Saturday, August 31, 2019

Life of Pi Essay

During Life of Pi, and Castaway, characters in each experience disastrous deaths of loved ones which play with their will to survive. However, their hope and determination pull through and overcome this heart- wrenching event. For Pi, from Life of Pi, there are numerous deaths that have a huge toll on him. Pi’s whole family dies when the boat they are travelling on sinks. Growing up in an Indian culture, Pi was very close to his family, and a part of Pi also died that day. â€Å"Every single thing that I value in life gas been destroyed. And am I allowed no explanation? I am to suffer hell without any account from heaven? † [OR SHOULD I USE â€Å"To lose a brother is to lose someone with whom you can share the experience of growing old, who is supposed to bring you a sister-in-law and nieces and nephews, creatures who people the tree of your life and give it new branches. To lose your father is to lose the one whose guidance and help you seek, who supports you like a tree trunk supports its branches. To lose your mother, well, that is like losing the sun above you. It is like losing–I’m sorry, I would rather not go on. †] Although Pi is devastated he is determined to survive. Likewise in Castaway, the protagonist: Chuck Noland’s plane crashes and he washes up to shore. While isolated, Chuck makes himself a companion out of a volleyball who he names Wilson. This ball becomes important to Chuck because it is the only object he has contact with for four years while on the island. He talks to Wilson as if he was a person and when he loses Wilson, he becomes wounded. This is a hard time for Chuck because all he had that was keeping him sane leaves. Nevertheless Chuck perseveres through the hardships and keeps moving forward with hope and determination. Despite the battle of deaths these characters Pi and Chuck Noland were presented, they prove that with hope and determination to live it is possible to overcome their adversity if death, and any other difficulty that arose. Aside from the emotional destruction due to the deaths both protagonists endured, they also have to deal with the physical destruction as well. These events are what trigger both Pi and Chuck’s journey. In order to defeat the odds, characters must be courageous, obtain hope, and stay determined. In Life of Pi, Pi and his family are moving to Canada from India on boat. When the ship sinks, Pi is the only one from his family to make it to a life boat. â€Å"The ship was sinking. My mind could hardly conceive it. It was as unbelievable as the moon catching fire. † While this was happening, Pi is very optimistic. Although fear and negativity flowed through him, in the end Pi gains hope. Throughout the novel, Pi would constantly go through episodes of defeat and self-pity. However, Pi is determined to survive. It was through this determination and courageous acts that Pi beats the odds and lives through this destruction. Similarly to Pi, Chuck Noland from Castaway also had an unexpected change of events while travelling. Chuck was on his way to Russia when he mentions to Kelly, his love interest â€Å"I’ll be right back! † as he was boarding the plane. Little did Noland know that it was about to crash. This physical destruction is a gigantic catastrophe for Chuck, and after four years of being stranded on an island, decides to undertake the Atlantic Ocean back to civilization. To achieve this, after being isolated Chuck needed courage. Along with determination, and hope Chuck strives for salvation and saves himself. With the unfortunate events Pi and Chuck are faced with, each made their way home relatively safe- considering the circumstances. The characters proved that despite the expectations of failure that were set for them, if they had courage, hope, and determination they would survive any tragic event that came their way. There is no argument that both the novel Life of Pi, and the movie Castaway are both tragedies- a sinking ship and crashing plane are tragic events. However, protagonists in each stay hopeful and determined to have a happy ending. Pi, from Life of I is a very obedient, sensitive person. He follows his parent’s rules strictly. Pi was always very observant of his older brother, and strived to stay out of trouble. When Pi was stranded on the life boat alone, he lost life as he knew it. Pi experiences monstrous behavior, even going as far as to eat human flesh-cannibalism. Every rule Pi had been taught that human restraint has â€Å"gone out the window†. The way Pi viewed the world completely changed. Death is so real, so close to Pi, his views altered entirely. â€Å"By the next morning I had lost all fear of death, and I resolved to die. † (page 268) Pi also had very strict rules when it came to religion, spirituality and faith. Pi was a strict vegetarian due to his belief in God. While stranded, Pi had no other choice but to kill and eat animals. Because of this, he loses his innocence. â€Å"Lord, to think that I’m a strict vegetarian. To think that when I was a child I always shuddered when I snapped open a banana because it sounded to me like the breaking of an animal’s neck. I descended to a level of savagery I never imagined possible. † This proves how this tragedy made Pi lose hope in himself. He went against every standard he has ever believed in. Chuck from Castaway’s views on life and the world also changed drastically after the plane crash. Chuck Noland’s whole life revolved around time and work before the crash. Once chuck had witnessed how quickly life could turn for the worst, he had a complete change in attitude. At the beginning of the movie Chuck really did not care about other people’s feelings. As chuck gained hope to survive, and determination to do so, he even treated Wilson- a volleyball with respect. By the time Chuck returned home, he had a genuine concern for people around him. With both of these characters, it is clear that the tragic experiences altered their hearts, and outlook on life. Both the stories of Pi from Life of Pi by Yann Martel, and Chuck from Castaway are very similar. Each has experiences of death, destruction, and tragedy that take a great toll on both characters. However they resolve their adversities, and prove it is possible to beat the likelihood of failing by turning to hope and staying determined to survive. Each story ended with a new beginning for each character: the prize from the pain. The theme of hope continued to their future lives with Pi: through this wife, children, and new home, and new openings. In the same way, Chuck also had a chance to start over.

How Social Media is Transforming Events Marketing Management Essay

It is believed that social media began prior to the evolution of the internet. The telephone was the first tool of social media that gave people the chance to socialize and gather information. However, at the turn of twentieth century, online communication became popular among various groups of society. People began to get into virtual communication with the use of cellular phones and computers. Social networking became popular because it was a venue to draw people towards one another. This was also very universal and its popularity was not limited to a certain age group. Amazingly, social networking and social media â€Å"become part of mainstream culture and the business world† (â€Å"History†). It was observed that social media became very valuable not only in socializing and information gathering but also in business where there has been greater dependence on the use of internet in promoting and marketing of products and/or services. Social media has provided the modern world with easy access to information, socialization and entertainment in the fastest way possible through the advancement of technology. Interestingly, the networks have become highly interactive and user-friendly that even a neophyte could easily learn to operate it in a short period of time. Social media has transformed into a powerful means of communication using numerous gadgets which have caught the interest of a larger number of people, the business practitioners take advantage of it to broaden the scope of their marketing. Truly, with the emergence of social media where people can communicate interactively with one another regardless of distance, business has been given a special place and opportunity to advertise or promote their business to a much bigger populace. Most authors have recognized the definition of social media provided by Wikipedia as the initial source of information about it. Gradually, different definitions have been formulated to increase people’s awareness of its definition. Safko and Brake mentioned that social media â€Å"refers to activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media† (2009: 6). On the other hand, Evans has an expanded definition of social media. He stated that â€Å"Social media is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into content publishers. It is a â€Å"shift from a broadcast mechanism to a many-to-many model, rooted in conversations between authors, people, and peers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2008: 33). The author acknowledged various forms of communication utilized in social media such as â€Å"internet forums, message boards, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, picture and video† (2008: 33). Later on, it expanded to include â€Å"blogs, picture-sharing, blogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, group creation and voice over IP. † Social media has a vast potential as a channel through which promotional activities will be forwarded to its users. Social media’s unique features make it very usable and functional in marketing events. Evans stated that it is â€Å"fundamentally different from traditional media† (2008: 33) known as newspaper, television, books, and radio. Social media is interactive media. This is one advantage of social media over traditional media. Other advantages include: (1) it has different social online channels, (2) it changes over time, and (3) it is participative. The power to influence the audience is what makes social media appealing to business practitioners. Social media is real. Existing right in front of the computer communicating genuinely in a personal way to the customer about a product is very advantageous for those who are using social media in marketing or in public relation campaign. Given the real nature of social media, event marketing has come to its new shape. At the same time, event marketing has begun to utilize the services of social media in marketing and promotion. Though at some point, they cater to similar interests; that is, individual interaction and the participation of people with the company’s representatives. Pomer, on the issue of integrating event marketing and social media, described event marketing as a strategy â€Å"which focuses on face-to-face interaction by attending, sponsoring and speaking at trade shows, industry meet-ups, etc† (par. ). Bowdin, Allen and O’Toole described strategic event marketing as â€Å"the process by which an event organization aligns business and marketing objectives and the environments in which they occur, with marketing activities that fulfill the needs of event consumers† (2006:184). Event marketing has come to its new shape through social media influence No one could deny how soci al media, being a vehicle of information and communication, has transformed event marketing into a more meaningful and highly strategic promotional activity. In Bulmer’s article on the impact of social media on business, he stated that the trend today is to â€Å"build a network or use social media to deepen customer intimacy† (par. 1). Social media has been used these days without acknowledging this fact as Bulmer put it. He emphasized that, the ability of social media to â€Å"change behavior †¦ and †¦ to impact a professional’s decision-making processes† is the real essence of success in using this in business. Practically, social media’s approach in dealing with the audience in a genuine and an interactive manner somehow influences the approaches of event management to its customers. Event marketing management therefore becomes livelier, customer-oriented, interactive, personal, and dependent on audience feedback. There are several reasons for this. First, admittedly, as Shone and Parry pointed out that â€Å"human society is complex and interactive† (2004: 50). It means that regardless of culture, different societies celebrate in diverse ways, from the ancient period to the modern times, from a traditional way to a technological way; it makes no difference as long as events involve people and celebration or activities. Shaping event management following the principles behind social media will help draw a lot of people to the message because there is interaction and exchange of communication. Secondly, various events such as festivities, wedding, etc. serve to â€Å"strengthen social bonds as well as to spread enjoyment around† (Shone & Parry, 2004: 51). People’s primary intention for celebrating events publicly is to satisfy their longing for socialization and enjoyment. Thus, involving the community in events in such a way that they express inner satisfaction for socialization and enjoyment can make events management very successful. Shone and Parry stressed that without the â€Å"social contact that event often give, the feeling of isolation in society†¦ can be great† (2004: 51). Hence, event management must be in the context of the community’s perception of event celebration which is socialization and enjoyment. Given this, certain changes have been observed in conducting event marketing. Borges noted how businesses nowadays acknowledge social media as an â€Å"effective mechanism for reaching a target market† (2009: 57). He even emphasized that â€Å"myopic attitude† that a business executive has on social media will eventually lead him to lose the business. Moreover, a business executive having event marketing founded on social media will ultimately be â€Å"transparent, forthcoming, honest, sincere, and also to contribute something of worth† (Borges, 2009: 63). Since the events for the purpose of marketing require a group of community participation, the activities involved have had considerable improvement in terms of acceptable approaches in dealing with the community. The company’s marketing arm learns to be transparent, forthcoming, honest and sincere in everything they present before their audience. It is different from traditional marketing wherein its objective is purely making people buy or patronize a product using various ways to manipulate their decision-making. Hence, marketing an event for a product, presents live and active interaction and participation from the community online or offline. Event marketing management facilitates Social Media Marketing The great global financial crisis has brought to the mind of marketing managers the idea of utilizing social media in their promotional activities. The Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube, and many other social networking channels have been utilized for the purpose of marketing. The good news for marketing managers is that it is free. From the research findings presented by Bulmer in his article, he mentioned several impacts that social media has on business which helped transform event marketing to social media marketing. With such, he recognized the following findings: (1) decision making in the business world today is more social; (2) many professionals are using social networking sites particularly Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter; (3) many decisions have been drawn from information gathered through active users of social media; (4) many professionals trust the information they gather from the sites; (5) social media users have significantly increased in three years; and (6) many professionals collaborate well outside preferably using social media sites than within the organizational intranet (Bulmer). Hence, there is widespread recognition of the impact of social networking in business from the business world’s perspective. The growing business community participation in the online world proves the fact that â€Å"When you join a group online, you are joining a community† (Borges, 2009: 63). Social media started to become popular among groups of people for personal use primarily for communication purposes. Eventually, this became a good tool to interact, send greetings, and share information to friends. Most importantly, it had become a powerful instrument recognized to support the marketing arm of any business. Through social media, the way people do the business has transformed into ‘social sales’ because people believe in the power of online communication in mobilizing sales teams by building good relationship with customers. Shih recognized that social network marketing talks about the â€Å"breakthrough new marketing techniques made possible by online social networks†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2009: 6). Some of these that she mentioned are: hypertargeting, enhanced ability to capture passive interest and conduct rapid testing and iteration on campaigns, social community engagement, and automated word-of-mouth marketing (Shih, 2009: 6). Furthermore, Tobin and Braziel emphasized that social media marketing plan is â€Å"based on engagement not traffic† (2008: 79) which means that this type of marketing focuses on â€Å"web events† or the interactions users have with features which could be in form of blogs, comments, post, video views, and many others. Importance of social media in marketing event Availing the use of social media for marketing purposes has a lot to offer to a business. Borges mentioned several benefits of social media aside from the fact that larger potential buyers who are receptive to new information and trend can be met through social network sites. Some of the benefits named are: low cost, brand building, staffing advantages, loyalty, level playing field, building trust, convergence of PR and social media for viral marketing, positive SEO benefits, quantifiable metrics, and educational (2008: 131-140). In terms of costs, social media requires a low budget which is almost free, for a service that values relationships. Brands are being built through a good content using the internet platform. Thus, it is simpler and appealing to consumers. Few, yet highly talented staff, who can work in an enjoyable work environment are needed when using social media because content is more important here. Using social media builds loyalty among internet users because of its being user-friendly. This is impossible to establish using advertisements and other promotional activities. Besides, all types of people can make use of it like anyone else regardless of economic or social status. Likewise, through a sincere voice in the content, the company can easily acquire trust from the people. In effect, social media as a PR tool can be an integral part of marketing activities. Furthermore, links attached to marketing in social media creates a bridge connecting to the company’s website thus increasing the chance of the customer browsing of the webpage. Learning is considered as one of the benefits of social media. Not only do the internet users learn but companies also learn. Armed with this information, social media has evolved from purely socialization and enjoyment to something highly beneficial to businesses. For this reason, there is no doubt for business executives to resort to using social media in one of the tools in marketing an event. Conclusion  Social media has begun existing without clear importance rather than for socialization and personal or group enjoyment. However, with the increasing popularity of social networking when the internet was introduced to the public in 1990, this form of social interaction gained remarkable importance not only among the general public but also among business groups locally and internationally. Indeed, the ability of the social media to satisfy the users with its personalized features, has led to the discovery that it could be a potential instrument in shaping the mind of the audience. Social media has unique characteristics. It can change perception, it is very appealing, and it is effective in marketing an event. However, any business executive who wants to use its service must understand how it serves the public. Its special features that draw people together from all walks of life are derived from an honest, transparent, forthcoming and sincere way of dealing with one another. This same way is expected among event marketers in order that marketing of events will be appropriate to users’ expectations.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Research review example Essay

Please note that ethical standards of peer reviewing constrain me [JP] to give you the original manuscript. I also had to anonymize identifying information in the review. This review is meant as an example of the style used in writing a review; you do not have to understand all the details. Please note that this review is longer than the one you are requested to write. This is a highly interesting study on a timely subject, the impact of pornography use in adolescence on relationship intimacy in early adulthood. Based on Zillman’s programmatic piece about the â€Å"influence of unrestrained pornography† on adolescents and more recent research on teenagers’ use of internet pornography, the study develops a model on how adolescent pornography use may affect relationship intimacy in young adulthood. The study concludes that there is, â€Å"at best, minimal support for Zillmann’s claim that prolonged exposure to pornography is associated with sexual callousness† (p. 13). The strengths of the study include, in my view, the focus on an under-researched dependent variable; its attempt to build and test a model; and the (attempted) investigation of gender differences. The weaknesses include, in my view, the theoretical underdevelopment of the model and several severe methodological problems. Theoretical development of the model By the standards of Journal [ANONYMIZED], the theory section (pp. 2-4) is very short. While in journals of other disciplines (e.g., Journal of Adolescent Health) such a short introduction is requested, pieces in [ANONYMIZED] are expected to be more specific about the theoretical underpinnings of the study. Although brevity is always preferable, a study that develops and tests a new model does require a somewhat more thorough conceptual definition of the various influences in the model and, most importantly, a rationale for these influences. Conceptual definitions and rationale for the components in the model: The model has four components, exposure to pornography, pornographic realism, acceptance of recreational sex, and relationship intimacy. However, on p. 2, many more concepts are outlined (based on Zillmann’s paper): habituation, cultivation effects in terms of perceived sexual behaviors, distrust in intimate partners, abandonment of exclusivity as a norm of romantic relationships, and greater endorsement of promiscuity. None of these concepts is tested. Moreover, on p. 3, several other concepts are mentioned, including cynical attitudes about love, sexual pleasure without affection, sexual callousness, and decreasing emotional attachment. While the latter concepts are related to what is tested, they are not the same. Scanning through the studies that Zillmann and Bryant published in the 1980s, it becomes clear that they have probably something else in mind when they talk about *sexual* callousness than â€Å"an impaired ability to form intimate relationships† (p. 4). Finally, it remains unclear why pornographic realism is an important addition to the model suggested by Zillmann. This is certainly not to say that the paper’s model is unrelated to Zillmann’s ideas, but the paper should aim for more conceptual clarity. Key concepts need to be defined. Moreover, it needs to be outlined how the key concepts of the model relate to Zillmann’s ideas as well as when and why they differ. Rationale for the influences hypothesized in the model: The model hypothesizes that recreational attitudes toward sex mediate the effect of pornography on intimacy. Pornographic realism is included as a covariate of pornography use (although it is claimed that it is investigated as a mediator, p. 4). However, the rationale for hypothesizing these processes remains vague. First, how precisely are recreational attitudes related to sexual socialization and the sexual script concept (p. 3)? How, and why, are these attitudes affected by pornography? These questions should not be answered on the basis of empirical regularities (as done on pp. 3-4), but on the basis of more elaborate theorizing. Second, why is pornographic realism a covariate (at least in the model tested)? From the quote on p. 4, it rather seems a mediator. This needs some clarification and elaboration, too. Gender differences The analysis of gender differences occupies considerable space in the analysis and discussion. However, a rationale is largely lacking why such differences need to be investigated. There is sufficient evidence that females use pornography less often than males do (i.e., gender as a direct predictor), but it is crucial to outline why the processes hypothesized may differ by gender (i.e., gender as a moderator). Methodological problems I would like to stress that any research on the issue of the study is admirable, given the enormous ethical, practical, methodological, statistical issues involved. In my evaluation, I take this into account. That said, I do have to raise some potentially unpleasant questions about the design of the study; operationalization of the key measure; procedure/ sample; and analysis. Design and operationalization of key measure The paper aims at testing a causal model, but relies on cross-sectional data. The paper outlines on p. 4 that the study includes a time component by asking respondents to indicate their pornography use at ages 14 and 17. Several problems arise. First, cross-sectional data do not permit causal conclusions related to media effects. At the very least, this needs to be acknowledged explicitly and prominently. Also, language suggesting causal relations should be avoided. Second, asking respondents retrospectively about their pornography use at the ages of 14 and 17 raises some questions. Why at ages 14 and 17? Adolescence usually spans the period between age 12 and 17. Why was exposure not measured, for instance, for age 12 (early adolescence), age 15 (middle), and age 17 (late)? Third, self-reported retrospective measures of sensitive behavior are prone to multiple biases, most notably memory bias and social desirability bias. These biases already plague measures that relate, for instance, to the â€Å"past week.† But how can such measures meaningfully be applied to behavior that happened, for the oldest respondents, 11 years ago? Fourth, what exactly were the response categories? â€Å"Never† suggests a vague-quantifier scale (e.g., never, rarely,  sometimes, often, very often), which carries a lot of problems, most notably the problem that vague quantifiers leave it up to the respondent to decide what the categories mean. However, the positive anchor of the scale is â€Å"every day.† Was the scale thus a scale asking about specific frequencies (e.g., once a week, less than once a week). Again, how can such frequencies be assessed validly after so much time? Any information on the validity and reliability of the measure along with a rationale for the operationalization is highly welcome. Fifth, how does this measurement strategy assess â€Å"prolonged† exposure, the key concept in Zillmann’s paper? Assessing retrospectively the use of pornography does not tell us much about the trajectory of porn use. Finally, a retrospective measure is not the same as a measure taken at a certain point in the past, in contrast to what is claimed on p. 4. I perfectly understand that longitudinal research is cumbersome, particularly in that area. That said, it seems difficult to see how the retrospective measurement of pornography use tackles the causal problems inherent in cross-sectional research. In sum, there are several serious issues with the operationalization of one of the key variables, which urgently need to be addressed. Procedure/ Sample The paper is unfortunately very brief about the procedure and sample of the survey. Given the self-selection problems in sex research, I was surprised to read that few precautions were taken to minimize this bias. Why was snowballing not avoided, but even encouraged (p. 5)? Why did the study not include some simple quotas, most notably for gender (see below)? Was there a control of whether a particular respondent filled in the survey multiple times? In addition, I assume that informed consent was explicitly asked for, but this should be mentioned briefly. Finally, is there an indication of how many respondents were contacted and what the response rate was? There are also several important questions about the sample. First, why was the study limited to sexually active students? Sexual experience may create a limiting boundary condition for what the paper is interested in. Second, why was the age frame limited to 18- to 25-year olds? Is this related to the theory of emerging adulthood? Third, why was the study limited to university students? We complain about such convenience samples in experimental research. There  may be even more concerns about such samples in survey research. While the concerns raised in the previous paragraphs address very severe shortcomings, they may even be multiplied by the fact that twice as many women as men filled in the questionnaire. This is a crucial problem because the basic conclusion of the paper is that the model only works for women, but not for men. To be sure, the paper mentions these shortcomings in the discussion section, but that does unfortunately not reduce its importance. Table 2 shows small to moderate zero-order correlations for men and women. However, with twice as many women as men in the sample, an r = -.11 is significant for women, while an r = .13 is not significant for men. Both for men and women, the correlations are in the same direction. I guess that, with an equal number of men and women (e.g., 350 each), the model would largely hold for both. This would also be a more reasonable sample size in terms of statistical power consideration. In conclusion, there is reason to believe that one of the main conclusions of the paper is a result of a severe shortcoming in the sample procedure of the study. Analysis The general problems with the gender analysis notwithstanding, I was wondering why the paper does not apply a multiple-group analysis. This is a more rigorous way of testing whether the various paths differ between women and men than the strategy currently employed. I was wondering whether the SEM analysis used item-parceling strategies. Otherwise, there need to be more manifest indicators in the models. Finally, the statistical testing of indirect effects (i.e., whether they differ significantly from zero) has become a standard procedure and should be included. Discussion In the light of the problems raised above, some of the conclusions raised in the discussion section may need some reconsideration. (This is my opinion, and the authors may or may not follow them). First, I am hesitant to agree with the paper that the findings have â€Å"little if any practical significance† (p. 10). The discussions about effect sizes in media effects research in particular and the social sciences in general have been outlined elsewhere and do not have to be repeated here. Against that backdrop, an explained variance of 8% (with two predictor variables related to pornography) in  recreational attitudes and of 16% in relationship intimacy does not seem trivial to me. It may indeed be that other variables (family, peers etc.) have a greater influence, but this needs some more backing in order to contextualize the effects found. I agree with the paper that the moral panic that surrounds pornography finds no support in any research published so far. However, this does not mean that the effects found in this paper and elsewhere are trivial, at least when considered in the context of media effects research and against the backdrop of the methodological and statistical problems that this kind of research faces. Second, it seems to me that the paper contradicts itself when, on the one hand, it rejects main effects as too simplistic (p. 3) and, on the other hand, describes the found indirect effects as practically insignificant. No serious media effects researcher would disagree that media effects are typically not direct and that a focus on the â€Å"how† and â€Å"why† of such effects is important. If we can explain how precisely media affect people, then this may have enormous practical significance, especially if we can outline which people may be affected and which may not (in line with Malamuth ’s ideas). Third, I agree that love maps and sexual scripts may explain sexual attitudes and behavior, probably even better than media use (p. 11). But it remains unclear to me where, precisely, this is tested in the model. Some clarification may be helpful. Fourth, it may also be helpful to specify how the distinction between imagined and real sex lives relates to the model tested, apart from outlining that perceptions of pornographic realism may never fully translate into people’s actual sex lives. In sum, this is important and interesting research. However, the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological weaknesses currently outweigh the strengths of the paper so that its contribution to our knowledge about how the use of pornography affects relationship intimacy in adulthood is limited.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Multicultural Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Multicultural Education - Essay Example These instances would certainly give a sense of optimism on the success of their child's education to every parent. The words of the teacher reflected the need for making the parents understand what the broad expectations from the child would be during the course. Also, assurance to have constant support and earmarking sessions for discussions between teacher and the parent too would give the parents high level of confidence for the particular course. Giving the milestones for performance like preparation of country reports being conveyed to parents and indicating that it is the parents responsibility to help the child to prepare reports properly would made a few parents inconvenient due to their personal shortcomings. Also, towards the last part of the speech teacher wanted parents to use email facility for easy communication without being aware of the extend of computer literary levels of the parents. These situations would certainly make parents feel a little hesitant to approach the teacher. As a certain level of ability was expected from the parents for the above mentioned situations, those parents who may not be able to undertake these things might tend to keep them away from the schools and this would have serious impact on their child. As teacher had employed a translator for easy communication, giving the parents printed guidelines on certain aspects without any specific discussion on them could lead to confusion among parents. Teacher could have been a bit more sensitive to explain the finer details of these things using the support of the translator. Also, teacher could have allowed the parents to talk or discuss over telephone, than expressing a strong preference for email, which would have given more opportunity for parental involvement in their child's education process. Parent is the navigator in the process of their child's education. Their role in exploring their child's aspiration and caliber is very important (Cotton and Wikelund, 1989). In order to facilitate better parental involvement it is necessary to take the feedback from parents on the child's reaction from the classroom experience. Also, those parents who are involved in teaching would be invited for special interactive sessions with the students with the objective if identifying the relationship issues among them. Task 2 Topic : Multiculturalism Learning objective: With rapid movement of students across countries for education, it has become inevitable to incorporate the importance of multiculturalism in the high school education. The learning objectives proposed in this course are To develop the ability for identification of issues or problems resulting from multiculturalism. To express right emotions for the situations where multiculturalism factors are highly involved. To report the right initiatives that need to be implemented to tackle the issues or problems emerging from multiculturalism. To apply various theories or methods tried by various leaders to address problems related to multiculturalism. Grade of study : 12th Grade - High school Instructions on course - Brief script The importance of the course is to create awareness among the students on the multicultural interactions and the need for expressing more

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Consequences of Globalization of Labour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Consequences of Globalization of Labour - Essay Example This is characterized with independency and interdependency in the entire world to facilitate efficient transfer of goods, services, capital, and labour across the national frontiers. In this regard, this paper looks at the consequences of globalization in this case and discusses some of the positives and negatives that come with such moves. Within the globalization of labour, we understand there is movement from developing to develop and vice versa, it is thus interesting to note the effect this will bring to the economic facets. Consequences of Globalization As indicated in the introductory part, there are several consequences that come with the globalization of labour both positive and negatives. a) Positive Consequences I. Reduction of unemployment It is possible to find some countries with higher degrees of unemployment, without free movement of labour as enshrined in the globalization of labour, this group of people might remain unemployed, and this affects the economy of a cou ntry. This phenomenon has been vividly observed in the EU countries where there has been a huge migration workers from east to the West of Europe. Consequently, this move has also enabled those countries without sufficient workers to acquire labour with ease. An example in this case is in the UK where there was acute shortages of nurse and had to source for nurses in the Far East to fill the shortages (Bary 2010, p.76); therefore, globalization of labour has been beneficial both to the country exporting and to the one importing labour. II. Rationalization of Wages Due to the globalization of labour, there is rationalization of wages for the employees so that there can be a universal standard in which remuneration can be looked into. For instance, without globalization of labour considered appropriately, there will be difference on how a nurse is paid in the developing countries and how the same nurse will be paid in the developed countries. Essentially, there will be a greater dispa rity level in terms of remuneration. This disparity level is only checked under globalization of labour. With the globalization in place, there is likely to be a standard gauge for the workers internationally because there will be comparison of wages across the nation for the sole reason of coming into standardized pay (Berberoglu 2002, p.88). III. Technological Movement and Advancement Different parts of the world are endowed with different technologies; these technologies can be regarded as static if they cannot be transferred to other parts of the world. With the movement of the human labour, it is also possible that the technology from the different parts of the world can also be transferred from one place the other. Considering a person from developing countries in Africa who has crossed to worked in one of the countries in the East as an engineer, he will acquire useful skills for the period that he/ she will be working there that can be transferred to his home country or to a ny other country they might opt to work into. In this sense, it is in order to perceive movement of labour across the international boundaries as a way of bringing innovation through blending of technology from different parts of the world (Dadush and Shaw, 2012). It is through the interaction of different technological advancement has been realized in the history of innovation, courtesy of free labour movement in the name of globalization. IV. Working Conditions, Safety, and Health Issues Just like in the local trade union

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Significance of guitar as a music instrument Essay

Significance of guitar as a music instrument - Essay Example For example, guitarists frequently pull or push strings by their fingertips of their left hand to create notes or to make the note slip downward or upward. By adjusting tuning pegs, guitarists can change the tension of the string in order to produce varied sounds. Guitar provides a rhythmic pulse when combined with singers and other instruments. It is argued that singers are able to maintain the rhythm of a song when accompanied with guitar (National Guitar Workshop, 2003). It helps singers stay on the course and prevent them from going off key as they move from one verse to another. This is arguably true because guitar can produce standard key notes as long as the guitarist is able to maintain the rhythm. In fact, most singers use guitar to trace a forgotten or lost key note in their songs. However, in most cases, guitar is used to support lead instruments and singers’ notes. Some bands use two lead guitars to create interweaving melodies (Miller, 2009). Nevertheless, other bands use one lead guitar to perform instrumental melodies as the second lead guitar provides improvised flourishes. Guitar also provides harmony, especially when a group of notes are played together or in a group. It easily harmonizes other musical instruments in a band (Forman, 1999). In a band with both lead guitar and rhythm guitar, the lead guitarist can produce amazing rhythms when accompanied by rhythm guitar. When solos want to take a break from singing or when translating from one verse to another, guitar helps maintain the rhythm and makes the song more dynamic. It is also argued that guitar also plays the role of a piano if the piano is absent (Miller, 2009). However, it is generally accepted that guitar acts as an instrument that fill out cords and notes that other musical instruments cannot play. In fact, the chords of louder instruments like brasses are covered by guitar. It also

Monday, August 26, 2019

Wicked Problems Social Policy in America on Equality Essay

Wicked Problems Social Policy in America on Equality - Essay Example They were able to work; educate themselves and rise in society. Social policies do not address the sociological issues, they answer at a very superficial level the end problems dealing with inequality and and not within inequality. Meritocracy and Egalitarism cannot be achieved as it assumes that we are not unique individuals. Three issues we be covered: legacy issues in Elite colleges, Blacks fail in law school and Gay marriages. In concluding a summary will be made, confirming when the government gets involved, social groups suffer. Much argument has been in the press about alumni accepting legacy preferences. Legacy preferences currently is not covered by Affirmative Action but the government is looking to pass legislation under the" The Civil Rights Act of 1866 which preventing discrimination based on ancestry and on race." (Wise 2010) I personally don't think the issue should be addressed at the government level. An alumni child has a 20% more chance of being accepted in his par ent's school. Is this not human nature?(Kahlenberg 2010) Currently in France, it is policy in order to apply for a job, the applicant has the right to omit all information indicating his race, background or religion. If the US were to do the same, then the College applicant still has the SAT scores. A parent, who has come from an Elite college, will have given his child a good background thus the best preparation possible for the SAT. Empirically it is impossible to statistically test, if legacy preference is an indication of acceptance. If Elite colleges were to strictly apply affirmative action, it would be at the detriment of under qualified students. A study done by Standford University found that "33% of black law school graduates in California pass the bar exam on the first try and most never become lawyers". (Kahlenberg 2010)T he question at hand is to prepare black students before they get to University so they are not in the situation to fail. Â  Gay Marriages implies that the institution of marriages is completely eroded. If 1 in 2 children will suffer a divorced marriage, the question is not allowing gay marriages but why is the concept of marriage having degraded to such a deplorable level. (Frum 1997 ) The Social Structure and concept of marriage is the real problem. There is no longer the social structure within the religion which checks and balances each relationship to make sure people and couples stay on the right track. Gay marriages are a sign of society that the institution of marriage is even more insecure. Marriage used to be a means to raise children; to make a life time bond; to continue family legacies. Now it has become "an exercise in radical autonomy". Affirmative Action and marriage do not go hand in hand. Bringing a child into the world assumes that the mother, normally the woman, plays a lower role in the couple as she has given up many of her equalitarian freedoms to raise her family. He proposes to make it harder to divorce; t o teach in school the different roles of the "sexes" and to teach in sociology that it were socially acceptable, Government policy has nothing to do with it. David asks if homosexuals would really want to marry if they knew the complicated social structure it actually involved. It is hard work to stay married and happy. There is not the autonomy or the affirmative action in a marriage. An institution is meant to stand. The family is a sociological structure that has been long part of our society before the 50's. Those, who favor gay marriage, must not have strong marriage themselves. A woman was built to have children and to rear children. Perhaps the word 'marriage' is the issue. In some countries, laws have been passed legalizing the right to live

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Neo-Liberalism. How is it Related to Free Market Fundamentalism Essay

Neo-Liberalism. How is it Related to Free Market Fundamentalism - Essay Example The Roots of Neo- Liberalism The popular ideology has its roots from the Father of Economics, Adam Smith, who advocated for less government role in markets, manufacturing and barriers to trade . This and other basic fundamentals such as the productivity of labor are mentioned in his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. After the end of the World War, and during the Great Depression, liberalism was highly critiqued. The high level of unemployment, and downward spiraling business activity became the major threat to the foundations of Capitalism and it was at this time that prominent economists such as John Maynard Keynes and Margaret Thatcher stepped up with their theories that questioned such matters as the employment line and government intervention. Keynes’ belief was that the government could indeed be used for the purposes of taxation and borrowing, to stimulate and expand economies rather than simply to shelter storms . The two factors economies are measured by are empl oyment determination and income distribution. Keynesianism felt that the economy would time and again result in weaknesses of employment demand generation, such as the Great Depression, and this could be cured with the use of monetary and fiscal policies. The Keynesian model would dominate Capitalist economies for nearly 35 years after the World War, introducing new institutions and unions. Although Keynesianism as an economic model rose to become accepted reality for more than a quarter of a century, it would be replaced by the contradictory policies of neo- liberalism by the end of the 70’s. The switch between policies occurred over many reasons. Some attributed it primarily to global events such as oil price shocks, and the Vietnamese war, while others have placed the divide between Keynesians over policies as a primary reason. Others believed it was due to the lack of implementation of Keynesian policies in particular borders or countries due to rising globalization at the time. But one factor that all historians agree unanimously on is the change in public opinion over the mixed economy. One writer of her time, Ayn Rand, is famous for penning down the fears of the public over extensive regulation and control in her magnum opus novel; a fictional work titled Atlas Shrugged. Whatever the reasons, an amalgamation of these factors is what led to the rallying of public opinion towards Neo-Liberalism. Amongst those who strove for this cause, the names of three economic philosophers are embedded in history- Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, and Robert Nozick are most relevant in understanding the views of Neo- Liberals. Each man had a different viewpoint of why there was a need for an open market economy, and each has left a mark in their own right for contributions vital to the cause. Neo-Liberalism, as an economic model, has served the economy well in that the standard of living has generally been upwards since its wide acceptance. We have also, seen the development of institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund pushing for the removal of trade barriers and a more globalized world as the by-products of this approach, and over the last half decade, we have come to observe that Neo-Liberalism has become a global phenomenon. But is this static in lieu of the Global Financial Meltdown of 2008? Are critics of Neo-Libe ralist polices correct in linking it to

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Electric Power Usage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Electric Power Usage - Research Paper Example The table depicts the energy consumption in a week; this will eventually be translated into a year. Since energy is billed in Kwts per hour, the energy consumption of this household in the last one month, which is consistent with the billing policy that is sent every month, the total power consumption is 750-Kilo watts/hour in this household. Assuming that the trend is uniform and the average of the power consumption in the one month is used to reflect the annual consumption then this will be 9000-Kilo watts/hour in a year. This wattage expressed in duration per second will be; 9000Kwts * 3600 (second in 1 hour) =32400000 joules/ sec. (32.4 Mega joules per second). In relation to the information above it can be appreciated that the energy consumption per household is quite high and apart from electricity, it is hard to sustain the energy demand more so using other non-renewable energy sources like coal. It is therefore vivid that the amount of coal required to produce the stated energy can be calculated. It is known that the energy released by coal can be calculated in Kilowatts per hour for a defined mass of the coal compound (Stoyke, 2007). This is 6.67Kwts/hr/kg; this cannot be efficiently transferred to usable power since the thermodynamic efficiency of coal to transfer the energy is about 30%. This is about -2.0 Kwts/hr/Kg. thus the energy that is efficiently transferred is 4.7 Kwts/hr/Kg (Meier, 2006). To sustain an annual energy demand in a household, a total of about 1915 Kilograms of coal is required. In regard of the above table of power consumption, the top five energy consumers in a household comprise of cloth washers, microwave ovens, driers, refrigerator, and dishwashers. This is not the only energy consumption in a household, there are other energy consumptions that do not take place within the household though at

Friday, August 23, 2019

Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Strategy - Essay Example sion plan the company also took a strategic decision to reassess its standard shop formats and sizes from 7000 sq ft to more economical 2400-4200 sqft range outlets. Evidence indicating that these strategies are effective can be identified in the sales increase of over $ 185 million during the period of 1995 – 2001 since the implementation of new strategy. The profits too had reached a record of $ 14.75 million in 2001 from $4 million in 1995.The number of outlets have increased from a total of 88 in 1995 to 174 by 2001. Franchisee outlets have grown from 40 to 111 during this period. The financial performance of the company has been rather unstable over the past 5 years with losses and profits resulting in alternative years. However the year 2000 and 2001 has indicated steady growth with losses being converted to profits. Own outlet sales account for over 70% while franchisee income represent 3%. 26% of the income is from mixes and equipment sales. The most profitable part of the business is the Franchising operation where the GP margin is 62%. The other two business units generate 15% GP. The company’s financial performance during past two years has been outstanding with earnings per share jumping to $ 0.60 in 2001. The sales revenue has grown by 37% in 2001 while net income has grown by 147% over year 2000. This $ 8.76 million net income growth is also facilitated by the reduced interest costs of about $ 1 million for the year 2001 as a result of IPO funding relieving the company of its costly capital borrowings. The statement â€Å" The numbers just d on’t work† has been made pertaining to the company’s targeted 20% sales growth vs. 25% growth in earnings for the year 2002. The statement cannot be supported with the current evidence, as it is most likely that the company will be in a position to achieve such forecasts. The additional 5% growth in earnings are likely to come from reduced costs through increased sales per existing outlets as well as cost

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The community ecology of the organism Research Paper

The community ecology of the organism - Research Paper Example The community ecology of the organism Sea otters are keystone predators, whose presence has a far-reaching influence on the marine food web by affecting the populations of sea urchins, which indirectly affects the populations of kelp forests & other marine organisms. There has been a steep decline in sea otter populations due to water pollution and exploitation for furs. This has affected marine ecology adversely. It is therefore suggested that sea otters should be included in the endangered species list to protect them from further exploitation. This study focuses on the community ecology of sea otters and their impact on marine ecology. The need for their inclusion in the Endangered Species list and implications of such an intervention are also evaluated. Community ecology Sea otters predate on many herbivorous invertebrates, including sea urchins. Sea urchins feed on kelps, which are an important habitat for fishes and other marine organisms. A high population of sea urchins has an adverse effect on kelp forests. Sinc e sea otters predate upon sea urchins, their populations are kept in check. â€Å"This reduces the grazing pressure on kelp, facilitating macroalgal growth† (Laidre). Therefore, sea otters play an indirect, yet vital role in the preservation of kelp forests. This in turn protects kelp forests and other macroalgae, which would have otherwise been depleted due to grazing by sea urchins.in turn protects kelp forests and other macroalgae, which would have otherwise been depleted due to grazing by sea urchins. â€Å"Where sea otters abound so do lush kelp forests, and where sea otters are absent the habitat is typically deforested by hyperabundant sea urchins† (Soule et al 1240). The significance of this interaction can be wholly surmised only when the importance of kelp forests is understood. â€Å"Kelp forests are a source of food and habitat for dozens of other coastal species† (Soule et al 1240). Innumerable coastal marine organisms thrive on kelp forests, enhanc ing biodiversity of the region. Therefore, to maintain the diversity and richness of coastal marine ecology, sea otters should be preserved, who indirectly lead to the preservation of kelps. Impact of sea otters on community ecology The presence or absence of sea otters influences marine ecology at the community-level. Studies have shown that kelp forests enhance the underwater environment, providing a suitable habitat for fishes. The declining kelp beds in California in the mid 1900’s propelled the Kelp Habitat Improvement Project, whereby attempts were made to eliminate sea urchins that are primary predators of kelps. Studies showed that the elimination of sea otters during the 1800s from the Californian waters might be responsible for the dwindling numbers of kelp forests. Further studies have also shown that the population density of sea otters affects seaweed biodiversity too. In a study conducted in Alaska on three different bays, the Torch Bay, Deer Harbor and the Surg e Bay, it was found that â€Å"the presence of sea otters led to a decrease in the population of sea urchins, which led to an increase in the population of seaweeds† (â€Å"Interaction with kelps & sea otters†). In addition, it was also found that annual kelps predominated the areas where sea otters were present, and perennial kelps predominated in areas that had lesser sea otter populations (qtd. in â€Å"Interaction with kelps & sea otters†). As is evident, sea otters are vital for maintenance of kelp communities that are primary habitats of other coastal marine

Effects of Brand Association on Small Scale Traders Essay Example for Free

Effects of Brand Association on Small Scale Traders Essay Effects of Brand Association on Small-Scale Traders Introduction            What are the effects of brand association on the performance of small-scale traders? Brand, in this case, refers to the version of a product made by one particular manufacturer. Levitt (1983) affirms that positive brand associations are developed if the product which the brand depicts is durable, marketable and desirable. He further asserts that the customers must be persuaded through advertisements, that the brand possesses the features and attributes that will satisfy their needs. This will lead to customers having a positive impression about the product. Positive brand association helps an organization to gain goodwill, and obstructs the competitor’s entry into the market.            Hypothetically speaking, one would say that effort coupled with utmost discipline on the side of the small-scale traders would assure them total success. It makes so much sense when looked at on the surface. Truth be told, brand association is inevitable if the small-scale traders are to thrive. Though an idea that I am suggesting for the big question throbbing on every small-scale trader’s mind, it has not yet been proved to be correct. The bottom line is, brand association has an influence on the performance of small scale traders. This is because it provides consumers with a point of differentiation of the various types of products provided by the small-scale traders. Brand association is an important dimension of brand equity because, like human association, it is both differentiating and enduring. Consumer perceptions of price, quality and value are considered pivotal determinants of shaping behaviors and product choice (Bishop, 2004). Methods of recruitment            When looking at the methods to be used in recruiting people who would carry out the research, it would be prudent to seek the work of professionals. This would be because professionals are adequately equipped and have been in the practice for a while, hence would render the very best. This way value for the finances spent on the whole process is sure. A matter of great importance that cannot be ignored would be how the recruitment process should go down. This is in order to take in, not just professionals, but the best in the market. There are a number of viable and proven recruitment methods that will most assuredly give the best results, in terms of professional personality. Firstly, I would develop a job description making crystal the requirements necessary for the work at hand. Sending local e-mails would not be an option to ensure extensive coverage of the advertisement (Managing Agency workers, 2013). The e-mails would inform potential staff of the opening an d ask them to share the information with family and friends. More to that, posting on a website with a link to employee testimonies would go a long way in communication in regard to the recruitment. Finally, since advertising via television would be a bit costly, radio would be the perfect media of communication. This is because it would especially get to the people at the grass roots Levitt (1983).            In conclusion, measure is key in the whole process and must be put in check. Measure refers to the quantitative necessity in the whole research process. The study measure to be used will totally be dependent on the market size occupied by the small-scale traders (Meenaghan, 1995). Using large, medium, and small market sizes, having 2 hectares as the size of a small market, approximately 3 employees would comfortably cover the area. The question of relativity cannot be ignored to clearly and acceptably bring home the key question here, which is, ‘what study measure?’ With all that in place, the question of the effects of brand association on performance of small-scale traders would have been adequately and appropriately responded to. References Levitt, T. (1983). The globalization of markets. Harvard Business Review, May/June, pp. 23-26. Meenaghan, T. (1995). The role of advertising in brand image development. Journal of Brand and Product Management, Vol. 4 Issue 4, pp. 23-24. Source document

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Important Functions of Management

Important Functions of Management What is the meaning of nature of business? It means the type or general category of business or commerce which are describing. Mr. Steve Low is a manager who is working in Tahan Insurance Company. He has about 32 years working experience in General Insurance Industry attached with 4 International and Local General Insurance Companies. Mr. Steve Low has 2 years experience working as marketing executive, 20 years as Branch Manager and 10 years as Vice president for southern Region of Penesular Malaysia. Its product includes fire insurance, motor insurance, personal accident insurance, marine cargo insurance and more. For an example, if you buy fire insurance, it can help to cover loss or damage to the stocks and other contents such as fire, lighting and domestic explosion, aircraft, earthquake and volcanic eruption, storm, tempest, flood, explosion, impact damage(including own vehicle)bursting or overflowing of water tanks apparatus or pipes, riot, strikes and malicious damage. Why we need these services? According to Mr. Steve Low this services can provide prompt and immediate services to both our intermediates and the customers. The channels of distribution are through their intermediaries i.e. General Insurance agents, insurance brokers and direct corporate clients. The level of technologies used computer to operate the business. The organisation structure means that the way an organisation arrange people and jobs so that its work can be performed and its goal can be met. The organisation structure of insurance can be divided into three offices which is shown in the diagram below. Each organisation has different jobs and character that they need to be responsible in the things that they take part in. Employees are responsible to define what they do and report to their manager. So that, the branch offices manager will report to regional office and regional office will report to head office. The strength of the company is it has various type of insurance i.e. about 60 insurance products to offer to the market. It has strong leadership in the management level, hardworking and delicate staff to support the organisation. It also has strong channel of distribution to achieve our management goal i.e. big teams of insurance agency force and insurance brokers support and strong base of corporate client. In addition, it also provide prompt and immediate service to our intermediaries and clients i.e. we expertise our service on both policy issuing and claims settlements. Thus, the benefit is it has 24 hours and worldwide protection for accident death and permanent disablement. Furthermore it will also have medical expenses, bereavement allowance, hospital income, travel allowance, ambulance fees, cosmetic surgery resulting from accident and more. Moreover, the weakness of the companies is it high staff turnover due to stiff market competition in labor force. Planning In an organisation, planning is considered one of the most important and major functions in managing a firm. Planning establish goals and objectives to pursue in the future period. The function of planning spans all levels of management from top managers to middle managers. Top managers are involved in strategic planning which sets board, long range goals for the organisation. These goals are the basis for short range, annual operational planning during which top and middle managers determine a specific department objective that may help the organisation to make progress towards the broader, long range goals. Planning usually includes the word where, why, how and what. For example, where you want to go, why you want to go there, how you will get there, what do you need in order to get there and also how will you know if youre there or not. A good planning means good stewardship. Each success in any ventures requires careful preparation and organises planning. Without proper planning and preparation, we are about to fail in whatever we do. Besides, a good planning also helps to conserve natural resources and it will also save your efforts, time and money. Managers plan involves setting up goals and objectives, and defining the actions which is necessary to achieve the goals, in light of the situation. That is, the situation must be analyzed or understood and the appropriate goals and actions must be determined in order to take advantages of opportunities or to solve problems. Managers throughout the organization must develop goals, strategy and operational plans for their work groups that contribute to the success of the organisation as a whole. Setting goals for company helps manager to guide their team mates to obtain success. Manager does not only set goals for the employees but the goal that is set has to be explained thoroughly to the employees so that it helps the employees to understand the importance of the goals better. These goals which are set for the employees can help them to build a friendly team environment in the workplace. An effective goal setting can be a difference in between meeting a deadline for any crucial proj ect and falling short of success. Goals and objectives provide the organisations with a guarantee that can determine a course of action and further guides them in preparing for changes in the future. A goal is defined as a future state which an individual or an organisation strives to achieve. For each goal that an organisation sets, it also includes an objective. An objective is a short term vision and mission with measurable results. Without a clearly organised goals and objectives, organisations will face problems coordinating activities and forecasting future events. There are four basic functions of organisational goals which is they provide guidance and direction, motivate and inspire employees, facilitate all plannings, and help organisations to evaluate and control performances. Organisational goals not only help the organisation to plan for the future, but it informs all the employees where the organisation is going and also how it plans to go there. When employees are needed to make important and tough decisions, they can refer to the organisations goals as guidance. Goals promote planning in determining how goals will be achieved. Employees usually set a goal in order to satisfy their needs; therefore goals can motivate employees and increase job performance. Evaluation and controlling will allow the organisation to compare its actual performance to the organisation goals and then make any adjustments if necessary. Why is it important for a manager to set goals? This is because goals can affect individual performance through four mechanism s. Firstly, goals can direct actions and efforts towards goal related activities and stay away from unrelated activities. Secondly, goals energize employees. Employees will put in more effort in challenging goals compared to easy goals. Thirdly, goals can affect persistence. This is because employees exert more effort to achieve high in challenging goals. Fourthly, goals can motivate employees to make use of their exist knowledge to obtain a goal or acquire the knowledge which is needed to do a task. Goal setting attributes is one of the subjects of extensive research. Examples of the four attributes are difficulty, specificity, commitment and acceptance. There is a study which shows that there is a direct relationship in between goal specificity and employee performance. Less ambiguity is involved and higher performance is obtained when the goal is made more specific. When employees are given do your best goals, they do not have any external reference to refer in which they can measure their own performances. For example, a manager tells a sales person to do the best you can is an extremely unclear stated goal that will not increase performance. However, if a manager says increase sales by 10 percent is a much more specific and clearly stated goal that encourages high performance because the employees had all the past sales record as their reference? Goal difficulty also has a direct relationship with performance. Studies show that more difficult goals lead to higher performance s, as long as the goal which is set does not become too difficult that employees perceive them as impossible. Manager should not set any unreasonable goals for the employees because unreasonable goals frustrate rather than motivate the employees. On the other hand, a difficult but realistic goal does not only increase performance but also motivation. Research states that employees are highly motivated when the probability of obtaining a specific goal is more than fifty percent. A manager must also set individual performance objectives for the employees. Setting performance objectives per employee is an important part in management which allows organisation to achieve strategic goal by dividing it into several numbers of sub-goals. There are a few steps in individual performance objectives set by the team leader or manager which is appoint and conduct a meeting with each employees to describe his or her job and tasks, address and create a list of responsibilities for the employees, and develop adequate individual performance objectives based on the employees major functions and responsibilities. An employee asks her supervisor for feedback on a recent initiative which she developed for the department. The supervisor responds, It seems fine, but it turns out that it is not what the manager wants them to do. The supervisor meets with one of his staffs and informs her that she is behind in her work and needs to process a minimum number of items in a day, no excuses. These examples clearly illustrates situations that may arise when an organisation have not develop a performance management system. Lack of clarity in develop the staff goals, lack of alignment between employees goals and organisations goals, lack of communication on priorities, all these situations can be avoided through the effective implements of a performance management system. In the interview for our coursework, the planning process in TAHAN insurance company is their key success in their organization for achieving goals. Besides that, planning is also a blueprint of the organization goals. Planning is a step or procedure of how to achieve the objectives for the organization. On another hand, their planning also look into the main power and resources which the company have in order to distribute the job function to each individual or department to achieve goals. Lastly, planning helps them to identify who is responsible for the targeted goal to achieve. Organising What is organising? Organising is one of the four overall functions tend to include essentially everything that managers do in the management process. Organising involves determining the tasks to be done, which will do them, and how those tasks will be managed and coordinated. Managers must organise the members of their work groups and organisation so they information, resources, and tasks flow logically and efficiently through the organisation. Organising also includes defining and assigning authority and responsibility for decisions to enable tasks to be carried out effectively. Issues of organisational culture and human resource management are also related to his function. Organising is very important to a company and when it comes to business leadership, this will be one of the most important functions that process in a company. This function has been creating to help company running with a perfect condition. This can help a company to organise more perfectly and nicely. If a company without these important functions, a company will lose control and occur many problems that prevent a company increase volume of profit in the market. So, to prevent this kind of incident happen, they create this function to solve all these problems. How does a manager utilize the resource to meet the objectives? Actually, the role of a manager is very hard. He needs to ensure that all resources are aligned to business strategy. Besides that, a manager also needs to ensure that this strategy are effectively and efficiency. Responsibility is also important to a manager because this also include the line management and development of employee. These occur to make sure both achieve organisational objectives and for employee personal are growing. Managers skill can be divided by two main categories which are performance management and line management. In performance management, a manager needs to perform some additional tasks such as: organisation design, role definition, hiring employees, goal setting and delegation, planning and resource allocation, decision-making, and communication and reporting. In the organisation design, manager need to make sure that the organisation design is fit for purpose in order to support the effective execution of business strategy. In role definition, a manger must be well defined including skills, capabilities, knowledge, purpose of the role, key accountabilities, responsibilities, and experience needed to perform the role. As a manager, hiring employees is important. Manager has to be diligence to find employees by search, select, interview hire and retain suitable employees to make company earn more profit. In the goal setting and delegation, a manager must have skill to setting SMART objectives, which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-Oriented, and Time-bound. These performance objectives can bring success to a company and should be explicit, written and agreed to make sure that both parties understand what is expected and what will be a successful outcome. Planning of work and aligning is part of manager work. Manager must do it with a strategy and business priorities way to make sure that works gets done in time and perfectly. As a manager, a lot of decision-making occur. Manager must take many different decisions from different type of works and make sure all work are done it without any problem occur. If managers work facing a problem, as a manager, he or she must solve these problems to complete all works. In communication and reporting skill, manager must have a clearly communicating skill compare to other senior managers. It is because manager is always head of those workers, so as a manager, he or she must have this skill. As a manager, he or she needs to motivate their employees. This can help to motivated and engaged them to perform a well and excellent performance. A manager should organise his or her worker to feed back any comments. This can help manager to know staffs better and build a strong relationship between staffs and manager. In the development, manager must able to identifying areas of growth such as content knowledge, skills and behaviors. Besides that, manager should agreeing with employees development steps and providing the necessary support to help them. So, they will make it happen such as paying for training, giving time off or providing on-the-job training opportunities with new projects. At performance appraisals, manager must perform evaluation that should happen formally. It is because there must at least annually and regular interim appraisals such as quarterly. At performance improvement, manager must understand appropriate and then provide them training, support them, mentoring them or coaching them as needed to help employees achieve an appropriate level of performance in order to reach the goal. Besides organising, a manager also needs to have planning, leading and controlling skills. These skills are very important to a manager as well as a company. Without these skills, a company will not survive in the battle of market. Then, the company will lose to other competitors and facing bankruptcy problem. So, a company must have a good manager with good skills to archive the successful in the battle of market. Organising is a basic needed for a manager. Without these useful skills, the person cannot become a good manager because it will lead the company to failure. So, as a manager, he or she must have these skills in order to help company earn more profit. In other words, manager MUST acquire all these skills in order to become a good and skillful manager in a success company. What are the common resource utilization problems faced by a company? There are three key areas which a manager needs to focus on. These three keys are knowing , doing and measuring. There are some causes in knowing. The first cause is because the manager does not know the utilization rate for yesterday and today, much less for what will be forecast tomorrow. Second cause is the manager does not know what the percentage of billable employee is until the end of the month. In order to cure this, managers need to have real time reports which shows utilize rates and historical trend by individual or company. However, there are also some causes in doing. The causes in doing are billable employee does not have any access to schedules, that is why they cannot see changes or make updates. Therefore, the company must supply a robust mobile device for employee to allow 2 way updates and continual synchronize. Lastly, the causes in measuring are managers cannot see utilization over a period of time, by employee or company. To cure this, managers must make sure that employee reports show utilization, realization and billing against quotas. Leading As one of the four functions of the management, leading can be both extremely important and challenging. Leading is very important for a manager as a manager needs to lead the employees in the company in order to let the company become more successful in the market .A manager should also strive to become an inspiration to the rest of the employees .In this case , the employee will only follow and respect the manager . A manager that is an inspiration means that the employees will follow the manager because they believe in what the manager is doing and they will try to help the company to archive its goals .Finding ways to inspire employees is also means that coaching them and motivating them to succeed as integral parts of the company. On the other hand, the ways that a manager leads will greatly affects the employee morale within the department and company as a whole. Managers should create a climate that encourages new ideas and employee input. This will let the employees feel that they have a say in the company and they will willing to share ideas and attempt to find better ways to improve the process .For example, a good manager will reward the employees with monetary or benefits incentives if they can increase the output of the product .Another idea is a treasure box of goodies. Manager can set a goal early in the week and employees who meet the goal by the end of the week are allowed to take a prize from the treasure box. Besides that , when during the meeting , the manager should also praise the employee who are doing well in their jobs .This will let the employee become more aggressive in their job in order to let the manager to praise them more as when the manager praise them , they feel happy and also fee l proud among the other college . This can also make the other employee become more aggressive when they saw the other employee was praise by the manager as they also want the manager to praise them. Communication skill is very important between a manager and an employee. An effective leader must also have an effective communicator. If a manager does not have a good communication skill, he or she will easily have quarrel with their employees and he or she will have a bad relationship with their employees. This will affect the process of the company when a manager is selfish and do not like to communicate with the others .On the other hand, a manager that shares information and lets employees know the latest news in the company is someone that is deemed trustworthy by his or her employees. Besides that, a manager should always have a good relationship with the employees. For example, the manager can plan some activities for the employees in the company, such as family day, gathering, or party. These activities can let the relationship between the manager and the employees become better and they also know each other better .Besides that, the manager can also know more about the fam ily background of the employees. Moreover , a good and effective leader will inspire his or her employees ,which allows those employees to feel that they are making a meaningful contribution to the company .The employees will also work harder for the company and also take more ownership in their job position .This can mean happy customers and a higher level of customer service . A great leaders in an organisation will affect the employees they supervise .Besides that, they also inspire others employees in the other part of the company .This will make the whole company become more effective. Effective leadership is infectious and it should be spread to as many areas of the organisation as possible. By doing this, will result in a highly-coordinated effort to please both customer and employees. A good leader must also be understanding towards their employees .For example, when one of the employee have some personal problems and they could not come to work for a week , as a understanding manager , we must understand he or her problem and also pass his or her work to other employees . This will let the employees feel that the manager is understanding and is also a good manager .They will also be more loyalty to the company when they feel that they work for the right company. Besides being understanding, a good leader should also be caring and helpful to their employees. For example, when one of the employee family member met an accident, need a sum of money, the manager should help them to collect donation and also comfort them. This will make the employee feel that his or her boss is helpful and caring towards them .The employee will also feel grateful to the manager and also try to repay his or her kindness by doing a good job in their work. When the other employees see thi s situation, they will feel that their manager is a kind, caring and also helpful boss. A leader is also the model among the employees. He or she has to show a good example to the employees in order to let the employee to follow their steps .For example. a leader should come to work at an earlier time .When the employee saw their manager is earlier than them , they will also learn from him or her . Other than being a role model , a leader must also be responsible for what he or she and the team had committed .For example , when the employee have done wrong something , the manager have to be answerable to the management . After interviewing the manager in TAHAN insurance, we knew that the manager use motivation to lead the employees, as motivation is the key factor to drive the team member to archive maximum height in the operation. Besides that, a good manager should exercise the leader by example to the team member by showing them that they are getting a full support from their manager. To get a good relationship with the team member, the manager has to work hand in hand with the team member. On the other hand, a manager should help the employee to solve the problem that they encounter. The manager should also guide the team properly in order to meet the target of the organisation. A responsible manager should also keep a sharp eye on the companies daily operation. The manager must make sure that the company is operationing well. In addition, the manager should also exercise rewarding system to team member who did well or archive a good result in their work. By comparing the two theory and study case, we can compare the functions of the manager. In theory, manager use inspiring to lead the employee, while in study case, the manager use motivation to lead the employee. Besides that, manager becomes the role model of the employee in the theory while the manager becomes the role of example in front of the employee in the study case. Other than that, in theory, manager have to have a good relationship with the employees, while in study case, manager maintain a good relationship with their employee to ensure that they archive the organisation goals. As a conclusion, leading is very important to a manager as he or she need to lead a company with a team of employees. Besides that the manager has to have good communication and relationship with the employee. Without leading, the whole organisation will not be successful as the employees do not listen to the manager. Therefore, a manager must lead their employee well to ensure that they met the company goals and also make the company famous in the industry. Controlling In theory, controlling is one of the function of manager which it is important that this function can helps to check the errors and to take the corrective action so that deviation from standards are minimizes and stated goals of the organisation are achieved in desired manner. In management controlling can be define as the process of regulating organisational activities so that actual performance conforms to expected organisational goals. The phases of controlling are anticipating the things that could go wrong and taking preventive measures to see that they dont, monitoring or measuring performance in some way in order to compare what is actually happening with what is supposed to be happening and correcting performance problem that occur which this is the therapeutic aspect of control. Examples of controls are delegation (accountability), evaluation (performance), financial statement (budget management) performance management (observation and feedback), policies and procedures (beh avior in workplace), quality control and operation management and lastly risk, safety and liabilities. There are four important steps in controlling which is establish standards to measure performance, measure actual performance, compare performance with standards and take corrective actions. Establish of standard is the first step in controlling as a standard is a unit of measurement that can serve a reference point for evaluating results. Manager should exercise control by comparing performance to some standards and goals. There are a few type of standard which are tangible and intangible standards. Tangible standard are clear, concrete specific and generally measurable while intangible standard is relate to human characteristics which are not expressed in terms of numbers, money, physical qualities or time. It can be desirable attitude, high morale, ethics and cooperation. Tangible standard consist of four standards which is numerical standards, monetary standards, physical standards and time standards. In numerical standards, it can be expressed in numbers of item produced, absences, percentage of sales and etc. Monetary standards can be measured in terms of money which is profit margins, cost and etc. Other than physical standard can be categorized by quality, durabi lity, size, weight and other factors related to physical composition and lastly time standards can refer to the speed with the job is to be done like the project completion date. Measure actual performance is the second step as it ensures that it complies with the established standards. Most of the organisations will prepare formal reports of performance and weekly meeting to measure how the manager performs. These measurements should be related to the standards set in the first step of control process. For example, if sales growth is a target, the organisation should have a means of gathering and reporting sales data. The measure of actual performance can be done by personal observation, written or oral report about employees, automatic methods and inspection, test or samples. Comparing performance with standards is the third step as this step compares actual activities to performance standards. When the manager read the computer reports or walk through their plants, they identify whether actual performance meets, exceeds, or falls short of standards. Typically, performance reports simplify such comparison by placing the performance standards for reporting period alongside the actual performance for the same period and by computing the variance. That is the different between each actual amount and the associated standard. Taking corrective action if necessary is the final step in the control process. Adjustment, fine-tuning, and perhaps drastic action may be necessary to pull off important tasks or to maintain standard. When performance deviates from standards, managers must determine what changes, if any, are necessary and how to apply them. In the productivity and quality-centered environment, workers and manager are often empowered to evaluate their own work. After the evaluator determines the cause or causes of deviation, he or she can take the fourth step which is the corrective action. There are some few examples of corrective actions which are making a decision to retrain a new employee whose performance has not progressed as expected, shifting several employees from their normal jobs to help meet a deadline on another job, counseling an employee whose performance has recently been below the standard, reprimanding an employee for failure to adhere to safety rules and shutting down a piece of eq uipment for maintenance after defective output is traced on it. Characteristics of effective control system consist of controls need to focus on appropriate activities, controls should be timely, controls must be cost effective, control should be accurate and concise and control should be accepted by people they affect. Control needs to focus on appropriate activities mean effective controls must focus on critical factors that affect both the individuals and the organisations abilities to achieve objectives while controls should be timely can define as information needed for comparisons and control purposes need to be in managements hands in order to make effective corrective action. Delays in generating, gathering or disseminating information can prolong the occurrence and extend of deviation. Other than that control must be cost effective as this benefit of using appropriate controls should be worth their cost of installation and operation. Too much of control can be worse than too little. The key is to provide appropriate for the situation and provide saving greater that the cost involved. Moreover control should be accurate and concise as control must provide information about operations and people in sufficient quality and quantity to enable managers to make meaningful comparisons to operation standards. As with control, too much information can be as bad as too little. Lastly controls should be accepted by the people they affect as controls and their applicability to specific situations should be communicated clearly to those responsible for implementing them and to those who will be governed by them. In the interview for our coursework, the controlling in TAHAN insurance is manager should follow up closely on the daily basis on all the departments operations to ensure that they have achieve their goals, service standard and KPI (key performance indicators set by the company. Other than that, weekly marketing meeting should be conducted to monitor the marketing activities and marketing result from each marketer. To identify the problem area arises from the marketer and assist them immediately to resolve in order to achieve immediate results. Furthermore, emphasis on result orientated to all departments or individuals to achieve goals and conduct weekly product control meeting in order to improve their financial standing. By viewing both theory and the case study, we can compare one of the functions of manager which is controlling. Manager use controlling to identify the problem area arises from the marketer activities in the case study while in theory manager also use taking corrective action steps to identify the problem that happen in the organisation. Other than that, in

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Gaap Has Allowed Some Degree Of Managerial Judgment And Flexibility On Managers Accounting Essay

Gaap Has Allowed Some Degree Of Managerial Judgment And Flexibility On Managers Accounting Essay For accounting method, Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (GAAP) has allowed some degree of managerial judgment and flexibility on managers to choose their own accounting method, disclosures and estimates which can make their business underlying with the economics. By applying managerial judgement, it will give chance for the company to achieve on their own desired level of earning .This judgement is referred as to earning management (Wensheng and Jie; Belski and Brozovsky, 2002). According to Parfet (2000), with the flexibility and options given by GAAP it gives a good impact for economic development as others think that they really need the flexibility in accounting methods as diverse industries have different accounting requirements and changes which quickly happen than the FASB can respond. However, there is opportunity to the management to manage earning when many flexibility and options is given in accounting treatment such as too many depreciation methods, and inventory v aluation methods whereby give a chance to managers to choose the method that can achieve a certain level of income. Moreover, the information provided will be overload and user can easily to get confused when there are many options given and accounting profession feels that it is too costly for the preparation and audit of financial statement. As cited by Greenfield, Norman and Wier (2008) on study done by Rosenfield (2000) earning management has been allowed by GAAP in two ways. First way, GAAP permit the company to report all the income that has not been earned and second way, GAAP permit income smoothing whereby reporting the income with stability. There are examples given for these types of accounting practices such as recording revenues earlier than allowed, moving obligation to offshore holding companies to increase income and recording products sales as revenue preceding to definite shipment. For management perceptions, the purpose they operate the company is to have a continuous improvement in their operating business performance with progressively and consistently as to raise financial income and long term development in shareholders value. As for them, sometime they need to have smooth income earning for the value of companys stable growth (Parfet, 2000). Issues of earning management have been arising and take into consideration for a long decade in the accounting profession. These issues have been proven by the case of Enron and WorldCom whereby both the corporate giants collapsed due to practice of earning management. Thus, for company that involve with earning management will bring a lot of consequences and difficulties. It can be given example wherein earning management may let the management to achieve their earning based bonus which also may give impact on managements reputation. Particularly, managers that involve with earning management activities like increase the share price; they also involve in earning management for their own personal purpose and gain (Healy and Wahlen, 1999). Besides, it may cause the problems in management ethics wherein it will be questioned and issued (Guidry, Leone and Rock, 1999). In fact, Merchant and Rockness, 1994 has claimed that earning management may bring and give a potential to the ethical issue that are facing by accounting profession. It has been shown in their study wherein providing the evidence on the ethical assessment of earning management inside the organization which is between their various members only. General Managers, operating unit controller, internal auditor and corporate staff has been involved for this study. Futhermore, referring to Kaplan, 1999, he has extend Merchant and Rockness study by doing the ethical assessment that focusing on the external parties which is outside the organization where is called as users of financial statements. Managers, companies and policy makers will be aware and take a serious action when there is involvement by the external parties as they views earning management as unethical. Means that, if users of financial statement considered earning management as unethical, as a result it will affect managers and companies wherein they will suffer and credibility of companies in the financial markets will be damaged. Referring to Elias (2002), in late1998 of a series of speeches by the former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arthur Levitt warned that for those who are misleading in managing earning in the financial report may finally give a bad impact to the US stock market: If a company fails to provide meaningful disclosure to investors about where it has been, a damaging pattern ensues. The bond between shareholders and the company is shaken; investors grow anxious; prices fluctuate for no discernible reasons; and the trust that is the bedrock of our capital markets is severely tested. Levitt (1998) claimed that earning management is a process on game of nods and winks between corporate managers, auditors and analysts. He put notice to the accounting profession wherein any of them is consider as poisoning the financial reporting process when they involve in grey area between legitimacy and outright fraud. Besides, he noted that management may threatening the integrity of financial reporting when they mistreatment of premature revenue recognition, cookie jar reserves, big bath restructuring charges, creative acquisition accounting and write off of purchased in process RD. Due to this matter, SEC has taken consideration and action by examine a new disclosure requirement and set up a earning management task force to clear-out all these things on company that manage earnings. As these speeches has been delivered and to address this concern, there are increasing number of members awareness for the accounting profession on the possible harmful effect of earning managemen t and many academic community has taken an effort to strengthen their research regarding this practice (Elias, 2002). Accordingly, based on the significance of ethical issues in earning management, the main objective of this study is to determine the ethical sensitivity of earning management actions which can be examine through determinants of ethical criteria like Professional Commitment (PC), Personal Benefit (PB), Ethical Relativism Orientation (ERO) and Ethical Idealism Orientation (EIO), perceived role of ethics and social responsibility and personal moral philosophies or ethical ideology. This study will explain the background of earning management and ethics, followed by determinants of ethics and ethics and earning management literature and finally is a conclusions. BACKGROUND ON EARNING MANAGEMENT AND ETHICS Earning Management In several decades, managers have used many practices to manage their earning to achieve different purposes for example DeFond and Park (1997) study has shown the result wherein earning management is used to smooth income in order to increase job security (Greenfield et al, 2008). In addition, some researchers also do a study based on surrvey and experiment on the practice of earning management like Elias (2002); Kaplan (1999) and Kavousy, Fard, Kangarluei and Bayazidi (2010). By comparing accrual accounting with cash accounting, accrual accounting is intend more towards to smooth earning and create a number that is more valuable for investors to forecast future earning. In order to define earning management, we should to find at which point that the managers accrual decision involve in too much smoothing and directly become as earning management (Dechow and Skinner, 2000). There are many ways to define of earning management. DeFond and Park (1997) suggesting that managers will borrow earning from the future in order to cover poor current earning in the current period and expected future current earning is good. On the other hand, when the current earning is good but expected future earning is poor thus manager will save current earning in order to cover the future earnings. While, based on the former SEC Chairman stated that earning management is called as accounting hocus-pocus wherein the managers has exploited the flexibility of financial reporting in order to achieve their earnings expectations (Levitt, 1998). According to Healy and Wahlen (1999, p.368), earning management is defined as: It occurs when managers use judgment in financial reporting and structuring transactions to alter financial reports either to mislead some stakeholders about the underlying economic performance of the company or to influence contractual outcomes that depend on reported accounting numbers. It means that, manager has many options to use judgment to adjust their financial report. For example, the judgment is needed for estimation various future economic event that are reflected in financial report such as obligations for pension benefits, expected lives and salvage values of long term assets, losses from bad debt, deferred taxes and impairment of assets. Managers also need to choose the appropriate accounting methods in order to report the same economic transactions for depreciation methods like straight line or double declining methods and inventory cost methods like the LIFO, FIFO or average cost methods. Management that exercise judgment in financial reporting has face both costs and benefits where the costs are the possible misallocation of resources caused by earning management while the benefits are the possible improvements for management to communicate the private information to the external stakeholders (Healy and Wahlen, 1999). In addition, managers may involve with earning management as due to the several reasons. Managers engage in the earning management in order to raise return, postponement or keep away from contract defaults, increase wealth throughout IPOs or to control particular regulatory outcome. Due to that, it will show a good perception by individual on the ethicalness of certain earning management behavior (Kavousy et al, 2010). The former SEC Chairman, Levitt also noticed that the main reason for increasing in earning management issues is due to capital markets reluctance to forgive companies that fail to notice their earnings estimates (Levitt, 1998). There are numerous incentives provided to the manager for the management of earning. The previous empirical research has classified two main incentives for earning management where divided into two factors which is internal and external factors. For external factors focus on manipulation of earning make by manager as to achieve expectation of financial analyst in order to increase the stock prices (Elias, 2002). Study by Kasznick (1999) shown that company will use unexpected accruals to manage earnings upward if the company face any danger that falling short of an earnings forecast. The result from Barton (2001) has indicated that company use plagiaristic such as income smoothing in order to maintain earnings constant with forecast. Erickson and Wang (1999) noted that due to the equity offering, company has report income by increasing unexpected accruals which managers have overstated earning. While, internal factors relates to the managerial incentives or management compensation con tract such as bonus plans (Elias, 2002). The result from Healy (1985) study indicated that the relationship between accruals of accounting and earning related bonus plans. As bonus plans referred to accounting numbers, managers could more enthusiasm to increase their bonus by exercises in earning management. Particularly, executives choose accounting procedures in order to increase their remuneration that can be rewarded by earning based bonus. Guidry et al (1999) noted that there is strong support for the business bonus maximization by using business unit level data. Earning management can be different with fraud by looking and analysing into conservative accounting, neutral accounting, aggressive accounting and fraudulent accounting. For conservative accounting, it will using GAAP for accounting choices. However, it make accounting treatments more aggressive recognition of provisions or reserves, overvaluation of purchase in process R D in purchase acquisitions, overstatement of restructuring charges and asset write-offs. Due to these accounting treatments, it leads to delay sales, accelerate RD or advertising expenditures. Neutral accounting are accounting involve in neutral operation of the process. For the transactions, it is recorded based on how the way they think is good which just looking by managers based on the transaction nature and the accounting treatment within GAAP. Aggressive accounting are accounting whereby managers understate provisions. The manager will try to appear a low number of estimates of bad debt expenses. It means, t he managers will draw aggressively as low as they can for provisions or reserves like delay R D or advertising expenditures and accelerate sales. The aggressive accounting treatment based on judgment which is not easy to judge. Fraudulent accounting means recording the items that are relate with sales where the sale is recorded before they are realizable, backdating sales invoices, recording fictitious sales and overstating inventory by recording fictitious inventory. As a result, this accounting treatment goes against GAAP and it is fraud (Wensheng and Jie). Overall, earning management will bring consequences in the wearing down of trust between company and shareholders as fraud have been arising to doubtful actual financial instability. Thus, in turn to that masks the true significance of managements decisions (Levitt, 1998). Ethics Of Earning Management According to Levitt (1998), earning management practices in the accounting profession is not a new environment but the implementing strategies to take actions for this issue is well kept secret by corporate executive. As evidence, the managers also unwilling to discuss more regarding the distinction between earning management and management fraud concepts. As a result, SEC has taken an action by identified and prevents this practice as earning management has brought a negative implications and consequences. However, even though earning management issues has been reducing this is not the main goal of the accounting profession to achieve (Elias, 2002). Debate regarding the earning management has been issued and studied by many researchers which are one side of proponent and the other side is opponent. On the proponent side of the debate is the former SEC Chairman who is stated that all earning management behaviour is unacceptable, even have materiality (Grant et al, 2000).In contrast, for opponents side which is the scholars that are disagreed with the SEC that stated earning management is unethical. Kaplan (2001) has given empirical proof to support this argument regarding earning management. He uses a sample of MBA students that can play a role as financial statement users. He makes a distinction for managerial action that can give the benefit to the company and the benefit to manager individually. The result which use shareholders rate showed earning management is more ethical when it more benefited to the company. Conversely, in the non shareholders rated it showed that earning management action as more unethical. This argument has been supported by the other scholar like Parfet (2000). In Parfet (2000) study, it has been gone further and identified that earning management is not essentially always give a negative phenomenon, however it depends on the logical result showed by applying the flexibility of financial reporting options. For example, if managers have credibility to increase shareholders wealth, thus they need to choose all legal options which can assist them to accomplish this goal. Besides, Parfet (2000, p.481) also has differentiated between good and bad earning management. It consider as a good earning management when managers make firm financial performance by voluntary and acceptable business decisions. In opposition, bad earning management is occur when managers has make false accounting entries or broaden estimates beyond reasonable limit. He noted that good earning management is not supposedly to view it as negative and manipulative and cannot be banned. Earning management has influence by many factors like ethics perspective and economic perspective and can be determined and defined from different perception. Ethics perspective is using in order to identify whether have any differences on earning management practices that are perceived by several groups. Normally the ethical research, it will use the assessment of ethical acceptability or unacceptability of various earning management practices by different diversity groups. Numerous attributes for accounting treatment have identified from ethics perspective researches to influence the assessment of ethical acceptability of accounting practices (Wensheng and Jie). Kaplan (2001) found the result this assessment has influence that role in order to determine the fraudulent of financial reporting. This study did not assess in details whether the professionals definitely consider the accounting treatment to be earning management or not. Managers purpose to manage earning is based on their ethics. If their ethics is strong they could hidden from manage earnings because their belief of value do not permit them to manage earnings. Nobody can stop them to do it if they do not have any intention to do so. Thus, it is good for the managers to select the accounting treatments that have been guidance by GAAP in order to minimize any risk arising from violating of GAAP (Wensheng and Jie). According to Kavousy et al (2010), there are four ethics criteria that consist of Professional Commitment (PC), Personal Benefit (PB), Ethical Relativism Orientation (ERO) and Ethical Idealism Orientation (EIO) has been use in order to determine the impact of level of these criteria on the earning management decisions. However, Elias (2002) has identified ethics criteria into two which is on perceived role of ethics and social responsibility and personal moral philosophies or ethical ideology like idealism and relativism. DETERMINANTS OF ETHICS Ethical Ideology and Ethical Judgment As cited by Greenfiled et al (2008) on study done by Schlenker and Forsyth (1977) and Forsyth (1980) noted that an individual ethical ideology or moral philosophy is one factor that are suggest to explain differences in ethical or moral judgment. Forsyth (1980) recommend that the individual ethical ideology is divided into two dimensions which is idealism and relativism that are developed from Ethics Position Questionnaire (EPQ). Relativism can be described as individuals consideration about universal set of rules or standards where individuals reject universal moral principles and rules. Idealism emphasis on human welfare which means describes the individuals attitudes toward the significance of an action and to see the effect of this significance to welfare of others. An individuals ethical ideology like idealism and relativism may affect the business decision making which is also include the decision to manage earnings. For individuals that are more intent towards idealism should be decide not to manage earnings as it could cause harm and undesirable consequences to others and this outcome should be prevented. These individuals also make a judgement on earning management actions as more unethical (Elias, 2002). In contrast, those individuals that are more relativist will think and make a consideration on certain circumstances first rather than caused the potential harm of decisions. These individuals are more lenient in make a judgment for decisions and as a group earning management actions are judge more ethical than do the idealists (Elias, 2002). Personal Benefit (PB) And Professional Commitment (PC) Personal benefit (PB) and Professional commitment (PC) is the objective of profession and acknowledgement the value which means the readiness of professional to practice substantial effort on behalf of profession and sustain their membership in the profession as an explicit objective that is cited by Kavousy et al (2010) on the study done by Porter et al (1974). Generally, the professional should focus more and give a high commitment on their profession rather than to their personal gain. Thus shareholder thinks that managers and employees can manage and protect the assets of the company and make a correct and firm decision in order to increase company value. In details, all stakeholders believe that certified public accountants can maintain the confidence of public that include remaining independent of the client and purposely speak out the financial condition of the company in the annual report (Greenfield et al, 2008). Ethics And Social Responsibility The relationship between ethical behaviour and social responsibility has been examined by Elias (2002) as this relationship is important for the business. As cited by Elias (2002) on the study done by (Davis, 1974; Robin and Reidenbach, 1987) stated it is due to the business that become as a part of a complex and mutually dependent with social system which means the others part of the system is influence by business actions. Besides, it is essential for the business to have a corporate social responsibility as it is a social contract between business and society and community to require a company to show a greater social concern to the society and community. Thus, the disclosure of corporate social responsibility in annual report becomes more important for company in order to maintain and attract companys customer and it also provide information to the public concerning on a companys activities that relate to the community. As to get a confirmation on the interrelationship between ethics and social responsibility, the study done by Singhapakdi et al (1996) that are cited by Elias (2002) shown that there is tools have been developed and used to determine the individuals belief concerning the role of ethics and social responsibility in organizational effectiveness. The questionnaire is divided into three factors. Part of social responsibility and profitability has become the first factor which consider about the individuals that are more concern and aware on this element which they believe that disclosure of companys social responsibility can bring to the profitability and competitiveness to the company. The second factor is regarding long term gain where the individual that involve more in this element will believe that social responsibility has play important role to sustain the business as going concern and maintain it for long term success. Lastly, the third factor is about short term gain where the i ndividual more in this element will believe that social responsibility will make a short term success for the company. ETHICS AND EARNING MANAGEMENT LITERATURE Numerous studies have examine the relationship between ethics and earning management as it become as a hot issue especially for the accounting profession. In the study of Elias(2002) with the research title Determinants of Earnings Management Ethics Among Accountants shows that by using 763 accounting practitioners, faculty and students sample there is positive relationship between social responsibility that focus on idealism and long term gains with ethical perception of earning management and negative relationship that focus on relativism and short term gains with ethical perception of earning management. The study by Belski and Brozovsky (2002) with research title Ethical Judgment in Accounting: an Examination on the Ethics of Managed Earnings shows that the intent of the earning management problems where managers involve in earning management that was assumed as opportunistic or selfish as more unethical compared with earning management behavior target at maximizing the form contracting efficiency. Furthermore, the method of manipulation was also important and to be considered. The study title The Effect of Ethical Orientation and Professional Commitment on Earning Management on study done by Greenfield et al (2008) with a sample of 375 undergraduate business majors, discovered that a positive relationship among an individuals ethical orientation and decision making. Moreover, individual with higher level of professional commitment look to be less likely to involve with earning management behavior and to behave opportunistically. Study by Marques and Pereira (2009) with the research title Ethical Ideology and Ethical Judgments in the Portuguese Accounting Profession indicate that a major determinant for relativism is an age. It contrasts with the prior research where older respondents exposed themselves significantly more relativistic than younger. While a major determinant of ethical judgment is a gender where against expectations, men shows significantly stricter judgments compared with women in two of the five scenarios. It also signify that respondents ethical judgments did not contrast significantly based on their ethical ideology as supporting the idea that determinant of ethical judgments is not important for ethical ideology. Finally, research done by Kavousy (2010) with the title The Relationship between Ethics Criteria and Earning Management in Accepted Companies in Tehran Stock Exchange found that ethical criteria of PC, PB, ERO, and EIO have an insignificant relationship with earning management. CONCLUSIONS Ethics issues have been taking into consideration and discussed by many parties like professional, academic journals and press. Due to this matter, it brings this research more specific on ethical issues that are related with earning management. The perception of earning management is hard to define as it is very subjective. Thus it is difficult to determine whether it is use appropriate accounting treatment or tend to earning management. It is good for the company to follow guidance from GAAP for applying the flexibility of accounting treatment as to reduce the risk that can violate GAAP. Since earning management issue has a great deal attention by many parties, therefore it is very important for the company to consider about ethical issue in order to manage earning. If individual has a strong sense of ethic, earning management can be avoided as they know it is unethical to do it. Even though manager has opportunity to manage earning as due to the flexibility of accounting treatment , they can manage it properly if they have a good ethics. Otherwise, it will caused earning management which show a unethical behaviour to the stakeholders especially the external parties like investors and customers. As a consequence, a strong relationship between ethic and earning management is taking as serious action to consider. Hence, there are ethics criteria like ethical ideology, personal benefit and professional commitment have been considered in order to determine the impact of it with earning management.