Sunday, December 29, 2019

Essay on The Concept of Power in International Politics

Distinction of Mind from Body Using the arguments from doubt, from clear and distinct perceptions, and from simplicity, Descartes attempts to prove in â€Å"The Meditations† that the mind is distinct and separate from the body. This view is now known as Cartesian Dualism. In this essay I will outline Descartes’ main arguments, some of the criticisms of dualism, and my opinion as to which argument I perceive as the most convincing. The first argument in Cartesian Dualism is the Argument from doubt. Descartes starts by concluding that although he can conceive the possibility that his perception of his own body could in fact be false, he cannot conceive the possibility that he is without a mind. This is because by the†¦show more content†¦The second argument is the Argument from clear and distinct perception, and is the part of The Meditations where Descartes attempts to prove that the mind is without doubt distinct from the body. After proposing that all people are thinking things and not physical things, Descartes goes on to argue that the mind is not only separate from the body, but can also live without it. The train of thought follows that if two things can exist apart from one another, then they must be two distinct and separate things. If it is possible to imagine that these two things could exist apart, then God must be able to bring it about. So if God can bring it about that these two things do exist apart, they must therefore be distinct from each other. If this is then applied to body and mind, then it is possible that the two are distinct, as they both exhibit properties that they do not share with the other. If the mind is therefore distinct from the body, then it is possible to exist as a mind without the body. The question is, just because one can clearly and distinctly perceive the mind and body as distinct, does this mean that they actually are? Take the example of a statue. It is made out of metal, but in its state as a statue the metal and the statue are perceived to be one and the same thing. However if the statue is melted down, then the metal still remains, but the statue noShow MoreRelated The Concept of Power in International Politics Essay829 Words   |  4 PagesThe concept of power is central to the study of international politics. International politics has been defined in terms of influencing major nations in the world to advance the purpose of a nati on against the opposition of other nations. Thus, it is rather not surprising that power, either by means of influence or control, has been a dominant concept that is intertwined in discussion when it comes to the study of international politics. Before getting into the fundamental nature of power in internationalRead MoreThe Theory Of International Relations1402 Words   |  6 Pagesare different theory of how international relations should operate, such as Liberalism, Realism, Marxism, Constructivism, the English school often called the international society, Feminism, Green theory, Hegemonic stability theory, Postmodernism and Post colonialism. This essay will be focus on realism and how relevant the realist perspective is in the 21st century international relations. Historically, Realism is the most important approach to discipline of international relations (Nicholson, 2002)Read MoreA Brief Assignment On International Organizations944 Words   |  4 PagesOrganizations 7/25/15 Midterm Assignment It is common knowledge that throughout history, international organizations have played a large role in politics. Becoming a member of a large international organization such as NATO or the European Union has become a sign of success and prosperity for newer, less established state entities. And while there are definitely some sacrifices that come with becoming a part of an international organization, there are also many positive benefits that have been determined toRead MoreInternational Security And International Law Essay1298 Words   |  6 PagesInternational security studies offer several concepts to facilitate comprehension of the complex international order. Transnational identities, balance of power and international institutions and law are the most applicable concepts to describe the international security system. They best reflect the thinking of political leaders even in contrary forms of governments in different parts of the world, in sum, they consider the most dominan t paradigms in the study of world politics and they supplementRead MoreDifferences Between Morgenthau And Kant1311 Words   |  6 Pagespoint of view held by a particular group. Schools of thought relating to world politics are theories that have been the center and cause of countless debates. Two of the most well-known and influential schools of thought in the realm of international politics are realism and liberalism. While the ideas making up both systems have been around for centuries, each school has been since furthered and analyzed by international relations experts and philosophers. Two notable figures of realism and liberalismRead MoreFascism : An Authoritarian System That Promotes Radical And Militant Nationalism1228 Words   |  5 Pagesviolence. The leader, a dictator, often pushes some sort of obscure ideology onto his people. One of the major examples of fascism in the history of international politics is the Nazi Party in Germany during the world war two period. Th is has played a major role in the development of today’s international politics system. After World War 2, the international system focused on economic growth, keeping the peace and helping rebuild. Nationalism: Nationalism is the pride, loyalty and devotion in one’sRead MoreSovereignty Essay700 Words   |  3 Pagesexplaining of international restrictions on the sovereign. National communities by no means exclusively programme the actions, decisions and policies of their governments.(Offe, quoted in Held, 2002, p352). The concept can be further contested by focusing on the nature of the sovereign. It is largely accepted that the sovereign holds the ultimate power. However there are critics that argue that due to sovereignty being intrinsic to democracy, the ultimate power lies withRead MoreWhy Has Marxism Been Neglected For International Relations?977 Words   |  4 PagesWhy has Marxism been neglected in International Relations? One of the major reasons why Marxism has generally been neglected in International Relations is due to the scarcity of Marxist writing that is specifically focused on this subject. However, it can be argued that due to this paucity of material, Marxist theory has nothing of substantial value to offer with regards to international relations. Non- Marxists argue that the concepts in Marx’s analysis of capitalist production; class, labor, exchangeRead MoreMedia Representation of the Rwandan Genocide1202 Words   |  5 Pagesrelation to texts, language and modes of interpretation is because it is through these practices that ideas about International Relations are produced’. Through the media coverage on the Rwanda Genocide I investigate how a lack of representation can limit the study and practice of International Relations. Alan Kuperman (2000) presented the argument that ‘Western media blame the international community for not intervening quickly, but the media must share blame for not immediately recognizing the extentRead MoreHans Morgenthau Defensive Realism Essay1631 Words   |  7 PagesI. Introduction The field of International Security Studies has evolved from the discipline of International Relations as a passage to apprehend the driving forces within international politics. The increases of traditional and non-traditional security threats and problems have made security studies vital to academics, governments, and policymakers. In addition to that, the theory of realism has been a long prevailing paradigm in international security studies. Moreover, realism is more than a single

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Wills Lifestyle - 7563 Words

Acknowledgement I experience great pleasure to convey my profound sense of respect and gratitude to Ms. Rinku Kaicker, design head of wills lifestyle giving us the opportunity to come to this company and get new knowledge and rightful exposure that we students needed. I would like to thank and appreciate the comments and suggestions given to me by Ms. Vatsala Verma for her excellent supervision and encouraging discussions that helped us in having a greater in-look into the project. I would even like to thank the entire staff of the production department for getting our designs executed and cooperating with us throughout our internship. In the end we express our heartfelt gratitude to our faculty, Ms. Vandana Narang and Ms.†¦show more content†¦Over time, the strategic forays into new businesses are expected to garner a significant share of these emerging high-growth markets in India. ITCs Agri-Business is one of Indias largest exporters of agricultural products. ITC is one of the countrys biggest foreign exchange earners (US $ 3.2 billion in the last decade). The Companys e-Choupal initiative is enabling Indian agriculture significantly enhance its competitiveness by empowering Indian farmers through the power of the Internet. This transformational strategy, which has already become the subject matter of a case study at Harvard Business School, is expected to progressively create for ITC a huge rural distribution infrastructure, significantly enhancing the Companys marketing reach. ITCs wholly owned Information Technology subsidiary, ITC Infotech India Ltd, provides IT services and solutions to leading global customers. ITC Infotech has carved a niche for itself by addressing customer challenges through innovative IT solutions. ITCs production facilities and hotels have won numerous national and international awards for quality, productivity, safety and environment management systems. ITC was the first company in India to voluntarily seek a corporateShow MoreRelatedEssay about Hotel California: The Californian Lifestyle1524 Words   |  7 Pagesreferencing drugs, much evidence suggests that â€Å"Hotel California† is, at least partly, making a statement about the lifestyle of drug and alcohol users particularly in the large cities of California. As with many songs, duality of meaning exists in â€Å"Hotel California.† Since â€Å"Hotel California† debuted in the seventies, one can understand why the topic would be Californian drug-using lifestyle. â€Å"The scare tactics of the 1960s gave way to the contradictory messages of the late 70s and early 80s. DrugsRead MoreLifestyle Medicine And Modern Medicine Essay2288 Words   |  10 PagesLifestyle Medicine-An Adjuvant to Contemporary Medicine With Reference To Lifestyle Disorders Introduction: Today health care and disease management has progressed a lot but somehow every integrative pathy is strongly focusing on the change in the routine lifestyle. This is completed under a new branch today named-lifestyle medicine. Lifestyle medicine is an inter-disciplinary medicine branch covering lifestyle modification, public and environmental health. The lifestyle medicineRead MoreEssay My little bit of country891 Words   |  4 PagesLittle Bit of Country What would the ideal lifestyle contain? Would it be a busy life, surrounded by tall buildings and lots of people or would it be on the country, enveloped in the uncontrolled nature and with a small society? Some would argue for the city-life, while others would argue for the country-life. It might be impossible to conclude which lifestyle is really the best, but there is definitely both cons and pros to each of the two lifestyles. In an article called My Little Bit of CountryRead MoreAnalysis Of Blood On The Forge By William Attaway959 Words   |  4 Pageslife a group of people follow, meaning their behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that identify them as where they came from, who they are, and who they can become. On the other hand, we know that culture is always changing and adapting to the lifestyle and advances of the present day. This can happen by the adaptation groups of people have suffered in order to achieve a better way of living other than the one they’ve previously had. Examples of these changes can be seen with the â€Å"Great Migration†Read MoreMarketing Plan For The Company1489 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Lululemon is a company that has based itself around a value proposition of ethical production, healthy living and quality athletic gear designed to encourage and support an active lifestyle (Lululemon, 2014). Unfortunately for the company in the last year it has come under fire for a run of clothing that was far below their standard quality, and was in fact recalled for being too sheer (Peterson, 2013). This incident was exacerbated by CEO Chip Wilson’s comments that effectively blamedRead MoreEffective Time Management Planning?1164 Words   |  5 Pagesdifference among a productive day and a totally annoying day. The usage of time management all through an everyday day life can assist, reduce stress and simplify existence. Without having a plan on a way to control time, it is able to create stress in lifestyles and also forgetting vital dates and closing dates. By no longer having a few types of company, in existence it will create chaos and could seem as though there is not enough time in in the future to complete each day to day responsibilities. EveryRead MoreThe Lamp at Noon722 Words   |  3 Pagesof life before their coupling gives them different points of views. This leads to their dispute and resulting in the terrible decision to be made which results in the death of the baby. Therefore in the short story The Lamp at Noon, Different lifestyles prior to marriage lead to miscommunication resulting in tragedy. Ellen grew up in the city working as a young teacher in town while Paul grew up in the suburb as a farmer boy. She is use to moving around and â€Å"loves shiny things† but that is notRead MoreWe Need A Clean Work Space And A Healthy Environment1372 Words   |  6 PagesThis is an important assumption to uncover, as it could hold the key to figuring out how to convince people to change their lifestyle and care more about the environment. America’s consumer lifestyle seems like an unstoppable force. We have days dedicated to shopping and the need to keep on upgrading to the latest gadget on the market. We have set this idealized lifestyle that started with the concept of the American Dream. There’s this idea that you can come to this country and you will be ableRead MoreThe Negatives of Entertainment on Society Essay718 Words   |  3 Pagesdisunity in our contemporary culture. However, entertainment, in all its forms, has the ability to obliterate society because it displays unrealistic lifestyles, influences younger audiences to engage in risky activities, and makes its viewers unintelligent. One of the mainly portrayed themes in almost all entertainment is an unrealistic lifestyle. On MTV, runs a show called AWKWARD. It expresses the life of a girl who does not rank high on the social status scale, also known as a loser. As theRead MoreLiving Off The Grid1593 Words   |  7 PagesThere are 180,00 families in America living a sustainable lifestyle and roughly around 1.7 billion people worldwide living without depending on the grid. (Palameri 1; Perez qtd. in Wood 1). The number of Eco villages, sustainable and intentional communities are rising across the nation as more people are discovering that they possess a strong inclination to live in the same manner as the Amish. This phenomenon is becoming a progressively popular choice for people from all walks of life. Not only

Friday, December 13, 2019

Lean On Me Essay Example For Students

Lean On Me Essay East Side High School was labeled a cauldron of violence. After they were designated this harsh term, Joe Clark becomes the head principal and changes it all around or does he? Lean on Me is a story of hope, development, love, hate, and dependence. As a father figure and friend, Clarks strict disciplining and harsh attitude helps heal, strengthen, and bring to life a struggling high school in New Jersey. But is this plot just a story for the movie screen? Did the true story really happen like this and end like this?Lean on Me might be moving and powerful, but we must look deeper into the real personality of Joe Clark and how he treated others. Crazy Joe Clark does not get his name from out of the blue. He is violent, angry, and set in his own ways and beliefs. His wife that left him and the one friend that he has are all reflective signs of his horrendous behavior. He walks around the school with a baseball bat, rather than a clipboard or briefcase. The fear that he earns is more prevalent than the respect that the students and teachers have for him. He likes to be known as HNIC the head nigger in charge. His absurd manners are strongly disliked by his fellow colleagues. He insults teachers in front of students and fires them when they do not comply with his harsh rules. The first disturbing aspect of this movie is Joe Clarks personality; although he changes around the school, he does it in a bizarre and vicious manner. Another bizarre aspect of the movie is how the director, , portrays East Side High. After there is a time change from the 60s to the 80s, East Side transforms from a nice, well-kept, and clean school to a graffiti filled, prison-like, school that resembles an alleyway, not a high school. There are fights in the hallway and the bathrooms every time class lets out. Drug dealers are let in by other students to exchange money and drugs. East Side is portrayed as a rundown and scary to say the least learning institution. For one person, let alone a group of people, to turn it around in under a year, like Joe Clark does, is unimaginable and almost impossible. The school song is an important symbol throughout the movie. It is metaphoric of the change that East Side undergoes. As they tune up the song, they tune up the school. The song goes from a piece of garbage, to a song that is sung in harmony and tune by the students. Category: Miscellaneous

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Property Law free essay sample

Kinds of Trust Trusts are either: 1. Express Trusts (being examined in this lecture). 2. Charitable Trusts 3. Resulting Trusts (intention presumed) 4. Constructive Trusts (used as a remedy) Three Certainties The law of equity states that a trust must satisfy the 3 certainties. If any of the 3 certainties do not eventuate, the trust will fail: ?Certainty of Intention – it must be clear that the settlor or testator/testatrix (person creating a trust) wanted the trust to exist. ?Resulting (intention presumed) and Constructive (used as a remedy) trusts are immune from this certainty. Intention does NOT need to be expressed through the word ‘trust’. Only the elements of a trust need to be present. A deed may contain recitals, that recite a previous set of events where an agreement was made. Consequently the accuracy of the deed’s ‘memory’ can be challenged) 3)The document is ambigious – Lutheran Church of Australia v Farmers Cooperate Executive and Trustees Ltd (1970) 121 CLR 628 4)Document was created in circumstances of fraud, duress or mistake – Boranga v Flintoff (1997) 19 WAR 1 ~Post mortem Trusts ? in addition to the parole evidence rules, there is law restricting extrinsic evidence in the interpretation of a will. We will write a custom essay sample on Property Law or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page To ‘side step’ this issue we should view the holder of the fund as the setttlor and trustee, in effect removing the ‘hostile’ settlor from the equation. NB: Meagher and Gummow in Jacobs Law of Trusts (edition before last) have accepted this a probable explanation for the finding in the NSW Court of Appeal in Stephens. ?Certainty of Subject Matter – it must be clear what the property is that will be held on trust. NB: Either the property must be stated as being certain or it must be able to be determined in accordance with the maxim ‘that which is not certain is capable of being rendered certain’. Problems (that usually arise): ?Percentage Property ? problems occur when the property is part of a number of identical items. E. g. 5% of the 950 shares of Kaplan Ltd. (which shares are being held? ). ?Future Property ? as the property doesn’t exist, it cannot be put on trust. ?Certainty of Objects (The Beneficiary Principle)– the trust will fail if it is not clear who the beneficiaries are. Exceptions: -Charitable Trusts – beneficiaries do not have to be identified. -Trust for Animals – (don’t the animals have to be identified? ) Level of Certainty: The level of certainty required by the beneficiary principle changes subject to whether the trust is a fixed trust or a discretionary trust. ?Fixed Trusts: ~Refers to trusts where the entitlement of the beneficiary is known and fixed. ~‘List Certainty’ ? Certainty of Object rule requires that all the beneficiaries can be listed at the time their beneficial interests come into effect. -Inter vivos trust ? certainty of object is required from the moment the trust comes into operation. -Post mortem trust ? certainty of object is required from the moment the person dies. ~Identity ? t should be known that only the identity of the beneficiary is needed (their whereabouts, etc are NOT required). If the beneficiary can’t be located, the trustee can request for the court to direct them how to pay the missing beneficiary’s share (Whislaw v Stephens; Re Gulbenskian Settlements [1970]). West v Weston (1998) 44 NSWLR 657 (RSL 18. 2. 40) Testator died, leaving his estate on trust for any descendants of his 4 grandparents that have now reached the age of 21. -The executrix of the trust identified over 1600 people, but still couldn’t guarantee that everyone was identified. Problem: If the trust ‘falls over’ and there is no residual beneficiary, than the funds go to the crown. -Justice Young: States that the rule of list certainty will be satisfied if the court is satisfied that: a. The substantial majority of the beneficiaries have been identified. b. No reasonable enquiries could be made which would improve the situation. ?Discretionary Trusts: ~Reminder: Trust has been set up and the trustee has an obligation to exercise a power of appointment, not for themselves. ~ History: Prior to Baden the list certainty rule was applicable to discretionary trusts as well as fixed trusts. A creator created a trust that gave his trustees the discretion to use the net income of the trust for the benefit of the staff of a company, their relatives and dependants. -The executors of the creator’s estate argued that the trust was void because the beneficiaries could not be ascertained with list certainty. -The executors requested that the funds become part of the creator’s estate. -The trustees argued that the disposition was a mere power thus not subject to the requirement of list certainty. House of Lords unanimously found that the disposition was a trust power, given the mandatory language employed by the creator.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Performance of Punong Barangay in Poblacion, Valencia City, Bukidnon free essay sample

A barangay is the simplest unit of Local Government Unit. They handle a small community like purok or sitios. All places in the Philippines consist of this small LGU unit and barangay officials. In this article, you will have a brief idea about the duties and responsibilities of every barangay official that had been elected by their constituents. The Punong Barangay or the Barangay Chairman is the executive head of the smallest unit of the government. He or she is in charge of the governance, development planning, basic services and facilities, compliance to directives, barangay legislation, and fiscal administration. People are required to respect the barangay head’s decision and rules implemented. On the other hand, a barangay chairman may have the power to lead one barangay, but he/she must still follow the law. If a barangay chairman is abusive of his/her powers, people can complain to the COMELEC and get him/her terminated in due process. We will write a custom essay sample on Performance of Punong Barangay in Poblacion, Valencia City, Bukidnon or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The barangay secretary is liable in all of the barangay’s paper works. He/she must always take down notes all of the discussions and plans that has been made in their meeting. She/he automatically re-read his/her report on the next barangay meeting. The treasurer on the other hand is responsible of all of the funds of the barangay. From the budget for properties, budget for projects, and budget for the salary of the officials, he/she must take care of it. As for the seven barangay councilors, they all have their specific tasks that will be assigned by their chairman. They must be on the barangay hall once a week to accommodate the people coming every now and then in their office. All in all, barangay officials must do these following tasks: Formulate measures to eliminate drug addiction. Maintain cleanliness and beautification of their area. Promote peace and order. Promote the well being of the woman and youth rights. Maintain barangay-owned properties and infrastructures. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX DISSERTATION Title: LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE OF THE PUNONG BARANGAYS IN VIRAC IN THE DELIVERY OF BASIC SERVICES AND FACILITIES AS PERCEIVED BY BARANGAY OFFICIALS FOR THE TERM 1994-1997. Author: MENDOZA, ORLANDO L. This research looked into the level of performance of the Punong -Barangay in the delivery of basic services and facilities as provided for in the Local Government Code of 1991.  The following specific questions were answered by the study: 1.What is the socio-demographic profile of the barangay officials in the municipality of Virac? 2.What is the barangay officials perception on the level of performance of punong barangay in the basic services and facilities? 3.Is there significant relationship between the socio-demographic profile of the barangay officials and their perception on the level of performance of the punong barangay in the delivery on basic services and facilities? 4. Is there significant difference in the perception of the punong barangay and those of the other barangay officials on the level of performance in the delivery of basic services and facilities? 5.What are the problems encountered by the barangay officials in the delivery of basic services and facilities? 6.What are the recommendations of the barangay officials to enhance the delivery of the basic services and facilities in the barangay? Several hypothesis were tested which are as follows: 1.The socio-demographic profile of the barangay officials in the municipality of Virac influences their level of performance in the delivery of the basic services and facilities to their respective barangays; 2.There is significant difference between the punong barangays and other barangay officials perfection on the level of performance in the delivery of basic services and facilities in their respective barangay. The descriptive method of research was adapted utilizing questionnaire-checklist as the main instrument in the gathering of data. The study covered sixty-three (63) barangays of Virac, Catanduanes. The respondents were all punong-barangays, barangay secretaries, barangay treasurers, Sangguniang barangay members and the Sangguniang kabataan chairs. There was a total of 667 respondent barangay officials and a 100% retrieval was achieved. The frequency count, percentage, weighted arithmetic mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, students t-test, Pearson Product moment of correlation and Point Biserial correlation coefficient were the statistical tools in this study. The study disclosed that majority of the barangay officials are male, married and younger than 43 years old. Their gross monthly income falls within the range P3,001-6,000.00 and they have been in their respective positive for 3 years. The highest educational attainment in having earned masteral units and the least achieved was elementary level. They have attended various training related to their positions. The most cited trainings attended are Barangay Administration training program, Barangay Legislation, and Lupong Tagapayapa training among others. Majority of barangay treasurers are male, married, and younger than 47 years old. Seventeen of them are college undergraduate and 16 were college graduates. Barangay Administration training program, Barangay Budgeting, Bookkeeping and Accounting were attended by all of them. The Sangguniang Kabataan chairmen were all single. Most of them are college undergraduates and have attended SK leadership. Most of them are more than 20 years old. The Sangguniang Barangay members are mostly male, married, and with a mean age of 46 years. Most of them are elementary graduates and have attended Barangay Administration Training Program. However, Barangay Legislation which is the focus of their functions was only attended by 38.35% of them. Generally, in the adequacy, the barangay officials the performance of the punong barangay in the delivery of basic services and facilities, as fair,  and in as well as payment of services of the barangay officials to be on salary basic, were among the priority recommendations of the barangay officials themselves. The researcher recommended a training program for all barangay officials to strengthen their knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the fields of planning, financial administration, project development and management, local legislation and community participation so that adequate, effective, efficient and equitable delivery of basic services and facilities could be attained thereby realizing the goals of local autonomy, community development and general welfare of the people.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

the shackles of socialist realism essays

the shackles of socialist realism essays The civil strife and chaos that had torn Russia limb from limb in the early 20th Century, although brutally devastating, did not hail the end of the stability and power that had characterized the massive country for so much of history. The continuing strength of what was now the Soviet Union lay in the newly formed support structure provided by Socialist Realism, a force that directed the awareness of, and the arts produced by, the Soviet people. The ideals of Socialist Realism deified Lenin and Marx, attributed the Bolshevik ranks with heroism undaunted by overwhelming opposition, and directed the proletariat towards a better future through reconstruction and industrialization of the state. Socialist Realism was essentially a Party tool that, combined with the Bolshevik ideals of collectivization and unity, would transform the people into a formidable, indestructible mass force. Socialist Realism's central code of conduct was, in Stalin's words, to "above all portray life truthfully." Any form of art that depicted Bolshevik life was to do so in a realistic and accurate manner, "on its way to socialism"; "that will be socialist art, that will be Socialist Realism." (Lincoln 333) This was the paradigm that all Soviet art was to be modeled after; implemented in 1934, the formula of Socialist Realism would heavily influence artistic life in the Soviet Union until the 1960s. The rise of Socialist Realism was rapid and dramatic. It dampened Europe's excitement over Russia's post-schism, secular art by redirecting art inward towards the Soviet people and forcing form and function upon it rather than abiding by the ideal of "art for art's sake." Once again, the ancient religious ideals of Orthodox Russia were shunned, and the Party replaced God at the forefront of Soviet life. The Party mimicked Socialist Realism as a model for the people, who were expected to take the example of their heroic yet humble forefathers and arise fro...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

BUS430 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

BUS430 - Coursework Example In acquisition, the large company exists but the smaller company is entirely owned by the large organization. In most cases, the acquirer company purchases large portion or all shares of the acquired company thus gaining control over the acquired company. Merger and acquisition strategies are adopted by companies for different reasons. First, companies adopt acquisition and merger strategies for strategic rationale aimed at achieving strategic goals set by organizations. Secondly, a company can enter into merger or acquisition due management failure and financial losses. Political influence also contributes to mergers and acquisitions as they order public organizations to either merge or acquire each other. Other reasons for mergers and acquisitions include internationalization, globalization, accessing cheap resources, increasing production, diversification of products and acquisition of large market share. Several companies have merged, and other acquired other companies in the past few years. Mergers and acquisitions have been successful will others have been unsuccessful. Success or failure of either a merger or an acquisition depends on various factors. Some of these factors include cultural fit, core competency, communication efficiency, core activities of companies, the size of organizations and financial issues. Some of the successful mergers and acquisitions include PETRONAS Corporation acquiring Progress Energy and purchase of WhatsApp by Facebook Inc. PETRONAS Corporation is one of the energy utility multinational corporation is based in Malaysia. The corporation is owned and governed by the Malaysian government, but it actively participates in the international trade. PETRONAS Corporation decided to expand their market and extraction activities by acquiring a Canadian energy company, Progress Energy in December 2012. The acquisition of Progress Energy was agreed to be $4.6 billion that included share

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Speakers' experiences and my the experiences for accounting Essay

Speakers' experiences and my the experiences for accounting - Essay Example It also serves as a tool of the eventual decision making in the business setting. Proper accounting portrays the ultimate financial position of the business. The accounting field provides an interrelationship with other departments in any organization. It tends to unify all the fields in any organization. All departments must spend through the consumption of the business resources. Accounting provides the platform of unifying all the expenditure and comparing it with the revenues that the business enjoy. Every department or discipline has a mandate of ensuring proper utilization to minimize the expenditure and maximize the returns. The evaluation of such disciplines is a tremendous initiative in determining the financial position of different disciplines. Examples of disciplines that require the knowledge of accounting to run them include; the human resource, ICT, marketing, and other disciplines. The information obtained from various fields in a business culminates into the final re port that is portrayed in the books of accounts. Amber Herrmann Amber Herrmann is a former graduate of CFCUSM. She started her course in accounting and passed the first accounting course. She later took a business course in human resource management. She graduated as an accountant, but later switched to human resources. The human resource is involved in the recruitment of new employees, performance appraisal, promotion of the employees, and the laying off workers. It is a department that is mostly involved in the maintenance and protection of the employee welfare. Accounting Information used by the Discipline Though Amber is a human resource manager, knowledge of the accounting has propagated her to become the merited manager she is. She provides the insights about the application of the accounting knowledge in the HR department. The department is involved in the management of about 12000 employees. The welfare of these employees has to be protected. The accounting information provi des them with the general liability procedures that the department requires for merited performance. During the annual general meetings, the department must prepare the most credible financial records and present them to evaluate their performance. This involves the use of the departmental cash accounts, balance sheets, and cash flows. This is due to its predisposition in the spending tendencies in most companies. â€Å"HR department has been deemed as spenders. The proper application of the accounting techniques ensures for efficient spending† (Herrmann, 15:01-15:30). The HR is necessitated to provide the final budgeting at the end of every financial year. This involves both the returns and the investments or expenditure. The HR must use the accounting discipline to ensure that the budget is sufficient and not exaggerated. They do not base their eventual values on assumptions, but on the values portrayed in the records. The proper employment of the values is necessary in mak ing the approximation of the supplies to their departments. This may be used to cater for the general liabilities such as employee injuries, legal liabilities, performance appraisal, and payment of the employee salaries. Therefore, the knowledge of accounting is used to monitor the patterns of budgeting (Herrmann, 14:45-15:59). Most organizations believe that the HR is a department that is explicitly involved in costs, and not returns. Amber uses her accounting knowledge to ensure that the money stays in the firm. They try to minimize expenses of

Monday, November 18, 2019

Chinese market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Chinese market - Essay Example The paper describes four subjects which are the basis to validate the hypotheses of this thesis. The subjects are technology, cultural analysis, international market entrance strategies, and the development of foreign investment in China. The technology subject shows how technology has influenced economic markets worldwide during the last century. Through a systematic historical perspective the literature review illustrates how technology has influenced all economic systems worldwide and how the factor breaks national barriers. The cultural analysis section describes the elements of Hofstede cultural dimension model and provides examples of its application. Three different market entrance strategies are described with examples of its usage. The fourth subject shows a historical overview of foreign investment in the target market, China, to illustrate its evolution and inevitable transformation towards an open market. The evolution of the economic systems and the international markets has been impacted by a key variable which transcends national boundaries. This key factor is called technology. Technology is defined as the application of scientific knowledge in industry or business. During the 20th century technology has been a determining factor that has transformed the way nations perform business. During the industrial revolution technological advances help increase the overall worldwide output of goods. All industrialized nations benefited from the application of technology such as massive machinery in their production generation activities.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Medea by Euripides | Plot Summary

Medea by Euripides | Plot Summary Crazed Mother Medea relates to real life if you watch the news and hear about ex-lovers ending their relationships with murder or suicide. Medea is willing to sacrifice everything to make her revenge perfect. Medea shows her complete necessity for revenge when she says, â€Å"anyone running between me and my justice will reap what no man wants.† Not only does she kill two children, she kills her own two innocent children, because she does not want the kids in Jasons hands. This type of crazed revenge is seen too often in todays society. The play Medea can be interpreted as a crazy mother who takes her heart broken anger out on her own innocent children. At the beginning of the play, the Nurse talks about the years when Medea and Jason were in love. She mentions how she was broken by saying, â€Å"but Jason has turned from her; he calls the old bond a barbarian mating, not a Greek marriage.† Jason harshly betrays Medea and it is obvious that it is going to lead to violence and rage when Medea says, â€Å"And when I have ruined the whole of Jasons house, I shall leave the land and flee from the murder of my Dear children, and I shall have done a dreadful deed.† Medea has set her plan to ruin Jasons life by taking her childrens. Jason is very arrogant, but is he really the hero he is made up to be? Medea knows she made Jason who he is when she says, â€Å"I gave him success and fame; I saved him his precious life, not once, many times†¦I betrayed my father for him, I killed my brother to save him.† The reason why Jason is where he is at in his life is because of Medea. She did all the dirty work for Jason, but he repays her by running off and marrying the beautiful girl. Jason does not understand that the reason he holds power is from Medea. This arrogance is one of the reasons why Medea is so enraged at Jason. Medea gives many hints throughout the play of her final act of retaliation. As the story progresses the need to seek revenge also builds inside of her. The initial signs of Medeas potential behavior appear at the beginning of the play when the Nurse tells how Medea is emotionally hurt. The Nurse says, â€Å"But Medea lies in the house, broken with pain and rage; she will neither eat nor drink.† It is completely natural to want revenge on something that has stung you in the past. Medea comes right out and tells Jason that something is going to happen, â€Å"Something might happen. It is†¦likely†¦that something might happen to the bride and the marriage.† Medea bluntly tells Jason that something will happen to disrupt his marriage and she will have revenge for what Jason has done to her. Medea showed her first signs of craziness when she killed her family members and others to get what she wanted. She offers more signs of her future behavior when she screams out in her mind about what she will do, â€Å"What I need: all dead, all dead, all dead, under the great cold stones. For a year and a thousand years and another thousand: cold as stones, cold, but noble again, proud, strait, and silent, crimson-cloaked in the blood of our wounds.† Medea wants all that have betrayed her to be dead. Even though Jason is still living, his pride and everything he had, like his children and the princess, is dead. She says that once it has all been completed she will be proud, and noble. This self-reflection is a major give away toward her crazy inner soul. In Medea, the three Corinthian women often show signs that they are afraid of Medea. One of the Corinthian women says, â€Å"They say she is dangerous. Look at her eyes.† The women tell us that Medea is filled with crazed rage and will do something dangerous. One of the Corinthian women says, â€Å"Women hate war, but men will wage it again. Women may hate their husbands, and sons, and fathers, but women will never hate their children.† This statement says that Medea will hate her husband, but she did not hate her children even though she killed them, and this is ultimately what makes her crazy. Medea also shows many heroic qualities, especially when she is willing to kill her own brother to be with Jason. When she kills her brother, she shows that she is willing to do whatever is necessary to get the job done. Medea has been not only cheated, but also betrayed by Jason. She will not tolerate this abuse from him and does something about it. Medea says to Creon, â€Å"You see a woman driven half mad with sorrow, laboring to save her little children.† Medea builds up enough courage to confront Jason and get revenge. There are two main reasons why Medea decides to kill her children. The first is that she feels that it is a perfect way to complement the death of the princess in getting revenge on Jason. When she tells the chorus of the plans to kill the children, they wonder if she has the heart to kill her children, and Medea answers, â€Å"yes, for this is the best way to wound my husband.† This shows that she believes that by killing her children, she will basically ruin Jasons life and succeed in her revenge. The second reason for Medea killing her children has nothing to do with revenge. If she left her children with Jason, they would be living in a society that would look down upon them since they do not have pure goddess origins. Since she does not want to leave her children with Jason, they really have no place else to go, â€Å"my children, there is none who can give them safety.† Medea decides that killing her children is the best way to get both revenge, and the assurance that her children are not in Jasons hands. Medea ends the play with her crazed mind when she stabs her two innocent kids to death. She confronts Jason with the dead children and taunts him as she walks on saying, â€Å"I do not leave my childrens bodies with thee; I take them with me that I may bury them in Heras precinct. And for thee, who didst me all that evil, I prophesy an evil doom.† Medea shows her craziness throughout the entire play.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Internet as a Learning Tool Essay -- Technology Web Essays

The Internet as a Learning Tool The Internet has a universal appeal for most people. We (in the United States) have become dependant on it for our daily routines. We shop, send mail, read the news, look up movie reviews, etc., using the Internet. We depend on this service, because we have told ourselves that "It" has made our lives easier. We advocate the use of similar technologies within the classroom, because we are convinced that the use of computers and having access to the Internet is the best way to educate our children so they can have an equal chance to reach their potential and accomplish their goals. It is true that the Internet is a great source of information. Its value as a resource is immeasurable. Unfortunately, to get this benefit we have to pay a price. In some cases this comes as loss of privacy. The Internet and the digital world are a part of the public sphere; therefore, our speech has to be measured and revised to be appropriate for this realm causing our free speech to be limited. Access to the Internet is also restricted to a certain group of people. One has to own a computer, or have access to one to be able to make use of its benefits. Internet access is uneven, therefore unfair. The other potential problem with the Internet is the access that people with shady intents or with low morality have to it. Anyone with the means to a computer can be online with our innocent children. Are their intents innocent also? In the realm of education, I think that the Internet can be a great resource for information. Research can be easily planned and implemented for the benefit of both students and educators. Unfortunately, this brings us back to the issue of limited access. Some students are more readily... ...ose to a multimedia / interactive classroom as we think we are. The school district (LAUSD) has spent several millions on purchasing computers and hooking them up to the Internet. The emphasis is on acquiring technology instead of implementing it. I still think that the novelty of computers and its tremendous appeal to students of all ages should be utilized to teach. Works Cited "Fast, Easy and FREE Webpages." http://www.webspawner.com/ (1 Nov. 2001). "How to Publish Web Pages." http://itsweb.hartford.edu (1 Nov. 2001). "How to Publish Web Pages to an Internet Server." http://www.surfwise.com/support/publish.htm (1 Nov. 2001). "Personal Publishing." http://www.utexas.edu/ (1 Nov. 2001). "Publishing Your Page for Free." http://home.san.rr.com/artbytes/publish.htm (1 Nov. 2001). "Yahoo! GeoCities." http://geocities.yahoo.com (1 Nov. 2001).

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Successfully Navigating the Turbulent Skies of a Large-Scale Erp

Bombardier is the world’s only manufacturer of both planes and trains, it is present in more then 60 countries and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Both Bombardier Aerospace & Bombardier transportation employ over 70 000 and posted a revenue of over 18. 3 billion in the fiscal year ended December 31,2011. The case presents the implementation of an ERP system in Bombardier, along with all the major changes the corporation undertook for a successful transition. In the analysis I will address the challenges faced by Bombardier, the challenges associated with the integration of the large system & its benefits.I will also address how the project team managed and communicated it’s vision amongst the firm and how the new roles were defined, communicated & understood. The analysis will focus up to and including the implementation of the system. As the company grew over the years, Bombardier’s strategy of growth by acquisition turned the firm into a â€Å"textbook s ilo organization†. This created problems as systems did not communicate with each other effectively. This inefficiency generated additional costs because the firm had to maintain all the different systems.Another problem, related to the operation of the aerospace division, was the low visibility of inventory and lack of integration between the old computer systems. This caused process delays, low inventory turns & price inconsistency from suppliers. The Bombardier Manufacturing System (BMS) , the group of information technology applications that had been supporting Bombardier Aerospace’s manufacturing activities, had not evolved to cope with the fast changes. The BMS capabilities had become limited. We can assume that Bombardier was not a fully integrated company at that time because there was a clear lack of coordination and unity.An example would be how employees would create numerous stand-alone databases throughout the company on operations specific to their functio n without realizing the negative effect it causes to the rest of the organization such as data errors or omissions. But Bombardier Aerospace was working on becoming an integrated Company, as the Vice-President of Operations and Project Sponsor was aware of the challenges and created a Vision: â€Å"One Company†: To align the operations of its acquired companies by implementing common roles and responsibilities.To meet this enormous challenge, a Enterprise Resource planning (ERP) system was first implemented at Bombardier Aerospace. The first attempt in 2000 was a costly failure. The implementation of this technology without the corresponding organizational changes was the main reason of its failure. The factors that contributed to its breakdown are identified as : Focusing the implementation on inappropriate business processes, an outdated company vision, a weak sponsorship model, insufficient involvement of internal employees and having too many third-party consultants emplo yed on the project.In October 2001, Bombardier Manufacturing Information System (BMIS) was created by the Senior Project Manager to establish a new integrated manufacturing system. BMIS was the first project launched with a vision of an integrated organization. Once completed it would support 9,500 users over seven sites and the main benefit of the system’s integration is the cost savings of over $1. 171 billion and a one time reduction in material inventory of $219 million. To Create & implement such a system, a blue print of the operation was created.An integration team was formed; There role was to identify integration points where a process crossed functional boundaries, and independently resolve integration points that could potentially cause disagreement. The functional council took high –level decisions regarding the design of the projects. The BMIS team requested that the plants provide them with experienced employees for the design phase. Some problems that th e BMIS project manager was concerned about is that there was a lack of strong business employees, although empowered to make decisions and complete the design had to constantly go back to the business in order to validate.Another problem was the documentation that was requested by the BMIS team were not provided. As a result, the Design phase ran over schedule by several months. Bombardier Aerospace decided to go with a progressive implementation of the system. BMIS would be implemented one plant at a time starting with there newest facility, the Mirabel Plant. The Critical success factor for the project was the â€Å" Vanilla† approach to system design: It was important that the first roll-out or implementation of the system at the Mirabel plant to be a controlled one.Bombardier limited the scope of the first roll-out one section at a time and trained the rest of the shop accordingly. This approach would siege the system to one part of the plant and identify lessons for subs equent roll-outs. The Restructuring of the procurement function plays an important role in realizing the vision of the BMIS. As was stated earlier, one of the problems the firm faced was the low visibility of inventory. By improving the visibility, you can reduce inventory levels that would improve liquidity and reduce cycle time.It was decided mid-project to restructure the procurement function, it was undertaken in parallel with the implementation of the BMIS and was called the Material Resource Planning Technology. The main idea for procurement was to minimize the total acquisition cost and overall procurement costs by concentrating on a centralized and strategic sourcing of inventory. This big change would require the training of new employees and have them ready to use the new system.Data Management was also a parallel project, it can be divided in 2 activities: 1. Data Cleansing: identified as a major risk of the project. 2. Data Preparation: Extraction, mapping, staging and c onsolidation of data. Before going live it was important to prepare the users in utilizing the new system. Due to the pressure of staying on schedule, training were delivered to users in a short period of time which wasn’t effective because transmitting such a large amount of information in a sort period resulted in a negative effect.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Beans and More Beans

Beans and More Beans Beans and More Beans Beans and More Beans By Maeve Maddox Considering the flurry of comments triggered by my inclusion of a bean idiom in a recent post, I decided to give the humble bean a post of its own. The noun bean is Germanic in origin. August Fick (1833-1916) German comparative linguist, suggested that bean was cognate with faba, the Latin word for bean, but according to the OED, â€Å"phonetic considerations render this doubtful.† Originally, the word bean referred only to the broad bean (Faba vulgaris), but now it refers to any seed that resembles it. Human beings and beans have had a long relationship; Egyptians buried them with their dead, and Homer mentioned them in the Iliad. On the ancient Roman feast called the Lemuria (or Lumuralia), the pater familias (father of the family) got out of bed at midnight to walk around the house barefoot, throwing black beans over his shoulder. The rite was intended to exorcise any malevolent spirits that had accumulated in the household during the previous year. Pythagoras instructed his followers â€Å"not to love beans,† but he may have been warning them against meddling in politics, not forbidding them to eat beans; beans were used as markers in political elections. Artistotle equated the bean with venery (pursuit of sexual pleasure); to him, â€Å"abstaining from beans† meant â€Å"keeping the body chaste.† As common objects of daily life, beans found their way into literary and proverbial use. â€Å"Not worth a bean† came to mean worthless. Chaucer (1343-1400) uses the expression in â€Å"The Merchant’s Tale.† The hero of the tale is a knight who, after 60 years of bachelorhood, finally decides to marry: â€Å"For no other way of life,† he said, â€Å"is worth a bean.† A person who â€Å"does not have a bean† is poor indeed, although the bean in this expression may originate elsewhere than with the legume. A slang term for a sovereign or a guinea was bean. â€Å"Not to have a bean† meant â€Å"not to have a cent.† â€Å"Not to know beans about something† is to know nothing about it: Charles Faddis Does not Know Beans About Nuclear Energy â€Å"To spill the beans† is â€Å"to reveal a secret†: Drunk Whistleblower Spilled The Beans On Chemtrail Front Company For CIA The business world has a couple of bean expressions all its own. A â€Å"bean counter† is a contemptuous term applied to an accountant or other financial expert by people who feel that creativity is more valuable than mere record-keeping. A beanfeast or beanfest is an annual dinner given by an employer to his employees. The word bean is slang for head: â€Å"Im a bit short on brain myself; the old bean would appear to have been constructed more for ornament than for use, dont you know†Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œP. G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves Wodehouse and other British writers used â€Å"Old Bean† as a friendly term of address: â€Å"You don’t mind my asking, do you old bean?† â€Å"Use your bean† means â€Å"think!† The little cap called a beanie gets its name from this meaning of bean, as does the baseball term bean ball, â€Å"a ball thrown at a batter’s head.† This application of bean has also given us a verb bean, â€Å"to hit someone on the head.† A beanery is a cheap restaurant, presumably because the meals are heavy on beans. The American city of Bostonfamous for its baked beansis often referred to as â€Å"Bean Town.† The expression that inspired this post is â€Å"full of beans,† meaning â€Å"full of energy and high spirits†: [In winter I try] to rise and shine, full of beans, every day.   [Reba] seems fresh, fit and full of beans, projecting herself the way I’m told she always does When I defined â€Å"full of beans† as â€Å"full of energy and high spirits,† several readers informed me of another meaning: â€Å"full of baloney† (or what bologna becomes once it is digested.) â€Å"Full of beans† in the sense of â€Å"energetic† probably originated as stable slang. Bean-fed horses were observed to be in good condition and lively, as in these examples from the OED: 1870  Ã‚   Daily News 27 July 5  Ã‚   The horses [] looked fresh and beany. 1843  R. S. Surtees Handley Cross II. vii. 199  Ã‚   [Hounds, horses], and men, are in a glorious state of excitement! Full o beans and benevolence! Another 19th century use of â€Å"full of beans† noted as stable slang was applied to a person â€Å"whom sudden prosperity had made offensive and conceited.† I suppose that such a stuck-up person could be seen as â€Å"full of beans† in the sense of being â€Å"full of it.† Apparently both meanings are current, so don’t be surprised if you get a puzzled look if your meaning doesn’t match that of your listener. I’ll end with what is probably the best-known bean quotation in popular culture, Rick’s farewell to Ilsa in the movie Casablanca: Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 1017 Patterns of Sentence StructureHyphenation in Compound Nouns

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

10 Fascinating Facts About Dung Beetles

10 Fascinating Facts About Dung Beetles Is there anything cooler than a dung beetle pushing a ball of poo? We think not. But lest you disagree, please consider these 10 fascinating facts about dung beetles. 1. Dung Beetles Eat Poop Dung beetles are coprophagous insects, meaning they eat excrement of other organisms. Although not all dung beetles eat poop exclusively, they all eat feces at some point in their life. Most prefer to feed on herbivore droppings, which are largely undigested plant matter, rather than carnivore waste, which holds very little nutritional value for insects (and really, who could blame them for that preference). Recent research at the University of Nebraska suggests dung beetles may be most attracted to omnivore excrement, since it provides both nutritional value and the right amount of odor to make it easy to find. 2.  Not All Dung Beetles Roll Their Poop When you think of a dung beetle, you probably picture a beetle pushing a ball of poop along the ground. But some dung beetles don’t bother rolling neat little dung balls at all. Instead, these coprophages stay close to their fecal finds. Aphodian dung beetles (subfamily Aphodiinae) simply live within the dung they find, often cow patties, rather than investing energy in moving it. The earth-boring dung beetles (family Geotrupidae) typically tunnel below the dung pile, making a burrow which can then be easily provisioned with poop. 3. Dung Beetles Provision Their Nests With Poop for Their Offspring When dung beetles do carry or roll the dung away, they do so primarily to feed their young. Dung beetle nests are provisioned with poop, and the female usually deposits each individual egg in its own tiny dung sausage. When the larvae emerge, they are well-supplied with food, enabling them to complete their development within the safe environment of the nest. 4. Many Dung Beetles Are Good Parents Dung beetles are one of the few groups of insects that exhibit parental care for their young. In most cases, child rearing responsibilities fall on the mother (surprise!), who constructs the nest and provisions it with food for her young. But in certain species, both parents share child care duties to some degree. In the Copris and Ontophagus dung beetles, the male and female work together to dig their nests. Certain Cephalodesmius dung beetles even mate for life. 5. Most Dung Beetles Are Particular About the Poop They’ll Eat For most dung beetles, not just any poop will do. Many dung beetles specialize on the dung of particular animals, or types of animals, and simply will not touch the poo of other critters. Australians learned this lesson the hard way, when the outback was nearly buried in cattle dung. Two hundred years ago, settlers introduced horses, sheep, and cattle to Australia, all grazing animals that were new to the native dung beetles. The Australian dung beetles were raised on poop from Down Under, like kangaroo poo, and refused to clean up after the exotic newcomers. Around 1960, Australia imported exotic dung beetles that were adapted to eating cattle dung, and things got back to normal. Phew. 6. Dung Beetles Are Really Good at Finding Poop When it comes to poop, the fresher the better (at least from the dung beetles perspective). Once a dung patty has dried out, it’s less palatable to even the most dedicated poop eater. So dung beetles move quickly when an herbivore drops a gift in the pasture. One scientist observed 4,000 dung beetles on a fresh pile of elephant scat within 15 minutes after it hit the ground, and shortly thereafter, they were joined by an additional 12,000 dung beetles. With that kind of competition, you have to move quick if you’re a dung beetle. 7. Dung Beetles Navigate Using the Milky Way With so many dung beetles vying for the same pile of poop, a beetle needs to make a quick getaway once he’s rolled his dung ball. But it’s not easy to roll a ball of poop in a straight line, especially when you’re pushing your ball from behind using your hind legs. So the first thing the dung beetle does is climb atop his sphere and orient himself. Scientists had long observed dung beetles dancing on their poo balls, and suspected they were looking for cues to help them navigate. New research confirmed that at least one species of African dung beetle, Scarabaeus satyrus, uses the Milky Way as a guide to steering its dung ball home. The researchers placed tiny hats on the dung beetles, effectively blocking their view of the heavens, and found the dung beetles could only wander aimlessly without being able to see the stars. 8. Dung Beetles Use Their Poop Balls to Cool Off Have you ever walked barefoot across a sandy beach on a scorching hot summer day? If so, you probably did your share of hopping, skipping, and running to avoid painful burns to your feet. Since dung beetles often live in similarly hot, sunny places, scientists wondered if they, too, worried about burning their tootsies. A recent study showed that dung beetles use their dung balls to cool off. Around noon, when the sun is at its peak, dung beetles will routinely climb atop their dung balls to give their feet a break from the hot ground. The scientists tried putting tiny, silicone booties on the dung beetles, and they discovered the beetles wearing shoes would take fewer breaks and push their dung balls longer than the beetles that were barefoot. Thermal imaging also showed that the dung balls were measurably cooler than the surrounding environment, probably because of their moisture content. 9. Some Dung Beetles Are Surprisingly Strong Even a small ball of fresh dung can be hefty to push, weighing 50 times the weight of the determined dung beetle. Male dung beetles need exceptional strength, not just for pushing dung balls but also for fending off male competitors. The individual strength record goes to a male Onthphagus taurus dung beetle, which pulled a load equivalent to 1,141 times its own body weight. How does this compare to human feats of strength? This would be like a 150 lb. person pulling 80 tons! 10. Millions of Years Ago, Ancient Dung Beetles Cleaned up After Prehistoric Giants Because they lack bones, insects rarely show up in the fossil record. But we do know that dung beetles existed around 30 million years ago, because paleontologists have found fossilized dung balls the size of tennis balls from that time period. Prehistoric dung beetles collected the poop of South America’s megafauna: car-sized armadillos, sloths taller than modern houses, and a peculiar long-necked herbivore called Macrauchenia.

Monday, November 4, 2019

(MACROECONOMICS) Explain why the actual budget deficit is not a good Essay

(MACROECONOMICS) Explain why the actual budget deficit is not a good indicator of the fiscal stance and suggest any other better alternatives - Essay Example Moreover, ideal and functional fiscal stance indicators should embrace in-depth analysis of fiscal policies and collective economic variables. The actual budget deficit has from time to time been used as an indicator of the fiscal stance, although various shortcomings have rendered it a rather inadequate indicator. The overall balance of a government budget is basically a measure of the difference between government expenditure and revenue. In a case where expenditure outweighs revenue, the overall balance presents an actual budget deficit, which is an indication of an expansionary fiscal stance. The actual budget deficit indicates a fiscal stance where the negative impact of revenue on an economy’s aggregate demand is far much implicative of the positive effects achieved through government spending. Gross national product of any given economy at any given time is on the receiving end as it is negatively impacted by the fiscal policies put in place by the government (International Monetary Fund, 1989, p.76). However, the measure of actual budget deficit needs to be analyzed and judged more cautiously for accurate and relevant indication of the fiscal stance. In case keen judgment and analysis of the actual budget deficit measure is compromised, it ceases to act as a good indicator for the fiscal stance with respect to other economic variables. The actual budget deficit is also regarded as deficient indicator of fiscal stance, since it only offers impacts on aggregate demand perspectives and overlooks other economic variables such as economic sustainability, monetary stance, and growth aspects. Moreover, the actual budget deficit overlooks other economic complexities such as the manner in which the deficit is financed with regards to successive impact of the country’s economic variables. Fiscal impact complexities encompass the manner in which an actual budget deficit is financed among other special measures that are put in place to

Friday, November 1, 2019

Listening Without Resistance and Systems Thinking Research Paper

Listening Without Resistance and Systems Thinking - Research Paper Example In addition, I have been judging the accent of the other party in the conversation. I have been thinking that people who have great accent are less literate. This has been making me get less keen when listening to them. Conversations I have had in the past weeks were just discussions. Discussion is listening without a desire to be changed by the conversation (Mozdzierz, 2009). A dialogue, on the other hand, is a special way of conversation in which one is willing to be influenced by the conversation (Robinson & Rose, 2007). The conversations I have had in the past weeks could not fit to be called dialogue. This is because of my behavior of choosing not to be keen when the other party in a conversation had an accent, pronunciation problem or spoke less audibly. In most cases, my actions were either partially or completely withdrawing myself from the conversation. Therefore, I have done more of discussion than dialogue. Conversations could be easily converted to dialogue using several advantage points. One of the points is completing the features of a conversation. According to Nikulin (2010), this could be done by personal voice, unfinalizability, and allosensus. Another point is asking for clarifications during the conversation. This could increase someone’s attentiveness on the conversation. As a result, the conversation would have a great influence on the person and thus converted into a dialogue. The other point is reframing the message communicated during a conversation. This could avoid negative reactions and judgments made during conversations. As a result, the conversation would have a great influence on the parties involved and thus it would have been converted to a dialogue. System thinking is one of the five disciplines defined by Senge to guide activities of a learning organization. According to Wyk (2003), system thinking could be conceptualized as a tool for making complex patterns in a learning organization much

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

An introduction to internationalizing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An introduction to internationalizing - Essay Example Having successfully established itself in the UAE, the firm must consider a target market whose needs and preferences match those of members of the UAE. In the event that the suitable market has a number of diverse groups with different preferences, the firm will need to customize its product to suit these tastes. Moreover, we need to diversify our business portfolio by engaging in business activities that go beyond the company’s current portfolio, for instance, manufacturing of less refined pottery to suit the low income earners in the target market. This will result in the development of higher market pools, therefore, enhancing the firm’s profit margins. The firm should seek areas with a high population of its target market. The global market consists of various environments such as urban and rural environments. These environments each have a distinct bureaucratic process and labor law; it is paramount to avoid markets that have excessive bureaucracy and inflexible and outdated labor laws. Dubai for instance, would be a good market option as it is strategically close to Abu Dhabi, our head office. This market is well served by modern infrastructure; hence transportation of both raw materials and finished products will be easy. Moreover, the market has high market opportunities internally and internationally as it is served by over 170 airlines and 86 shipping lines (Rehman, A.  2007, p.57). This will lead to the firm’s expansion into the international market through exportation opportunities. Moreover, this nation has suitable labor laws and bureaucratic process; it neither has corporate and income taxes nor foreign exchang e controls. In addition to this, Dubai is one of the most economically developed nations, and its population mostly consists of people leading a Cosmopolitan lifestyle, which is our most suitable target market; one that appreciates fine art. The nation is also known to hold top

Monday, October 28, 2019

Aci Financial Statement Essay Example for Free

Aci Financial Statement Essay The companies are now preparing this statement as an integral part of their financial statements. This paper examines empirically the current practices followed by sample companies in preparation of cash flow statement and concludes that the sample companies are in line (with few exceptions) with the requirements of International Accounting Standard (IAS)-7 or Bangladesh Accounting Standard (BAS)-7. It also proposes some suggestions for improving the presentation of the statement Key words: Cash flow statement, IAS/BAS, Listed Company, Disclosure. Introduction The purpose of a cash flow statement is to provide information on the cash flow from a company’s operating, investing and financing activities to enable the users of its financial statements to evaluate the ability of the company to generate cash and to use the historic cash flows to predict future cash flows. The cash flow information enhances the comparability of the operating performance by various companies, because it eliminates the effects that arise from the use of different accounting treatments for the same transactions and events. The use of cash flow information is gaining importance in the analysis of financial statements (Epstein 1991; Yap 1997; Jones and Widjaja 1998; Previts and Bricker 1994). Cashflow information is considered less open to manipulation than information on earnings, because it is based on the actual receipt and payment of cash only and not on the accrual and other accounting principles. Rees (1995:75) adds that the cash flow statement can be more informative than the other statements. However, he literature on the cash flow statement indicates that there are grey areas in cash flow reporting that are open to various interpretations (Everingham and Watson 2002). The perceived simplicity of the cash flow statement may therefore create synthetic confidence in the reliability of companies’ cash flow reporting and the comparability of various companies’ cash flow information. The acceptance of IAS-7: The Cash Flow Statement has added a new dimension to the preparation and present ation of financial statements in Bangladesh. This paper is an attempt to investigate into the state of cash flow reporting by the listed Bangladeshi * Lecturers, Department of Business Administration, ASA University Bangladesh 210 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 Textiles and Clothing companies in general. The focus is not on the quality of the reporting of the companies but rather on what the reporting levels are in general. Objectives of the study The major objectives of the study are as follows: 1. to identify the current practice of cash flow statement of Pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. 2. o provide present cash flow statement format, structure and reporting on the basis of information provided in the annual reports of the selected listed Pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. Methodology of the study The study was conducted in accordance with secondary information obtained from various sources. The overview of standardization of financial reporting and the regulatory framework has be en based on laws, regulation, and guideline and also on various published sources of information taken from International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) and Bangladesh Accounting Standard 7 (BAS 7). A limited survey has also been made covering a total of 12 Pharmaceutical companies’ annual reports (2009) enlisted in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). These are selected on the basis of convenience sampling procedure. In order to make the study more revealing it also covers some research articles, textbooks, publications and web sites of various accounting bodies. Limitations of the study 1. Applied non profitability techniques have been used. 2. Due to limitation of the extensive materials, books and previous studies in Bangladesh literature review could not be extensive. 3. This study consists of only 12 listed Pharmaceutical companies due to time and resources constraints. Literature review Cash flow statement: A historical surroundings/background Cash flow Accounting (CFA) was the main system of accounting up to beginning of the 18th century (Watanabe, Izumi: The evolution of Income Accounting in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Britain, Osaka University of Economics, Vol. 57, No. 5, January 2007, p. 27-30). Till then, accounting allocation and profit measurement were relatively unimportant; the profit and loss account being used to close off ledger accounts at each period end. However, with the advent of concept and practices of business continuity, periodic measure and statement of financial position began to grow. Thus the basis of cash transaction becomes foundation for the allocation based systems of accounting today. Although there has been a reasonably sustained interest in fund flow statements (based on allocated accounting data) since the beginning of the twenty century, CFA appears to have received little or no support from accountants until the early 1960s. At that time there was little concern over the use of ‘cash flow’ data in the financial analysis- cash flow being interpreted as ‘profit plus depreciation (. Winjum, J. o, 1972). In 1961 AICPA recognized the importance of fund statement by publishing Accounting Research Study (ARS) Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 211 NO 2â€Å"Cash flow analysis and fund statements†. Before that, accountants had prepared funds statements primarily as management report. The Accounting Principles Board (APB) responded in October 1963 by issuing APB Opinion NO. : â€Å"the statements of and application of funds†, which recommended that a statement of sources and application of funds be presented on a supplementary basis. Because of the favorable response of the business community to this pronouncement, the APB issued Opinion No. 198: â€Å"Reporting changing in Financial Position† in March 1971. This opinion required that a statement of changing financial position be presented as a basic financial statement and be covered by the auditor’s reports. In 1981 the Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) reconsidered fund flow issues as part of the conceptual framework project taken in 1976. At this time the FASB decided that the cash flow reporting issues should be considered at the standard level. Subsequent deliberation resulted in Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (SFAS) No. 95: ‘Statement of cash flows’ in Nobember1987 (Weygandt, Kieso, Kimmel 1998: 1936). Fund flow statement Vs Cash flow statement Both fund flow statement and cash flow statement serve as a fundamental parts of the financial statements. In 1961, the AICPA issued ARS No. 2, â€Å"Cash Flow Analysis and the Fund Statements† which recommended that a fund statement covered by auditor’s opinion be included in companies financial reports. According to paragraph 5 of Preface to Statement of International Accounting Standard [approved by the IASC Board in November1982 for publication in January 1983 and supersedes the preface published in January 1975 (amended March 1978)], â€Å"the term ‘financial statements’ covers balance sheets, income statement or profit and loss accounts, statements of change in financial position, notes and other statements and explanatory materials which are identified as being part of financial statements† (IASC, 2000:32). As per paragraph 7 of framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements (approved by IASC Board in April 1989 for publication in July 1989): â€Å"A complete set of financial statement normally includes a balance sheet, an income statements, a statements of change in financial position (which may be presented in a variety of ways, for example as a statement of cash flow or a statement of fund flows) and those notes and other statements and explanatory materials that are an integral part of the financial statements† (IASC : p. 3-44). As per paragraph 4 of the previous IAS 7 (October 1977), statements of change in financial position, the term ‘ funds’ referred to cash, cash and cash equivalents or working capital (IFAC, 1992: p. 813). Funds provided or used in operation of an enterprise should be presented in the statements of changes in financial statement separately from other sources and uses of fund. Unusual items, which are not part of ordinary activities of the enterprise, should be separately disclosed (IASC: Para 21). But many users of financial statements consider current practices of reporting fund flows as confusing because too much information is compressed in the statements of change in financial position, and because no single definition has been established (Mosich and Larsen, 1982; p. 935). In order to develop a conceptual framework for financial accounting and reporting, the FASB issued in December 1980 a discussion memorandum â€Å"reporting Fund flow, Liquidity and Financial Flexibility† which was issued for the following reasons: (1) for assessing future cash flow, and (2) current practices regarding the reporting of funds flow information are not entirely satisfactory. As a result of deliberation, FASB issued SFAS NO. 95 ‘Statements of Cash Flow’ in 1987. The statements require the inclusion of statements of Cash Flows rather than a statement of Change in Financial position when issuing a complete set of financial statements 212 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 which was made effective for annual periods ending after July 15, 1988. The major requirements of the statements are of the following two areas: Basis of Presentation: The statement must focus on cash receipts and payments and must explain the change in cash plus cash equivalents. Classification of cash flows: Cash flows are to be classified according to operating, investing and financing activities. The basis of such classification is derived from the financial theory, which state that the enterprise derives the cash used for investing activities and settlement of outstanding financial obligation in an accounting period from internal and external sources. Internal cash sources emanate from the net cash generated from current operation and perhaps disinvesting and depletion of cash resources at the start of the period. External cash sources come from financing activities such as borrowing and receiving cash from the sale of equity shares to existing and new shareholders (Wallace et,al). Benefits of Cash Flow Information The information in a cash flow statement helps investors, creditors, and others to assess the following aspects of the firm’s financial position. Such statements serve as a mechanism for predicting the ability to generate future cash flows for the investors, creditors and others. This enables managers or management to plan coordinate and control financial operation in an effective manner. It gives an indication of the relationship between profitability and cash generating ability thus of the quality of the profit earned. It furnishes information to the management regarding the entities’ ability to pay dividend and meet obligations. Analyst and other users of financial information often, formally or informally, develop models to assess and compare the present value of the future cash flow of entities. Historical cash flow statements could be useful to check the accuracy of past assessment (ACCA Text book part 2. P. 324). It is free from manipulation and is not affected by subjective judgments or by accounting policies. Such a statement dictates situations when a business has made huge profit but has run out money or it has sustained loss but has enough cash availability. The extent of cash generated from operational activity and external finance in order to meet capital, tax, and dividend requirements can be obtained from such statements (Lee, T. A: 1972:27-36). It aids in the evaluation of risk, which includes both the expected variability of future return and probability of insolvency or bankruptcy ( Hendrickson, Eldom. S, 1982: 237). Such statements reveal the capability of an enterprise to pay its short obligation as and when due to the lenders. A cash flow statement in conjunction with a balance sheet provides information on liquidity, viability, and adaptability. The balance sheet is often used to obtain information on liquidity, but the information is rather incomplete for this purpose as the balance sheet is prepared at a particular point of time. Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 213 It may assists users of financial statements in making judgments on the amounts, timing and degree of certainty of future cash flows. This statement provides information that is useful in checking the accuracy of past assessment of future cash flows and in examining the relationship between profitability and net cash flow and the impact of changing price (IAS 7: Para 3 4). Information on cash flows classified by three groups of activities (Operating, investing and financing) that al low users to assess the impact of those activities on the financial position of the enterprise and the amount of its cash and cash equivalents. This information may also be to evaluate the relationship among those activities (IAS 7: Para 11). This statement is of special importance in assessing future cash flows, quality of income operating capability, financial flexibly and liquidity, and information on financing and investing activities. Using cash flows from operating activities from the cash flow statements, different ratios such as liquidity, ratio, solvency ratio, and profitability ratios can also be calculated to evaluate an enterprise’s liquidity, solvency, and profitability. Aziz uddin and Bala, 2001: p. 14) Overview of Cash flow statement The cash flow statement explains the changes that have occurred in the company’s cash and cash equivalents during the year by classifying the cash flows in its operating, investing and financing activities. The statement must focus on cash receipts and payments and must explain the change in cash plus cash equivalents. The classification is done in a way that is mos t appropriate to the company’s business. The following are the definitions of the components of the cash flow statement: Cash: cash on hand and demand deposits Cash equivalents: short term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value. Operating activities: the principal revenue-producing activities of the enterprise and other activities that are not investing or financing activities Investing activities: the acquisition and disposal of long-term assets and other investments not included in cash equivalents. Financing activities: activities that result in changes in the size and composition of the equity capital and borrowings of the enterprise (Epstein, p. 93). Objective and Scope of IAS 7 Information about the cash flow of an enterprise is useful in providing users of financial statements with a basis to assess the ability of the enterprise to generate cash and cash equivalents and the needs of the enterprise to utilize those cash flows. The economic decision taken by users requires an evaluation of the ability of an enterprise to generate cash and cash equivalents and timing and certainty of their generation. The objective of IAS 7 is to require the provision of information about the historical change in cash and cash equivalents of an enterprise by means of a cash flow statement that classifies cash flows during the period from operating, investing and financing activities. An enterprise should prepare a cash flow statement in accordance with the requirements of IAS 7 and should present it as an integral part of its financial statements for each period for which financial statements are prepared. Users of an enterprise’s financial statements are interested in how the enterprise generates and uses cash and cash equivalents. This is the case regardless of the nature of the enterprise activities and irrespective of whether cash can be viewed 214 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 as the product of the enterprise, as may be the case with a financial institution. Enterprises need cash for the same reason however different their principal revenue- producing activities might be. They need cash to conduct their operations, to pay their obligations and to provide return to the investors. Accordingly this standard requires all enterprises to present a cash flow (Para 1 3). Presentation of Cash flow statement under IAS 7 Cash and cash equivalent: The definition of cash and cash equivalent are central to the preparation and interpretation of cash flow statements. Cash consists of cash in hand and demand deposits, coins and notes of an organization, etc. In our country deposits in postal accounts may be termed as cash (Cooper and Ijiri, 1984: 88; Ghosh, 2001). Cash equivalents are short-term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible into known amount of cash and which are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. According to the definitions of paragraph 6 of IAS 7 cash comprises cash in hand and demand deposits; usually ‘cash on hand’ includes currency, notes, and coin in the cash box of the enterprise. It also includes prize bond, negotiable money orders, postal orders, and under posited checks, bank drafts or pay- order. Demand deposits refer to deposits in checking accounts in banks and other financial institutions that may be withdrawn without notice usually subject to deduction of outstanding check. Thus cash equivalents – 1. are short-term investments but the ‘term’ ‘short’ not clearly specified, although a period of three months and less is suggested to be taken as short term period. 2. are highly liquid investments. Here ‘liquid’ means having in a situation where cash equivalents are available in sufficient amount to meet obligation of payments. . are investments that are both: (a) readily convertible, to known amounts of cash and (b) subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. According to SFAC No. 95, the risk categorically refers to risk of change in interest rate. The short-term investments are so near their maturity that they represent insignificant risk of changes in interest rate. Examples include treasury bills, commercial papers, a nd money market funds purchased with cash that is in excess of immediate needs. However, although by definition, cash equivalents refer to short term highly liquid investments, they are usually held for the purpose of meeting short term cash commitments rather than for other purpose. For an investment to qualify as a cash equivalent it must be readily convertible to a known amount of cash and be subject to insignificant risk of change in value. Therefore an investment normally qualifies as a cash equivalent only when it has a short maturity of, say, three months and less from the date of acquisition. Equity nvestments are excluded from the cash equivalents unless they are, in substance, cash equivalents, for example in the case of preferred share acquired within a short period of their maturity and with a specified redemption date (Para 7). Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 215 Preparation of Cash flow statements IAS 7 requires cash flows to be classified into operating, investing, and financing activities. Example of cash flows by cate gory Operating Activities Inflows Receipts from customers Outflows Payments to suppliers Advance deposits from customers Wages and salaries to employees Income tax refunds Income tax payments Interest received on customers’ notes or Other tax payments accounts Dividends and interest received from Interest paid on bank debt or bonds outstanding and investments and included in determining net included in determining net income income Investing Activities Cash received from sale of capital assets Payments for purchase of capital assets Cash from sale of debt or equity investments Cash flows capitalized as intangible assets, such as:  · development costs  · start-up costs  · capitalized interest  · exploration Costs Collection of principal on loans to others Purchase of debt or equity securities of others Interest and dividends received on investments Loans extended to others and not included in determining net income Financing Activities Net proceed of issuing debt or equity securities Payment of principal on bonds or bank loans Cash proceeds received from ba nk loans Purchase of the entity’s own shares Interest paid on bank debt or bonds outstanding and not included in determining net income Dividends paid to shareholders Variations in Reporting activities for Cash flows A. Operating or Financing activities Transactions with different categories included in cash flows are classified in a different manner. According to IAS 7, Para 12, â€Å"A single transaction may include cash flows that are classified differently. For example, when the cash repayment of a loan includes both interest and capital the interest element may be classified as operating activities and the capital amount is classified as financing activities†. B. Operating or investing and financing activities Some cash flows may be classified as arising from any activities such as ‘interest’, ‘dividend’ ‘income tax’. The detailed provisions of these types are as follows. 216 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 Interest: a. For a financial institution, interest paid and interest received are usually classified as operating cash flows (para 33). b. For other enterprise, interest paid and interest received may be classified as operating cash flows because they enter into the determination of net profit or loss. Alternatively, interest paid may be classified as financing cash flows, because they are costs of obtaining financial resources. Interest received may be classified as investing cash flows, because they are returns on investments (para 33). Dividend: a. For a financial institution, dividends received are usually classified as operating cash flow (Para 33). b. For other enterprise, dividends received may be classified as operating cash flows because they enter into the determination of net profit or loss. Alternatively dividend received may be classified as investing cash flows, because they are returns on investments (para 33). c. Dividend paid may be classified as financing cash flows, because they are costs of obtaining financial resources. Alternatively dividend paid may be classified as component of cash flows from operating activities in order to assist users to determine the ability of an enterprise to pay dividend out of operating cash flows (para 34). Income tax: a. Taxes on income arise on a transaction that gives to the cash flows that are classified as operating, investing, and financing activities in cash flow statement. While tax expense may be readily identifiable with investing or financing activities, the related tax cash flows are often impracticable to identify and may arise in a different period from the cash flows of the underlying transactions. Therefore taxes paid are usually classified as cash flows from operating activities. However, often it is practicable to identify the tax cash flow within individual transaction that gives rise to cash flows that are classified as investing or financing activity as appropriate. When tax cash flows are allocated over more than one class of activity, the total amount of taxes paid is disclosed (Para 36). In the light of SFAS 95, â€Å"Transaction that enter into the determination of net income† are defined as operating activities and hence, interest received or paid, dividend received and taxes on income are rigidly treated to arise from operating activities. Dividend to stakeholders are treated as cash outflows classified as financing activities (Keiso and Weygandt, 1998: 1275-76) Cash flow statement Practices in Bangladesh Regulatory Framework, in the eyes of the Companies Act 1994 (Act no. 18 of 1994): According to Section 183 of the Companies’ Act 1994 (which came into effect from 1 January 1995), a company is required to present balance sheet, profit and loss account (income and expenditure account, in case of non profit companies). Under section 185, the balance sheet and the income statement have to be prepared according to the forms set out in Part –1 and Part –2 of Schedule XI respectively under which information on consecutive two years (concerned year and Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 217 preceding year) are to be provided. However according to note (g) of the general instruction for preparation of balance sheet (given in part –1 of schedule XI after the horizontal format of the balance sheet), â€Å"a statement of change in financial position shall be included as an integral part of the financial statements, and shall be presented for each period for which the profit and loss account is prepared†. However no specific format of cash flow statement has been prescribed in Companies Act 1994. In the light of the Security and Exchange Rule 1987 (S. R. O No. 237-l/87 dated on 28 September 1987): Under the provision of rule 12 (1) of the Securities and Exchanges Rules (SER) 1987(amended by the section notification No. SEC/ Section 7/SER/03/132 dated 22 october1997 published in the official gazette on 29 December 1997), the annual report to be furnished by an issuer of listed security shall include â€Å"a balance sheet, profit and loss account, cash flow statement and notes to the accounts collectively hereinafter referred to as the financial statement’. In the part III of the Schedule of the SER 1987, issues relating to interest paid on short-term borrowing, interest and dividend received income taxes are clearly guidelined. For example, interest paid on short-term borrowing shall be a cash outflow under operating activities; ‘interest and dividend received’ shall be a cash inflow under investing activities. And ‘interest paid on long term borrowing’ and ‘dividend paid’ shall be a cash outflow under financing activities. Under paragraph 35-36, ‘taxes on income’ should be treated as operating cash outflow unless they can be identified in financing and investing activities. Findings of the study To know the extent of cash flows statement reporting practices by Pharmaceutical companies, a survey has been conducted covering twelve annual reports (2009) (For detailed the name of the companies see Appendix-1). The major findings of the study are given below in terms of general variations in reporting and voluntary disclosure. General findings It includes the current format and structure of cash flow statement and the extent of compliance of IAS-7, followed by sample Pharmaceutical Companies in Bangladesh. All the sample companies prepare cash flow statement as required by IAS-7/BAS 7 adopted by the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Bangladesh and present it as an integral part of the financial statements. Notes to cash flow statement have been presented as part of the financial statements i n case of all the sample companies.  · The sample companies prepare cash flow statement in vertical form and shows figure of cash flows of the current year and the previous year.  · All the sample companies’ cash flow statement contains a classification of operational, investing, and financing activities.  · The sample companies did not illustrate the policy dopted in determining the formulation of cash and cash equivalents although this is required by paragraph 36 of IAS 7. 218 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 Variation in Reporting Another objective of the survey was to determine which alternatives, permitted by IAS-7, are used most in practice by Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies. It is found that there are not many differences between companies in their reporting of cash flow information. This is expected because the preparation of cash flow statement does not allow for many choices, differences of interpretation or different accoun ting treatments. The results are set out in table 1. Table-1 Variations in reporting [Cash flow statement (CFS)] Factors 1 Notes to CFS Options Separately, following the CFS Part of the notes to the financial statements Incorporated in the CFS Total Direct method Indirect method Total Operating activities or no interest Financing Investing activities Total Financing activities or no dividends Operating activities Investing activities Total Part of accounting policy note Nothing disclosed Total Operating activities or no tax Financing activities Investing activities Total Number of companies 0 12 0 12 12 0 12 12 0 0 12 12 0 0 12 12 0 12 12 0 0 12 2 Operating activities 3 Interest received and Interest paid 4 Dividend received and Dividend paid 5 Definition of cash and cash equivalents 6 Income tax Notes to table 1  · Refer to point 2 of Table 1. According to IAS-7 and SEC Rule 1987, the enterprises are encouraged to report cash flows from operating activities using the direct method. The direct method provides information which may be useful in estimating future cash flows which is not available under the indirect method. All the sample companies followed the direct method in reporting operating cash flows. One company (Pharmaceutical Mithun Knitting Dyeing Ltd. ) discloses cash flows from operating activities under indirect method in notes of financial statements as additional information. Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies  ·  · 219 Refer to points 3 4 of Table 1. All the companies studied have shown ‘interest received and paid’ under operating activities and ‘interest paid on long term borrowing’ and ‘dividend paid’ under financing activities. Refer to points 5 6 of Table 1. All the companies studied have shown â€Å"definition of cash and cash equivalents† in the notes of accounting policy and â€Å"income tax† under operating activities. Voluntary disclosure The survey also included an examination of any additional information that is disclosed regarding the company’s cash flow which is not required by IAS-7, but which may be helpful to the user. For example, separate disclosure of cash flows increases operating capacity and cash flows that maintain operating capacity, disclosure of segmental cash flows, cash flow per share etc. The survey found no company to disclose such additional voluntary information in its cash flow statement. Conclusion and Recommendation A materially misstated cash flow statement, whether it is in terms of incorrect classification in the categories or numerical accuracy, can be misleading to the user and can lead to wrong decisions taken by the users of the statement. The survey has revealed that although sample companies prepare cash flow statement according to International Accounting Standard-7 (BAS-7), there is also a degree of non-compliance. It is, however, found that there are not many differences between companies in their reporting of cash flow information. This is expected because the preparation of cash flow statement does not allow for many choices, differences of interpretation or different accounting treatments. To make cash flow statement more informative and useful for users, the companies should disclose additional voluntary information such as cash flow per share in their cash flow statements. Items consisting of cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities should also be clarified in the notes of the financial statements. Due to the limited scope of the present study, a large number of research issues have not been attempted but are identified in the course of the study. Disclosure practices of additional items other than operating, investing and financing activities, disclosure practices differences between listed and unlisted companies, disclosure practices differences between financial and other institutions are some such potential issues for future research. 220 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 References Annual Reports of Sample Pharmaceutical Companies Listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange 2009. Aziz Uddin, A. B. M and Bala. , S. K. ( 2001), â€Å"Cash Flow Reporting in Bangladesh†, The Cost Management, Nov- Dec. ICMAB, p. 13. FASB Discussion Memorandum (1980), Reporting Funds Flow, Liquidity and Financial Flexibility, FASB, Stanford. Thomas H. Beechy. Joan E. D. Conrod, Intermediate Accounting, second Edition, Chpter 5, Exhibit 5-1 pp. 91 Ghosh, Santi N. (2001),â€Å"Workshop Material on IAS # 7 : Cash Flow Statements† compiled under the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB)Project, Development of Accounting and Auditing Standards in Bangladesh, The World Bank. Government of Bangladesh (GOB) (1994), The Companies Act 1994 (Act No. 18 of 1994). Gup, B. E. Samson, W. D. 1993. An analysis of patterns from the statement of cash flows. Financial Practice Education, 3(2):73-79. Hendrickson, Eldom. S(1982), Accounting Theory, Richard D. Irwin, Inc. , Illinois, p. 236. Hertenstein, J. McKinnon, S. 1997. Solving the puzzle of the cash flow statement. Business Horizons, 40(1):69-76. International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) (2000), International Accounting Standards 2000 International Accounting Standards Committee, London, â€Å"International Accounting Standard IAS 7 (revised 1992): Cash Flow Statements† in pp. 139165. International Federation of Accounting (IFAC) (1992), IFAC Handbook 1992: Technical Pronouncements (New York: IFAC). â€Å"IAS 7 (October 1977): Statement of Changes in Financial Position† in pp. 812- 816. Khan, M. H. Akter, M. S. Ghosh, S. K (2005), â€Å"Cash Flow Statement Disclosures: A Study of Banking Companies in Bangladesh†. Available at www. pcte. edu. in/site/OJMR/Finance/cashflow. pdf Keiso, Donald, E. and Jerry. J. Weygandt (1998), Intermediate Accounting, John Wiley Sons, Inc. New York, 9th Edition, pp. 1275-76. Lee, T. A. 1982. Cash flow accounting and the allocation problem. Journal of Business Finance Accounting, 9(3):341-352. Lee, T. A (1972), â€Å"A Case for Cash Flow Reporting†, Journal of Business Finance, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 27-36 as quoted in Studies of Accounting Theory, Steyn, B. W. Hamman, W. D. 2003. Cash flow reporting: are listed companies complying with AC 118? Meditari, 11:167-180. Weygandt, Kieso, Kimmel, Accounting Principles, 9th edition, John, Wilely and Sons, Inc, pp. 732-733 Wallace, R. S. O. and Choudhury, M. S. I. And Pendelbary, M. 1997), â€Å"Cash Flow Statements: An International Comparison of Regulatory Positions†, The International Journal of Accounting, Vol. 32, No, 1, pp. 1-22 Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 221 Appendix-1 List of the twelve Pharmaceutical companies studied. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Gla xcoSmithKline Bangladesh Limited (2009) The IBN SINA Pharmaceutical Industry Ltd. (2009) BEXIMCO PHARMACEUTICAL LTD. (2009) ORION INFUSION LTD. (2009) ACI Formulation Limited (2009) Ambee Pharmaceutical Limited (2009) Square Pharmaceutical Ltd. (2009) Libra Infusions Limited (2009) BEACOM Pharmaceuticals Limited (2009) Rahman Chemicals Limited (2009) Renata Limited (2009) Therapeutics (Bangladesh) Limited (2009)