Writing and Main Point

Here are four examples of how to start your essay with a strong main point: My dream is to become a civil engineer. Ever since I was a child with a Logo set, I have enjoyed building things. Engineering would let me express my love for creating things, and allow me to apply my science and math skills. In the future, I would like to become a teacher. Teaching seems like the perfect match for me because I enjoy working with children and teaching them new skills. Also, my own teachers have played an important role in my life and I hope to do the same for other students in the future. I want to become a chef Just like Sam Choc.To me, cooking is very creative and although it can look easy from the outside, it is often very dif cult to do well. Plus, I love to eat! Although I'm not sure what Job I will have, I do know that it will be in the FL led of medicine. I have learned a lot about nursing from my aunt, who has inspired me to consider a career in medicine. What will be one or two main points of YOUR essay? STEP 3: construct your Story The heart of your essay will be the stories and details you use to support your main point. Good examples also bring your main point to life and make your essay memorable.Notice how the essay is built up, in the example: Focus of essay: My dream Job is to be a crime scene investigator. This Job would combine my love of science with the challenge of solving a real life mystery. Details: I have always enjoyed science. This year I am taking Chemistry and have learned how various chemicals react and how you can test for the presence of different chemicals. Reading detective novels is a favorite pastime. It's a challenge to FL guru out â€Å"who did it. † Real life detective work would be much more exciting . I watch CSS every week. It's amazing how the simplest clue can lead to the arrest of a criminal.Just one tiny FL beer from the assailant's Jacket can lead to his capture. Law enforcement helps to keep the community safe. CSS detectives make sure that criminals do not get away with their crimes. STEP 4: End strong End your essay by shining a new light on the main point you started with, or leave the reader with something interesting to think about. Here are three examples: Medicine is a very honorable profession, since it seeks to help those who need it the most. I am looking forward to becoming a pre-med major in college and taking the first step toward becoming a doctor.Seeing people enjoy my cooking is one of the best feelings in the world. Becoming a chef is one way I can spread this Joy to many more. Hopefully someday I will even have my own restaurant named after me! Being a police officer, like my father, has always seemed like a dream. Going to college will not only make this dream possible, but it will also help me to reach my lifelong goal. STEP 5: Hear it O Try to put down your draft for a day so you can look at it with a fresh eye. Read your essay out loud and ask yourself and helpers (teache rs, friends, relatives, essay coaches) the following questions: Ђ Does it start with a bang?Does the first sentence make you want to read more? Do you know from the beginning what the essay is going to be about? Were you able to follow the story? Did you get lost anywhere along the way? Did it follow a logical order, or skip back and forth in a confusing way? Were there questions that came up that didn't get answered? Were there any words that you heard too many times? (Try to avoid using the same word twice in the same sentence. ) Was it interesting? Were there parts that could be livened up? Was it too long? Which parts should you cut out? Ђ Is it too short?

Company accounting ch1 tut working Essay

The board of directors has resolved to change the accounting policy for treatment of advertising expenditure. Previously, advertising expenditure has been expensed as incurred. Following extensive market research, the board has taken the view that benefits from advertising expenditure in the form of product awareness and increased sales will be received by the company over a 3-year period following the expenditure. Due to a recent fire and water damage to the company’s accounting records, details of advertising expenditure in prior years have been destroyed. Required: The board of directors has approached you for advice regarding the disclosures, if any, which are required for this change in accounting policy. As the change in accounting policy was voluntary, the provisions of paragraph 29 of AASB 108 are applicable as follows: the nature of the change  the reasons that applying the new accounting policy provides reliable and more relevant information to the extent practicable, the amount of the adjustment for the current and previous periods to each financial statement line item affected and, if applicable, the basic and diluted earnings per share the amount of the adjustment relating to periods prior to those presented to the extent practicable if retrospective application is impracticable, the circumstances that led to the existence of that condition and a description of how and from when the change in accounting policy was applied. To comply with paragraph 29, the change in accounting policy note may be worded as follows (other variations are possible): The board of directors has resolved to change the accounting policy for  treatment of advertising expenditure. Previously, advertising expenditure had been expensed as incurred. However, following extensive market research, the board has taken the view that benefits from advertising expenditure in the form of product awareness and increased sales and will be received by the company over a 3 year period following the expenditure. Accordingly, the board believes the new accounting policy will provide reliable and more relevant information. Retrospective application of this change in accounting policy is impractical following a recent fire and water damage which has destroyed the company’s accounting records. Note, insufficient information was provided in the case study to determine: the amount of the adjustments for the current period to each financial statement line item affected; calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share; and how and from when the change in accounting policy was applied. Case Study 3 – Materiality Antelope Ltd is a catering company specialising in providing catering services to remote area mine sites. The company has operations in Australia but during the current year it acquired significant long-term contracts in Pakistan and Nigeria. AASB 8 Operating Segments requires entities to disclose material segment information but Antelope Ltd has failed to comply with this requirement Required: Discuss whether the non-disclosure of information about operations in Pakistan and Nigeria would be material. Information is material if its omission or misstatement would influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial report (the Conceptual Framework, paragraph QC11). The non-disclosure of information relating the existence of long-term contracts in both Pakistan and Nigeria would be material to the users of Antelope’s financial statement. Both countries are politically and economically unstable so there is a significant risk that these operations could be disrupted exposing Antelope  Ltd to potential losses on the contracts and other losses if corporate employees are harmed or property is destroyed. Disclosing the information allows users to factor in such risks into their predictions about the company’s future performance and position and ensures an informed decision is made. Furthermore, paragraph 12 of AASB 1031 notes: In deciding whether an item or an aggregate of items is material, the size and nature of the omission or misstatement of the items usually need to be evaluated together. In particular circumstances, either the nature or the amount of an item or an aggregate of items could be the determining factor. For example: an entity expands its operations into a new segment which affects the assessment of the risks and opportunities facing the entity (paragraph 12(b)(iii)). Practice QuestionsQAEWRT QUESTION 12.1 NOTE: This solution is only one possibility. Students may use alternative or average base amounts. 1.Unrecorded creditor’s invoices These invoices understate Expenses (purchases and service related expenses) and Accounts Payable by $62 150. Base Amount Error as % of base Profit before tax $352 000 17.7% (62 150/352 000) Payables (current) 316 000 19.7% (62 150/316 000) As the error is greater than 10% of both base amounts it is material and must be adjusted. If the invoices all relate to purchases within a perpetual inventory system the accounts affected are Inventories (current asset) and Accounts Payable (current liability) and there will be nil profit effect. 2.Sales invoices not processed These invoices understate both Sales Revenue and Accounts Receivable by $50 000. Additionally, Cost of goods sold (expense) is understated and Inventory (current asset) is overstated by $36 000. The profit effect is $14 000 ($50 000 – $36 000). Base Amount Error as % of base Profit before tax $352 000 4.0% (14/352) Sales Revenue 3 600 000 1.4% (50/3 600) Receivables (current) 621 000 8.1% (50/621) Inventory (current) 345 000 10.4% (36/345) The omitted invoices are material in relation to inventories and should be adjusted. 3.Bankruptcy of Debtor after reporting date The adjustment will increase Bad Debts expense by $89 120 and decrease Accounts Receivable by $89 120. Base Amount Error as % of base Profit before tax $352 000 25.3% (89 120/352 000) Receivables (current) 621 000 14.4% (89 120/621 000) The overstatement is material in relation to both base amounts and must be adjusted as it relates to conditions existing at reporting date. QUESTION 12.3 The significant variances between the provision for warranty and the actual repairs in the two years indicate that either the policy of using a percentage of net credit sales as a means of estimating warranty costs is not appropriate, or the percentage used is not adequate. The company needs to look at changing either its policy or perhaps simply increasing the percentage used. Past claims as a percentage of past net credit sales should provide a reliable measure. If a new percentage is adopted it will be applied prospectively (from 2015-16 on) according to AASB 108 paragraph 36. If the variance for 2014-15 was due to an error in calculation then, providing it is material, the figures for 2014-15 should be retrospectively corrected (according to AASB 108 paragraph 42) by the following entry: Retained earnings (1 July 2015)Dr 8 000 Provision for WarrantyCr8 000 Additionally, this would indicate that the variance in 2013-14 may be a one-off aberration. QUESTION 12.5 Release of investigator’s report on 1 August 2015 The release of the report and the decision that damages were payable by Antelope Ltd provide new information about conditions existing at the end of the reporting period given that the release of the noxious gases occurred in June 2015. At $750 000 the amount is clearly material (in relation to profit before tax of $360 000) and the following adjustment should be made: June 30Damages expenseDr750 000 Damages payableCr750 000 (Recognition of damages liability) Credit notes raised on 9 July 2015 As these credit notes relate to sales which occurred prior to the end of the reporting period this provides more information about conditions existing at 30 June 2015 and will (or may, depending on materiality) require adjustment by journal entry. However, as the credit notes represent only approximately 4% of profit before tax ($15 000/$360 000), it could be argued that no adjustment is necessary on the grounds of immateriality. The journal entry (ignoring materiality considerations) is shown below: June 30Sales returns and allowancesDr15 000 Accounts receivableCr15 000 (Credit notes relating to June sales) Liquidation of debtor As the liquidation was caused by an event after the end of the reporting period no adjustment will be made as this information does not change the situation that existed at 30 June 2015. However, the $52 000 loss (80 cents in the dollar x $65 000) will be material to next year’s profits based on  the current year’s profit before tax ($52 000/$360 000 = 14%), and must be disclosed by note. Antelope Ltd Notes to the financial statements year ended 30 June 2015 Note X:Events occurring after the end of the reporting period In September 2015, a debtor owing $65 000 went into liquidation. The company expects to recover only 20% of the amount owing.QUESTION AASB 108, paragraph 36 requires that the effect of a change in an accounting estimate shall be recognised prospectively by including it in profit or loss in the period of the change. New information in the form of debts which actually went bad during the year ended 30 June 2015 proved that the estimate of doubtful debts as at 30 June 2014 (last year) was inadequate and should have been $17 600 rather than $12 000. The amount of $5 600 ($17 600 – $12 000) in bad debts written off that was more than allowed for last year has been added to bad debts expense for the current year (i.e. prospectively) in accordance with paragraph 36. The balance of the bad debts expense for the current year, $23 400, is comprised of $17 800 (allowance for doubtful debts as at 30 June 2015 based on an analysis of outstanding account receivable balances) plus $5 600 (adjustment for underestimation of allowance for doubtful debts as at 30 June 2014). The key issue here is whether or not the change in the way Mousedeer Ltd estimates its doubtful debts is a change in an accounting policy. AASB 108, paragraph 35 states ‘A change in the measurement basis applied is a change in an accounting policy, and is not a change in an accounting estimate. When it is difficult to distinguish a change in an accounting policy from a change in an accounting estimate, the change is treated as a change in an accounting estimate.’ The asset here is Accounts Receivable, a financial asset which is measured at the lower of nominal value and recoverable amount. Where a debt is not expected to be collected in full it is  disclosed in the financial statements at its expected amount via the allowance for doubtful debt adjustment. The change in the way this ‘recoverable amount’ is estimated does not change the measurement basis and is therefore not a change in accounting policy. Mousedeer Ltd should disclose the nature and amount of any change in an accounting estimate (according to AASB 108 paragraph 39), usually in its accounting policy note.

Charismatic leadership style of mahatma gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most important person and charismatic leader in the history of India as he was he only one who is considered as the founder of our nation. He was the self made leader, he was not having any career in his life, no fame was gained by him, he was also not so rich an average looking man but still he was the father of the country. Mahatma Gandhi gave right ways and positive thoughts to many people in the nation, he make them teach what he actually practice in his real life, he was called as the great symbol of truth by the public of our nation. It was due to rule of British in India which made him to fight against them and for this he needed to guide the Indian citizens to fight against them this made him to become the absolute leader and to use evil practices against the British. It was the period during which he was in South Africa working on some legal work their which he was subjected to abuse , but then he realizes how the Indians in their home land were badly treated and beaten by the British which was subjected to cruel abuse. To fight against the British people Gandhi took many ways which he called as practices in all over India which were non violence, truth and bravery. This whole practices were named by Indians as Satyagraha and which was having a big meaning among the Indians. The practice of Satyagraha was done all over Indian was used against corruption, non- violence, civil defense. Mahatma Gandhi thought that doing such practices will only help them to have proper control over social and political rulings. It was because of his charisma that he many Indian were devoted towards Mahatma Gandhi and due to which they were following practice of Satyagraha without any fear. Through the practice of Satyagraha Gandhi Ji followed the fight for independence from British which was considered as a big fight in whole world during that period of time. During his fight for independence Gandhi Ji advice his Indian to use the non- violence fight against the British which generally consists boycotting the practices of British and not accepting the use of British products in India. It was his intelligence, leadership qualities and charm nature which helped many Indians to fight against the British by the use non- violence practice. Since Mahatma Gandhi was very devoted towards his home land and towards its country people that he was ready to die for them anytime that is why he was the main point of attraction among the hearts of Indian people and that’s why people of India were also ready to die for Gandhi Ji anytime anywhere. HELPERT†S DIMENSIONS OF CHARISMA Transformational leadership President of South Africa stated bout Gandhi Ji â€Å"You produce a Lawyer and we produce a Leader out of you†. This first evident that makes him great leader was in South Africa when was thrown out of first class compartment on the basis that he was an Indian and Indians were treated as lower class people in South Africa and this is just because of color of Indian people. This intolerant behavior towards Indians opened his eyes and showed how his country people are treated. This thinking intended him to fight against racism for equal rights of Indian people. This further led him to a great fighter in India and he was also a great leader in the hearts of Indian people. According to Bass (1985) transformational leaders generally consists of distinctive attractive behavior that includes sacrificing personal gains for the advantage of the group setting common example for followers and demonstrating high model standards. Leadership style of Gandhi Ji clearly shows the presence of transformational leadership. As an example his followers were intended by him, have trust in him, love him, were loyal to him and revert him. Transformational leaders also charm to higher values like equality, freedom, right decision and peace. Gandhi Ji was mainly known for these leadership styles and fought for his entire life following these values and taken stand for these values. Gandhi ji leadership styles throughout his life encouraged his followers to follow this practice of non-violence fight and also to fight in unity. During their fight for freedom thousands of his followers were sent to jail and were also beaten badly and treated brutally. Example: Many of his followers were gathered for the Salt March which was followed by a non- violence practice but then also British officers beat them badly with sticks. Then also they did not follow the path of violence because they had a great respect of Gandhi Ji and his practices of non- violence, equality and unity. 1. According to Ferrin and Dirks transformational leadership is strongly associated with trust in the leader. According to Bass, transformational leaders consists the following behaviors: Idealized influence This nature arouses active and powerful follower emotions and identification with the leader. Gandhi was successful in motivating and influencing lots of people as a result he was the person of his words, and continuously practices what he preached. He was a task model for lots of common people and won their respect and trust through his practice. He expressed hg model conducts, non-violence, cooperation (voluntary imporvinshment), commitment and endurance so as to achieve India’s independence. Intellectual Stimulation This behavior will increase follower awareness of issues and forces followers to look at issues from a new view point. Gandhi Ji was perpetually supportive of his believers and inspired them to think broadly as well as frankly, raise queries and solve issues. He was willing to simply accept wrong doing and mistakes and wasn’t ashamed to discard a method that didn’t worked as plan. For example: Gandhi Ji asked for the shut off his non- violence campaign just because sum of his subordinates were using violence methods to fight against British in that case instead of going against them he asked for the closure of the campaign. Individualized Consideration This includes giving support, training and inspiration to followers. Gandhi Ji was very supportive to his followers as an example he with patience listen to the problems and considerations of the poor with regard to their ability to keep our support because of British policies. Gandhi Ji was also very supportive of different leaders like national leader and Vallabhbhai Patel. He nurtures them inspired them to share concepts and even authorized them to create choices, never creating them feel addicted to him. Inspirational Motivation This type of leadership includes human action and appealing vision and making use of symbols to focus subordinates effort. Gandhi Ji stood by his personal values and systematically delivered his vision of independence by openly exchanging his vision and using symbols like the Salt Satyagraha Movement, he guided his believers with the way right meaning that successfully impressed them to stay idealistic and increase their effort. Gandhi’s Power and Influence Tactics 1. Referent Power Referent power is also called as: Charismatic power Personal Power Power of personality When a leader is respect, admired and influentially followed by others. As we have already discussed in transformational leadership Gandhi Ji was respected by his followers and having a two way relationship between him and his followers. An important leader is given respect only when two way communications is followed and Gandhi Ji believed in this way of communication that’s why he was a great leader. Gandhi ji constantly proved to be a role model and is behavior consistent with the moral principles he predicate. Qualities of Mahatma Gandhi as a Referent Leader Honest and considerate to others Unselfish intentions Role model Used the process of internalization to influence his followers Many of the followers of Gandhi Ji were influenced by stimulating their values of self respect, justice and freedom to fight against British. At certain points personal identification was also considered. For example Jawaharlal Nehru was initially influenced by Gandhi Ji as he used to western wear clothes and looking at the style and dressing sense of Gandhi Ji he also started wearing Khadi clothes. Similarly many followers of Gandhi ji boycotted the western style wearing and opted for khadi dressing like Gandhi Ji. According to (2010) power is the capacity to attract the nature and attitude of people in the direction desired. With an exclusive charming and attractive practices followed by Gandhi Ji empowered him with high referent power. He was able to maintain his power by expressing care towards the needs of the public by showing trust and treating people equally. Due to his high level of personal sincerity and persistent values allowed him to maintain his referent power. Since Gandhi Ji was a good lawyers as he has completed hi law from South Africa and was aware of all the rules and regulations of the government. Due to his expert knowledge also the member of Indian national congress and later join the British Indian community in the Transvaal where he fought against restriction on Indian trade he always follows the rules and regulations in correct direction and his entire practices were legal there were no illegal practices followed by him. Due to his non-violence and expert power his followers were also influenced by his practices and used to follow his path. 3. Job Involvement Gandhi Ji always encouraged for ethical practices during his lifetime which are: Truth and love Self Discipline Abolition of untouchability Dependency(Weaving his own clothes) Gandhi Ji always had a high influence on people because of the above mentioned characteristics of his leadership. Gandhi Ji mainly shows interest for others rather than focusing on self interest also called altruistic behavior. In order to influence his followers in the direction of non- violence he did fast for several days. During that period he not even thought about his health and food, he suffered a lot till he gets the desired result of his fast. Gandhi Ji become as a leader of masses from the leader of community when Gandhi ji was in South Africa he fought in suit and tie but when he came to India he adopted the situation realizing in India and wore clothes of a peasant, weaved his own clothes and lived in a small house. He was always under control of situations and having effective negotiation skills while dealing with British authorities. Conclusion Gandhi shows the transformation of a standard man into a legendary leader. It shows how conditions will inspire someone to fight against injustice and difference. Gandhi’s style of leadership proves that to attain a required and decent end, suggests that must be equally sensible. Gandhi had a vision that was accepted by his followers. His personal practices led to India to be free from Britishers. His involvement and interest towards the poor people of society is memorable and peerless. His teaching of non violence is extremely abundant relevant even in today’s world. For the contribution and sacrifices he created for the India’s independence, upliftment of poor people, contribution towards woman encouragement and unity among completely different religions, he has been given the title of ‘Mahatma’ by his nation and is named as ‘Bapu’ thats Father of the nation.

Lesson Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lesson Study - Essay Example The process of Lesson Study can be categorized under four stages, which are unique to this methodology and also cater to the improvement if student achievement in school curriculum; while promoting a detailed analyses of the subject matter as well. The stages are as follows: This stage consists of a study of the academic curriculum, by weighing the topics and subject matter of study. In addition to this, the authorities and teachers also keep in mind the futuristic interests of the students and the betterment of the quality of education transmitted. On doing this, they formulate the goals for this methodology. This stage comprises of the planning for the research that comes along with this methodology of instruction. It included analyzing the comprehension and absorption levels of students. Based on this, the extent of data collection, the mode fo collecting it and the plan of action to carry forward the approach is planned and scheduled. This method is the actual practical component of this methodology of Lesson Study, wherein one of the teaching faculty members

Legalization Of Marijuana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Legalization Of Marijuana - Essay Example As you know, we are living in a world in which legalization of physician assisted suicide or mercy killing is gaining grounds. In other words, current people are more interested in getting rid of a painful life. If marijuana can help the patients in avoiding pain, then the people should be allowed to use it in order to prevent them from opting for mercy killing. Too many people in America are leading a painful life because of cancer like severe diseases. Such people are continuing their life in a no hope condition. If we legalize marijuana use in America, such people will be benefitted immensely. It should be noted that marijuana use is legalized in some of the states in America at present. The doctors are prescribing marijuana as a medicine in such states. At the same time many other states in America are still not allowing the patients to use marijuana. Being a federal republic, America should have a unique law in this case. Rebecca Roth (2008) has mentioned that â€Å"to date, ma rijuana is still classified as an illegal Schedule 1 drug by the Controlled Substances Act. It is defined as having "no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" (Roth, 2008). American Federal courts are still treating marijuana use as a crime even if it is used by the patients to get rid of the pain. Mr President, it is really illogical to prevent the patients from using marijuana and putting them in painful darkness. The major argument against the legalization of marijuana use is the possibility of side effects it can generate later in the user’s life. It is illogical to argue like that. It should be noted that smoking is injurious to health; still there is no legal restrictions upon the smokers. Moreover, it is proved that alcohol use also can create problems in a person’s life later. However, majority of the Americans are using alcoholic drinks. Under

Revolutionary War-Cowpens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Revolutionary War-Cowpens - Essay Example He states that all the battles fought by then were done with the help of troops and men who participated in the regiments and had a certain commander who used to gather the entire men together and prepare them for all sorts of catastrophes. Soon these men who belonged to the frontier got the status of 'The Corps of Rangers'. These companies of rangers belonged to various parts of the state such as Virginia, Maryland or Pennsylvania who were under the leadership Colonel Daniel Morgan. Through his ongoing efforts the rangers got the status of the most eminent corps of the continental army. They were not precisely Rangers but were high level marksmen and according to some British general they were corps f a crack shot. These riflemen of Morgan stood victorious and were able to secure an amazing victory against the British during the Battle of Cowpens in 1781. The level of achievement can be evaluated by the fact that 1100 British soldiers attacked them and they were able to kill 110, ca pture 830 of them only lost 12 men who were killed during the entire process and 63 were badly wounded. Another successful regiment was of Thomas Knowlton, a brave young soldier who led an army from Connecticut which was quite successful in gaining the vital information of the mission. Only less than 150 men were part of his troop but his campaign was quite successful too. In this book the author has in detailed studied the Battle of Cowpens and according to him all men irrespective of cast, creed or culture were recruited in the regiments having their leader that is general or officials who managed and empowered them. How have artist portrayed the Battle of Cowpens in the paintings? None of the paintings that have been attached for review are able to completely depict, justify and narrate what actually happened during the battle. According to me the first painting is the closest to the real scenario that happened during the Battle of Cowpens in 1781. In this painting the defeat of the British is seen and how badly they were devastated during the battle. Many of their soldiers were killed and on the other side that is American soldiers were in power and had completely overtaken the British soldiers. Personally I think that these paintings are quite biased and only reflect the artists view and how he actually perceived the entire situation. They have features which narrate that the artist was only interest to reflect his perspective and only executed what his preferences were. They were also only focusing on how the movements related to art were flourishing and did not do anything to contradict them without using their own brains and evaluating the truth. A lot of time was spent on propagating the art movements and the art which was being carried forward during that time. They did not do anything to change the prevailing situation through their art but just went with the flow. Research was not done properly because if the research was accurate and more precise then the painting would not have been as bias as they are at the moment. References 75th Rangers (Bryant, Russ, and Susan Bryant. 2005.  75th Rangers. St. Paul, MN: MBI Pub Sealed with blood: war, sacrifice, and memory inRevolutionary (Purcell, Sarah J. 2002.  Sealed with blood war, sacrifice, a

Service Experience Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Service Experience Report - Essay Example In fact, employees showed a negative at attitude towards customers like us, which is evident from the details posted in my blog 1. They tried to discriminate us from other customers. On the other hand, the manger was an understandable person who knows the importance of treating all customers equally well for the development of the business. He tried to settle the issues rather than complicating it. Thus, the manager’s behavior generated a good impression of the hotel in our minds. Moreover, the manager had shown high levels of maturity and responsiveness while attending our problems and settling it (Shiqi: Service Industries Marketing Blog 1) Reflection on second service encounter My second experience Palazzo Versace Hotel, in Gold coast is also generated mixed feeling about the customer services in hospitality industry. I encountered the best and worst customers’ service experience from this hotel at the same time. Check is has been taken more than half an hour which s hould be avoided to satisfy the visiting customers. The person who is charge of the check in operation was getting lot of phone calls and hence the customers forced to wait for a substantial period of time to find out their rooms. However, customer service after the check in process was satisfactory and outstanding. In short, the reception at the entry level was poor whereas the rest of the services were excellent. The receptionist and the welcome staff in this hotel need more training and empowerment. However, the rest of the services were outstanding (Shiqi: Service Industries Marketing Blog 2) Report: Customer servicing is the most important thing in any business in the modern era and the hospitality business is not an exception. Marketing activities in the service industry in the past concentrated mainly on the canvassing of customers at any cost. In order to attract customers to the hotels and restaurants, marketing executives provided fake offers and attractions to the custome rs. They concentrated more on attracting the customer rather than servicing the customer. They thought that their job is only to lead the customers towards their hotel or restaurant and the rest of the jobs should be look after by others. Modern customers are particular about the service they receive from hotels and restaurants. The reflections given at the top of this report clearly indicate the problems in customer servicing in service industries. This report analyses the critical service points/theme in the service encounters that are informed by services marketing theory and concepts, based on the above reflections. My analysis and evaluation of critical service points/theme in the service encounters that are informed by services marketing theory and concepts All the employees in a service organization should work for the betterment of the organization rather than the betterment of their careers alone. Even if a visiting customer experiences hundreds of good service from a hotel , one bad experience may prevent him from visiting that hotel again. In other words, all the employees should work collectively for the improvement of customer servicing. Responsiveness of the employees paly vital role in the success and failure of service organizations. Pleasant attitude, timely servicing, and helping mentality of the employees encourage customers to revisit the same hotel or restaurant regularly. It should be noted that the employees and

Analysis of Risks From Living Near an Airport Essay

Analysis of Risks From Living Near an Airport - Essay Example Long exposure to emissions from the airport was estimated to have potential cancer, asthma, liver damage, lung disease, lymphoma, myeloid leukemia, and even depression. Different findings were gathered through scientific and anecdotal evidences. Scientific studies were conducted from other location with which associated with same exposure to air pollution are high among residents would also be the same effect once the new airport will be established. According to a website report (2001), "Aircraft noise may increase the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease even among people who live miles from airports, according to a study out today, the highest noise levels were 80 per cent more likely than those from less noisy areas to suffer high blood pressure". In addition, high blood pressure is the risk factor for heart disease due to noised from jets flying in and out. The scientists say that the cause of the effect is likely to be stress. Another factor is air pollutants it can enter the body from different ways, through inhalation, direct ingestion from the contaminated food, water and soil, and absorption through the skin. According to a study " daily exposure to carcinogens provides estimates of risks and hazards that are unlikely to accumulate by adults and children living nearest to the airport .Breathing in large amount of jet fuels or aviation fuels pollution might actually experience higher rate of morbidity and mortality. This pollutant is responsible for over half the population caused by transportations. Different group of people varies level of toxicity due to combustion of aviation fuel. Large group of people aside from the airport staffs are exposed to both aviation fuel and vapors from it if split accidentally, but especially those living near the airport may suffer from toxicity from the products of combustion of aviation fuel. A report from other location was observed that diseases may develop such a s almost 50% higher asthma rate, 26% higher respiratory disease, and almost 50% higher infant mortality rates and also higher genetic diseases. According to The American Heart Association "extra pulmonary effects of pollution has been consistently associated with increased of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality" In addition to this, the study estimated the resulting effects of these airborne pollutants wherein there were 78 chemicals would result cancer risk for people living near the airport "was five times higher than the regional average proving just how dangerous it can be". Specifically aviation fuel is responsible of naphthalene's dangerous effects. This chemical reaction may trigger prolonged or significant eye irritation. Once inhaled symptoms of respiratory irritation may include coughing and difficulty breathing. Based to a Timbrell, John A (2000) "At

Global Retail and the Transfer of Management Knowledge Case Study

Global Retail and the Transfer of Management Knowledge - Case Study Example There was much friction to be overcome if convenience stores were to be successful in Japan. This was mainly because of the overwhelming presence of small shops in the area. A lot of laws and regulations were put into place to try to protect these small shop owners, such as laws restricting large retailers-such as department stores-from certain activities (Bernstein, 2008). The company was brought to Japan mainly because of Toshifumi Suzuki. The company which he represented, Ito-Yokado, did not support the idea of bringing the convenience store to Japan as a franchise. However, Suzuki did support the idea and claimed that not only could profits be generated by convenience stores, but that the concept could also result in lessened friction between stores of different sizes. The number of small stores in the country was seen to Suzuki as an opportunity rather than a challenge. His idea was to build a franchise system of convenience stores and, in exchange for a cut of their profits, offer them managerial expertise and other guidance. He obtained knowledge from Southland with regards to how to operate a franchising system. Eventually, Suzuki was able to convince Masatoshi Ito to at least look into the idea (Bernstein, 2008). There were quite a few right moves by the company that led to it being such a large success in Japan. The company sent its amateurs for training in the United States. They knew to avoid price competition with supermarkets. They utilized Southland's accounting system. The setup of the store itself was perceived to the Japanese as being foreign, which had an appeal of its own. Ito-Yokado had such a great market power that Seven-Eleven Japan was able to leverage it to acquire wholesalers. The company positioned its stores in urban areas to attract individuals who only wanted a few items and were in a hurry. They carried a broad array of items for sale (Bernstein, 2008). When the model was re-exported to the United States, the Japanese had learned what mistakes to avoid by observing Southland's slow demise. They used some of the techniques that they utilized in their own country in order to make the convenience store change successful in the United States. One of the biggest keys to doing this was through adapting the latest in information technology. Since that concept had been so successful in Japan, the Japanese figured it could only do the same for the United States. In conclusion, this was a relatively unforeseen event-at least of its scope-in Japanese history. Japanese companies in the retailing industries were not seen worldwide as being efficient. Their distribution systems were archaic at best, and large retail giants such as Wal-Mart were few and far between. Using the skills they learned from Southland and their own parent company, Seven-Eleven Japan was very successful (Bernstein, 2008). Why did 7-Eleven thrive while Southland declined and eventually went bankrupt' Why, more in general, are there so many successful global retailers of non-US origin' 7-Eleven thrived not only because of the reasons discussed above, but also because of several other key factors. These include its franchise system and market dominance strategy, the rationalization

Case study of 2007 Mattel toy recall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case study of 2007 Mattel toy recall - Essay Example The result was that the company had to recall the major part of its production as the toys manufactured by the contractors contained toxic components. For instance, its toy Sarge contained high levels of lead, and some other items such as Batman, Polly Pocket and Doggie Daycare contained powerful magnets that could be easily swallowed by children. This paper will analyze to what extent Mattel Inc demonstrated its legal and ethical responsibility while responding to the issue. It will also discuss the role of other parties involved. Finally, the paper will suggest an essential approach for the society to ensure that their children are protected from harmful toys. 1. Evidently, Mattel acted in a responsible way by performing a series of product recalls in 2007. Although the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced Mattel’s five initial recalls on August 14, subsequently, on 4th September, Mattel announced the recall of other items that contained lead and harmful magnets (Case study). This was the real indication of the firm’s ethical and social responsibility toward the entire world. At the same time, the incident shows that Mattel must reconsider its outsourcing or international business strategies. Evidently, Mattel did not clearly analyze the risk factors associated with outsourcing business in China. It also failed to forecast the likeliness of â€Å"quality compromise† while choosing Chinese contractors. These strategic flaws cause people to doubt the ethical accountability of the firm as well as the effectiveness of current regulations. Although Mattel’s strategic decision on producing toys in China flawed, the way the firm responded to the 2007 issue was very substantial. Mattel has been very keen on maintaining its public transparency despite certain issues such as that of the 2007 recall. As Lawrence and Weber (2010) point out, in 1997 Mattel developed its own detailed code of conduct and since then, it added i ts genuine effort to comply with the code in every aspect with the extended help from ICCA, an independent audit firm. For instance, the issue associated with Mexican plants, where workers complained that they had to â€Å"stand without a break for eight hours a day,† was immediately addressed by the company in a very reasonable way (p. 104). As per the SICCA report, Mattel Inc in 1997 defined its â€Å"global code of conduct (Global Manufacturing Principles) for its production facilities and contract manufactures†; and the GMP â€Å"covers such issues as wages and hours, child labor, forced labor, discrimination, freedom of association, legal and ethical business practices, health and safety, protection of the environment, and respect for local culture, values, and traditions† (SICCA, 2010). Again, as the case study states, in China itself Mattel had its own facilities and special test labs for testing the quality of the products; and the company had its own sp ecific standards with regard to the levels of lead in paint. Undoubtedly, the company initiated an extensive investigation in â€Å"July after a European retailer found that paint on a Mattel product† (Case study). Moreover, the company never wanted to hide its fault and instead, informed the world that it was earnestly trying to resolve the issue in union with the Consumer Product Safety Commission in the United States and other

Duties and Responsibilities Essay Example for Free

Duties and Responsibilities Essay As everybody know, to be responsible and accomplish with your duties, is one of the most important things around the world in the labor area. Without being responsible and do whatever you are supposed to do, practically, you are out of your job. As and future officer of the United States Army, we must know which ones are our duties and responsibilities in order to accomplish them and make our team look sharp and right. Due to constants changes in the army, we never know which position we or our fellow soldier are going to occupy. Thus, here you will see the duties and responsibilities of leadership positions from company commander to squad leader in order to make the reader understand why is so important to know what, when, where and why is your position so important. The company commander or CO is one of the most important positions in a company. The CO is responsible for everything the company does or fails to do, as an all. The CO is responsible for the training, discipline, administration and welfare of the soldier/ cadets in the company. He or she is the one who will receive the warning order (WARNO), formulates operation order (OPORD), creates plan and time line for every activity to do, supervise all trainings and coordinates with the cadre for detailed instructions. The CO leads by personal example and influence others to accomplish their duties and responsibilities. The executive office or XO is the second in command in a company. He or she primary role is to assist the commander in mission planning and accomplishment. The XO frees the company commander from routine details and passes pertinent data, information and insight to the commander and ensures suspenses are met by the platoon leaders. In addition to that the XO is responsible for the safety and risk assessment of all company events, thus, prepare OPORDs safety paragraph. The XO performs all other duties as assigned by the company commander. The first Sargent or 1SG, just like the company commander is the responsible for everything the company does or fails to do. Usually is the most experienced soldier/ cadet in the company. The 1SG is the commanders primary tactical advisor and expert on individual and NCO skills. The 1SG helps the commander plan, coordinate and supervise all activities that support the company or unit mission. He or she writes and presents paragraph IV (Service and Support) of the company OPORD, makes necessary announcements at PT and at lab, responsible for gathering all accountability and sending it up the chain of command, keeps company training running according to the time line, makes sure all information is disseminated to the PSGs and has accountability at all times and supervises PSGs and SLs. The platoon leader or PL is the responsible for the entire platoon does or fails to do. In the conduct of duties, consults platoon Sargent in all matters related to the platoon. The PL leads platoon in supporting higher headquarters missions, looks ahead to the next move for the platoon, requests and controls supporting assets and issues accurate and timely reports. In addition to that the PL places self where most needed to accomplish the mission and understands the mission and commanders intent two levels up. The platoon sergeant or PSG is usually a senior NCO in the platoon and second in command. The PSG sets the example in everything and is the responsible for the care of personnel, weapons and equipment in platoon. As second in command, the PSG assumes duties as assigned by the PL. In addition to that, ensures platoon is prepared to accomplish mission, prepares to assume the role and responsibilities of PL, acts where best needed to help mission command the engagement, organize platoon formations and control movement of the platoon. The squad leader or SL is the responsible for all the squad does or fails to do, directs team leaders and leads by personal example. The SL has authority over subordinates and overall responsibility for those subordinates actions and is responsible for the care of personnel. In addition to that, the SL ensure the squad is in proper uniform with proper equipment for training,  lead a supervise the squad, personally prepare and inspect the squad for all missions, keep squad accountability and report to the PSG, control movement of the squad, prepare and submit reports and prepare and issue the squad OPORD. In conclusion, it does not matter what position we are going to occupy, we need to make that our fellow soldiers are doing what they have to do. The duties and responsibilities of every single leadership position is based on take into consideration that a leader is supposed to know and understand their people. He or she knows their strengths and weaknesses as well as what motivates and frustrates them. So, in order to be successful and accomplish all our obligations, first, we need assume our position, always seeking for the welfare of our team.

Website Development and Design Essay Example for Free

Website Development and Design Essay Web designing is a representation of content that is related to any individual person, any business or company or regarding any topic which is t done with the help of using designs, graphics on the internet in the form of web site and web application which is known with the name of web design, it involves the uses of various technical languages and standards like CSS. SSL, HTML, ASP, XML, etc. Web development and Web designing is totally different to each other as web development is more technical as it concerns with the web site validations and dynamics. It is the collection of web pages that is collectively called as web site or a single entity. The Purpose or Objective: Technical experts are working that helps in fostering or creating a long term relationship with the uses of the web site. Integrating flash animation by using various programming languages and applications such as HTML, WDDX, UML, WML, and ASP.NET Ms-Access. Always keep in mind that the loading of the web pages is fast and make the use convenient. It should be easy to navigate with the less numbers of clicks so that the user is satisfied and does not have to waste time on any one of the topic. Creating web development applications adds and database driven Internet that helps in less time taking processing and is providing security to the user login IDs that it should not be hacked or misused by any other person other than the original user of that ID. The Services Offered Web Application Development: It helps in handling those areas which are diverse as document supervision, and is also providing important discussions on business issues, job management and also providing the banking transactions facilities to the user. Content Management System: The management of content is in the form of documents, web o assets and records that almost anything which is stored electronically. Website Design: It is well crafted that helps in design translation and conversion which shortens the sales. It also helps in building the brands, respect and trust which lead to increase the sales. The increment in the sale will increase the reputation of the business and the goodwill in the market. Custom Software Development: It creates the development processes and makes the technological advancement at the lower prices which increases the sales of the products in the market. Need an essay? You can buy essay help from us today!

Literature Review of the Impact of Human Resource Management on Organisational performance

Literature Review of the Impact of Human Resource Management on Organisational performance Organisations worldwide are under pressure today to continually improve their performance. The major trends behind these competitive pressures are globalisation, advances in information technology, and increasing deregulation of global markets (Becker Gerhart, 1996; Dany, Guedri, and Hatt, 2008). These changes have a strong impact on a countrys ability to maintain its competitiveness (Laprade, 2005). Without an efficient workforce organisations lose their ability to compete, both locally and internationally, eventually leading to poor organisational performance and thus ending up with little or no economic success (Tomaka, 2001). Unlike in the past when natural resources, technology, and capital used to be the key factors to determine the competitive advantage of the firms of one nation over the other nations, human resources today in modern times have become the most important resource for the firms to obtain strategic advantage over the other firms (Dany et al, 2008). This is beca use managers in both the public and private sector organisations regard the human resources of their organisation as its major source of sustaining competitive advantage by having the best of the best Human resource systems in place for recruiting, selecting, motivating, and efficiently managing their people (Mesch, 2010). As a result of these changes in the global economic environment business strategy, the field of human resource management is rapidly changing more than ever today (Becker Gerhart, 1996). Furthermore, among all the organisation factors which contribute to organisational performance, the human resources are now regarded as the most fundamental factor (Mesch, 2010). Recent researches on HRM show strong and positive relationship between HRM practices and organisational performance (Carlson, Upton, and Seaman, 2006; Collins Smith, 2006). Therefore, it is vital for managers to have a better understanding of the role of HRM in order to create successful organisational performance. Accordingly this chapter presents a review of the literature, relevant to this research study, on the relationship between HRM practices and organisational performance. HRM and Organisational Performance Human Resource Management Armstrong (2006, p3) defines Human Resource Management as, a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organizations most valued assets the people working there whom individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives. Human Resource Management is, the policies, practices and systems that influence employees behaviour, attitudes and performance (De Cieri, Kramar, Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 2008, p5). Delery and Doty (1996) assert that the HRM best practices, once identified and implemented would always produce improved organisational performance. Fox and McLeay (1992) found from their landmark empirical study of forty-nine companies, composed of companies mainly from the UK engineering and electronics sectors, strong supportive influence between six critical HRM practices in achieving successful above average sector performance relationship, over a 10 year period. These HRM practices are (ibid): Recruitment and Selection, Management Education, Training and Development, Performance Appraisal, Remuneration and Rewards, and Company-wide Career Planning. Organisational Performance A recent definition of Organisational Performance is given by Antony and Bhattacharyya (2010, p43). They define Organisational Performance as, a measure of how well organizations are managed and the value they deliver to customers and other stakeholders. According to Daft (2000) Organisational Performance is the organisations ability to achieve its objectives efficiently and effectively. Organisational Performance represents the value of the organisation in terms of the total contribution made by the efficient and effective management of its human resources (Neumann Segev, 1978). Chien (2004) strongly posits that organisational performance is composed of five major critical components. And these are (ibid, p290): Motivation Models, The Leadership, The Organizational Culture and Environment, The Work Design, and The Human Resource Management Policy. Relationship between HRM and Organisational Performance The traditional role of HRM in organisations was mainly to support the operations through managing people to win the employees organisational commitment to the goals of the organisation (McGunnigle Jameson, 2000). In consequence, HR managers had to strictly comply with the detailed procedures of personnel administration which drove the ways in which the organisations handled their human resource activities (Huselid, Jackson, and Schuler, 1997). The key HRM activities included in this regard are: recruitment, selection, performance measurement, training and development, and administration of compensation and rewards (Dany et al, 2008). In addition to performing these HRM activities HR managers have to create value for the organisations in which they work (Huselid et al, 1997). However, todays HRM focuses heavily on the organisations successful outcomes through the integration of the various HR functions (Dany et al, 2008). Ulrich (1996, p2) strongly suggests that human resources determine an organisations success in overcoming major challenges facing executives today: globalisation, value chain for business competitiveness and HR services, change, attracting and retaining intellectual capital. Together these major challenges require that HR practices create and add value that can be measured reliably (ibid). Todays top performing companies pay extraordinary attention to managing effectively the HR dimensions which affect employee behaviours: morale, motivation, attitude, commitment, etc (Cadle Yeates, 2008, p28). Each of these HR dimensions plays powerful part in determining organisational success (ibid). Modern HRM global best practices include Lawlers (1986) High-Involvement Work Systems (HIWS), Appelbaum and Batts (1994) High Performance Work Systems (HPWS), and Wood and Albaneses (1995) High Commitment Management. Research shows that these modern HRM practices have a strong and positive influence on organisational performance (Ramsay, Scholarios, and Harley, 2000). More and more researches strongly indicate that that there are positive links between HRM practices and organisational performance (Carlson et al, 2006; Collins Smith, 2006). For instance, Delery (1998, p289) asserts that, the methods used by an organization to manage its human resources can have a substantial impact on many organizationally relevant outcomes. Gerhart and Milkovich (1992) conducted studies to measure the impacts of compensation and rewards systems on the successful accomplishment of organisational goals and objectives. Likewise research study conducted by Terpstra and Rozell (1993) shows that five key HRM selection practices are linked to business profit. In his review of the key empirical studies on the relationship between HRM and organisational performance Ulrich (1997) writes that these studies investigated the impact of specific HR practices on specific successful organisational outcomes; for example, effective HR practices in training and compensation were related to business turnover, labour productivity, and organisational performance. Ulrichs (1997) review summarised that the empirical studies were based on the assumption that efficient use of human resources through best HR practices would lead to successful organisational performance. Empirical studies conducted by Huselid (1995, p635) to assess the relationship between a set of HRM practices (referred by Huselid as HPWS High Performance Work Systems, which included: extensive recruitment, selection, training procedures, formal information sharing, attitude assessment, and job design) and organisational performance of 968 large companies have shown that there is a positive relationship between HRM and successful organisational performance. The key organisational performance measures used to evaluate the high performance HRM practices in the empirical studies included: labour productivity, financial performance, and turnover (ibid). Delaney and Huselid (1996) investigated the effects of recruitment and selection, compensation, training and development, decision making, complaints and grievance procedures, promotion practices, and the combined synergetic impact of these HRM practices in 590 for-profit and not-for-profit companies. Overall, their study concluded that these progressive of HRM practices were positively associated with firm performance. Harel and Tzafrir (1999, p186), based on their extensive theoretical and empirical research as well as from the prior studies conducted by other researchers in the HR field, have identified six core components of strategic and universalistic HRM best practices that are strongly related to organisational performance. These 6 core components of HR best practices are (ibid): Recruitment; Selection; Compensation; Employee Participation; Internal Labor Market; and Training. Likewise Becker and Huselid (1999) strongly agree with the seven high performance HRM best practices put forward by Pfeffer (1998) as having strong links to organisational performance. These 7 high performance HR best practices are (Pfeffer, 1998, cited in Huselid Becker, 1999, p297): Employment Security Selective Hiring Teams and Decentralized Decision-making High Pay Extensive Training Reduced Status Distinctions Extensive Information Sharing. Each of these seven high performance HRM best practices offer options for the HR professionals to choose the appropriate ones for enhancing the organisational performance and at the same time one should remember that each of these HRM best practices form an integrated high performance HRM system (Huselid Becker, 1999, p298). Approaches to Examine HRM and Organisational Performance Relationship There are two major fundamental approaches to study the relationship between HRM and organisational performance. These are termed as: Best-Practice approach, and Best-Fit approach. Best-Practice Approach The best-practice approach claims that HRM practices are universalistic and thus any organisation can obtain enhanced organisational performance by adopting the HRM best practices for managing people in any organisational context (Boxall Purcell, 2000). Best-Fit Approach On the other hand the best-fit approach argues for a vertical fit whereby the HRM systems are integrated with the corporate strategy of the organisation for obtaining improved organisational performance within a specific organisational context (Boselie, Paauwe, and Richardson, 2003). Between these two approaches, the best-practice approach is considered to be superior by HRM professionals and researchers for examining the impact of HRM practices on organisational performance ((Hoque, 1999, p422). Cautions in Examining the HRM and Organisational Performance Relationship Although there is wide support to the idea that HRM practices lead to improved organisational performance yet there are some cautions that have to be observed. Huselid (1995), states that successful organisational performance has been obtained by high-performance firms since they were able to afford expensive HRM systems and practices and this may not be affordable to most other firms. Furthermore, leadership style could have a stronger impact over the deployment of HRM practices due to the different types of influences which the leaders can exert on their people (Becker Huselid, 2006). Organisational Performance in Public Sector Organisations The power and water sector in Oman is a not-for-profit sector. As stated earlier (in chapter 1) the power and water sector in Oman is striving for reducing its operating costs. Only those not-for-profit organisations which possess human capital resources that operate with increased professionalism and more advanced multi-tasking skills through enhanced productivity (and thus ensuring and effecting control over operating costs) can accomplish their mission successfully (Mesch, 2010). Furthermore, in the times to come, the not-for-profit sector has to inevitably pursue more efficiency and with more economies of scale in order to provide cost-effective services to their stakeholders and prove organisational effectiveness (ibid). Evaluating organisational performance in the public sector organisations is not easy and this is further compounded by the fact that measurement of organisational performance in the public sector has not been developed in the organisation theory literature (Waheed, Mansor, and Ismail, 2010). This primarily because of the following factors that are unique to public sector organisations (ibid, p330): Lack of well-defined objectives and large number of multiple objectives; Central administration; Absence of generally accepted performance indicators for measuring organisational performance; Diffused and largely fragmented responsibility because of the interdependency of the performance of the public sector organisations. As a result of which accountability is difficult to extract. Evidence from their review of the limited literature available on organisational performance in the public sector organisations show that the three most common major indicators (the other not common indicators are: relevance, and efficacy) of organisational performance used in the frameworks provided by the various researchers are (ibid, pp331-336): Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Innovation. Katou and Budhwar (2006) studied 178 manufacturing organisations in Greece to investigate the relationship between the HRM systems and policies and organisational performance. Their study used the following indicators of organisational performance from their literature review (ibid, p1226) which can also be applied to service organisations as well: Efficiency: usage of fewer resources to achieve organisational objectives; Effectiveness: achieving the organisational objectives successfully; Development: developing and building the capacity of the organisation for meeting the future challenges and opportunities; Satisfaction: satisfying all the key participants customers, stakeholders, and employees; Innovation: of products and the related processes; and Quality: enhanced higher quality of products (services). Summary This chapter reviewed the available literature relevant to this study on HRM practices that can improve organisational performance. The above review of HRM literature shows that HRM best practices is distinctly composed of recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation and rewards system, information sharing, and employee participation. Organisational performance can be measured through the successful organisational outcomes in the form of efficiency and effectiveness, customer satisfaction, service quality, and labour productivity.

Free Essays on Frankenstein: The Creature as a Foil to Frankenstein :: free essay writer

The Creature as a Foil to  Frankenstein   Frankenstein, speaking of himself as a young man in his father’s home, points out that he is unlike Elizabeth, who would rather follow â€Å"the aerial creations of the poets†. Instead he pursues knowledge of the â€Å"world† though investigation. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word â€Å"world† is for Frankenstein, very much biased or limited. He thirsts for knowledge of the tangible world and if he perceives an idea to be as yet unrealised in the material world, he then attempts to work on the idea in order to give it, as it were, a worldly existence. Hence, he creates the creature that he rejects because its worldly form did not reflect the glory and magnificence of his original idea. Thrown, unaided and ignorant, into the world, the creature begins his own journey into the discovery of the strange and hidden meanings encoded in human language and society. In this essay, I will discuss how the creature can be regar ded as a foil to Frankenstein through an examination of the schooling, formal and informal, that both of them go through. In some ways, the creature’s gain in knowledge can be seen to parallel Frankenstein’s, such as, when the creature begins to learn from books. Yet, in other ways, their experiences differ greatly, and one of the factors that contribute to these differences is a structured and systematic method of learning, based on philosophical tenets, that is available to Frankenstein but not to the creature.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Frankenstein speaks fondly of his youth because his parents were â€Å"indulgent† and his companions were â€Å"amiable† (21). His parents’ policy in the education of their children is that there should neither be punishment nor â€Å"the voice of command† (26). Instead, they encourage their children to pursue their studies with vigor by â€Å"having the end placed in view†(21) and by having them discover the process by which to reach the end and not by making them learn tedious lessons. Frankenstein’s testimony to this is that he learnt better and retained his knowledge well. The approach to Frankenstein’s education in the home is strongly influenced by Rousseau, one of the most eloquent writers of the Age of Enlightenment. In his influential novel Emile, Rousseau expounded a new theory of education that emphasises the importance of expression rather than repression to produce a well-balanced and free-thinking child.

Canterbury tales :: essays research papers

Chaucer begins The Nun’s Priest’s Tale by describing a simple widow and her two simple daughters. They own a barn where a magnificently handsome cock with a beautiful and accurate â€Å"cock-a-doodle-doo†. Here, his seven wives also live; his favorite is the most beautiful Pertelote. He one day speaks to her about a dream. In this dream, a fox eats Chanticleer, the cock, and Chanticleer now worries that it may come true. Pertelote does not believe in this predestination and gives her argument. She then calls Chanticleer a coward and threatens that she cannot love a coward. She thinks that the dream was caused by something Chanticleer ate and suggests a remedy. Chanticleer tries to convince Pertelote that his dream has meaning my biting people who dreamt of murder and then discovered it. But after his argument, he decides to leave the subject and compliment his Pertelote. The two make love and he leaves his safe perch. The fox, which has been stalking Chanticleer, flatters and asks Chanticleer to sing his beautiful songs. As the blushing Chanticleer closes his eyes to begin his song, the fox snatches him and runs. The hens all screech and wildly call the attention of the widow. Before long, the town is chasing the fox. Chanticleer advises the fox to boast about his accomplishments, and when the fox opens his mouth, Chanticleer escapes. The Nun’s Priest’s Tale is an exempla. This is a sorry that teaches a moral lesson through example. The lessons learned in this particular story are summarized at the conclusion by the characters in the story themselves. The both learned survival strategies. Chanticleer begins: â€Å"And for those who blink when they should look, God blot them from this everlasting Book!† â€Å"Nay, rather,† said the fox, â€Å"his plagues be flung On all who chatter that should hold their tongue.† (cite book p 120) The obvious theme is the idea of dreams and determinism – â€Å"the view that human actions are entirely controlled by previous conditions, operating under laws of nature, but understood as ruling out free will†(cite the dic of cult lit). While Pertelote references Cato and explains dreams medically—that they are caused by wrong foods and can be cured with remedies such as worms and herbs—Chanticleer explains dreams as prophesies referencing Cato, St Kenelm, Andromache, Hector, and Daniel and Joseph from the Old testament. Another theme is woman acting as the source of evil and causing the fall of mankind.

Death in Emily Dickinsons Because I Could Not Stop for Death and I Hea

Death in Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop for Death and I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died Emily Dickinson's two poems, "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" and "I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died," revolve around one central theme, death. Though the two do centralize around the theme of death they both have slightly different messages or beliefs about what is to come after death. By discussing both of the poems and interpreting their meanings, the reader can gain a fuller understanding of the message Dickinson is trying to send to her audience and a greater feel for what may lie ahead in the afterlife. When Dickinson writes in her first line, "I heard a fly buzz when I died," it grasps the reader's attention by describing the moment of her death. After reading the first stanza the reader can almost hear or sense the feeling of the fly buzzing in such a still and quiet room. The contrasting sounds of the noisy fly and the stillness in the air draw the reader deeper into the poem. The image created by this contrast is like the color white on the color black. It stands out immen sely and catches the reader's eye. After the first stanza the reader is in full knowledge of the death of the poet. The second stanza reads, "The eyes beside had wrung them dry, and breaths were gathering sure for that last onset, when the king be witnessed in his power." This stanza deals with how God is brought upon by the speaker?s death. Onlookers surround the dead body and seem to be look...

How would you perform the role of BottomIn Act 1 scene 2?

Bottom is one of the group called the mechanics and he is an important comic character and is the only mortal to enter the world of fairies. In this scene we are introduced to him for the first time and he is one of a band of workmen who offer a complete contrast to the world of fairies that we saw previously. In the scene a group of artisans discuss the play they are going to perform as part of Theseus's wedding celebration. The play is entitled, â€Å"The most lamentable comedy, and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe. Peter Quince takes a roll call of the actors and hands out their parts. Bottom the weaver gets the leading role of Pyramus, which pleases him because he is super-confident of his acting abilities. Bottom's costume will reflect his status as a weaver, so therefore his costume might be torn or dusty. His dramatic status is important because he is a dominant, full of self-importance and eager to dominate the meeting of this band of amateur actors. I would also make his costume quite colourful, to reflect his happy, enthusiastic and quite over bearing character. My performance would be influenced by my physical appearance and vocal characteristics. I see Bottom as a tradesman in his forties, taller than the others and of portly build, in fact I would want him to be physically larger than life and his accent Devonshire in cadence and with a raucous singing voice. In this scene, my performance would have to reflect the rivalry between Bottom and Quince. In the beginning of the scene, Quince who is in charge, would walk in rather proud, with an upright posture, and with head held high, maybe greeting the workmen by shaking their hands and smiling, as he doesn't want to make enemies and wants them to do what he requires and to ignore Bottom. He would probably forget to acknowledge Bottom and walk straight past him to put him in his place. Bottom's first line†¦ You were best to call them generally, man by man according to the scrip,' shows that despite Quinces dislike for him, and the attempt to lower his confidence, he is still extrovert and larger than life. It was directed to Quince and in playing this part I would make my voice domineering loud and move in close to Quince trying to intimidate him, as he is smaller than me. Quince would also be centre stage, as he is almost the focal point and is meant to be in charge of the other actors, who would be sitting down, looking up to him. Bottom would stand up in order to compete with Quince and try to push him out of the way or maybe stand in front of him to block him completely. My intention would also to get people to like me and to establish a friendship with them by shaking their hands. I would then break off from doing this to say ‘First good Peter Quince, say what the play treats on.. ‘ in a forceful manner and then get closer to Quince, snatching the scroll out of his hand, as if to take over the rehearsal myself. There would be complete scuffle between them as they fight for passion of the script, and this could be created very comically using large exaggerated gestures and their voice could turn into a crescendo, getting louder to get their point across without the other interfering. As bottom I would sound very confident and sometimes almost quite patronising, as if I am talking to people far more inferior to me for example when I say ‘A very good piece of work I assure you, and a merry' almost as if my opinion is important and worth hearing. Also when I say ‘Now good Peter Quince, call forth your actors.. it would be in a very instructive but condescending tone, emphasising the word ‘good' as it would provoke an annoyed reaction from Quince. Even when Quince calls out my name, emphasising that I am just a weaver, I would respond enthusiastically, instructing him to tell me my part and to carry on with authority. Quince appears very powerful and ignores Bottom, so Bottom h as to re-establish his importance by ordering â€Å"masters spread yourselves' at this point I would reveal some dissatisfaction and pull up a chair and reluctantly sit down. At this stage I would want my audience to respond, by thinking Bottom a rather loud mouthed bossy individual and have them feel sorry for Quince having to put up with such a disruptive member of the group. When finding out that I am ‘a lover that kills myself most gallant for love' I will respond very dramatically, telling the actors how the audience will cry, as my acting will be so natural and emotional. I would hold my hands up to my heart to portray this and maybe pretend to hold out a sword to show how brave I am, even though I am just a lover and not a tyrant. I would also suggest other parts such as Ercles or a part to tear a cat in, to show my capabilities, and in doing this I would screw my face up to make me look vicious and claw my hands, frantically moving my arms back and forth as if I am attacking a cat. I can see myself in every role and when I recite my poem I walk around the whole stage, emphasising the words ‘raging' almost spitting the words out to show my fury, and ‘shivering' by holding my arms and trembling, with my teeth chattering. I would also push my hands out forcefully, thrusting my body forward, almost as if I was ‘breaking' the locks of the prison gates. ‘ Quince just ignores him and continues to issue parts to the other actors. I watch when Quince assigns the part of Thisby to the flute, the bellows-mender, which is the other leading role, and when Flute refuses the part as he has a beard coming, my faces becomes animated and delighted as I would love to play that part too, this would be shown by my raised bright eyes and my open mouth. I face Quince, even though he faces away and tell him how I could wear a mask, and speak in a monstrous little voice, where I would raise the pitch of my voice till it Is almost squeaky, and maybe use a feminine characteristic such as playing with my hair or holding out my hand as if I was carrying a basket. When Quince refuses to give Bottom both parts, Bottom doesn't show any disappointment and tells him to just ‘proceed. ‘ I continue to dominate the discussion and when Quince gives the lion part to Snug, I almost pounce like a lion and curl my fingers up like claws and raw in a deep husky tone. I go towards Quince and aggravate my voice and shout ‘I will roar, that I will do anyman's heart good to hear me.. ‘ and when I quote what the duke will say, I put on an articulate, upper class English accent when I say' Let him roar again, let him roar again. ‘ When Quince and the rest of the actors claim that I would scare the duchess and the ladies and they would end up hanging them all, I am not offended at all, and continue to suggest other ways of roaring such as ‘gently as any sucking dove' and whilst saying this I would say it in a feminine voice with a sweet and innocent expression on my face. When Quince responds, his voice becomes much more stern, and agitated when he says ‘you can play no part but Pyramus' I will the sulk and sit down on a chair, with my head down and my bottom lip drooping, like a child would do If they were upset. This may make the audience feel a bit sorry for Bottom or they might feel relieved that Quince has finally gained more courage and has power over him. When Quince sees this, he puts on a sympathetic tone and says ‘Pyramus is a sweet-faced man' lifting my chin up and gently stroking my face. I quickly recover myself by running energetically towards the wooden box filled with wigs and beards and open it rummaging through all the varieties of beards holding up the ones that might suit his character and throwing the ones that were not good behind him. I think Bottom quite likes the fact that Quince is almost pleading to him and saying how much he needs him to play the part and when Bottom says ‘Well, I will undertake it' he will say it proudly, expecting all the other actors to be relieved. In the end of the scene, when Quince suggests learning their lines the following night and rehearsing in the woods, he emphasises to the actors that they should not fail him. I as Bottom, will stand next to Quince, nodding my head up and down, and looking down at the other actors as I am in charge too and I will announce ‘ we may rehearse most obscenely and courageously' throwing my fist in the air with excitement and I will also make sure I have the last word when I say ‘hold or cut bow-strings,' which I will say firmly and sharply with authority. Overall I will try to irritate the actors and the audience, and make them feel sympathetic towards Quince. I also want the audience to realise that although I am very confident and make out that I'm very talented, I am not very good and don't really have the ability to act other parts, this makes it comical. I will intimidate the other actors on stage to emphasise my authority and I will make sure that I have Quince's attention throughout the whole scene, so if Quince turns his back on me or pushes me out of the way, I will get in front of his view and I will push him out of the way too. This way the audience can see our relationship clearer. There are lots of different levels of emotion when Bottom is acting and there is a lot of competition between Quince and him. Bottom is a very comical and melodramatic character to play.

Critique of Stuff Is Not Salvation

Valued Possessions vs. Insignificant Desires Anna Quindlen, a novelist, social critic, and journalist wrote an intriguing essay â€Å"Stuff is Not Salvation† about the addiction of Americans, who splurge on materialistic items that have no real meaning. The ability to obtain credit is one of the main reasons to blame for society’s consumption epidemic. However, Quindlen feels the economic decline due to credit card debt is insignificant compared to the underlying issues of American’s binging problems. Quindlen’s essay gives excellent points regarding the differences in America’s typical shopping habits. Additionally, she mentions how people acquire all this â€Å"stuff† but seem to never realize, â€Å"why did I get this? †(501). Quindlen makes her audience visualize a world where we acquire our needs versus our meaningless desires. Yet, she fails to mention people who could live a life of happiness through the possessions they acquire. In summary, Quindlen supports her point of view with examples of American spending habits in the past decades of depression compared to now. She mentions Black Friday and how people become enthralled by cheap bargains (Quindlen 500-501). In Quindlen’s essay, she refers to an accident in which a worker at Walmart was trampled to death by a mob of shoppers and despite the horrific incident people kept shopping (500). With the U. S. depression, Black Friday brings hopes of more money spent, therefore a rise in the markets. The dream of an uplifted economy became unrealistic as people began to realize they could not afford their desirables, not even at a low cost. Today, Americans have an exorbitant amount of credit debt so they can acquire items that they want, without actually paying for them outright, for example, the Chatty Cathy doll Quindlen wanted in her childhood compared to the orange her dad received that had to be paid for (500-501). According to Quindlen, a family having less means they can appreciate possessions more and what they possess therefore has real meaning (502). Quindlen’s essay gives strong points about America’s addiction to consumption, the economic decline, and the necessities of life. There are plenty of examples that Quindlen gives to make her point across, that American’s spend money unwisely. For instance, in one of the examples, she mentions how every 16 months a person replaces a cell phone because it’s not as new anymore, and how toys are forgotten that eventually end up being junk (501). Quindlen then states the obvious â€Å"stuff does not bring salvation† (501). However, she lacks examples of cases where people’s wants actually provide the happiness they usually expect. Rich people, for example, have an extra sense of security because the worry and stress that belong to the poor is something the rich don’t have and don’t want. Plus, who wouldn’t want to afford desires such as not living pay check to pay check or putting their kid(s) through college? Sometimes not being able to afford these items can bring on depression or verbal abuse into a home. The reader’s would have a better understanding of the essay if she included some of these situations. Overall, Quindlen portrays her idea of happiness not being the materialistic things in life, but by the things that have true meaning. By true meaning, I believe she means items such as photographs that have a significant memory attached to it. She jokingly states, â€Å"Ask people what they would grab if their house were on fire, the way our national house is on fire right now. No one ever says it’s the tricked-up microwave they got at Wal-Mart† (502). She brings her essay together nicely by asserting examples from her childhood, the U. S. depression, and a family that is happy with what little they have. The essay brings belief to the reader that in today’s society many people spend money on things that end up being junk and take for granted the needs they should possess. People make investments that they later come to realize have lost their value because they did not really need it. Even though she made some valuable points in her essay, more than likely America will still make unnecessary expenditures. Therefore, with Quindlen’s idea that â€Å"stuff is not salvation,† there needs to be more examples shown of people who can afford their wants and with that they are still able to obtain happiness (501). She does however prove her point that the items we possess should have more of a priceless value rather than items we could live without. If stuff is not salvation why do so many of us seek more income to possess more items? This question is simple to answer with more research on people that don’t have the worries of the less-fortunate. Again, while we shouldn’t be materialistic, we shouldn’t just settle for less, nor should we be greedy and keep wanting more. Quindlen’s views made me reevaluate my spending habits and hopefully the next time I purchase something I can answer the question â€Å"Why did I get this? †(501). Ultimately, Quindlen’s essay is interesting and worth the read. WORD COUNT: 865 Work Cited Quindlen, Anna. â€Å"Stuff is Not Salvation. † Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Readings Across the Disciplines. 6th ed. Ed. Katherine Anne Ackley. Boston: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. 500-02. Print.

Campbell Soup Case Essay

Synopsis The Campbell Soup Company has dominated the soup â€Å"industry† since the company developed a cost-effective method of producing condensed soup products in 1899. Throughout most of the twentieth century, Campbell was known as one of the most conservative companies in the United States. In 1980, Campbell startled the business world by selling debt securities for the first time and by embarking on a program to lengthen and diversify its historically â€Å"short† product line. Despite a sizable increase in revenues, the diversification program failed to improve Campbell’s profitability, which prompted the company’s executives to refocus their attention on their core business, namely, manufacturing and marketing soup products. Unfortunately, by the end of the twentieth century, the public’s interest in soup was waning. Faced with a shrinking market for its primary product, Campbell’s management team allegedly began using a series of questionable business practices and accounting gimmicks to prop up the company’s reported profits. A class-action lawsuit filed in early 2000 by disgruntled Campbell stockholders charged top company executives with misrepresenting Campbell’s operating results in the late 1990s. The principal allegation was that the executives had used a variety of methods to inflate the company’s revenues, gross margins, and profits during that time frame. Eventually, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Campbell’s independent audit firm, was named as a co-defendant in the case. The plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit claimed that PwC had recklessly audited Campbell, which effectively allowed Campbell’s executives to continue their illicit schemes. This case examines the allegations filed against PwC by Campbell’s stockholders with the primary purpose of illustrating the audit objectives and procedures that can and should be applied to a client’s revenue and revenue-related accounts. The case also provides students with important insights on how the Private  Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 has affected auditors’ civil liability in lawsuits filed under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Campbell Soup Company–Key Facts 1.During much of its history, Campbell Soup was known as one of the most conservative large companies in the U.S. economy. 2. Campbell’s conservative corporate culture abruptly changed in the 1980s when the company sold debt securities for the first time and embarked on an ambitious program to diversify and expand its product line. 3.In the late 1990s, after the diversification program had produced disappointing financial results and when market data indicated that the public’s interest in soup was waning, Campbell executives allegedly began using several illicit methods to meet Wall Street’s earnings targets for the company. 4.A class-action lawsuit filed in 2000 charged that Campbell had offered customers large, period-ending discounts to artificially inflate sales, accounted improperly for those discounts, recorded bogus sales, and failed to record appropriate reserves for anticipated sales returns. 5.PwC, Campbell’s audit firm, was named as a defendant in the class-action lawsuit and was charged with recklessly auditing Campbell’s financial statements. 6.Because the class-action lawsuit was filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the federal judge presiding over the case had to decide whether the allegations involving PwC satisfied the new â€Å"pleading standard† established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 7.The PSLRA’s pleading standard requires plaintiffs to plead or allege facts  suggesting that there is a â€Å"strong inference of scienter† on the part of a given defendant. 8.To satisfy the PSLRA pleading standard in the Third Circuit of the U.S. District Court in which the Campbell lawsuit was filed, a plaintiff, at a minimum, must allege that the given defendant acted with â€Å"recklessness.† 9.After reviewing PwC’s audit workpapers, the federal judge ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to satisfy the PSLRA pleading standard, which resulted in PwC being dismissed as a defendant in the case. 10.In February 2003, Campbell settled the class-action lawsuit by agreeing to pay the plaintiffs $35 million, although company executives denied any wrongdoing. Instructional Objectives 1.To demonstrate that even the largest and highest profile audit clients can pose significant audit risks. 2.To identify discretionary business practices and accounting â€Å"gimmicks† that can be used to distort a company’s reported operating results. 3.To identify audit procedures that should be applied to a client’s sales and sales-related accounts. 4.To examine the implications that the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 has for the civil liability of independent auditors in lawsuits filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. 5.To examine the concepts of recklessness and negligence in the context of auditors’ civil liability. Suggestions for Use The â€Å"high-risk† accounts that are the focus of this case are sales and sales-related accounts. This case focuses students’ attention on schemes that companies can use to enhance their reported operating results. These schemes involve both â€Å"discretionary† business practices and accounting gimmicks. Auditing textbooks generally ignore the fact that audit clients often manage or manipulate their reported profits by using discretionary business practices—such as delaying advertising or maintenance expenditures. This case requires students to address this possibility and consider the resulting audit implications. After discussing this case, I hope my students recognize that companies that use discretionary business practices to â€Å"rig† their profits are likely inclined to use accounting gimmicks for the same purpose. As an out-of-class assignment, you might ask students to find in the business press recent examples of companies that have attempted to manage their earnings without violating any accounting or financial reporting rules. Have students present these examples and then discuss them when addressing case question No. 1. I think you will find that students have very different opinions on whether it is ethical for public companies to â€Å"massage† their income statement data while complying with the technical requirements of GAAP. You might consider packaging this case with the Health Management, Inc., case (Case 1.4). The Health Management case provides a general discussion of the PSLRA. The Campbell Soup case contributes to students’ understanding of the PSLRA by examining in more depth the â€Å"pleading standard† established by that federal statute and the impact that standard has on lawsuits filed against auditors under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Suggested Solutions to Case Questions 1.Here are a few examples of discretionary business practices that corporate executives can use to influence their company’s revenues and/or expenses. ââ€" ºDeferring advertising, maintenance, or other discretionary expenditures until the following period. ââ€" ºSlowing down (or accelerating) work on long-term construction projects or contracts for which the percentage-of-completion accounting method is used to recognize revenue. ââ€" ºUsing economic incentives to stimulate sales near the end of an accounting period (a technique used by Campbell). Are the practices just listed â€Å"ethical†? Typically, students suggest that since these practices do not violate any laws, GAAP, or other â€Å"black and white† rules, the practices cannot be considered â€Å"unethical†Ã¢â‚¬â€a roundabout way of arguing that they are ethical. That general point-of-view seems consistent with the following comment that Judge Irenas made regarding Campbell’s period-ending â€Å"trade loading:† â€Å"There is nothing inherently improper in pressing for sales to be made earlier than in the normal course . . . there may be any number of legitimate reasons for attempting to achieve sales earlier.† For what it is worth, I believe that corporate executives who defer needed maintenance expenses or who postpone advertising programs that would likely produce sizable sales in future periods are not acting in the best interests of their stockholders. In other words, I do not believe such practices are proper or â€Å"ethical.† Likewise, corporate executives who take advantage of the inherent flexibility of the percentage-of-completion accounting method, ostensibly to serve their own economic interests, are not individuals who I would want serving as stewards of my investments. In my view, it is a little more difficult to characterize the â€Å"trade loading† practices of Campbell as unethical. Why? Because, allegedly, the company’s competitors were using the same practice. If Campbell chose not to offer large, period-ending discounts to their customers, the company would likely have lost sales to its competitors. [Note: Campbell’s CEO who resigned in 2000 announced in mid-1999 that his company was discontinuing trade loading.] 2. I would suggest that companies that use various â€Å"legitimate† business practices to â€Å"manage† their earnings are more prone to use illicit methods (accounting gimmicks, etc.) for the same purpose. As a result, auditors could reasonably consider such business practices as a â€Å"red flag† that mandates more extensive and/or rigorous audit tests. [Note: Professional auditing standards suggest that corporate executives who place excessive emphasis on achieving earnings forecasts may be prone to misrepresenting  their company’s financial statement data.] 3.SAS No. 106, â€Å"Audit Evidence,† identifies three categories of management assertions implicit in an entity’s financial statements that independent auditors should attempt to corroborate by collecting sufficient appropriate audit evidence. The third of these categories is â€Å"presentation and disclosure.† Included in the latter category is the following item: â€Å"Classification and understandability. Financial information is appropriately presented and described and disclosures are clearly expressed.† [AU 326.15] Likewise, one of the five transaction-related assertions is entitled â€Å"Classification.† This latter assertion suggests that, â€Å"Transactions and events have been recorded in the proper accounts.† Here are examples of â€Å"spin† techniques that can be used to enhance income statement data without changing net income: ââ€" ºClassifying cost of goods sold components as SG&A expenses to inflate gross profit on sales. ââ€" ºReporting items that qualify as operating expenses/losses as nonoperating expenses/losses to inflate operating income. (One of the most common variations of this â€Å"trick† in recent years has been including legitimate operating expenses in â€Å"restructuring† losses.) ââ€" ºTreating â€Å"other losses† as extraordinary losses to inflate income from continuing operations. 4.Shipping to the yard: Year-end sales cutoff tests are intended to identify misclassification of sales occurring near the end of a client’s fiscal year. Auditors will typically choose a small sample of sales that the client recorded in the final few days of the fiscal year and a comparable sample of sales that occurred in the first few days of the new fiscal year. Then, the relevant shipping and other accounting documents for those sales will be inspected to determine that they were recorded in the proper period. This standard test might have revealed the fact that Campbell was booking some unusually large sales near the end of accounting periods. Even though the shipping documents for these sales might have suggested that they were valid period-ending sales, a curious auditor might have  investigated the sales further. For example, that auditor might have attempted to determine whether the resulting receivables were collected on a timely basis. During the course of such an investigation, the auditor would likely have discovered that the sales were reversed in the following period or dealt with in some other nonstandard way. Accounts receivable confirmation procedures might also have resulted in the discovery of these â€Å"sales.† Customers to whom such sales were charged would likely have identified them as differences or discrepancies on returned confirmations. Subsequent investigation of these items by the auditors may have revealed their true nature. As pointed out by the plaintiffs in this case, during physical inventory counting procedures auditors typically take notice of any inventory that has been segregated and not counted—for example, inventory that is sitting in parked trucks. If there is an unusually large amount of such segregated inventory—which was apparently true in this case, the auditors should have inquired of the client and obtained a reasonable explanation. The old, reliable â€Å"scanning year-end transactions to identify large and/or unusual transactions† might also have led to the discovery of Campbell’s sales â€Å"shipped to the yard.† Guaranteed sales: During the first few weeks of a client’s new fiscal year, auditors should review the client’s sales returns and allowances account to determine whether there are any unusual trends apparent in that account. Auditors should be particularly cognizant of unusually high sales returns and allowances, which may signal that a client overstated reported sales for the prior accounting period. Accounts receivable confirmation procedures may also result in auditors discovering an unusually high rate of â€Å"charge-backs† by the client’s customers. In some cases, clients will have written contracts that document the key features of sales contracts. Reviewing such contracts may result in the discovery of â€Å"guaranteed sales† or similar transactions. Finally, simply discussing a client’s sales policies and procedures with client personnel may result in those personnel intentionally or inadvertently â€Å"tipping off† auditors regarding questionable accounting practices for sales, such as shipping to the yard or guaranteed sales. 5. Here are definitions of â€Å"negligence† and â€Å"recklessness† that I have referred to in suggested solutions for questions in other cases. These definitions were taken from the following source: D.M. Guy, C.W. Alderman, and A.J. Winters, Auditing, Fifth Edition (San Diego: Dryden, 1999), 85-86. Negligence: â€Å"The failure of the CPA to perform or report on an engagement with the due professional care and competence of a prudent auditor.† Recklessness: â€Å"A serious occurrence of negligence tantamount to a flagrant or reckless departure from the standard of due care.† After reviewing the definition of â€Å"negligence,† ask your students to define or describe a â€Å"prudent auditor.† Then, ask them whether they believe that definition/description applies to the PwC auditors assigned to the 1998 Campbell audit. Here are two hypothetical examples drawn from this case involving what I would characterize as â€Å"reckless auditors.† ââ€" ºA client employee tells PwC auditors that many year-end sales are â€Å"guaranteed† and that no reserve has been established for the large amount of returns that will likely be produced by those sales. PwC decides not to investigate this allegation because of manpower constraints on the engagement. ââ€" ºWhile reviewing receivables confirmations returned by Campbell customers, PwC auditors discover that approximately one-fourth of those customers indicate that their balances include charges for large amounts of product purchased near the end of the year, product that they did not order or receive. PwC dismisses this unusually large number of similar reported differences as a â€Å"coincidence.† 6.Here is a list of key parties that have been affected by the PSLRA. ââ€" ºInvestors who suffer large losses that they believe were caused by reckless or fraudulent conduct on the part of a given company’s management team, its auditors, or other parties associated with the company’s financial statements. At least some of these investors have likely found it more  difficult and costly to recover their losses because of the barrier to securities lawsuits erected by the PSLRA. [Note: Granted, the PSLRA has little impact on the ability of investors to recover losses in those cases involving obvious gross fraud or malfeasance by corporate management or other parties.] ââ€" ºSome parties have argued that the PSLRA diminishes the overall efficiency of the stock market. These parties argue that by making it more difficult for investors to file lawsuits under the 1934 Securities Act, the PSLRA has resulted in a larger portion of scarce investment capital being squandered by irresponsible corporate executives, which, in the long run, diminishes the strength of our economy and our nation’s standard of living. ââ€" ºGenerally, corporate executives have benefited from the PSLRA since it has reduced, to some degree, their exposure to civil liability. ââ€" ºAs pointed out in the Health Management, Inc., case (Case 1.4), the PSLRA apparently has not been very beneficial to large accounting firms. For whatever reason, in recent years, there has been a general upward trend in federal securities cases alleging accounting irregularities. Not only are independent auditors more likely to be named as defendants in such cases, the settlements in those cases tend to be considerably higher than in other lawsuits filed under the federal securities laws.