Information gathered can confirm if transactions are fraudulent - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1937 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Did you like this example? Another advice that Dr. Mitchell can give to the caller is to arrange another meeting with senior executives of the firm. She should tell them about her concerns about improper transactions included in financial statements. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Information gathered can confirm if transactions are fraudulent" essay for you Create order She should emphasize the GAAP sections which deal with revenue recognition. She should also tell them about the repercussions of reporting fraudulent transactions. The consequences would be extremely harsh and all the senior executives could face heavy fines, even possible jail time, and the company can go bankrupt. The company may face litigation from various creditors and due to no financing sources available, may even go bankrupt. The last advice that Dr Mitchell can give to the caller is to immediately consult with a lawyer. Since producing and submitting fraudulent transactions has serious legal implications, the advice of a law professional can be helpful since they have experience in dealing with these matters. The lawyer can also provide guidance on how to immunize her from litigation. (b) Even if the senior executives repent and correct their mistake, Dr Mitchell should advise the caller to ultimately resign from her position at the company. This is because the caller has evidence incriminating senior management and even if that information is published at a later date, it could seriously taint the managements integrity in accounting matters. If she continues to work at the company, and if these matters are raised at a future date, association with these executives could tarnish her professional reputation. Even if she faces hardships by resigning her positions, the long-term effects are surely beneficial since she will not be working with a management which has flexible views on ethics. (c) The risk of resigning immediately would be that she would not have access to the evidence about these fraudulent transactions. Obtaining that evidence is important especially if the company decides to sue her for fraudulent financial reporting at a future date. Her first task when reaching the office would be to obtain evidence of these transactions. (d) The state board of accountancy may prove to be an important help to the caller. Probably the board h as guidelines on how to deal with such situations from prior experience. Also, the caller may be able to discuss her situation with an accountancy ethics expert and obtain more advice on the situation. Question 2: Even though the caller is sure that the company is obtaining financing from the bank through fraudulent ways, Dr Mitchell may suggest to her that going to the bank immediately poses other kinds of risk. Since the senior executives are responsible for giving the bank their financial statement, it is their duty to ensure that there are no material misstatements in the financial records. The caller is aware that these records may contain inflated balances from the period. The risk is that if the transactions actually turn out to be valid, and if the caller informs the bank that they are not, the caller would be responsible for giving misleading information that harms the company. This would result in her being fired from the company, and possibly the company suing her for defamation. So it is very important that the caller be convinced in every way possible that the financial statements are materially misstated. She should be confident of these transactions before reporting to any outside entity. When she is confident about the misstatements, she can contact the bank, although it would be advisable for her to consult legal counsel before any such actions. On part of the bank, her not signing the financial statements should be detected in the internal control. Since a controller not signing financial statements is likely a big issue, the bank should investigate the companys accounts and should also start interviewing management about reasons why the statements are not properly authorized. Question 3: (a) The caller should likely consult with the state board of accountancy on whether there is a legal requirement for her to notify any third parties of what has happened. She should then follow their advice on whom to contact. However, if there is no such requirement, the caller does not face any legal repercussions for not contacting anyone else with information about these transactions. However, it is always better to also consult an independent lawyer in addition to the state accountancy board to completely ensure her immunity. (b) The external auditor should only be notified after the caller has consulted a lawyer. The eternal auditors can help to convince the company that they are deliberately misstating the companys financial statements. Also, the external auditor may recheck if the previous years accounts contain any material misstatements. This investigation will lead to auditors higher skepticism when dealing with the company next time. They may even go through the enti re backlog of previous audits to ensure that there were no material misstatements. However, it may even lead to the auditor to resign since they do not want a client with such high Audit risk. Question 4: (a) Even though the media in this decade has been full of headlines of accounting malpractice, it is really difficult to put an exact number on the prevalence of accounting malpractice. Some famous cases include Enron and Arthur Anderson, WorldCom, Tyco, etc. In 1999, a COSO study was released highlighting fraudulent reporting in the previous decade. This report was called Fraudulent Financial Reporting 1987-1997: An Analysis of US Public Companies. To the surprise of many people, the report stated that there were only about 300 cases of fraud in the corresponding decade. This number is quite low when one considers the amount of publicly traded companies in the US. However this is limited to public limited companies only and also because the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has very limited resources. Almost 50% of fraudulent companies involved a situation like the one above where revenue recognition criteria were not followed. So this is quite a common method of committing fraud. Because of this, the AU requires that external auditors assume a risk of fraud causing material misstatement when evaluating financial statements. (b) Senior executives who face undue pressure to meet the expectations of different stakeholder may try to projects these pressures upon employees to help meet those targets expected by the stakeholders. Senior executives may even commit fraud to continue meeting expectations of stakeholders. The status of senior management can be used to pressure lower level employees to commit fraud. Threats usually employees are job loss or denial of promotions to employees unless they accept to be a part of managements fraudulent schemes. Also, the experience of senior employees may cause lower level employees to think that they are safe from prosecution as these techniques have already been tried. Also, if junior employees may not know the full picture, they can be easily lured into committing illegal frauds by management. (c) The best method junior employees can use is to stick with the IAS or GAAP as the basis for any activity or reporting. The same with this case where the caller was concerned that her employers were not meeting GAP criteria. Thus, the employee cannot be blamed for not doing transactions which do not abide by IAS or GAAP criteria. This also gives senior employees no justification to carry out recording which goes against established standards. Question 5: The senior executives of the company where the caller worked faced many incentives which made them give out materially misstated financial statements. Because it is a start-up company, executives face intense pressure to get the business to become a profit making enterprise and establish itself as a serious competitor in the marketplace. This company had been operating at a loss for a while and facing a huge cash shortage. Also, the bank had halted all credit until the quarterly reports could be produced. So there were a large number of pressures the management was facing and it gave the, the incentive to commit fraud. When they had so many incentives, they took advantage of some of the opportunities to commit fraud. Because these are interim and not period end reports, they were not audited by an external auditor. This gave management a huge opportunity to engage in fraud for the first quarter since there was no external investigation or audit. Also, because the company is smal l, the management could influence the clerks to commit fraud. Also, the fraud could have been easily perpetuated due to a lack of sophisticated control systems. And since the caller was gone for some days, it prevented management with a rare opportunity to get fraudulent accounting entries in to the system. Attitude was another condition that the management displayed when perpetuating fraud. They also showed a complete and utter disregard towards the importance of fairly presented financial statements. They used rationalization that everybody does it and accused the controller of being too high-minded and an idealist. They also commented on the controller lack of practical experience tried to rationalize it to the controller. But their overall main rationalization was that most companies do commit accounting fraud, and they shouldnt be the exception. Question 6: To record a transaction, SAB 101 states that the following criteria are required for GAAP: Evidence of an arrangement to exchange goods or services Earnings process should be complete. This means that the company has provided the product and a credit or cash payment has been made The money to be received can be measured reliably Collection is reasonably assured. The caller had said that none of these criteria were there to record the transactions. There was no arrangement to exchange goods and services, no goods were provided or cash or credit received. Consequently there was no way to measure revenue. And there was no possible assurance of collection since no transaction was agreed upon by any two parties. Question 7: (a) In this case, management had recorded revenue and debited accounts receivable when no purchase order was placed for those goods and no goods were shipped out. There were no actual customers. Thus, if recorded, these posting would not confirm to the occurrence assertion in the financial records for sales transaction. If we reference AU 326, the occurrence assertions tests whether the transactions recorded actually happened and whether they are done by the company. So there would be no occurrence assertion for these transactions. As there were no orders placed by customers to the company in the case, there obviously had been no shipping to these customers by the company. And since there was no shipping of these goods, there was no arrangement of any kind between customers and the company for exchange of cash and goods. (b) There are many audit procedures which can detect this kind of fraudulent records. The easiest and most straightforward way would be to send confirmation to these customers to verify that these transactions had indeed occurred. Customers would have probably exposed the proper amounts they owe to the company as accounts receivables. Also, they should show if these transactions were prematurely recorded or not. Another audit procedure would be to analyze the supporting documents of these recorded transactions. For example, select a sample of transaction from the Sales Journals, and check if there are supporting documents verifying the amounts. These can be, but are not limited to, the customers purchase orders, shipping documentations and acknowledgment of receipt of goods. There are also analytical procedures that can be used to check the occurrence of these transactions. This can be done by comparing this quarters data to previous quarters and measuring the discrepancies between quarters. Other comparisons can also be used; but some might only have a limited affect in ensuring occurrence of these transactions.

Personal Experience Explore Different Thoughts about...

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Acts of Kindness. Paper Free Essays

string(20) " it all in the car\." Someone dragged a coin along the bonnet of a car belonging to a friend of mine. He took it to a smash repair company near his work for the scratch to be touched up. When he went to pick up the car, he was surprised to be told that there was no charge. We will write a custom essay sample on Acts of Kindness. Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now A little overwhelmed by it all, my friend mentioned that if he ever had an accident, he would bring his car to that establishment for repair. The owner replied, â€Å"Sir, I hope you never have an accident. † I have made it my goal to do something nice for somebody every day that I live. I find myself waking up each morning with new and exciting ideas of things to do for others, and the rewards have been wonderful. The afternoon was cold and windy as I walked through the shopping centre of my little suburb. A busker, perhaps in his late fifties, wearing clothes that had gone well beyond their ‘use by’ date, played his guitar rather badly. â€Å"Don’t encourage him! † called a passer by as I dropped a coin into the box. I crossed the road and entered a shop where I made regular purchases. I noticed the assistant would occasionally look out of the window at the busker. She turned to me and asked, â€Å"Would you mind the shop for a minute? † Surprised, I agreed, whereupon she took a pie from the warmer, ran across the road, and gave it to the busker. I have since learned that this was not an isolated example of her generosity. Recently my son, who is a regular user of public transport, caught the bus home from school. Unfortunately he got on the wrong bus, but instead of just being told to get off and wait for another bus to take him home, the driver phoned me and said he would look after my son until he could be placed on the next bus home. I received a call from the second driver, confirming my son had been transferred to his bus. He also told me the time my son would arrive home. Thank you to both of these men who took the extra effort to ensure the safe arrival of my son. The other day I fell on my way back from shopping. Fortunately all that was injured was my dignity, but I was touched by the actions of a passing motorist. When she saw me fall she stopped her car and waited until I had stood up again. Seeing I was OK, she drove off. Once when working at the Department of Social Security, I was talking to a coughing client on the phone, so when I sent her the requested claim form, I enclosed a couple of Allen’s Butter Menthols in the envelope. She rang to thank me the following day, and said that my act had made her feel better than the cough lollies had! It made me feel pretty good, too. I have become involved in helping to run a small shop at a local aged people’s hostel. We sell at cost items like biscuits, lollies, greeting cards, etc. , small luxuries that old folk can’t get out and buy for themselves, and that are not provided by the people who run the hostel. I’ve noticed that some old people come into our shop, not to buy things, but simply to talk to someone from â€Å"the outside. † This brings home the to me that some old folks are just dumped in places like these, and are seldom visited by their loved ones. I think it vital that they should be visited, and to be shown that someone cares. During the next school holidays I intend to take my 9-year-old granddaughter into the shop with me, as I feel both she and the old folks would mutually benefit from the interaction. I was talking to my doctor recently, and was amazed to learn her act of kindness for Australia’s National Kindness Day last year was to treat all of her patients she saw on the day for free! Standing in a long queue at the post office, I overheard one of the staff tell a woman at the counter that the parcel for her was heavy, and an awkward size. He invited her to go around to the side door where she could look at the parcel and decide what she wanted to do. A man in the queue overheard the conversation, and volunteered to drive the woman home with her parcel. The lights turned green at the pedestrian crossing and the traffic had just begun to move forward when a stooped elderly lady, obviously unaware of the ‘don’t walk’ sign, stepped on to the crossing. The cars braked and waited patiently while the woman slowly made her way across the road, oblivious of the kindness of the drivers. Four years ago on New Year’s Eve my husband had a serious hang-gliding accident and was airlifted off to intensive care in Melbourne. It was getting late at night by the time I learnt the details of the accident and by then he was far away in a Melbourne hospital, but which one I knew not. We were camping at Mt Beauty and knew no one in the camping ground, and I had a busy 5-year-old, as well as being pregnant! Our situation was made so much more bearable by the many acts of kindness from fellow campers. Money was given for the long distance phone calls to the hospitals, so I could find out where, and how, my husband was. Meanwhile neighbours looked after our little boy who was kept happy playing with their son. The next day, after an unsettled night, I began to prepare for the drive to Melbourne. Another neighbour rose early (and also woke his sons) to help me pack up the large tent and gear, and pack it all in the car. You read "Acts of Kindness. Paper" in category "Papers" They even washed the car, and his wife prepared us a cut lunch! Not only that, she offered her home in Melbourne for as long as we needed, and asked if I’d like her to accompany us on the drive down, and said she would catch the train back (I had never met this wonderful lady before this day). The family minding our boy gave me their street directory with a line marking all the way to the hospital – I’d never driven to Melbourne before, so this was a great help. These two special families saw us off with hugs and best wishes and, I learnt later, both phoned the hospital to see how my husband was. He recovered and is looking forward to more (accident free) flying, and I will always remember these kind-hearted people who helped me so much (Our little boy, too – he was so good during that time, I couldn’t have asked for more). When my youngest child started school I returned to teaching. I made it a rule to praise every child every day. The happy smiles they gave me were reward enough. Six years ago I was left to fend for myself when my husband left me for my so called friend. I was sad, scared, but mostly lonely. After the news became common knowledge, one acquaintance of my husband began to ring me every evening at around 10. 30 pm to say, â€Å"Goodnight and God bless. † I finally asked him why he was doing this. His response was, â€Å"I can’t stand to think of you being alone and sad without anyone to say goodnight to, so I want to do it while you are so sad. † This was a wonderful act of kindness from a man I hardly knew, but it made me feel cared for and not so alone. This man kept up the goodnight greeting for three months until I didn’t sound or feel so sad, and then they stopped. I’ve never seen or heard from him since, but I bless his loving heart often. My current mission is to promote the Kindness Revolution with all the young people I come in contact with, so far with success. The idea of being kind appeals to my two special little friends Amy and Jessie. Jessie sends me monthly reports of her kindness activities which are really cute, especially the one about her 14 month old baby brother playing ‘Barbies’ with her. Jessie considers this brother less important than a worm normally. I would love to tell you of a kind act I had the opportunity to participate in, because of a strong feeling to help someone, who was not in a position to help themselves. A lovely lady in her nineties is a very good friend of my daughter’s Godmother. I made a winter basket for her with all sorts of goodies, including a warm hat for the winter. It was such a pleasure to receive her phone call, she was so thrilled. I went to a cake shop recently and was waiting to be served. There was this little old lady being served, she was asking the price of this and that. I told the man who served me that I would pay for the lady’s choice. He whispered this to the sales woman, and I paid for mine and hers. However, she wasn’t finished, and ordered a large apple pie as well – oops! The man raised his eyebrows at me, I thought for a brief moment and nodded my head – what the heck! When I was given my change I got out of there as fast as I could, as I didn’t want to get sprung. I wonder if people going about their normal duties realise they can brighten up someone’s day. My children’s favourite day is Friday – rubbish bin day. As soon as they hear the truck they race to the door to watch. When the driver waves to them it always brings a big smile to their faces. The wave doesn’t cost him anything, but it means so much to them. Thank you to all the people who take the time to smile or greet others while doing their job. Doing my normal Saturday morning shopping, I was attracted by the sound of a flute. Casting my gaze about I spied a man of about 50 standing on a nearby corner. As I walked closer there was something about him that caused me to think I should donate more than the usual one or two dollars. I walked up to him and stuffed a five dollar note into the top pocket of his coat. He stopped playing and said, â€Å"Thank you very much, that’s very kind of you. † As I walked away he began playing again, this tune was decidedly more up tempo than the previous one. After many years as a city dweller, the opportunity came to move to a small town. Without having any job prospects, I decided to make the move. I hadn’t been there very long when I mentioned to someone that I was going to buy a pot plant when I had the money, and put it on the front porch of the house I was living in. The next day, much to my surprise and delight, I found a pot plant on the front porch! It is so lovely to be away from the meanness and bustle of the city, to be in a place where people have the time to talk, to be sympathetic and respond to people’s needs. I’m sure all Australians are like that, it’s just that the pressure to perform is so much greater in the city, and we seem to be sucked into the ‘rat race’ all too easily. One of my friends in Melbourne suffers from an unpleasant illness which robs her of energy and leaves her severely depressed. Despite this, her capacity for appreciation has been highly developed. She asked me to share this example of kindness with you, a reminder that small actions can make a big difference to a person’s day. My friend was seeking some refreshment but was deterred by the crowded cafe. Summoning courage a second time she entered the cafe, but felt daunted by the lack of available space. A man seated with a friend quickly perceived my friend’s dilemma, and carried a chair to a table without seating, so she could sit down. My friend was greatly touched by the man’s awareness and swift response. She was able to enjoy a coffee and no doubt her faith in human kindness was strengthened. My husband and I have a stall at our local market selling fruit, flowers and plants. During the week I look around a couple of Op Shops and pick up the odd Teddy or toy, which we take along to the market. When an irritable child comes along with a stressed mother, we give the child a toy and distract them for a while in conversation. It’s amusing how the child shuts up, and it brings a smile to the mother’s face. I was standing in a long queue at Coles Supermarket. The woman in front of me approached the check out with three items – milk, bread and margarine. She paused as she hunted through her purse and pockets for money. I definitely had $5 here† she kept saying out loud to her husband, who merely scowled at her and walked off, leaving her with two little kids. In desperation, she tipped the whole contents of her bag onto the counter and looked through it. Meanwhile, I was getting really upset for this young mother. I looked in my purse and decided I wou ld have enough to pay my groceries and have $10 left over. So I just handed her $5 and said, â€Å"There you are, have a nice day, and don’t forget to pass it on. † I don’t need to tell you how she reacted, and I thought she was going to kiss my feet. Out of sheer embarrassment I said, â€Å"Go on, get out of here and have a lovely day. † The next thing I know the check out lady is handing me a bag full of free magazines and muesli bars. â€Å"Here,† she said. â€Å"I’m astounded and so touched by what you did. Never in all my years have I seen anyone do that before. † We have a stall at the markets on Sundays, selling flowers. We look for people in wheelchairs or the elderly, also mums that look really unhappy, and we hand them a bunch of flowers for free – it’s wonderful to see their reaction. Only two people have ever refused to take them. A friend of mine was told he had cancer of the liver and had only a few weeks to live. I called on him and he was looking pretty crook, so I phoned for an ambulance to take him to hospital. At home I tried to think of our past conversations about his son, and where he lived. I remembered it was somewhere near Campbelltown in N. S. W. I dialled the operator and gave her the name I wanted, explaining my difficulties. I said, â€Å"Just give me anyone with that name and I’ll try my luck. † I was told there was no one with that name in Campbelltown, but she said there was one in Picton. OK, I’ll try that,† and the computer gave me the number. I dialled the number straight away. A woman answered and I asked her if her husband’s name was Kevin. It was, and I told her to tell him to get to Bundaberg ASAP, as his dad was sick and needed him. Kevin rang twenty minutes later, and said he would catch the next available plane. I’m so glad he did, because 48 hours later, on Valentine’s Day, his dad died. I feel so good that Kevin was able to talk to his dad and hold his hand and say goodbye, and I feel even better that my friend died happy and loved. Was it just a coincidence that the operator looked in another area for the number – I wonder? Someone phoned recently and told me the following story. Many years ago a child was reprimanded severely by her parents for something she had done. The little girl (let’s call her ‘Emma’) was distraught, and was found wandering down the street, crying, by someone who lived near by. When the woman heard Emma’s story, she considered that the punishment had been excessive, and out of sympathy took Emma to a shop and bought her an ice cream. This was a rare treat for Emma, as her family was destitute and there was no money available for ice cream. Emma maintained contact with the woman over the ensuing years, but this was lost when Emma was of an age where she was able to leave home. Years later, when Emma was in her mid thirties, she chose to visit a nursing home in the hope of being able to bring some cheer to the residents. Much to her surprise and delight, Emma discovered one of the residents, now old and lonely, was the kind woman who bought her the ice cream. Emma became a regular visitor, and spent many hours bringing comfort and friendship to the old woman, until she passed away. Emma told the story to a mourner at the funeral, who in turn told it to the person who rang me. When I was fifteen, a man kidnapped me, attacked me and tried to take my life. I ended up with a shattered back and serious internal injuries. My family was fractured and were not supportive, but the kindness of strangers saw me through. A lady held my hand one night, and cried over me. The nurses wept, and cheered when I took my first steps months after my back was broken. A nurse called Tony made me laugh and took me out to the gardens, where we would talk for ages. A priest sat by my bedside at five o’clock each morning. Then Tommy came into my life and showered me with kindness. These special acts and special people are never forgotten, and the memory of their kindness is conjured up, and is as new as freshly-baked bread. Sometimes we feel helpless, and wonder what we can do to help. While we may not have much money, time or resources, the simplest acts are often the most powerful [As a post script, the Tommy she speaks about later became her husband]. This week I suffered a home invasion. A bloke pulled off my security screen and smashed a large glass window in the middle of the night while I was at home in bed. I was lucky that only an empty handbag was stolen and that I wasn’t bashed. The response from friends has been incredible. I am President of a 50+ Leisure Club, which has in excess of 100 members. Many of them have either rung me to make sure I am OK, or have passed messages of goodwill through other friends. Some have visited me, bringing gifts of flowers and Lotto tickets and (most important) hugs. One or two have offered me a bed for a few nights until I’ve got over the initial trauma, while others have offered to come and stay the night to give me a feeling of security. I have been given silent phone numbers, with instructions to ring any time, day or night, if I need to talk. Two people have even offered to give me a dog to deter intruders. I have received supportive emails and advice on how to better secure my home. All this wonderful kindness has touched my heart. How on earth can I say thank you? It seems such a hackneyed phrase for a very sincere feeling of gratitude. If friends were wealth, I’d be very rich indeed. I was waiting with a patient to see her Oncologist. A man walked by and offered us a chocolate each and we thanked him for his kind gesture. A few minutes later, he was called into the doctor’s room, came out, and then it was our turn. The Oncologist then offered us chocolates, on behalf of his patient whom, he informed us, buys 12 chocolates every day and offers them to 12 people so that he can make 12 people happy, and be happier himself 12 times more! I am writing to you regarding an act of huge kindness toward me and my children that I considered worth sharing with you. I am a sole parent of three children aged 7 years, 4 years, and 10 months. My first partner died a few years ago, and the father of my youngest has gone his separate way. A couple of weeks ago I was unfortunate enough to get pulled over by the police doing roadside vehicle checks, on the way to school to pick up my children. The result was a yellow sticker for faults with my old but ‘faithful’ Commodore. This presented a major problem for me as the car is an absolute necessity, and finances as a single parent don’t allow for unforseen emergencies. I was very distressed by the whole situation. In steps my friend Jennifer, and her husband Paul, with an offer of assistance. They ended up spending the whole weekend working on my car. Paul then requested half a day off work on Monday to ensure the work was completed before the vehicle examination that day. Another act of kindness by Paul’s boss, who was made aware of the situation and allowed him time off. As a result, my car went through the inspection with only minor things to rectify. And of course, Paul again helped with these. Further to this, some other very kind friends of mine, Caroline and Denver, gave hours of their time to work on the car. And while they were there they also pruned all of my big trees and took a trailer load of rubbish to the tip. The happy ending to this long story is that these wonderful people turned around a seemingly impossible situation. The sticker has been removed and the car is starting to look like new. The other day I was in a busy shopping centre car park with little room to manoeuvre large vehicles, when I saw a lady getting flustered trying to reverse her large ‘tank’ of a car out of it’s parking spot, without much success, and a queue of cars waiting for her. I stood in the middle of the car park and it took a while, but with me directing her, she eventually got out and was most grateful. It turned a tense situation into one we had a laugh about – and that’s what life is all about. And in closing, one of the many gems I try to live by: â€Å"Happiness does not come from what you have, but from what you are. † I was in a supermarket recently, and an elderly man had bumped a vein in the back of his hand and it was bleeding. He said, â€Å"Oh, how silly of me,† and got his hanky out and blotted it. I was standing nearby, and stood there compassionately. He went on his way and came back a few minutes later with a packet of band aids. He asked me whether I could put one on his hand for him, which I did after it had stopped bleeding. He thanked me and went on his way. I smiled for the rest of the day, with joy in my heart. A friend of mine told me a story that recently took place at Woolies. She had noticed that the man behind her in the queue had only a few items in his shopping basket, and he seemed to be in a hurry – so she let him go before her. He was so touched that he bought her a chocolate bar from the display at the check out, and thanked her. She said that she and the check-out operator just smiled at each other in disbelief. Last October, we had to have our 16? year old much loved family dog put to sleep by our vet, who had cared for Mindy for most of her life. The week following, the vet sent me a lovely letter saying how sad we must have felt at our loss, and thanking us for our care of Mindy. I really appreciated this letter. The other week I was in one of those bargain shops. I saw a plastic file which I thought would come in handy to keep some documents in. The girl at the check out counter said they were good, and she would like to get one for school (she was working in the school holidays). She said she didn’t have the money at that time and would get it later. I thought there might not be any left ‘later’, so I bought her one. She was so pleased, and it was her birthday in a few days. It made me feel glad that I could help her. As I was waiting in the supermarket queue, I noticed the man in front of me had three tins of meat and vegetables, and I thought that they were probably were his next three meals. When the tins were scanned he presented a credit card and asked for $10 in cash. I thought that $10 was a small amount to ask for, and guessed he didn’t have much money. The card was scanned several times, but the message â€Å"Refer to card holder† kept on appearing. The man, obviously embarrassed, told the girl he’d have to leave the tins. I told the person I would pay the six dollars and something, and the poor man, now highly embarrassed, mumbled a thank you and rushed away with his tins. In 1983, the Ash Wednesday bushfires destroyed homes in Mt Macedon, Victoria. My chiropractor came from Melbourne to Woodend (to our place), with his car loaded to the brim with goods for the unfortunate people who lost everything. He and his wife were the only ones who bothered to come visit us, who cared enough. Our house was filthy, but still standing. Four years ago my son was left with two kids (one just a baby), one teddy bear, and his car, plus all the outgrown kid’s clothes, which were absolutely useless to him (his wife refused to let the kids have their toys or their clothes). A friend from my school days arrived with a car load of kid’s clothes, books and toys for Steve’s kids. My friend had spent every cent she’d earned that week (coaching) on the kids. It didn’t finish there! She also gave Steve a single bed, cupboards, a bike, etc. The trailer was overflowing and so was the station wagon. I was in tears. There was an old lady in the supermarket queue in front of me. She had a tomato and a few other vegetables, and a tin of ham. When the value of the goods was totalled, she looked in her purse and told the check out person she didn’t have enough money. The check out person said, loudly and rather rudely I thought, â€Å"Well, which ones can you afford to pay for? † The woman opted to leave the ham. I was tempted to pay for the ham, but didn’t have the cash to hand over. I put my purchases through, trying to ‘think’ the girl to move quickly before the woman had disappeared, and when I presented my credit card, told the girl I would pay for the tin of ham she had put to one side. â€Å"Why would you do that? † she asked. â€Å"Because it was probably for her next meal! † I replied. I ran out of the supermarket and fortunately she wasn’t too far away. I caught up with her and gave her the tin of ham. â€Å"What’s this? † she asked. â€Å"It’s yours† I replied. â€Å"But I can’t pay for it† she said. â€Å"You don’t have to† I said, and hurried off, leaving her standing there staring at the tin. When I drove away she was still standing there, staring at the tin. I was driving along in the left hand lane when at the last minute realised it led only onto the freeway. The lane next to me started to fill up with cars stopping for a red traffic light. There was a car behind me so I couldn’t go anywhere. Just then two cars in the lane beside me reversed to let me in, when they realised I was in the wrong lane. That just made my day! My youngest son (I am now a sole parent) and I were standing at the local supermarket check-out recently with a full trolley. I noticed an elderly man behind me with only a few items, so I told him to go first. He was very appreciative. After he had paid for his things he walked away, only to return a few minutes later with a beautiful bunch of pink carnations. He gave them to me and said, â€Å"Thank you. You’ve taught me to be giving. † I was stunned, as was the checkout girl. My son was so impressed he said to me, â€Å"You should marry that man. † What a sweet gesture! As a teenager I had a very bad time, lots of abuse and things like that. One day I decided that I’d had enough, and I was on my way to hurl myself off the bridge and into oblivion. As I was walking I was sort of in a dream, not really aware of anything, but a voice lifted me out of the fog. There was an old man smiling at me, a gentleman, as he’d been wearing a hat and he had removed it and was holding it in one hand above his head, like you see people do in some old movies. I said something like, â€Å"What? â€Å", and he said to me, â€Å"It’s a lovely day – don’t you think? † I said I suppose it was, and he put his hat back on and walked away. I watched this small elderly man with a sprightly step walk down the path for what seemed like hours, and I finally sat down on a bench nearby. Yes, it was a lovely day, I thought, and why was I thinking of taking my life on such a lovely day? I moved out of home as soon as I had finished school, got a job as a waitress and did a secretarial course part time. After completing the course I worked for a small manufacturing company as a secretary, married my boss, and we have three lovely daughters. That incident happened about 15 years ago, yet it is still so vivid in my mind. I remember every word that stranger said to me, and those soft blue eyes of his. I think of him as my guardian angel, who took on human form to save my life. I was on a teaching prac. recently, teaching a 4/5 class. I told them about the 12 Days of Kindness and they thought it was really cool. Anyway, for â€Å"Children’s Day† I organised an activity where each child wrote his/her name on a piece of blank paper. All the papers were laid out on the table, with the name facing upwards. Then each child (and the teachers too) went around, turned over the paper and wrote a nice thing about each child. At the end of ten minutes, the children each had a piece of paper filled with compliments. They were so excited to read them, but I collected them to hand out the next day (I wanted to read them first, and add my own message to each one). The next day I handed them out. The atmosphere in the room was amazing, as it was the previous afternoon when they were writing down the compliments. Before they left the room, I told them that Sunday was â€Å"My Day† and that it’s important to give yourself compliments, so they each had to write down one nice thing about themselves. Self esteem is so vital, and it has to be fostered when young! I work as a checkout operator at a large chain supermarket, which is a job that leaves me feeling quite anonymous at times. However, I always make an effort to be cheerful and greet all my customers with a smile and a pleasant â€Å"How are you? , which, I can assure you, isn’t always easy some days! Recently, I had an enjoyable experience serving a very friendly, bubbly lady who smiled right back at me and engaged in pleasant chitchat the whole time I was serving her. As many people simply ignore my efforts of friendliness, this was a lovely experience in itself. However, this lovely lady, unbeknown to me, then went on to see the manager solely for the purpose of complimenting me on my service and thanking him for employing such a friendly member of staff. The manager then bought me a box of chocolates as a thank you for my efforts. Well, as you can imagine, I was truly touched by this gesture, both from the customer and the manager. It really made me feel valued and loved, and I still feel teary when I think about it. It really doesn’t take much to make someone feel so wonderful. I went into the bank today to draw out cash to tide me over the next two weeks. There was a woman at the teller next to me and I overheard snatches of the conversation between her and the teller. There was talk about her having a food voucher from Vinnies, and the teller informing her that her account was already overdrawn, so she couldn’t withdraw any further funds. It seemed she was a visitor to Sydney, and would be going home in a couple of days. She asked the teller if there was someone else in the bank she could talk to about withdrawing money, but naturally was advised that there was nothing that could be done, bank policy and all that. I pulled one of my precious $50 notes I had just been given, said, â€Å"Happy Christmas! † as I placed it in front of her on the counter, and walked out of the bank. I then went to a cake shop across the road and just happened to glance through the glass door as she walked past. Our eyes met, she paused and mouthed a ‘Thank you! ‘ before hurrying off. There are times when life is good, and we need to cherish those moments, as their memories can surely help us through the not-so-good times. I recently had an operation on my leg for a damaged ligament. In my conversation with the anaesthetist prior to the operation, he said he noticed that the operation was self funded, and asked me about it. I told him that years ago I’d dropped out of the medical benefits system because of lack of money. He then asked whether payment would be a problem, and I said that it would be nice if I could pay the $500 fee in several smaller payments rather than in a lump sum. He squeezed my hand and said he would see what he could do. When I received his invoice after the operation, I was delighted to see that the $500 had been reduced to $380! We hear stories about people being ripped off by medical services, but it is nice to know there are doctors out there who have compassion and kindness. In a post-op discussion I had with the surgeon, he said that when the ligament had healed he would tell me about a natural remedy that would help prevent the problem How to cite Acts of Kindness. Paper, Papers

Daisy Miller Essay Example For Students

Daisy Miller Essay Daisy Miller by Henry James Brief Biography of Henry James Henry James was born in New York in 1843. His parents were Henry James Sr. and Mary James. Henry James had three brothers and one sister. Henry James ancestor, William James, was an 18 year old Irishman who arrived in America in 1789. According to family legend, the ancestor arrived with a very small sum of money and later gained a small fortune through the establishment of a store in New York. Later, he ventured into banking and the manufacture of salt which paved his way as a powerful man in the upper Hudson area. Jamesville, New York and two streets in Albany and Syracuse were named after this legendary ancestor ( Henry James). As a young child, Henry James had only private tutors and never gained any strict education. The year Henry James turned twelve years old his family moved to Switzerland and later to France and Germany. After the completion of his familys travels, Henry James returned to America and enrolled in Harv ard law school for a while. He withdrew soon after his enrollment because he desired to pursue writing rather than an education. His fathers leisurely lifestyle as a traveler and writer allowed Henry James to meet people like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bronson Alcott. His youthful years in Europe left a great impression. Later in his life, James moved to England where he established citizenship as a protest against Americas failure to enter the war against Germany. Henry James died on February 28, 1916 ( Henry James). Some scholars criticize James works because of its slow development and deliberate withholding of information. These two characteristics are a result of his leisurely and refined lifestyle. Therefore, James purposely developed his novels with a conscientious slowness and refinement. James was interested in the society of people who possessed subtle ideas and interests much like himself and his father. The people in this society had enough money to develop their ideas and refinements. Also, Henry James was the first writer to introduce the theme of an American in Europe( Henry James). Characters in Daisy Miller Daisy Miller A young, exceptionally pretty, young lady from the United States who shocks the more formalized European society by her spontaneous acts. Mrs. Miller Daisys mother, who seems to sanction most of Daisys erratic actions. Frederick Winterbourne The narrator of the story and a huge fan of Daisys. Mrs. Costello Winterbournes aunt, who acts as his confidante. She thoroughly disapproves of Daisy. Mrs. Walker A mutual friend of Winterbourne and Daisy. She later severs her relationship with Daisy. Mr. Giovanelli An Italian hottie whom Daisy picks up in Rome. Summery by rinkworks.com! Frederick Winterbourne Daisy Miller, you have caught my eye. Daisy Miller Good, lets go somewhere unchaperoned. (They do.) Daisy Miller Now I will be flirtatious with someone else. Frederick Winterbourne But Im obsessed with you. Go home and take some medicine . Daisy Miller No, I dont care if I die. (dies) Frederick Winterbourne Those wacky Americans. Ill never understand them. The End. Theme Basically, all of James novels have the same theme, American vs. European. I found many other themes. Innocence vs. Knowledge; Utility vs. Form and ceremony; Spontaneity vs. Ritual; Chaos vs. Order. Point of View The story is told through Winterbournes eyes. Its 1st person. I wanted it to be more complicated, but it is not. Literary Devises Foreshadowing is used throughout the book. For example, everyone keeps telling Daisy to take her medicine or she will get sick. Daisy doesnt take her medicine My Opinion This story is trite. It is a simple read but not worth it. I found the characters were poorly developed and the story was just plain stupid. I do not recommend this book. Quotes Shes completely uncultivated, Winterbourne went on. But she is wonderfully pretty, and, in short, she is nice. To prove that I believe it, I am going to take her to the C hateau de Chillon. Winterbourne to his Aunt after 1st meeting Daisy (James 21). What has she been doing? Everything that is not done here. Flirting with any man she could pick up; sitting in corners with mysterious Italians; dancing all the evening with the same partners; receiving visits at eleven oclock at night. Her mother goes away when visitors come. Mrs. Costello (Winterbournes Aunt) to Winterbourne (James 57). Daisy gave a violent laugh. I never heard anything so stiff! If this is improper, Mrs. Walker, she pursued, then I am all improper, and you must give up on me. Good-bye; I hope you have a lovely ride! and, with Mr. Giovanelli, who made a triumphantly obsequious salute, she turned away. Daisy to Mrs. Walker after refusing a ride home (James 56). A Classic This book is a classic because it has a universal theme. A theme that stands the test of time. Personally, I didnt find it very meaningful but, in its time, Daisy Miller, was very controversial. Works Cited Henry James The Hutchinson Encyclopedia. CD ROM; Helicon Publishing Ltd., 1999 James, Henry. Daisy Miller. New York. 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Participative Leadership Strengths and Weakness

Table of Contents Introduction Overview Strengths and weakness Matrix Organizational example Conclusion References Introduction Organizations often desire to achieve high performance. According to scholars in organizational behaviour, organizational leadership is one of the key determinants of organizational performance. Organizational leaders need to choose the right approach of leadership that can help steer the organization towards meeting its goals. There are different approaches of leadership.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Participative Leadership: Strengths and Weakness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Each approach or leadership has its strength and weaknesses; thus, organizational leaders have to be careful when choosing the leadership approach to adopt (Ballantyne, Berret Wells, 2011). This paper discusses participative leadership as one of the styles of leadership. The paper gives an overview of the approach, followed by the strengths and weakness of participative leadership. Overview According to Mumford (2010), participative leadership, which is also known as democratic leadership, is one of the most desirable approaches of leadership in contemporary organizations. It entails the involvement of all organizational members in key decision making. The final decisions are approved after wider consultations have been made across the entire organization. The presumption of this kind of leadership is that each employee has a given piece of information that can aid the organization in meeting its objectives. Therefore, employees are consulted on most of the wider plans of the organization. Here, organizational managers are often seen as facilitators of the leadership process in the organization. They code the ideas of organizational members into key decisions in the organization. In this era where more people are enlightened, most organizations are borrowing the principles of thi s approach of management in order to make the best use of the diverse knowledge and skills of their employees. This is replicated in the decisions of most organizations to form decision making groups, where all organizational members are given a chance to air their views on organizational decisions (Mumford, 2010). Strengths and weakness The participative approach of leadership has numerous strengths. First of all, participative leadership promotes a healthy working environment through making each member feel important and needed in the organization. This promotes self esteem of each member of the organization. It also raises the level of communication and cooperation in the organization.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More By allowing all members to participate in the decision making process, the quality of decisions reached are often of a higher quality. Lastly, the approach g ives employees room to gain understanding of the complex processes and issues in the organization (Mumford, 2010). This approach also has numerous weaknesses. Fist of all, the approach elongates the span of time that is taken to make decisions, thus it may not be favourable for responding to emergency situations. Secondly, the decisions reached may be too complex to implement. The rationale behind this is that the decisions are reached out of a wider consultation and input processes. Therefore, whereas the decisions may be of a high quality, they may as well be complex and hard to implement (Mumford, 2010). Matrix Participative leadership Key areas Strengths Weakness Goals Activities designed by all organizational members Time taken to make decisions is too long Behaviours Cohesiveness, high self esteem, and cooperation Desired outcomes Higher quality and inclusive decisions Complex decisions Organizational example An example of an organization that uses the participa tive approach of leadership is Microsoft Incorporated. Bill Gates, the president of the company, embraces participative leadership through empowerment of the subordinates who work on the innovative projects of the company. Employees at Microsoft are allowed to work in groups, where each employee gets a chance to come up with innovative ideas. One best way of participative leadership is providing employees with resources and allowing them to work on organizational projects (Nayab, 2011). Conclusion Organizational leadership, more so the approach of leadership is critical to the performance of an organization. The paper has explored the participative approach of leadership, where it has been noted that this is the most desired approach of leading contemporary organizations. The main strength of this approach is that it encourages the exploration of the skills of employees. Its main weakness is that it may take too long to make decisions. References Ballantyne, S., Berret, B., Wells, M. E. (2011). Planning in reverse: A viable approach to organizational leadership. Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield Education.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Participative Leadership: Strengths and Weakness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Mumford, M. D. (2010). Leadership 101. New York, NY: Springer Pub. Nayab, N. (2011). Five Real-World Examples of Successful Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/120498-five-real-world-examples-of-successful-leadership/ This essay on Participative Leadership: Strengths and Weakness was written and submitted by user Carlos Munoz to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Alive in Souls essays

Alive in Souls essays Rockn Roll is still alive!! It is belived that it died by the end of 1960s but it wasnt. The feelings, the ideas that Rockn Roll was representing are still living in peoples souls. Like freedom and sex. But it is hard to say that it is living as a type of music. Sounds of music changed too much from 1960s to nowadays. To understand Rockn Roll era, we have to define what is music. Music is the arrangement of sounds in pleasant tunes. But not only the well-combined tunes, it also has big effects on peoples minds, emotions and even on physical bodies. And this is the reason why the music is so important and effective on peoples lifes. Music represents so many ideas that have direct effects on peoples minds. Love, hate, war, peace, sex, freedom, religion... And I think it is the most important thing about music. It can easily affect people and it is the best way to do it. As a result music is more and more powerful and important than it seems. This makes sense why the music market is so huge and productive and why there is an evil race between the music companies to gain power of music in order to have more money, and America is the heart of this business from past to today. The America of fifties and sixties was too complicated. After the Second World War, America developed too fast as a victorious country. People who returned from war wanted a peaceful life. As a result monotonous life period started in America. Everything was same, ordinary and under control by state, entertainment, church and capitalism. People were sleeping like sheeps and saw a perfect America dream. And the powers, which controlled the society, never wanted something or somebody awaken them. But some people were in opposition to this life. They wanted something more exciting and freer. Due to that they started to look for their real personal identities. In this point music had a big role. Music, Rock ...

THE ROLE OF SOUND IN EIGHT DESIGN GUIDELINES OF MULTIMEDIA LEARNING Essay

THE ROLE OF SOUND IN EIGHT DESIGN GUIDELINES OF MULTIMEDIA LEARNING - Essay Example This paper presents a review of relevant literature along with the design guidelines of multimedia learning by the instructional designers in order to investigate what, when, and why they prefer to use sound in to their multimedia based learning courseware. The verbal information can be presented in multimedia learning courseware through various options. Latest techniques like streaming media files and podcasts, which require increased bandwidth, have also augmented the possibilities of integrating sound in to online-multimedia-learning-environments. The educational technology generally employs three basic audio elements which are music, speech, and sound effects (Mann, 2005). These elements enable the multimedia-learning-application to deliver information, convey emotions, attain direct attention, and provide feedback. The most powerful and expressive medium available to the designer for instructional messages is human speech (Mann, 2008). The instructional designers can make use of the attributes of sound such as pitch, loudness, tone and pace to motivate, educate and inform the students. The instructional designers must consider numerous variables while deciding for the sound or audio to be incorporated into their multimedia-learning courseware. Often, the sound to be selected as an instructional medium is self-evident, due to the characteristics of the target audience or the content of the course (Alessi & Trollip, 2001). For instance, sound is necessary for learning a new language, studying music, or discriminating sound effects such like sonar signals or heartbeats. Moreover, adults who are visually challenged or are incapable of reading or children who have not yet learned to read can benefit from the audio instructions (Beecue etal. , 2001). 1.1 Purpose The purpose of this research paper is to determine the role of sound in eight design guidelines of multimedia learning. This research objective can be achieved through investigating the following three r esearch questions: 1. What types of sound are implemented by the instructional designers? 2. Why sound is incorporated into multimedia learning? 3. When do instructional designers choose to incorporate sound into their multimedia based courseware? 2. What is Multimedia? Multimedia refers to the use of more than one media that includes text, animation, graphics, video, pictures and sound to provide information (Bagui, 1998; Clark & Feldon, 2005). Bagui (1998) suggests that the relationship between the multimedia and the natural way of human learning can be illustrated through the information processing theory that describes how human-mind receives and learns information, a process which can be related to an electronic computer (p. 3). Technology employed in computer-based and multimedia education has the potential to deliver massive information, however, the processing of such information by the human receptor – the learner may be limited. A study by Clark (1994) about the inf luence of media over learning investigates that whether or not the multimedia technology really works in learning? (Clark, 1994). According to the Dual-coding theory, people independently process separate channels of communication whereas the cue summation theory speculates that the human mind

Diversity of Approaches Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Diversity of Approaches - Assignment Example Most of the final products as the final works of various developers might require integration at some point of which could prove challenging. This is acceptable especially where no common ground rules have been designed to monitor and control most of the upcoming software. Technology developers, relying on hardware and software, are constantly releasing upgrades or superior hardware with improved features. For the cases where software is used to develop other applications or as a base development platform then the developer has to adjust to fit into the changes. Take the Android development platform, for instance, the entry is in constant advancement to more stable forms after some turn out to be flawed. Modeling also changes especially where fixes were developed to correct bugs or another form of loopholes. Cloud hardware is a perfect example of the growing technology where virtualized resources are run by software. The changes emerging changes must be met by the developer to run on the intended hardware. This implies that if this is not checked through the correct modeling it will be expensive to make corrections and thus the advocating for the diversity (Nunes & Cunha, 2010). A human resource firm has different needs to those requested by a telephone or internet service providing company. The diversification is also critical to ensure that the implemented model features all the required entities and emphasis is held on the development time and resources used especially for large applications. One organization would probably require the whole program sufficient to run a different business as part of their masterpiece. Incorporating both of these requires skills and extensive skills in project modeling during the software development lifecycle. The number of systems as a form of diversification does not pass the test as it is entirely covered in the different organizations has different needs, option above,

MIS {excel project } Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MIS {excel project } - Assignment Example Additionally; the total quantity of stock is calculated. The sales sheet provides data on sales of the items in stock by the respective customers. The sales are recorded and the total sales are also calculated. The sheet also stores details of the respective customers. The look up function is used in the item column to march the item with its code in the products sheet: =LOOKUP (H4, Products!$A$3:$A$13,Products!$B$3:$B$13). The look up function is also used to determine the price of each item: =LOOKUP ([@[Item Code]],Table1[Code],Table1[Selling Price]). It is in this sheet that the total sales are also calculated and the data sorted according to item code in ascending order. A pivot table called sales summary is generated from the sales sheet. In this sheet, the summary of sales of each item is displayed. The total sales of each item and all the items are totalled. A graph is then generated showing the quantity of items sold. Capital financing analysis is done on the capital financing sheet. In this sheet, the total capital required to establish the business is estimated. A list of possible financing options is also provided together with the percentage of financing. Additionally, the interest rate and the amount to be repaid is

Competitive strategies: UK supermarkets

Competitive strategies: UK supermarkets Research background UK retail supermarkets employ some competitive approaches in their business, this study emphases mostly on these marketing techniques. This study describes future of business strategies used by chief retail supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Retail strategy can be explained as the general proposal which is taken in action by retailers for gaining achievements in the competition of supermarkets. (Barmen, B. Evans, J. 2006). Recently extraordinary competition originated in the environment of retail supermarkets. Huge investment in infrastructure done by major supermarkets such as Asda, Tesco, Morrison and Sainsbury increased their product quality. Advancement in technology, increase in the range of products, quality and pace resulted vast advancement in supermarket industry of the United Kingdom. (Harvey, 2000). According to the market shares owned by major supermarkets in the United Kingdom according to the statistics of 2006 March 9th, first four supermarkets in the United Kingdom own 74.4% of the overall market. Among the four Tesco is at the first position with a marketing share of 30.4% in the United Kingdom. Main competitors of Tesco in the United Kingdom market are Morrison, Sainsbury and Asda. Asda has a marketing share of 16.6% while Sainsbury Morrison hold marketing shares of 16.2 % and 11.2% correspondingly. In UK competition among retail supermarkets are tougher but Tesco is most successful among all supermarket chains in United Kingdom. (Source: BBC news, 9 March 2006). The above mentioned four supermarket giants dominate UKs retailing markets. Currently Tesco, Sinsburrys, Asda are the top retail supermarkets rules grocery retailing in the UK. The industry construction is characterized by many attributes such as greater store size, lowering prices of goods and adopting different formats to satisfy the consumers expectation. (Andrew Holingworth, 2004). Research question The first and foremost question focused on this research is: How effective is the competitive strategy employed by giant supermarket in UK? With these competitive strategy how these giant supermarket each other withstand in this current competitive market? How the competitive strategy helps in maintaining customer relationship management and the sales of the supermarket? Also,To identify the overall performance of these supermarkets. Literature review Review of literature is a body of content that aims to reconsider the vital points of existing knowledge on a specific topic. This literature review is done to recognize the existing knowledge in the section of competitive strategy employed by giant supermarkets.. According to Porter ME, 1980 competitive strategy can be defined as the â€Å"plan for how a firm will compete, formulated after evaluating how its strengths and weaknesses compare to those of its competitors. For example, a small meatpacking firm may decide to concentrate on a special niche product offered in limited areas after determining it cannot compete on price with major competitors.† Competitive strategy consists of the actions which are taken to attract customers, to withstand the competitive pressures of the market and also to help and strengthen the firms market position. The main objective of the competitive strategy is to earn a competitive benefit or advantage and to cultivate a clientele of loyal customers and knock the sock off the rivals ethically and honorably.(Philip Kotler, 2001) Tesco holds the largest market share which is of 31.6% for which the Tesco is controlling the large sector of the current retail market and also they have 50% of grocery market where as Sainsburys has about 22% of the current market share. Tesco sells a very huge variety of product range and also they do buy the products in a massive volume and sell those goods cheap, as considered to Sainsburys they only purchase goods of popular brand name and sell their own brand products in the super market. The Tesco has the super power to have their super market which is at the main location, it has the largest acquisition which enable Tesco to acquire nearly about 1/3rd of the retail market but concerned as Sainsbury they do not have the power to acquire land.(Julian finch, the Guardian) To sell every product, every where and everyone target which includes in the national and overseas, success level has been achieved by Tesco. With introduction of this strategy Sainsburys should have to work hard, and will have a hard time keeping up the Sainsburys giant retail market. The giant supermarket Tesco put effort to attract the people from all level of peoples or customers where as Sainsburys tries to attract customers with the middle , average class people by their middle class value or price. Tesco put more efforts to reduce the price and attract the customers where as Sainsbury keeps concentration in particularly in food, i.e. the quality of food they provide to the customers. After several years of decline in market, Sainsburys have emerged with independent ideas in stabilizing the current competitive environment. In the year of 2004 chief executive of Sainsburys Mr. Justin King introduced new recovery programs to attract the customers and to retain them using competitive strategy method and this had increased their market shares from 15.8%.customer relationship management is introduced as a new discipline which can create and nourish the sales and profitability(Julia Finch, The Guardian). During the period 1999 asda was owned by the US corporation company Wal-mart, it is the only one supermarket in United Kingdom which has the potential to be a thorn for the Tesco   as currently Asda in the world is eight times biggest company in the world , compared to annual sales against Tescos. Despite of the very tough trading competition environment Asda has grew up its total sales in a ‘high single digits which is excluding the petrol for a period upto September 30th. A figure which was published by the TNS shows that Asda is growing in UK market twice in speed. Even at the time when customer are price conscious supermarket Asda still continues with quality goods in cheap price agenda At a time when customers are increasingly price conscious, ASDA continues to drive its low cost agenda enabling it to fund lower prices for customers. As a result it has further strengthened its price advantage over its competitors. ASDAs profit grew ahead of target with good cost control despite rising energy costs. The delivery of ASDAs sustainability programme has contributed to lowering operating costs as well as reducing its carbon footprint. Methodology The technique for examination taken for this research proposal is qualitative research to obtain descriptive and qualitative understanding about the competitive strategy followed in giant supermarket. Errors occurred can be found in eloquent way with quantitative examination of information. Qualitative analysis/examination is defined as â€Å"the data collected in relates to the demographic or the behavioral of the respondent under the study† by Kothari (1990). This study is conducted to acquire qualitative as well as expressive understanding of causes and means which are connected to the completive approach with Tesco, Sainsburys and Tesco. Competitive strategy includes many processes like technology, innovation, process and combining people. Supermarket giants use this technique; in this method consultation has been conducted to disclose outlooks, philosophies, primary inspiration and emotional state on competitive approach engaged in major hypermarkets on client correlation. Data collection The data collected for analysis is from both primary and secondary data. Primary data is the data directly collected by the researcher himself. Primary data is original in nature and is directly from the first hand experience. Secondary data is collected from some other sources which were collected for some other purpose. Secondary data collection is cost effective and time effective. In-depth interview and direct observation would be done. They are cost effective and take less time. Face to face interview will be conducted with the staffs and employees of Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys and also a keen direct observation will be made to know the satisfaction of the customers and sales effectiveness, also the strategy method used in customer relationship management strategy and the other strategy followed is observed to know what attract the customers and retain customers. Datas are also collected from secondary sources like books, journals, newspaper archives, internet etc. The data collected for the research is through non probability convenience sampling method. Convenience sampling as word suggests is the sample selected by the investigator by his personal and convenient interest. It helps in focusing into new insights and ideas into the research problem. Convenience sampling method takes less time and is cost effective Data analysis Data analysis is the most important section of the research. Data analysis enables to understand and obtain the exact result of the research. Here data is analyzed through SWOT and PESTEL analysis. The data that is collected from direct observation, interviews ,questionnaires and other sources is evaluated and examined to understand the strength, weakness, opportunity and external threats and also evaluates macro factors like political, economical, social, technological, ecologicaland legal. Enhancement in research techniques Research impact Time scale Activities Nov 09 Dec 09 Jan 10 Feb 10 W1 W2 W3 W 4 W 1 W 2 W 3 W 4 W 1 W2 W3 W4 W1 Topic selection x Read journals and magazines x x Analysis on the topic x x Data collection x x X Preparation of proposal x x Proposal submission x Feedback x Preparation for data collection x x x Data Analysis X x Further literature review x Submission of draft x Draft revising x Print x Submission X

Executive Information Systems :: Technology Work Technological Essays

Executive Information Systems Executive Information Systems (EIS) is a system designed to supplement the current company’s information system for their executives. The standard textbook definition of executive information system is â€Å"an information system that provides strategic information tailored to the needs of executives and other decision makers† (O’Brien 24). EIS is thought to help with knowledge management. Knowledge management is the â€Å"set of practices aimed at discovering and harnessing an organization’s intellectual resources – fully utilizing the intellects of the organization’s people† (Bateman, Snell 8). In research there is one other basic term that is used to interchangeably with Executive Information System. That term is Executive System Support (Kaniclides, Kimble 3). Executive Information Systems software expands on all of the other business software out there for managers. There are some main differences between EIS and other information systems. The main difference is that EIS is aimed towards executives so it is specifically customized towards their needs. Another difference is that EIS is â€Å"able to access data about specific issues and problems as well as aggregate reports† (Kelly 2). EIS is not as limited to a particular field or area of the business. Executive Information Systems allow for access to an array of data from both inside the company and outside from difference sources. EIS also is user friendly so the senior management members do not need assistants to access the information for them and they can make use of their assistants for other tasks. The systems usually can be used with a mouse or a touch screen computer and information is presented in a graphic format (Kelly 2). The people that use EIS have been mentioned above. These people are those who are senior level managers, such as CEOs, CFOs, COO, Presidents, and so on, with loads of information to sort though. The executive information system helps them sort though the information provided to them by lower level managers. This information usually includes such things as efficiency reports and other production reports relevant to the field of the corporation. These senior level managers use this information that has been summarized and put into a form that the manager wants to make important decisions for the company. For executives that do not utilize executive information system might feel overwhelmed with the papers and reports they receive daily.