Capital Punishment Should be Banned essays

Capital Punishment Should be Banned essays Capital Punishment should be banned. Today thousands of people around the world commit crimes. For a society to be civilized, these people have to be punished. This punishment is meted out in different forms. Isolation from the society by imprisonment, or taking away some rights from the individual, are some forms of punishment. For severe crimes, the punishment too is severe, one of the forms being capital punishment or the death sentence. Whether it is right or wrong remains a big question mark. Families of victims of murders, rape etc. are absolutely devastated by the crimes and demand justice. Sometimes the society too, is convinced that these criminals dont deserve to live. Allowing such criminals to live would only mean that more people follow the path of crime. Therefore giving them the death sentence would not only be a suitable form of justice, it would also set an example for other criminals and prevent future crimes from occurring. As the saying goes, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. People should know better than to commit such crimes. Hardened criminals obviously wont have any positive effect on humanity and the human race is better off without them. People, whove taken away the lives of others and broken up families while knowing that it is against the law, probably have no conscience. Rehabilitation, Imprisonment, or anything else is not going to help them change for the better. Moreover prisoners arent compelled to work and survive on food and shelt er provided by taxpayers. Why should civilized people help criminals live? Since they have no contribution to make to the world, theyd rather be put to death. Moreover stretching the life out of them is probably worse then killing them at once. However, Life is a gift given to us all. We all have been given the right to live our lives, the way we want to. Taking away someone elses is definitely beyond our auth...

One Sheep, Two Sheep, One Fish, Two Fish . . .

One Sheep, Two Sheep, One Fish, Two Fish . . . One Sheep, Two Sheep, One Fish, Two Fish . . . One Sheep, Two Sheep, One Fish, Two Fish . . . By Simon Kewin What do a sheep, a cannon and an aircraft have in common? The answer is that they all usually use the same word whether they are in the singular or the plural. If you have one sheep and then you acquire a second sheep, you now have two sheep, not two sheeps.   Other words exhibit this strange behaviour too, often other sorts of animal. For example, bison, deer, moose, pike and swine all usually use the same word for their singular and their plural. So, strictly speaking, it would be incorrect to refer to several bisons, deers, mooses, pikes or swines.   I say usually because this rather illogical rule is quite commonly broken and more regular plural forms do creep in for some of these words. Its actually quite common for people to refer to cannons for example. The Compact Oxford Dictionary says that the plural of cannon is only usually the same† so that, in fact, cannons is more and more acceptable.   The process has gone further with other words. For both salmon and trout, for example, the OED now says that either form of plural is equally acceptable. You can say three salmon or three salmons, although many people would still find three salmon preferable. Similarly, the Merriam-Webster dictionary lists both deers and pikes as acceptable plural forms. The Compact Oxford Dictionary, meanwhile, still says that the correct plural for the word pike (meaning the type of fish) is pike. But, as if to illustrate how illogical this is, the plural of the word pike when it refers to the weapon is regular : pikes.   This is another area where there will be disagreement among writers. On the one hand, â€Å"two cannon† is strictly correct but, on the other hand, â€Å"two cannons† is now a common usage and one which is, after all, perfectly clear in its meaning.   Footnote : fish and fishes is an interesting case. Both the Oxford and the Merriam-Webster dictionaries say that the plural of fish can be either fish or fishes. In fact, the two plural words are often used to refer to different things. As the Oxford dictionary explains :   The normal plural of fish is fish, as in â€Å"he caught two huge fish†; however the older form fishes is still used when referring to different kinds of fish: â€Å"freshwater fishes of the British Isles†.   So you use fish when referring to more than one fish of the same type and fishes when referring to multiple fish of different types. 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 Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Homograph Examples3 Cases of Complicated Hyphenation50 Synonyms for â€Å"Villain†

Acid base titration Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Acid base titration - Lab Report Example This is because in acidic, basic conditions phenolphthalein indicator usually indicates colorless and pink/purple colors respectively. Background theory Acid – base titration is one of the most essential Titrimetric analysis techniques commonly used in wet analysis to determine quantities or concentrations of the reacting reagents (Patnaik, 2010, p. 57). This is a neutralization reaction whereby its endpoint or neutrality point is marked by the change of phenolphthalein’s color from pink/purple to colorless. Colorless color in this experiment is an indication the reaction has reached its endpoint or undergone a complete neutralization route, hence basic condition is exhausted and instead acidity is increasing. Endpoint refers to a point where an indicator changes its color and assumes another thereby implying an acid has completely neutralized the available basic solution (Parsons, Forsythe, Edge & Bewick 793). At exact endpoint, the solution’s nature is neutral bearing a pH value of 7 similar to that of pure water. The addition of more acid solution reduces the solution’s pH from 7 towards 1, hence increasing its acidity nature compared to when it was a basic and a having a pH value more than 7. However, the color continues to remain the same but extent of acidity increases with addition of extra acid solution to the titrant, which in this experiment is a Standard 0.10 mol. /dm3 Sodium Hydroxide. Suppose there is a need to plot titration curves, then potentiometer is more accurate than either weak organic acid indicator or a weak organic base indicator (Patnaik, 2010). Since, it gives exact values compared to the latter two, which only relays the change of solution’s color (Patnaik, 2010.p. 61). An indicator is a weak organic acid or weak organic base having a formula of HY or HOY correspondingly, where Y represents a complex organic ion (Patnaik, 2010). During reaction, HOY or HY indicator usually dissociates as shown in the reversible equation below (Patnaik, 2010, p. 61). HY + H2O H3O+ + Y- Color -1 Color – 2. Reversibility in the above equation depends on the amount of either acid or basic solution added during neutralization process, which implies more base or acid shifts the process to the right (Patnaik, 2010). Hence, change of color from 1 to 2. The general equation involved in the neutralization process is, Acid + Base/Alkali Salt + water (Neutralization reaction equation) Essential components or agents for the above neutralization process to reach its completion state include hydronium ions, H3O+ (aq) from the acid and hydroxide ions, HO- (aq) from a base/alkali. However, these ions must be in aqueous form (in water) to facilitate their free movement besides ensuring intimate interactions when reacting. Respective equations for both Dilute Hydrochloric acid and Dilute Sulphuric Acid are, Ordinary equations (1) HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq) Â ® NaCl(aq) + H2O(l) H+(aq) + Cl-(aq) +Na+ + OH(aq) Â ® Na+ + Cl-(aq) + H2O(l) (2) H2SO4 (aq) + NaOH(aq) Â ® NaSO4(aq) + H2O(l) 2H+(aq) + SO4- (aq) + Na+(aq) + OH-(aq) Â ® Na-(aq) + SO4-(aq) + H2O(l) After eliminating spectator ions these equations reduce to, (1b) H+ (aq) + OH (aq) Â ® H2O (l) (2b) 2H+ (aq) + OH-(aq) Â ® H2O (l) Or (3) H3O+1 + OH- Â ® 2H2O (l) However, moles of H+ ions in each side of the equation should be equal for the reaction to proceed to the right or neutralization to occur (York, 175). Molarity concept Titration calculation in this experiment entails use of stoichiometric mole ratio of H+ and OH- ions (Parsons, Forsythe, Edge & Bewick). Moles’ ratio comparison in this experim

Is succession planning a neccessity every small to medium family Essay

Is succession planning a neccessity every small to medium family business should face - Essay Example In pursue well be the limitation of the research and a summary with recommendations. Berenbein (1990) asserts that it is necessary for each organization to anitcipate its succession plan, and be able to acknowledge its reality. SMEs have ben particularly interested in this area of research, focusing on the ‘heir’ who shall take on the leadership of the enterprise in the next generation. The current results show that there are no significant, drastic changes behind the past and current leadership of Company XY. The same issues that confront old leadership have remained the same issues for the new leadership. While such a smooth transition has been possible, there were certain issues that surfaced from the qualitative data. Davis (1983) has effective succession is a tricky issue, in lieu of the fact that it requires something more profound than change in structure; instead, it requies change in the norms and values of the organization – on other words, it requires cultural change. One manager of Company XY even commented, â€Å"The initial difficulty of senior management to adjust to the new president’s leadership lies in the culture itself. They have gotten used to the norms of the old president; however, there have been so many changes that speak of new ways of doing things. The new president advocates a new set of norms. That took some time to get used to, especially among us old guards.† Kuratko & Hodgetts (in Kuratko, 1993) has provided a critique of the tactics used to undertake succession planning. Those that were determined encompassed comprehending â€Å"the contextual as ­pects such as time, type of venture, managerial capabilities, and environ ­ment; identifying succession qualities such as technical skills, business knowl ­edge, perseverance, etc., and carrying out the succession plans which includes the grooming and preparation of a suc ­cessor.† (p. 23). Because the

Presidential Election Essay Example for Free

Presidential Election Essay The democratic government of the United States of America has a different and unique of electing the head of their State. The use of Electoral College has been going on for tow centuries now. This electoral process has been used for many years. Many president of USA seated and led America because of this process Thou there are amendments in this process, still some critics finds this process unfair and unjust in choosing the president of the country. How Does Electoral College Work? The Electoral College is a process that was founded to compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote. In this process, each State is allocated a number of electors equal to the number of its U. S. Senators (always 2) plus the number of its U. S. Representatives. Instead of voting directly for a presidential candidate (and his or her vice-presidential running mate), voters vote for a slate of electors who are pledged to vote for a particular presidential ticket (president/vice-president team). The political parties in each state select a slate of electors. The electors selected by the party of the candidate winning the most popular votes in a state become the electors for that state. The number of electors for a State is based on the number of members in the House of Representatives who represent the State, plus two for the States Senators. The State’s population determines a State’s Congressional delegation (Nara, 2006). The number of electors is determined by Article II, section 1 paragraph 2 of the constitution (Fortier, 2004). These electors are selected by popular vote and (except in Maine and Nebraska) these popular votes are combined on a statewide basis. States may divide themselves into presidential electors, districts and combined the vote within each district. But in Maine and Nebraska, it was required that some lectors to be chosen in districts and some at large. Which ever the case maybe, the electoral vote of the state can be divided and cast for more than one presidential and vice presidential candidate (Fortier, 2004) The process is administered by the National Achieves and Records Administration (NARA) through the Office of the Federal Register. In United States elections they do not tally the total number of votes cast across the nations, instead they count it state-by-state. The candidate in the a Presidential election wins by getting the majority number of electoral votes. Because of this, a Presidential candidate who win the popular vote is likely to lose if he lost in the electoral vote. This happened in several occasions in the history if the United States. One of the recent was the 2000 Presidential Election between Bush and Gore. In cases that there is none of the candidate get the majority of votes, the congress chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice- President. If in case there have not chosen any president and vice president on the inauguration day then the next in line will act as the temporary president until the time they have chosen one. After the vice president, the rightful leader is the Speaker of the House then the President of the Senate. The 2000 Presidential Elections In the United States, the most â€Å"popular votes† does not always win. In 2000, presidential election where Al Gore won the popular vote, but he does not became the president of the United States because through a complex system involving representative votes, as well as a favorable court ruling he lost to George Bush. Only five 538 citizens really vote to choose for the president and vice president. This 200 hundred years old history of the Electoral College system is gathering so many negative reviews and proposal for reforms and amendments. According to Kimberling (2002) many critics have said that said that this process has many disadvantage and some of them are the following: †¢ The possibility of electing a minority president †¢ The risk of so-called faithless Electors †¢ The possible role of the Electoral College in depressing voter turnout, and †¢ Its failure to accurately reflect the national popular will. But there are people who believe in the efficieny of the system and state the following arguments: †¢ contributes to the cohesiveness of the country by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president †¢ enhances the status of minority interests, †¢ contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two party system, and †¢ maintains a federal system of government and representation. Conclusion The Electoral College System has been used for the past 200 hundred years in the election in the United States. The legislative body in USA must remember that time is changing and the system that was applicable 200 hundred years ago may not be applicasble anymore in the process of electing a president. Especially now, with the height of different technologies that can be used by the candidates for their advantage. It is good that they review and revised and if not totally abolished this system. They should be creative and resourceful enough to find the most suitable process of electing the president of the United States because it is the most important office in the United States of America References Fortier, John C. (2004) After the People Vote. American Enterprise Institute. 1:3 Kimberling, William (2002) The Electoral College. Retrieved on November 26, 2006. http://www. fec. gov/pdf/eleccoll. pdf NARA (2006) What is Electoral College. Retrieved on November 26, 2006. http://www. archives. gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors. html

Copernicus Essay -- essays research papers

Copernicus has been named one of the most influential people this millennia by Time Magazine; in part for his movements in though during the scientific revolution; creating a basis for modern astronomy and challenging the Church (of the 15th century) to lead the way to a reform in thinking. He did so by disproving (mathematically) a theory of the heavens that had existed for almost 14 centuries, established by a man named Charles Ptolemy in 250 AD. Copernicus revolutionized astronomy by creating a solid basis for it to stand on, discovering that "The Earth was not the centre of the cosmos, but rather one celestial body among many, as it became subject to mathematical description." He compiled a manuscript of his theories, including the retrogressive behaviour of the planets, cause by the Earth's daily rotation on its axis and yearly revolution around the sun. Much of Copernicus' influence was rooted in the minds of men for years, perhaps because his theories were not fully understood or appreciated until many years after his death in 1543. Finally, Nicolaus Copernicus had a theory published (anonymously) that went against Catholic Church authority, a very bold step for someone in that era. The Church relented, and allowed the circulation of the manuscript.The Ptolemic System, up until the 1510s was the only way of thinking about the solar system as they knew it. The Church firmly believed the Earth was the centre of the universe, and as far as the community in that era was concerned, the Church's way of thinking was the correct way of thinking. For a great many years, the Ptolemic System had ruled the minds of astronomers; the Earth was the centre of the universe, and that Mercury, Venus, our Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Sun all revolved around the Earth. As Copernicus recorded the movements of Mars, he noticed a peculiar pattern in its movements. Every night, its position differed slightly, mostly travelling west, then for a few days east again, then continuing west. He called the phenomenon retrograde motion, and it seemed to explain a rotation of the Earth. During his years as a student in universities (1491-1503), he found the first defects in the Ptolemic System, and after much concentration, he developed a manuscript with his theories of the Heaven in 1514, De revoltionibus orbium coelestium, libri (English Translation: On the Re... ...uestioned in Italy, and many new theories were being constructed. The expansion in thinking gave way for astronomers like Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei who further revolutionized astronomy as we know it today.Nicolaus Copernicus, born Mikolaj Kopernik, of Thorn, Poland accomplished a great many things, some we take for granted. He created an infinite number of possibilities of directions for astronomy to take. He expanded the minds of humans everywhere, and especially those of the Catholic Church. His manuscript De Revolutionibus created quite a stir, and raised a following among the students he lectured infrequently. "Considered the father of modern astronomy, he completely revolutionized science in the 1500s, giving way to others with radical theories to present them, and be accepted, not rejected." By the time of Copernicus' passing, most of Europe was thirsting for more information. What he contributed to astronomy will not be forgotten, and many new ideas sha ll rise because of his radical thinking, making him truly worthy of being 'The father of Modern Astronomy," and being placed on Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the millenia.

Adoption of Ifrs

ADOPTION OF IFRS: IT`S BENEFITS AND IMPACTS ON FIRMS AND COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD The IASB was established in 2001 and since have assumed the responsibility of the standard setting from its predecessor body, the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) and began issuing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS has recently been dominating the regulatory changes in accounting for listed companies around the world. Through the years, over 100 countries have adopted IFRS reporting, some of which include Australia, the European Union, India, Japan, South Africa, Russia and most recently Canada.In addition, the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are working towards the final element of a work plan to incorporate IFRS into the U. S. financial reporting jurisdiction. In November 2007, the SEC voted to allow foreign issuers that report in IFRS to file their financial statements with the SEC without reconciling to U. S. generally accepted accounting st andards (GAAP). Accounting standard setters anticipate that the use of IFRS will improve the comparability of financial statements, improve reporting transparency, and increase the quality of financial reporting which in turn will lead to greater investor confidence.From an economic perspective, some believe that it’s challenging to perceive that such expectations will be achieved as a result of converting to IFRS. However according to proponents of IFRS, publicly traded companies believe that applying these principles will allow for a single set of high quality accounting standards as this will contribute to better functioning of the capital markets (Quigley 2007).In the following paper I will discuss the reasons why firms around the globe have adopted IFRS in relation to the financial reporting and disclosure quality, comparability across firms and countries, and the costs and benefits associated with reporting improvements. Most countries are in favor of adopting IFRS, fro m the viewpoint that IFRS standards are more capital market oriented, which in turn provides higher quality information that will benefit constituencies of financial statement users as supposed to local GAAP (Daske and Gebhardt 2006).If this statement is true, one way to validate it is through recommendations by empirical studies that suggest firms engaging in IFRS implementations should see an increase in market liquidity followed by a decrease in the firm’s value of cost of capital. According to Leuz and Wysocki (2008), they have provided some evidence in relation to the effects of reporting quality on market liquidity. They indicate the issue regarding information asymmetry, where investors who possess less knowledge of a firm’s reporting structure or policies, are concerned about trading with the better informed investors.They indicate how these non-informed investors are to lower the price at which they are willing to buy, to protect themselves from losses incurre d from trading with better informed investors. Hence investors that possess less information about a stock are less likely to trade. These effects of adverse selection and information asymmetry reduce the liquidity of securities market. Therefore, IASB strongly encourages essential financial disclosure. This will alleviate the adverse selection problem and will result in increased market liquidity by leveling the playing field among all market participants.In addition, other studies have shown that improvements in financial reporting and disclosure can affect the cost of capital in a variety of ways. Some of which include, investors that require a higher return from less liquid securities and lower estimation risk as this makes it easier for the investor to estimate a firm’s future cash flow. This in turn, will improve risk sharing in the economy by making investors aware of certain securities or by making them more willing to hold them (Leuz and Verrecchia, 2004). Hence redu cing the cost of capital.As important as it can be for firms to disclose essential information to investors, other firms can also benefit from these disclosures for the purpose of decision making and will help reduce the agency problem existing between shareholders and management. For example, â€Å"disclosure on operating performance and governance arrangement provides useful benchmarks that help outside investors to evaluate other firms managerial efficiency or potential agency conflicts and, in doing so, lower the costs of monitoring† ( Leuz and Wysocki, 2008).In addition, the information environment has improved as firms switch over to IFRS, which has also contributed to the increase in higher quality financial reporting. According to Mary E. Barth (2006) firms that voluntarily adopted IFRS generally seek lower earning management, lower cost of capital, and more value relevant of earnings. All of which interpret evidence of higher accounting quality. Barth indicates that the accounting quality could be mproved by removing other accounting methods that are not reflective of a firm’s performance and which are used by managers to manage earnings. As part of his testing, he compared firm’s earnings management between those firms reporting under IFRS and firms reporting according to their local GAAP. As a result of his study, it was indicated that after firms had adopted IFRS, they had larger volatility swings in net income, increase ratio of variance in cash flows, higher correlation of accruals and cash flows, small positive net income, and increased occurrence of larger losses.Opponents argue that a single set of internationally accepted high quality financial reporting standards may not be appropriate for certain firms as they are exposed to different cultural, political and legal differences as this might continue to impose major obstacles in the progress towards the harmonization of standards. These differences however may not provide for any greater value relevance and reliability. For example a study conducted by Ball (2006) indicates that pension accounting may be subject to earnings management in countries that have less developed pension systems.Another empirical study indicates that managers can take advantage and use different assumptions to manipulate financial statements (Soderstorm and Jialin Sun, 2006). Proponents of IFRS argue that using common accounting standards across countries will make it more cost efficient for investors to identify earnings management. When accounting standards are uniformed and relevant disclosure is provided, investors are more likely to understand the different assumptions used by management to calculate such pension accounting, which will limit the chances of management to engage in earnings management.The second important factor as to why countries have chosen to adopt IFRS, is mainly because of its increase in accounting comparability across firms. The advantage of a gl obal movement towards IFRS reporting makes it easier for investors and stakeholders to compare different firms and the relevant information to help them assess the company objectives. Comparative reporting will enable users of financial statements in identifying which firms are more or less profitable.Firms that are exposed to high or low risk of return as a result, will reduce investors information asymmetries and lower estimation risk. Moreover, the improvement in comparability across firms allows for increase market liquidity and reduces firms cost of capital (Luez et al. 2008). Studies have suggested that prior to adopting IFRS, firm’s local GAAP standard which were tailored to the needs of analysts and investors would in theory reduce biased information and build investor confidence.A study conducted by Tan, Wang and Welter in 2009, indicated that once firms had adopted IFRS, their foreign analysts had increased significantly more for those who had the greatest level of GAAP differences. There have been a number of studies conducted to test whether IFRS adoption does in fact increase comparability. The outcome of these studies are mixed. Bielstein et al. (2007) concluded that IFRS adoption, results in greater foreign investment for countries that have strong reliability and comparability.Other empirical studies claim that cultural, political and business differences continue to impose significant obstacles in increasing the comparability of accounting information. Lang Maffet and Owens (2010) find that accounting comparability does not improve for IFRS adopters relative to a control group of non-adopters. The two conclude that there is little evidence that IFRS adoption increases comparability. Overall, from the research obtained, there is little empirical evidence proven on the effects of reporting comparability than reporting quality.The third important factor for countries adopting IFRS, are the costs and benefits associated in producing high qu ality accounting standards and the improvement in comparability across firms. As mentioned previously, the ultimate benefit a firm receives by adopting IFRS reporting is from the increase in market liquidity followed by a lower cost of capital. In order to achieve this high standard, there are costs that a firm is exposed to. Such incurred costs include transitional costs, ongoing costs of compliance to the firms, and enforcement costs relevant to government agencies (Standish, 2003).Standish summarizes his findings in relation to cost and benefits of firms moving to IFRS that will tend to see lower transaction costs when preparing financial reports. They will only be reporting against a single set of accounting standards instead of multiple sets. In addition, he makes note of a â€Å"positive network externality† that arises through the use of a single set of accounting standards by all constituencies. This will save market participants from requiring additional time and ene rgy of having to learn, apply and understand multiple sets of standards.Other benefits that result from the transition to IFRS will improve comparability between firm’s financial statement for investors and shareholders. Thereby, making investment decision’s easier. According to Leuz and Wysocki (2008), there are direct and indirect costs associated with improving reporting. The direct costs include preparation, validity and circulation of accounting reports. These costs can vary and increase significantly. In addition, firms will require assistance and hire consultants that have expertise in IFRS reporting.These specialists help train key personnel in the organizations so that they are able to produce financial statements that are in accordance to IFRS reporting. The costs tend to be more difficult for smaller companies to finance such activities for disclosures and reports, as their profitability margins are small. Disclosure costs have characteristics of indirect co sts. Whereby a firm can reduce its monopoly power by providing too much detail to the market, as sensitive profitability information is assimilated to its competitors.Other empirical studies have noted that with these costs and cost-benefit trade-offs that firms are undergoing, it may not be suitable for them to obtain high quality reporting. Rather, encourage firms to provide certain disclosures which the cost of disclosing such information does not exceed their benefit. Moreover, it is of importance that the standard setters recognize the net benefits obtained from the high quality reporting and comparability, as they differ across firm industries and countries (Leuz and Wysocki, 2008).It’s relatively evident why most companies would like to switch over to IFRS due to the number of benefits that are associated with the transition as described above. One would automatically presume that a single set of accounting standards that are used universally by most firms within diffe rent countries would deliver comparability, increase reporting transparency, allow for foreign investments, hence increasing market liquidity and low cost of capital. However, there is very little empirical evidence that claim these characteristics as being true after conversion.Having said that, Ball (2006) has noted that IASB has been successful in serving the public by developing comprehensive set of high quality standards that have convinced over 100 countries to adopt these principles for the purposes of financial reporting. There are some advantages of having a single set of accounting standards unified. As such, these standards contain characteristics of a â€Å"public good†, for example, the investor can use this information in an annual report without eliminating its usefulness to other investors. In other words, the marginal cost for another investor viewing these annual reports would be zero.A second advantage of unifying accounting standards and disclosure practic es is to reduce management from using their own judgement in financial reporting, by reducing the risk of altering the reports to mislead capital market participants. Moreover, these uniform standards provide protection for auditors against firms. These standards are to also be enforced by auditors, whereby the firm has very little opportunity to shirk, hence reducing information asymmetry and increasing investors and stakeholder’s confidence of the firm. Lastly, unifying these standards will increase the accounting comparability across firms.If each firm or country were to implement different local accounting standards, this can impose high costs for both the firm and its external users, such as investors as this will create negative externalities and will reduce domestic investments which can impact countries trade volume profitability, where the majority of countries main source of income is driven from. Opponents of IFRS adoption feel that a single set of accounting stand ards do not benefit all firms and countries. These differences in countries arise from cultural, economic, political and legal systems.For example, firms may have to respond to political pressures from the government due to balance sheet volatility, as a result of fair valuing. The IASB should review accounting standards as they are released to eliminate the possibility of political pressures on countries that are exposed to such tight regulation. One of the main reasons why countries and firms around the world adopt IFRS is due to the results achieved from reporting quality and disclosure practices. However, IFRS can occasionally produce ineffective reporting quality and disclosure.For instance, IFRS can lack in setting descriptive details in their guidelines that make it difficult for countries to follow. Some countries find their local GAAP easier to read and understand due to the level of detail and examples provided. These complexities in the rules creates havoc for firms that would like to report in IFRS, but find it challenging to exclusively follow these guidelines outlined by the IASB. As a result, this can lead to poor financial reporting quality. Other countries and firms conclude that fewer rules and guidelines will encourage management to produce effective accounting policies that will rompt them to make appropriate judgement calls. Information asymmetry and agency costs play a significant role in relation to the disclosure and financial reporting quality. The key motivating factor for any firm is, the more disclosure provided will create a positive signal to investors and hence, will reduce the information asymmetry and agency costs. Companies will see increases in investor confidence while earning high profitability levels. Moreover, firms adopting IFRS, chances are that they are subject to fewer opportunities to part take in earnings management or deceive investors.Studies have indicated that countries which have adopted IFRS do not all achieve the same degree of benefit. The study implies to those countries which have a weak structure in place for investor protection, will tend to see the most benefits from adopting of IFRS. In contrary, countries that have a strong structure in place for investor protection will see marginal benefits. The increase in benefits received by a country whether small or large will improve investor protection and provide for more comparable and comprehensive financial reporting.The cost and benefits of a firm converting to IFRS can be substantial depending on how one views it. The benefit driven through the implementation of IFRS will include lower cost of capital, increases firm value and creates a stable level of investors’ confidence. In addition, as discussed above, the benefits will also increase as a result of better financial reporting quality and cross country comparability for foreign investors, auditors and other constituencies. These benefits obtained through adoption of IFRS are not free. The cost of implementing such an accounting standard can cost firms millions.There are various types of costs that are incurred in the different processes a firm undergoes. The transition costs can be significant in relation to auditing fees. The cost of auditing work will increase, due to testing and validating accounting data as most of the assumptions used by firms are judgemental. Other costs involve training key personnel to apply applicable standards in practice. Companies tend to have shortages of staff that have ever been exposed to IFRS accounting, this is more apparent in Canada. As a result, these companies struggle as they need to learn and apply these new standards.Moreover, the cost related to the risk involved of manipulation of accounting standards, as these standards do not provide strict reporting rules for companies to follow, can impose a huge cost on the firm, if the auditor refuses to provide an unqualified opinion on the firm. Overall, the costs are generally higher during the first couple of phases through the transition. In the long run, costs tend to decline as employees are more aware of the standards and a basic foundation has been developed by IFRS consultants and auditors. At the present moment IFRS reporting is widely used by many countries across the globe.Based on the studies gathered above, countries and firms are optimistic about replacing their local GAAP to IFRS accounting standards. By moving towards a universal set of high quality accounting standards this will lead to improving the firm’s performance, by increasing shareholders wealth though investors’ confidence, lower cost of capital hence reducing information asymmetry. In addition, other benefits include comparability across all nations, this will help facilitate in better understanding by investors of accounting information released in public financials.Comparability will result in an increase of auditors understanding in the types of po licies and assumptions companies implement. This will help ensure that companies are not partaking in earnings management. Comparative accounting standards can be most beneficial to analysts. This will enable analysts to predict the firm’s future forecast of cash flows in comparison to the industry average. As mentioned above, the IFRS accounting standards are costly to implement. Studies have made reference to these transition costs as extremely pricy to develop, however, in the long run their costs tend to decline.This may in fact be true, however, for those companies that have incorporated IFRS standards, will continue to see new accounting pronouncements issued by the IASB, as they work to improve their guidelines. As a result, firms will continue to spend in areas of training and seeking professional advice on how these new standards will impact their firm. References 1. Bielstein , 2007. How the IFRS movement will affect financial reporting in the U. S. : Article: KPMG 2. Daske andGebhardt, 2006. Discussion of Daske and Gebhardt, Journal ofAccounting Finance and Business Studies. 3. Lang, Maffet and Owen, 2010. Earnings Movement and Accounting Comparability, the Journal of Accounting Research 4. Leuz and Verrecchia , 2004. Firms Capital Allocation Choices, Information Quality and the Cost of Capital 5. Luez and Wysocki, 2008. Economic Consequences of Financial Reporting and Disclosure Regulation, Journal of Accounting Research 6. Mary E. Barth, 2006. Accounting Quality : International Accounting Standards, The Journal of Accounting Research 7. Ray Ball, 2006.International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): Pros and Cons for Investors, Journal of Accounting Research 8. Soderstorm and Jialin Sun, 2007. IFRS Adoption and Accounting Quality: A review, The Journal of Accounting Research 9. Standsih, 2003. Evaluating National Capacity for Direct Participation in International Accounting Harmonization, Journal of Accounting Research 10. Tang, Wang and Welkor, 2011. Analyst Following and Forecast Accuracy After Mandated IFRS Adoption. Journal of Accounting Research. 11. William R. Scott, Fifth edition , 2009. Financial Accounting Theory

Summary of Management Consultancy

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY SERVICES BY CPAs Introduction to the World of Consulting * Consultants are not all CPAs. Anyone can be a consultant. However, to prosper in consultancy, one has to have the expertise. The most compelling nonmonetary reasons people enter the consulting field are: 1. Sharing their knowledge to help their clients. 2. Building business network and take a step up in one’s corporate career. 3. Having no boss, being independent and making their own decisions. 4. No fear of being laid off. 5. Having a flexible source of income. 6. A means of giving back to the community by providing expertise and assistance in community-based projects. Evolution of MAS The primary factors that contributed to the emergence and growth of management consultancy are: 1. Growth in size and complexity of business. 2. Difficulty in conducting and managing a business. 3. Greater competition among businesses so that new management techniques will have to be applied. 4. Recognition of the importance of accurate and timely information in decision-making. 5. Inability to have a complete line-up of professional management. Developing Trends Management consultancy now specializes in information systems, automated offices, financial analysis and modeling budgeting and cost controls, organization structures, personnel compensation, strategic planning and a host of other areas. * Another trend has been the improvement of business education. * The quality undergraduate and graduate programs in business are producing better-trained entrants into the ranks of management consulting profession. As a result of this infusion, management consulting is becoming a catalyst for advancement of better management concepts and techniques. Technological developments have occurred at a breathtaking pace in such areas as information sciences and decision sciences. * Computer hardware and software, together with data communication and robotics represent powerful tools for business management. Future Prospects A veteran management consultant makes the following predictions: 1. Management consulting will become even more specialized. 2. The consultant’s orientation will be towards being an insight-provider, creator and sharer of information. 3. Management consulting firms will tend either to remain small or to become quite large. Small firma will prosper by focusing upon narrow areas of specialization while large firms will have to develop and offer a wide range of services to sustain their high costs of operations. 4. As consultants grow in number, they will develop more sophisticated means of marketing their services. 5. Bright graduates of accounting, management and business schools will continue to be attracted to careers in management consulting. The Consulting Industry Most definitions of consultancy would include: . Information technology 2. Consulting and system integration 3. Corporate strategy 4. Operations management 5. Human resources management 6. Outsourcing The Main Types of Consultant Firms 1. IT Firms (for example, IBM’s purchase of PwC Consulting) – to increase revenue 2. Accounting firms offering consultancy 3. Major Consulting Only Firms 4. Independents Professional bodies such as PICPA off er professional training and accreditation and provide a forum for all-important networking. Career in Consulting Firms (in ascending order of seniority) 1. Analyst – responsible for gathering information and processing it for the consulting team. 2. Consultants – undertake the evaluation of the client business and make recommendations on its behalf. 3. Senior Consultant or Managers – more experienced consultants that have the responsibility of leading a consulting team. – would typically have 3-5 years of consulting experience. – would be more involved in dealing with members of the client team. 4. Business Development Managers – are responsible for developing the firm’s products and building its relationship with clients. would be involved in some large, complex consulting projects at a strategic level. – most would have 5-10 years of consulting experience. 5. Directors (or Partners) – are the most experienced consultants, who take on responsibility for the development of the organization as a whole and who lead its strategic development. – would maintain contacts wi th senior personnel in the client companies and would have overall responsibility for projects. – would have 10+ years of consulting experience. Nature of MAS by Independent Accounting Firms Management Advisory Services (MAS) by independent accounting firms can be described as the function of providing professional advisory (consulting) services, the primary purpose of which is to improve the client’s use of its capabilities and resources to achieve the objectives of the organization. Management Consultancy can also be described as an independent and objective advisory service provided by qualified persons to clients in order to help them identify and analyze management problems and opportunities. 2 types of encounters with clients: . Consultation- providing advice and information during a short time frame. The advice will be definitive when the consultant is fully aware of the situation and possesses sufficient expertise to require more intensive study or investigation. 2. Engagement- consists of that form of management advisory or consulting service in which an analytical approach and process is applied in a study or project. This approach typically involves: a. Ascertaining the pertinent facts and circumstances b. Seeking and identifying objectives c. Defining the problem or opportunity for improvement d. Evaluating and determining the possible solutions e. Present findings and recommendations f. Implementing the solution, if appropriate And following the client’s decisions to proceed, the independent accounting firm may also be involved in: a. Planning and scheduling actions to achieve the desired results, and b. Advising and providing technical assistance in implementing In combination with knowledge and experience in such areas as: a. Organization and management methods b. Office and management functions c. Systems and procedures d. Data processing methods e. Quantitative methods f. Financial management To produce solutions such as: * A management information system * A sales reporting system * A cost accounting system * A work measurement program * Improved production control * An organization plan with statements of duties and responsibilities, or * An electronic data processing system Rationale of Using Management Consultants A management consultant is hired for at least four valuable reasons: 1. Independent Viewpoint This enables him to see the true nature of the problems and distinguish between feasible and infeasible solutions. Since, he is not involved in the internal policies of his clients, his suggestions are considered unbiased. 2. Professional Advisor and Counselor Business firms generally prefer CPA consultants because of their academic training and examination requirement for the CPA certificate. 3. Temporary Professional Service The use of consultants will be probably less expensive to the company than hiring new managers or employees to provide professional advisory services. . Agent of Change In providing solutions to the client’s problem, changes may have to be made to the organizational structures, to procedures and to job responsibilities. Independent Accounting Firm’s Role in MAS â€Å"To provide advice and technical assistance which should provide for client participation in the analytical approach and process. Specifying this as the proper role recognizes both th e appropriate place of MAS and the realities of practice. This is the only basis on which the work should permit it to be done. * The accounting firm should avoid making management decisions or taking positions that might impair the firm’s objectivity. CPA’s Objective in Engaging in MAS â€Å"To utilize the essential qualifications it has available to provide advice and technical assistance which will enable client management to conduct its affairs more effectively. † Essential Qualifications: 1. Technical competence 2. Familiarity with the client’s finance and control systems and his business problems. 3. Analytical ability and experience in problem solving. 4. Professional independence, objectivity and integrity.

Inventor of the Mechanical Television System John Baird

Inventor of the Mechanical Television System John Baird John Logie Baird was born on August 13th, 1888, in Helensburgh, Dunbarton, Scotland and died on June 14th, 1946, in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, England. John Baird received a diploma course in electrical engineering at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College (now called Strathclyde University) and studied towards his Bachelor of Science Degree in electrical engineering from the University of Glasgow, interrupted by the outbreak of W.W.1. Early Patents Baird is best remembered for inventing a mechanical television system. During the 1920s, John Baird and American Clarence W. Hansell patented the idea of using arrays of transparent rods to transmit images for television and facsimiles respectively. Bairds 30 line images were the first demonstrations of television by reflected light rather than back-lit silhouettes. John Baird based his technology on Paul Nipkows scanning disk idea and later developments in electronics. John Baird Milestones The television pioneer created the first televised pictures of objects in motion (1924), the first televised human face (1925) and a year later he televised the first moving object image at the Royal Institution in London. His 1928 trans-Atlantic transmission of the image of a human face was a broadcasting milestone. Color television (1928), stereoscopic television and television by infra-red light were all demonstrated by Baird before 1930. He successfully lobbied for broadcast time with the British Broadcasting Company, the BBC started broadcasting television on the Baird 30-line system in 1929. The first simultaneous sound and vision telecast was broadcast in 1930. In July 1930, the first British Television Play was transmitted, The Man with the Flower in his Mouth. In 1936, the British Broadcasting Corporation adopted television service using the electronic television technology of Marconi-EMI (the worlds first regular high-resolution service - 405 lines per picture), it was that technology that won out over Bairds system.

The Contribution of Academic Institution in Childrens Well-Being

The Contribution of Academic Institution in Childrens Well-Being Hashtag: #makesafehappen Reducing Childhood Deaths through Awareness and Responsiveness The tagline â€Å"The #1 Cause of Childhood Deaths is Preventable Accidents† from #makesafehappen or Make Safe Happen campaign probably touched the heart of many. It is, in fact, encouraging us to act and become responsive and better parents to our children. There are two important issues associated with thousands of childhood deaths: The large majority of parents or about 76% are not aware of the issue of the deadly effect of â€Å"preventable† accidental injuries acquired at home.   The majority of parents or 63% lack the drive to do more about their children’s safety. In short, since the most probable solution to reducing childhood deaths from preventable injuries at home is awareness and enthusiasm of children’s guardian, the job then is to educate and motivate parents. There are many ways to educate parents but the most effective in terms of scope (a home visit is time-consuming strenuous for health workers) and motivation is to conduct parenting classes where parents can come, work together, share each other experiences, get motivated, and learn in one location. You may be interested in: Moral Failure in Academic Institutions The Limits of Academic Freedom The Value of Academic Debate The Scientific Basis for Defining Seasons Is High IQ a Guarantee of Academic Success? The Contribution of Academic Institution in Improving Children’s Well-Being Many are unaware that aside from basic literacy and numerical skills, the academic institution is deeply involved in other matters concerning children and forever contributing to the improvement of children’s well-being. Let us start with the more obvious. The institution gave us the knowledge and skills that we need to meet the requirements of our chosen profession. This profession is now helping us to support the needs of our family, secure our children’s welfare, and others in need. The academic institution is the core of scientific research and producing thousands of scholarly papers aimed to improve children’s well-being. These include research and useful findings associated children’s growth, disease, mental health, parenting and childcare, learning and skills, behavior, nutrition, and more.  Moreover, the findings of these academic papers are reliable and actually used in improving children’s lives for many years. For example, academic researchers on influenza enable the U.S. Centers for Disease Control or CDC to create a strategy to prevent the spread of flu, which is now a common practice of childcare providers and other early childhood care programs. Similarly, the source of United Kingdom’s healthy eating standards and bullying prevention policy for children, are academic case studies and statistical data. The sources used by #makesafehappen or Make Safe Happen are survey results and statistical data collected and analyzed using scientific methods developed by academic intellectuals. For example, the content in their safety tips are jointly developed by two leading children safety oriented organizations that are generally using information from national statistics and scholarly journals such as â€Å"Etiology and Outcome of Pediatric Burns† study of Morrow Smith (1996), â€Å"Tap water scald burns in children† by Feldman et al. (1978), and others. It is quite clear that the actual contributors in children’s wellbeing are academic papers researched and published to improve children’s well-being. Moreover, some of these academic sources were published many years ago and therefore solid evidence of the enduring commitment of the academic institution to children’s well-being.

Astronomy in Japan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Astronomy in Japan - Research Paper Example The ease, by which astronomy was accepted in old Japan was perhaps related to the fact that it complements the Japanese mythology, which is also institutionalized by the government. The Sun goddess Amaterasu has a central role in governance through the royal family, then there are the Moon God, and the stars and how they are interrelated and how their festivities are celebrated to strengthen Japanese traditions and rituals. It appeared that astronomy along with its place in religion gave some form of legitimacy to the myths that forms the anchor of the imperial tradition. From its first introduction in Japan to the present, astronomy have always been important to the Japanese culture. It is easy to understand this because it suits how the Japanese generally see the world. This is demonstrated best in how it is easily integrated in the Shinto traditions. Astronomy is compatible with the Japanese way of life, it reinforced their religion as well as their imperial traditions. Najita reflected this best when he said that human knowledge must rest ultimately on the proposition that the universe is an infinite absolute preceding all human and historical experiences and that what men know, therefore, must be tested with reference to the best-know science of studying the universe, which is astronomy. This is why, although, astronomy is not a Japanese invention, Japan was able to embrace it and a achieve a kind that is uniquely its own.

Business research report Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business report - Research Paper Example However, upon completion of the survey process and subsequent data screening, responses provided by 438 participants were considered and the rest were omitted. The reason behind the omission was particularly because some of the surveys were incomplete, some responses were biased and error existed in the rest (Mukherji & Albon, 2009; Saunders, Lewis & Thornhil, 2009). The data has been presented both in the form of descriptive. Application of these methodologies enabled the researcher to describe the major aspects of a set of data quantitatively (Somekh & Lewin, 2004; Spradley, 1979). The ultimate aim was to abridge a sample of data quantitatively with the application of any probabilistic model The first and foremost objective is to determine who are using the park and what the purposes behind that are. In order to achieve this objective, the researcher had to analyze question 1 through to question 4. The first question involved investigation of the main reasons that prompted people to visit the park. It is evident from figure 1 given below that 31.28% of the respondents visit the parks in order to exercise. According to 20.32% of the respondents, walking the dog is the major reason behind their visit to the park. 17.35% of the respondents visited the park in order to accompany their children to the playground. 7.99 % of the respondents visit the park in order to engage themselves in organized sports activities. Sitting/relaxing/socializing is the reason behind visiting parks for 12.79% of the respondents. Among the other major reasons that prompt people to visit their nearby park is to organize family barbecue parties or to fly aero plane models. Given the fact that, majo rity of the sample population visits the park in order to exercise, it provides an excellent premise for the researcher to conduct an in-depth analysis of their attitudes and perceptions towards outdoor exercise equipment positioned along the walk paths. As far as the