Free Essays on The Purpose Of Upton Sinclair

The purpose of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle was to bring the grim conditions of Chicago’s meatpacking industry and its workers to the American public’s attention. After Sinclair was commissioned to investigate labor conditions in the Chicago stockyards he wrote about his observations in The Jungle. He points out that labor unions have failed because in the so-called competitive system owners can also organize. He stresses the capitalistic system in comparison to the socialist reforms. However, the book did not bring about the socialist reforms that Sinclair thought were needed. It does provide many historical events in vivid descriptions which supported the contrasts between capitalist views and socialist reforms. The book begins with the wedding of Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukeszaite. In a flashback the explanation of the characters coming to America is described. Ona decides to come to America after her father dies and leaves her with little money. Jurgis joins Ona, Ona’s family, and his family to journey to America. They settle down in a Chicago area known as Packtown, the center of Chicago’s meatpacking industry. As an immigrant Jurgis sees his new home as a hard, dangerous, and filthy place to live. People are having difficulty getting jobs. However, Jurgis gets a job right away because of his physical strength. His job is shoveling guts at Browns. He is shown a tour of the facilities. This is where hard reality sets in. As he starts his job he witnesses the butchering of injured, diseased, or dead cattle that are unfit to eat. As winter comes things become even harsher. Antanes, Jurgis’ father, dies in a cold cellar. Jurgis is forced to work in an unheated packing house. Because of bad weather, work is shorter hours and less pay. This is the time when Jurgis realizes that possibly by joining a union things could change for the better. He slowly begins to understand politics and bribery. He becomes a ... Free Essays on The Purpose Of Upton Sinclair Free Essays on The Purpose Of Upton Sinclair The purpose of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle was to bring the grim conditions of Chicago’s meatpacking industry and its workers to the American public’s attention. After Sinclair was commissioned to investigate labor conditions in the Chicago stockyards he wrote about his observations in The Jungle. He points out that labor unions have failed because in the so-called competitive system owners can also organize. He stresses the capitalistic system in comparison to the socialist reforms. However, the book did not bring about the socialist reforms that Sinclair thought were needed. It does provide many historical events in vivid descriptions which supported the contrasts between capitalist views and socialist reforms. The book begins with the wedding of Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukeszaite. In a flashback the explanation of the characters coming to America is described. Ona decides to come to America after her father dies and leaves her with little money. Jurgis joins Ona, Ona’s family, and his family to journey to America. They settle down in a Chicago area known as Packtown, the center of Chicago’s meatpacking industry. As an immigrant Jurgis sees his new home as a hard, dangerous, and filthy place to live. People are having difficulty getting jobs. However, Jurgis gets a job right away because of his physical strength. His job is shoveling guts at Browns. He is shown a tour of the facilities. This is where hard reality sets in. As he starts his job he witnesses the butchering of injured, diseased, or dead cattle that are unfit to eat. As winter comes things become even harsher. Antanes, Jurgis’ father, dies in a cold cellar. Jurgis is forced to work in an unheated packing house. Because of bad weather, work is shorter hours and less pay. This is the time when Jurgis realizes that possibly by joining a union things could change for the better. He slowly begins to understand politics and bribery. He becomes a ...

Abortion Ethics Essay Sample

Abortion Ethics Essay Sample Abortion Ethics Essay The abortion debate has been in the mainstream media for a long time now. Since the Roe vs. Wade case in 1973, there emerged two factions (pro-choice and pro-life) that have always held disputing arguments over the issue of abortion. These two have continued to disagree long after the Supreme Court made their decision in 1973. People in the pro-choice group believe that the right to abortion is a woman’s choice and the final decision must always be with her. Their stance is based on the argument that women have the right to decide over their bodies and therefore, should be left to make the choice. Conversely, the pro-life faction believes that it is unethical and immoral to terminate a pregnancy. To them, abortion is synonymous to killing because it helps end the life of a human organism. The arguments presented are indeed valid and cannot be easily ignored. Currently, with technology advancing at a high rate, the process of abortion has become easy and less painful. However, is it ethical or moral? Another question that needs clarification are fetuses people and do they have the same rights as people? The answer to the second question is the most important and should help to shed light on the first question. First of all, a fetus is a human organism and comparing it to cells is wrong. Each fetus translates to a life and terminating one is the same as ending the life of another person. People in the pro-choice category believe that women have a right to decide what happens to their bodies. While this point does indeed make sense, it should never be a case for abortion. The above is because we consider killing a crime and the same way it is wrong to kill a person now, it should also be wrong to kill one early or during the fetal stage. Human beings develop but never change. We are and have always been the same organism throughout our existence and therefore, just like it is wrong to kill us now, it should warrant punishment to terminate a pregnancy. Pro-choicers often argue against the above notion by saying that we are not the same and have, currently, developed complex functionalities compared to how we were before. However, the truth is, we remain the same being regardless of how much w e develop. Who is a person and why should or at what stage of our life should one be considered a person. The universal belief of personhood holds that a person has a certain moral status which must never be breached or violated unless the measures involved are extreme. It is often argued that it is wrong to kill a person because it would rob them off their future, relationships, and future accomplishments. Some philosophers argue that the need to fulfill certain goals in life as well as experience our lives is what makes us persons. Pro-choicers often use this argument to argue that a fetus does not qualify to be considered a person because they do not yet hold the capacity to yearn for their future. However, the above sentiment forms the argument of shunning abortion because the world should, therefore, strive to let the fetuses develop. Terminating a pregnancy steals the future, future experiences and accomplishments, and relationships for a person. Just like we have developed to the point o f yearning and pursuing our goals, fetuses should also be left to develop to the same point. Finally, fetuses do have a right to life just like a fully grown person. The same way the women have a right to their bodies is exactly the same way that fetuses have a right to live. Babies need their mothers or special attention especially at the early stages of their lives. They cannot survive on their own and therefore, have to be fed and taken care of. As dependent as they are on other people, babies are said to have a right to life. Fetuses, on the other hand, are said to lack the right to life. However, the above should not be the case because they just like babies, fetuses are at stages of development where they are dependent on women. Therefore, they do possess a right to live. The pro-life and pro-choice lot never see eye-to-eye on a number of occasions. However, they often agree that abortion should be allowed on a number of occasions. For example, when the life of the mother is at stake when the child would be born with complications, if the conception is as a result of rape or sexual abuse, etc. These arguments are indeed valid and mainly represent the one time that pro-choicers and pro-lifers agree. In conclusion, abortion is indeed ethically wrong and should warrant punishment. While it should be allowed on a number of occasions, it should not be left to the women to decide whether it is okay or not. Fetuses are developing and terminating a pregnancy robs them off their future experiences, accomplishments, and relationships.

Personal Financial Analysis Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Financial Analysis Plan - Essay Example These financial areas include investment into bonds/stocks, purchasing a real estate, insurance coverage as well as income generating activities. My ultimate aim is to create a portfolio of such assets so that a consistent cash flow is being delivered to me throughout my retirement life. Out of the $100,000/- I would allocate $100,000 to purchase 30 years bonds of a large corporation which can provide return equivalent to the return of 5% to 7% whereas $100,000/- of existing financial resources are going to be invested into the purchase of stocks of a blue-chip company having a history of providing consistent stream of dividends. I also intend to buy a small piece of real estate at the total investment of $250,000 whereas I also intend to purchase an insurance cover which not only pay for my medical expenses but guarantee a consistent annuity amount over the period of retirement life. A bond is a long term security which provides a constant/variable rate of return called coupon over the period of its life besides returning back the investment made into it. Bonds are considered as less risky than the stocks as they guarantee a consistent fixed income over the period of investment and offer priority rights to the bondholders in case of liquidation. They are considered as best financial securities for planning retirement. (Investopedia, 2008). Stocks on the other hand are the shares in a company's equity and holders are given the status of shareholder in the business. They are more risky than bonds because return on them is not variable but also subject to fluctuations into the financial position of the company. Further, from a retirement planning point of view this can be more risky as it is not necessary and obligatory for the company to pay dividends to their shareholders. (Investopedia, 2008). Investing into real estate is now considered as one of the most lucrative form of investment as it not only appreciate in value but also provide a consistent stream of rental income over the contractual period. Insurance covers especially life insurance provide you an opportunity to protect your family in case of your death and after the retirement can also guarantee you a consistent stream of income out of the insurance premium you have accrued over the period of time. (About.com, 2008). Conclusion Preparing for after retirement period is one of the most critical issue in one's life as when approach that phase of your life where you may not be able to work as good as you were able to do in your youth. It is therefore of critical importance that personal financial planning for the future should be strong enough to ensure that all your financial needs are fulfilled. Investing into various real as well as financial assets is an excellent way through which one can plan to achieve a good mix of assets guaranteeing the overall achievement of financial goals of a person. My personal financial

Developing Sociological Imagination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Developing Sociological Imagination - Essay Example They hide at the first sign of trouble, withdrawing into indifference and fear. "Faced with issues they do not understand, with structural forces that they cannot comprehend and over which they appear to have no power, ordinary people withdraw into apathy or anxiety," observed C. Wright Mills, the social scientist who in 1959 blazed the trail on developing a quality of mind that could help ordinary people dissociate themselves from the ostriches in dealing with danger and problems. A false sense of security is all the ostrich example can give us. By developing what came to be known as "sociological imagination," we would know what we are up against. This knowledge will then help us understand any problem that gets in our way to effectively cut it down to size and hopefully cease to elicit fear in us since it is no longer an unknown entity. When we don't feel any threat to the set of values we cherish, it is believed we experience well-being. In the presence of these threats, we experience a crisis. And when we are unaware of any cherished values and feel no threat, this becomes an experience of indifference, apathy if it concerns all our cherished values. However, when unaware of any cherished value but aware of a threat, this results in an experience of uneasiness and anxiety which, if total enough, becomes a deadly unspecified malaise. Sociological Sociological imagination, Mills explains, is the quality of mind urgently needed in our cultural period to cope with the anxiety, uneasiness and indifference that prevail in today's world. Uneasiness and indifference are considered the signal features of our age as a result of the dizzying changes happening in our midst. Governments that used to function as democracies, for example, suddenly fell into the control of despots. In states that were once political colonies, new and subtler forms of imperialism were installed. Societies once relatively peaceful became the object of random and senseless terrorist attacks. Such changes send people out of kilter, giving them the sense of being trapped. We get this sense of being trapped, sociologists believe, when we are not aware of the intricate connection between the pattern of our own lives and the course of history, and what this connection means for the kinds of people we are turning into and the kinds of history-making in which they mi ght take part. To let ourselves out of this trap, we must employ sociology ethically, through sociological imagination, to allow us some sense of control over events by showing how public issues are interconnected with our lives, our history, biographical experiences and social structure milieus. By understanding the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals, we will be equipped with information necessary for developing reason that would "achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and what may be happening within ourselves." Sociological imagination will enable us to shift from one perspective to another - from the political to the psychological, from examination of a single family to comparative assessment of the world's national budgets, from the theological school to the military establishment, even from studies on the oil industry to that of contemporary poetry. With such

Difficult Mothers Essay Example for Free

Difficult Mothers Essay In Jamaica Kincaid â€Å"The Estrangement† not talking to your mom after a huge fight and 3 years later she’s dead must be hard for someone. Kincaid talks about how when she, and her 3 brothers were young, they saw her as a God, because her mom was always there, making sure if they were alright. Most children think their mother is the number one, especially for man, since they are more related to the mother, and the girls feel more protected with the dads. That is why neither she nor her brothers could understand how the youngest son, when he was dying of AIDS her mother was always taking care of him, helping with his disease. Moms are always trying to see if her children are doing well, trying to make them always feel better when something is going wrong. Kincaid is letting us know how much she suffered with her mom because of her attitude, but when she becomes one, all of this will make sense, all of the drama, the anger, and the great things She was just being a mom. The oldest sister said that she never knew who her father was, since her mother when she was pregnant, stole money from the dad and ran away, that was the reason why her father never met her, but it was ok with her, since she did not need him. She had the father of her 3 brothers, who knew about him, actually more than the same sons. Physiologists say that â€Å"Father is not the person who gives life, but the person who is always there for you† that is why she never wanted to meet the [real father]. Most people might say that her/his mother is never the way she is at home that she is in public, which happens to all of us, don’t you agree? That is why when the mother died, in the funeral everyone was talking so nice about her, how she was so [generous], [kind], etc. But that was not the mother they knew, but totally the opposite. Always telling them horrible things such as, how much she hated the life her children were having. Being a mom has got to be the most beautifu l thing in the world, seeing your kid growing up inside you for 9 months, and then watching those kids grow older, and see what they become. One impressive thing about this essay, is how at the beginning the daughter says how she’s never going to speak again to her mother, result of a conversation they both had, and turned out to be ugly, when the mother said that her daughter’s life was disappointment because she did not accomplished anything, and her life was just [messed up]. After her youngest brother died, she and her two brothers talked about his/her brother felt when he was with his mom, they wondered how that would feel that? And after everything, they finally said [we would rather be dead than spending eternity with her] Some children don’t realized how much their mother did for them, so they could have a better life, a better way of living, and instead of saying â€Å"thanks† is by saying [I would rather see you dead that spending more time beside you]. Instead of hating so much her mother, she realizes that everything she does everything she thinks, or even says, reminds her mother. And that is just the nature of being a mother, you spent the last 20 years next to your mom, and saw how she tried to influence you to be a better person, and that might or might not worked, but you just know that is the way you should go. All mothers hope that their children will be thankful for everything they have done to make them live an easier life, they just want to make you feel how loved you were and you are. The daughter at the end of the essay says how badly she wants her children to be around her for the most time, but if not, now that they are kids, she will enjoy them, and knowing that she had the best time with them. And now says that she is conscious that she is never talking again to her mother (because she is dead) but, she will always be in eternity with her. At some point they will be together, again.

The Benefits of Living in America. Essay -- USA, ESL essays

Fireworks cracking and lighting up the sky, hot dogs cooking on the grill, and a cold drink in a red, white, and blue paper cup. It is the forth of July, Independence day, the day Americans put all of their worries to the side to celebrate the freedom of the country that they live in, America. Those who live in the USA may experience more freedom and comfort then those who live in other parts of the world. America is highly praised for their education, diverse crowds, and socially accepting everyone despite their race, religion, or special needs. Many people from all over the world come to America to get a better education then the one being offered to them by their own country, mainly because of it's elite schools, endless study choices, and flexablility. Having the choice of where, what...

Activity Based Costing – Essay 4

Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing Activity Based Costing Topic Gateway Series No. 1 1 Prepared by Stephanie Edwards and Technical Information Service Revised November 2008 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing About Topic Gateways Topic Gateways are intended as a refresher or introduction to topics of interest to CIMA members. They include a basic definition, a brief overview and a fuller explanation of practical application. Finally they signpost some further resources for detailed understanding and research. Topic Gateways are available electronically to CIMA Members only in the CPD Centre on the CIMA website, along with a number of electronic resources. About the Technical Information Service CIMA supports its members and students with its Technical Information Service (TIS) for their work and CPD needs. Our information specialists and accounting specialists work closely together to identify or create authoritative resources to help members resolve their work related information needs. Additionally, our accounting specialists can help CIMA members and students with the interpretation of guidance on financial reporting, financial management and performance management, as defined in the CIMA Official Terminology 2005 edition. CIMA members and students should sign into My CIMA to access these services and resources. The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants 26 Chapter Street London SW1P 4NP United Kingdom T. +44 (0)20 8849 2259 F. +44 (0)20 8849 2468 E. [email  protected] com www. cimaglobal. com 2 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing Activity based costing Definition and concept ‘An approach to the costing and monitoring of activities which involves tracing resource consumption and costing final outputs. Resources are assigned to activities, and activities to cost objects based on consumption estimates. The latter utilise cost drivers to attach activity costs to outputs. ’ CIMA Official Terminology, 2005 A development of the principles of activity based costing (ABC) is activity based management (ABM). Operational ABM is defined as: ‘Actions, based on activity driver analysis, that increase efficiency, lower costs and/or improve asset utilisation. CIMA Official Terminology, 2005 Strategic ABM is defined as: ‘Actions, based on activity based cost analysis, that aim to change the demand for activities so as to improve profitability. ’ CIMA Official Terminology, 2005 The main focus of this topic gateway is ABC. However, the development of ABC into ABM will be discussed further under Application. Context In the current syllabus, CIMA students will learn and may be examined on this topic in Paper P1, Management Accounting Performance Evaluation, Chapter 8, Developments in management accounting, and Paper P2, Management Accounting Decision Management, Chapter 10, Activity based approaches. Study systems for these papers are available from CIMA Publishing. Related concepts Activity based management; activity based budgeting; time driven activity based costing. Alternative approaches Traditional costing approaches. 3 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing Overview The concept of ABC was first defined in the late 1980s by Robert Kaplan and William Burns. Initially ABC focused on manufacturing industry where technological developments and productivity improvements had reduced the proportion of direct labour and material costs, but increased the proportion of indirect or overhead costs. Comparison of traditional costing and ABC The traditional method of costing relied on the arbitrary addition of a proportion of overhead costs on to direct costs to attain a total product cost. The traditional approach to cost allocation relies on three basic steps. 1. Accumulate costs within a production or non-production department. 2. Allocate non-production costs to production departments. 3. Allocate the resulting production department costs to various products, services or customers. This type of costing system usually allocates costs based on a single volume measure, such as direct labour hours or machine hours. While using such a simplistic volume measure to allocate overheads as an overall cost driver, this approach seldom meets the cause-and-effect criteria desired in accurate cost allocation. This method of costing has become increasing inaccurate as the relative proportion of overhead costs has risen. This distortion of costs can result in inappropriate decision making. ABC is therefore an alternative approach to the traditional method or arbitrary allocation of overheads to product, services and customers. Stage 1. Activity cost pools Material Handling Stage 1. Activity cost pools Cost per material movement OVERHEAD COSTS Procurement Cost per purchase order Product lines Set-up Cost per set-up Figure 1. Framework of activity based costing 4 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing Application In contrast to traditional cost accounting systems, ABC systems first accumulate overheads for each organisational activity. They then assign the costs of these activities to products, services or customers (referred to as cost objects) causing that activity. The initial activity analysis is clearly the most difficult aspect of ABC. Activity analysis is the process of identifying appropriate output measures of activities and resources (cost drivers) and their effects on the costs of making a product or providing a service. ABC systems have the flexibility to provide special reports so that management can take decisions about the costs of designing, selling and delivering a product or service. The key aspect is that ABC focuses on accumulating costs via activities, whereas traditional cost allocation focuses on accumulating costs within functional areas. The main advantage of ABC is that it minimises or avoids distortions on product costs that might occur from arbitrary allocation of overhead costs. Steps in development of an ABC System ABC uses cost drivers to assign the costs of resources to activities and unit cost as a way of measuring an output. There are four steps to implementing ABC. 1. Identify activities The organisation needs to undertake an in-depth analysis of the operating processes of each responsibility centre. Each process might consist of one or more activities required to produce an output. 2. Assign resource costs to activities This involves tracing costs to cost objects to determine why the cost occurred. Costs can be categorised in three ways: i. Direct – costs that can be traced directly to one output. For example, the wood and paint that it takes to make a chair. Indirect – costs that cannot be allocated to an individual output, that is, they benefit two or more outputs, but not all outputs. For example, maintenance costs or storage costs. ii. 5 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing iii. General/administration – costs that cannot be associated with any product or service. These costs are likely to remain unchanged, whatever output is produced. For example, salaries of administration staff, security costs or depreciation. 3. Identify outputs Identify all of the output for which an activity segment performs activities and consumes resources. Outputs might be products, services or customers. 4. Assign activity costs to outputs This is done using activity drivers. Activity drivers assign activity costs to outputs (cost objects) based on the consumption or demand for activities. ABC in practice ABC activities have been around for nearly 20 years and many companies in a variety of sectors have implemented activity based thinking. ABC and ABM have brought about radical changes in cost management systems. The principles and philosophies of activity based thinking apply equally to service companies, government agencies, process and manufacturing industries. Management practices and methods have changed over the last decade and will continue to change. Organisations have moved from managing vertically to managing horizontally. There has also been a move from a function orientation to a process orientation. However, management information systems to track and provide information about the horizontal aspects of business have lagged significantly behind managers’ needs. ABC and ABM fill this information gap by providing cost and operation information that mirrors a horizontal view. ABC focuses on accurate information about the true cost of products, services, processes, activities and customers. Using ABC, organisations gain a thorough understanding of their business processes and cost behaviour during ABC analysis. Management then applies this insight to improve decision making at operating and strategic levels. This is then known as ABM. Simply, ABM is ABC in action. 6 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing Better management activity based costing survey: how ABC is used in the organisation This detailed study of how organisations are practically applying ABC can be found on the BetterManagement. com website (to access this study you must register, and then click on the link to activity based management in the top left hand corner of the home page). Available from: www. bettermanagement. om [Accessed 4 November 2008] The study was carried out in July 2005 to determine the state of ABC within over 500 organisations across numerous industries of different sizes and locations. It provides a useful and interesting insight into how ABC is used in organisations. Reported benefits †¢ †¢ ABC provides a more accurate method of costing of products and services. It allows for a better and more comprehensive understanding of overheads and what causes them to occur. It makes costly and non-value adding activities more visible, so allowing managers to focus on these areas to reduce or eliminate them. It supports other management techniques such as continuous improvement, scorecards and performance management. †¢ †¢ Reported drawbacks †¢ ABC can be difficult and time consuming to collect the data about activities and cost drivers. It can be costly to implement, run and manage an ABC system. Even in ABC some overhead costs are difficult to assign to products and customers. These costs still have to be arbitrarily applied to products and customers. †¢ †¢ Case studies Technical Matters: Activity-based costing. (PDF 99KB). This article, published in Financial Management (March 2005), provides a case study of implementation of an activity based costing system in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Available from: www. cimaglobal. com/financialmanagement [Accessed 8 November 2007]. 7 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing The Value Creation Group website provides a comprehensive range of examples of case studies within different sectors where ABC has been implemented, including financial services and social services. Available from: www. valuecreationgroup. com [Accessed 4 November 2008] References Barrett, R. Getting a better view of business with activity based costing. CIMA Insight, February 2005. Available from: www. cimaglobal. com/insight [Accessed 4 November 2008]. CIMA Technical Services. (2001). Activity-based management – an overview. (PDF 69KB). CIMA Technical Briefing. Available from: www. cimaglobal. com/technicalreports [Accessed 4 November 2008]. Friedman, A. L. and Lyne, S. R. (1995). Activity-based techniques: the real life consequences. London: CIMA Publishing. Further information Articles Full text from Business Source Corporate through My CIMA www. cimaglobal. om/mycima [Accessed 4 November 2008] Allott, A. Activity Based Management can work for your company. CIMA Insight, January 2004. Available from: www. cimaglobal. com/insight [Accessed 4 November 2008]. Barrett, R. How ABC can make shared services work. CIMA Insight, March 2005. Available from: www. cimaglobal. com/insight [Accessed 4 November 2008]. Barrett, R. Get a better view of business with activity-based costing. CIMA Insight, February 2005. Available from: www. cimaglobal. com/insight [Accessed 4 November 2008]. Cleland, K. As easy as CBA? Financial Management, September 2004, pp 28-32 Available from: www. imaglobal. com/financialmanagement 8 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing [Accessed 4 November 2008]. Johnson, B. and Glad, E. Spring chicken or dead lunch? Chartered Accountants Journal, March 2006, Volume 85, Issue 2, pp 35-36 Kaplan, R. S. and Anderson, S. R. Time-driven activity-based costing. Harvard Business Review, November 2004, Volume 82, Issue 11, p. 131 Larson, P. and Kerr, S. Integration of process management tools to support TQM implementation: ISO 9000 and activity-based costing. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, January-March 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1-2, pp 201-207 Leahy, T. Where are you on the ABC learning curve? Business Finance, December 2004, Volume 10, Issue 12, p. 47 Liu, L. Activity-based costing. Financial Management, March 2005, pp 25-29 Max, M. Leveraging process documentation for time-driven activity based costing. Journal of Performance Management, November 2007, Volume 20, Issue 3, pp 16-28 Meelah, R. and Ibraham, D. N. Factors influencing activity based costing (ABC) adoption in manufacturing industry. Investment Management & Financial Innovations, 2007, Volume 4, Issue 2, pp 113-124 Plowman, B. Activity based management driving profitability. Accountancy Ireland, April 2007, Volume 39, Issue 2, pp 23-25 Abstract only from Business Source Corporate through My CIMA www. cimaglobal. com/mycima [Accessed 4 November 2008] Sandison, D. , Hansen, S. C. and Torok, R. G. Activity-based planning and budgeting: a new approach. Journal of Cost Management, March/April 2003, pp 16-22 Liu, L. Activity-based costing. Financial Management, March 2005, p. 29 Available from: www. cimaglobal. com/financialmanagement [Accessed 4 November 2008]. The competitive advantage of management accounting. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 2006, Volume 18, pp 127-135 Books Friedman, A. and Lyne, S. Success and failure of activity-based techniques: a long-term perspective. London: CIMA Publishing. (CIMA Research Series) 9 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing Hansen, D. and Mowen, M. (2006). Cost management: accounting and control. Mason, OH: London: Thomson/South-Western Kaplan, R. and Anderson, S. (2007). Time-driven activity-based costing: a simpler and more powerful path to higher profits. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Turney, P. (2005). Common cents: how to succeed with activity-based costing and activity-based management. New York: London: McGraw-Hill CIMA Publications CIMA Technical Services. (2001). Activity-based management – an overview. (PDF 69KB). CIMA Technical Briefing. Available from: www. cimaglobal. com/technicalreports [Accessed 4 November 2008]. Websites University of Pittsburgh: Introduction to ABC An online presentation on ABC, by Narcyz Roztocki of Pittsburgh University. Includes links to further sources of information on ABC. Available from: http://digbig. com/4xtmc [Accessed 4 November 2008] The Activity Based Costing Portal Global community portal explaining all aspects of Activity Based Costing. Available from: www. offtech. com. au/abc/Home. asp [Accessed 23 March 2009] The Value Creation Group – Activity Based Costing Gateway site on Activity Based Costing. Available from: http://digbig. com/4xtmg [Accessed 4 November 2008] Where are you on the ABC learning curve? An article by Tad Leahy in Business Finance Magazine. Business Finance Magazine and ALG Software recently surveyed more than 250 finance executives from companies of all sizes and types about the scope and current status of their organisation’s ABC efforts. Available from: www. businessfinancemag. com [Accessed 4 November 2008] 10 Topic Gateway Series Activity Based Costing Bain and Company's 2005 Management Tools and Trends Survey. Shows that usage of ABM is slightly below the mean, but satisfaction with it is considerably below the mean. Available from: http://digbig. com/4xtmk [Accessed 4 November 2008] Copyright  ©CIMA 2006 First published in 2006 by: The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants 26 Chapter Street London SW1P 4NP United Kingdom Printed in Great Britain No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the authors or the publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means method or device, electronic (whether now or hereafter known or developed), mechanical, photocopying, recorded or otherwise, without the prior 11 permission of the publishers. Permission requests should be submitted to CIMA at [email  protected] com

Managing Business Problems Essay

What are the causes of poor productivity within large organizations and how can we look at trying to improve this? Productivity is the degree of output achieved in relation to a certain level of input. For example, in a call centre environment, productivity would be seen as the number of telephone calls answered per hour by a certain number of staff. The telephone calls are the output and the staff available to take the calls are the input. In order to improve productivity, one of the following has to occur: The level of input is decreased however the level of output remains the same, or, the level of output increases but the level of input remains the same. In relation to the example of the call centre, this would mean reducing the number of staff available to answer the phone but yet the remaining staff would still have to answer the same number of calls, i.e. they would have to answer more calls each to compensate for the decrease in staff. Or the other way to increase productivity in a call centre would be to keep the same number to staff available to take customer calls but the number of calls being answered in total would have to increase. Productivity is a major issue within any organisation but especially call centres. Call centres do try to forecast the number of calls they expect everyday and allocate resources accordingly to deal with these pressures, however there are still thousands of calls abandoned (where the customer hangs up before even getting through to an advisor) each and every day, this is sometimes referred to as â€Å"call leakage†. This is a growing problem for call centres across the country and it is surprising the amount of customers who will take their business elsewhere simply because they cant get through on the phone as they see it as poor customer service. In many cases it isn’t feasible for staff numbers to be increased in order to cope with the call volumes that are being received and so the only solution to reducing the call leakage is to increase the productivity of the existing staff. Working in a call centre environment myself I appreciate that this is a very challenging task as call centre agents generally feel overworked and underpaid already and trying to get more work out of them will be difficult. However my research into call centre life has thrown up some issues surrounding the task of increasing staff performance in order for your business to work smarter. My research examines the possibility of reward systems as a means of increasing productivity, how call centre staff view their own roles and changes they would like to see in order to help them perform better During my research I searched the Emerald website to find relevant journal articles to assist my studies. I came across an interesting one called † An exploration of managerial issues in call centres† by Colin Armistead, Julia Kiely, Linda Hole and Jean Prescott. This paper consisted of two case studies carried out in two large organisations; these will be known as Case Study A and Case Study B. I found this article useful as it explores why people work in call centres, how they feel about their jobs and this research is spread over all levels from call centre agent to general manager. Case Study A provides a good background to call centre life and will aid understanding of what it is like to work in a call centre environment. In Case Study A, a total of fourteen staff members of all levels were interviewed, interviews lasted one hour and were all taped and transcribed. The interviews explored the initial decision to work for a call centre, the expectations they had before they started and the extent to which their jobs had lived up to those expectations. The authors also examined company statistics; they found evidence of high turnover in staff who had been employed for a few months then reducing to comparatively low turnover after they had been employed for more than six months. I found the findings from Case Study A to be very surprising having worked in a call centre myself and not having had very many positive experiences during my time there. The overall impression from those interviewed was that they felt very positive about their workplace. There were inevitable differences in how different levels of employees viewed certain issued but there were more similarities than differences. I was interested to see how employees had spoke about productivity and performance targets. It became apparent that performance targets were related to the number of calls answered, the time in which it took to answer the calls and also the levels of call leakage. It is very easy to monitor call centre agents against an array of time-related measures and staff felt under a lot of pressure at times due to this. I can relate to this, as this is exactly how I felt working as a call centre agent. One manager interviewed in Case Study A stated that the most important thing in managing call centre staff was â€Å"motivation, motivation, motivation†, yet the manager in question admitted he had little idea of how to motivate staff. I do agree that motivating staff to perform well is an issue and I appreciate that highly motivated staff will be more productive but I also think that if staff working in call centres had a better understanding of the bigger picture and knew how their actions impacted upon the business as a whole they may change their attitudes and automatically perform better and more efficiently. This is just my opinion from my experience of working in a British Gas call centre for almost three years I have been privileged enough to have been given an insight into the deeper realms of the business, something which frontline staff rarely come into contact with and I do feel this would be of benefit to them. As it stand now, staff are being thrown tough performance targets by management and expected to meet them without question, they have no understanding of why the business needs them to perform at a particular level and what the consequences will be if they don’t. I believe business awareness to be a vital part of representing a company to the public and the company I work for do offer a business awareness course, however this is e-learning based and has to be completed in your own time. Needless to say, there are not many staff who take advantage of this opportunity to understand the business they work for due to the above conditions and a lot of staff are probably unaware that the facility even exists. If British Gas were to allow the time for staff to complete this course during working hours or even to be paid overtime for the time they spend on it outside their scheduled hours, they would have a massive response and although this would be time consuming and possibly quite costly, I believe that the positive effects on how employees work would outweigh the costs. Productivity is very poor in the call centre I work in after reading relevant sections in a book called â€Å"Remuneration Policy† by Patrick McCauley I am under the impression that a successful reward system can help to improve productivity. McCauley defines motivation simply as â€Å"goal directed behaviour† and he makes it clear that employees will only be motivated to increase their performance by goals that are actually of interest to them, for example if a manager said to his team one day that the person with the highest productivity that day would be rewarded with a family ticket to the local pantomime then you would get Sandra, the mother with 2.4 children, husband and nice semi-detached house working her socks off, however, Matt, Gary and Emma, the three students on the team and Harold the grandad of the team who is six months off retirement would not be interested in the slightest by the managers offer of reward. McCauley states that the three key questions we need to consider when devising a successful reward system are: * What goals will employees actually pursue? * What factors will determine their success or failure in achieving these goals? * What will be the consequences of achievement or frustration for the employee and the organisation? As I have already mentioned, it is important to offer rewards that are of interest to the staff and that will actually motivate them to perform better and drive them towards goals which involve meeting productivity and performance targets on the way. It is important to offer generic rewards that are appealable to all or a choice of a few different rewards in order to cater for all the different ages, cultures etc. I have dome some research in to reward systems whilst working on a service excellence team in the British Gas call centre and the rewards that were constantly being requested by staff were things such as an extra days annual leave, high street vouchers, deputising for a higher level role for half a day as a development opportunity etc. These were things that the frontline staff were telling management would motivate them to work harder and to a higher standard, however management declined these requests as they saw them as too ambitious and they were especially against the extra holiday which unfortunately was the most popular suggestion. It was a shame these suggestions were declined as staff then felt that they were being ignored which in turn lowered morale and saw a drop in productivity for a short while, it would probably have been cheaper for the company to have allowed a small number of desired rewards which would have increased productivity for while and certainly wouldn’t have reduced it. Staff are already aware of what their targets are on a day to day basis and we need to remember that there will be a percentage of staff who do consistently meet these targets, therefore when setting criteria for a reward system we have to set it higher than daily performance targets to show that staff are being recognised for going above and beyond the call of duty and not just being coaxed into doing what is already expected of them. Staff will have to meet daily performance and productivity targets and then some before they can achieve a reward. If an employee successfully achieves a reward for their performance then not only will their productivity have had to increase to achieve the reward in the first place but as that desired behaviour has now been rewarded, the employee will be conditioned into repeating it in order to gain further rewards. If an employee either attempts and fails to reach the goal required to achieve a reward or doesn’t make the effort and sees his colleagues around him being rewarded for their increased effort and performance it will have one of the two following effects upon him: * He will become de-motivated as he is feeling left out or a failure as his efforts are not being recognised because he fails to reach the required standard and his performance will drop further. * He will become determined to work to the required level to achieve a reward to prove to himself and his managers that he too can perform well. If the latter of the consequences occurs then the reward systems is still being effective in all areas as even failures are being motivated to continue to strive for the reward on offer. However if the company begins to see individuals experiencing a drop in motivation and performance they may need to consider addressing this with a reward for example for the most improved productivity each month, therefore even those whose efforts don’t bring them above the required productivity level for a standard reward have a chance of recognition for their efforts alone. McCauley examines Vroom’s expectancy theory and this supports the issues raised above. Vroom does state though that the criteria that needs to be met in order to achieve a reward has to be very clear cut and communicated thoroughly to all levels of staff so as to avoid woolly areas where decisions to reward or not may be disputed. Throughout my research I have identified underlying issues surrounding the productivity of call centre staff and how to improve this by encouraging motivation amongst staff and providing them with personal goals that at the same time guide them towards achieving the productivity levels required by the business. I have come to the conclusion that productivity can only really be successfully increased in the long term by providing something for the individual to work towards, not just setting targets and expecting them to be met. I also think that increased business awareness amongst frontline staff would be beneficial to any call centre so then at least they know and understand why there are certain pressures placed upon them and they may be more welcoming to the challenge of attaining higher targets. Bibliography An exploration of managerial issues in call centres. (Journal Article) Colin Armistead, Julia Kiely, Linda Hole & Jean Prescott. Remuneration Policy

Anzac Spirit essays

Anzac Spirit essays ANZAC Spirit. What started off as a bungled landing at Galipolli on 25 April 1915, has now passed from fact to legend and become much more than the endeavours of the men who served in World War 1. It epitomises Australian nationalism as a whole. The War arrived fairly shortly after Australia federated, when it was still clinging to the Mother Country, when it hadn't really developed as a country. The soldiers who left this land and the ones who came back to it, fatigued yet proud, were not the same. To see your comrades fall and die as you watch is no easy task, and to hold your head high afterwards is even harder. But that's what they did, and that's what the spirit of ANZAC is all about. At dawn on 25 April 1915 Australian troops were landed too far north of the intended landing place in the Allied attack on the Gallipoli peninsula. Because of that mistake they were faced by perpendicular cliffs heavily defended by the Turkish army. In spite, or perhaps because, of this, they showed fearless courage, great resourcefulness, and initiative to drive the Turks back and gain a precious foothold on Turkish soil. There they endured eight months of hardship, displaying great endurance, and mateship to defend an untenable position. From first to last they were compromised and sacrificed by inept and unsympathetic British generals. This established the pattern for the rest of the war and carried through to the Second The end of this year. Then was the tables turned. World War. The traits displayed were divined to be typical of the nation and Australian soldiers considered to be exceptional, if not natural-born, fighters. Even today that same "fighting spirit" is being shown all around Australia. That same willingness to serve our country is still in use. Although in entirely different situations the same methods and comradeship are being displayed. As Sir William Keys states: "Anzac stands not only for courage a ...

Khan Surname Origin and Meaning

Khan Surname Origin and Meaning Meaning Origin The ancient surname Khan is a contracted form of Khagan, from the Turkish khan meaning chief or ruler. It was originally a hereditary title born by early Mongol leaders, such as the legendary Genghis Khan, but is now widely used as a surname throughout the Muslim world. Khan is an especially common surname in South Asian Muslim families, and is also one of the most common surnames in Pakistan. Surname Origin: Muslim Alternate Surname Spellings: KHANH, KAN, KAUN, CAEN, CAAN, CEANN, XAN (Chinese), HAN (Turkish) Genealogy Resources Common Surname Search Tips Tips and tricks for researching your KHAN ancestors online. KHAN Family Genealogy ForumFree message board is focused on descendants of Khan ancestors around the world. FamilySearch - KHAN GenealogyFind records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Khan surname.

Clark Construction Group Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Clark Construction Group - Essay Example Knowledge sharing (K-sharing), moreover, can result from the formation of communities of practice that can derive and share critical knowledge for making important strategic decisions (Dalkir & Liebowitz, 2011, p.4). Knowledge management (KM) is important for examining the external competitive environment of Clark Construction Group, LLC (CCG). CCG has a century of experiencing in construction, particularly in building landmarks. It has already built a number of important structures such as the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Dulles International Airport, and FedEx Field, the home base of the Washington Redskins. Clark Construction is involved in offering consultancy services to commercial, institutional, and heavy construction customers. It can give construction management, design/build, and general contracting services. It can build convention centers, sports facilities, production plants, water treatment plants, highways and bridges, and high-rise apartments. KM is significant for CCG because the more that it knows about its customers, products, technologies, competitors, markets, and their connections, the more that it can perform better. Linking knowledge management and business strategy, however, is a difficult process that requires a strong link between KM theories and KM practices (Baskerville & Dulipovici, 2006). Not all executives are effective in expressing the connection between their companies’ intellectual sources and skills and the firm’s competitive strategy. With a wide portfolio and high number of employees, CCG faces the difficulty of creating an effective organization-wide K-sharing system. CCG should develop strategic models that help link its knowledge resources, technologies, and processes to business strategy through using pragmatic KM theories for knowledge management to be pragmatic, theoretically-sound