UK government—held its first-ever debate on the potential impact of climate change on peace and security. In October 2007, the Nobel committee recognized this emerging threat to peace and security by awarding former vice president Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change its peace prize. In November 2007, wo think tanks, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), released another report on the issue, concluding from a range of possible scenarios of climate change that, â€Å"We already know enough to appreciate that the cascading consequences of unchecked climate change are to include a range of security problems that will have dire global consequences. †2 The new interest in climate change and national security has been a valuable warning about the potential security consequences of global warming, but the proposed solutions that accompanied recent efforts have emphasized broader climate policy rather than specific responses to security threats. Because the links between climate change and national security are worthy of concern in their own right, and because some significant climate change is inevitable, strategies that go beyond long-run efforts to rein in greenhouse gas emissions are required. This report sharpens the connections between climate change and national security and recommends specific policies to address the security consequences of climate change for the United States. In all areas of climate change policy, adaptation and mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) should be viewed as complements rather than competing alternatives—and the national security dimension is no exception. Some policies will be targeted at adaptation, most notably risk-reduction and preparedness policies at home and abroad. These could spare the United States the need to mobilize its military later to rescue people and to prevent regional disorder—and would ensure a more effective response if such mobilization was nonetheless necessary. Others will focus on mitigation, 2 CSIS/CNAS, The Age of Consequences: The Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Global Climate Change, November 2007; available at http://www. cnas. org/climatechange. 2 which is almost universally accepted as an essential part of the response to climate change. Mitigation efforts will need to be international and involve deep changes in the world’s major economies, such as those of China and India. As a result, the processes of working together to craft and implement them provide opportunities to advance American security interests.

5 Ways to Use Rest and Reflection to Make Learning Stick

5 Ways to Use Rest and Reflection to Make Learning Stick Memory is sticky. Rest is good for learning. These are two of the most recent findings about learning from the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (October 2014) by Margaret Schlichting, a graduate student researcher, and Alison Preston, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience. The study Memory Reactivation during Rest Supports Upcoming Learning of Related Content describes how the researchers gave participants given two learning tasks that required them to memorize different series of associated photo pairs. Between the tasks, participants could rest for several minutes and could think about anything they chose. Brain scans on participants who used that time to reflect on what they had learned earlier in the day did better on tests later. These participants also performed better with additional   information, even if the overlap pertaining to what they learned later was small. Weve shown for the first time that how the brain processes information during rest can improve future learning, said Preston, explaining that letting the brain wander to previous experiences helped solidify new learning. So how might educators use the information from this study? Educators who provide students the time to develop a secure grasp of content through rest and reflection give student brains an opportunity to increase synaptic transmission along the neural pathways that are tasked with a particular form of learning. Rest and reflection makes those transmissions connect to other background knowledge, and those connections become stronger, which means learning is more likely to stick.   For teachers wanting to take advantage of these findings in how brains work,   there are several different strategies to try that allow for reflections when new content is introduced: 1.Think-jot-pair-share: Give students several minutes to think about new learning beginning with the simplest question, â€Å"What do I already know about this new content and how can that help me better understand?† This is the â€Å"rest† period, so give students time to think first without writing.Give students time to reflect and jot down their responses   (doodle, map, outline, notes). This is the reflection period.Have students pair or group and share their responses with each other.Have each pair or group share out what they already know and how this knowledge might help them. 2. Reflective journaling: Reflective journaling is a practice where students are provided time to think deeply and write about a learning experience. This involves the student writing about: What happened (positive and negative);Why it happened, what it means, how successful it was;What the student (personally) learned from the experience. 3. Mindmapping: Give students time to think (rest period) as they use the powerful cognitive strategy that combines graphics and   spatial awareness have students start in the center of a piece of paper and use a central image that is connected to new learningHave students branch out in lines and add additional images that are related to the central imageMake the lines curved and encourage the use of color to make the mind map Limit the number of words to one per line 4. Exit Slip This strategy requires students reflect on what they have learned and express what or how they are thinking about the new information by answering a   prompt given by the teacher. Providing time for students to think first,this strategy is an easy way to incorporate writing into many different content areas.    Examples of exit slip prompts: The most important thing I learned today was†¦Summarizing what I learned in 20 words:I need help with†¦I would like to learn about†¦My   understanding of today’s topic from 1-10 is a ___ because,..... 5. The 3,2,1,bridge This routine can be introduced by having students do an initial 3, 2, 1 set of reflections individually on paper.    Before new content is introduced, students are asked to  write down 3 thoughts, 2 questions, and 1 compare or contrast statement on a topic that will be taught;After the topic is introduced, students complete another 3,2,1 3 thoughts, 2 questions, and 1 compare/contrast statement or analogy;  Students then share both their initial and new thinking and draw a bridge between the before new learning and after new learning. The share the bridge with other students. Whatever strategy is selected, educators that provide time for rest and reflection when new content is introduced are educators that allow students to use their prior knowledge or memories to make new learning stick.  Spending the time for reflection with any of these strategies when new material is introduced will mean that students will need less time for reteaching later.