Accounting Final Common Assessment Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Accounting Final Common Assessment Paper - Essay Example This is also carried out to ensure that the information provided by the accounting function is meaningful and relevant to its users. Every organization does have an accounting function to assist in recording and reporting of financial information generated from different activities of the business. The data processed by the accounting function can be useful to users of this information in many ways. This paper looks at the role of accounting in organizations and its importance in terms of managing a business. Furthermore, it will delve the usefulness of the accounting information generated the accounting function. The importance of accounting function in any organization cannot be ignored. It is considered as an independent function which is responsible for gathering information from different business activities and then compiling and publishing them in accordance to the reporting standards. The role of accounting has changed over the years. It is not just limited to reporting of financial information to external users, but also is responsible for performing various other tasks in any organization. Accountants are involved in planning and implementation of the company’s strategies through different processes.... For example, inventory of a company can be recognized and recorded using four different methods such as First In First Out (FIFO), Last In Last Out (LIFO), Average Cost, and Output Method. It should be noted that different methods of recording inventory will yield different results in the same year, and companies have the choice of selecting a method and reporting their inventory according to the requirements of reporting standards. However, it should also be highlighted that the choice of different accounting methods should be in accordance to the requirements of accounting standards. In the recent years, several frauds surfaced the US corporate sector, which were blamed on the inherent loopholes and too much flexibility in the US GAAP. Since then, efforts between FASB and IASB are being carried to improve the accounting standards and reconcile methods of recording and reporting different elements of a business. One of the core functions of accounting is to collect data from differe nt business segments and process it into a form of information, which is understandable, relevant, and complete. Each business segment performs different activities and produce data which has to be consolidated by the accounting function of organizations. This information is referred to accounting information that may exist in different forms. Traditionally, this information was only available based on paper based working methods. However, as information technologies have been developed the accounting function has been shifted to computerized systems. These systems allow systematic entry of data and then making this information accessible to accountants who then process this data using various tools to generate financial information. In

Management of food quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management of food quality - Essay Example The integrated approach to food safety as adopted by the European Union aims at ensuring that the high levels of food quality are assured and that they are coherently done through measures that are farm-to-table like. This entails adequate monitoring and ensuring efficient functionality of its internal market. To be able to implement this approach, the governing body of the EU has had to develop effective health measures and legislations. Consequently, effective food safety control systems have had to be assured and evaluated to ensure their compliance with the set standards (TRIENEKENS & ZUURBIER, 2008). The safety of the food system is also ensured by independently carrying out a risk assessment different from the risk management. Keeping the quality and safety of food throughout the food chain requires both operating procedures to ensure the wholesomeness of food and monitoring procedures to ensure operations are carried out as intended. The food safety system is usually based on the principle that protection needs to be assured during the course of the food chain if the health of customers is to be sheltered. Primarily, quality management systems are designed to ensure compliance with third party and retailer standards (VOS & WENDLER, 2006). Food safety management systems principally control the specific food safety hazards associated with the product and ensure compliance with food safety legislation. Finally, the quality and safety of food depends on the efforts of everybody involved in the complex chain of agriculture production, processing, transport, food production and consumption. As the EU and the World Health Organization (WHO) put it succinctly - food safety is a shared responsibility from farm to fork. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was established in the year 2002. It is an independent body that works in close cooperation with various scientific agencies and institutions in EU

Economics Exchange Rates Commentary Essay Example for Free

Economics Exchange Rates Commentary Essay NEW YORK (Dow Jones)The dollar continued its slide Wednesday, touching its lowest level in 12 months against the euro and flagging against the yen as rising equities battered the greenback yet again. The dollar has lost key legs of support over the past two weeks as encouraging global economic data has led investors to assume more risk and buy higher-yielding assets. With the recession receding and financial markets in recovery, investors have become more confident theres no longer a need to hold their money in a safe-harbor currency like the dollar. Because of the Federal Reserves need to stimulate the economy, the dollars ultra-low interest rates have made it the lowest-yielding major currency. The cost of borrowing U.S. dollars in the London interbank market continued its slide Wednesday. The key three-month London interbank offered rate marked its lowest level since the British Bankers Association first introduced its Libor fixings in 1986. The dollar hit its lowest level against the common currency since September 2008 in New York afternoon trading, with the euro touching a 12-month high at $1.4738. If the euro is able to sustain levels above $1.4720, a key technical level, it could be on a march to $1.50, said Carl Forcheski, vice president for foreign exchange at Societe Generale in New York. The dollars losses were broad, sinking to new 13-month lows against the Australian and New Zealand dollars as well as lows for 2009 versus other widely traded counterparts. The U.K. pound also piggy-backed off the euros gains to advance on the dollar. The yen had been the so-called carry trade currency of choice, but with U.S. interest rates expected to remain feeble until 2010, analysts anticipate the dollar to continue funding riskier bets. A carry trade involves buying a lower-yielding currency to fund purchases of higher-yielding assets. The dollar was also burdened Wednesday by comments from Japans incoming finance minister, Hirohisa Fujii, who said he saw no need to intervene in currency markets to weaken the yen. In the past, the dollar had received support from the belief that Japan would intervene to prevent unwanted appreciation of its currency. Theres no change in my thinking that its not the time to consider foreign-exchange intervention, Fujii said at a news conference. Though he wouldnt rule out intervention in what he termed really abnormal situations, Fujii said the idea that the yen should be cheaper for the sake of [Japans] exporters is wrong. Wednesday afternoon in New York, the euro was at $1.4729 from $1.4667 late Tuesday, according to EBS via CQG. The dollar was at Y90.78 from Y91.06. The euro was at Y133.72 from Y133.60. The U.K. pound was at $1.6506 from $1.6495, while the dollar was at CHF1.0306 from CHF1.0340. U.S. economic data released Wednesday, including as-expected August consumer price index and better-than-expected industrial production numbers, pointed to a continuing recovery, leading stocks to rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108 points, lending support to the euro and other high-yielders. The dollar looks likely to continue its broad-based slide through the rest of the year, analysts said. As long as the buck doesnt fall too far too fast, dollar weakness is expected in a time of loose monetary policy, said Adnan Akant, a currency specialist at money manager Fischer Francis Trees Watts, a New York unit of BNP Paribas. Right now, the euro and other higher-yielding currencies are reaping the benefits of a global economic turnaround and stock market rallies, but within the next 12 months, the dollar should start benefitting from a recovering U.S. economy, said Wells Fargo analysts. The Canadian dollar ended higher near its strongest levels of the day Wednesday, reflecting another sustained flight into riskier assets like stocks and commodities at the expense of the slumping U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar was trading at C$1.0666 late afternoon, from C$1.0721 late Tuesday. Strong gains for oil, gold and other commodities as well as rising North American equity markets underpinned the Canadian dollars gains, although the currency again failed to mount a serious challenge of its year-to-date high at C$1.0639, achieved in early August. Commentary The article refers to a depreciation of the dollar against major currencies due to â€Å"ultra-low interest rates† and increased risk by investors. The Federal Reserve has been cutting interest rates in an attempt to boost aggregate demand and stimulate the economy. High interest rates in an economy generally encourage investment in that currency as the value of the investment will increase over time. Currently US interest rates set by the Federal Reserve are around 0.25% compared to the European Central Bank’s 1%. Because of this, investors have switched to higher yielding currencies, such as the Euro, and to a lesser extent the Pound, causing a fall in the Dollar’s exchange rate. This is shown in Diagram 1. As the diagram shows, a right shift in the supply of the Dollar leads to a fall in its price relative to the Euro. In addition, the aforementioned cutting of interest rates is an expansionary monetary policy used to manipulate aggregate demand. The trade off of this policy is increased inflation. A high rate of inflation might further decrease investment in Dollar assets as the real value of the investment would decrease over time. During times of economic crisis, investors tend to invest in low risk assets such as generally strong currencies like the dollar. However with signs that the global economy is exiting the recession and in recovery, not only does the demand for safe-harbor currencies like the dollar decrease, but there is an increased demand for high risk investment due to bullish speculation. In addition, some consumers, firms, or foreign central banks might believe that despite the improving economic situation, the Dollar will continue to fall as the article mentions and sell dollar assets. This bearish speculation would further increase the supply of the dollar and perhaps lead to self-fulfilling prophecy. As shown above, the combination of the three factors leads to a sharp fall in the exchange rate. As previously mentioned, this depreciation could cause a self-fulfilling prophecy in which the initial bearish speculation leads to depreciation, which in turn causes more bearish speculation causing the exchange rate to enter a downward spiral. Initially, the Federal Reserve might not intervene but if the depreciation continued, it would be forced to buy back Dollars to counteract the increases in supply. This would slow the depreciation, discouraging people from selling dollars. It might even create bearish speculation as some might assume the dollar market will bottom out and start to appreciate. The depreciation of the Dollar should benefit the US economy by means of an improved current account deficit. Initially, the deficit will worsen as the demand for imports and exports is inelastic in the short run, but eventually the current account balance will improve as US exports become more competitive. US export revenue will increase while expenditure will fall. This improved current account situation will boost AD leading to economic growth. This is shown below in Diagram 3. Diagram 3 However, as the diagram shows, in the long run, there will be the trade off of inflation as AD rises. This might encourage Federal Reserve to strengthen the Dollar to reduce imported cost-push inflation. In addition, the increased demand for US exports will increase the demand for the Dollar causing appreciation. Foreign nations might eventually implement import controls such as tariffs on US goods in order to preserve their own current account balances. Eventually, the Dollar should regain its status as a high-yielding currency [ 1 ]. The value of one currency expressed in term of another [ 2 ]. A period in a business cycle following a recession, during which the GDP rises. [ 3]. Believing that a particular security, a sector, or the overall market is about to rise [ 4 ]. Revenue from the exports of goods and services and income flows is less than the expenditure on the import of goods and services and income flows in a given year

Harm Reduction And Zero Tolerance

Harm Reduction And Zero Tolerance In this essay the author will explore and critically evaluate harm reduction in drug rehabilitation versus zero tolerance approaches, with reference to public policy issues in drug use. Drawing on available literature on the policy context, and on literature and evidence from the rehabilitation domain, the author will develop a discursive analysis of how harm reduction can present a workable and potentially valuable intervention solution in developing concrete policies which might effectively address this rapidly increasing social need. Harm reduction is a process by which those involved in the rehabilitation process with illegal drug users attempt to reduce the risks of drug taking behaviour rather than trying to eradicate drug use altogether. In Australia, drug users have traditionally been addressed with a zero tolerance approach, in which the drug user is counselled towards complete abstinence from drug use (Wodak and Moore, 2002). Socio-politically this approach is both lauded and condemned and both for good reason. A reorientation away from legal and punitive, law enforcement approaches to controlling illegal drug trafficking and use and towards a health-oriented model of rehabilitation of drug users is now taking place (Wodak and Moore, 2002), mimicking international trends based on research evidence. Thus the policy context has been subject to pressure to engage in new approaches to drug rehabilitation (Wodak and Moore, 2002). Thus policy responses to the moral model of drug use have been viewed as insuffici ent, and the disease model of drug use has grown in popularity in socio-political and therapeutic arenas (Hamilton and Cape, 2002). Australia and New Zealand have both adopted this approach, which is both pragmatic and forward thinking (Hamilton and Cape, 2002). However, it could be argued that this approach represents societies and their governments affording license to an immoral trade which has a significant negative personal, social and medical, not to mention economic, impact on society. This approach accepts that drug use is a common feature of human experience à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦[and]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ recognises that abstinence may be the ultimate goal, but accepts that this may not be achievable (or desirable) at least in the short-term (Hamilton and Cape, 2002, p 24). Thus social and political critics can view this as a tolerant attitude which fails to punish those who perpetrate the drug trade and cause significant suffering amongst those who abuse illegal and harmful drugs. All psychoactive drugs have the potential to cause some type of harm (Rumbold and Hamilton, 1998), and as such, represent a risk to the individual and society. However, drug use is viewed by many as normal social behaviour (Rumbold and Hamilton, 1998), and therefore policies which totally outlaw drug use can be viewed as inappropriate. Harm reduction strategies in Australia as enshrined in the National Drug Strategy (Rumbold and Hamilton, 1998), and as such present a more cohesive approach to managing the multiple facets of the problem or social phenomenon that is illicit drug use. Although law enforcement advocates argue that harm reduction strategies are not as effective as their own, economically, treatment and rehabilitation are actually much more cost effective in decreasing drug consumption (King, 1998). However, it is also possible to view legal, legislative and law enforcement approaches themselves as a form of harm reduction. Kutin (1998) shows how leglisative and law enforcement approaches have reduced violence associated with alcohol use. Harm reduction approaches, therefore, need not be viewed as diametrically opposed to the law enforcement approach, and this would argue that current policy orientations which encompass both approaches are actually the ideal way in which to approach the ongoing social an d public health drivers requiring an effective response from the policy level right down to the therapeutic level. According to Hellawell (1995 in Kutin, 1998, p 181): More realistic goals include attempting to reduce the frequency of sue, the quantity and toxicity of drugs consumed and to reduce harm to drug users and the community generally. Harm reduction must be embraced. Police strategies must encompass all these elements. There is ample evidence that harm reduction strategies are beneficial to indvidual clients, and represent the opportunity for significant public health improvement (Ritter and Cameron, 2006). However, McKeganey (2006) shows that in relation to the growth of the prevalence of drug abuse, and the increase in occurrence of drug related harms, including drug related crime, it is now the time to make drug prevention, rather than harm reduction, the focus of policy and practice. Futterman et al (2005) suggest a therapeutic approach which combines effective therapies with harm reduction strategies, working on behaviours with an overall end point of reducing drug use. But the ongoing arguments both for and against harm reduction policies are subject to forces which relate to key features of harm reduction, including: the primary goal being reducing harm rather than reducing drug use; the acceptance that drugs are a part of social life and cannot be eradicated from this; harm reduction is a c omprehensive public health framework; the priority is achievable and immediate goals; and that harm reduction is based upon values of pragmatism and humanism (Ritter and Cameron, 2006). This means that while reducing harm may be an improvement for the individual, and may be more realistic and achievable, there will always be groups and individuals who do not believe that this is a sufficiently aggressive approach, and while harm reduction produces individual benefits (Riley and OHare, 2000; Christie and Anderson, 2003), it does not prevent drug use or remove the threat, risk and harm associated with this practice, and it does not punish those who are effectively breaking the law. Ultimately, many will always reject a humanistic approach which is so pragmatic as to tolerate law breaking and the potential causing of harm to others, as well as to the self (Christie et al, 2008). Yet the evidence remains clear that harm reduction strategies can impact on drug use rates, on risk-associated behaviour such as needle sharing, and on transmission of blood-borne diseases and engagement in rehabilitaton (Hunt, 2005; Stoltz et al, 2007; Strathdee et al, 1999). Therefore, public policies may be subject to an ethical imperative to address illegal drug use via every possible (and effective route), because the long term social costs of untreated drug dependency are of such significance (Wall et al, 2000). Therefore, it could be argued that the zero tolerance approach is, as already demonstrated, not sufficiently effective on its own, and that the harm reduction approach, as one element of a wider policy framework, is likely to bring benefits in the longer term.

Knights of the Middle Ages Essay examples -- Middle Ages Medieval

Knights became important in the Middle Ages as warriors recruited by their lords for military service. They were equipped with defensive garment, armor and weapons, and they were trained to fight on horseback since they were children. They also took part in jousts and tournaments in order to exercise their fighting skills and to show their battle skills. Knights were part of the nobility of the Middle Ages. Nobles lived much more comfortably than peasants, but their lives were not glamorous. Some knights inherited or were given castles which had been built for security but not for comfort. It is supposed that some medieval stories are based on the lives of the courageous warriors who lived in those times no matter whether they died during a battle or whether they won. Authors took them as an ideal exemplar and they added several elements to make the knight superior. However, the perfect knight is just a character of medieval stories, a product of the author?s imagination or inspiration, perhaps taking a real knight of those times as a model. This work aims to describe the most important characteristics of the life of the medieval knight and his role in the society of the Middle Ages. Afterwards, a comparison between these characteristics and the description of the figure of the knight found in medieval literature as an ideal and model man will be established, highlighting their beliefs and values. The word Knight is the modern form of several old terms. Among these, the primary equivalent comes from Old English cniht, which means boy or youth, secondly, from German, two terms are closely related, the first one being knecht, translated as servant, and the second one, ritter, which means rider. Lastly,... ...yday life, the knight was supposed to follow the code of chivalry and exalt his moral virtues, humility was one of them, for example. However, he was engaged in battles and tournaments seeking for honour, prestige and power. There was no other alternative, he ?had to? win, and in this way, he would have the respect and admiration of others. A well-known surname, an expensive armour, good weapons and a trained horse were not enough. In knighthood, it was extremely important that a knight would become popular and have a high social standing. It might seem that a knight?s life was full of adventures and excitement, though it was not really like this. The way towards knighthood was not so simple as it involved a permanent dedication and commitment since early stages and knighthood itself meant facing sacrifices, dangerous situations, defeats and even death.

Popularity - Writing To Reflect :: essays research papers

I want to talk about the thing that strives many teens have to be popular in schools. It seems as though that popularity is a main issue to teens. The need to feel accepted by others in order to be the center of attention, and the need to be distinguished greatly from everyone else is a strong force that exposes itself to nearly all teens at school. We spend most of our years at school, and begin well-known can almost seem to complete an emptyness that we feel. Popularity may not always in fact be as fulfilling as it may seem. I do agree that we all have the need to feel wanted yet when is enough, enough? Personally, I’ve seen many situations when the elevation of popularity brought upon many other issues. Popular students usally have to create a certain personality that is diverse from their own, and they must always have that particular personality all the time to keep up their prevalent focus from others. This can be usually seen as the popular athletic team captain or the optimistic cheerleader. During the process in becoming more recognized, some end up hurting others for their own means of reaching that point. I remember a time a few years back when I had a group of fairly close friends. We would always hang out with eachother and we would await the day at which we were to enter high school together. When we finally reached high school, there where now a whole new group of people that were older than I. I still had my group of friends, but gradually I started to lose one of them. My friend was going against my other schoolmate, and before I knew it I was hurling the same insults as they were. It was all part of a process; a process, I thought, was going to make me popular. I thought that if I could make someone look lower than I was, I would gain self-confidence and become more popular. As it turned out it was not the case. I had lost a good friend, all for a selfish reason to get a good reputaion at school. In the end I ended up only hurting myself. I couldn’t carry the baggage I had, knowing I had hurt someone who was close to me. There shouldn’t be a need to become popular, there may be a few benefits, but it never lasts for long.

Catastrophe Model of Construction Dispute Negotiation Behavior

The construction industry is apparently one of the major sectors of Hong Kong construction economy, and as Kenneth and Sai (2006) noted, buildings, the result of construction industry’s activities, are part of the built environment in which several human activities occur.As a result of the heavy reliance on team work and collaboration, construction activities are often prone to conflict, although it is apparent that this could also be obtainable in other organizational settings. Infact, these authors opine that the traditional construction contracting methods in several countries creates adversarial tendencies in the project team, which tend to foster conflict and thus conflicting behaviors in construction activities.It is a known fact that one of the primary indicators of construction success is the timely completion and delivery of the project. However, for any construction project to be completed and delivered as scheduled, a cooperative working environment is vital.In this light, Harmon (2003) suggested that the characteristic adversarial relationship and lack of a cooperative environment of construction organizational settings constitute one of the major factors that affect timely completion of construction projects.Because of the apparent importance of conflict management in construction, as well as in some other organizational settings, several scholarly works exist on conflict, conflict behaviors and conflict management. The term conflict has been severally defined, from different perspectives, even within construction literatures, as a result, several different understandings of conflict behaviors, and by extension conflict management styles, have been proffered.Kenneth and Sai (2006) argued, however, that the numerous construction literatures on conflict have essentially focused on conflict causes, prevention and management within a contractual and/or legal context. They suggested that equal importance should be accorded the human factors invol ved in conflicts, since according to them, conflicts is ‘stemmed and handled’ by the people involved, thus the role played by human factors, especially behavior, should be considered an integral part of conflict management.It is this call that this paper intends to heed. This paper intends to look at construction conflict from the behavioral perspectives using Rene Thom's Catastrophe Theory.   It has been suggested that continuous changes in human behaviors often display a discontinuous lapse.In this light, it has been argued that the catastrophe theory provides a ‘grounded approach for modeling conflict behavior in construction’ (Kenneth and Sai, 2006 p.439). This paper emphasizes the human factor in conflict by examining behaviors in response to conflict, known as conflict behavior; it then attempts to use a model of the catastrophe theory to explain construction conflict behaviors.ConflictConflict is a natural outcome of the interrelationships between individuals and groups. As a result, it is a very common and general phenomenon that can hardly be conceptualized in a simple definition. The interaction between individuals and groups brings to the fore, individual differences in goals, objectives or perspectives.The tension created by these differences, when identified by the parties involved is usually the cause of conflict. Several authors have offered different definitions or concepts of what constitute conflicts (Allred, 2000), however, there is hardly any definition that completely subsumes the entirety of conflicts from both the individual or organizational context.For example, Rahim et al (2000) positing that conflict is borne out of human interactions explain that conflicts begins when one individual ‘perceives that his/her goals, attitudes, values or beliefs’ are not compatible with that of the other’s (Rahim et al., 2000 p. 9). Here conflict is defined from the context of individual relations.Examinin g conflict from an organization context, Roloff (1987) argue that conflict begins when members of a team/organization engage in activities that are considered incompatible with those of colleagues within â€Å"their network, members of other collectivities, or unaffiliated individuals who utilize the services or products of the organization† (Roloff, 1987 p.496 quoted in Rahim, 2002).