Accounting for Management Decisions Research Paper

Accounting for Management Decisions - Research Paper Example In order to be highly competitive in the market, an organisation must be able to forecast future changes in customer needs and market trends. Organisations normally predict possible future market changes by assessing past and current market flows. For this purpose, an organisation deploys a number of business evaluation tools. Activity based costing, value chain analysis, and customer profitability are the three major frameworks that assist an organisation to evaluate its business flow. This paper conducts a detailed research to identify the core concepts, objectives, pros and cons, and applicability of each of these business evaluation methodologies. The paper includes an extensive literature review section and an analysis section. The major findings reflect that: †¢ Cost centre and cost driver are two core concepts of activity based costing †¢ Governance, innovation and upgradation, benchmarking, and product positioning are the key ideas of value chain analysis †¢ Cash flow, customer capital/equity, and customer as a real option constitute the core concepts of customer profitability †¢ The ABC approach greatly assists users to better identify their overheads with regard to activities and resources. †¢ The most advantageous feature value chain analysis is that this methodology assists its users to get a clear view of their core competencies The concept of customer profitability aids an organisation to identify its profitable customer groups and secure them from competitors. II. Introduction Today, organisations are widely using business evaluation tools like ABC, value chain analysis, and customer profitability analysis to evaluate their (organisations’) business feasibility and secure future profitability. Application of these tools assists firms to identify their pitfalls in supply chain activities, their potential strengths and weaknesses, and most profitable customer segments. Although all these three techniques are complex and time consuming, they are the best available tools to accurately evaluate a business concern. The ABC approach is mainly concerned with allocation of cost to various supply chain activities along with the firm’s resources whereas the value chain analysis explores activities that create value for the organisation and those do not create. The former method specifically focuses on profitability of each activity and process while the latter tries to define the organisation’s core competencies over its rivals. In contrast, the concept of customer profitability aids a firm to identify profits generated by its individual customers. All the three approaches are based on some core accounting and management concepts. The following sessions critically analyse these three business evaluation tools in detail. III. Literature review 1. Activity based costing Activity based costing (ABC) can be simply referred to a special costing approach that clearly identifies and defines activities in an organisation and allocates costs of each activity among all products and services based on actual consumption by each activity. According to the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing-International (CAM-I), activity based costing is a costing model â€Å"that assigns cost activities based on their use of resources, and assigns costs to cost objects, such as products or custome rs, based on their use of activities† (Lewis, 1995, p.114). The ABC is a valuable accounting tool as it provides an organisation with more clear view of the product and process costs. This concept can be effectively employed to improve management decision making process and thereby promote the firm’

Role of Women in Vietnam War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Role of Women in Vietnam War - Essay Example Vietnam women contributed actively in different capacities during the period. According to Mobile Riverine Force Asociation [mrfa], about â€Å"7,484 women served in Vietnam, of whom 6,250 or 83.5% were nurses† and others were active combats in the war (1). Women also contributed in other areas such as supporting the agricultural sector so as to provide enough food for men who were busy fighting for independence. Despite the visible contribution of women during the War period, gender inequality was the major factor limiting their full contribution. According to De Anza College, the majority of women serving in the army as active combats were perceived as helpmates rather than counterparts (1). There were reports that even the female soldiers did not get fair treatment and some of them experienced sexual harassment. Other functions of women in the War included serving as couriers, patrol guides and activists to publicize various organizations. Women were also motivated to contr ibute to the war against foreigners in order to secure freedom and also fight for equality. Women also took advantage of gender stereotypes by foreigners to enable them to achieve their intended objectives such as maintaining the supply of food and other consumables to their male counterparts (University of Utah, 1). On the other hand, it is important to note that Vietnamese women roles in the war resembled the roles of women in other communist revolutions in the world. Comparing the revolutions in Vietnam, Cuba, Russia, and China, all women involved in the four revolutions had an aim of fighting for equality in the society. Therefore, most women from the four regions formed part of the activist groups that advocated for equality and women representation in all sectors including being part of the government.

Project Controls Essay Example for Free

Project Controls Essay I have developed a proposal that would create a secure system within our organization. Below is the outline that should help prevent disaster recovery or in the case, backup our disaster recovery procedures. Duration Critical Task Sequencing The project will detail an array of critical task sequences including: * Pre-project Envisioning – Evaluation of HR database and corporate objectives, formulation of cost/benefit analysis, establishment of project scope and major milestones, securing of executive sponsorship and buy-in * Planning Structure – Project assembly, computing and testing environments, preliminary design, system array, and maintenance orientation * System deployment – Deployment of hardware and software systems, pilot test evaluations * Post-Implementation Review – Backup/restore maintenance, performance monitoring, system re-forecasting, establishment of ongoing infrastructure team Variance Baseline Achieving the desired outcome for the HR Resource Deployment will require a stringent and concentrated focus on maintaining adherence to the project timeline. Throughout this timeline, variance data will be closely observed and documented. Capturing variance data is an adamant goal for the project managers. Variance data will help to expose possible weaknesses of the planning process, and serve as priceless information for future endeavors. The means of collecting variance data will be comprised of the following: Delegation of variance targets. Prior to the project start, prime areas of variance will be decided upon for tracking. These areas will be closely monitored and documented. Targeted variances will form the baseline of the project, and will consist of measurements of quality, project milestones achieved, performance metrics,  and budget adherence. The success versus failure Planned versus actual. Variance data will be looked at according to what is planned as opposed to what the actual outcome will be. This will largely be focused on the proposed scheduling timeline and project cost expectancies. As the project advances, variance data will be tracked according to what deviates from the planned objectives. This data will be captured in real time in order to provide insight for future milestone proceedings. Estimates versus planned. This variance metric will focus on what was estimated for project details, such as schedule and cost, prior to the approved project plan. Such data will assist in greater accuracy of project planning, and will help to eliminate the guessing game. These variance metrics will be acquired through the collaboration between all stakeholders and resources. Maintaining high quality controls is a process that includes a lot of planning but when well maintains it builds the trust in the customers and eventually helps both organization businesses. As an organization maintains a high quality control one must know that there is also other aspects which is where being innovative and keeping a reasonable price adds to the equation. As many new customers are acquired a lot of the times this might be a direct result of on customer recommending another new customer. When this statement is true the new customer expects the same treatment and if not better. Therefore, one must stay innovative and open to new ideas and changes in order to fulfill the new customers’ needs. On-Going Evaluation and Status of Project There will be a definitive checklist for who will be responsible for the development and submission of projects reports. Evaluations will be performed on an as-we-go basis as to attempt to not miss anything important along the way. If there is anything that will be confidential or require a security clearance, these things will be handled by either the Project Manager or a member of management. Any projects that require the participation of stakeholders will be documented for future use and testing. All ongoing reports will also be given to all principal stakeholders along  the way. As each goal or milestone is met, it will be tested and retested for consistency to make sure what was done will stand the test of time (until the next project or upgrade). Method Used The Method that is used for determining whether the project has met its objectives is a survey. The survey can be done to figure if everything has been a success. Riordan employees will fill a survey out to give feedback on, if they are satisfied with the projects performance or not. Surveys can only provide estimates for the population, but cannot be a true measurements. You can measure surveys by the consistency of responses to questions about the project over a long amount of time period. REFERENCE Microsoft Office. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/leading-practices-for-applying-variance-data-to-future-projects-HA010174487.aspx

Catcher in the Rye Essay: Holden - The Misfit Hero -- Catcher Rye Essa

The Misfit Hero of The Catcher In The Rye      Ã‚     The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger was published in 1951. "A recurring theme in J.D. Salinger's stories concerns people who don't fit in with the traditional American Culture. Salinger's 'misfit heroes', unlike the rest of society, are caught in the struggle between a superficial world and a conscious morality" (1 Wildermuth). In his attempt to create a new and realistic portrayal of the times, Salinger first, effectively creates Holden Caulfield, the main character. Second, he sends his character on a quest, and third he titles his novel to sum up the whole overview of the story.    In creating his character, Holden Caulfield, Salinger uses profanities and obscenities as an attempt to portray the world of most adolescents. He creates a character that is not really in rebellion against the established values of the adult world, but as a victim. Holden is possessed with a strong sense of justice and respectability. His moral system and sense of justice force him to find horrible flaws in society, which he sums up with the word "phony". "Holden's principle difficulty is not that he is a rebel, or that he hates the society he lives in, or its morals, nor that he is a coward, but rather that he is unable to sort out, or to purge himself of his burden of sensation. He is blocked with memory and experience, and Salinger indicates this in the intentional confusion of time in his thoughts" (53 Kaplan). Holden, much like Salinger himself, is a person who is removed from society and therefore more independent than the person who must rely upon society.    Catcher In The Rye is an episodic novel about an adolescent boy on the brink of adulthood. Yet, the action itself i... ... Frangedis, Helen. "Dealing with the Controversial Elements in The Catcher In The Rye". English Journal. 77.7 (1988): 72-75. Kaplan, Robert B. Cliff's Notes: Catcher In The Rye. Lincoln: Cliff's Notes, Inc., 1999. Marsden, Malcolm M. If You Really Want To Know: A Catcher Casebook. Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1963. Miller Jr., James E. "American Literature". World Book Encyclopedia. Volume 1. Chicago: World Book Inc., 1983. Pinsker, Sanford. The Catcher In The Rye: Innocence Under Pressure. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993. Roemer, Danielle M. "The Personal Narrative and Salinger's Catcher in the Rye". Western Folklore 51 (1992): 5-10. Salinger, J.D. The Catcher In The Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. Wildermuth, April. "Nonconformism in the Works of J.D. Salinger." 1997 Brighton High School. 24 November 1999. Catcher in the Rye Essay: Holden - The Misfit Hero -- Catcher Rye Essa The Misfit Hero of The Catcher In The Rye      Ã‚     The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger was published in 1951. "A recurring theme in J.D. Salinger's stories concerns people who don't fit in with the traditional American Culture. Salinger's 'misfit heroes', unlike the rest of society, are caught in the struggle between a superficial world and a conscious morality" (1 Wildermuth). In his attempt to create a new and realistic portrayal of the times, Salinger first, effectively creates Holden Caulfield, the main character. Second, he sends his character on a quest, and third he titles his novel to sum up the whole overview of the story.    In creating his character, Holden Caulfield, Salinger uses profanities and obscenities as an attempt to portray the world of most adolescents. He creates a character that is not really in rebellion against the established values of the adult world, but as a victim. Holden is possessed with a strong sense of justice and respectability. His moral system and sense of justice force him to find horrible flaws in society, which he sums up with the word "phony". "Holden's principle difficulty is not that he is a rebel, or that he hates the society he lives in, or its morals, nor that he is a coward, but rather that he is unable to sort out, or to purge himself of his burden of sensation. He is blocked with memory and experience, and Salinger indicates this in the intentional confusion of time in his thoughts" (53 Kaplan). Holden, much like Salinger himself, is a person who is removed from society and therefore more independent than the person who must rely upon society.    Catcher In The Rye is an episodic novel about an adolescent boy on the brink of adulthood. Yet, the action itself i... ... Frangedis, Helen. "Dealing with the Controversial Elements in The Catcher In The Rye". English Journal. 77.7 (1988): 72-75. Kaplan, Robert B. Cliff's Notes: Catcher In The Rye. Lincoln: Cliff's Notes, Inc., 1999. Marsden, Malcolm M. If You Really Want To Know: A Catcher Casebook. Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1963. Miller Jr., James E. "American Literature". World Book Encyclopedia. Volume 1. Chicago: World Book Inc., 1983. Pinsker, Sanford. The Catcher In The Rye: Innocence Under Pressure. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993. Roemer, Danielle M. "The Personal Narrative and Salinger's Catcher in the Rye". Western Folklore 51 (1992): 5-10. Salinger, J.D. The Catcher In The Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. Wildermuth, April. "Nonconformism in the Works of J.D. Salinger." 1997 Brighton High School. 24 November 1999.

Civil Rights in the 1960’s Essay

Have you ever sat down and wondered to yourself, what it would be like if schools, restrooms, restaurants, and even public transportation were still segregated today? The majority of people who were born after the 1970’s take for granted how lucky we are as a country and nation to have overcome slavery and the steps against racism we have battled are way through. Slavery was ended when Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and was later ratified in December of 1865. Though this law ordered the end to slavery it did very little if nothing to stop the racism that was given towards blacks or any other minority. Until the late 1950’s not many presidents or Congressman had tried to legislate civil rights laws. The Civil Rights struggle that heated up to its climax in the 1960’s was neither a simple nor wanted task by any means. Many Presidents tried taking on the civil rights movement starting with Harry S. Truman. Truman was not for racial equality among blacks and often said so, but he wanted fairness and equality before the law (Patterson 378-382). Once Truman got the ball rolling for the first time since Abraham Lincoln, Truman pushed for a Civil Rights bill and the movement quickly started to escalate and it became one of the main issues of American politics. The next man to take office was John F Kennedy; Kennedy acted as though he had plans to address civil rights issues and is known for saying â€Å"Ask not what your country can do for you†¦ask what you can do for your country† in his inaugural address( ). Kennedy’s plans were never met in his short time as president due to assignation in 1963. Kennedy dying meant Lyndon Johnson was the next president to take president and her went on to make the next big civil rights legislation when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was established. It took the support of millions and the lives of thousands for our country to realize that people should not be segregated because of their ethnicity or color of their skin. One of the first and largest groups of civil rights movement supporters was young people and in particular college students. A college student in 1963 saw a very different daily landscape than a current college student sees today. Today kids grow up side by side with minority kids throughout their daily lives; back then they might have been the lucky few and grown up looking at blacks as equals, but more than likely they viewed them as inferiors, or even just plain animals. Then these young racists knew know better and went away to College and found themselves in one of the first places you could find support of the civil rights movement. There are many reasons to why the ball picked up speed so fast at universities. The first reason being the young people of the 60’s had not lived alongside slaves or indentured servants nor did they see the great depression or WW2 as had many of their parents and politicians of the times, so they had a different view on racism. The young people of the 60’s were viewed by the older generations specially those of the south, as being soft for not having to deal with the hardships they had to such as the great depression and the World Wars ( ). Instead of going to work before graduating high school like people in the1920’s and 1930’s people were graduating high school and even getting jobs. This caused for a more educated and affluent generation which usually runs along with having certain moral standings such as treating people of a different race equally to people of your own. With a generation bigger than ever before and more people going to college than ever before it caused for a huge explosion of self-freedom. There was many different ways students would show there want of freedom (Patterson 407-408). A very common practice in the 1960’s was for blacks and fellow college students to have sit-in’s at all white diners or transportation places. These sit-ins consisted of a group or single African American going in and taking a seat where only whites are allowed to sit and refuse to leave. Hundreds of sit-ins occurred around the nation and many taking place on university campuses run by students themselves. Several of these sit-ins are famed for the effectiveness they afterwards achieved and others for the violence that was caused upon the protestors (Patterson 382-386).The most famous case is the story of Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was on a public bus in the racist Montgomery, Alabama when the bus driver asked her to give her colored seat to a white man, because the white section was full. Rosa refused to get out of her seat and it resulted in her getting arrested. Rosa was not the first African American to refuse leaving her seat for a white person but she was viewed by th e NAACP as the best case to fight in court.( ) In the famous words of Jesse Jackson, â€Å"In many ways, history is marked as ‘before’ and ‘after’ Rosa Parks. She sat down in order that we all might stand up, and the walls of segregation began to come down( ).The support of white students to follow fellow African American students to sit-ins was not always there. Local and national news stations started to air live footage of what was happening on the streets to protestors of segregation. The emotion put on a young college student when they see one of their peers that attend college to get an education just like them gets blasted with a fire hose from ten feet away or gets viciously attacked by police dogs. This picture caused thousands of other students to want to fight for change as well. Along with the new access to live feed news there were people such as Martin Luther King Jr. who were doing all they could to paint the realistic picture of the life of an American black man during segregation. Luther got his point across in multiple ways including his famous memoir, â€Å"Why We Can’t Wait†, in this memoir he explains how horrible the everyday life of an African American in America can be and how politicians for years have just looked over the horrific treatment of blacks and that it has been too long and the time is now(King Jr 11-13). Besides the sit-ins occurring across the nation African Americans and whites were also organizing marches to protest segregation as well. Along with the marches inspiring speeches such as Martin Luther King’s famous â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech were given. King’s 17 minute speech that was given in front of over 250,000 Americans on the steps of Lincoln Memorial, is one of the most well-known and moving speeches in American history(Patterson385-386). A large number of the people in the crowd were college students, due to the appeal Martin Luther King drew from young people. He gained this appeal by talking of equality of races and the chance for any man or woman to become whatever they pleased and not be held back due to race, religion or any other difference a person may have. While students saw the abuse blacks were taking simply for the color of their skin they started to join together on marches and attending civil rights rallies. The more the King, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, and many others protested and spread the word of unfair treatment the more support of younger generation people began to support the civil rights movement. Another reason for the large involvement of college students within the civil rights movement of the 1960’s was due to the dramatically growing amount of student organized groups that were fighting for true democracy and equality to all. One of these organizations was the Students for Democratic Society (SDS). SDS was founded in 1960 but had roots dating to the early 1900’s; the goal of SDS was to mainly protest and voice the message that equality to all and peaceful means makes a successful country ( ). SDS was not the only organization that was taking big steps to get the civil rights movement moving, there were hundreds if not thousands of organizations that were meeting about and protesting the civil rights movement. These groups were known for telling young people what they wanted to hear and some even became militant groups. Membership in these organizations grew drastically once Lyndon Johnson started sending more and more troops into Vietnam. The Vietnam War itself had little impact on the civil rights movement of the United States, but it did however portray the world image that America was not going to let communistic governments take control of countries and deny their own people of civil rights. Many Americans did not agree with the war and saw it was neither the time nor the place to go and fight a war on foreign soil when the devastating effects of WW2 were still in the back of people’s minds. The largest critic of the war was overwhelming young people, they saw themselves as the ones being sent to die for a reason that was not worthy of American lives. Though segregation and a war in Asia seem to have little in common on the surface, during the reform of the 1960’s they found each other going hand in hand. Many African Americans of the United States believed that if we were fighting in a foreign country to reserve their people’s civil rights, then they would soon get their civil rights protected as well. They were mistaken and by this and the huge support of the anti-war movement and the animosity growing against the current segregation laws molded into one giant movement. This movement being carried by young people, who saw the possibility of change, carried throughout the nation and became the biggest civil rights movement in American history since abolishing slavery (Patterson 413-422). Now that we have an idea of what growing up with segregation looks like and how it can split a nation in two, I think I can say that joining the activist movement when it began in the 1960’s was almost a no brainer to many young people of that generation. They had a tremendous amount of pressure from their fellow black peers to be viewed as equals, they had an unwanted war fueling a large part of the country, and they were also a generation that believed in change and ending the horrible acts that were committed under segregation. With all the pressures from outside sources and the generation as a whole going through a freedom crisis, college students came together and became the perfect torch barrier’s for the civil rights movement.

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How Children Succeed Grit, Curiosity, And The Hidden...

What is the key to children s success? Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of character, with Andre Perry, author of Why Mentors need to Stop Trying to Fix Black and Brown Students, and Black and Brown Boys Don t Need to Learn Grit, They Need School to Stop Being Racist and Eric Liu, author of What American Should Know: Defining Common Cultural Literacy for an Increasingly Diverse Nation, these three author claims they have the solution for a child s success their strategies is the best way for a child to thrive in life. These authors have one goal in mind and that s to help expand child education; however, they all have a different view on how to achieve that road. Even Tough, in†¦show more content†¦Metacognition is the driving force for Children to succeed by encouraging cognition self-reflection also known as effective discipline techniques. The result in cognition self-reflection helps children understand their mistake also learn from their mistake by keeping their emotion in check. Tough empathizes, You go over the mistake you made –or the mistakes you keep making – and get to the bottom of why you made them.(115). This idea is significant because children can look over what they did wrong continuously furthermore by analyzing the situation of what went wrong until they figuring out what they did wrong, therefore, to avoid that same mistake yet again. Tough illustrate take responsibility for their mistakes and learn from them without obsessing over them or beating themselves up for them.(115). The point is children overcome from their mistake moreover learn from it without being upset or giving themselves a difficult time for doing the wrong fixation. Children who can look deeply at their own mistake and reflect on that mistake by analyzing what they could have done differently to avoid making the same mistake. Self-reflection is the motivating force of metacognition. In addition, metacognition allow children to succeed by developing cognitive self-control. Self-control empowers children it helps them maintain their emotion through sheer power. In chapter 3, Tough introduce Jonathan Rowan, author of The Seven Deadly ChessShow MoreRelatedDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesHuman Resources, Strategy, and Organizational Behavior that helps you actively study and prepare material for class. Chapter-by-chapter activities, including built-in pretests and posttests, focus on what you need to learn and to review in order to succeed. Visit www.mymanagementlab.com to learn more. DEVELOPING MANAGEMENT SKILLS EIGHTH EDITION David A. Whetten BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Kim S. Cameron UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Prentice Hall Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco