Saturday, August 31, 2019
Integrating Art in Elementary School Curriculum Essay
We are living in a world full of art. Everywhere we look, every shape, size and color represent art. From the films we watch to the cover of our books, from the interior of our house to the design of our clothes, art is present. In our modern times, art is usually described in its aesthetic sense. Art comes in drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, poetry, music, cinema, and in almost anything.                        By definition, â€Å"art is any human effort to emulate, enhance, change, or neutralize the work of nature. It is also the conscious production of colors, sounds, forms, movements, and any other element in a manner that affects the sense of beauty and aesthetics. †(Art)            The elements of art, which can help us to understand better art’s aesthetic values are color, shape, line, value, space, form and texture. Color refers to the intensity of the colors used as well as with the brightness and darkness of colors. Shape refers to the â€Å"meeting of lines†. Lines are the primary element in any drawing. Value is the lightness and darkness or color, when it is combined with the hues. Lastly, form is the dimension of a shape. It can be a two or three dimensional shape.            Moreover, the principles of art can also help us to better understand our perception of art. When combined with the elements of art, to enhance the aesthetic value of art.  These are balance, proportion, contrast, emphasis, pattern, rhythm, harmony, unity, variety and movement. Balance is the principle of art wherein the other elements should not be overly done for the symmetry of a certain artwork. Contrast, on the other hand, is the idea of showing distinction by breaking repetitions in an artwork to draw focus in a certain area. Furthermore, proportion is the relative locations, shapes, and sizes of the objects or ideas in the artwork.            The term art also has something to do with visual experience or object which was created through by expressing a skill or by using the imagination. Art’s purposes also ranges from the aesthetic to the utilitarian point of view. (Art)            There is what we call the â€Å"utility of art†. It is where the utility or use of art enters. Graffiti is a kind of art which is used as a medium of self-expression. In the social context, graffiti can be used as a means to calm the internal being and boost one’s morale. One the negative context, it can be a form of black propaganda, and thus deteriorating other people’s lives.            Knowing these, it can be concluded that it is of great importance for young people to appreciate art. It is also a common fact that because of the advent in technology nowadays, what with the computer games and other modern gadgets, kids find it hard to involve themselves in art. It is now a common problem for elementary school art teachers to find ways to help the children in the appreciation of art.                        The concept of aesthetic is a very important consideration in teaching art especially to young children. Aesthetic is a philosophical branch that deals with the â€Å"criteria of artistic judgment†. Art’s classical conception was formulated by ancient art masters Plato and Aristotle, and developed by modern artists such as Benedetto, Croce, Kant, etc. (Art)            Since art is the first thing that one observes, it is essential to focus on the aesthetic value of an art for the children to better appreciate it. There are different ways on how to improve the teaching of art (in particular with third graders).            Firstly, consider the modern technological advancement and use it as an advantage. Since it was concluded that most students are hooked with the computers, why not use it as a means to let them be interested. Use the computer to show them digital photography. Play games with the computer using famous computer games characters and relate it to art. Only if you make them interested in something will they’ll be able to learn, and this is one sure way to make them interested.            Second, change the ambiance of your classroom. The environment is a very big factor to consider for the students to learn. Make it more vibrant, more colorful, and more appealing to Grade3 students. Put some designs on the wall. Instead of using a normal chair, let the children play inside by putting a larger working space for them to interact with one another.            Lastly, PLAY. Always remember that you are dealing with small kids. Always keep in mind that children needs time to play, and what else is the best way to make them learn that to integrate learning with playing. Information plus entertainment equals learning. Children love to play. They love interacting with one another. By doing this, it is a sure way to make them learn. Sources:  (Art) Retrieved on September 7, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art (Art) Retrieved on September 7, 2006 from http://www.answers.com/art&r=67 (Art) Retrieved on September 7, 2006 from http://www.Britannica.com
Friday, August 30, 2019
Bower’s Network Theory and its Link in Depression and Anxiety
Bower's (1981, 1991) influential network theory assumed that mood states automatically activate all associated representations in memory. Bower (1981) suggested that the approach to the development of this theory is considering humans as biological machines endowed with a cognitive system (for acquiring and using knowledge), and to ask what role motives and emotions should play in such a system. Bower (1981) suggested that mood can be represented as a node, or unit, within an associative network model of memory.Within such a network, a particular mood may become linked or associated with events that occur during one's life when the mood was experienced. Given these relations, when someone is in a happy mood they may be more likely to retrieve and become consciously aware of events that occurred at a previous time when the happy mood was experienced. Bower (1981) referred to this as mood-state dependent memory. However, a reversal of this effect should also be plausible: taking a part icular event associated with a mood.Schwarz (1998) informed that Bower’s model made two key predictions: First, memory is enhanced when the affective state at the time of encoding matches the affective state at the time of retrieval (state-dependent learning). Thus, we are more likely to recall material acquired in a particular mood when we are in the same, rather than a different, mood at the time of recall. Second, any given material is more likely to be retrieved when its affective tone matches the individual's mood at the time of recall (mood-congruent memory).Thus, information of a positive inclination is more likely to come to mind when we are in a happy rather than sad mood. In relating mood-memory and its effect to cognitive processes in emotion, studies have helped in understanding individual differences in emotionality, and particularly differences in vulnerability to pathological emotional states. Two general types of study are therefore of special interest: those comparing groups differing on trait measures of negative emotionality and those that contrast individuals with or without emotional disorders such as depression or anxiety states.In most of this research the implicit or explicit hypothesis is that differences in how individuals process emotional information may be a causal factor in the development or maintenance of emotional disorders (Mathews & Macleod, 1994). Several researchers have reported that depressed mood states elicit more pronounced cognitive biases in those individuals who report a past history of depressive episodes, suggesting a high level of trait vulnerability to this emotion (Miranda et al 1990). Similar findings have been reported concerning the patterns of selective attention associated with elevated anxiety.Using the dot probe detection paradigm to assess distribution of visual attention, MacLeod & Mathews (1988) tested separate groups of high trait and low trait anxious students on two occasions, again when sta te anxiety was low (early in the semester) and once when state anxiety was high (in the week before an important examination). When state anxiety was low, neither the high trait nor the low trait anxious groups showed any selective attentional response to emotionally negative stimuli words.High trait anxious students responded to elevated state anxiety by displaying increased allocation of visual attention toward emotionally threatening examination-related stimulus words. In contrast, low trait anxious subjects responded to the state anxiety elevation by showing a marginally significant effect in the opposite direction. Depending on how one thinks emotional information is represented in memory, emotional states could activate all congruent representations; that is, those consistent in valence and meaning with that emotion.Alternatively, only some kinds of congruent information might be activated, such as that involved in causing the emotion or relating to the individual's current co ncerns. Finally, emotions could be associated with effects that are relatively specific not only to particular cognitive content but also to certain types of cognitive operations on that information (Mathews & Macleod, 1994). The problems with Bower’s (1981) network theory include: 1. ) failure to replicate mood state-dependent memory effects, 2.) presence of instructional effects on judgmental bias and mood-incongruent recall, 3. ) failure to find (single) lexical decision effects of mood state, 4. ) restriction of mood-congruent recall to self-encoded stimuli, 5. ) specificity of attentional bias to domain of current concern, and 6. ) facilitation of different types of cognitive operation in different emotions. Bibliography Bower G. H. 1991. Mood congruity of social judgments. In Emotion and Social Judgments, ed. JP Forgas, pp. 31-53. Oxford: Pergamon. Bower, G. H. 1981. Mood and memory.American Psychologist, 36, 129–148. MacLeod C. & Mathews A. M. 1988. Anxiety and the allocation of attention to threat. Q. J. Exp. Psychol: Hum. Exp. Psychol. 38:659-70. Mathews, A. , & Macleod, C. 1994. Cognitive Approaches to Emotion and Emotional Disorders. Annual Review of Psychology, 45: 26-45. Miranda J. , Persons J. B. & Byers C. N. 1990. Endorsement of dysfunctional beliefs depends on mood state. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 99:237-41. Schwarz, N. 1998. Warmer and More Social: Recent Developments in Cognitive Social Psychology. Annual Review of Sociology, 24(1): 239.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Introduction of the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program
Recent corporate failures have raised concerns about the unity of accounting information provided to investors and the independency of hearers ( Cohen et al. , 2007 ) . The major corporate prostrations such as Enron, WorldCom and HIH Insurance have sparked important force per unit area on direction, hearers, managers, the accounting profession and authoritiess ‘ inadvertence function to reexamine the issue of concern moralss and hearer independency ( Ahmed et al. , 2006 ) . These failures have led to regulative reforms in Australia with the debut of the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program ( Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure ) Act known as CLERP 9 to advance transparence, answerability and hearer independency ( Cooper & A ; Deo, 2005 ) . The literature has shown that net incomes direction is consistently related to the strength of the corporate administration environment and terrible use of net incomes are by and large associated with loose administration ( Bhat et al. , 2006 ) . Reforms by CLERP 9 have changed corporate administration enforcement through compulsory independency demands for hearers, the strengthening of the uninterrupted revelation government and a alteration in enforcement powers of ASIC through the extension of the civil punishment government to persons who are ‘involved ‘ in the breach of uninterrupted revelation proviso with an increased mulct from $ 200,000 to $ 1million. The execution of increased independency demands for hearers and strengthening of the uninterrupted revelation government will motivate direction of houses to move more diligently and with due attention in regard to stockholders ‘ involvements when describing fiscal affairs ( Robinson, 2003 ) . This research reappraisal investigates the association between increasing hearer independency proposed by CLERP 9 and net incomes direction by houses in Australia. It investigates this association by analyzing two groups of listed entities, utilizing a pre/post research design covering the fiscal old ages 2003-2006. The first group of listed entities comprises of houses in the ASX 100, which are referred to in this research reappraisal as ‘compliant ‘ houses, while the 2nd group consists of houses in the ASX Small Ordinaries Index referred to as 'emerging ‘ houses. The two groups are selected as they are likely to act in different ways based on their features including size, media coverage, analyst followers, size of retentions by institutional investors and grade of examination by regulative organic structures.1.1 Research QuestionThe chief research inquiry is: â€Å" Has hearer independency imposed by CLERP 9 reduced net incomes direction of Australian houses? â € This will be tested analyzing the difference in accumulations behaviour of Australian houses during the pre-CLERP 9 and post-CLERP 9 periods. The research inquiry is to be tested utilizing year-by-year cross-sectional and pooled arrested developments of the theoretical account developed based on anterior literature and theory. The modified Jones ( 1991 ) theoretical account steps net incomes direction as the theoretical account has a high grade of credence within the net incomes direction literature. The cross-sectional and pooled arrested development theoretical accounts are designed jointly to prove the association between net incomes direction and corporate administration enforced by CLERP 9, measured by hearer independency. The arrested development theoretical account besides controls for factors that might hold an impact in the trials such as house size, CEO alterations, Big-4 hearers and big shareholding.1.2 MotivationIn a recent commentary, Justice Owen emphasized the i mportance of the audit map for the capital market as a whole and the trust placed on the audit map by users of fiscal statements ( Robinson, 2003 ) . Justice Owen made several recommendations aimed at heightening the audit map, including the appropriate criterion of independency, the proviso of non-audit services and the relationship between hearers and their clients. The series of corporate dirts in 2000-2002 scoured trust in fiscal studies and in hearers. One of the aims of CLERP 9 is to beef up independency in hearers and to reconstruct unity of fiscal studies by controling net incomes direction and accounting fraud. Therefore, the extent of net incomes direction prior to CLERP 9 and the consequence of the CLERP 9 â€Å" event †on net incomes direction is an of import research subject. Therefore, the primary motive of this research study is to analyze the alteration in net incomes direction in the period taking to CLERP 9 compared to after CLERP 9. This research is motiva ted by the desire to understand the consequence of corporate administration enforcement by CLERP 9 on net incomes direction in Australian houses. The secondary motive is to analyze whether reforms by CLERP 9 to turn to hearer independency have weakened the hearer ‘s economic bond with the client, therefore take downing net incomes direction. There are significant sums of research in the audit literature that suggest that audit efficiencies are gained from cognition spillovers when non-audit services are jointly provided with an audit and therefore, it becomes in the best involvements of audit companies to supply both audit and non-audit services to their clients ( Solomon, 1990 ) . CLERP 9 has been introduced to command the proviso of non-audit services and heighten the unity of fiscal studies. Consequently, this research examines the relation between hearer independency and net incomes direction in the period integrating the debut of CLERP 9 in an event survey attack.1.3 ContributionThe most important part of this research is in look intoing the effects of CLERP 9 reforms on net incomes direction in â€Å" compliant â € and â€Å" emerging †houses. The impact of CLERP 9 on emerging houses is of import to analyze every bit good since in a recent article published in Alan Kohler ‘s Eureka Report, fiscal instruction adviser, Scott Francis analyzed the recent public presentation of the little cap section of the Australian portion market and stated that the recent returns have been strong with the ASX Small Ordinaries Index surpassing the ASX 100 by 18 % in 2009. However, the Small Ordinaries Index underperformed the ASX 100 by 16 % in 2008 ( Francis, 2009 ) . This shows the intense competition between the two indices and besides shows the possible growing of the emerging houses in the Small Caps Index. In order to keep strong growing rates and get more capital in the market, these houses are besides likely to prosecute in net incomes direction. Therefore, this research will supply grounds associating to the efficaciousness of CLERP 9 reforms in turn toing hearer independency and whether increasing hearer independency constrains net incomes direction in these houses. By analyzing two different groups of houses, this survey will supply an penetration into net incomes direction of these houses in the period prior to CLERP 9 and the period after CLERP 9. This survey besides contributes to bing literature on hearer independency, by supplying grounds in whether hearer independency constrains net incomes direction patterns in compliant and emerging Australian houses. The survey besides provides an penetration into whether emerging houses react otherwise to compliant houses in footings of net incomes direction, during the survey periods before and after the passage of CLERP 9. Regulatory reforms from CLERP 9 have different deductions for different types of houses and through comparing of emerging houses with ailment houses, it is expected that net incomes direction has declined significantly for some group of houses, whilst others have continued in pull offing net incomes. As mentioned earlier, both the groups have different external factors impacting them, hence it will be interesting to analyze the reaction of both groups after the passage of CLERP 9.2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 Net incomes ManagementNet incomes direction has assorted definitions normally classified as white, grey, or black. â€Å" Beneficial †( white ) net incomes direction enhances the information value of studies by conveying private information ; the â€Å" baneful â₠¬ ( black ) involves straight-out deceit and fraud ; the â€Å" impersonal †grey is use of studies within the boundaries of conformity with bright-line criterions, which could be either timeserving or efficiency enhancing ( Yonen & A ; Yaari, 2007 ) . The footings â€Å" private addition †( Schipper, 1989 ) , â€Å" mislead †( Healy & A ; Wahlen, 1999 ) stress the timeserving feature of net incomes direction and prevent the possibility that net incomes direction can heighten the information content of reported net incomes. Scott ( 1997 ) and Mulford & A ; Comiskey ( 2002 ) suggest the possibility that net incomes direction can happen for signaling intents every bit good. The deduction of their definition is that reported net incomes can be enlightening for users if the direction pick of accounting policies or estimations is perceived to be believable signals of a house ‘s implicit in public presentation. To understand net incomes direction better, the difference between net incomes direction and accounting fraud needs to be distinguished. Academic literature normally defines direction discretions which fall within Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ( GAAP ) as net incomes direction, whereas the Security Exchange Commission ( SEC ) extends its analyzing standards of net incomes direction to outright deceitful accounting ( Yonen & A ; Yaari, 2007 ) . The reading that net incomes direction can happen within the GAAP is consistent between academe and regulator, but whether fraud constitutes net incomes direction is equivocal in academic definitions. Brown ( 1999 ) argues that the difference between net incomes direction and deceitful coverage is frequently really narrow and ill-defined. Net incomes direction incorporates a prejudice and use of just value of reported net incomes, hence regulators frequently view it as bad and therefore be given to sort it as fraud. However, there is a clear differentiation between fraud and net incomes direction depending on the managerial purpose to deceive investors. Any presentation of reported net incomes which deviates from the just net incomes of the house but falls into the boundary of fraud can be defined as net incomes direction.2.2 Two cardinal conditions of Earnings ManagementThere is no substantial function for fiscal revelations within perfect and efficient markets since fiscal statements are wholly relevant and dependable and hence, directors and users of fiscal statements would hold no struggle over accounting judgements excluding the range for accounting use ( Watts & A ; Zimmerma n, 1979 ) . Unfortunately, in our universe of progressive and uncomplete markets, the ideal status does non ever prevail. Two types of market imperfectnesss exist as a consequence:2.2.1 Information AsymmetryThe two rules of fiscal describing – relevancy and dependability, straight reflects the function of accounting information and are aimed to decide the cardinal job of information dissymmetry. The released information is relevant information with regard to the house ‘s future chances, and is dependable information free of managerial use. Where fiscal revelation and judgements ab initio are aimed to cut down the information dissymmetry between directors and foreigners, it has been progressively argued that director ‘s ability in exerting discretion is likely to enforce costs on the users of accounting information. Dye ( 1988 ) and Trueman & A ; Titman ( 1988 ) point out that the being of information dissymmetry between directors and stockholders is a necessary status for net incomes direction. Schipper ( 1989 ) besides highlights the status for net incomes direction being the continuity of asymmetric information, but she unwinds the status by reasoning that the out of use communicating can be eliminated through the enforcement of contractual agreement. From the position of a positive association between the conservativism of accounting estimations and corporate revelation, Imhoff & A ; Thomas ( 1994 ) supply empirical grounds in back uping this line of statement. They conclude that houses who unwrap more information are more likely to hold conservative accounting estimations ( prosecuting in less net incomes direction ) . Richardson ( 1998 ) uses the bid-ask spread and the scattering in analysts ‘ prognosiss as a step of information dissymmetry and finds a positive association between ne t incomes direction and the degree of information dissymmetry.2.2.2 Agency CostssThe 2nd cardinal status for the being of net incomes direction is bureau costs which is based around the theoretical model of the bureau theory. Jensen and Meckling ( 1976 ) developed the bureau theory to explicate the link between principals ( stockholders ) and agents ( directors ) . Principals use contracts to actuate agents who would otherwise hold struggles of involvement with principals. Although the primary map of catching is designed to aline the inducements between principals and agents ( Deegan, 1996 ) , the rawness and the rigidnesss in binding of contracts create bureau concerns, which lead to use of the coverage procedure. Watts & A ; Zimmerman ( 1986 ) suggest that the ex-post managerial discretions are made to increase compensation or to avoid debt compact misdemeanors. They use Positive Accounting Theory to exemplify how directors choose accounting methods to accomplish coveted accountin g Numberss and therefore act upon the house ‘s contractual agreements. In fact, grounds of net incomes direction pattern to bring forth higher direction compensation suggest that the design of contracts to aline the inducements of the agents with those of the principal might non be the optimum solution in extenuating bureau costs ( Hart & A ; Holmstrom, 1987 ) . Watts & A ; Zimmerman ( 1978 ) take the position that directors ‘ pick of accounting methods is to maximise their ain public-service corporation, where the public-service corporation is a map of the direction compensation and the house ‘s stock monetary value. Therefore, undertaking which is designed to work out bureau struggles non merely raise room for managerial self-interested behaviour, but besides imposes extra costs on stockholders if it is used in advancing directors ‘ ego involvements instead than that of stockholders.2.3 Two viing positions of Net incomes ManagementNet incomes direction arises from information dissymmetry job and bureau struggles that occur when equit y ownership is separated from the daily operation of the corporation and directors have a comparative information advantage over stockholders. On one manus, these market imperfectnesss create an environment for directors to prosecute in accounting discretion to advance their opportunism at the disbursal of stockholders. On the other manus, they besides create an chance for directors to utilize accounting discretion to pass on their company ‘s performance-related information in an appropriate mode with investors ( Trueman & A ; Titman, 1988 ; Dye, 1988 ; Schipper, 1989 ) . Net incomes direction literature reflects these two viing positions as timeserving behaviour and signaling mechanism.2.3.1 Opportunist behaviourThe position of timeserving behaviour takes the position that directors use information dissymmetry between foreigners and insiders to maximise their public-service corporation in covering with compensation, debt contracts and ordinances. Investors are thereby misled by the undependable information reported. Watts & A ; Zimmerman ( 1978 ) used self-interest attack in explicating directors ‘ discretional behaviour over reported net incomes to act upon contractual results. Opportunist net incomes direction illustrates directors ‘ desire to impact wealth transportation between related undertaking parties and themselves. Positive Accounting Theory states that proprietors expect directors to exert discretion towards their personal addition and take this into consideration when they offer directors with compensation programs. The value of direction compensation contracts drive up managerial outlook and therefore increases the degree of discretions itself. Scott ( 1997 ) refers to this as â€Å" unexpected †managerial discretion which consequences in a net loss in the aggregative stockholder wealth. In a catching relationship, nevertheless, directors are more risk averse compared with other undertaking parties. Capable to restraints of these contracts, they will try to maximise their personal wealth. Dye ( 1988 ) and Fudenberg & A ; Tirole ( 1995 ) demonstrate that risk-averse directors without entree to capital markets will hold an inducement to prosecute in net incomes direction.2.3.2 Signing mechanismThe advocates of the signaling perspective argue that directors manage net incomes to convey their inside information about houses ‘ chances and therefore it serves as a signaling mechanism. Directors may be able to impact the stock monetary value by prosecuting in net incomes direction making a smooth and turning net incomes threading over clip. As such, net incomes direction can be a signal mechanism through which inside information about the house can be communicated from the direction to investors. A figure of surveies have modeled some signifier of information dissymmetry and depicted net incomes direction as rational equilibrium behaviour ( Hunt et al. , 1997 ; Bartov et al. , 2002 ; Lev, 2003 ; Dye, 1988 ) . These surveies document signaling grounds of net incomes direction to ease efficient communicating between directors and information users to better the value relevancy of fiscal coverage and enhance investors ‘ ability in foretelling house ‘s public presentation. Further, the signaling position besides implies that net incomes direction is sometimes demanded by stockholders. Beidleman ( 1973 ) and Dye ( 1988 ) argue that stockholders will demand for net incomes direction for two grounds. First, directors can cut down the cost of capital through a drum sander, more predictable income watercourse. Second, Dye ( 1988 ) states that a more stable income watercourse influences prospective investors ‘ perceptual experience of house value. Since current stockholders will sell their portions to the following coevals of future stockholders, directors will move on behalf of the current stockholders and have an inducement to pull off net incomes to maximise the merchandising monetary value received by the current stockholders ( Easton & A ; Zmijewski, 1989 ; Chaney & A ; Lewis, 1995 ) .2.4 Motivations to prosecute in Earnings Management2.4.1 Contracting IncentivesFiscal information and studies of a house drama an of import function in set uping and supervising contracts between a house and its stakeholders ( Sweeney, 1994 ) . Debt suppliers and creditors of houses commonly include contracts that are linked with fiscal statement information in order to protect their involvements. Watts and Zimmerman ( 1978 ) indicate that such contracts encourage houses to pull strings net incomes for the fiscal statements to look attractive to creditors. Under footings of the debt contract houses are required to show their fiscal information in a mode that is consistent with the understanding in order to avoid punishments under the contract. DeFond & A ; Jiambalvo ( 1994 ) found grounds that houses apply income-increasing accumulations as a agency of avoiding the effects of debt contract misdemeanor. There are besides other contractual inducements for directors to pull off net incomes, for illustration in a direction buyout contract ; directors have an inducement to understate net incomes in an effort to get a house at a lower monetary value ( Wu, 1997 ) . In coup d'etat or amalgamation contractual scenes, Easterwood ( 1997 ) found grounds that mark companies of hostile coup d'etats attempt to blow up net incomes in the period prior to a hostile coup d'etat effort to deter their stockholders from back uping the coup d'etat.2.4.2 Capital Market ExpectationsCapital markets use fiscal information to put security monetary values. Investors use fiscal information to make up one's mind whether to purchase, sell or keep securities. Market efficiency is based upon the information flow to capital markets. When the information is wrong, it may non be possible for the markets to value securities right ( Xie et al. 2003 ) . To this extent, net incomes direction obscures existent public prese ntation and lessens the ability of stockholders to do informed determinations. Prior surveies have examined the inducements of directors to pull strings net incomes in an effort to act upon assorted capital market participants. Dechow et Al. ( 1996 ) and Teoh et Al. ( 1998 ) supply grounds that directors inflate net incomes prior to seasoned equity offerings. These findings are consistent with the contention that directors seek to pull off pre-issue net incomes in an effort to better investors ‘ outlooks about future public presentation ( Xie et al. 2003 ) . Directors besides engage in net incomes direction to run into and crush net incomes benchmark as failure to run into net incomes benchmarks are believed to increase uncertainness about the company ‘s future chances and a perceptual experience among foreigners that there are deep, antecedently unknown jobs at the company ( Graham, 2006 ) . The importance of these concerns increases with the grade of net incomes counsel that the company provides. There is a common belief that everyone plays the net incomes game, losing net incomes marks indicate that a company has no available slack to present net incomes. Therefore, the market assumes that losing the mark means the company is potentially confronting serious jobs and must hold already used up its ‘cushions ‘ ( Graham, 2006 ) .2.5 Net incomes Management and CEO Compensation IncentivesAn built-in constituent of houses ‘ net incomes direction is the proportion of CEO compensation that is attached to company ‘ s stocks and options. Bergstresser & A ; Philippon ( 2006 ) supply grounds that net incomes direction is more marked at houses where CEO ‘s entire compensation is closely tied with houses ‘ stocks and options. Evidence from Bergstresser et Al. ( 2006 ) indicate that companies with more incentivized CEOs have higher degrees of net incomes direction as these CEOs appear to be more aggressive in their usage of discretional constituents of net incomes to impact their house ‘s reported public presentation. They argue that CEOs whose entire compensation consists chiefly of stock and options have an inducement to pull strings net incomes so that the house can describe a net income and supply favourable intelligence to investors ; taking to an addition in portion monetary value. Tiing CEO compensation to company stocks may hold the consequence of promoting CEOs to work their discretion in describing net incomes, with an oculus to pull strings the portion monetary value of the company ( Bergstresser & A ; Philippon, 2006 ) .2.6 Net incomes Management and Corporate GovernanceLeuz et Al. ( 2003 ) found empirical grounds that net incomes direction occurs less often where outside investors are provided more rigorous protection by the state ‘s legal administration system and occurs more often in states where the legal administration system provided to outsider investors is weak. Leuz et Al. ( 2003 ) argues that the presence of a administration environment that provides strong, well-enforced protection of the rights of corporate foreigners serves to restrict the ability of inside direction to get private control benefits through net incomes direction. Wells ( 2002 ) provides empirical support that incoming CEO ‘s take an ‘earnings bath ‘ in the twelvemonth of the CEO alteration. DeAngelo ( 1988 ) provides direct grounds of net incomes direction subsequent to CEO alteration and notes that the period subsequent to CEO alteration, incoming directors take an ‘earnings bath ‘ from both non-cash write-downs and unexpected accumulations and that they attribute this to the former direction. Incoming CEO ‘s may hold considerable inducements to minimise reported income in the initial phase of their term of office. This arises as a effect of accounting income being mostly irrelevant to managerial public assistance during the first fiscal twelvemonth of term of office, which is typically a partial twelvemonth ( Wells, 2002 ) . Incoming CEO ‘s are non held responsible for past public presentation and may explicitly impute past public presentation to prior direction. Consequently, income may be deferred to subsequent periods when it will more probably have a positive impact on compensation either through expressed contracts or inexplicit wagess. In this scene, the entrance CEO is typically associated with past determinations, inexplicit unfavorable judgment of which may be embodied in downwards net incomes direction ( Wells, 2002 ) . Furthermore, the surpassing CEO is unable to restrain such behaviour and this high spots an of import corporate administration issue ( Godfrey et al. , 2003 ) . Klein ( 2002 ) found grounds of a negative relation between board independency and unnatural accumulations, proposing that decrease in board independency is accompanied by big addition in unnatural accumulations. In add-on to Klein ( 2002 ) , Xie et Al. ( 2003 ) found consequences that suggest lower degrees of net incomes direction is associated with greater independency on the board of managers. These findings indicate that independency of the board of managers is of import in restraining the leaning of directors to prosecute in net incomes direction. Based on the literature on board independency, this research will use a variable to command for board independency in the cross-sectional and pooled arrested development theoretical accounts.2.7 Net incomes Management and Auditor IndependenceHearers are appointed as an independent party to supply an sentiment as to whether fiscal statements supply a ‘true and just ‘ position ( Chapple & A ; Koh, 2007 ) . Independence is by and large understood to mention to a mental province of objectiveness, deficiency of prejudice, personal involvement, prior committedness to an involvement, or susceptibleness to undue influence or force per unit area. Independence is important in the auditing profession and this has come into light through the failures of Enron and WorldCom. Without independency, investors and stakeholder will lose assurance in audit studies, the hearer ‘s sentiment will non be believable, and besides fiscal statements will lose credibleness, therefore lead to future corporate failures as was the instance of Enron ( Chapple & A ; Koh, 2007 ) . It is in direction ‘s involvements to hold an external audit to cut down bureau costs: deficiency of a believable independent audit will increase cost of capital, restrict entree to capital and enforce terrible limitations on direction ‘s actions. The demand of hearer independency is critical and any damage or perceived damage of independenc y will increase bureau costs ( Firth, 1997 ) . Literature has expressed concerns about the effects of hearers ‘ proviso of non-audit services on the independency of hearers. For illustration, Beeler & A ; Hunton ( 2001 ) reference that the proviso of non audit services arguably strengthens the hearer ‘s economic bond with the client, thereby cut downing hearer independency and increases hearer ‘s inducement to assent to client force per unit area, including force per unit area to let net incomes direction. Firth ( 1997 ) suggests that any existent or sensed damage of hearer independency will earnestly impact the credibleness of fiscal statements. One possible signal of hearer independency jobs is the grade to which the audit house is economically bonded to a client. Supplying joint services leads the hearer to agree with direction ‘s positions on questionable accounting patterns because challenging these patterns will probably ensue in the loss of non merely the audit fee, but besides consultancy assignments ( Firth, 1997 ) . DeFond et Al. ( 2002 ) besides suggests that although hearers have market-based inducements to stay independent, auditor independency may be threatened when hearers provide non audit services to their clients. Increased economic bonding between hearer and its client ensuing from non audit services induces the hearer to decide differences in the client ‘s favor in order to keep tenure ( Simunic, 1984 ) . The issue of mensurating the economic bond and economic importance of a client to the hearer is further addressed by Ashbaugh et Al. ( 2003 ) , who argue that the amount of audit and non audit fees, i.e. entire fees best captures the expressed economic bond between hearer and client. Motivated by turning public and regulative concerns over possible hurtful effects of non-audit services, new ordinances control the proviso of non-audit services and heighten the unity of fiscal studies ( Ferguson et al. , 2004 ) . A host of empirical surveies have examined the relationship between hearer independency, non-audit services and net incomes direction. Empirical grounds from Frankel et Al. ( 2002 ) indicated that non audit fees are positively related with the magnitude of discretional accumulations, while audit fees are negatively associated with net incomes direction. Ferguson et Al. ( 2004 ) examined the association between non audit services and net incomes direction activity and found grounds coverage net incomes direction to be significantly and positively related to non audit services. This is consistent with their statement that higher degree of economic bonding between hearer and client ensuing from non audit services may cut down hearers ‘ willingness to re strain net incomes direction activity.2.8 Corporate Law Economic Reform Program ( CLERP 9 )Severe use and fraud have been associated with loose corporate administration, deficiency of hearer independency and executive inducements construction conducive to timeserving behaviour ( Leuz et al. , 2003 ) . Recent planetary corporate failures have sparked important force per unit area on direction, hearers, managers, the accounting profession and authoritiess ‘ inadvertence function to reexamine the issue of concern moralss and hearer independency. These corporate failures have led to formal authorities questions to look into the grounds behind these unexpected corporate prostrations. In Australia, the failure of HIH Insurance led to the enquiry into the fortunes environing its failure. The study of the HIH Royal Commission indentified a figure of possible breaches of the Crimes Act and the Corporations Act. It was besides found that there was grounds on deficiency of audit inadvertence, transparence, answerability and hearer independency ( Robinson, 2003 ) . The study ‘s policy recommendations on corporate administration, fiscal coverage and confidence were considered into the CLERP 9 amendments for the Corporations Act as these amendments changed the manner the jurisprudence recognized the direction and administration of companies and corporate groups. On 25th June 2004, the CLERP 9 Bill gained blessing of Parliament and came into consequence as the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program ( Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure ) Act 2004 ( Cth ) on 1 July, 2004. The CLERP 9 Act contains a figure of agendas covering with: audit reform, fiscal coverage, wage of managers and executives, uninterrupted revelation, hearer independency, write offing of options, conformity controls and encouragement of greater stockholder engagement at meetings ( Robinson, 2003 ) . Since the debut of CLERP 9, scrutinizing criterions have become statutory and non simply professional duties. CLERP 9 embodies recommendations associating to auditor independency and audit quality. One of the most of import alterations CLERP 9 made was set uping the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board ( AUASB ) as a statutory organic structure and making the Financial Reporting Council ( FRC ) which is responsible for the inadvertence of the AUASB and for O.K.ing its strategic determinations. Under the CLERP 9 Act, hearers are now required to supply to their clients a written declaration that the hearer has complied with the hearer independency demands and any applicable codifications of professional behavior ( Chapple & A ; Koh, 2007 ) . Section 324CA of CLERP 9 enforces rigorous demands of the proviso of both audit and non audit services to the same client and house every bit good as to the fortunes that will amount to a struggle of involvement. The new liability model is designed to promote a ‘culture of conformity ‘ by doing it an offense to transgress the independency demands and puting liability on all members of an audit house and all managers of audit companies. The debut of CLERP 9 has brought many reforms in a manner of beef uping the independency of hearers so investors, stakeholders and the populace in general can hold higher assurance in audit studies and in the long-term public presentation of companies. Enhancing auditor independency came through the signifier of subjecting Australian public companies and their external hearers to detailed commissariats regulating hearer independency, and beef uping bing hearer independency through ( Robinson, 2003 ; Federal Treasury, 2003 ; Cooper & A ; Deo, 2005 ) : A new general criterion of hearer independency Auditor rotary motion Restrictions on employment relationships between hearers and audit clients A compulsory chilling off period before members of an audit house can go a manager or officer of the audit client Self-review menace was addressed by CLERP 9 necessitating two things: compulsory revelation of fees paid for non audit services in certain classs and a statement from the audit commission to be included in the one-year study that it is satisfied that the proviso of those services is compatible with auditor independency. In drumhead, the literature reappraisal presented a treatment on net incomes direction and assorted topics in relation to net incomes direction such as hearer independency, CEO compensation inducements, corporate administration, etc. From net incomes direction literature, it is apparent that capital market outlooks and undertaking inducements are the few of the chief motives driving directors to prosecute in net incomes direction.3.0 HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT3.1 Net incomes Management 2003-2006The debut of increased regulative reforms to heighten the corporate administration environment will supply strong, well-enforced protection of the rights of corporate foreigners and will function to restrict the ability of inside direction to get private control benefits through net incomes direction ( Wright et al. , 2006 ) . Anterior literature has suggested that the deficiency of corporate administration enforcement could enable directors to more easy run into analysts ‘ prognosiss, misus e the company ‘s financess and run into net incomes marks through net incomes use ( Hope, 2003 ) . Australian houses are expected to follow CLERP 9 reforms rather exhaustively as any non-compliance will ensue in important punishments and bad image. Conformity with demands of hearer independency introduced by CLERP 9 will cut down the economic bond companies have with their hearers, and this is expected to ensue in hearers supplying nonsubjective audit studies free from any prejudice and direction force per unit area. With the debut of CLERP 9, it is interesting to analyze the consequence CLERP 9 has on the net incomes direction patterns of these houses. It is expected that the compliant group of houses ( ASX 100 ) will react faster to CLERP 9 reforms than emerging houses ( Small Ordinaries Index ) . First, it is expected that compliant houses have an equal internal administration construction in topographic point to better transparence and to guarantee the market that these houses are one measure in front of the remainder of the houses. Compliant houses would hold prepared for CLERP 9 prior to its debut, and therefore the consequence of CLERP 9 as an ‘event ‘ in these houses will be less as compared to the consequence on emerging houses. Compliant houses are besides under heavy examination from regulators than the rising houses, while the houses in the compliant group are all audited by the Big-4 hearers. Therefore, it is expected that CLERP 9 will hold an consequence on net incomes d irection in the station CLERP 9 period for the compliant houses. Compliant houses have less to derive and are risk averse, whilst rising houses would desire to turn and raise capital and in order to make so, direction will be inclined to ‘play ‘ with accounting Numberss to pull possible investors. It is expected that CLERP 9 will heighten transparence, better hearer independency and these are expected to act upon the net incomes direction patterns of emerging houses. As indicated by Wright et Al. ( 2006 ) , the debut of increased regulative reforms to heighten the corporate administration environment will function to restrict the ability of inside direction to get private control benefits through net incomes direction. These treatments hence lead to the undermentioned hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: Net incomes direction is expected to diminish in the station CLERP 9 period for the ASX 100 â€Å" compliant †houses. Hypothesis 2: Net incomes direction is expected to diminish in the station CLERP 9 period for the ASX Small Ordinaries Index â€Å" emerging †houses. Hypothesis 3: Net incomes direction is expected to be low ( high ) when hearer independency is high ( low ) in ASX 100 â€Å" compliant †houses and ASX Small Ordinaries Index â€Å" emerging †houses. Hypothesis 4: Net incomes direction is positively associated with CEO equity based compensation.4.0 RESEARCH METHOD4.1 Sample DescriptionThe sample for this survey consists of Australian houses selected indiscriminately from the ASX 100 and ASX Small Ordinaries Index. This will guarantee that the sample from each index will be relative to the population. The survey period is between 2003 to 2006, covering four fiscal old ages. The houses will be classified in the two classs ( ASX 100 and ASX Small Ordinaries Index ) for each twelvemonth of the survey identified from the Standard & A ; Poor peoples ( S & A ; P ) database and information from the Australian Stock Exchange ( ASX ) . The first group of houses includes the ASX 100 index, which are the 100 largest stocks listed on the ASX and 50 houses will be picked indiscriminately for this sample. The index is float-adjusted, with securities that are extremely liquid and hence, institutionally investable ( Standard & A ; Poor peoples, 2 007 ) . The 2nd group includes 50 houses besides picked indiscriminately based on the ASX Small Ordinaries which is used as an institutional benchmark for little cap Australian equity portfolios ( Standard & A ; Poor peoples, 2007 ) . The sample from both the indices will be grouped together in a pooled arrested development and a silent person variable for emerging and compliant houses will be used to find size. Datas for the independent and control variables will besides be obtained from the undermentioned beginnings: Connect 4 on-line database, Fin Analysis on-line database and through company one-year studies. The sample choice standards are as follows: ( i ) houses continuously listed on their relevant constitutional list and ( two ) all necessary informations available for the research method adopted in this survey.4.2 Measuring Net incomes ManagementAnterior net incomes direction surveies have developed several trials for observing net incomes direction. Healy ( 1985 ) tested net incomes direction through the appraisal of accounting policy alterations, McNichols & A ; Wilson ( 1988 ) tested the discretional accrual constituent of a individual history and Jones ( 1991 ) used the estimation of the discretional constituent of entire accumulations to prove for net incomes direction. Net incomes direction can be achieved by assorted agencies such as the usage of accumulations and alteration s in accounting methods. However, net incomes direction through the use of accumulations is believed to be the favoured instrument because accumulations have no direct hard currency flow effects and hence, are less likely to be ‘undone ‘ by the market ( Trueman & A ; Titman, 1988 ) . Accrual net incomes is considered superior to hard currency flows because it overcomes the timing and mismatching jobs built-in in mensurating hard currency flows ( Dechow, 1995 ) . In add-on, accumulations let directors pass on their private, inside information and hence, better the ability of net incomes to reflect the implicit in economic value. At the same clip, directors could mistreat the flexibleness permitted by GAAP by prosecuting in aggressive coverage of accumulations that can sabotage the informativeness of reported net incomes. The usual starting point for the measuring of net incomes direction is entire accumulations ( Dechow et al. , 1995 ) . Entire accumulations are so divided into a discretional ( DA ) and non-discretionary ( NA ) constituent. The discretional part of entire accumulations is used in this survey to mensurate net incomes direction, as the premise underlying the net incomes direction model is that the higher the composing of discretional accumulations within entire accumulations, the higher the likeliness that a house is utilizing discretion within accrual accounting to prosecute in net incomes direction. Non-discretionary accumulations are portion of entire accumulations caused by house ‘s gross revenues growing and are ‘viewed as independent of managerial control ‘ or beyond the control of the CEO ( Frankel et al. , 2002 ) . The part of entire accumulations unexplained by normal operating activities is labeled discretional accumulations. A time-series attack based on the Jones ( 1991 ) theoretical account allows a comparing of net incomes direction activities of houses. The Jones ( 1991 ) theoretical account regresses entire accumulations against the alteration in grosss and the degree of gross fixed assets. Entire accumulations include alterations in working capital histories that, in portion, depend on alterations in gross. Changes in gross are used to command for the economic environment and the gross belongings, works and equipment ( PPE ) is included to command for the non-discretionary depreciation disbursals. However, factors such as growing and rising prices can do the time-series of a house ‘s economic variables to expose unequal discrepancies over clip. To get the better of this job the Jones ( 1991 ) theoretical account uses lagged assets to scale the independent and dependent variables to cut down the possibility of heteroscedasticity ( Lim et al. , 1999 ) . Dechow et Al. ( 1995 ) refined the Jones ( 1991 ) theoretical account by deducting the alteration in receivables from the alteration in grosss and hence, the invention leads to the modified Jones ( 1991 ) theoretical account as demonstrated in equation 1.0 below. The modified Jones ( 1991 ) theoretical account provides the most powerful trial for observing net incomes direction as it corrects the inclination of the Jones theoretical account to mensurate discretional accumulations with mistake when discretion is applied over grosss ( Dechow et al, 1995 ) . While this attack is capable to unfavorable judgment from Kothari et Al. ( 2005 ) , which has suggested that public presentation matched discretional accrual steps enhances the dependability of illations from net incomes direction when the hypothesis being tested does non connote that net incomes direction will change with steadfast public presentation. Kothari et Al. ( 2005 ) suggest that public presentation fiting on return on assets controls for the consequence of public presentation on measured discretional accumulations. However, due to the prevalence of the modified Jones ( 1991 ) theoretical account in net incomes direction literature, gauging discretional accumulations is to be conducted utilizing the modified Jones ( 1991 ) theoretical account.Non-discretionary Accumulations: Modified Jones ( 1991 ) ModelOriginal Jones ( 1991 ) ModelWhere: = entire non-discretionary accumulations in twelvemonth T for house I = entire accumulations in twelvemonth T for house I = entire assets in twelvemonth t-1 for house I = grosss in twelvemonth T less grosss in twelvemonth t-1 for house I = gross belongings, works & A ; equipment in twelvemonth T for house I The traditional method of calculating entire accumulations ( TA ) follows the lines of anterior research such as Healy ( 1985 ) , Jones ( 1991 ) and Dechow et Al. ( 1995 ) which have used the balance sheet attack to cipher TA. Hribar and Collins ( 2002 ) argue that utilizing the balance sheet attack to calculate entire accumulations is inferior in certain fortunes to a hard currency flow statement based attack. Austin and Bradbury ( 1995 ) concluded from their survey that anterior research which compares different hard currency flow steps is likely to be robust against mistakes contained in the hard currency flow estimations. They besides mention that it is preferred to utilize reported hard currency flows from operations instead than gauging hard currency flows from alterations in balance sheet histories and income statement points since these contain significant mistakes and therefore is a lacking placeholder of reported hard currency flow from operations ( Austin & A ; Bradbury, 1 995 ) . Hribar and Collins ( 2002 ) point out that utilizing successive-year balance sheet variables to mensurate net incomes direction creates possible jobs around ‘non-articulation ‘ day of the months such as amalgamations and acquisitions. Due to the unfavorable judgments of the balance sheet attack, the hard currency flow attack is to be used for mensurating entire accumulations ( TA ) .Entire AccumulationsWhere: = Net income in twelvemonth T = Cash flow from operations in twelvemonth T = lagged entire assetsDiscretionary AccumulationsThe usage of natural accrual sums as a placeholder for net incomes direction is a simple method to measure net incomes quality because houses can hold high accumulations for legitimate concern grounds, such as gross revenues growing. A more complicated placeholder can be created by trying to categorise entire accumulations into non-discretionary and discretional accumulations. The non-discretionary constituent reflects concern conditions such as growing and he length of the operating rhythm that of course create and destroy accumulations, while the discretional constituent identifies the direction picks. Therefore, the consequence of drawing discretional accrual sums from the entire accrual sum is a metric that to a certain extent reflects accumulations that are due to direction ‘s pick since they are non obligatory disbursals that are yet to be realized and recorded in the histories. Hence, discretional accumulations is a better placeholder for net incomes direction.5.0 DecisionThe research reappraisal aims to look into whether the debut of the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program Act ( CLERP 9 ) has influenced net incomes direction patterns of Australian listed companies in the ASX 100 and ASX Small Ordinaries sample groups. The research inquiries are to be examined beyond the context of anterior literature mentioned in the reappraisal. As with all accruals-based testing of net incomes direction, the ability to
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
European Financial Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
European Financial Crisis - Essay Example Over and above individual member perpetration to the crisis, the European region as a whole triggered the crisis. Exacerbated credit growth, low risk premia prevalence, liquidity abundance, and real estate bubbles are some of the major causes of the European financial crisis (European Commission 4). Other causes relate to the primary currency of the region; the Euro. Deteriorated euro value resulted in economic poor performance in key sectors of the European economy. As a result, recession scenario was looming, characterized by fluctuating business cycle. On the same note, the rush by financial institutions to safeguard their interests amid the economic downturn exacerbated the occurrence of the European financial crisis. Parties responsible for the crisis spread across different sectors of the economy. These sectors and their relevant parties perpetrated the crisis in different ways. In the financial sector, financial institutions were primarily responsible. Commercial banks rushed to make windfall profits at a time when the euro was performing poorly in the money market. On the same note, these institutions sought to safeguard their business portfolio by being slow to adjust their operations in such a way that would ease pressure in the economy. The bid to secure business interests at the time when the economy was starting to decline in terms of performance plunged the region into a financial crisis. In the government sector, central banks are primarily responsible. Central banks’ monetary and government spending decisions influenced interest rates negatively. Surging interest rates were realized even before the crisis exploded. Another aspect of responsibility in the government sector emanates from the fact that some European governments have defaulted debts (European Commission 9). Doing so has subsequently affected investments in the region to a point where financial crisis has been realized. The implication is that investors have to share in
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
The Nazi books burnings , or Changes in American family during World Essay
The Nazi books burnings , or Changes in American family during World war 2 - Essay Example It also stresses on totalitarianism. Montag is the centre of the story and thus plays a critical role in the novel’s thematic setting. The book helps students built effective reading approaches. Montag is remotely a perfect hero in terms of his relationship with the other characters in the novel. Montag interacts with various individuals with his primary aim being to learn on the ways of life of these individuals. Most people he interacts with beginning with his wife seem to be committed and busy, unlike before World War II when women had no other roles other than taking care of their families. This is because of the destruction of the society by the emerging technology. The novel explores the separated spirit of Montag towards the awareness of the loss of human feeling in the society. The setting of this novel is portrayed as a dystopian social setting where civilisation is yet to be experienced. Montag is yearning for civilisation success; therefore, he strongly takes dimpsy and misguided to achieve this (Bradbury 35). Montag’s passion and faith on his profession in this society deteriorates gradually. He is often confused, disappointed and frustrated about the kind of society he was brought up in. The relationship between Montag and his wife Mildred is a bit complicated. The wife enjoys watching television more than giving his husband attention, something that Montag is furious with. This relationship seems to be like a juggle. Montag is not quite sure on how to relate with the wife as the wife is always moody. Montag is impulsive and emotionally unstable. This character resonates to that of his wife who is also on a suicidal watch (Bloom 14). Montag’s relationship with the wife also shows the caring nature of Montag when he made up with the wife during the suicidal ordeal (Fenton 2). On the other hand, Montag seems to be fairing on well and finally they start printing books together. This is through the struggle he made to make sure win over the belief of the ways of the society for Montag’s life. Faber’s control over Montag may not have been as fully complete as Beatty’s. He manipulates Montag into believing in everything he tells Montag is the best for him. This strong belief Montag had in Faber finally gave him the opportunity to be part of the nationwide network of book lovers who have acknowledged many great books of literary and philosophical works. Clarisse, though died in the beginning, was well knowledgeable and against the technology in the contemporary society which as well changed Montag. Montag is strongly touched by every world Clarisse utter to him. This 17-year-old woman finally manages to open montages third eye due to the relationship they had built on the importance of love for nature and people (Bradbury 50). Clarisse viewed a dystopian society as a society full of destruction by the technology. She, therefore, believed that the only way this society could be reformed and c ivilised was through respect for nature and people as a whole. Montag somehow felt the weight of this statement towards civilisation as one the individuals who used to burn books in the futuristic American city. Montag tells Faber, â€Å"I want you teach me books†(Bradbury 59). This somehow changed montages perspective on how he viewed the societal ways of life. Beatty was the Montag’
Economics of Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Economics of Law - Essay Example Thus they might use an accomplice to watch for police, buy more sophisticated equipment to break into cars more quickly, etc. On the other hand, some potential offenders find that the expected reward from crime is less than the expected cost. Similarly, if the opportunity which knocks at the door of offender which costs his devoted time to criminal activity, potential offenders are likely to reduce their criminal activity. The greater the opportunity, the higher would be the cost, thus we expect the supply of crime to decrease when good jobs in the legitimate sector are plentiful, and to increase when unemployment is high. In fact, several studies have confirmed this theory, by showing that crime rises and falls with the business cycle and the ups and downs of the economy. What about the "demand" side of the market Potential victims can take costly actions such as installing burglar alarms, taking cabs instead of walking in high-crime areas, purchasing defensive firearms, and taking lessons in self-defence. All of these activities might affect the potential victim's chances of being victimised. Although potential victims do not actually "demand" crime, they do demand-and devote considerable resources to trying to achieve-reductions in their chances of being victimised. This is the reason for why they "demand" less crime. However according to Kopcke et al (2004) "Workers react this way even if demand declines temporarily" (Kopcke et al, 2004) refers to the notion that even if the local authorities go on with penalties and punishments, that would not completely deter offenders. Similar is the case when offender does not certain preventive measures, one might argue that the action of potential offenders is similar to a "demand" for more crime. Although private individuals become the victims of crime, a large part of the "market" for crime is handled through the public sector. The public sector takes on a lot of these responsibilities because crime reduction has many attributes of a "public" good. Examples of other public goods are national defence and pollution control. A public good is one in which people who "consume" the good cannot exclude others from consuming. Thus although it might be in everyone's best interest to contribute to a private effort to reduce pollution or to decrease the supply of crime, since those who do not contribute still enjoy the benefits of these efforts, many people will 'free ride' off the expenditures of others. Thus the private marketplace would not supply enough of that good if left to market forces, and the government might be able to make all citizens better off by taxing them and providing the services directly. The "supply" of crime is therefore affected only by 'supply' treatment prog rams like law enforcement; corrections etc. One of the most common methods to study the relationship
Monday, August 26, 2019
Annotated Bibliography on The Peloponessian War
On The Peloponessian War - Annotated Bibliography Example Flory Stewart is professor in classical history having developed interest in Latin while at a tender age. He taught at private boarding school in Athens, before returning to Yale to undertake his PhD. In this book, Flory recounts Thucydide’s hypothesis of the Peloponnesian War. By referring to the wars Greeks fighting each other, Athenians against the Spartans, the author gives a radical analysis of the factors that led to the war basing on accounts already presented by Thucydides. Notable in his argument is that the war must have arisen from the progressive rise of a powerful Athenian empire. The radical nature in which Flory uses Thucydide’s hypothesis seems to exemplify his theory even amidst critical remarks from other scholars. Generally, the book is important for any reader who would like to understand the ancient work by Thucydides in details. The classical nature of the book and simple language used makes it appropriate for a modern researcher. This book was written by Donald Kagan, who is an American historian at Yale University having specialized in ancient Greece. The four volume book gives vivid account of destructive war of Greeks against each other, and Athenians against the Spartans. It is a distinguished historical account meant for general readers, providing a new dimension to the examination of Western civilization. The author spent a great deal of time or re-examine the factors that instigated the conflict by reviewing both the ancient texts and accounts of modern scholars. The entire book seems to be informed by the question: Was the war inevitable, or could it have been avoided? Something unique about the author is that he courageously confronted and argued either in favour or against some historical figures, hence giving his view a balanced argumentative structure. Kagan particularly takes an issue with Thucydides’ view
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Wimm-Bill-Dann in Russian Market Research Paper
Wimm-Bill-Dann in Russian Market - Research Paper Example By the end of 1999 the wages of common people tumbled by 30% and their pensions by 45% in value. These factors had a cascading effect on the economy resulting in high fuel and grain prices, which coupled with inefficient agricultural production that almost halved livestock rendered supply of raw milk the weakest link in the supply chain for the dairy industry. While it was estimated that 35%-80% of a family budget was spent on food, the economic situation in the country demanded that producers keep their prices low. The other factors that had a bearing on competitive rivalry were access to financial resources, wider product range and efficient distribution. This in turn meant tight management controls on production and distribution costs especially to reach produce to regions where the purchasing power was lower than in cities like Moscow. Sources of competition (Five forces): Before WBD arrived on the scene the Russian dairy sector was either regional or city-centred. They were making packaged milk, kefir (a fermented dairy drink), soured cream, butter, cream, and cottage cheese. The packaging technologies available to the small players were not able to provide long shelf life and limited their geographical reach. As the regional dairies were catering to markets as far away as 500 miles, under utilisation of production facilities, high logistics and distribution costs pushed up the prices. The economic crash of 1998 and the erosion of the rouble made the consumer highly price sensitive. WBD spotted a business opportunity in the situation. By expanding its product range and longer storage facilities the company felt that it could reach wider markets, offer low prices and utilise business opportunities offered by a liberalised economy. WBD actively pursued the policy of regional expansion, expanded its product portfolio and continuous advertising helped the company capture 30% each in the national dairy and juices markets. The situation also prompted western companies to relocate their production facilities to Russia in order to trim costs and be able to compete there. Therefore during this period the company had to contend with the entry of new international players such as Campina, Danone, Erhmann and Parmalat. WBD relied on branding, quality control, expanding product range and continued diversification as the strategy for fighting competition. The recovery of the economy in the new millennium saw changing trends in consumers becoming wealthier, more westernised, inclined to spend more and demanding high end products. Consumers began demanding healthy diets, more products with biologically active ingredients, special product lines for children with various multi-vitamin and other supplements. SWOT: As WBD set its sights on becoming the nation's leading food producer early on the company had a head start on competition. The company began implementing the idea by a multi-pronged strategy: product development, distribution, quality control, packaging, marketing and geographical expansion beyond Russia's borders into other CIS countries like Kyrgyzstan and
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Beatles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Beatles - Essay Example A simple percussion that is consistent throughout does not dominate but simply backs the moderate tempo of the song. However, the changing progressions and phrasing throughout the song gives the illusion of a changing tempo and time signature. The instrumentation is built on top of a bass line that is an "Oom pah" sound reminiscent of a military march or civic band. In the first half of the song, this is accompanied with a strummed acoustic guitar that compliments the percussion. In the last verse, Harrison introduces a picked instrument, probably a 12 string guitar, that plays counter melody and gives the song a Mediterranean or Eastern sound not unlike the sitar used in later works. "Girl", like many of the songs on the album, was mixed with all the vocals on one channel and the instruments on the other. This was a move toward greater use and experimentation in the studio. Many of the elements of "Girl" would be expanded on and would show up on their subsequent recordings.
Friday, August 23, 2019
Two choose one. will upload later Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Two choose one. will upload later - Essay Example say will establish businesses internationalisation and focus on the economic, environmental, political, and social impacts of business internationalisation. The content in the essay borrows from Economics, International Business, and Critical Political Economy. The main aim of internationalisation is to maximise profits and formation of capital. Businesses set out to international platforms to harness the innovation and influence the price and quality of assets in other regions. Firms may also internationalise in order to present a strategic marketing alliance or technological front as compared to their competitors. Similarly, an enterprise may in its choice of location, be keen to find resources that reduce its direct costs and increase its assets base (Dunning, 2001, p.184). In the search for reduced costs of production, firms try to harness cheaper alternatives in order to maximise profit margins in a competitive market. Most times, the local market offers a high price for factors of production. With internalisation, prospects of cheaper factors of production set. At times, firms go global in order to meet their international demand. Export to foreign markets may affect their product demand due to increased shipping cost. Production at a subsidiary plant may increase returns for the parent company. The reason of internationalisation compares the advantages of the process to the business to the benefits and costs of accessing cross-border transactions (Dunning, 2001, p.187). In Economics, demand adjusts supply and consumption influences production. Thus, Economics is a system that is responsive, elastic, and automatic (Coase, 1937, p.387). Economics tries to achieve this balance by focusing on the production process and its impact on the price. Firms are characterised by the price mechanism. In internationalisation, firms optimise production by sourcing cheap sources of factors of production such as labour. With the establishment of a foreign firm, it is
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Determinant of Supplier Power Essay Example for Free
Determinant of Supplier Power Essay Sony’s Play station 3 is slated to be a next generation computer entertainment console which will provide the facility of playing titles which are available on PlayStation and PlayStation 2. In addition it is also enabling internet connectivity for downloading a variety of games as also access to online games and services. It can support a wide range of NTSC/PAL standards on the TV including high definition TV. (Introducing Play station 3, 2006). Nintendo Nintendo has been an established leader in the interactive entertainment industry for many years. It has successfully sold one billion video games worldwide. It markets hardware and software for its popular home video systems such as the Game Cube and the Game Boy series which the company claims to be the world’s best selling video game system. (History, 2006). The company has been developing its consoles based on technology developments and the needs of the customers. Software is also built up to support the consoles in a consolidated mode. Nintendo entered the American market after the industry had virtually crashed in the 1980’s and exploited the performance play as per Kline, Dyer-Witherford and Peuter (2003) by introducing proprietary standards and denying competition for other players. It also created brand loyalty by having a magazine for its product and also created sustainment lines so that the product was effectively supported after sales, a novel concept in the entertainment industry but which is essential for experiential marketing. This company as per Kline, Dyer-Witherford and Peuter (2003) was the first to close the technology, culture and marketing loop as others followed suit to ape Nintendo. The company has also recently launched a Nintendo WiFi connection which will enable the Nintendo DS owners to connect with gamers around the World and it is reported that over 10 million connections were made available only two months from launching. Its Resident Evil 4 programme on Game Cube was adjudged by many as the best game of the year as per the company. (History, 2006). The other innovation was to develop the company’s programme of Game Play Counselors on the web to provide the gamers and developers instant connect with the company. (History, 2006). Nintendo has also sponsored Digipen program at the DigiPen Institute of Technology which is an accredited college level program for designing video gaming applications. The company has initiated this keeping in view the large number of requests it has been receiving from gamers as well as amateur developers. The company also has a Nintendo Power magazine which communicates with the gamers. Contests such as Player’s Poll care enable the company to get feedback from gamers and also rate its own games for further sponsoring and development. The company has an active forums program from which game ideas are developed (http://forums. nintendo. com/nintendo) Nintendo also has a policy for licensing a number of third party publishers to use its patenting technology, copy rights and trade marks to develop video games (Legal, 2006). Nintendo also has a very powerful community participation program called as NSider forum which provides Nintendo fans a venue for discussion through message boards, posting questions and answers, discussions and email on new activities. This acts as a powerful link between the company, the gamers and the developers. (Community Participation, 2006). Micro Soft Micro Soft has been the latest entrant in the field of console gaming. It has also depended on the resources of developers and consumers to progress its gaming strategy, despite the considerable software resources that the company has at its disposal as the worlds leading legacy software developer. It has two programs which are specifically targeted at the developers and consumers for providing it inputs for game development. Micro Soft Xbox Developer programs enable developers, publishers, tool makers and hardware vendors to support the Xbox and Xbox 360 video consoles. The Registered Developer Program in particular has been designed to allow access to external developers to the hardware and support of Xbox and Xbox 360 and take advantage of the features to develop software and support projects for the Xbox consoles. Xbox Central and Xbox 360 Central web sites permit access to those who have been accepted for this program and also for participation in technical seminars and sessions. (Xbox Developer Programs, 2006) The Xbox 360 Registered Content Creator Program is a similar program which allows freelance content creators access to Xbox 360 content creation tools to enable them to secure projects for Xbox console. These positions are offered by Microsoft Game Studios. (Xbox 360 Registered Content Creator Program. 2006)
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Operation Managenent Essay Example for Free
Operation Managenent Essay After completing this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Define the term operations management. 2. Identify the three major functional areas of organizations and describe how they interrelate. 3. Identify similarities and differences between production and service operations. 4. Describe the operations function and the nature of the operations managers job. 5. Summarize the two major aspects of process management. 6. Explain the key aspects of operations management decision making. Briefly describe the historical evolution of operations management. . Characterize current trends in business that impact operations management. Chapter 2 Competitiveness, Strategy, and Productivity After completing this chapter, you should be able to: 1. 2. 3. 4. List the three primary ways that business organizations compete. Explain five reasons for the poor competitiveness of some companies. Define the term strategy and explain why strategy is important. Discuss and compare organization strategy and operations strategy, and explain why it is important to link the two. 5. Describe and give examples of time-based strategies. 6. Define the term productivity and explain why it is important to organizations and to countries. 7. Provide some of the reasons for poor productivity and some ways of improving it. Chapter 3 Forecasting: 1. List the elements of a good forecast. 2. Outline the steps in the forecasting process. 3. Evaluate at least three qualitative forecasting techniques and the advantages and disadvantages of each. 4. Compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative approaches to forecasting. 5. Describe averaging techniques, trend and seasonal techniques, and regression analysis, and solve typical problems. Explain three measures of forecast accuracy. 7. Compare two ways of evaluating and controlling forecasts. 8. Assess the major factors and trade-offs to consider when choosing a forecasting technique. Chapter 4 – Product and Service Design: 1. Explain the strategic importance of product and service design. 2. Identify some key reasons for design or redesign. 3. Recognize the key questions of product and service design. 4. List some of the main sources of design ideas. 5. Discuss the importance of legal, ethical, and sustainability considerations in product and service design. 6. Explain the purpose and goal of life cycle assessment. 7. Explain the phrase the 3 Rs. 8. Briefly describe the phases in product design and development. 9. Name several key issues in manufacturing design. 10. Recognize several key issues in service design. 11. Name the phases in service design. 12. List the characteristics of well-designed service systems. 13. Assess some of the challenges of service design. Chapter 5 Strategic Capacity Planning for Products and Services: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Summarize the importance of capacity planning. Discuss ways of defining and measuring capacity. Describe the determinants of effective capacity. Discuss the major considerations related to developing capacity alternatives. Briefly describe approaches that are useful for evaluating capacity alternatives. Chapter 6 Process Selection and Facility Layout: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Explain the strategic importance of process selection. Describe the influence that process selection has on an organization. Compare the basic processing types. Explain the need for management of technology. List some reasons for redesign of layouts. Describe the basic layout types, and the main advantages and disadvantages of each. Chapter 7- Work Design and Measurement: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Explain the importance of work design. Compare and contrast the two basic approaches to job design. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of specialization. Explain the term knowledge-based pay. Explain the purpose of methods analysis and describe how methods studies are performed. 6. Compare four commonly used techniques for motion study. 7. Discuss the impact of working conditions on job design. 8. Define a standard time. 9. Describe and compare time study methods and perform calculations. 10. Describe work sampling and perform calculations. Compare stopwatch time study and work sampling. 12. Contrast time and output pay systems. Chapter 8 Location Planning and Analysis: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Identify some of the main reasons organizations need to make location decisions. Explain why location decisions are important. Discuss the options that are available for location decisions. Give examples of the major factors that affect location decisions. Outline the decision process for making these kinds of decisions. Chapter 9 – Management of Quality: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Define the term quality as it relates to products and as it relates to services. Explain why quality is important and the consequences of poor quality. Identify the determinants of quality. Distinguish the costs associated with quality. Compare the quality awards. Discuss the philosophies of quality gurus. Describe TQM. Give an overview of process improvement. Describe and use various quality tools. Chapter 10 – Quality Control: 1. List and briefly explain the elements of the control process. 2. Explain how control charts are used to monitor a process, and the concepts that underlie their use. Chapter 11 Aggregate Planning and Master Scheduling: 1. Explain what aggregate planning is and how it is useful. 2. Identify the variables decision makers have to work with in aggregate planning and some of the possible strategies they can use. 3. Describe some of the graphical and quantitative techniques planners use. 4. Describe the master scheduling process and explain its importance. Chapter 12 – MRP and ERP: 1. Describe the conditions under which MRP is most appropriate. 2. Describe the inputs, outputs, and nature of MRP processing. 3. Explain how requirements in a master production schedule are translated into material requirements for lower-level items. Discuss the benefits and requirements of MRP. 5. Explain how an MRP system is useful in capacity requirements planning. 6. Outline the potential benefits and some of the difficulties users have encountered with MRP. 7. Describe MRP II and its benefits. 8. Describe ERP, what it provides, and its hidden costs. Chapter 13 – Inventory Management: 1. Define the term inventory, list the major reasons for holding inventories, and list the main requirements for effective inventory management. 2. Discuss the nature and importance of service inventories. 3. Explain periodic and perpetual review systems. 4. Explain the objectives of inventory management. 5. Describe the A-B-C approach and explain how it is useful. 6. Describe the basic EOQ model and its assumptions. 7. Describe reorder point models. 8. Describe situations in which the singleperiod model would be appropriate. Chapter 14 – JIT and Lean Operations: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Explain what is meant by the term lean operations system. List each of the goals of a lean system and explain its importance. List and briefly describe the building blocks of lean. Identify the benefits of a lean system. Outline the considerations important in converting a traditional mode of operations to a lean system. 6. Point out some of the obstacles that might be encountered when converting to a lean system. 7. Describe value stream mapping. Chapter 15 – Supply Chain Management 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Discuss the key issues of supply chain management. Name the recent trends in supply chain management. Summarize the motivations and risks of outsourcing as a strategy. State some of the complexities that are involved with global supply chains. List some of the strategic, tactical, and operational responsibilities of supply chain management. Give examples of some advantages of e-business. Explain the importance of supplier partnerships. List the requirements of an effective supply chain. Name some of the challenges in creating an effective supply chain. Chapter 16 Scheduling 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Explain what scheduling involves and the importance of good scheduling. Describe scheduling needs in high-volume and intermediate-volume systems. Describe scheduling needs in job shops. Use and interpret Gantt charts, and use the assignment method for loading. Give examples of commonly used priority rules. Summarize some of the unique problems encountered in service systems, and describe some of the approaches used for scheduling service systems. Chapter 17 – Project Management: 1. Discuss the behavioral aspects of projects in terms of project personnel and the project manager. 2. Explain the nature and importance of a work breakdown structure in project management. 3. Give a general description of PERT/CPM techniques. 4. Construct simple network diagrams. 5. List the kinds of information that a PERT or CPM analysis can provide. 6. Describe activity crashing and solve typical problems. Management of Waiting Lines After ompleting this chapter, you should be familiar with waiting line terminology, be able to solve typical problems using the models presented in this chapter, and answer these questions: 1. Describe what imbalance does the existence of a waiting line reveal? 2. Explain what causes waiting lines to form, and why is it impossible to eliminate them completely? 3. Describe what metrics are used to help managers analyze waiting lines? 4. Explain what are some psychological approaches to managing waiting lines, and why might a manager want to use them? 5. Explain what very important lesson does the constant service time model provide for managers?
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Holistic nursing practice encouraging active communication
Holistic nursing practice encouraging active communication Introduction Diversity of the worlds population has reached a point where it is vital to address and more importantly to understand, the ever-growing challenge that transcultural nursing poses to the nursing profession. Addressing this issue avoids discrimination and promotes equality within holistic nursing practice in order to meet patients needs. Health care professionals should be qualified to deliver, on a daily basis, proficient care and sensitive skilled communication to culturally different individuals (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). To exercise professional nursing in a conceptual way holistic nursing care focuses on physical, emotional, social, environmental and spiritual aspects as well as on the idea that any individual involved in treatment care should be treated as a whole and with dignity (Dossey Guzzetta, 2005). One of the areas to be discussed is Transcultural Nursing and Leiningers Transcultural Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality and its research enablers: the Sunrise Enabler and the Ethnonursing Method. Another area will be Holistic Nursing Practice and Nightingales Nursing Theory of Environmental Adaptation as well as the liaison between Transcultural Nursing and Holistic Nursing Practice. Nightingales theory has been chosen over others because she was the first to acknowledge nurses work in a theoretical framework and because she was considered to be the mother of nursing practices (Ellis, 2008). The development of culture care theory introduced health care professionals into a new nursing dimension formed by issues such as culture background, spirituality, environment and others that demonstrated how culture and health care are linked (Leininger, 2002a). Holistic Nursing Practice encourages active communication and reciprocal understanding, underlines the exercise of physiological and psychosocial awareness, it is based on logical thinking and supports values such as autonomy and patient wishes and tendencies (MacKinnon, 2010). Transcultural Nursing Transcultural nursing may be defined as a method to contrast and observe how individuals view health care, biased by their culture background. The principles of practising transcultural nursing are to provide complete nursing care to individuals or groups by treating them with respect and taking into account their cultural factors. It is all about nursing practice applied to cultural values and limitations (Leininger, 1991). Definitions of transcultural nursing incorporate many factors that shape the individuals cultural orientation. These include are age, sexual orientation and financial aspects. It has been suggested that by ignoring these culture background factors, health care professionals do not achieve enough cultural experience to be incorporated in holistic nursing practice (Barnes et al. 2000). This absence might lead to unsafe nursing care and both dissatisfied patients and professionals (Curren, 2006 cited in Leininger McFarland, 2006, pp.159-160). To promote transcultural nursing care, Narayan (2001) felt that there are four crucial attitudes to assume caring, empathy, openness and flexibility. This shows the patients a cultural understanding, appreciation, consideration and willingness from health care professionals that are based on individual care. Cultural education and the creation of culturally competent care professionals are one of the biggest challenges yet to tackle worldwide. For instance, in America, as the migrant population increases notably so it does the need for reducing inequalities and barriers such as language. Maier-Lorentz (2008) firmly understood that such a need could be met by the targeting of bilingual health care professionals coming from different backgrounds. Moreover, she suggested that in order to provide culturally competent nursing care, some knowledge of non-vocal communication signs could be of great value, as it is in eye contact, touch, silence, space and distance, and health care habits. Green-Hernandez (2004) recommended that as a step towards multicultural competency, professionals that need to deal with farmers should familiarize themselves with their specific customs such as using animal medication for their own conditions as a consequence of living far away from the care institutions. With the purpose of understanding culture, Andrews Boyle (1997) gave out diverse illustrations. For example, they suggested that by understanding a peoples proverbs, professionals may grasp knowledge of the cultural values shared by that population. The authors also stressed the importance of culture knowledge when coming across two different ways to view stealing. For one culture it may not be acceptable whereas for another one, e.g. gipsy people, it may be ok, as long as it is coming from a better-off person. Furthermore, they also found, through researchers, that different cultures may think that by being a demanding patient, the treatment they receive may improve. Riley (2004) reported that a foremost test for nurses in an ethnically different society is communication. Not just words but also tone and volume form spoken communication which in diverse cultures differs greatly. For example, Thai people are regarded as not talking too much as they believe it is a sign of idiocy whereas Cuban people are happy with talking vociferously. He also pointed out that Europeans are not afraid of talking about emotions whereas Asians are hesitant to do so. With regards to communication without words Riley (2004) explained that eye contact is not always expected. For instances, in Native America and Asian cultures it is offensive and among Muslim Arab women it is allowed only to their husbands. Therefore, he identified the importance for healthcare professionals to be culturally aware. Phillimore (2011) explored the challenge of provision of diversity needs in the UK-based on studies done on health care service provision to new migrants, during 2007/08 in Birmingham. She stated that with political forces wanting to reduce welfare support for new migrants, such provision becomes quite a challenge. She also believed that, in the long run, this disregarding of health care needs will lead to further issues for the health care system that otherwise could be avoided by just providing what is needed now: cultural and language services and health support. It was also suggested that in todays political climate offering of ethnically specific provision by the community and for the community, results in the local needs not being met, as the existing GP systems are already overstretched. She concluded that a number of migrants are condemned to an unwelcoming future since UK seems to embrace a tendency of anti-migrant sentiment and a move to community institution instead of multicultural provision (Phillimore, 2011). The Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory by Madeleine Leininger In the 1950s Madeleine Leininger, a nurse-anthropologist, realised that nursing practice was requiring a theory to allow people to transform nursing into a more advanced and beneficial discipline that challenges nurses to open up to cultural variety and universality (Leininger, 2006). This was developed as a response to the demand for multicultural care which was immense and yet incomplete as many healthcare systems did not consider the need for bringing together culture and nursing care (Giger Davidhizar, 2008). The culture care diversity and universality theory developed by Leininger in 1991 (Leininger, 2002a) is unique in that it focuses on competent care, can be used upon any culture and is based not only on individuals but groups and families too. The theory addresses the importance of a consistent cultural competence instrument to acquire cultural awareness through a constant learning attitude and approval towards human differences and rights by health care professionals (Burford, 2001, cited in Baxter, 2001, pp. 202-203). Leininger (2002a) insisted on the importance of transcultural knowledge as a tool to avoid human acts such as the event of September 11, 2001. She then proposed the culture care theory as the most holistic approach to gradually transform the health system. This much-needed transformation requires an understanding of individuals in ways that identify and respect their cultural background and will lead us to understand such transcultural dismay. The theory was used in a study among Hispanic home care patients in the US, 2007, in order to identify cultural needs. As a result, care delivery improved in some areas and there was a suggestion describing the use of the model as a tool to reduce costs in the health care system (Woerner et al. 2009). Leiningers theory applies not only to races from different backgrounds but also to todays controversial groups such as transgendered people, disabled people , the youth, poverty and the homeless that may pose a certain degree of difficulty of understanding to healthcare professionals. There is also an agreement that, thanks to Leiningers culture care theory, the nursing profession today knows how to allow for culture when looking after individuals and has a widely spread caring philosophy in hospitals (Clarke et al. 2009). For this model to assist the health care professional to understand factors as important as management and policies, as well as being able to reflect on their decisions and actions, Leininger designed two tool assessments, The Sunrise Enabler and the Ethno Nursing research method, which are based on monitoring treatment care on a daily basis (Hubbert, 2006, cited in Leininger McFarland, 2006, pp. 354-356). The sunrise enabler focuses mainly on total life ways and caring factors influencing health and well-being, disabilities and death. It also identifies features influenced by the patients cultural background whereas ethnonursing finds ways in which multicultural care could be better. In doing so, the reflected culture becomes part of the holistic nursing practice (Leininger, 2006). The Sunrise Enabler The Sunrise Enabler is used as an assessment tool to enable multidisciplinary teams to deliver suitable and competent cultural assessments that impede intolerance and stereotype behaviour. This is to supply the healthcare system with a guide to cultural vicinities ranging from religious beliefs to economic factors (Giger Davidhizar, 2008). Wherever a healthcare professional starts the model either from the top or from the bottom, the most important feature is to listen to the individuals, trying to grasp ideas and concepts rather than enforcing them (Leininger, 2002a). Healthcare professionals struggled to understand the meaning of factors influencing the care practice so crucial when applying the culture care theory. Such factors as culture beliefs, environment and religion were to be included in the nursing care, therefore Leininger (1997) built the Sunrise Enabler to illustrate such aspects. The Ethno-nursing Method This method was developed to fit the purposes of qualitative research methods. It is a systematic method for studying multiple cultures and care factors within a familiar environment of people and to focus on the interrelationships of care and culture to arrive at the goal of culturally congruent care. Ethnonursing is a particular research method developed by Leininger to inspect the theory. It was developed to allow health care professionals to discover new ways of helping different cultural groups distinguish features of nursing care (Leininger, 2006). Leininger (2006, p.6) stated that the ethnonursing method à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦was new and unknown in nursing and was different from other qualitative methods including ethnography. Holistic Nursing Practice The exercise of modern nursing is based on the view of holism that underlines the individuals wholeness. Healing viewed as an indication of nursing practice that treats people as whole, developed in the late 20th and early 21st century into a popular subject in nursing in order to clarify the meaning of wholeness and holism. As a result, alternative therapies surfaced as approaches of practice in holistic nursing (Locsin, 2002). The definition of holistic came into effect in the 20th century. Then the word holism included the physical, emotional, mental, social, cultural, and spiritual view. This view of holism was envisioned by Florence Nightingale who is seen today as an example to follow, although many of her studies are not used in todays nursing practice (Beck, 2010). Holistic nursing care embraces the mind, body and spirit of the patient, in a culture that supports a therapeutic nurse/patient relationship, resulting in wholeness, harmony and healing. Holistic care is patient led and patient focused in order to provide individualised care, thereby, caring for the patient as a whole person rather than in fragmented parts (McEvoy Duffy, 2008, Vol.8, p. 418). Furthermore, it addressed the expansion of multidisciplinary and collaborative teams as a way to applying holistic care into practice and asserted that the practice of holistic care by health professionals should avoid intrusion and, when really needed, as it is the case of unconscious patients, should use skills that include aspects such as consideration, disciplined criticism and liability in order to exercise nursing in a holistic approach (McEvoy Duffy, 2008). Since individuals from different culture backgrounds may appreciate holistic nursing practice and care choices in different ways so is the healthcare provided in different ways (Locsin, 2001). It may also be the case that some individuals may feel embarrassed to mention alternative remedies used in the past, therefore the assessment should be supportive rather than disapproving (Maddalena, 2009). Pearcey (2007) ran a study on clinical practices amongst student nurses to draw on a few key points related to holistic nursing practice. It was found that the notion of holistic care was not clear within nursing practice. Some students claimed not to know the right meaning of holistic nursing practice and claimed that tasks and routines are what nursing is all about. The study showed an evident lack of professionalism and knowledge amongst care professionals as well as a huge gap between what is taught and what is really applied at work. The author concluded that there is a real risk of inconsistency within the profession. Within the practice of holistic care there has been lately a huge influence of alternative or complementary medicine which care experts have tried to professionalise by setting certain values to be met. A study amongst nurses and midwives accomplished in England, 2008, revealed this but also the lack of initiative from the NHS to incorporate such practices, even though it was demonstrated that a huge variety of them were successfully applied on patients where biomedicine seemed not to work. Such practices included reflexology, aromatherapy, acupuncture and massage that actually underlined biomedicine rather than substituted (Cant et al. 2011). Whilst carrying out an interview on medical students in the UK, a student suggested that it is actually a catch-22-situation when looking after patients from diverse races as they have diverse predominance of whatever conditions that eventually will require different treatment, a world apart from what is being taught in medical schools with regards to treating everyone in the same way (Roberts et al. 2008). A quick look to Harrison (2008) for a concluding comment on multicultural nursing in relation to holistic care, offers us this brief view: a Western health care organism that has not managed to treat minority communities in a holistic manner is a system that claims to care for one and all identically. The Theory of Environmental Adaptation by Florence Nightingale According to Nightingales Theory of Environmental Adaptation, an individuals health is improved by looking after the surrounding environment. It goes further than this and asks for the environment to be operated by the health care professionals as an approach to healing (Howett et al. 2010). Florence Nightingale defined nursing as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the act of utilising the environment of the patient to assist him in his recovery (Funnell et al. 2009). She determined that the deficiency of factors such as uncontaminated air, clean water, sanitation, hygiene and sunlight is unhealthy to the human being. Furthermore, she reasoned that temperature, environment and nutrition affect the patient (Kozier, et al. 2008). This theory of nursing includes inspection, recognition of environment changes and their execution and supporting the patient health care by allowing the environment to benefit the patient (Neils, 2010). Selanders (2010) reviewed and compared this theorys aspects with modern-day practice and reported that Nightingales concept, such as air, light, noise and cleanliness is equal to todays concept of physical environment; health recommendations to psychological environment; food to nutritional status and observation to nursing management. The author also estimated that the theory has been used in several qualitative works and some studies on the childbirth process. Transcultural Nursing vs. Holistic Nursing Practice According to Leininger (2002b) patients are not provided full holistic care by health professionals. Factors such as kinship, religion, environment and culture are largely missing. For that reason, care professionals should avoid being judgmental when delivering holistic care and rather provide an all-inclusive care that respects the individuals cultural background (Maddalena, 2009). As a student nurse, it is vital to value the development of cultural awareness and competency within the profession in order to encourage and address all stages of holistic nursing practice as it is meaningful to todays multicultural society. Leininger (1997) also claimed that essential practice is needed to create a regulation of multicultural nursing that could be of use to much ignored cultures. For example, acute medical treatment, medication, and patient fulfilment can be improved by understanding care beliefs when bringing in nursing care which, in turn, could save the health care system financially and have a desired positive outcome on patients (Woerner et al. 2009). Individuals or groups may clash with health professionals if they are not showing respect for each others cultural beliefs resulting in poor treatment and patients losing hope in the health care system. Hogg (2010a) also underpinned this understanding as crucial to delivering accurate holistic nursing practice. However, not only patients may lose faith in the system. Hogg (2010b) also affirmed that nurses from black and minority ethnic have suffered, at some point, racial harassment as well as lack of opportunities according to their numbers in the nursing profession. As holistic nursing practice centres on recognition of patients rights and choices (Potter, 2005 cited in Dossey et al. 2005, p.347), it is subsequently supporting the meaning behind multicultural care. The association of both precepts confirms an ongoing engagement to pursue equality and diversity as promoted by the Nursing Midwifery Council (2008). Inherent in nursing is respect for human rights, including cultural rights, the right to life and choice, to dignity and to be treated with respect. Nursing care is respectful of and unrestricted by considerations of age, colour, creed, culture, disability or illness, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, politics, race or social status (The International Council for Nurses, 2005). When assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating a patients needs as to medication, health professionals should take into account cultures physiologic traits, as it can seriously impact the treatment. For instances, due to genetics, for one patient a normal given dose may develop a reaction whereas for another it may not work at all (Anon, 2005). Conclusion It is obvious that cultural competency is a must when performing holistic nursing practice, in order to deliver a responsive and high quality care system. It is therefore recommended that specific cultural training should be given to all health care professionals so as to not overlook the great multi-cultural society we all are in. As society becomes more diverse, health care professionals should expand guiding principles that sponsor cultural skills as a way to deliver enhanced holistic healthcare. By carrying out this essay, the author realises the significance of treating people in a holistic way and not making assumptions just because they are from different cultures. This is something that seems yet not to be well implemented in my workplace (NHS since 2007). The author will, from now on, be more aware of his practice when caring for individuals from different culture backgrounds. It can be considered that nursing as a profession is also an example of human culture so indispensable for a in peak condition community, as seen looking through the theories of nursing and its tools presented in this paper, which if not recognized may affect the execution of holistic practice and its results, i.e. it is a profession whose culture needs to be elastic if it is to fulfil its function.
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