Thematic critical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Thematic critical analysis - Essay Example The novel takes place in a seventeenth century Puritan community, when it is discovered that Hester has been unfaithful to her long gone husband. As punishment she is forced to wear the letter "A" on her forever. Wearing the letter "A", symbolizing for adultery, was the real punishment in the Puritan community; however even in history there is never any mention of the letter being of red color. The main focus of the story is how Hester is forced to wear the scarlet colored letter on her all the time. Hawthorn specifically made sure that the letter was of the color red. He chose the color red purposely, his inspiration with British History had a hand in this as well. "In Northumberland's lament appears a reference to the day of judgment as an occasion when a person's sins are exposed and judged-the record described as a type of list, or bead-rolUXmt 116)^ and as a "black booke" to be "vnclaspt" at that time (118). This reference to a book of judgment and damnation presents nothing less than a source for the imagistic link in The Scarlet Letter between the embroidered letter worn by Hester-as well as the transgression which brought her such punishment-and the book of the "Black Man," in which the letters of the sinner's name would be inscribed in the scarlet hue of their own blood (Canadas 45). It is explained here by Canadas that the color red was chosen due to its association with blood and the severity of the crime. In the "Black Man" the names of the sinners will be written in their own blood. Sinners have committed unforgivable offenses for which it must be shown to the world, through their own blood, that harshness of their offence. In this same manner Hawthorn shows that Hester must wear the letter in the color red. It is a symbol of her offence against her marriage, her husband and most of all the pureness and innocence of the community. Which brings us to the next point, the social standards of this community are very narrow. This shows the influence of the environment in which Hester resided. If adultery had been committed in the twenty-first century, no one could have even though about physically punishing Hester. It still would have been looked down upon, but it would be her private life. Lets take a closer look at time frame and setting of this novel. It is mid-seventeenth century, Boston, Massachusetts. When Hawthorn this novel it was 1840 in Salem, his story takes place only two hundred years prior to the actual time. Let us also keep in mind that Hawthorn himself was from the Puritan descendants and therefore his literary flair was limited. "According to Nathaniel Hawthorne's biographer, Henry James, Jr. Hawthorne's heritage as a descendant of the "clearest Puritan strain" served to restrict his literary talent to the exploration of one theme: the "consciousness of sin""(Taylor 135). The main focus of the Pur itans was the sin and how to erase it. Obviously this kind of breeding led to Hawthorne only being able to write about this subject. The conscious sin refers to the sin that is committed even after obtaining the knowledge that this behavior is forbidden and will be condemned. However even after having this knowledge and understanding the consequences when one still commits a sin, it is referred to as

Architecural Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Architecural Theory - Essay Example One is the external world, while the other is the hypothetical or internal world of our thoughts, imaginings, and interpretations, the world of psychology. The internal world houses our conceptions of the external, molded by notions handed down or across generations persuading or convincing; it is the realm of our rehearsals, associations, ideals, expectations, and hopes for it. This paper attempts to analyze a single architectural theory. Within the discipline of architecture, theory is a disclosure that describes the practice and production of architecture and identifies challenges to it. Theory overlaps with but differs from architectural history, which is descriptive of past work, and from criticism, a narrow activity of judgment and interpretation of specific existing works relative to the critic’s or architect’s stated standards (Johnson 9). Theory is different from these activities because it poses substitute remedies grounded on observations of the existing cond ition of the discipline, or presents new thought paradigms for approaching the issues (Ots and Alfano 17). It is tentative, anticipatory, and catalytic character makes theoretical activity different from history and criticism. Theory operates on different levels of abstraction, evaluating the architectural profession, its intentions, and its cultural relevance at large. Theory deals with architecture’s aspirations as well as its accomplishments (Johnson 11). Theory can be characterized by several attitudes towards the preservation of its subject matter: for the most part of it is prescriptive, proscriptive, affirmative, or critical. All of these differ from a natural, descriptive position. Prescriptive theory offers new or revived solutions for specific problems (Bertens 22). This theory functions by establishing new norms for practice. It, thus, promotes positive standards and sometimes even a design method. This type can be critical or affirmative of the status quo. The ton e in either instance is often polemical. Almost similar to the prescriptive theory is the proscriptive theory. However, it differs in the sense that the standards state what is to be avoided in the design. Good architecture or urbanism in proscriptive terms is defined by the absence of negative attitudes. Functional zoning is an example of proscriptive theory (Ballantyne 15). Broader than descriptive and prescriptive writing, critical theory evaluates the built world and its relationships to the society it serves. This kind of polemical writing often has an expressed political or ethical orientation and intends to stimulate change. Among many possible orientations, critical theory can be ideologically based in Marxism or feminism (Hays 36). A typical example of critical theory is an architect and theorist Kenneth Frampton’s critical regionalism, which proposes resistance to the homogenization of the visual environment through the particularities of mediated, local building tr aditions. Critical theory is speculative, questioning, and sometimes utopian (White 24). Throughout history, one can identify recurring architectural themes that demand resolution, both conceptually and physically. Physical questions are resolved tectonically, while conceptual or intellectual questions are problematized in the manner of philosophy (Ots and Alfano 31). Perennial theoretical questions include the origins and limits of architecture, the relationship of architecture to

The Quality of Risk Management in the Civil Engineering PowerPoint Presentation

The Quality of Risk Management in the Civil Engineering - PowerPoint Presentation Example In some cases only money is at stake, but all these concerns must be brought to bear during the planning process and identify so that evaluations of the inherent dangers are efficient. Additional statistics are provided to allow for comparison and evaluation in diverse industries to permit a more thorough understanding of risk calculation strategies as well as the ramifications of inadequate considerations. This investigation categorizes various forms of risk and provides recommendations relating to timetables, and the budgetary constraints that are inherent in any such endeavor. A brief history of the international construction market has been researched with implications that can be felt around the world. New regulatory paradigms are touched upon, in which project organizers are required to develop a mastery not only of the legal constraints of their own country, but also of the interplay between multinational financing and local laws. Differences which foreign contractors must kee p in mind relate to the availability of construction equipment, local labor practices and regulations, and in some cases the actual political stability of the region. These difficulties must be itemized before scheduling, before the budget is finalized, and before the first shovel touches the construction site. The construction industry itself is expressed in a global sense, and this project describes the implications of international pursuit that is worth over $3 trillion annually. (Bon, 2000) while it is true that most recently the United States has been the largest single market for construction, when the fortunes of a country become favorable that creates a climate of intensified economic activity which in and of itself can encourage foreign investment in both directions. A stable and profitable country is an excellent place for other investors to set up shop. Furthermore, when a country becomes a good place to do business, financial interests within that country are then more a ble to find more foreign investments raising the prospects of other countries, such as China, for example. This research provides advice for budgetary planners in the quantification of risk, as well as the awareness of the need for surplus planning, cushioning in terms of money and time that should be included in the initial cost calculations for projects of international importance in civil engineering. There has been considerable recognition worldwide of the needs of risk management in the civil engineering sphere and a variety of theoretical methodologies have been pioneered by experts in this field. The details of various management and risk evaluation criteria for engineering projects are also discussed. METHODS There is an assumption in this article, and among other researchers that risk can be boiled down in relatively simplistic equation format: Risk equals =likelihood x consequences. (van Rijn, 2004.) Risk management criteria and various evaluation schemes are described her ein. It is important for planners to make the delineation of a risk versus threat the uninformed are likely to identify as threatening even those events which have vanishingly small probability the distinction must be drawn between every possible worst case scenario, and reasonable damages that are predictable for any project involving construction under the relevant circumstances. Accident statistics have been compiled to illustrate the discontinuity between what the public worries about and what is likely to injure the average person.

History and Political Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

History and Political Science - Essay Example There has been opposing view points concerning the effects of the industrial revolution, whereby, both positive and negative outcomes have been associated with the events of the industrial revolution. Based on intensive analysis and discussions of the events surrounding the industrial revolution, it is with no doubt that it had massive positive effects on the socio-economic, cultural and political platforms. On the contrary, the industrial revolution also had negative effects on the socio-economic, political and cultural conditions. In this essay, the benefits and hardships resulting from the industrial revolution on the socio-economic, cultural and political platforms, will be expounded. Discussion The industrial revolution will live to be acknowledged for its positive impacts on the human society. This was a major turning point in human history, whereby, almost all aspects of daily life were influenced. The general human potential was positively influenced by the industrial revolut ion. This is evident through the increased average income as well as the population. Through the increase of the average global population and income, the human potential was magnified. ... The increased innovations realized through development in technology, impacted positively on all aspects of industrial production. This is evident through the innovations in iron making, steam power and textiles. A point worth of consideration is that human capital was magnified through these innovations, thus boosting production efficiency and returns from the industrial processes. Based on this phenomenon, wealth creation and income generation were positively impacted, hence demonstrating the benefits of the industrial revolution. The ease in transfer of knowledge during the industrial revolution, enhanced human efficiency across the globe, thus boosting industrial activities (Horn et al. 2010, p. 121). The industrial revolution led to increased efficiency in transportation and communication. This is a key factor which boosted human potential in business and industrialization. The use of highways, canals and turnpikes, had positive impacts on the transport sector, which in turn fac ilitated business activities and networks across the globe. The concept of job creation by the factories also impacted positively on human capital and the economic sector. Through job creation, human mobility, urbanization, and investment were facilitated, thus enhancing the social and economic landscape. From the social perspective, the high incomes enhanced better living standards which in turn led to high life expectancy. In particular, child mortality was decreased and high levels of human health recorded, hence enhancing human comfort and potential (More 2000, p. 168). From another perspective, the industrial revolution had negative impacts on human life, whereby,

The future of Nuclear Medicine Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The future of Nuclear Medicine - Research Paper Example Nuclear medicine provides Pico molar understanding and exclusive tracer specialty in the in-vivo learning of human pathophysiology for example intake of glucose, somatostatin expression and tissue perfusion. (Peter, 2002, 630) In contrast to anatomic imaging technology nuclear medicine has made great strides in the expansion of new radio-pharmaceuticals but has made little progress in imaging devices. One can define a Nuclear medicine technologist as an expert health care professional, who plays a fundamental part in the field of nuclear medicine or molecular imaging department and find ways to diagnose and treat illnesses. (Peter, 2002, 638) A nuclear medicine technologist works together with doctors, patients, nuclear pharmacists, computer experts, nurses and a number of other health care personnel. In some cases they may keep a direct contact with the patient; where they arrange, standardize and administer radiopharmaceuticals to the patient; they may also carry out different types of imaging procedures with the patient; for example, they may control imaging, lab and computer instrumentation; and looks after radiation protection of the surroundings. Technical progress in technologies such as ultrasound and multidetector CT are remarkable. Harmonic imaging of native tissue (without added contrast) with ultrasound is an example of this. Harmonic imaging detects the second harmonic of the transmitted ultrasound pulse rather than imaging the fundamental frequency. Harmonic imaging provides better contrast than fundamental imaging. Harmonic imaging has been applied to the heart to enhance delineation of lesions and perfusion. Strauss (2007) compared harmonic ECHO (with added echo contrast) to myocardial perfusion imaging with 99mTc–sestamibi at rest and pharmacological stress. In addition to ultrasound improvements in multidetector X-ray-computed tomography has made CT angiography a standard practice and enhanced the

Business Studies - Recruitment and Selection Essay Example for Free

Business Studies Recruitment and Selection Essay Every business or organisation has a recruitment department, which is often undertaken by recruiters. It can be undertaken by an employment agency or even a member of staff at the business organisation. Human resources run the recruitment process. Recruitment (run by the human resource department) is the process of finding the right possible candidates for the job. When the organisation knows what candidates they re looking for Advertisement is commonly used for recruiting the right employees. Recruitment process: A business or organisation must have a work plan in order to make sure that they find the right number of employees for their needs. When a business is looking to recruit new employees they need to be able to mention and define the main jobs and responsibilities that will be expected. During the recruitment process there are many stages that need to be followed In order to select the right candidate for the job. The recruitment flow chart: Job analysis: Job analysis is the first part of the recruitment process. This is when the human resources department needs to identify whether a new member of staff is needed or could the work be done by reorganizing existing staff or working over time. Or even consider whether part-time or full time appointment needed. Job analysis is essential for the recruitment process and this defines whether they need workers and is so will the business recruit internal or external employees. The human resources department will need to decide whether to recruit employees internally or externally. Recruiting internal candidates will benefit the business as this will increase their workers morale and their motivation will increase because there is a higher chance of them getting promoted than the external employees. Another advantage of recruiting an internal employee is theres a lower cost of not having to go through training, as they already know the business. However the disadvantage is having to replace their internal workers. External candidates will also help gain advantage for the organisation as they will let the business find out more about the competition, gaining more ideas. The disadvantage of recruiting an external employee is the cost of training them to learn more about the business. Job description: A job analysis can be used to create a job description. The job description will describe how a particular employee is to fit into the organisation. A job description could be used as a job indictor for applicants. Alternatively it could also be used as a guideline for an employee to his or her role and responsibilities within in the organisation. Job descriptions can be used by organisations to provide information for use in drafting a situation vacant advertisement and for briefing interviews. he function for a job description can be very simple. Its when the businesses human resources department will need to draw up a list of tasks that the job will involve and the responsibilities of the person appointed. This is good for a business to draw a list up of their specific job description as this gives not only employers but also employees an idea of what theyre looking for. So therefore the business will most likely attract workers that they appointed for. Person specification: Armed with this sort of specification, those responsible for recruiting and selecting someone to do a particular job have a much clearer idea of the ideal candidate. However at the same time those applying for the job have a much clearer idea of what is expected of them and whether they have the skills and attributes. The human resources department may set out for its own use a person specification. The meaning of person specification is identifying the personal qualities for example qualities such: * Experience: Someone with experience in carrying out a particular job who has a particular responsibilities should be able to draw on that experience n new situations. * Qualifications: Is another important part of a person specification. As they will have more knowledge then say someone who have no qualifications. Another advantage for a employee in having qualifications as this will lower the list of people wanting a job, for example if an employer has a long list of employees he/she will recruit either ones with experience or ones who have qualifications. The advantages for the person specification process in recruiting in staff, is the employers will benefit from recruiting experienced staff as they are able to do a range of tasks. This makes them more flexible workers, which in turn increases the output of the business. Customers often like to deal with experienced employees. Qualifications are also good measures of prior learning. The idea of qualification is that it prepares he employee to do a particular job or activity. Inn creating person specification, organisations will therefore need to consider the level of qualification required by a job holder. Job advert Job advertisements form an important part of the recruitment process. An organisation is able to communicate job vacancies to a selected audience by this means. Most job advertisements are written (or at least checked) By the personal department, a task involving the same skills as marketing a product. Advertisements must reach those people who have the qualities to fill the vacancy. Job advertisements take many forms, according to the requirements of the post. A good job advertisement, while providing prospect candidates with helpful information also helps to deter people who do not have the required qualifications for the job. Presentations of the advertisement is very important as it gives prospective employees a first impression of the organisation Application form: Having an application form is essential. If businesss or organisations provide an application form, it means that theyre looking for someone precise. This is good for the business, because the candidates have to right specific stuff that are required, which means the business can find the right employee. Where as some businesses ask for employees CV. In my opinion this is a disadvantage to the organisation, as the candidate can write what ever they feel, most likely something that will advantage them to getting the job. So therefore the organisation wont be able to find the right candidate to do the job. Interview: Interviews are very important in the recruitment process as this gives the employer an idea of what the employee is like and if he or her is suited for the job. Some business such as Marks and Spencers use a certain technique when interviewing new candidates. They would rather ask the interviewee open questions as this allows them to answer the question with longer sentences rather than yes or no answers. This gives the employer a bigger judgement ad a better feel on the employees personality. Business also try to focus on questions that involve; what? Why? When? And how? Generally speaking overall the interviewers should try to make the interviewee feel relaxed and comfortable so that the interviewee can show his or best side. An opening remark might be to ask the interviewee about his or her journey. Selection process: Recruitment and selection can be very costly process for a business. It takes a great deal of time to set up the process which includes drawing up a job description, advertising the position, sifting through applications, checking which application best meet criteria set down for the post, interviewing candidates and finally selecting the best candidate for the post. There is a considerable scope along the way for waste and inefficiency. For example, when a job advertisement attracts 100 applicants there will be a considerable waste of time and resources when reducing the list down to six. If you get your procedures wrong you may eliminate some of the best candidates right from the start and end up with six who are barely satisfactory. If you end up choosing an unsuitable candidate for the job, the company will suffer from having trouble within he organisation before walking out on the job and leaving the company o go through the expense of replacing him or her yet. Induction: Induction is the process of introducing new employees o their place of work, job, new surroundings and the people thy will be working with. Induction also provides information to help new employees start work and generally fit in. Once the successful applicant has been selected and offered the post, the human resources department needs to prepare a suitable induction programme for when the new induction programme which should include; * An awareness of the workings and objectives of a business. * An awareness of health and safety issues. * Requirements when absent, ill or late. * Introduction to management and workmates. * Identification of any immediate training needs. I Training needs: As part of the induction process, new employees may be introduced to new processors or software that they are unfamiliar with. The employer should explain each of these processes to new employees, question them about their experience with the processes or software and listen carefully to their answers to discover their level of experience. For example an employee may be familiar with the Microsoft office software but may not have had the experience with spreadsheets. If this is the requirement of the role, then careful questioning will determine the skill level of the employee and the training required to enable them to do their job. Training may be carried out formally through a course r more informally by a colleague or with training in a timely needs and implementing training timely manner is important to ensure the new employees are equipped with the skills to properly carry out their duties. Application form: Having an application form is essential. If businesss or organisations provide an application form, it means that theyre looking for someone precise. This is good for the business, because the candidates have to right specific stuff that are required, which means the business can find the right employee. Where as some businesses ask for employees CV. In my opinion this is a disadvantage to the organisation, as the candidate can write what ever they feel, most likely something that will advantage them to getting the job. So therefore the organisation wont be able to find the right candidate to do the job. Both Application and CV form provide same information: Motivation theories: Financial: Wages, salaries and bonuses: Wages- time rate: Under this scheme workers receive a set rate per hour. Any hours worked above a set number are paid at an overtime rate Salary: flat rate: This is a set rate of weekly or monthly pay, based on a set number of hours. It is easy to calculate and administer but does not provide an incentive to employees o work harder. Piece rate: This system is sometimes used in the textile and electronics industries, among others. Payment is made for each item produced that meets quality standards. The advantage of this is that it encourages effort motivates workers. However it is not suitable for jobs that require time and care. Also many jobs particularly in the service sector produce outputs are impossible to measure. Bonus: A bonus is paid as an added encouragement and motivation towards employees. It can be paid out f additional profits earned by the employer as a result of the employees effort and hard work or as an incentive to workers at times when they might be inclined to slacken effort for example at Christmas and summer holiday times. Commission: Commission is a payment made as a percentage of sales a salesperson has made. Output related schemes: Output related schemes are the most common methods used to reward manual workers most schemes involve an element of time rates plus bonus or other incentive. Standards are set in many ways, varying from casual assessment to a detailed work study, based on method study and work measurement. A standard allowable time is set in according to the stages. The workers pay is then determined according to the success of the third stage. Performance related pay: In recent year, the emphasis in a number of organisations has shifted towards performance related pay. Performance is assessed against working objectives and company goals scoring systems are then worked out to assess performance against objectives and these distinguish levels of attainment, e.g. high, medium or low. Managerial jobs are most affected by performance related pay. Based on performance appraisal techniques, such as schemes have been adopted in a wide range of occupations, including the police force, universities, insurance and banking. Evidence indicates that up to three quarters of all employees are now using some form of performance appraisal to set pay levels. One way of rewarding performance is to give increments as targets are met, with the employee progressing up an incremental ladder each year. Profit sharing: Profit sharing is an incentive tool which involves giving profit related pay to employees or giving them bonuses based on the profit performance of a business. Using this approach employees are able to see the that the success of the company will also lead to personal rewards for them. Another example similar to profit sharing is a theory called the attribution theory which is often compared to profit sharing and the non financial appraisal. Attribution theory: All business have a need to explain the world, both to themselves and to other people, attributing cause to the events around them. This gives us a greater sense of control. When explaining behaviour, it can affect the standing of people within a group (especially ourselves). When another person has erred, the business will often use internal attribution, saying it is due to internal personality factors. When they have erred, they will more likely use external attribution, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming ourselves. And vice versa. They will attribute our successes internally and the successes of our rivals to external luck. When a football team wins, supporters say we won. But when the team loses, the supporters say they lost. Business attributions are also significantly driven by our emotional and motivational drives. Blaming other people and avoiding personal recrimination are very real self-serving attributions. They will also make attributions to defend what they perceive as attacks. businesses will point to injustice in an unfair world. They will even tend to blame victims (of us and of others) for their fate as we seek to distance ourselves from thoughts of suffering the same plight. They will also tend to ascribe less variability to other people than ourselves, seeing themselves as more multifaceted and less predictable than others. This may well because they can see more of what is inside themselves (and spend more time doing this). In practice, we often tend to go through a two-step process, starting with an automatic internal attribution, followed by a slower consideration of whether an external attribution is more appropriate. As with Automatic Believing, if we are hurrying or are distracted, we may not get to this second step. This makes internal attribution more likely than external attribution. Share options: Employees may be encouraged to take up shares in a company, often as part of a reward scheme. When employees take up these share options they are then rewarded according to the performance of the business. When the business does well so too does the value of their shares and the dividends they receive as a return to shareholders. Dividends are typically paid twice a year. Non-Financial: Goal setting: Establishing goals for employees to work towards can be an important motivational factor as the achievement of these goals then creates a sense of achievement and personal fulfilment. Goals can be established for an individual, team or for the whole organisation and achievement may be related to promotion at work. In order to direct ourselves we set ourselves goals that are: * Clear (not vague) and understandable, so we know what to do and what not to do. * Challenging, so we will be stimulated and not be bored. * Achievable, so we are unlikely to fail. If other people set us goals without our involvement, then we are much less likely to be motivated to work hard at it than if we feel we have set or directed the goal ourselves. When we are working in the task, we need feedback so we can determine whether we are succeeding or whether we need to change direction. We find feedback (if it is sympathetically done) very encouraging and motivating. This includes feedback from ourselves. Negative self-talk is just as demotivating as negative comments from other people. Depending on the type of goal we have, we will go about achieving it differently. A directional goal is one where we are motivated to arrive at a particular conclusion. We will thus narrow our thinking, selecting beliefs, etc. that support the conclusion. The lack of deliberation also tends to make us more optimistic about achieving the goal. An accuracy goal is one where we are motivated to arrive at the most accurate possible conclusion. These occur when the cost of being inaccurate is high. Unsurprisingly, people invest more effort in achieving accuracy goals, as any deviation costs, and a large deviation may well more. Their deliberation also makes them realize that there is a real chance that they will not achieve their goal. When we have an accuracy goal we do not get to a good enough point and stop thinking about itwe continue to search for improvements. Both methods work by influencing our choice of beliefs and decision-making rules. Goal setting can be compared, in a financial sense with performance related pay as employees are rewarded in accordance with goals set by the company. Perks and status symbols: Perks and status symbols are useful motivational tools in a company. A perk is something extra that you get for doing a particular job. For example employees of a railway company may get free rail travel for them and their families. A cinema employee may get free cinema tickets. Status symbols are also important motivators. Obvious status symbols n is having a bigger office, or having a sign outside your door with your name on. People often respond very favourably to status symbols because these mark them out as being special therefore employees will be motivated to work harder in order for them to be the special person. Appraisals: Common stages of staff appraisals are as follows: 1. The line manager meets with the job-holder to discuss what is expected. The agreed expectations may be expressed in terms of targets, performance standards or required job behaviours- attributes, skills and attitudes. 2. The outcome of the meeting is recorded and usually signed by both parties. 3. The job-holder performs the job for a period of six months a year 4. At the end of the six months period the jobholder and line manager or team leader meet again to review and discuss progress made. They draw up action new action plans to deal with identified problems and agree targets and standards for the next period. Meeting training needs: Mentoring needs: Mentoring and coaching are seen by many organisations as essential ways of motivating employees so that they feel valued and cared for in their work. Mentoring involves a trainee being paired with a more experienced employee. The trainee carries out the job but uses the mentor to discuss problems that may occur and ho best to solve them. This approach is used in many lines of work. For example it is common practice for trainee teachers to work with a mentor who s responsible for their early training and development. The student teacher will match the mentor teacher before starting his or her own teaching. The mentor will then give ongoing guidance to the student teacher on how best to improve his or her performance. If the student teacher has any problems or difficulties he or she can talk to the mentor for advice. Coaching: Coaching involves providing individuals with personal coaches in the workplace. The person who is going to take on the coaching role will need to develop coaching skills and ill also need to have the time slots for the coaching to take place. The coach and the individual being. Acquired needs theory: Need are shaped over time by our experiences over time. Most of these fall into three general categories of needs: * Achievement (nAch) * Affiliation (nAff) * Power (nPow) Some businesses may have different preferences and will tend have one of these needs that affect the business more powerfully than others and thus affects our behaviors: * Achievers seek to excel and appreciate frequent recognition of how well they are doing. They will avoid low risk activities that have no chance of gain. They also will avoid high risks where there is a significant chance of failure. * Affiliation seekers look for harmonious relationships with other people. They will thus tend to conform and shy away from standing out. The seek approval rather than recognition. * Power seekers want power either to control other people (for their own goals) or to achieve higher goals (for the greater good). They seek neither recognition nor approval from others only agreement and compliance. Identifying preferences A common way of discovering our tendencies towards these is with a Thematic Apperception Test, which is a set of black-and-white pictures on cards, each showing an emotionally powerful situation. The person is presented with one card at a time and asked to make up a story about each situation. Using it Challenge achievers with stretching goals. Offer affiliation-seekers safety and approval. Beware of personal power-seekers trying to turn the tables on you or use other Machiavellian methods. Make sure you have sufficient power of your own, or show how you can help them achieve more power. Defending Understand your own tendencies. Curb the excesses and, especially if you seek affiliation, beware of those who would use this against you and for their own benefit alone. * Atrribution theoryprofit sharing (financial) and appraisal ( non financial) We all have a need to explain the world, both to ourselves and to other people, attributing cause to the events around us. This gives us a greater sense of control. When explaining behavior, it can affect the standing of people within a group (especially ourselves). When another person has erred, we will often use internal attribution, saying it is due to internal personality factors. When we have erred, we will more likely use external attribution, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming ourselves. And vice versa. We will attribute our successes internally and the successes of our rivals to external luck. When a football team wins, supporters say we won. But when the team loses, the supporters say they lost. Our attributions are also significantly driven by our emotional and motivational drives. Blaming other people and avoiding personal recrimination are very real self-serving attributions. We will also make attributions to defend what we perceive as attacks. We will point to injustice in an unfair world. We will even tend to blame victims (of us and of others) for their fate as we seek to distance ourselves from thoughts of suffering the same plight. We will also tend to ascribe less variability to other people than ourselves, seeing ourselves as more multifaceted and less predictable than others. This may well because we can see more of what is inside ourselves (and spend more time doing this). In practice, we often tend to go through a two-step process, starting with an automatic internal attribution, followed by a slower consideration of whether an external attribution is more appropriate. As with Automatic Believing, if we are hurrying or are distracted, we may not get to this second step. This makes internal attribution more likely than external attribution. Sex discrimination act 1975 Sex Discrimination Act 1975 The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 applies to men, women and gender reassignees and states that it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate or fail to prevent discrimination against a worker because of his or her gender, marital or gender reassignment status The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 states that there are two types of sex discrimination: Direct discrimination This occurs where a worker has been treated less favourably than another in similar relevant circumstances on the grounds of his or her gender, and the treatment has resulted in dismissal, denial of opportunities within or for employment or training, or any other detriment. Indirect discrimination This occurs where a provision, criterion or practice is applied equally to both male and female workers and three conditions are jointly fulfilled: * The proportion of one gender who can comply is, in practice, considerably smaller than the other; * A worker suffers a detriment as a result; * The employer cannot show the condition or requirement to be objectively justifiable. For example, indirect sexual discrimination could occur if an employer applied a redundancy policy by selecting only part-time workers. This is because such action would discriminate disproportionately against women, as over 80% of part-time workers in the United Kingdom are women. Race relation act 1976 The race relations act 1976 makes discrimination on racial grounds unlawful in employment, training education and the provision of goods, facilities and services. The act defines two main types of discrimination: direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination Direct discrimination occurs when someone Is treated less favourably on racial grounds. Racial grounds do not only include grounds of race but also those of colour, nationality, citizenship and ethnic or national origin. For example a dress manufacturing company advertises in the local newspaper for a Turkish machinist, Indirect discrimination: Indirect discrimination occurs when rules, requirements, or conditions that appear to be fair because they apply equally to everyone- can be shown to put people from a particular racial group a much greater disadvantage than others and the rules cannot be objectively justified. A racial groups may be defined by race, colour, nationality and ethnic or national origin. For example an advertisement asks for ability to speak Bengali. This requirement discriminates indirectly against people who do not speak Bengali and will be unlawful unless it can be justified by the nature of the job For example it would be unjustified to ask for Bengali speaker if the job involves working with people who can communicate well only in Bengali. Another example of an indirect discrimination is an advertisement invites applicants who speak English as their mother tongue. This requirement too, discriminates indirectly against people who speak English fluently, but not as their mother tongue. This kind of requirement will rarely be justified. If an especially high standard of English is needed for a particular job it would be better to ask for just that a very high standard of written and spoken English or alternatively, fluent English Example: the race relations act does not cover discrimination indirectly on religious grounds, but advertisements inviting Muslim or Christian applicants may discriminate indirectly against some racial groups, and the requirements must be justified by the nature of the job. A religious requirement may be justified for jobs connected with a church, temple, mosque etc and possibly religious organisations.

Financial Control Auditing Essay Example for Free

Financial Control Auditing Essay If you use a computer to record your business activity and maintain this data electronically, you are a candidate for an electronic audit. * What are the Benefits of e-Auditing? †¢It saves time – Electronic audits are completed much faster than traditional, manual audits. Company personnel and tax auditors spend less time working on the audit. †¢It saves paper – Electronic tax auditing reduces the amount of paper normally needed during the audit. †¢It is less disruptive to business – Electronic audits permit tax auditors to work at the tax office most of the time. Computer-assisted tax audit techniques reduce on-site audit time. In this way, there is minimal interference with the normal business of your company. †¢It is more efficient – More efficient techniques for reviewing taxpayer information are used in electronic audits. * The process of e-Auditing? To corporate taxpayers: 1- The preparatory stage begins when a tax auditor contacts the company. 2- He then familiarizes himself with the accounting system of the company, and negotiates with company managers responsible for accounting and finance. 3- They make agreements on when and how the electronic material should be delivered to the tax authority, and what copies of files should be created for the purpose. The tax auditor receives the files and converts them into a special database format used by the Finnish Tax Administration. 5- Later, the chief auditor and the company management will discuss the time schedule of the on-site tax audit, i. e. the part of the tax examination that takes place on company premises. * What are the Auditor†™s Responsibilities towards e-Auditing? Our tax auditors have received special training on information technology; they are aware of information security considerations and work under strict rules of confidentiality. Their PC and laptop workstations are protected and secure. They store the original material in a locked cabinet, and they make sure that the work files created from the company-supplied electronic materials are removed from the computers immediately after the audit. Depending on what has been agreed, physical data media (CDs etc. ) will either be returned to the company or destroyed. After the tax authority has issued the assessment decision or tax debiting decision, any files saved in Tax Administration systems will be deleted. The company will receive a message confirming the deletion. The use of expert systems in e-Auditing As computer power is enhanced and auditors are faced with making decisions in more complex environments, some accounting firms have begun to develop expert systems to assist their personnel in the audit process, An expert system is a complex system of computer progams that models the decision process of a human experts. The psychological methods used to gain an understanding of the human experts decision process and conversion of this decision process into mathematical equations and computer programs are fair beyond the scope of this text. Legal Authority The right of the Finnish Tax Administration to receive computer files for the purposes of audit is based on the following tax laws:  § 14, Act on Assessment Procedure (1558/1995),  § 3, Ordinance on Assessment Procedure,  § 169, Value Added Tax Act (1501/1993),  § 10, VAT Ordinance, and  § 37, Prepayment Act (1118/1996). The Decision of 26 Jan 1998 (no 47/1998) of the Ministry of Trade and Industry concerns bookkeeping methods. The first section of this Decision concerns the use of computer automation in accounting. The Accounting Board has issued an official instruction on 22 May 2000 on the implementation of the provisions of the Decision. These instructions include more specific rules on the use of information technology in accounting. In the interest of expediency during tax audits, the Finnish Tax Administration urges corporate taxpayers to follow the recordkeeping rule of six years. In other words, full documentation showing each transaction separately including its entries in accounting records should be kept for six years after the closing of the accounting period. These records also include auxiliary documentation, and they are to be kept in a legible format. * Rules on recordkeeping and reproduction of data Companies are requested to keep the following files and details in a machine-sensible, software-independent format. They should cover the entire time periods to be audited: 1. Journal-type file of the accounting system listing each transaction separately , including the following detailed facts if applicable for the company: †¢Company number, business unit number †¢Document type Sequential number of the accounting voucher/document, which should be the same number as that of the original receipt, voucher or other document found in the books. †¢Date of accounting document / Date of transaction / Accounting period †¢Account number †¢Cost center number †¢Amount in euros (marks), amount in foreign currency, code of currency †¢Descriptions of accounting entries – several descriptions are accepted †¢ Project no, investment no, process no, product no etc. †¢Customer no, supplier no †¢VAT code †¢Any other data fields that help identify the transaction. . Additional files in case the names (of accounts or of cost centers) are not included in the accounting transactions files: †¢Chart of accounts showing every account used during the period, including account name and account number. †¢Lists of cost centers (and their numbers and names) used during various years. †¢Lists showing details of project numbers, investment numbers, process numbers, product numbers etc. used during various years †¢Lists showing VAT codes (with explanations) used during various years †¢Lists of accounting voucher types used Lists showing the sequences of sequential numbers used by the accounting system (can be delivered on paper instead of a computer file) †¢Registers of suppliers and registers of customers, as a computer file, including at least the following facts: ? Business IDs and European VAT numbers ?Customer no, supplier no ?Name ?Address ?Postal code ?Country code 3. Other details: †¢Specifications of records, descri bing each delivered file. †¢Detailed versions of balance sheet (showing each account separately) for the accounting periods to be audited. †¢Model list printed on paper, to show the eginning of the accounting transaction list file, in case numerical fields have been zipped / compressed. * What are the Permissible file types? The files should consist of fixed-length consecutive strings and be free of software-specific characters (and they should not be backup files). Accounting transactions and additional files such as charts of accounts and lists of cost centers should be delivered to us on a physical data medium, which is usually a CD or DVD. The following technical information is mandatory : * Encoding (ascii / ebcdic) Existence of zipped/compressed data elements (please unzip/uncompress) * Number of records * Length of records. If the company cannot deliver the accounting system files where transactions are primarily recorded, tax auditors can alternatively utilize repo rting files or list files. Accounting systems create reporting files and transaction lists associated with the general ledger and journal, accounts receivable and accounts payable What are the Pros and Cons of both manual and E-audit? (Conclusion) There are pros and cons to both the manual and electronic audits. The manual chart review is more time consuming and is subject to both the benefits and liabilities of requiring human judgment during the audit process. The electronic audit is much quicker, although it requires time and attention to careful set up before the first audit can be run. E-audits are independent of human judgment since determinations are made by internally programmed computer logic and are therefore more consistent than manual audits. Their accuracy is more subject to proper PCC documentation, coding and data entry issues. More and more facilities are opting to perform e-audits due to the time savings and ease of performing regular periodic audits once the initial setup has been completed. We encourage the use of electronic audits whenever feasible. For facilities wishing to transition from a manual to an electronic audit, it is imperative that they initially run simultaneous manual and e-audits to compare the results. In theory, the results from the manual and e-audit should be quite similar. If the results of one or more of the audit elements are significantly different, an investigation into the reason(s) for the difference needs to be undertaken.