Accounting principals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accounting principals - Essay Example The key is to price it at a level where people can still afford it and will still demand it but where the company will also be able to make a profit and be able to maintain its status as a going concern. There are many ways measure performance but the reason why it is important is that if performance suffers than the whole company suffers. There are man econometric systems of measurement used for this process. Needless to say, it is complex. Clearly taxes play a huge role in every business and it is important to account for them. Transfer pricing is one method of adjusting prices between different parties at arms length. This is an effective method of determining the real price of something with relations to tax. All good accountants will do this. For many years governments have permitted this kind of calculation. Depending on where you sit politically outsourcing is either good or bad. It involves sending certain jobs to other places or countries where they can be done more cheaply. For example, a lot of companies outsource menial work such as call centres to India where wages are lower. This is a good way for companies to save money as they are always sending jobs to places where they can be done more cheaply. However, for workers at home they dont want to see their jobs move. In the end, the customers win as the companys savings are passed on to them. This is important to take into account when reading financial statements. Many workplaces are unionized. Workers sign collective agreements and have many rights. For workers this can be a good thing as their jobs are more easily protected, but for many companies this often involves higher costs as unions demand more wages and benefits. We can see how unions have nearly destroyed the American car industry through the way they drove up costs dramatically over the years. No

LT1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

LT1 - Essay Example Those species who exhibit nature friendly characters and inherit from one generation to another generation would be successfully accepted by the nature. Hence he emphasizes the necessity of maintaining the environmental ethics in the process of modern development. Some environmental theories deliberated the importance of ecology, suitable acquired characters, quantum theory, and big-bang cosmology. Law of acquired characters as proposed by Lamarck explains the importance of possessing some desirable characters which would help the organisms to survive well with the changes in the nature or environment. In the present day context, the environmental ethics have to be made compulsory for implementation especially in developed nations or northern countries. Some theories suggest that higher coordination is called for between the developed and developing nations as the major forest area is present in developing countries where as higher capital bearing ability is the strength of developed nations. At the same time, the environmental ethical theories must strike a balance between the concepts of anthropocentrism and non-anthropocentrism. Over a period of time, the inclination of human beings towards handling the environment witnessed a tremendous change. As the technological advances resulted in higher mechanization and industrialization, the environmental safety has been severely neglected. In other words, the human ethics towards environment have undergone a significant variation in the last two centuries. Let us compare and contrast the varying ethics of human beings with a single perspective like forest conservation. In the ancient period, the human beings maintained very strong environmental ethics as they lived closely with the nature and they even worshipped Gods representing nature. They maintained strong affinity with other animals and plants. However, with the invention of

Fashion Journalism - ELLE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fashion Journalism - ELLE - Essay Example The essay "Fashion Journalism - ELLE" examines the ELLE journal. â€Å"The Eighties† look pictured above is a recall of many fashion trends during the eighties but created with a modern edge. There is a feeling of excess and power with these clothes, and this is shown by the return of the power suite. Exaggerated shoulders top off many of the tops and jackets, creating an overall felling of power and elegance. Punk feelings as well as neon, sequins and metallic are also used, recalling the decade of excess. The Velvet Power Suit, pictured above, is becoming a trend on its own. The plush softens the overall powerful feeling of the suit, but there is still a feeling of glamour present. The designs are retro but also modern, and provide a combination of past and present concepts. Prints are also very popular, making the suit stand out in a crowd. To create a more eye catching feeling, shades such as ruby and amethyst are used, and the material is generally high in lustre. Much as the 80s are becoming popular again in fashion, the â€Å"hippie† jean is also making a strong comeback. In Los Angeles, a strong trend of â€Å"hippie† clothes combined with California fashion is seen on the streets worn by stars such as Nicole Richie and Kate Moss. There is the feeling of cool, casual comfort ability when wearing these jeans. Their faded presentation makes them both eye catching and interesting. The fact that they are oversized increases the delight in wearing them. Pleather bats are making a very big play.... Picture from Elle Magazine Website Pleather bats are making a very big play on the scene in New York. More affordable and resilient than actual leather bags, in the economic recession, many are looking to cut corners with affordability. These bags allow for that concept without losing a sense of fashion. Furthermore, the colors seen are often vibrant and eye-catching, complimenting one's overall look. Fashion Item 3: Striped Polyester, Popular in: Paris Picture from Elle Magazine Website Striped polyester is a very keen fashion in Europe, with a strong focus in Paris. This fashion trend is very modern and sheik, while at the same time, allowing the individual to stand out with a bold contrast of colors and lines. Many of these blazers are made to compliment almost any outfit. New Fashion Designer: A new designer that is becoming very popular in my area is Charleze Mantosh, who owns Belladonna clothing company. Charleze started selling clothes in the retail industry but saw an opening for making her own clothes and selling them as well. Her focus is on rhinestone designs, mostly on T shirts and jeans, which can be made by herself and then resold. As rhinestone designs have become more and more popular, Charleze grasped the concept of ordering various hotfix designs and applying them to T-shirts to sell both by request and in mass. Once she became familiar with this, she was able to also make her own basic designs and add them to T-shirts. When interviewed, Charleze mentioned the difficulty in keeping her store open during this economy. Her ideas for making her own designs and own clothes allowed her to sell many clothes for less, thus drawing more individuals to her store. I discovered when talking to her that fashion design and owning one's

Wk3multicult Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wk3multicult - Essay Example In the therapeutic situation, it would be a good idea to do a thorough interview and ask questions about their cultural ideas. A counselor can do this if they are sensitive to the issues. One of the largest differences between the APA and ACA guidelines for multicultural populations is the size of their documents; the APA guidelines were 103 pages while the ACA guidelines were only 3 pages. I think the difference was because the ACA seemed to need to break down each of their guidelines into several steps which meant a lot of documentation. The ACA guidelines were more succinct and gave an easier read. Another difference is that the ACA guidelines are broken down into three basic areas: Counselor awareness of their own cultural values and beliefs, counselor awareness of the clients worldview and culturally appropriate intervention strategies. The APA has five guidelines that are basically the same as the ACA guidelines. Both guidelines encourage practitioners to become aware of their own values and cultural biases. They both also explain that practitioners should have sensitivity to multicultural issues and to people. ACA guidelines emphasize education while APA guidelines research. In each case they are encouraging their practitioners to go be mindful of the "importance of multicultural sensitivity/responsiveness, knowledge and understanding" (APA guideline #2) when they are working with diverse groups. ACA guidelines are more specific to individual counselors. As an example, they suggest that culturally skilled counselors have an understanding of how "race, culture, ethnicity and so forth may affect personality formation†¦" (ACA Guidelines, B2). This seems to speak to a smaller group of practitioners than the APA guidelines do. These guidelines also suggest that psychologists are not only psychologists, but they are also educators and this means that they should teach multiculturalism in their education of others. The APA guidelines seemed

A personal evaluation of knowledge and its practical application borne Essay

A personal evaluation of knowledge and its practical application borne of this insight - Essay Example Not everyone in the organisation maintains the same cultural characteristics or sustains the same learning styles, which can conflict the process of effective knowledge transfer and knowledge sense-making. Having identified the role of the self in knowledge management, this paper describes personal understandings of the self gleaned through the curriculum and attempts to apply these lessons, using theories of knowledge management as a template, to my personal role as a future KM facilitator, manager or human resource practitioner. Understanding of the intrinsic self The knowledge management process begins with effective communications processes. Knowledge, whether tacit or explicit, cannot be productively categorised, shared or transformed into practical and useful information without finding some variety of shared meaning within the communities of practice model. Knowledge is neither created, transformed or disseminated within a proverbial vacuum, meaning that knowledge management p ractices will not be successful without direct interaction with diverse organisational actors. This fact requires development of a knowledge culture in which a set of shared meanings or symbols is present throughout the organisational structure, something that can be significantly conflicted by differing cultural values, unique learning styles with individuals, or patterns of ethnocentrism, a type of cultural conflict, that conflicts decoding of knowledge communications. Stover (2004) supports the importance of engagement with others in the organisation to facilitate knowledge transfer, iterating that knowledge conversion can only occur through direct interaction with others. Hence, I learned the importance about understanding my own, inherent learning styles and how this impacts personality, worldview, willingness to engage with others socially and interpersonally, and even how the decoding process in communications would occur. Having completed Kolb’s Learning Styles Invent ory, I discovered that I maintain intrinsic characteristics that are aligned with the Converger. The Converger profile is largely unemotional, maintains narrow interests, and appreciates active experimentation to make the abstract into concrete understandings through practical application of deductive reasoning (Smith 2001). The Converger is, inherently, less interested in abstractions that occur during the socialisation process, thus there is less emphasis on people and more on the scientific approach to problem-solving by legitimately applying theory to experience to make evaluations. The Converger would theoretically be the least social profile among Kolb’s four learning styles. Now, it has been established that effective knowledge management requires interventions with other organisational actors in order to make knowledge transfer productive and relevant to the organisation and its strategic objectives. However, having learned that I maintain much more pragmatic and sens ible characteristics (far and above a social leaning), I realised that knowledge management could be conflicted by having an in-borne preference for self-motivated experimentation whilst others in the organisation might fit Diverger profiles that are more concerned with embracing culture and the social condition.

Week 9 assignment paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 9 assignment paper - Essay Example The public image of the company is paramount in keeping its customers and retaining its value. People arrive at the decision to purchase goods and services based on personal values. If the company projects the image consistent with public values, then sales may be expected to go up, as well as revenues and profits. This leads to a more valuable company through increased ROI for investors. However, companies negatively perceived are shunned and sales suffer. One need only look at Nike and Gap when news broke out that they outsourced products from child labor and sweat shops in Asia (Thottam, 2005). St. Jude Medical, my organization, is perceived as a reliable provider of quality medical goods, with a solid reputation in corporate responsibility. An organization with a high employee retention rate keeps its trained and skilled workers for a long time. The organization gains the benefit of their long-term experience and expertise, and avoids the cost of having to train new employees frequently. A high turnover rate reduces profitability because of the time new hires go through their learning curves, and the disruptions in the production schedule because of vacancies. Besides, one must â€Å"employ the market† to best serve the market (RBC, 2012). At SJM, employee turnover rate is low, and retention high. Of course, positive news breaks about the company are always welcome, and in the case of negative news, SJM, a Fortune 500 company, has its crisis management team to pre-empt the worst effects. The key to the crisis management plan is prompt, transparent communication with the public. SJM does not rely on PR or window dressing. Instead, its 16,000 engaged employees worldwide become the company’s spokesmen and uphold its brand name, by their own testimony and endorsement. Finally, SJM counters bad news by its good quality products. Yes, D&I practices at SJM develop a sense of community. The organization

Sunlight on the Grass Essay Example for Free

Sunlight on the Grass Essay For the purpose of this assignment I will analyse two stories. Firstly I will examine the â€Å"Compass and Torch† by Elizabeth Baines and will demonstrate how the objects in the title relate to the characters of the story and represent key themes. I will then discuss â€Å"Something Old, Something New† by Leila Aboulela and highlight the ways in which the title relates to the story. Firstly the â€Å"Compass and Torch† is a story about a young boy setting out on a camping trip with his estranged father. The compass and torch are used symbolically throughout the narrative to reflect the boy’s feelings and relationship to his family. I feel that the compass symbolises a lack of direction or the absence of a relationship between father and son. This can be demonstrated when they are about to leave the car for their journey together at the bottom of the hill. â€Å"The man looks up – for the first time – at the path they will take, which runs from the gate to the brow of the hill. Then he groans: I didn’t bring a compass†. The lack of compass showing with nothing to guide them the chance for them to get closer in their relationship is doomed. However, the narrative continues to suggest that the compass is not required, that with love and hope in their hearts, father and son will always be bonded. â€Å"Compasses are things boys and dads tend to have, but which, when they are alert and strong at heart, they can leave behind.† The compass can also be seen as a metaphor for the pull of the boy between his divorced parents. This idea is shown when the boy had gone upstairs looking for his torch and overhears his Mother and her boyfriend Jim talking in the kitchen. â€Å"The boy might have remembered it, the compass, as they were leaving. But he couldn’t wait to get going, for it all to be over †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ And the way his mother said hardly anything, and made her face blank whenever Dad spoke to her or looked her way†. This text demonstrates that mother and father remain hostile following their divorce and reflects the boy’s awareness of this and feelings of being in the middle of it all. The story demonstrates how the camping trip is an opportunity to strengthen the father son relationship, with the torch signifying the path of reconciliation, used as a tool to light the way to a new future. This is highlighted when, as the boy is sitting in his father’s car, he shows him he has brought his torch, representing the boys longing to bond with his dad.â€Å" as the man drops into the driving seat something in the boy’s chest gives a little hop of joy and he cries excitedly, ’oh I brought my torch!’†. This idea is further reinforced in the narrative when we discover both father and son have torches, â€Å"Two torches are for lighting a bigger space in the wilderness, for lighting it together. Two torches are for father and son to back each other up.† Furthermore, the colour of the torches seems to hold some significance. It is shown that the boy has a red torch whilst the father has a green one. I feel this is deliberate and hold connotations similar to a traffic light system where the red torch symbolises the lack of relationship with this father, with no way of moving forward whilst the fathers green torch reflects the idea of rebuilding the relationship, with the possibility of new horizons. Although not in the title of the story the horse is also symbolic of the boy’s mother and highlights further how Baines uses symbolism to represent characters throughout the narrative. For example whilst on his journey with his father a horse appears. â€Å"The horse comes up to the car. She nudges up, puts her nose over the edge of the door. The man bats her away† I feel this represents the mothers need to protect her son and the struggle the boy feels between his parents. The quote above illustrates the father not wanting the mother to be involved, to take a step back. Similarly â€Å"the horse nuzzles the rucksack top and the man pushes her away†. In Something Old, Something New, Leila Aboulela writes about a wedding due to take place between a Scottish man and his Sudanese bride. The title is therefore appropriate to the story as the popular wedding phrase something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. However, the title goes deeper than that and relates to the story in many more ways representing a number of key themes. The groom is depicted as a man desperate to find himself. He has dropped out of medical school and is unsure on which direction his life should take. He converts from Catholicism to Islam and his new spiritual world seems to have saved him. Indeed, the narrative demonstrates how his view of Islam is different to his brides. â€Å"She associated Islam with her dark skin, her African blood, her own weakness. She couldn’t really understand why anyone like him would want to join the wretched of the world. But he spoke with warmth†. Religion for her seems a flaw, but for him represents a new beginning in life. This theme of conflicting ideas of old and new is also depicted when he arrives in Egypt to meet his bride and her brother. Back in Scotland, her ethnic difference seemed exotic, exciting but once in her home country he realises its nothing new any more â€Å"He became aware that everyone looked like her, shared her colour, the women were dressed like her†. The author also utilises the Nile as a metaphor for the proposed marriage. The Nile is one of Egypt’s most anticipated sights, but on closer inspection the groom finds it is not as he expected â€Å"yes it’s beautiful he replied. But as he spoke he noticed that the rivers flow was forceful, not innocent, not playful. Crocodiles no doubt lurked beneath the surface.† I feel this represents the marriage that his idealised view of his wedding and his bride suddenly turning fearful, with the lurking crocodiles a metaphor perhaps for her overbearing brother. With this fear in place, the groom begins to yearn for the comforts of home and staying at the Hilton hotel represents to some degree the characters longing for home comforts. The Hilton used as sign of the Western world in contrast to the barren landscape of Egypt. †The hotel lobby was impressive, the cool tingling blast of the air-conditioner, music playing, an expanse of marble. He felt soothed somehow, more in control†. Another example of this is when the character struggles to follow the strict Islamic custom of mourning following the girls Uncle’s death. â€Å"He shrugged, he did not want to talk about it, was numbed by what had happened, dulled by the separation from her that the mourning customs seemed to impose.† Furthermore the anxiety he feels about this new culture is noted again â€Å"He had thought, from the books he’d read and the particular British Islam he had been exposed to, that in a Muslim country he would find elegance and reason. Instead he found melancholy, a sensuous place, stripped to the bare bones†. The idea of a new life and a new culture suddenly turning sour in his mind is reinforced with the theft of his British passport contributing to a feeling of a loss of identity. To conclude I feel I have demonstrated how the stories titles relate to the overall meaning of the story and how symbolism is used to portray characters and to enhance the mood and tone of the narrative. Where possible I have provided key examples to support my ideas and to illustrate my understanding of the texts.